Girls und Panzer
Tankery Team Clubhouse; Ridgeway Boys Senior Academy
Fifteen-year old Gregory 'Greg' Treadway propped his combat boots on his desk as he sat down and observed the members of his tankery team enter the clubhouse briefing room. Gazing expressionlessly at the smiling faces and smug looks being tossed around he knew that classes were finished for the day. Like his friends and teammates, Greg had finished his classes and wanted to return to his dorm and relax. However, this meeting was one he had not wanted to call but had to in order to get a point across to his team. Glancing at his best friend, roommate, and team number two, Tankery Cadet Major Morgan Kingsford, Greg waited for the senior to call the meeting to order. Dropping his feet to the floor and rising to his feet Greg cleared his throat. At that familiar sound, the gathered young men ceased all conversations and actions before quickly taking their assigned seats.
"All right you reprobates and zoo rejects settle down and listen up!", snapped Greg as he let the scowl on his face traverse the room.
Knowing that their club leader was not in his usual joking mood, the team scrambled to their seats and sat down to await the coming lecture.
"As you all know, last week we participated in a brutally tough match against the Ooarai Boys Academy. Though we won after a hard fought match, the command cadre and I were….displeased with some of our actions. To make a point, we lost four of our tanks in the first fifteen minutes of the match and almost lost more. Granted it was due to a miscommunication on my part as team commander, these results were unacceptable and forced us to play catch up while shifting assets to cover for those lost tanks. For those errors, I take full responsibility and apologize to you my friends and teammates. In order for us to eliminate such errors in the future and overcome those we do have we, as a team, are going to re-debrief the match while reviewing the footage and going over the after-action reports that Vice Commander Kingsford is distributing to you now. Once all reports have been distributed I'm going to turn this debrief over to Morgan and we're going to go over everything. Tankery Cadet Major Kingsford, the floor is yours.", finished Greg as he took a seat in the front row facing the dais and watched the video screen drop down from its stowed position
Over the next few hours Greg and his team went over every last mistake, miscommunication, and error committed by the team. Suggestions on how to make them less susceptible to good ole 'Uncle Murphy's Law' were passed around; timidly at first but gaining momentum as the meeting wore on. Midway through the meeting as he stood at the chalkboard explaining a minor point to his guys, Greg saw the team advisor and head tankery instructor enter the room and lean unobtrusively against the wall. Acknowledging the professor with a short nod of his head, Greg finished speaking and turned the pointer over to a sophomore who led one of his light tank recon elements of M22 Locust, M24 Chaffee, and M5 Stuart light tanks. Heading over to the instructor he took up a position next to the teams' father figure and waited for him to speak.
"Good job Mr. Treadway I am glad I appointed you club and team leader at the start of the year. The principal and rest of the factory are proud of the way you lead this team as well as how you perform in class. You've shown a lot of improvement since you came aboard this school ship and started your secondary school education.", spoke the advisor in a low voice.
"Thank you sir, I appreciate the fact that such esteemed officials have taken notice of my modest and humble contributions to this school. Though I am just a student, I am enjoying my time here at Ridgeway Academy.", replied Greg.
"Oh come off of it and quit the shine job Gregory! You are one of our above average students. In the three years you've been aboard this ship and at this school, you've made the Principals' Honor Roll twice as well as been suspended for five days for fighting. So this 'Oh so humble and modest' façade of yours is a farce and every faculty member knows it. Though I am approving of this meeting, I am less than enamored of your present facetious attitude. I know your true personality so cut the shit and listen!', snapped the advisor.
Schooling his frown into a more scholarly-acceptable mien, Greg listened as the instructor told him of the latest news. When the teacher had finished and departed, the teenager mused on what he had been told in confidence and missed most of the last part of the debriefing. It was only when his roommate tapped him on his shoulder and asked if he had anything to add did Greg snap out of his thoughts. Glancing at the chalkboard as his teammates turned to look at him Greg saw that many of the points covered in the meeting had been taken care of. Knowing that the club secretary would type up the minutes and get them distributed to the members who did not make the meeting as well as those who did, Greg shook his head and allowed Morgan to sum it all up and end the meeting.
Thirty minutes later the two friends and roommates, having closed and secured the tankery hanger, were walking through the halls of the school. As usual with boys, the topics of conversation varied from minute to minute. Going from schoolwork to sports, to cars, to girls, and back in the ten minutes it took to walk to the bus stop.
"Saw you talking with Advisor Smith during the meeting. What did he want?", asked the seventeen-year old senior Morgan Kingsford.
Greg looked over his should at his roommate as he straightened the black uniform necktie that was a mandatory part of the schools' uniform. Hitching his shoulder a bit to resettle his book back, Greg spoke.
"Not much. Wanted to see how we're doing and rain platitudes of praise on our heads.", replied Greg.
"Ah, the infamous 'shit gathers momentum as it rolls downhill' speech, Gotten a few of those myself in my time. So what did you do this time to garner their notice?", joked his friend.
Greg good-naturedly punched his fried in the arm while giving him a grin.
"Keep it up wiseacre and I'll punt you into one of the M3 Grant's for the next match instead of in your usual M24!", snickered Greg.
"You wouldn't dare do that to me! My Chaffee would cry and miss me! Oh the horror and degradation.", Morgan shot back dramatically.
The two were silent for a moment before breaking out into a fit of laughter as the bus pulled up. Showing their student passes to the driver before boarding, the boys took seats in the rear of the bus. Raising a light brown hand to scratch his short and curly brownish-red hair (sometimes referred to as sandy-colored by members of his family), Greg leaned back in his seat. About ten minutes later the roommates disembarked from the bus and entered their dorm building. Waving to the Residential Assistant before catching the elevator to their floor, Greg and Morgan continued their conversation. As Greg entered the apartment-like dorm suite he stripped out of the schools black blazer and undid his necktie. Since he'd hated neckties as a child and still wasn't too happy to be wearing one of the damn things as a student, Greg rubbed his throat and sighed in relief. Untying and kicking off his boots he entered his bedroom to hang up his uniform after putting on a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Re-entering the main room, Greg saw that his roommate had changed as well.
"Whatcha got planned for the evening, pardner?", asked Greg as he dropped on to the couch and turned on the tv.
"Gonna ride my bike at the velodrome for a bit before going to the gym. I don't feel like cooking so order up a couple of pizzas, I'm hungry.", came the reply.
Greg relied and picked up the phone to order a couple of Meatlovers' pizzas and a 2-liter bottle of Coke. Hanging up after telling the cashier to have it delivered, Greg turned to his roommate and found himself the focus of Morgan's questing stare. The senior cut him off before he could speak in protest.
"Alright, now that we're home tell me what Mr. Smith really wanted. The two of you spoke for quite a while. And I don't want any of your usual blithering horseshit. Tell me the real deal.", stated Morgan unequivocally.
"Crap! He caught me!", thought Greg.
Taking a deep breath the junior slowly started to speak.
"I take it you remember that our school has a sister school right?"
"Yeah, Saunders University High School: red uniform skirt, white blouse, sailor necktie, and grey blazer. The School is on an old Nimitz-class fleet carrier-type school ship. Is wealthy as hell, and has a kick ass tankery team using Sherman Tanks. What of it?"
"Weeellll… they got beat in a national tournament match a few months back. The Ooarai Girls Academy restarted its' Sensha-dou program and went on a rampage. They lost to St. Gloriana Girls School in a practice match before going on to beat Saunders, Anzio, Pravda, and Black Forest Peak for this year's championship.", started Greg.
"Good for them, but I reiterate my question: what does that have to do with us?", returned Morgan.
"Though it has been a long time since it last happened, our school ship will be meeting up with theirs next Friday. Advisor Smith told me that this is to give our Naval Studies Students and theirs experience with sailing in a fleet formation. In addition, our fellow students of Ridgeway Senior Boys School is expected to throw them a welcoming party or something for the girls who come aboard.", finished Greg lamely.
"Wait a minute, this seems like it's gonna take some more input. I'll get in touch with the rest of the cadre. You contact the other club presidents and the student council. They probably already know the specifics of what kind of event they want thrown, but we need a general meeting to get everything straight. We'll have all of them meet here. I'll go talk to the RA and get permission to use the big conference room on the first floor. Call it an hour-hour and a half tops. This will cut into study hall but we need to be on the same page as everybody else. Better order up some more pizzas!", stated Morgan with a weary grin.
Greg nodded and watched as his roommate left their dorm room. Picking up the handset he called the pizza place and ordered more pizzas. It looked as if it was going to be a long night.
Across the ocean as the Saunders University High School for Girls school ship cruised sedately around, sixteen-year old Kay Saunders entered the cafeteria and looked for some of her Sensha-do friends. When she spotted them, Kay flounced over to their tables. Arriving at the table and greeting her friends Kay smoothed out her uniform skirt, rolled up her blazers' sleeves, and took a seat.
"Hey girls, what's happening?", asked Kay as she ran a hand through her long blonde hair.
"Not much, just sitting here eating lunch and doing some studying. What about you?", answered her second in command Naomi while chewing some of her ever present gum.
Gazing around the table with a grin on her face and receiving similar comments, Kay's eyes zeroed in on the chocolate-skinned girl with shoulder length brown hair and light hazel eyes sitting at the end of the table.
"Krystal, don't you have a brother who attends an all-boys school or something?", questioned Kay.
"Yeah, my twin brother Greg; he goes to the Ridgeway Senior Boys Academy. What about him?", growled the fifteen-year old girl in response.
Kay laughed before answering her teammates' question.
"I just came from a meeting with the student council and the other club presidents. While there, I received some news from the president of the student council and the other club advisors. Though I was asked to keep it to myself, I thought you and the rest of the team would like to hear. It will be announced soon but I couldn't wait to tell y'all. Guess what school ship we're going to be meeting up with at the end of the week, ladies?"
It took a second to sink in with the girls around the table. When it did there were gasps of delight, cheers, and smug expressions spreading through the air around the table. Ignoring the hostile glances and muttered comments from the girls at the surrounding tables Kay let the rapid flow of words float around her and took a bite from her lunch. Seeing that Krystal was quiet Kay asked her a question.
"Greg, is the president of their Sensha-do Club and captain of their team. From what I gathered in emails from him, their team is pretty good. I received a video copy of their last match. Though they don't compete in Japan like we do, they do go against some of the teams that are brother schools to some of our competitors and friends.", replied Krystal.
"Oh really; what can you tell us about them", asked Alisa, Kay's third in command.
Krystal took a moment to breathe and gather her thoughts before answering.
"Unlike our matches, some of their matches are three and four day affairs. During those matches, Greg and his team have to camp out in the field. On occasion, there are night battles and they get somewhat dramatic. Their last match was a four day battle with the Ooarai Boys Academy; brother school to our friends at Ooarai Girls Academy. From what I witnessed in the video it was quite brutal. They lost four tanks in the first few minutes of the battle.", began Krystal.
"Interesting, I'll have to let Kadotani and Nishizumi know about it. What kind of tanks do they use?, asked Kay while opening her Sensha-do notebook to take notes.
"Like us they use the Sherman and all of its variations. Unlike us however, Greg's team also uses M22 Locust, M5A1 Stuart, and M24 Chaffee light tanks as well as M10 Wolverine, M18 Hellcat, and M36 Jackson tank destroyers. Greg is the tank commander of one of their specially modified M18 Hellcats with the folding turret roof. He's real good at using the superior speed of the Hellcat to set up and initiate ambushes before disengaging at high speeds. Greg and his team are also extremely unpredictable. Just think of how unpredictable Ooarai is and multiply that by a factor of a hundred. Back in my room I have a DVD where Greg jumped his Hellcat and surprised a trio of Matilda II tanks from Highbury Boys Technical School; brother school to our friends at St. Gloriana Girls College. Ridgeway lost but Greg and his crew received a commendation from the judges for his actions., continued Krystal.
"I remember that match! I happened to catch it on television. Commander Darjeeling was suitably impressed with them and sent them a St. Gloriana Pennant and a box of tea. Ridgeway replied by sending them a bouquet of flowers and one of their own pennants. My friend Marie told me that Lady Darjeeling was most surprised by the gift and demanded that her betrothed; Sir Archibald Jones-Smyth, the leader at Highbury Tech, introduce them a short while later. Archie acquiesced and at their next championship, which they call a battle royal, he introduced Darjeeling to the Ridgeway Team.", commented Monica Parker, the gunner for Krystal's Sherman Jumbo.
Before anyone else could add to the discussion, they were interrupted by the public address system and listened as the Student Council President made the announcement about the join up with the Ridgeway school ship on Friday. When the system went off and the ensuing cheers subsided, Kay asked Krystal if she had any pictures of her brother. Krystal admitted that she had before reaching into her backpack, grabbing her wallet, retrieving the photos, and passing them around. Gazing at the first one Kay noted that Krystal's brother's uniform was a long-sleeved khaki shirt, black blazer with the school's crest over the chest pocket, and black pants with a khaki stripe down the seam on the sides. Looking closer, her eagle-eyes picked out a thin red stripe in the center of the khaki stripes and asked about it as she passed the photo around.
"Oh he calls it a blood stripe. It signifies that he was injured during a match. Some of his teammates have them as well. If I remember correctly, he got it while participating in a match against their arch rivals at the Cascade Mountain Boys Reformatory High School as a freshman. Greg told me he received it when his light tank was knocked out of competition and broke his nose. However, my father told me that the broken nose came when Greg got into a fight with some of the reform school seniors after the match. Because of that fight, my occasionally overaggressive brother garnered a week-long suspension from school and was temporarily banned from participating in their next few matches. Our parents were soooo pissed that Greg got himself suspended from class. I remember that my mother was furious and refused to talk to Greg for three weeks. Our father had to be the mediator between Greg and our mother. For his part, father was extremely disappointed in Greg and gave him a two hour lecture on it.", answered Krystal with a small moue of frustration.
Kay nodded and gazed at the next picture passed her way. Apparently it was some kind of publicity shot as she noted that Krystal's brother was with his five man tank crew standing at attention in front of the menacing M18 Hellcat. Krystal's twin Greg had on a pair of black tankers' boots, sharply pressed black fatigue pants, and a long-sleeved Khaki shirt and black necktie tucked in between a couple of buttons. On his head he wore a billed brown combination hat. Kay recognized that the hat had the ubiquitous 'Fifty-Mission' crush and was tilted at a rakish angle on a head of short hair. Kay saw that each member of Greg's crew had their hats tilted at a similar angle.
After passing that photo around as well as couple of others, Kay was handed a photo where Krystal's brother was catching a nap on the deck of his tank. It was apparent to the sixteen-year old blonde that the sleeping boy and his crew had been working on their Hellcat. The oil-stained t-shirt and sweats attested to that fact. Kay surmised that this was one of the more candid kinds of photos because somebody had rested a wrench on Greg's nose as he napped. A little bit later after all of the pictures had been returned to Krystal and put away, Kay asked her teammate if she had other recordings of Greg's matches. When she answered in the affirmative, Kay asked her to bring a few to the Sensha-do hangar for the team could watch them at the next meeting.
"Sure Kay, it's no problem. I'll bring a few by tomorrow. Any particular ones you want to view?", asked Krystal.
"Yeah, bring the ones where they went against the brother schools of our main competitors; Ooarai, St. Gloriana, Anzio, Pravda, and Black Forest Peak Academies. If you have one, bring a copy of a match where they went against their arch rivals. More than likely, I'll make copies of the first five and send them to Miho Nishizumi, Darjeeling, Anchovie, Katyusha, and Maho Nishizumi just so I can get their input. No, scratch that we'll analyze those videos ourselves. Maybe I'll pass them along but I haven't decided yet. Though they could be a learning experience for our friends, I would rather not give away Ridgeway's tankery secrets to a potential competitor.", replied Kay.
"Umm, Kay; not to be a killjoy but these matches went on for three or four days each. The corresponding DVD's are gonna be quite lengthy. I know for a fact that there are times in the matches where nothing was going on.", cautioned Krystal.
"Maa, maa Krystal, don't worry about that! We'll watch one a week and make it a team bonding thing or something.", chirruped Kay happily.
Since lunch was ending as they finished the conversation, the girls split up and left the cafeteria for their next classes. Kay's next class period was a computer class/study hall. Mentally writing letters to the other schools, she pulled her phone out of her blazer's pocket and thumbed through the numbers of her counterparts at the other schools before finding the one she wanted. Pressing the 'talk' button Kay waited for her call to connect.
"Good Afternoon. Thank you for calling the St. Gloriana Girls Academy Sensha-do clubhouse. My name is Jasmine, how may I direct your call?", came the cultured voice of the receptionist.
"Jasmine, this is Kay, Captain of the Saunders University High School Sensha-do Team. Is Lady Darjeeling around?", replied Kay as she walked down the hall.
"Ahh, Miss Kay, Miss Darjeeling is presently indisposed for the moment She has been in a most foul mood today. I believe she will be retiring early, her stomach has been paining her most unpleasantly for the past several days. May I direct your call to Miss Pekoe?", came the circumspect answer.
Reading between the lines, Kay understood what the girl was trying to say and winced in commiseration. Her time had passed two weeks previously and from all accounts Kay had been a total bitch to everyone. Answering in the affirmative, the sixteen-year old blonde waited for Orange Pekoe-Darjeeling's vice commander-to pick up the receiver. When Orange answered, Kay requested her to pass a message to her commander and suggested that her counterpart try placing a filled hot water bottle on her stomach to alleviate some of the pain.
"Miss Kay, hello how are you doing.", started Orange after she had picked up.
Kay heard the familiar tell-tale sound of fine chinaware through the phone and deduced that Orange had just placed her ever-present cup of her namesake tea on its saucer and smiled. The well-bred young women of St. Gloriana Girls College were quite predictable in that regard. It seemed to Kay as if they lived on tea and she wouldn't be surprised if some of those young women had found a way to make their tanks run on the stuff. For Kay and the rest of Saunders, hot cocoa was their warm drink of choice, though some of the seniors did prefer coffee. Kay was partial to Coca-Cola in its familiarly-shaped glass bottle herself.
"I'm fine Orange. Just on my way to my next class. What about you?", returned Kay as she hit up a nearby vending machine for her beloved Coke.
"I am well and good. Other than Lady Darjeeling's present ailment, events here are proceeding in their usual fastidious manner. Our Sensha-do team is quite appreciative of this extended break between matches. Of course there are some of our more expressive teammates who are, to use an American euphemism, 'chomping at the bit' for action.", stated Orange Pekoe as she refilled her cup.
"Yeah, I have to deal with some teammates like that myself. However, that is not the newest news flying around Saunders at the moment. The newest news is the fact that the school ship of our brother school, Ridgeway Senior Boys Academy, will be joining up with ours sometime next week. According to our school history, the last time that happened was several years ago. It's been fifteen years since that event if I remember correctly. In addition, it seems that some of the Saunders students of that time kept in touch with and later married students from Ridgeway.", began Kay.
"Fascinating, I believe that our present headmistress is a St. Gloriana alumnus and she eventually married a student from Highbury Technical Boys School; though she doesn't speak much about it. She was somewhat displeased when Sir Archibald and Lady Darjeeling announced their recent engagement. However, I do doubt that you made contact just to inform us of that fact.", Orange commented in a searching tone voice.
"You're perceptive as always Lady Pekoe. I did call for another reason. I wanted to speak with Darjeeling about this subject but since the two of you are quite close, I can speak with you. I recently found out that our brother school has a Sensha-do team of their own. In fact the commander of the Ridgeway team is the twin brother of one of my teammates. I take it you remember Krystal Treadway from our last match? Her twin brother Gregory is the Ridgeway team commander as well as their Sensha-do club president.", continued Kay.
"Of course I remember Miss Krystal. Not only did she knock out two of our tanks but she'd made that most delightful dip you shared with us after the match."
"Yeah, her rotel dip was great. A bit spicy but it was delicious."
"To answer your question; yes I've heard of the Ridgeway Sensha-do Team and was able to meet the team leader; young master Treadway awhile back as Lady Darjeeling's adjutant. Darjeeling's betrothed Sir Archibald was most impressed with him and has the utmost respect for Gregory Treadway. Even if he is an Arsenal fan.", finished Orange as she took another sip from her cup.
Kay shook her head as she listened to Pekoe. She could never understand the emnities between fans of certain English Soccer Teams. She much preferred American Football and watched it religiously whenever Saunders traveled close enough to the American coast. One day in the future, Kay planned to visit America and see if she could get a ticket to a game.
The two girls spoke for a short while longer until Kay had to disconnect because she was about to enter her classroom. After a round of final pleasantries, the blonde hung up her phone as she walked through the classroom door. As an above average student, Kay always made sure her phone was off upon entering class. She did not want to garner a suspension from the Sensha-do team because she was interrupting class.
It was the end of the school day and Kay was heading over to the Sensha-do team facilities for a quick meeting with her command staff. Upon entering the bay reserved for the team, Kay stopped and took a minute to admire the lines of Sherman Tanks precisely laid out in at least six parallel rows awaiting their next call to duty. Letting her gaze roam the area her eyes alighted on the wall where the numerous awards for competition Saunders had earned or won over the many decades the school had participated in Sensha-do. At the end of the wall there was a conspicuous empty spot where the national championship banner would go if they ever managed to win another National Championship.
"Hopefully, that spot will be filled at the end of the year", thought Kay as she heard her name called from across the bay.
Kay turned to acknowledge who had called out to her and saw that her third in command Alisa was making her way in her direction. Waving back and heading for the shorter girl, Kay wondered what she wanted. Upon exchanging greetings with her shorter friend she listened as Alisa explained the reason for her more than usual giddiness. It seems that the teams' advisor/instructor had stopped by earlier and informed Alisa that the Saunders Alumni Association had recently finished acquiring four new tanks for the team. Kay lifted an eyebrow in curiosity.
"We managed to purchase four M26 Pershing Heavy Tanks for our team. Eight were up for sale but another school beat us to the other four.", chittered Alisa excitedly.
Hearing about the new additions, Kay's questioning look switched to one of pure excitement. Remembering the specifications on the Pershings, a part of her mind was rapidly running through all of the new possibilities.
"Weight: 46 tons. Length: 20 feet 9.5 inches. Width: 11 feet 6 inches. Crew: 5. Armor-upper hull: 100mm; Lower hull and turret sides: 76mm. Hull sides: 50-75mm. Main armament: 90mm gun M3 with 70 rounds ready. With two Browning M1919 machine guns in 30-06 and one Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun for the tank commander. OH HELLS YEAH! Now we can form a heavy assault squad with Naomi's Sherman Firefly and its British Ordinance Quick Firing17-pounder main gun. With the firepower of the seventeen pounder complimented by those 90mm's, we'd have a slight edge over everyone else. Black Forests' Maus better watch out, we're coming to getcha! The only drawback to those four Pershings that I can see is the fact that they're slow compared to our Sherman's. The light tanks from Anzio and Ooarai would outrun and outmaneuver those 26's. We need to find a way to increase the engine performance of the Pershings for a higher speed before our first major match of the year.", Kay happily replied.
Alisa was glad to see her commander happy with the news as well; however she still had one more thing to tell Kay. Clearing her throat to get Kay's renewed attention; Alisa prepared to tell the blonde the bad news.
"Umm Kay, I have one more bit of news and you're not gonna be happy about it. We missed out on getting the lone Super Pershing that had been rumored up for sale. Everyone thought it had been scrapped, however my sources told me that it had been found, rebuilt from the ground up, and renovated for Sensha-do. Before the alumni could offer the owner a substantial price to start negotiations, the owner donated it to another school. Unfortunately, no one knows what school received it and if they do then they aren't talking about it.", stated Alisa warily.
The short brown-haired girl winced as Kay blistered the air with curses that'd make a sailor blush in embarrassment. Alisa knew that her friend was one of the most expressive girls aboard ship. When she was happy, the whole world was a happy. When she was pissed off, it seemed as if their school ship itself wanted to run and hide. Waiting a few minutes to let Kay's cursing subside, Alisa glanced at the nearest bulkhead. To her imagination, the wall itself looked as if it the paint was peeling from the virulent invective as it blasted its way around the bay and echoed. Looking around the room again, Alisa saw that the majority of their teammates who'd been in the bay had pulled a magic act and disappeared once Kay's cursing started. She could hear the fading echoes of footsteps as everyone rabbitted to get out of Kay's way.
When Kay had completed her rant, she realized that-other than her own voice-the bay was silent. Alisa sighed to herself as Kay glared at those who didn't escape in time and had taken to hiding in and around the gathered tanks. Those girls were peeking out from their hiding spots only to recoil in fright as Kay glared at anyone in her immediate visual area before storming off towards the team office. Meekly following behind the team leader, Alisa wondered if any of her counterparts at the other schools had to go through this kind of shit.
Later on that evening, the three leaders of the team approached the dormitory room of their teammate Krystal. Listening as Naomi and Alisa bickered back and forth like sisters behind her, Kay knocked on the door.
"Who is it?", called Krystal from somewhere inside.
"Hey Krystal it's Kay. I have Naomi and Alisa with me. Mind if we come in to talk?", asked Kay.
"Sure, give me a minute to get the door. I was finishing up some homework.", answered Krystal
It took their teammate a couple of minutes to open the door and let them enter. As she entered the foyer, Kay slipped off her shoes, placed them by the door, and followed Krystal further into her studio apartment-like dormitory room. Krystal was attired in a black and gold tank-top and a pair of black satin lounging pants and looked very relaxed to Kay's eyes. The two spoke for a minute as Naomi and Alisa removed their shoes and entered the room.
Dropping into an inviting chair filled with fluffy pillows after offering her team leaders some refreshment, Krystal invited them to take a seat and make themselves comfortable.
"So Commander Kay, Vice Commander Naomi, Vice Commander Alisa, what brings the three of you to my humble seagoing abode?", asked Krystal.
Before anyone could answer, Naomi yelped in pain as she sat down on something sharp and pointy. Lifting her butt out of the chair enough to reach underneath and slide her hand around on the cushion to find what had poked her, the tall short-haired master tank sniper felt something unusual. Bringing the object around in front of her body to show the other girls the offending object, Naomi looked confused and started to ask the hostess what it was. Before she could voice her inquiry Krystal cried out in relief.
"My Spurs! Thank God you found them. I've been looking for them for almost a week. Naomi, I hope they didn't hurt you. If they did I do apologize for being so careless.", chirruped Krystal as she reached out for her new found possession.
As Naomi handed the offending items over, Kay asked what they were and what Krystal used them for.
"These are a set of spurs for my cowboy boots. Greg gave them to me after his first tankery battle. Apparently Ridgeway awards a custom set of spurs to each new team member after their first battle. Though his team lost and his tank was knocked out early in the match, the team commander at the time gave Greg these spurs for participating. I guess its kinds of a rite of passage for them. Greg had a replica set custom-made for my boots and sent them to me. Here let me pass them around so you can see them, Kay. Just be careful, as Naomi can attest, the points are very sharp.", answered Krystal as she passed the spurs over.
When the spurs were returned to their owner and a demonstration given of how they were attached to her boots, Krystal explained that every so often her brother would send her another pair. And because of that, she had quite a collection of them. When the explanation was finished, Kay asked Krystal if her and the two vice-commanders could watch one of the recordings of the Ridgeway team.
"The three of us wanted to see what they as boys can do in a sport for girls. When we meet up with their ship, we may ask to go against them in an exhibition match. These videos would give us good information so we could prepare for them just in case they agree to the match. Plus we could see their tanks in action and if there is a possibility of adding more tanks to our current arsenal we could, with their help, become a much better and well-rounded team. Our M4's are some of the best tanks from that era but because we use Sherman's exclusively our team is somewhat one-dimensional and I want to change that before I graduate from here.", explained Kay.
Krystal said it was no problem and handed over six DVDs' after a short search. She also handed Kay a folder with some of her personal observations she'd written down critiquing each match over several days. After a couple of hours of just hanging out and chatting, Kay, Naomi, and Alisa said their goodbyes and left Krystal's dorm room to return to their own lodgings for the evening. As they walked the streets Kay absently listened as Naomi and Alisa discussed some inconsequential subject. When they arrived at the cross street where the trio went their separate ways, she bid her friends farewell and made the turn on to her street. Entering the dormitory building right before curfew, Kay demurely bowed her head while undergoing the familiar lecture from the dorm-mother. Shortly after that, the sixteen-year old blonde student was unlocking and entering her dorm room. Tossing her book satchel on her desk and stripping out of her uniform, Kay put on her favorite night shirt and went to bed. As Mr. Sandman whisked her off to dreamland, her mind ran through several ideas presently occupying her thoughts. Her last conscious thought was of Sherman tanks charging off into battle.
And with that, I end the first chapter of my foray into the world of Girls und Panzer fanfiction. I do hope you readers enjoyed my take on events in the GuP world.
For those of you who are curious as to why I decided to write this, I have to say, I don't know. It just came to me after I watched the subtitled Girls und Panzer episodes. I thank my eternal friend F-14 Tomcat Lover for introducing me to such a hilarious and interesting series. Thanks a lot buddy. I owe you big time!
This story takes place a few months after Miho and Ooarai won the National Championship match. I chose to the girls of Saunders as the foil for my OC's and originally created school because I feel that in some stories, Saunders doesn't get that much attention. I may be wrong though only time will tell. Now just because I'm focusing more on Saunders it doesn't mean that I have forgotten the other schools. As you probably read, two characters from St. Gloriana Girls College made a cameo appearance while some of the other schools were named. Fear not gentle readers. In the next chapter, you'll hear from all of the other main schools in the series. I'll try to portray the characters as mostly in character but I apologize in advance if they end up drastically out of character. For now I'm gonna take my time and write this and there may be long periods of time between updates. There's a reason for that and I'll explain in a bit.
For fans of my other work, I have some bad news. A few weeks ago the harddrive on my laptop went kaput and I lost everything I had already written for some of my other stories (including the new stuff I had written for 'Promises in Snow and Ice). I was most upset when that happened and replaced the harddrive in my laptop. Unfortunately I am waiting to receive some information from someone who is attempting to retrieve all of my documents, music, and pictures from my old HD. I hope he is able to and I can get back to my full swing of writing. In addition to the new stuff I had for 'PiSaI, I had started a new Robotech story set in the Shadow Chronicles era. As most of you who know me, I'm a big Robotech fan and a big fan of Khyron and Azonia. Needless to say, that story (called 'Raven Squadron') as well as my others is on a long, and in some cases longer term, hiatus. At the present time I am working on this GuP story and am attempting to write a story based off of the series 'Zipang'. I do apologize from the bottom of my wolfish heart about the continued delays in getting out new material for my older stories. Please bear with me a little bit longer.
And on that note I must sign off for now. As usual, comments, suggestions, and criticisms are accepted. Just either drop me a PM or leave a review. Flames will be used by Kay to keep her Sherman tank warn next time she and the rest of Saunders face off against Pravda in the cold north.
This is the Knightewolfe, signing off for now.
KW
Knightewolfe's Lair
11/14