Chapter 3: Something new

September 25th
9:00 am
Yellow Sea St. Gloriana Girls College's Carrier Ark Royal

Darjeeling looked out the hatch of her Churchill infantry tank, as she watched the new Valentine tanks in the shooting range, a teacup in hand. "Tell me Orange Pekoe, what do you think of the new tanks?" she asked the orange haired girl who watched the training from inside, using the tank's telescopic sights.

"I think they would do great Darjeeling-sama." the Churchill's loader looked at her blonde commander.

"Emma!" Someone called and Darjeeling looked around to find its source. A blonde haired girl was walking gracefully towards her, her hair loose unlike hers which is tied in a French braid. When she came closer, Darjeeling noticed her purplish eyes, which locked with hers as the girl in question continued to approach her.

"Frances, I thought I said that we would not call each other by our names" she scolded, whispering. "So Assam, what do I owe you the pleasure?" she said aloud for the benefit of Orange Pekoe inside.

"Okay then, Ms. Darjeeling, I bring you the news that Oarai has received a letter from the International Federation." She handed her tablet to Darjeeling, which the latter accepted immediately.

"Well, it's only a matter of time in my opinion. How about we sent our regards to them?" she handed the tablet back to Assam.

"Yes, I thi-"she began but she was interrupted by a loud rumbling of an engine coming from a distance and the loud screams of "Darjeeling-sama!" that came from a redheaded girl violently waving her arms, closing the distance fast with her speedy Crusader Mk VI tank. Assam couldn't help but sigh, while Darjeeling looked on.

The tank skidded into a stop, mere inches from the Churchill tank, and the Rosehip jumped out. "Darjeeling-sama, is it true?! Oarai got the letter-" she would have said more if Assam didn't cover her mouth.

Orange Pekoe popped her head out of the tank and began to scold the redhead. "Rosehip, we do not talk about that here, and you almost collided with our tank, where are your lady-like manners?

"Sumimasen." Rosehip bowed down, her orange eyes filled with remorse.

"Orange Pekoe that's enough, now Rosehip I hope you'll be more careful in the future and to answer your question, yes it is true, Oarai did get the letter." Darjeeling sipped her tea once more.

Silence ensued in the group but it was soon broken by the hum of another engine, this time coming from the shooting range. One of the Valentine XI tanks was marching its way towards the four, its 6 pounder gun looking very deadly as the tank continued to steadily approach the group. As the tank came into a stop, more gracefully than the Crusader did, a girl with long brown hair tied in a braid came out of the hatch and jumped down to the grass, her hair bobbing up and down as she moved.

"Well, this looks like quite the gathering, say are we going to watch the match?" She asked, trying to break the silence.

"What match Rukuriri?" both Orange Pekoe and Rosehip asked.

"An exhibition match with Kuromorime and Jatsokta going against a Pravda-Saunders coalition," Darjeeling answered, much to the surprise of both Rukuriri and Assam, who had their mouth open to answer the very question.

"How did you two know?" Assam asked the two, curious since it wasn't exactly an open event.

"I have my source," Rukuriri smiled slyly. Meanwhile, Rosehip and Orange Pekoe went back inside their respective tanks and quickly came back, bringing with them their teapots and teacups.

"Kay called me in advance; I assume you got yours from your intel gathering?" Darjeeling answered. Orange Pekoe went back inside the Churchill once more and came out with a platter of scones, crumpets and other finger food.

"Yup, I also heard that Kuro will try out a brand new tank in the match, along with a new line-up" Assam looked at her notes. Rukuriri got a large picnic blanket from her tank and laid it on the grass.

"Will we go, Darjeeling-sama?" Orange Pekoe asked as she eyed Rosehip warily as the redhead rapidly drank and refilled her teacup.

"Yup and you four will join me," Darjeeling replied, sitting down on the blanket, biting on a small caramel petit fours.

"Why did they even change their line-up?" Rosehip asked, her face stuffed with strawberry scones.

"Have you heard this saying before? "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often," Darjeeling replied as she surveyed the little picnic happening right now.

"I guess the same can be said to us," Orange Pekoe said, while she buttered a crumpet using a silver butter knife.

"Can we have another match with Oarai?" Rukuriri asked, wanting to get revenge on that sneaky Type 89.

"You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war." Darjeeling quoted, sipping Earl Grey from her cup.

The brown haired girl gave a dumbfounded look, waiting for an explanation, but Orange Pekoe shot her a "get used to it" look.

The little picnic was disturbed when Rosehip quickly entered her tank and zoomed off, muttering "I've got to pee, I've got to pee."

Orange Pekoe and Assam can't help but sigh, while Rukuriri stifled a giggle. Darjeeling only held out her hand and quietly whispered, "Rosehip, come back."

10:00am
Port of Fukuoka, Japan Kuromorimine Girls Academy's Carrier Graf Zepplin

The screeching of seagulls, along with the waves crashing to the side of the massive Graf Zepplin aircraft carrier washed out the sound of more than a dozen armored vehicles traveling on the concrete slip port on the busy port of Fukuoka. On the second tank of the convoy, a Tiger I with the serial number 212, a short brown haired girl looked out of her tank's hatch.

"Are the preparations for the upcoming match ready Erika?" she asked the long white haired girl on the tank on her right flank, a larger Tiger II.

"Yes Miss Nishizumi, the tanks you have requested are up and running," the girl replied.

"Very good, it took a while to convince Mother but it was worth it." The browned haired girl or Maho took out her notebook and muttered to herself. "With the win of Miho, the way of Senshado changed forever. The use of heavy tanks has long been obsolete and Oarai winning the 63rd National Senshado Tournament was the final nail to its coffin. Kuromorime has long been depended on them, phasing them out would be an impossible task; the best I can do is limit its use. The need for a fast and flexible plan would also have to be the norm, a plan that can take on the unexpected turn of events. Those who are on the receiving end of it will be swept off their feet."

"Uhmmm Kommandant?" Erika called out, anxious to interrupt her commander's thoughts.

"Yes, Erika?" Maho replied, looking at her vice commander.

"Koume has a question for you." Erika shied away, knowing better not to question the Kommandant's orders. The girl in question suddenly appeared on the Tiger's left flank, riding her brand new Panther II.

"Ms. Nishizumi, I know your recent changes in our line-up included mothballing the heavy tank destroyers, mainly the Elefant and the Jadgtiger, along with the super-heavy tank, the Maus. My question is where does switching out my old Panther for this much heavier Panther II fit in your plan to limit the school's heavy tanks?" the girl asked as her short reddish-brown hair got blown by the morning sea breeze.

Maho looked at her Deputy Commander and Erika began. "The Panther II maybe is heavier than the Panther but with its improved engine the former can go faster and is more mobile than the latter." The white-haired girl pointed to the Panther II's turret. "It also incorporates the Schmalturm turret, which not only removes the shot trap of the original tank but also allows a better gun elevation, with the addition of being able to mount a stereoscopic rangefinder. And did I mention the overall thicker armor?" Erika finished, and she looked at Maho to wrap it all up.

"Yes, I knew you loved your "Kitty", but sacrifices must be made." Maho ended, bemused by her one of her tank commanders giving her personal tank a nickname.

"Thanks for enlighting me Herr Kommandant." Koume smiled, now knowing her and her tank's role in the school's new overall strategy.

"Commander!" a shout came from behind.

Maho turned around and saw a brown-haired girl wearing the Kuromorime Senshado jacket and cap, riding on her Jagdpanther tank destroyer, "What is it tank commander Miyuki?"

"I would also like to ask a question to you," the Jagdpanther commander said, lowering her cap as a sign of respect to her commander.

"Fire away, Jagdpanther commander," Maho replied.

"Why do we have to go through basic training again?" Miyuki shuddered remembering the track replacement training, a thing she already knew from memory, especially the fact how heavy the tracks are.

"The re-trainings were there to assess the individual capabilities of each tank commanders, especially when the formation happens to break so that each and every tank commander can react properly and execute their missions properly until a chance to regroup is found."

"Commander I can't help but hear the chatter and I would also like to ask a question of my own." the small bespectacled girl turned around, who was riding the lead tank of the convoy, a Panzer III Ausf. J.

"Go ahead tank commander Aoi," Maho said, doing away with the traditional way of just recognizing a tank with just numbers and instead of having the tank commander's name be the call sign.

"How did the upcoming exhibition match came to be? I mean it's normal for us to have a match with Jatsokta but against Pravda and Saunders? Aoi asked.

"Interesting question, Panzer III commander, I'll let my Deputy Commander answer that question. Maho answered, looking at her snowy haired vice-captain.

"Uhmmmm it started with me forgetting to encode the match request to Jatsokta on the Enigma machine, the Americans seemed to pick it up and wanted to join. And before you know it, even Pravda came to join in." Erika nervously explained, recalling her blunders leading to these events.

The others nod in affirmation, worried since they knew that in a years' time, Erika will be the one to lead them.

"I hope this will be a lesson to you Vice-Captain and to the others too, especially when I will depart for Germany," Maho said hoping to leave some lasting word on her team before leaving.

The convoy traveled the rest of the way to the training grounds quietly, deep in thought or nervous for the upcoming match, who knows?

10:00 am
81km from the island of Iwo Jima Anzio Girls High School's Carrier Aquilla

On the stern side of Aquilla, away from the Colosseum and the Spanish Steps, students of Anzio Girls High School are laboring on the fields. A dozen CV 33 tankettes are marching across the field, plows in pull, followed by another dozen tankettes dropping seeds into the plowed field while pulling hoes behind them, burying the seeds. On the edge of the fields, a few Carro Armato M13/40 light tanks sprayed blasts of water at the seeds.

Meanwhile riding on a Camioneta AS 42 Sahariana reconnaissance vehicle, a girl with a long pale green hair tied into twin ponytails surveyed the fields while holding her iconic black crop. With her are her two subordinates, Pepperoni, a black haired girl, who wore her short hair in pigtail on the left side and spiky on the right and Carpaccio, a blonde girl. The former held a megaphone, shouting at anyone not working while the latter drove the vehicle.

"I hope this venture works, Duce," Carpaccio said, addressing the green haired girl.

"Of course this will work, the Duce has never failed us before," Pepperoni remarked.

The Sahariana recon vehicle turned a corner and saw a different scene, rows of trellises, filled with grapevines. Dozens of students are among the plants, picking the ripe grapes and putting them in baskets. Once the baskets were filled, the girls placed them on modified CV 33 tankettes to be taken to the crusher, a machine made from old tank tracks, which will crush the grapes to transform them into juice.

"Can't we just make wine instead?" Pepperoni asked, longing to enter the world her older siblings described.

"That would be costly and alcohol isn't a thing a minor should touch," Carpaccio remarked.

The vehicle stopped in front of one of the newly built buildings, the glassmaking workshop. Inside, furnaces blazed to melt sand while long blowpipes are used to blow the then molten glass to its shape. On another side of the buildings, girls hand paints the vases with colorful designs. A girl suddenly approached Anchovy and smartly saluted her and said, "Requesting permission to have an audience with the Duce?"

"Permission granted," Anchovy replied, recognizing the girl as one of the new recruits named Tiramisu, a bespectacled black haired girl, who was the new commander of the CV-33 tankette group, which was Pepperoni's previous post before she got to command the brand new M16/43 group.

"Duce, the modifications you asked for in the truck has been made by the automotive club. The cooking club has also stocked the ingredients requested by Ms. Pepperoni." The brown haired girl read off her clipboard.

"Any news on the docu-"Anchovy was saying when a large crowd of people swarmed around her.

"Duce, I'm from the fashion club and we would like you to try out our newly designed dress." A girl said as she waved a dress in front of Anchovy.

The other girls carried plates, while some are ash-faced while there's a couple of them who are covered with mud. But all of them wanted one thing: Duce's attention.

"Duce, I'm the art club, we have finally finished making the new decoys for the new tanks, could you take a look at it?"

"Duce, I'm from the automotive club, we managed to assemble the noise maker you requested, and we would like you to watch its first field test."

"Duce, one of the tankettes broke down in the middle of the field."

"Duce, can we now increase the snack budget again?"

"Duce, how fast do we have to be to skip our tankette on water?"

"Duce, can you please taste the brand new recipe for our baked ziti,"

"Duce, two of the new Sahariano tanks crashed into each other.

"Duce, I bring news-"

A loud rumbling came from a distance and effectively silenced the crowd. A girl, whose name was Mozzarella, holding a wrench poked her head outside the hatch of her P40 Heavy Tank, "Duce, we managed to repair your tank!" the girl cheerfully said, although Anchovy wondered how they knew how to operate her tank and if they would be a suitable crew if the proposed tank got approved by the Federation. The heavy tank came into a stop in front of the crowd, who was in awe of the massive war machine.

Anchovy stood on top of the tank and ordered, "Attention! For those who have questions about tanks you may request help from Pepperoni." She motioned to her black haired girl who put on her tanker helmet, ready for action. "Meanwhile those asking for advice in regards to extra-curricular matters, Carpaccio can be of help." The blonde shyly waved her hands. "Only those with very important news can approach me," she said as she slipped down from the tank.

Only one girl dared to approach her, a girl named Linguine, whose long red hair echoed further by her ember red eyes, served as a reminder of her burning passion for her new work, serving as the head of Anzio's newly established Intelligence Agency, the so-called, Servizio Informazioni Militari or the Military Information Service.

"Duce, we finally managed to unscramble the phone call of the commander of Saunders, Kay-san, to the commander of St. Gloriana's, Darjeeling-san, here's a transcript of their conversation." The ginger handed over her clipboard to her commanding officer.

"A closed exhibition match, huh? This is a perfect time to go test the new truck, Linguine, thank you for your hard work." Anchovy said as she returned the clipboard.

11:00 am
Sea of Okhotsk Pravda Girls College's Carrier Kiev

The cold draft of wind blows through the still sleepy carrier of Pravda, as the Kiev plows through the small chunks of icebergs off the coast of Russia. Inside one of the buildings in the Little Kremlin, a small child slept like an angel while she was being nudged awake by what seems to be her mother.

"It's so cold, I don't want to practice, can't we just sleep?" the child said as she turned around in bed.

"Sure you can Katyusha if you want us to be beaten by Kuromorime and Jatkosota," the tall girl said whose name was Nonna. Someone knocked on the door of the bedroom and she immediately opened it to see a blonde girl in a maid outfit holding a tray filled with assorted breakfast food.

"Is she awake?" the blonde asked Nonna in another language, which was Russian.

"Not yet, and thanks for helping me Comrade Klara," she took the tray and placed in on the bedside table.

"No problem Comrade Nonna, how do you like our chances in the upcoming exhibition match against Kuro and Jatkosota anyway?" the blonde asked as she entered the room, closing the door behind her.

"I think we'll do fine, even if we are paired up with Saunders." Nonna nudged Katyusha awake again and switched to her mother tongue again. "Katyusha, breakfast is here," she gently said and the girl slowly sat up in bed.

"Nonna, Klara, how many times do I have to tell you to speak Japanese? Katyusha said as she wiped her eyes.

"She looks so cute when she's so angry," Klara commented.

"Agreed," Nonna replied in Russian and then switched again. "Here you go, eat up while it is still hot," she hands Katyusha the tray which contains a bowl of kasha or buckwheat porridge with a glass of hot milk, along with utensils and napkins.

"Nonna, Klara? Were you even listening to what I said?" she berated as Nonna scooped some porridge and blew on it to make it less hot before she fed it to Katyusha. "What are you two talking about anyway?" she added.

"Klara was telling me a story," she replied.

"Oh, about what?" she asked as she drank from the glass of milk.

"About how in a place she visited, late sleepers got thrown into a lake or into the sea," Nonna said nonchalantly.

Katyusha blew the milk she was drinking and asked, "Nani?!" while both Nonna and Klara laughed.

"Let me help you with that," Nonna attempted to wipe the spilled milk from Katyusha's face, much to the latter's protests, while Klara watched from afar. A set of knocking interrupted the three, much to the dismay of Nonna and Klara. "I'll get it," Klara said as she walked to open the door.

The door opened to reveal a small girl wearing an ushanka while cowering in fear as she received looks of daggers from the two tall girls. "I'm very sorry but I bear news," she said, avoiding the eyes of both Nonna and Klara.

"What is it, Nina?" Katyusha asked, thankful for the distraction. "Did the new SU-100 arrive?" she added, hoping to see the newest addition to Pravda's arsenal.

"No, milady, I bring to you the news that Oarai has received a letter inviting them to an international tournament," she announced, much to the surprise of the three.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's have a practice," Katyusha said, jumping out of bed and started walking out of the room, unaware that she is still in her pajamas.

12: 00 pm
Port entrance of the island of Guam Saunders University's Carrier USS George Washington

In the heat of the afternoon sun, hundreds of people, along with dozens of cars and trucks, patiently stood in one of the slip ports in the island of Guam, watching as the gigantic USS George Washington slowly entered the port. Amongst the people, wearing a totally not suspicious Groucho mustache, a small brown headed girl was so small that she was difficult to spot in the sea of people waiting to board the school carrier. After a few more minutes the anchor has been dropped and the docking is complete, the stream of people going into and from the ship intermingle as they hurry to their destination. Away from the crowd, casually sitting nearby on her Willys MB Jeep, a girl chewed gum as she scanned, behind a pair of black sunglasses, the people boarding the ship. Her tomboyish haircut earned the looks of a few passers-by. When she found who she looking for, she honked the jeep's horn, earning her more strange looks from passers-by.

The Grouchomustachedd girl made her way to the jeep, threw her bag on the back and slumped on the passenger seat, tired. The other girl removed her sunglasses and started the engine, speeding off.

"You took your time, Arisa, I thought you've been caught," the tomboyish girl said as she unwrapped a piece of chewing gum and threw the wrapper to the floor.

"Nah, just got delayed at the airport and did you eat my Twinkie?" Arisa removed her disguise and opened the glove box of the Jeep, looking for her saved up treat.

"It was Kay," the Firefly gunner couldn't help but smile, giving her away.

"Naomi!" the freckled girl looked up to the taller one and started berating nonsense, even occasionally bringing up the word, "Oarai", but other than that, Naomi didn't hear anything else and she didn't bother.

"Now you know why Takashi doesn't love." Naomi laughed as she turned a corner.

The Headquarters for both the Saunders University Airlift Division and the Saunders University Tankery Division came into view, nicknamed playfully by many as the Blonde House, an allusion to the blonde girl who led not only Saunders' air wing but also its Senshado programme, the HQ was an exact replica of the house of the Chief Executive found in Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington DC. To prevent the trouble of having two headquarters, Kay just split the Blonde House into two, with the East Wing being allocated to the Airlift Division and the West to the tanker girls.

Naomi and Arisa drove on, bypassing the security checkpoints because the MPs knew them by sight, circumnavigating the large circular fountain in front of the house, its water reflecting the fierce afternoon sunlight. The Jeep came to a halt in front of a set of stairs and the two jumped off, Naomi gave the keys to a waiting valet and said: "Not one scratch." The valet drove away and the pair walked the flight of stairs towards the door, where two girls wearing tweed jackets and black short skirt with matching black tie opened the door for them. The jackets did little to conceal the bulge of pistols and Arisa voiced her opinion about this when they reached the corridors, where she was sure they are not within the earshot of the guards.

"I know we are an American themed school but isn't this a step too far?" she said, struggling to keep up with Naomi's pace, who made bigger strides than her.

"Tell that to Kay, not me and besides it wouldn't even kill you, the best thing it can do is knock you unconscious." The taller girl replied as they reach an ornate oak door with the bronze plaque with the words "Oval Office". Naomi knocked on the door, irritating Arisa who was about to do the same.

A cheerful "Come In." came from the room and Naomi opened the door, blinding her and co-vice commander with bright light.

The office was illuminated by the midday sunlight, passing through three large windows behind the polished oak desk made from the wood of Date Maru, the first ever Japanese galleon ship. Flagpoles containing the school's flag and the banners of both the Airlift division and the Senshado team are also behind the desk.

The wall has been lined with paintings including a portrait of the founder of Saunders Prep University, a painting of pre-war Nagasaki, and a painting of Cobra King, a M4A3E2 Jumbo, who was the first tank to enter the town of Bastogne, where the 101st Airborne Division had been surrounded during the Battle of the Bulge.

With the desk included, the office was furnished nicely with two couches parallel to each other, with a glass coffee table in the middle, underneath all is a lush carpet.

"Hey you two, just in time for the movie." Kay opened a microwave and withdrew a large bowl filled with popcorn.

"What movie are you talking about? Also what flavor is that?" Arisa asked as she threw her bag on the floor and lied on the couch.

"Salted Caramel and Naomi stop going after my Coke stash, you can have the Pepsis though." The blonde sat down at the other couch and pressed a button on a remote, causing a projector and a projector screen to slowly come down from the ceiling.

"You made it sound like drugs" the brown haired girl retorted as she lies face down on the sofa. "And throw me a Mountain Dew, will you? She added as she saw the Sniper of Saunders opened a cabinet on the far side of the wall, which was actually a mini fridge and the tomboyish girl came around with a can of Sprite.

A can of Mountain Dew came soaring through the office and hit the small girl right in the back of her head, causing her to moan in pain and the other two to burst out laughing.

"Ouch, that hurts." Arisa stood up and went into one of her famous tirades."

"Okay, okay shut up, just direct your eyes to the screen," Kay said as she pressed another button on the remote, while the freckled girl sulkily sat down.

The name of their school, "Saunders University Preparatory School" flashed on the screen, in front of a tank background, along with the words "Charge!" and "True Account"

"Kay, what the heck is this?" Arisa asked as she popped open the can of soda that was thrown at her.

Kay smiled and replied, "You'll see.", while munching on some popcorn.

Their school ship, the USS George Washington, suddenly appeared on the screen

"But that's our school ship," Arisa began, but she was hushed by Naomi who said, "We know, now shut up,"

The next frame showed the entrance of their school and the commentary began.

"Right now, I'm at Saunders University Preparatory School!" the voice said.

"That voice….." Arisa said, standing up.

The camera panned up and a girl with fluffy light brown hair and equally brown eyes appeared. "I'm gonna infiltrate them now!" she said.

"Sergeant Oddball? Naomi questioned, as she opened a bag of Doritos.

"Yukari Akiyama's infiltration video, how did you get a hold of this?" Arisa asked in disbelief.

"It was given to me by a friend of mine."

"Since my infiltration was successful, I'll change into a Saunders uniform." The girl on the screen said and was about to take off her blouse before she turned off the camera.

"Where did she got our school's uniform from anyway?" Kay asked.

"From where we got theirs, on the Internet," Naomi replied.

The scene changed and revealed a warehouse with lines of different variants of Sherman tanks. "This is amazing! A lot of Shermans in neat rows! Sergeant Oddball exclaimed.

"We should really increase the security in the tank shed, it was lucky she never found out about the secret storage room," Arisa said.

The scene changed again and the heads of dozens of girls were projected onto the screen as three familiar girls took the stage.

"Oi that's the three of us!" the freckled girl began.

The three remembered the events quite well, especially when Naomi asked what's her unit and rank, in which the girl replied, "6th Armoured Division! Sergeant Oddball, third class!" Kay laughed loudly and before they knew it, the credits rolled in.

"Say Arisa, your loader, Helmet-chan-" the blonde began.

"Alyssa, you mean," Arisa said, remembering her redheaded loader.

"Yeah her, she submitted the report from your department, it looks like various schools received supplements to their tank forces".

"Oh yeah, I forgot to submit that."

"Anyway, it looks like Kuro has a brand new Panther II while as usual, we didn't manage to penetrate Jatkotsa's thick veil of secrecy.

"She also handed over the performance review for the brand new Jumbos," Kay waved a folder.

"Are going to field it in the exhibition match?" Arisa asked.

"Of course," Kay answered in straight English.

"Say don't you think it is unwise to be so far from Japan when we would have a match next week? Naomi asked as she still ate Dorito chips.

"Don't worry we can always take the Galaxy," Kay replied "Also Arisa before I forgot, did you managed to deliver the *thing*?" the blonde added.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Arisa replied

12:00pm
58km from the island of Saipan Chi-Ha-Tan Academy's carrier Akagi

In the warm waters of the Pacific, the carrier Akagi slowly plows through the waves, not in a hurry, just like one of the inhabitants on her deck. On one of the many streets crisscrossing through the town, a lone girl leisurely rides her motorcycle. The girl stopped in front of the library, one of the largest in the country, and dismounted from Uranus, her motorcycle, and removed her custom-made black helmet, revealing her long dark brown hair and brown eyes, which mesmerized people from around the nation.

"Commander Nishi!" someone called out, she turned around and saw a small bespectacled girl with long black hair tied in braids hidden under a helmet running towards her.

"Ah, Fukuda perfect timing, why don't you ride with me?" she greeted the girl as she catches her breath.

"Really, commander?" Fukuda's eyes brighten up as she saw herself putting her hands around her commander's waist.

"Yes, and put on this helmet for your safety." Fukuda wore the helmet, mounted Uranus with Nishi and the two rode away.

"The engineering department wasn't able to comply with the number of tanks we requested." Fukuda began, stating the report she just finished memorizing.

"Why is that?" Nishi asked, knowing fully well the answer.

"Most of the necessary steel required to make the tanks were often diverted to making ships for schools like Yokosuka Girl's Marine High School, hence the delay in production in our side.

"How many did they manage to deliver?"

Fukuda thought for a moment, "One Type 1 Chi-He Medium Tank and a Type 3 Ho-Ni III, that's it."

"Guess we have to make do," Nishi stopped in-front of Chi-Ha-Tan's dojo, and the two dismounted from the motorcycle.

The clashing of steel swords along with the random shouts of "Hiya!" and screams of pain broke the otherwise tranquil environment of the dojo and, Nishi, followed by Fukuda, began walking around the compound, quietly as to not disturb those who are meditating. After walking around for what seems like hours, they managed to find the person they are looking for. Sitting in the corner of the dojo's armory, next to rows of neatly arranged katana swords and naginata spears, they found a long-haired girl with her black colored hair tied in a braid with a white ribbon. The girl in question was fast asleep, wearing a kimono and holding her gunto sword. She was Tamada, who was the Vice-commander of the Chi-Ha-Tan Academy's Senshado Team, and Nishi and Fukuda are carefully nudging her awake.

The girl suddenly stood up in a drunk-like manner and she unsheathed her katana. "You've picked the wrong girl, fools!" the girl swung her sword wildly, her reddish-brown eyes were lit with fire. Nishi managed to dodge the sword slashes while Fukuda made a run for it.

"Tamada, calm down it's just me and Fukuda," Nishi called out, while she warily watched out for the sharp blade being swung, remembering the embarrassing time when she was almost hit by it and thinking Tamada's staging a coup.

"Commander, I'm very sorry, please accept this sword as a token of my sincere apology." The black haired girl came to her senses, bowed and offered her sheathed sword to her senior officer.

"That wouldn't be needed, now where could Fukuda be?" Nishi asked, remembering how the little girl ran off.

"How about we go look for her?" Tamada suggested.

"Great idea, as expected of you Tamada." Nishi praised her Vice-Commander.

The pair began to explore the barely lit corridors of the dojo, the afternoon sunlight barely illuminating the place. After a while the two of them emerge outside, revealing an elegant courtyard, with trays planted with carefully clipped bonsai plants, a small koi pond and a footbridge across it. Scattered around the gardens are bushes filled with chrysanthemum flowers, near one stands two persons, like a mother and daughter pair. The taller one wore a kimono, holding a rake, used to form patterns on the white sands of the ginshanada of the garden, while the smaller one wore the standard Chi-Ha-Tan Senshado uniform.

"Ah Commander, are you looking for little Fukuda here, I managed to bump into her." The taller one said, her hair tied into two victory rolls, unlike everybody's simplistic hairstyle.

"Hosomi, we are in your debt for helping our little one," Nishi replied.

"Fukuda-chan sumimasen, I didn't mean to scare you away" Tamada apologized

"It's alright Tamada-senpai and arigato Hosomi-senpai," Fukuda said cheerfully.

"No problem, Fukuda, if you want more candy, you can just ask for more," Hosomi winked as she whisked a piece of candy from one of her hair rolls. "Also Nishi-sama, I found this inside one of the lanterns on the stone pathway." She handed a small piece of paper.

"Hmmmmmm what does it say?" The trio looked at the content of the paper, with Fukuda and Tamada looking over Nishi's shoulder.

20XX.10.2

9:00 JST

Yokohama Training Grounds

Be there

-K

"Who do you think gave this commander?" Tamada asked.

"What do you think will happen there Nishi-senpai?" Fukuda thought aloud.

"Only one way to find out," Nishi said as she pocketed the invitation.

1:00 pm
 Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean Oarai Girls Academy's Carrier Zuikaku

The smoke inside the room is too thick to determine the speaker but another voice chopped through the darkness,

"Oi, Maki-chan we shouldn't be too harsh on them," a meek voice said.

"They just blew off our front door, what do you expect Kayo-chin," another girl argued.

"Rin, come with me and whoever is in there don't you think of doing anything funny." An authoritative voice commanded.

"Miporin, what are we going to do," Saori said, her voice quivering with fear.

"We have to defend ourselves." Hana picked up a lead pipe and raised it, ready to strike.

"Luckily, I brought this," Yukari unsheathed a stiletto knife and got into position.

"I'm Nishizumi Miho and we apologized for blowing your door, we were just looking for tanks," Miho apologized

The smoke cleared out partially to reveal three silhouettes. They wore the same uniform they are wearing, the only difference is that they are holding WW2-era guns.

"Nishizumi? Did Kuromorime suddenly invade us while we were underground?" one of the girls asked, playing with her PPSH-41 drum mag SMG.

"Tanks? Did Ooarai revive the Senshado team again?" another one meekly asked, her hands shaking visibly, it's a miracle she hasn't dropped her British Sten gun yet.

"I'm Nishikino Maki, and what do you think you're doing blowing up our door?" a redheaded girl said as she leveled her MP40 submachine gun at them.

Yukari stepped in front, "It's my fault, I'm Akiyama Yukari and we were just looking for clues about the Oarai Tankery Club." she explained, her head bowed low.

"Huh, that's strange." the girl holding the PPSH-41 said, lowering her gun.

"Why is that? Saori asked.

"Because we are the last members of that club," the shakily armed girl replied.

Author's Note.

This has been quite a hard write since I was losing motivation to finish this up, but I made it through so hope you enjoy reading this and see you all next time!

Edit: 3/21/19

Added lines, corrected some grammatical errors and changed the guns of the three girls in the end.