Hell On Tracks
Part 28
Monday morning came around suddenly, it felt like. Maybe my weekend just felt incredibly short, but either way, I wasn't nearly as perky in the morning as I would like to be. I was still up bright and early, and did my usual morning routine up to the point where I normally left my room and headed to the dorm commons to hang out with the other Tankery members.
That was where I paused. Did I really want to deal with the Tankery team again? There were sure to be people upset with the friendly fire against One's tank, and everyone who had watched the match or had a friend who watched the match knew that it had been my tank to do the deed.
No. Going out there right now and facing the fire would be a bad idea. I would be the center of attention, have demands thrown my way, and probably end up having another panic attack. It would be best to just stay in my dorm room until people cleared out a little bit, and probably pass the time reading those mangas that Auntie Nat sent me.
That sounded like a good idea. Just let things pass for now, and deal with people issues after talking to the Chieftain.
I tugged at the hem of my skirt nervously as I stood in front of the closed door to the Chieftain's office. Two steps and a knock were all it would take for my fate to be decided. All I had to do was take that step. Was I ready to do that?
There was no choice. Either I did it now, or it would never get done. I'd never be able to talk about my issues, and I would probably have to go home when the semester ended, if not earlier. I couldn't do that.
With newfound steel in my heart, I stepped forward and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" The Chieftain called. I opened the door and stepped inside. The Chieftain was sitting behind a surprisingly messy desk, with the only open space being a couple inches of open tabletop around a number of model tanks, and the coffeemaker. The walls were absolutely covered in packed bookshelves, with the books being mostly about tanks or tankery.
Also in the room were Kay, Arisa, and Naomi, sitting off to one side and working on some sort of paperwork. I almost stumbled, but caught myself. The Chieftain alone, I could probably handle, but him plus the leadership team? Not a chance.
"Ah, Tally! Come in, please, take a seat." The Chieftain said with a genial smile. "Kay, would you mind taking the others and working on that out in the hall?"
Kay nodded, and the three leadership filed out, slipping past me. None of them met my eyes on the way out. I didn't try to meet theirs either, and I quietly took a seat across the desk from the Chieftain.
"Sorry for the mess. We were working on a general plan for the upcoming tournament, and well, things spread out." The Chief said, turning away from his computer to face me.
"It's fine." I said softly.
He frowned. "Tally, I'd like to start out by giving a formal apology for the conduct of the Tankery leadership team. They acted in haste, and mindlessly followed protocol. This was unfitting of their leadership position, and I had all three of them write an apology letter to you. So far, only Kay has finished hers."
"Thank you." It wasn't a whisper, but my voice was soft. Lingering doubts bit at the back of my mind.
"Our normal process is to talk to the TC of the offending tank with the whole of the leadership, including myself, and get their side of the story before casting any judgements. We speak to the TC in private, so that she might feel comfortable being honest, and not risk rumors spreading about what is discussed. However, Kay's own report states that she approached the whole incident in a negative state of mind, and she didn't try to get me involved until after you fainted."
"Oh… I guess that makes sense." I commented.
"Thank you." The Chieftain nodded, before turning to his computer and doing something that I couldn't see. "Would you be willing to answer a few questions and give your perspective of the blue-on-blue event?"
"Uh, sure?" I answered uncertainly.
"Okay, good." The Chieftain said. "During the match last Saturday, your tank fired upon an allied tank, commanded by Annabelle Ramirez. Kay's report of your post-match questioning states that you claim to be ignorant of the event until after the shot had been fired and Anna's tank was knocked out. Is this correct?"
"Yeah. I was, um, looking a different way when it happened." I said, nervously. I must have sounded like I was lying, and doing an awful job at it.
"Can you expand upon that? What does 'looking a different way' mean?"
I took a moment to wrack my brain for details before speaking. "We were advancing down the street. Tuco and I were out of our hatches, watching the flanks, while Blondie and Angel, my driver and gunner, were keeping their eyes to the front. Haru's tank was behind us, so we didn't have to watch there, either. It was raining heavily, and visibility was awful, so everyone had to be watching in case our opponents came from an unexpected angle. When One's, er, Anna's tank came around in front of us, I was looking to the tank's right, down an alley. The gun fired without so much as a 'contact front' from Angel, and by the time I turned my head, they had been knocked out."
"I see. So your gunner fired without an order to do so, and without announcing the shot?"
"That's correct." I nodded.
"Okay." The Chieftain said, a wide smile crossing his face. "While we will probably have to ask questions to a few of your teammates to confirm your story, I think we can say for now that you are probably not at fault for actually firing at a friendly tank, or giving the order to do so."
"That easily?" I asked, almost shocked.
"Your story is believable, and lines up with what video evidence we have of the event. Obviously, we can't declare you completely innocent until everyone involved has shared their side of the story." The Chieftain explained.
I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding with a heavy sigh. "Oh thank god. I thought you were going to call BS on my story, or suggest that I leave Tankery for not controlling my tank. Something awful like that."
The Chieftain laughed. "Tally, I wouldn't do something like that, especially for an inexperienced rookie and first offender like you. We aren't super serious like Kuromorimine and their Nishizumi Style. You're allowed to screw up, make mistakes, so long as you learn from those screwups."
"That's a relief. I was really worried about getting kicked out or having to leave."
"No. If you wanted to leave on your own, you would always be welcome to come back, but we aren't going to kick you out for a single mistake."
"So, what now?" I asked.
"Well, normally, when a tank fires on an allied tank in a live match, that tank's crew is put on punishment duty for two weeks. Due to your crew's, uh, reputation, and some actions prior to your joining of the team, they are going to be put on probation as well."
"What does punishment duty mean?"
"Basically, you can't run your tank, and are moved to paperwork and remedial classes. Target identification practice, terrain reading, maintenance help, that sort of thing." The Chief explained.
"Okay. I take it I'll be included in that punishment?"
"Sort of. Kay actually had a few proposals, if you're willing to hear them from her."
"Oh?" I asked. "Sure, I'll hear them."
"Right away." The Chief said with a smile, before getting up and heading past me into the hall.
I took a moment to look around his office a bit more. Unnoticed in my initial glance around the room was a sizable hat rack with a half dozen wide brimmed cavalry hats, a somewhat faded light gray Saunders baseball hat, and a loose leather tankery helmet.
Also scattered around the room were more models than the one Abrams on his desk, with tanks from every era, and of almost every major tank producer. The Tiger I in a place of honor on a shelf full of other tanks caught my eye in particular, with its yellowish paint job sticking out amongst the sea of grays and greens on the shelf next to it.
The Chieftain came back before I could cast my gaze further around the room and inspect more of the wonders hidden in his shelves. All three of the leadership trio were in tow, and I did my best to not automatically shy away from them.
"Kay, I believe that you have some proposals for miss Evans here?" The Chieftain said, once everyone had taken a seat.
"Hai!" Kay said, before pulling out a smallish notebook. She flipped through it for a moment before finding the page she had been looking for. "Tally, you've had trouble with keeping control over your current crew, right?"
"Yeah. I think Angel's insubordination directly after the friendly fire incident shows that off pretty well." I answered.
"Okay, so my suspicions were correct. Right now, I believe the least preferable option right now would be to keep Tally-chan with a crew that doesn't respect her authority as TC." Kay began. Everyone nodded along, including myself. It was a reasonable assumption, to say the least. "The easiest option would be to simply move her to a different tank as a TC. However, a review of all of the active tanks shows every tank is crewed to at least four people, with a fifth radio operator being present on company and most platoon command tanks."
"What are you gonna propose?" I asked. Naomi gave me a look, but I ignored her.
"The first option would be to move you to the radio operator's slot on one of the open tanks. It would have the least impact on the crew you would be joining, and it would allow you to stay immediately involved in tanking. Option two is to move you to a 'reserve' status as a TC. This would mean you practice with multiple different tank crews, subbing in for their TC during practice, and can take command of any tank on a given day if the TC is out for school reasons, sickness, or any other reason." Kay explained.
I thought about the proposals for a moment. Neither one sounded great. As a radio op, I wouldn't be in command of a tank, which I rather enjoyed, and as a substitute TC, there was no guarantee that I would be able to participate in a meaningful manner.
The room was quiet, with everyone looking at me expectantly. I could feel panic rising up in my chest, but I forced myself to breathe before it could consume me. Not here, not now. Instead, I asked a question. "Are there any other options?"
"We could temporarily activate one of the heavy tanks and slot you into that crew to help and observe." Arisa suggested. "The M6 has a normal crew of six, so the extra body would be helpful."
Kay gave her a look. "Do you just want to have heavy support during the tournament?"
"No! It's an honest idea!" Arisa said hastily, shaking her head.
"It has merit. Tally would be able to integrate better into a crew if she were assigned to work as one of them instead of a radio op, and she could better learn to be a TC by observing how a veteran TC works." Naomi added.
"I'm not so sure…" I mused. "I really enjoyed being a TC, and none of the options keep me in a consistent TC's position."
"Do you want to stay with your tank and crew despite all of the trouble they are and have caused you?" Kay asked.
"It's the only option available to me that keeps me in the TC's hatch and fighting my tank." I said with a shrug.
"Well, your crew is currently on punishment duty, so keeping you in command of the tank would mean you aren't commanding, and aren't even participating in proper practicing." The Chieftain interjected. "As a temporary measure until your crew are allowed back on duty, which of the three options presented to you sounded best, Tally?"
"Uh…" I uhed, thinking. I really didn't like getting demoted to radio op, even temporarily, and reserve status would probably end up forcing me to interact with more people than I was comfortable with at any given point. "The M6 solution. It's got me observing directly from one TC, and it doesn't force me into the radio operator's slot to do it."
"Alrighty then!" The Chieftain said, clapping his hands together. "Arisa, starting today, and for the immediate future, you will be moving from your usual M4A1 into the M6 heavy. Tally will be joining your crew as the assistant loader. Any objections?"
Arisa started to say something, but cut herself off. "No sir."
"Good! Arisa, Naomi, I expect your apology letters for Tally in my office at the garage by class tomorrow. You're all dismissed, and I will see you at practice!"
I nodded, and was the first one out of the Chieftain's office. Arisa and Naomi followed me out, with Kay staying behind. One small tidbit itched at the back of my mind as I walked down to my next class. What exactly did the bandits being on probation mean?