NINA KOZLOV

The Maginot troop rolled down to the gunnery range and took their positions. An array of targets of various shapes, sizes, and at different ranges dotted the field.

"Keep it normal ladies," said Éclair, "Fire in your own time."

Nina stepped out onto the tank deck and took the second pair of binoculars. She peered down the range to the many targets. The first round flew out of the Char's hull gun. Nina started counting. The large shell flew toward the farthest target. Dirt shot into the air with a large flash. The target was covered in mud but still stood firm. The next shot fired.

Éclair shook her head, "Inconsistent. Yesterday it was 10 meters short, today is it at the distance but off to the side. One week ago it was long."

"Twelve seconds," said Nina.

"What was that, Nina?"

"It took twelve seconds to fire the second shot," Nina said, "That was far too long."

The other tanks began to fire at the targets. The group was precise but inaccurate. Shots landed together within twenty meters of the target but that was poor by Éclair's standards. Nina continued to count the seconds between each shot. It seemed to vary wildly for each loader regardless of gun type or tank layout.

"What in the world is going on in those tanks?" asked Nina, "The loading is all over the place."

"The loading issue is because the tank commander performs three roles, if not more," explained Éclair, "In these French tanks the commander must also act as loader and gunner. Occasionally radio operator too."

"And the Char with the two guns?"

"The same and gunner behaves as a loader too."

"Can you show me?"

"Fondue, please switch to the radio position."

Éclair peered down the sight and moved the turret into position. She raised the barrel and pulled the trigger. She opened the breech and let the shell fall out. Fondue grabbed the next round from the rack and handed it to Éclair. Éclair shoved in the next round and fired again. Nina carefully observed each step and counted the seconds between shot and reload.

"Why aren't you lapping the shot?" asked Nina.

"Pardon?"

Nina took Fondue's place and put a shell in her hands. As Eclair pulled the trigger Nina had already put the shell in position to be plucked from her. Éclair rammed the shell in as Nina anticipated the next round and lapped another shot. The subtle change in the process had increased their rate of fire substantially.

Éclair's rounds were right on target. Nina was Johnny-on-the-spot with each new shell. Éclair started to sweat. Her arms tired and grew sore with each new round. Nina was determined and unfazed. Her arms were in tip top condition. Not a bead of sweat dripped from her brow.

"Nina, stop for a moment please. My arms don't seem to want to move any more" said Éclair catching her breath, "Aren't you tired from all the loading?"

Nina smiled cheerfully. She rolled up her sleeve and showed off her well-developed muscles uncharacteristic for a girl of her age and size.

"The shells I load are much, much heavier then these and I load them every practice for a very long time."

"But the shells of a KV-2's cannon can weigh up to forty two kilograms," said Fondue, "How do you manage?"

"The rest of the crew helps me. The shell weighs just as much as me after all," Nina giggled.

"I see. And you were also anticipating what shells I needed, no?"

"Uh-huh. Katyusha yelled at us when we didn't load fast enough. So we just guessed what she needed and hoped we didn't have to change it."

"Not exactly a tactical revolution, but such a simple change," muttered Éclair, "Well, shall we move on to the tactical session?"

"Umm… umm… I kind of want to see how the other tanks load," said Nina, "Maybe I can give some advice for them too. If that's okay… I don't want to…"

"Of course, of course. It's no problem at all. Fondue, take us around the range."

Nina jumped into each tank and took the loader position. She fumbled with the munitions and moved to adjacent positions. She grabbed shells and handed them off and loaded them into the barrel as needed. Maginot's tankery team seemed to be a little offended that a little girl new to tankery was telling them how to do their job. Nina took on Katyusha's persona and went in headstrong and didn't tolerate any back talk.

By the end of the session each tank had increased their rate of fire to Nina's minimum standard though their accuracy decreased in proportion.

"Hmm, not ideal," said Éclair.

Nina put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

"The rate of fire will compensate," she declared, "Good work, everyone. Now five laps around the campus! Mush! Mush!"

The team groaned.

"Is that really necessary, Nina?" asked Fondue.

"Katyusha says that a good practice is one where you start tired and end tired," Nina rubbed her head, "It had something to do with endurance."

"I believe it would be better just to end it for today," Éclair made an announcement, "Practice is over everyone. Good work everyone."

While the team departed to their homes or other hobbies Éclair took Nina and Fondue back to her office. A fresh stack of letters waited on her desk with a map and other office supplies. A rather official letter with two seals caught Éclair's attention. She quickly opened the letter and read its contents. Her eyes widened and a wry smile appeared.

"What is it Madam Éclair?"

"Take a look. We have a challenge," said Éclair, "Both St. Glorianna and Anzio wish to test our new skills at the end of summer."

"Forty tanks?!" said Fondue, "We cannot possibly muster forty tanks."

Forty tanks is nothing to Pravda.

"Don't fret, Fondue. Koala, Wu Wei Shu, and Bonple will be our allies during the match."

"That doesn't improve your odds much though," said Nina, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way."

"It's not a problem," said Éclair, "We are fully aware of our status in the world of tankery."

"Will you accept?" asked Fondue.

"But of course. I relish in the chance to test our team against any challenger," Éclair smiled, "Well, let's make a plan for this match shall we?"

"Nina, Pravda faced Bonple last year," said Fondue, "Is there anything you can tell us about them?"

Nina shook her head, "Not much other than they were beaten pretty easily. Their tanks were small and mostly Soviet style, I guess."

Fondue opened one of the books.

"Anything like these?"

"Yeah, those were the ones. Really easy to destroy."

"Okay, now we can make a better plan," Éclair rubbed her chin, "Fondue, can you arrange a practice match with them later in the week?"

"Certainly."

The conversation was dominated by Fondue and Elcair. Nina tried to contribute, but she couldn't add any more than an odd anecdote from previous matches or quotes and sayings from Katyusha. Fondue assembled film reels and texts to assist in planning. Maginot had plenty of information on St. Glorianna and Anzio but virtually nothing on the other schools. Galette joined the conversation later in the afternoon.

"Galette, why are you here?"

"I am second in command am I not?" she said with a twinge of hostility, "As such should I not be at these meetings?"

"Normally commanders arrive on time," quipped Fondue.

"There is no need for such hostility," said Éclair, "Here, read this. We were just going over the force compositions of the other schools. Also, we are arranging a skirmish with Bonple."

Galette grabbed the letter, "A match with Bonple? Are you that desperate to get a win? Defeating a school beneath us will not gain us any prestige."

"Read the letter Galette," said Éclair, "They are to be our allies and by facing each other we can learn of each other's strengths and weakneses."

"Hmph. And how about you, Nina? Have you contributed anything to the conversation?"

Nina shrivelled beneath the imposing girl, "Well… umm… there was…"

"Why are you even here?" dismissed Galette, "If you have nothing to contribute then why are you wasting our time?"

"Says the girl who was late," muttered Fondue under her breath.

"I… uh… I…"

"Enough Galette," said Éclair sternly, "That behaviour is unacceptable."

"What is unacceptable is that our commander is taking advice from a freshman loader. If Pravda wants to insult us so be it. But I will not have Maginot accept it willingly. Nina should go back to Russia. We can handle this ourselves."

"I'm not going back!" Nina barked.

The petite general's constant berating and harsh demeanor lashed out of tiny Nina. Éclair and Fondue were kind, but if she wanted respect she had to demand it and the only way to demand it was like Katyusha. Nina had to be hard and unyielding. She had to abandon her kind sweet self and become like the little general.

"If you don't like how the chain of command works then you can just stay in your tank," she shouted, "Now, are you going to do more than complain or are you actually going to start contributing?"

Nina puffed out her chest and tried to make herself as tall as possible. Everyone in the room stared at Nina. Her sudden summoning of brazen words was completely out of character. Éclair's jaw dropped, Fondue covered her mouth. Galette tried to muster a retort but the words couldn't escape her mouth. Galette fumed and walked out of the room with her tail between her legs. Fondue turned away to hide the telltale signs of schadenfreude.

"Fondue, please stop snickering," said Éclair.

"I'm sorry madam, but you have to admit that it was rather pleasant to see her knocked down a peg."

"What I find pleasant is not of concern at the moment," Éclair tried to hold back a grin, "Shall we continue, Nina?"

"I'm sorry," said Nina, "I didn't want to be mean, but Katyusha doesn't let people bully her so I thought that I should stand up to her. I'll go apologize."

Éclair put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it. Galette has a tough skin and she'll get over it soon. It was probably just a shock that you reacted the way you did. Let's continue."

Their meeting went well into the meeting often devolving into pleasant conversations about times spent back home. Nina told stories of the cold Russian winters and how, even under Katyusha's iron fist, she was able to make merry with her team mates. Tales of hot chocolate and snow angels, of tobogganing and snowmen. Nina even told Maginot of the silliness Katyusha would take part but she swore the two to secrecy lest they want Katyusha's wrath to fall on her.

Éclair laughed, "I had no idea Katyusha had such a light side to her. Oh my, is that the time?"

"It is madam," said Fondue, "I think we should call it a night. Shall we go for dinner in the mess hall?"

"They're probably doing last call by now and the team has all returned home," Éclair snapped her fingers, "I have a better idea. Let's go out for dinner tonight. Nina, you will join us of course?"

"Yes!" she chimed.

"I'll get the car," said Fondue, "The same restaurant as before?"

"But of course. I hope you like French food, Nina."

The three girls hopped into the car and sped down the roads of Paris. The city was beginning to glow with thousands of lights. The Eiffel Tower was shining like beacon. The Seine River shimmered like silver, sparkling with lights. Sweet and savoury aromas filled the air with the cheerful chatter of the romantic language. After driving around the Arc De Triomphe for the thousandth time Fondue managed to bring them to a vibrant restaurant along the river.

The smartly dressed host took the three girls to a table on the patio. For a small place students could afford the restaurant was a high class affair. Waiters dressed in black suits, white gloves, and bow ties glided around the tables with trays balancing on their fingers. Their waiter ran down the days specials and made several recommendations. Nina politely smiled and nodded as every French word went right over her head. Éclair quickly took over and ordered for the party.

"Wow, this is such a nice place," said Nina, "Paris is so pretty at night."

"Russia has some very beautiful places as well," smiled Éclair, "Where are you from in Russia?"

"St. Petersburg," said Nina.

"I thought that was Petrograd," said Fondue, "Or was that Leningrad?"

Nina giggled, "How did that song go? Istanbul was Constantinople, but now it's Istanbul not Constantinople. St. Petersburg is the same way. It was St. Petersgurg, then Petrograd, then Leningrad, than back to St. Petersburg. It's like I'm from three different cities. Oh! Does France have anything like that?"

"Nothing off the top of my head," said Fondue, "It looks like our waiter is coming back. I hope you're hungry."

"Yeah!"

The waiter put a silver plate in front of each of the three ladies. Snail shells rested in a specially designed dish with tongs and a narrow fork. Garlic and herbs were stuffed into the shell. Nina grinned at the fancy little dish.

"Wow, this is an interesting way to serve salad."

"It's not a salad."

"It's escargot," said Éclair.

"Gesundheit."

Éclair laughed, "Give it a try you might like it."

Éclair picked up a shell with the tongs and pulled out the snail from the shell. Nina followed her example. Unfamiliar with the utensils she fumbled a little bit when grabbing the shell. When she jabbed the fork at the contents the shell nearly slipped out of the tongs and rolled across the floor. Luckily she regained her grip and managed to pull out the contents. It had a garlicy and herby taste and something else. The texture was different to say the least.

Nina gulped down the bite, "It's good. So what is it?"

Fondue smiled deviously, "Snails."

Nina nodded, "Snails… snails!"

Nina resisted gagging and hacking. She grabbed her glass of water and began drinking to wash away the remaining fragments in her mouth. Realizing she made a small scene Nina quickly apologized and took another, reluctant, bite.

"So what else is on the menu?" asked Nina trying to avoid another trap while hoping for a more normal dish.

"Frog legs should be next," said Éclair.

Nina's smile dropped, "Frog legs?"

Éclair and Fondue laughed.

"I'm sorry, Nina," said Fondue, "I asked Éclair not to do it, but she thought it might be a little funny."

"We usually play this little joke on our British counterparts when they come to visit. You should have seen Darjeeling's face," Éclair giggled, "Don't worry we ordered some more palatable dishes as well. Duck a l'orange, French onion soup, and the like."

"Oh that's good," Nina sighed in relief.

The waiter presented another dish, "Frog legs mademoiselles."

"Bon appetite," said Fondue.

"Heh, heh, heh," Nina laughed nervously, "Prijatnogo appetita."