Monday, March 6th, 2013

Mojave Rose High School wasn't the wealthiest school around, but they had it in their budget to have a computer class to teach students the various skills desired in a modern society that is only getting more technological. This was Ashley's favorite class as it was a fantastic departure from the more traditional classroom. It was here that Ashley did not have to employ her more unconventional tactics of passing classes as she truly enjoyed it. Also, the material being taught wasn't hard, she had a knack for it, regularly being the first person to finish their assignments. Today was another day like that. Finished with her work, Ashley was just browsing the internet, the internet the school allows students to browse, where then the voice of the computer teacher interrupted the calm ambiance of the room.

"Ashley. Mister Redwood wants to see you in his office."

"Why?"

"Didn't say."

Ashley gathered her things and walked out of the computer lab. At this time of the day, the hallways were vacant, only populated by her. Leaving the building, the outside was similarly devoid of people. None of this assuaged Ashley's nervousness. Her mind raced to figure out why Redwood wanted to see her. Was it now, after all these years, would her academic dishonesty finally catch up to her? She couldn't conceive of another reason nor could she come up with some excuse. If what she feared was true, there wasn't an excuse in the world that could save her. Ashley felt ill and her nerves wrecked. It was time the face the music, whatever it was. The music, as it turns out, was something that she would have never guess as her emotions took a one-eighty the moment she entered his office.

"You're not in trouble." Redwood assured.

"But please. Lock the door."

Ashley did so and took her seat. Redwood then turned on a fan in the room.

"Oh, I'm good. It's not hot in here." Ashley said.

"It's not for temperature. It's so that no one outside this office can hear."

"What is this all about?" Ashley asked, totally confused.

Redwood typed on his computer and swung his monitor around so that she could see.

"In your computer class, you have the highest grade. In all the assignments you've turned in, they have perfect marks. Especially assignments that involve Photoshop."

"Oh yeah, those assignments are my favorite. If you know what you're doing, Photoshop is stupid fun."

"So, you would say you're skilled with the program?"

"Better than anyone in this school, no doubt." she boasted.

Redwood tapped his fingers together.

"Ashley. I'm going to ask a huge favor from you. A favor that I would really prefer if we keep low key."

"Ohh, Mister Redwood, are we doing something…illegal?"

"No. But it'll be easier if we just keep it between us."

Ashley reclined thoughtfully in her seat.

"Okay. What's up?"

Redwood, again, typed on his computer and the screen changed.

"What you are seeing is an invitation to the convention. The ATA likes to give them away at random to former tankers to encourage them to have some sort of role in the sport again. I want you to recreate it as authentically as you can but the name needs to be 'Mackenzie Hayes'."

Ashley cracked her fingers, thinking. Then smiled.

"I thought Miss Buchanan was your girlfriend. Did you two already break up already? How sad."

"No? We're still toget—wait, I mean…we're not dating at all." Redwood stammered out.

Ashley maintained a sly smile, which indicated to Redwood that she wasn't convinced.

"…alright we're dating. How'd you figure that out?"

"I noticed all the little subtleties between you two. It was either you two are very friendly toward each other or you're a couple. Looks like I guessed right."

Redwood's embarrassment faded away, it was him that smiled now.

"You're perceptive. You got a real eye for detail. You'd be perfect for the favor I'm asking from you."

Ashley tapped her fingers against the desk for a few moments.

"I'll do it. What do I get out of this, though?"

Expecting this, Redwood opened a drawer of the desk and got out a stack of little slips of papers, all held by a paper clip.

"Free lunch vouchers. Enough to last you until graduation. You're a sophomore so you still got two more years at this school. Imagine all the money you'd save not having to buy lunch…and save for your parents as well."

Eyes wide, Ashley looked at the lunch vouchers as if they were bars of gold. Redwood didn't stop her as her hands grabbed them to look at them closely.

"Damn…how soon do you want it?"

"As soon as you can. Take those vouchers. View it as a first installment. You'd be doing me a huge solid, Ashley. And for Miss Buchanan too."

Ashley stored securely the vouchers securely in her backpack.

"Always happy to help the school, Mister Redwood." she remarked sarcastically

She left the office with a pep in her step. Redwood was pleased with himself with the plan he had created. He would declare to the ATA that Hayes was his guest. The fake invitation Ashley will make will act as a lure, a cover, to best convince her to attend the convention. Hayes would believe the ATA themselves invited her, not some stranger. The ATA would believe that Hayes was just Redwood's guest and think nothing more of it. It was deceptive, sure, but not a malicious one. The question now if all this work will be worth it. That'll be known when April arrives.

Saturday

There was something out in the Mojave, kicking up a cloud of dust. On dirt roads did this thing travel, at the blistering speeds of sixty miles per hour. Its eight wheels tore into the ground. Engine hot and roaring. At a corner, it went into a drift and nearly toppled over, just barely recovering. It drove on to a small group of people, thoroughly entertained over what they have seen. The Sdf. 234/2 Puma came to a half just beside them.

"Time?" Aurora asked, popping out the turret.

Buchanan looked at her stopwatch.

"Four minutes and thirty-four seconds. You're twenty seconds faster than last time. Well done."

Aurora put on a pleased expression as she nodded happily to herself.

"Is this how'll the race will be?" she asked.

"More or less. Actually, since it'll be on asphalt rather than a dirt road, you'll be even faster as the tires will have a better grip. Now, it's time for something different."

Buchanan mentioned to Mia who was standing not too far away. She got into the Stuart parked just nearby.

"You now need to feel the pressure of someone hot on your heels. The Stuart had as much of its weight shredded. Race Mia and try to beat her."
"Is it really fair to compare an armored car to a tank? Wheels to tracks?" asked Aurora.

"It's the best we can do."

Aurora got back into the Puma as the Stuart drove right to them. Mia was out of her hatch, sporting a smug smile.

"Ready?" she asked.

"To win? Yes." Aurora boasted.

"We'll see." Mia responded with a snicker.

In front of both vehicles was Valarie, holding a checkered flag. She held it high above her head. The Puma and Stuart revved their engines in eager anticipation. Each rev moved the vehicles inches forward. Thick smoke bellowed out of their exhausts. The flag was lowered.

"Go!"

The drivers of both vehicles slammed on the throttle as the engines whined. The Puma quickly took the lead but to Aurora's shock, the Stuart kept its own and was just a few meters behind them.

"God! That think can move when not weighed down!" Aurora reacted.

The Puma maintained its lead but it was always under threat. At every twist and turn, the Stuart followed close behind. Aurora was sweating. Buchanan was right about there being pressure when someone is hot on her heels. It was there and it was heavy. She popped out of the hatch to command a better view, with goggles down and bandanna own to protect from the winds and kicked-up dust. The dirt road straightened out and the Puma accelerated, getting some precious distance between them. Up ahead, Aurora noted that there was an upcoming turn. She ducked into the Puma to yell at Riley, the driver, as the radios were demounted for the sake of speed.

"Drift at the corner! We can't lose our speed!"

Back out of the hatch, Aurora looked back toward the Stuart.

"Let's see you follow this, Mia." she uttered to herself.

As they approached the corner, all eight tires of the vehicle stopped and turned. The Puma jolted as it screeched around the corner. This time around, it didn't nearly topple over. Aurora looked back to see the Stuart. She expected the vehicle to careen off the road trying to imitate what they did. The tracks of the light tank abruptly stopped and Aurora watched in disbelief as the Stuart, too, drifted around the corner and sped toward them.

"Tanks…can do that too?!" she exclaimed

The race continued. The road has become more treacherous as it was littered with debris. To avoid a tire being punctured, the Puma swerved around them which came at the expense of speed. For the Stuart, with metal tracks, didn't change course. Any debris that came into contact with its tracks were subsequently destroyed, with its speed being barely affected. The distance between the two began to shorten. Aurora thought madly over what to do to maintain their now decaying lead. An idea formed. A rash one.

"Riley, let go of the steering wheel but maintain the throttle!" she yelled.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"Maybe! Just do it!"

Riley hesitated but did let go of the wheel soon enough. Aurora maneuvered herself to a position at the rear of the vehicle. It was the co-drivers area. The Puma could house a crew of four people, instead of the current three. This fourth member's job would be to drive the Puma backward with similar skill as the driver would forward. During World War II, Germany used the Puma as a scout car. And as scouting is an inherently dangerous activity, more so than what regular armored crews would be exposed too, the Puma was designed in a way that the co-driver would take over if the vehicle was spotted by the enemy to make a speedy escape. In a war, this fourth member made sense and would also make sense in the sport of tankery. Being able to quickly escape is a quality that all teams look for in vehicles. But the fact of the matter is, no one wanted to be the co-driver. They wanted to be the driver. The responsibilities of a co-driver were so few compared to the rest of the roles of a vehicle that teams seldom ever filled them for machines that had them. Even if schools wanted to fill them, they would be hard-pressed to find someone who was willing as in some tankery circles, the co-driver position was seen as the least prestigious role any tanker can have. More vulgar people would call the position 'shitty.'

For today, that co-driver position of the Puma was being filled for the first time. Albeit temporarily. The vehicle was now veering to the right as there was no one steering. Aurora firmly gripped the rear steering wheel and the machine was now under control. She had line of sight of the Stuart and used her position to counter every attempt the light tank made to overtake. She was deadset of keeping the Puma directly in front of the Stuart. Mia, no matter what, was always in the shadow of the Puma. Up in front, Riley maintained the pressure of the accelerator. It was bizarre to feel the sensation of the vehicle being steered when it wasn't her doing it. Aurora saw a familiar whizzing by, which let her know that the final corner was approaching and the finish line was just ahead.

"Take back control, Riley!"

Riley's hands were back on the steering wheel as Aurora crawled back into the commander's position. Another corner and the Puma was in the final stretch. To great fanfare, as much fanfare five people could give, they crossed the finish line as Valarie playfully waved the checked flag. The Puma put on the brakes and parked next to the group, with the Stuart following suit seconds later.

"Ha! Beat ya!" Aurora yelled out.

"Gave you a challenge all the same." Mia responded.

"No kidding."

They both hopped out of their vehicles. Aurora removed her helmet and her hair clung to her head as a result of the sweat. She checked herself in a mirror.

"Heh. Good thing I skipped putting on my make-up."

"Great show. We got a real shot at winning this race." Buchanan said.

The Puma crew inspected their vehicle. The engine creaked as it began to cool down. The tires were warm looked well-worn. In the distance was the sound of cannon fire, it was the rest of the team conducting practice as normal.

"Now. Let's do it again." Buchanan instructed.

Sunday

At a shopping plaza not too far where Valarie lived was a thrift store. With her mother, they drove there. Parked out in front, her mother had something to say.

"Don't think you have to spend a lot to show how much you appreciate Emma. If the gift you think is perfect for her costs fifty cents, the low price doesn't diminish that."

"I understand. Though, even if I had a million dollars, I don't think I can ever get her a gift that can fully repay what she has done for me…for us."

"Val, personally, I don't think we can ever properly repay what Emma has done for us. She just wants you to be safe and at ease. So, when you are looking for her birthday gift, get something from the heart. That is what she will love."

They both got out of the car.

"I'll be at the shop next door. Meet back at the car in an hour."

"Sure thing."

They split and Valarie entered the thrift store. The only other person there was the owner, an elderly man at the register. He was napping and did not take notice that he had a costumer. Valarie moved quietly as she browsed the shelves. The variety of items were extensive. There were racks of clothes that looked like they were from the last century next to ones that looked like they just came out of the factory. Next to them were lamps of various styles and time periods. The wooden floor made for nice acoustics as she walked around. On one shelf was a group of glass figurines. Some were of animals, others of plants, and a few of people in poses. They were also some of tanks. One which caught her attention. She picked it up to look at it closely.

"Huh. Panzer IV Mark H. Been seeing you a lot lately." she remarked to herself.

She placed the figurine back on the shelf. If only there was a glass T-44, she'd get it a heartbeat. But alas, there were none. Ah well. She continued browsing. Valarie then found the aisle she was looking for. The electronics section. Here, on all the shelves, were devices from before her time. No doubt her parents could tell her all about them. On the bottom shelf was a cardboard box filled with retro games. Valarie knelt down and pulled out the box to have a better look. She was pleased to find that they were NES cartridges. She sifted through the contents and found games like Metroid, Life Force, and Excitebike. But Emma already had these games and played the hell out of them. She continued to rummage through and found a real curiosity. It was a little box, the type of box that NES games came in when they were sold in stores back in the day. While Valarie didn't know much about games she did know, from Emma, that retro games still in the box are uncommon. And she made a great find as the box was in good condition. Valarie read the title.

Family Fun Fitness: Stadium Events

Emma definitely didn't have this. In her hands, she felt that there was something in the box. With care, she opened it and was delighted to see the game itself. Then she glanced at the price.

"Two dollars? Deal."

With the game in hand, Valarie went to the front of the store. The sound of her setting the game down on the register awoke the napping old man.

"Uh? Oh, hello young lady. All set?"

"Yep."

The shopkeeper picked up the game and wore his glasses to see the price clearly.

"That'll be two bucks, little miss. A gamer, are ya?"

Valarie handed over the cash.

"Not really. It's a gift for my best friend. She's the gamer."

"Ahh…I see. How long have you two been friends?"

"Nine years."

"Ooh that's good and long. You remind me of my aunt. She had a best friend too. They lived together for fifty years before they passed away within days of each other. Natural causes but tragic all the same. What I find curious is that neither of them got husbands. Both of them never bothered with men. Romantically anyway.

"That is curious indeed, sir." Valarie responded with a smile.

With her purchase made, she left the store. As her mother was still occupied with shopping of her own, she got into the car and waited. Valarie couldn't wait to give Emma her gift.

Port of Long Beach

Catalina School of the Arts School Carrier

Madison has secluded herself in her dorm room. Her attention spent fully on her computer. Like many times before, she was reading about the Mojave Rose tankery team. As the next match wasn't until April, there weren't new updates concerning them, much to her disappointment. So, she decided to once again go through photos of the team from a news article about them. If this offer she is planning ever goes into fruition, it'd be smart to familiarize herself with their faces. There was one member of their team in particular that she was eagerly looking forward to meeting. Valarie Woodlin. Madison looked at her picture longer than any of member of the team. Slowly, she placed her hand on the screen, directly over the photo of Valarie. If anyone else was in that room with her, they'd think she was out of her mind. Madison didn't know how long she was doing this when a knock on her door snapped her out of it.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Alice."

"Come in."

The door opened and in came Alice.

"Madi, I've been talking to a few other girls and they have this concern."

"And that is?"

"That offer of yours. Look, they like the part of what we do for the team who wins the national tournament. The iffy part is your constant talk of Mojave Rose as if they are guaranteed to win. Some have said you are obsessed with them."

Madison scoffed over what she just said.

"Me? Obsessed? Alice please. I simply have a good feeling about them."

Alice stepped closer and crossed her arms.

"You know, I'm starting to think you haven't told me everything about this situation."

Madison hesitated and became flustered.

"I…um…no. There isn't anything you don't know."

"Tell me, please. I'm your friend. I can keep a secret."

Madison exhaled and opened a drawer from her desk. She pulled out a folder.

"Okay. You wanna know why I'm doing this? I'll tell you. Take a seat and listen closely. "

Madison opened the file and explained to Alice everything. It was a story that Alice in a million years would have never expected or guess. By the end of her explanation, Alice just sat there, stunned and processing what she just heard.

"Now you understand why I'm doing this. Why I'm doing so much to make this happen."

Alice looked at her in an all-new light.

"I…God….give me a minute."

Madison stood up and approached her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Since you know, will you help me?"

Alice rose to meet her and placed her hand on Madison's shoulder.

"I will. As it means so much to you, it means a lot to me too."

Barstow

The crickets were chirping as the sun has set. The warm day was now the cool night. Homes, throughout the area, were shrouded in darkness as their occupants slept and dreamt. At one house, though, it had one window glowing an electronic blue. Ashley, as always, was staying up. While one may assume that her room would be a total mess as if a tornado has rampaged through it, it wasn't right to assume. Most of her room was respectably clean, with one area being spotless. Her computer desk. Unlike Valarie who only had a laptop, Ashley's set-up was much more powerful. A desktop tower was snugly placed underneath her desk, built by her with parts she found. More impressive, to her anyway, was the dual monitors. She did it mostly because it was cool but did find the benefits of having two monitors enjoyable. On the right screen was Photoshop. She was working on what Redwood requested. On the left was a torrent program, up and running. It was downloading files in the background. How else did she get Photoshop and the other premium programs on her computer? Pay for them? As if. As she worked, Ashley was intensely curious about what purpose this project would serve. Who is MacKenzie Hayes? Theories manifested in her head but none were popular. As it was related to the convention, maybe she would find out then. She took a peek at the time

10:34 PM

Still early. For her. The fake convention invitation was coming in nicely. Though there was still more work to be done, like the color. It wasn't exactly spot on. To the average person, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But Ashley was working under the belief that the invitation would be heavily scrutinized. With the type of work she was doing, it was impossible to be overly cautious. Ashley had to be perfect to pull this off but was confident in her skills. As she was focused, her phone lit up and vibrated. It was a message from Heather.

"Are you up? I can't sleep." it read.

"Yeah. Though I am choosing to stay up."

"What are you doing late at night? Homework, I'm assuming?"

"Do you have that little faith in me as a student? I'm hurt, Heather. I truly am."

Even in text, Heather could detect the sarcasm.

"Ha. Okay. What are you really doing?"

"A personal project."

"A personal project? Working on your next performance? What will you sing this time?"

Ashley exhaled sharply upon reading that text.

"Those days are over."

"Why?"

"Ever since I got in trouble over that so-called problematic verse of John Brown's Body, I never had a desire to perform again."

"I want to see you sing, though."

"Well, that's too bad."

"Do you think I'll make fun of you? You know that won't happen. "

Ashley hesitated in making a response.

"I know. I'm just out of practice. That's all."

"Then get in practice."

"Why do you want this to happen so badly?"

"I shared my passion. It's only fair to share yours."

She got her. Heather took a huge gamble in showing her passion to the rest of the crew. Ashley was just making excuses to avoid performing again. It wasn't fair to Heather.

"Okay. You wore me down. I'll sing you a song. But only for you because you asked. I'll need to practice for a bit so I'll let you know when I'm ready."

Heather responded with a smiling emoji.

"I'm not sleepy anymore. Good night. See you tomorrow." she then texted.

Ashley set her phone aside and resumed work on the invitation. Thinking about the conversation, a thought entered her mind. She didn't think Heather had problems sleeping at all.

Monday

Students arriving on the campus of Mojave Rose found that there were new decorations. All over the walls and lockers were advertisements for the prom in May. As the school wasn't huge, all grades were welcome to attend. Prom always had a theme and for this year, for obvious reasons, was tank themed. When Ray walked on campus and saw the posters, he couldn't resist letting out a quick laugh.

"Ha. Of course it'd be tank related." he said aloud.

He then felt a presence right beside him. He turned and saw Valarie, looking at the same poster than at him.

"Excited for prom?" she asked.

"Aha….no." he answered.

Valarie was surprised.

"No? Why?"

"Prom isn't really my thing."

"Oh, c'mon Ray. Prom is the best part of the year. Are you really telling me you don't care about it?"

"MmmHmm. I never attended prom before. Why start now?"

Valarie placed her hands at her hips and eyed him up.

"I get it. You don't have a date. Ray, you know you don't have to have a date for prom. Also, since you're on a team that is mostly composed on girls…you shouldn't really be having trouble finding one anyway. At least one of them will say yes."

"Maybe…still no."

"Really? You won't even come for the food?"

Ray genuinely considered her point.

"Not..even…for the food."

Valarie continued to eye him.

"It's the dance, isn't it?"

Ray threw up his arms.

"You're right on the money. I can't dance."

"You don't have to dance at prom."

"I know, But I will feel awkward as hell not being on the dance floor with everyone else. Me just standing by where the food it. God, just picturing that makes me nauseous."

Valarie sighed.

"Well, no one can force you to go. But you'll be missing out."

"Oh, I bet I will."

They departed. Unknown to both of them was a person who listened to their whole conversation. Just around the corner was Natalie. She found the whole situation funny. If it was October, when the team was formed, she would certainly tease Ray maliciously over his inability to dance. But now, she had a different idea. When prom season nears, she'll act on it.

Later.

Emma sat beneath the palm tree, browsing her phone as she waited for Valarie to join her for lunch. In the background was the familiar ambiance of fellow students socializing, be it talking, yelling, or laughing. The sound of approaching footsteps drew her attention. There was Valarie, looking like all the energy had been drained from her. She sat down beside Emma and let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked.

"Chemistry test." Valarie replied, dejected.

"A rough one?"

"The roughest."

Valarie rubbed her face.

"I'm not passing that class, Emma. I now know that I'm taking it again for my junior year."

"There's still a few months in the semester left…you still could pass." Emma encouraged.

"I doubt it. I'm so lost in that class…that…I don't care anymore."

Valarie rummaged through her backpack and got out her chemistry notes.

"I don't care." she repeated.

She stood up and threw them away in the nearest garbage can.

"Valarie!" Emma scolded.

"I know I'm going to take it again next year, so why waste my energy studying for it now? Instead, I can focus that time on stuff I actually care about. Like the upcoming match."

"Wow. All that talk to the team about not giving up and here you are doing it."

Valarie glanced at her then sat back down.

"I just…want to take a break from it okay? I want some time where I don't have to think about it."

Emma picked up her hand and held it firmly.

"I get that you're frustrated and demoralized. So, I won't give you grief over this…for now."

Valarie looked at Emma with eyes full of appreciation along with a certain other, powerful, emotion.

"Thank you. I—"

The bell rang which told everyone outside lunch was over. The two girls gave each other quick hugs and went to their classes. Emma, however, made a brief stop. At the garbage can, she collected Valarie's thrown away notes and tucked them away in her binder. She had a feeling that Valarie would need them again sooner than she thinks.

That Afternoon

"Everyone! Give a warm welcome to our new team members." Buchanan informed

Inside Room 34, at the front of all the desks, was four new people. They would crew the team's newest tank destroyer. Everyone was led to the garage where the new crew would learn the ropes. Once they arrived, the new people were astonished to see the team's tanks up close and personal. Their excitement grew as they saw their vehicle, all nice and prepped for them. As they started to explore their machine, Buchanan gave some instructions to Valarie.

"The degrees of separation between the T-44 and SU isn't much. Your crew would be the best people to get them up to speed."

Valarie complied with a nod and gestured toward her crew to follow. They found the new crew excitedly crawling around their machine. They watched them for a few moments, finding their behavior cute and amusing. Valarie then stepped forward and cleared her throat, grabbing their attention.

"Oh. Hi." said one.

"Hello there." Valarie greeted.

The new arrivals got down from their vehicle. One of the girls was snapping her fingers.

"Ah…Ah…Valarie right?"

"You got it."

"Cool. I'm Nora."

"Nice to meet you. My crew and I are here to help you get acquainted with your vehicle."

"Awesome."

Nora glanced at her vehicle then back at Valarie.

"The hell is that thing?" she asked, pointing.

Valarie walked up to their machine and laid her hands on its front.

"Soviet tank destroyer, SU-100."

"And the one hundred means…?"

"The caliber of the gun. This thing has a powerful 100mm cannon. It'll make short work of nearly anything that comes in front of its sights."

"Nearly anything?"

"Ha. Well, some tanks are too tough to crack from the front. That's where strategy comes into play."

Nora looked at the SU for a few moments, pondering.

"What's the best way to use this thing?"

"Long-range engagements. The long barrel gives its rounds excellent velocity. You'd shoot the enemy from afar while hidden in some brush."

"Oh, I really like the sound of that.

"Get your roles figured out and a call sign too. Then we'll continue."

Nora nodded and the new crew convened and conversed with one another. A few minutes elapsed and Nora returned to Valarie.

"We're all set. Just call us Ocotillo."

Valarie made note of their call sign in her playbook."

"And what is your role, Nora?"

"Commander."

She turned toward her crew.

"Leah shoots. Lana loads, and Kennedy drives."

"Let's get started then." Valarie instructed.

Each member of the T-44 crew taught the basics to their SU-100 counterparts. In the driver's seat saw Kennedy as Heather leaned in from the outside.

"The clutch isn't as sensitive as you might think so you can afford to be a little rough with it without worrying too much about stalling it. Now, the steering levers are what will really need getting used to, especially when you already used to a steer—"

Heather suddenly turned away and was now looking toward an empty space of the garage.

"What is it?" asked Kennedy.

"I thought…I heard something fall. Did you hear it?"

"I didn't hear anything."

Heather continued looking to that area for a few more moments then breathed in deeply.

"It was nothing. Nothing at all. Now, the gauges are what you expect…"

Outside, Ashley was talking with their loader, Lana.

"You ever lifted your fair share of heavy weights?" Ashley asked.

Lana stretched out her arms in an exaggerated manner.

"Last summer, I've essentially lived in the gym. I've made…considerable progress."

"Oh that's cool. What did ya do in the gym?"

"Weights mostly with some running to break the monotony. Oh, and I can bench press one hundred fifty pounds."

Ashley sported a beaming smile when she heard this.

"I think you are in the perfect role. Hey, since all the loaders go to the school weight room during lunch to get strong…mind giving me some pointers?"

Inside the SU-100, Emma shared her experiences being a gunner to Leah.

"Shooting the gun for the first time will be an experience that will stick with you for the rest of your life. The power you feel from the energy being released is just…amazing."

"Is it like having a….a…"

Leah was far too embarrassed to finish saying that sentence aloud. Instead, she whispered into Emma's ear, who in turn got red in the face.

"Um…yeah…pretty much." she responded.

On top of the machine were the two commanders. Nora listened attentively as Valarie explained her responsibilities.

"You got strategy meetings to go to which is exactly what it sounds like. It's where we, the commanders, brainstorm strategy for matches."

"Right. Matches. That reminds me, when and where is the next one?"

"April 27th, in the great state of Montana"

"Ah, just next door?" Nora remarked.

"Yep. Not far at all."

"I imagine practice will be a lot sooner."

"Saturdays."

'Thought so. I can hear the thuds of your guns from my house."

"Well, when you come to practice, you'll be a part of that."

They both smiled. Valarie's crew continued to mentor the SU-100 crew as the rest of the team tended to their vehicles. The mood was jovial. Tankery meetings were now much more than a group of people coming together to learn and practice the sport. But now also where friends come to meet and have a good time. The future was something they all thought of and looked forward to. For two people, however, the future for them uncertain. For the ides approach.