Hell On Tracks
Part 18

A huge wave of applause greeted us as we rolled into the common area of Camp Intrepid. Haruna was at the front of the line of tanks, with my tank right behind hers. Following us was a mix of Practice and Training tanks which had gathered around us as they had reset their power and gotten moving again. The applause died down slightly as tanks started moving into the churned mud of the parking lot, but was replaced by cheers and words of encouragement as people started climbing out and slogging their way through the mud towards the crowds.

You wouldn't have guessed it, but most of the girls at Saunders absolutely hated the mud, even when it was relatively shallow like this. Their dislike was bad enough that a few girls had the genius idea of turning their tank's turrets 90 degrees and using the gun barrels as tightropes to stay above ground and jump from tank to tank. This worked for some people, but others fell and were now covered in mud instead of just having their shoes and boots get a little dirty.

I really wanted to laugh at their antics as I marched through the mud, absolutely unfazed by it. Bonuses for growing up in a consistently rainy area and being generally outdoorsy, I guess. The Three Bandits were right behind me, and while Angel Eyes looked disappointed to be slogging through it with the rest of us, they were more upbeat about the fact that we won.

"Good work, Tali!" Kay called as she came barreling towards me. It was barely enough warning for me to dodge away from her glomp. She instead impacted on Tuco, who rocked back, but quickly shoved the team captain off.

"Sorry Captain, but you aren't my type." Tuco said, shuffling away from Kay, who just looked disappointed.

It only took Kay a moment to reapply her energy, and she gave everyone in the group a big grin and a thumbs up. "You all did good jobs! Congratulations on your win!"

Once we were free of the mass of tanks and mud, Kay drew me away from the surprisingly cheerful Bandits. We were well away from most of the crowd, and after a moment of looking around, I realized that Naomi was sort of standing guard, keeping the crowds moving either to their tanks or the bleachers to get ready for the big match.

"You okay?" Kay asked, letting her concern reach her face.

"Yeah?" I said, uncertain. "What do you mean?"

"Haruna-chan let me know about your panic attack on the field. As head referee, it's my job to call for a halt to the match or for an evacuation if someone gets seriously hurt. Nobody wants a repeat of last year's Finals match." Kay explained.

"Ah. Well, I think I'm fine now. It was, well, hmm…" I trailed off, trying to find the words in Japanese to explain. When they didn't come, I switched to English. "I start to freak out when lots of people are needing me to do something. You ask me to come up with a hypothetical plan in a situation, I can do it. When you ask me for that exact same plan in a live exercise where the whole team is relying on me, I panic. I thought I was over it, but I guess not." I hung my head in shame as I finished up. Once more, I was just disappointed with myself, rather than anything else.

"I see." Kay said, before pulling me into a tight hug. "You did great out there. Do you know why a tank has tracks instead of wheels?"

The question caught me off guard, and I tried to struggle away from the hug to better look at Kay. Her grip was like iron, and didn't budge. "Ah, no? Something about trench crossing and tradition?"

"A tank has tracks because they are better at crossing rough terrain. You encountered a patch of rough terrain today, and you climbed over it. Next time, you'll be able to cross it that much easier. And the next time, and the next. Eventually, it won't be much of an obstacle, and you can cross it almost as if it were an open field."

Ooooh… It was an analogy. A tank analogy. Those are always fun.

After a moment of silence, Kay released the hug. I stepped back, but she reached forward and wiped a tear off my face. "Thanks, Kay. It means a lot. It really does."

Kay smiled. Not one of those enthusiastic grins that show just how awesome a time someone is having, but one of those soft, heartfelt smiles that really show how much they care, and just generally enjoy being around you. It was a beautiful smile.

"Good! Now, come on, I have great seats for the next match. And," Kay leaned in conspiratorially. "I had Naomi make some popcorn."


She was right. The seats Kay had reserved for herself were right in the middle of the covered area of the bleachers, with room for the large radio box. Also, conveniently there were a couple of massive buckets of popcorn. Like the large ones that you can get at a movie theater, except bigger, and even more filled with popcorn. The thought of eating all that popcorn on my own almost made me sick. Even sharing it with Kay left more than a bucket per person.

Naomi joined the two of us in the bleachers, and we spent most of the half-hour warmup period talking about anything other than tanks. I talked a little bit about home, and how different being on a Japanese school ship was compared to the hills and forests of southwestern Washington. Kay bragged that her hair was a completely natural blonde, as opposed to most of the other blondes at Saunders who dyed their hair to "look more American." That got a laugh out of everyone, and it neatly explained why there were so many more blondes here at Saunders than there were back home. On the subject of hair, Naomi explained why she kept hers so short. Apparently, she had been doing Tankery stuff the day before Prom at Saunders, and had singed the tips off, along with her eyebrows.

We all laughed at that one. Supposedly, Naomi was a bit of a flirt with other girls, and had at least one girl at each of the major schools, and a few of the smaller ones as well. Her date, a girl from Kuromorimine whom they refused to name, had been appalled about the missing hair, and worked a miracle of hairdressing and makeup to make Naomi look just as good as she had before the incident.

Eventually, Naomi had to get back to her camera drone's controls (she had a massive setup that looked more like a proper cockpit than a simple joystick/gamepad and camera screen). Kay offered her a bucket of popcorn, which she politely declined, and we waved her off.

"Hey, Tali?" Kay asked, breaking the silence that had momentarily fallen over us.

"It's Tally." I corrected automatically. "What's up?"

"After big outings like this, or big matches, of other fun events, I usually throw a party back at the Tankery Garage. They're pretty popular, and we get people from all over the ship to show up. I was wondering if you would like to join me there?"

I drummed my fingers against my leg as I considered the invitation. "That sounds like a lot of fun, but I don't do well with large crowds."

Kay looked a little disappointed at my response, but nodded. "Okay. If you ever want to come to one, just let me know!"

"Will do. Thank you for inviting me."

"No problem!" Kay said with that big grin and thumbs up that I'm starting to realize is 'her thing.'

Not very long after that, Arisa called in from the ref's watch tower, calling all tankers to their starting zones, and for captains to meet her in the middle of the field. It was time for the main event to get started.