Disclaimer: Girls und Panzer is copyright Actas and Girls und Panzer Projekt. I do not own anything except for the original characters herein.
Chapter 1
Nilgiri was browsing the news in the elegant tranquility of St. Gloriana's common room when something she read made her sit bolt upright in her chair, nearly overturning the cup of tea she had balanced on the armrest. "Fantastic!" she cried, drawing curious glances from the other students present. She read the article twice through, then leapt up and hurried out of the room. She practically sprinted down the long hallway outside, footfalls echoing off the plaster walls. Skidding around a corner, she passed through a granite archway and cut across the quadrangle's perfectly manicured grass. Still running, she entered one of the accommodation halls and clattered up the stairs to the second floor two at a time. Finding the door she wanted, she pounded on it repeatedly. "Tank racing!" she exclaimed breathlessly when it finally opened.
"…I'm sorry?" said Ceylon warily.
"Tank racing! Here, in this article! Read it!"
Ceylon took the tablet that Nilgiri was insistently offering and scrolled through the news item. "Kobayashi Toshiro - he's that media magnate, isn't he? - is offering prize money for the top three finishers in a tank race to be held next month at the Suzuka grand prix circuit…"
"This is right up my street," enthused Nilgiri. "Tankette racing is how sensha-dō originated, but none of the high schools here practice it anymore."
Ceylon had to grin at her team-mate's excitement. "It says that the tanks must be sensha-dō legal. It's specifically aimed at getting the school teams to participate."
"Well, he has a taker here. The Mark VI is fast enough to be a contender."
"You'll have to get permission from commander Darjeeling," Ceylon reminded her. "But I doubt she'll deny you. Let's go tell Keemun."
Ceylon, Nilgiri and Keemun were the crew of St. Gloriana's Vickers Mark VIc light tank, as commander, driver and gunner respectively. Ceylon was a tall brunette with grey eyes and a bob cut. Nilgiri, shorter, had long dark blond hair in a ponytail and large brown eyes. Keemun was a blue-eyed redhead with a quick temper. Now, all three sat facing Darjeeling in the sensha-dō team's office as she perused the official race rules. At last, she leaned back.
"Kobayashi-sama stipulates that only one tank per school may enter the competition. There may be other drivers on our team who are interested."
"Perhaps we should hold a race of our own to select our challenger?" said Ceylon.
Darjeeling nodded. "That's an excellent idea. The participating tanks must meet sensha-dō requirements and have a top speed no faster than 60 kph. The Mark VI is a good choice, as are our Cromwells if we keep the speed governors installed."
"That means no Hellcats or BTs," said Nilgiri with some relief.
"Nilgiri-san, I'd like you to canvas the team for any other candidates," said Darjeeling. "Ceylon-san, you will be in charge of setting up our race track."
"Yes, commander," replied Ceylon. "I'll research the proposed course and put together something we can race and train on."
"Good. I'm glad you brought this to my attention, Nilgiri-san. It will promote interest in our sport and perhaps open up tank racing as a school elective," said Darjeeling. "My grandmother told me about the tankette races and gymkhanas they used to hold when she was young."
The next morning, Ceylon walked over to the automotive club's hanger. Lapsang Souchong, a very tall girl with short, untidy black hair, was standing by an open garage door wearing a dark blue boiler suit.
"Ceylon! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Um, I've got a favour to ask of you again…" said Ceylon.
Lapsang looked reproving. "When Nilgiri stops by, it's for a nice gossip over a cuppa. She brings chocolate biscuits."
Ceylon raised her hands. "Fine, you've got me. I'll bring some confections next time. But I really do need your expertise."
"Oh, all right," Lapsang relented. "What's the job?"
"I need to create a racing track… for tanks."
Lapsang smiled. "Nilgiri told me about that. The race is at Suzuka, isn't it?"
Ceylon nodded. Lapsang beckoned her inside the hanger. At one of the computer stations in the back, she brought up a picture of the figure eight course. "It's one of the most popular circuits in Formula 1 racing. It will be a worthy venue for the event. Tea?"
Ceylon accepted the steaming mug. "From what I've gleaned on the internet, it will be modified to include off-road sections with various obstacles."
"Well, we won't be able to recreate the entire track here," noted Lapsang, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "So, we'll create a small representative section. It'll be roughly oval with a chicane, some S-bends, a straightaway and the aforementioned unpaved obstacle course." She began sketching out the concept with a stylus.
"Won't it cost a lot to pave part of the campus?" wondered Ceylon.
"Oh, there's no need for that," said Lapsang smugly. "We can just make some modifications to our existing test track."
"We have a test track?"
Lapsang gave her a pitying look. "What, do you think us automotive club types spend our time working on cars just to putter around on residential streets afterwards?"
"No, I just thought you spent all your time working on the cars."
"Touché. We'll try and have the changes done early next week, if that will work for you."
"Yes, splendid," said Ceylon. "Thanks ever so much."
"Not at all. Once again, you've given us something new and different to try. My fellow club members and I await the racing with great anticipation."
"Interest has been rather lukewarm," announced Nilgiri in Darjeeling's office a day later. "However, Oolong-san will race me in a Cromwell to see who gets to represent our team."
"What about students from the automotive club?" asked Darjeeling.
"They all said they're keen to watch, but they'd rather stick to driving cars."
"Very well," said Darjeeling. "Shall we set the race for Wednesday?"
The others nodded.
"Now we must discuss logistics. Have you heard this saying? 'An army marches on its stomach'."
There was a pause.
"…I'm assuming that's a metaphor-" began Ceylon.
"It means that the unglamourous background details are often what determine the difference between victory and defeat," said Darjeeling quickly. "We must decide on a maintenance crew for our tank, coaching, a training schedule and so on."
"Lapsang Souchong-san and three of the other automotive club members have agreed to be the pit crew," said Nilgiri.
"I had hoped as much," smiled Darjeeling.
"I hadn't really thought about coaching," admitted Nilgiri. "We do drive our tanks at high speed fairly often. I could ask the automotive club to give us some tips, I suppose."
Keemun spoke up. "Ōarai's flag tank drifted pretty spectacularly during the National Championship finals. I bought the Blu-Ray, and it has a commentary track with the crew."
"Ooh, let's watch!"
Keemun fetched the video and they played the final few minutes of the match, watching the Pzkpfw IV slide gracefully around the Tiger tank. Mako's voice spoke over the action in a monotone.
"Commander Nishizumi asked me to try and drift around the other tank like we did against St. Gloriana. I told her it would rip the tracks off. She said to do it anyway."
"That was sugoi, Mako-chan!" cried an excited voice, probably Saori. "How did you do that?"
"It's simple if you just read the manual," replied Mako laconically.
This was the extent of Mako's technical explanation. Scanning through the rest of the video and extras revealed no other advice on tank drifting.
"Well, that was very helpful, I don't think," said Keemun sourly.
"Keemun-san," said Darjeeling. "I would like you to scout out the opposition - find out which other schools are entering, who their drivers are, what tanks they are using, that sort of thing."
"Certainly, commander!" exclaimed Keemun, happy to have something to do.
"Until Wednesday then, ladies!"
Author's Notes: This is the third outing for my St. Gloriana light tank crew OCs as they explore tank racing, introduced in the supplemental materials for the series. As the driver, this is really Nilgiri's show. As a reviewer noted previously, St. Gloriana has far too much money to have to make the automotive club do double duty as tank mechanics, but the 'part time enthusiasts working in a drafty shed' trope is just too British to pass up.