Srebarna, Popovo and Kamchia were staring at the tank's storeroom as the rest of the team looked on with happiness.
"I can't believe we got ourselves another tank." Koprinka sarcastically replied as she was holding a cigarette in her hand. She puffed the smoke on the tank they had got. One of SSISSN's R35 tanks they purchased to help keep their school afloat. Now that the tank was there, they needed two students to crew it.
"Yeah that was easier done than said as they wanted us to pay a ridiculous amount of money for it but seeing the school was desperate for money, we couldn't deny it." Popovo told them as soon a bus was heard as it was pulling up to the tank storeroom. The students turned their heads as the bus pulled to a stop. Soon some familiar faces exited the bus. Dalmatia was the first to exit as she was followed by Tocai, Lasina and a few others. The bus they were riding on also had a place for a wheelchair and Istria was riding on it with another student she was helping out. The student in the wheelchair was very annoyed.
"How many times do I have to tell you I do not want someone escorting me like that." The student in the wheelchair angrily spoke. She knew she could do it herself but Istria was the one who was helping her out.
"You need the help, don't say you don't need it Syrah." Istria responded as the students lined up in their formation. Srebarna walked over as she knew that the students would need to be refreshed on their skills to see what they were capable of.
"Ah I see that you've arrived, now we should run down on what you can do. Seeing that you haven't bought any of your own from your ship, we can compromise that you will be using some of our own for this session." Popovo told them how this will be laid out. One of the students stepped forth as she began to speak.
"We would be more than grateful for the help." Srebarna looked at her as the girl had short brown hair and a fake flower in it. She wanted to know who she was.
"Who are you?" Srebarna asked curiously as she wanted to figure out who this student was. She soon began speaking.
"My name is Barbera, I reckoned you met Istria and Dalmatia before but the rest of the group are: Lasina, Syrah, Tocai and Rosa." Barbera introduced the rest of them.
"Sounds like you got yourselves a nice little line up of students. A voice called out, the voice belonged to Erika as she was making a visit. She was as cold as a stone by the way she was looking at them, she was possibly annoyed. Srebarna turned as she went to greet Erika.
"Erika we weren't expecting you, what brings you to Yogurt I might ask." Srebarna asked. Erika looked at her as she soon began laying out the situation.
"I was told to go and observe the Croatian gang with their skills of Tankery. Seeing how they put up a very poor performance when we did our match with them, we have to see what they are capable of." Erika laid out the situation. Kamchia looked at her as she had a question on why it was just Erika where was her friend?
"How come it's just you? Where's commander Nishizumi?" Kamchia asked. Erika soon knew she needed to lay out why it was just her that had come to the training session today.
"Maho and a couple other students are busy testing the first year students. She wanted to see if they would be ready to take on Pravda or not." Erika gave her answer. Srebarna smiled as she bowed down to Erika. Popovo soon turned to Beli, Shiroka and Kamchia.
"Get us the two Vickers tanks and a LT-35 tank." Popovo gave out the order. They nodded as they headed off to fetch the tanks they would be using in the practice trials. Erika soon went ahead to sit down in her chair. Srebarna and Popovo sat down next to her as they wanted to see how this trial would go. Soon the tanks began to pull out from where they were being stored. These tanks included: Pug Team's Vickers, the second Vickers that went along with the team but had no official name to it and the LT-35 tank that they just received. Kamchia, Beli and Shiroka got out as Kamchia went to her friends. Srebarna stood up as she began to organize the team into three groups.
"Istria, Dalmatia and Rosa will be in the second Vickers tank, Barbera, Lasina, Syrah and Tocai will be in the LT-35, Pomorie, Rila and Varna, you will be in Pug Team's Vickers." Srebarna told them as she was organizing them into groups. She soon stepped forth to Pomorie as she had specific instructions for her. "Pomorie, you will be the one teaching the gang what they should do while we take notes and have your results when the trials are over."
"I understand." Pomorie turned as she began to walk off. She motioned her crew to board their tank and to get ready for their orders. Some of the students went off to prepare the field around them for the next portion of their test. The test was about to start.
The tanks were arranged in a row of three as ahead laid six targets. Three for each type of round they would be using. To the next was a simulated type of target training with various targets made for various ranges. Once they got the basic target training done.
"Okay the first thing we wish to teach you is basic target training, this will be the first part of the test to see what you students are capable of and how effectively you will work together." Srebarna began as she was laying out the situation on what they should do to the various targets they came across. "Now the ammo that you will be using is color tipped meaning different rounds serve various functions. The green tipped rounds are High Explosive and the red tipped rounds are Armor Piercing, if you're color blind, we labeled the rounds on the bottom with HE and AP. Now prepare to fire." Srebarna soon took the microphone as she was going to give orders to Pomorie who would relay it to the rest of the group. "Load High Explosive." She gave the first order. Pomorie nodded as she soon turned as she began to bark orders to the other two tanks.
"Load High Explosive!" Pomorie barked the orders to the other two tanks. Rila who was close enough to hear her shout, knew what she needed. An HE shell was passed to Pomorie as she stuffed it into the chamber and prepared to fire. In the Vickers next to them, there was a bit more of a problem. Rosa, who was assigned as the loader, was wondering what shell Pomorie had asked for.
"What shell did she ask for again?" Rosa asked as she heard her words but she didn't remember what she was saying. She soon took the bottom of one of the shells as Dalmatia looked at her as she was getting impatient.
"That's an Armor Piercing round, she asked for a High Explosive." Dalmatia told Rosa as she soon grumbled waiting for Rosa to get the round into the chamber. "Sheesh your Amnesia is slowing us down now load up!" Rosa snapped as she chambered in a round as Dalmatia was soon pretty much happy.
"If I didn't get hit by a car when I was 3 maybe this wouldn't be a problem." Rosa responded. Dalmatia soon came up with a snarky comment as she wanted to continue rubbing more salt into the wound.
"Let's see if we slam you into another car it would reverse the effects?" Istria was boiling in anger from her position as the driver. She knew she needed to shut them up.
"Will you two shut up?! I can't tolerate you going around and shouting like this. We have a job to do." Istria slammed her foot down by mistake as the Vickers tank rolled forth slightly. It was enough to cause them to go quiet. In the LT-35 things were just as chaotic. Barbera was examining the rounds and the booklet she was studying from. She soon picked up a green tipped round as she got the round into the chamber. Syrah looked at her as she was finally happy that she managed to pack the round in.
"Took long enough for you to load the round in, you simpleton." Syrah snapped at Barbera who was just wasting her time unlike Rosa who didn't remember what round to get. Barbera looked at her.
"I was trying to make sure I got everything correct because if not, I would load the wrong round into the chamber." Barbera calmly replied. Syrah was now waiting for instructions as Pomorie spoke on her radio as she wanted to make sure they were ready.
"You two loaded up back there?" Pomorie asked as she was wondering if they were ready to fire.
"Ready when you are." Dalmatia responded as their tank was loaded up and ready to go.
"Yeah, we're ready." Syrah spoke next as Pomorie soon turned her radio to Srebarna.
"Okay we're ready." Pomorie told Srebarna that everyone was up and loaded and ready to fire. Srebarna nodded as she soon began to bark the order.
"Fire!" Srebarna told them. Pomorie heard the message as she fired first. The green tipped round hits the concrete blocks in the dead center causing the blocks to break apart easily. Pomorie soon spoke the message out next.
"Fire!" Pomorie shouted for the tanks to fire away. Dalmatia fired first as the shot much like Pomorie, had hit the concrete wall dead in the center as the HE round sent many pieces into the wall. Syrah fired shortly afterward but her shot wasn't as accurate as Dalmatia due to a lack of experience using a tank's cannon. The shot mainly hits the corner of the target as it didn't follow along with her friend's shot. Erika was watching as she wasn't too pleased with the LT-35's crew. Srebarna knew she needed to get the gang going so they didn't waste anymore time.
"First targets done, move on to the one to your right." Srebarna coordinated them. Soon the tanks moved forth as the students took the clutches and began to slowly drive their tanks. Soon they got themselves lined up again as they were presented with more targets and this was where their second round would come to play. "The red tipped rounds are armor piercing rounds, these rounds can take on much tougher targets such as a tank so that is why there is a steel plate, instead of fracturing into a bunch of pieces it will be one big round concentrated on a specific target." Srebarna instructed them on what this round was going to do. She soon barked the order as she wanted the students to get ready for the next target they will be firing at. "Load Armor Piercing." Srebarna barked to Pomorie who would in turn give the order to the other students.
"Load Armor Piercing!" Pomorie called out as she gave the order to load up another round. Rosa nodded as she soon grabbed the red tipped round as she was fortunate enough to have remembered. She soon loaded it into the gun breech as Rila did much the same thing. Barbera picked up the red tipped round as she turned to Syrah who was waiting on her.
"Is this the round you were asking for?" Barbera asked as she looked at Syrah. Syrah was moreover annoyed as she soon began to bark at her.
"Yes it is and get it into the gun breech!" Syrah shouted, Barbera sighed as she soon loaded it into the gun breech as Syrah and Dalmatia turned to their radios as they were ready to fire. "We're loaded." Syrah began as Dalmatia spoke out next to Pomorie.
"I'm ready." Dalmatia responded. Rila was ready as Pomorie turned to Srebarna who was on the radio as she was ready to give the order.
"Okay we're ready, tell us when." Pomorie called out from the radio. Srebarna nodded as she soon gave the order.
"Fire." Srebarna gave the signal to Pomorie as she wanted them to fire their Armor Piercing rounds at the target. Soon Pomorie gave the order.
"Fire!" Pomorie responded. She soon fired as her AP round slammed into the target taking it out with relative ease. Dalmatia fired next and got the same results. The LT-35 crew decided to make some corrections to their last shot and were the last to fire, their AP round slammed through the target's center. Erika looked on as she was barely amused. She could do better than that.
Once the firing squads were done, now came a new challenge for the crew to decide to test the gang on another thing they should know about Sensha-Do other than target training since shooting things was just basic and should be memorized in a few minutes. Dalmatia, Pomorie and Syrah had their heads out of the turret as they were paying attention to what Srebarna was going to teach them next.
"Okay next thing you need to learn about is reconnaissance, this is just as important as taking out an enemy tank. Just shooting a tank and calling it a day isn't enough, you need to find where your tanks are before you can engage." Srebarna explained what they plan on doing. She soon got a projector forth as she began displaying where the tanks were. "Today you will be tasked with locating three tanks. A CV-33, a R35 and Vzor-33. They have been placed in random parts of the school property so it will be up to you to find them. Good luck." The projector turned off as the three crews knew they needed to find the tanks. Dalmatia raised her hand as she wanted to be noticed. Srebarna turned her head wondering what the girl needed.
"Can we shoot the tanks?" Dalmatia asked as she wanted to find the targets and take them on. Srebarna looked at her as she had one blunt response for her.
"No." Srebarna responded. Soon the girls went down into their hatches as they began revving up their tanks. And with a turn and a booklet telling them how to properly clutch the gear, they began driving off as they wanted to go find where these tanks were.
Pomorie, Rila and Varna had split away from the crowd as they were busy patrolling the area as they were trying to locate where the tanks were. The area was roughly about 25 acres where they hid the tanks. Pomorie was adjusting the radio as she was trying to see how her partners were doing.
"Did you find anything?" Rila asked as Pomorie was looking from her Periscope. Varna opened up the escape hatch to get a better look of the environment around her.
"Nothing as of now." Pomorie responded as she continued to adjust the radio to see what frequency she could find the others on. Soon a voice came along as the voice belonged to Dalmatia.
"Hey Pomorie is it?" Dalmatia began. Pomorie nodded as she soon began to speak as she was wondering about what Dalmatia needed.
"That's my name and what is it that you need?" Pomorie asked her as if she was wondering about what Dalmatia was going to say. Dalmatia began to speak.
"We found the CV-33 It was nestled in a clearing right in between two birch trees." Dalmatia gave the position where the tank was found. Pomorie nodded as she checked off the first tank they managed to find. She soon knew where the tank was hidden was near the southwestern side of the recon area as it was covered in dense trees. Pomorie nodded.
"Okay that's the first tank down, hopefully we can find the rest." Pomorie nodded as she drove off in the search for the tanks. Srebarna and Erika were watching this from afar as they knew that one of the tanks had been spotted.
"So that's one down two more to go, hopefully it won't take too long to find the tanks since 25 acres isn't really that big of a territory size." Srebarna told Erika as she was watching. Erika wasn't amused at all. Pomorie was busy scouting around as she knew she must have spotted something but she didn't know what it was. Before she could make out what the object was, she heard a ringing in her radio as Syrah was trying to get into contact with her. She began to speak.
"Hey we found the Vzor-33. It was in the middle of the wheat field which was at the northernmost tip of the area as we were wondering why a tank like that was doing out there?" Syrah responded. Soon Pomorie knew she needed to relay the message back. Before she could do it though, Varna decided to add more to what they had discovered.
"We found the R35." Varna chimed in. The R35 was located in the eastern area as it was covered in some bushes. Pomorie decided to relay the information back.
"The LT-35 crew found the Vzor 33 and we just found the R35." Pomorie gave the information to Srebarna. Srebarna nodded as she began giving her new orders.
"Report back to me as we will tally the new gang's skills." Srebarna told her. Pomorie needed as the tanks began to make their way back to the garage.
Once they got back a few minutes later, Srebarna was examining the crews as Erika got the results together as she wanted to find out about the crew and the state they were in before any real matches could come about.
"So how did the Croatian crew do in the tests?" Srebarna asked as Erika was looking over her papers. Erika finished gathering the results as she turned to the others.
"These students, they did all right. Dalmatia and Istria seemed to be the only ones with some decent experience to Sensha-Do, the others however aren't on board in terms of experience compared to those two. Rosa and Barbera are the most concerning to me seeing Barbera is dyslexic and Rosa can't remember much so they're going to be a massive hurdle for the team to get over. Worst case scenario is Barbera flips out, Tocai can't come to the matches and Rosa cannot remember anything." Erika gave the results as Srebarna under the impression that the team wasn't ready due to the fact that a good chunk of the team had very little experience but despite this, Erika continued to speak: "Despite their shortcomings, they have a lot of room for improvement and can make a very formidable team. Their main role as of now should be War Crim…" Dalmatia soon placed her hand on Erika's mouth as she corrected her with her response.
"Anti-Partisan activities." Dalmatia blurted out her response. She soon removed her hand from Erika's mouth as she began speaking to Dalmatia.
"Since when would SSISSN have Partisans? Probably never since students can not rise up for a fight." Erika told Dalmatia that there was nothing to worry about. Srebarna stepped forth as she began speaking to Dalmatia.
"You could be right, you could be wrong. But if anyone tries to start a fight against you, just use your tanks to show that you aren't to be messed with. However do not fire the tanks against your own classmates as this could leave someone in agony." Srebarna gave a warning for her not to use her tanks as a weapon but moreover as an intimidation tool. Dalmatia nodded as she knew she had an oath to stick to. Erika soon got up and left as she wanted to head back to the Graf Zeppelin.
Erika soon arrived back as she looked around, it was just her tonight as she soon got her laptop as she wanted to speak to a couple of the students, Anchovy and Solti about how her afternoon went.
"So how did your afternoon go?" Solti asked Erika as she was looking around, her dorm was deserted as her commander was nowhere to be seen. Erika began to speak as she wanted to let Solti know how her day went.
"I was really busy as of today as I was helping out at a daycare center on the ship." Solti gave where she was the entire day. Erika and Anchovy looked at the blonde student as they were definitely fascinated where she was. Erika gave her response.
"Was observing a new Sensha-Do team to see where they are and where they would need to go in order to be completely viable. For now, they're fine but need more work." Erika gave her response as Anchovy seemed to ignore what Erika had said as she wanted to figure out more about Solti.
"So Solti, about your day, was it part of your curriculum?" Anchovy asked if this had to do with anything special such as credits to school or possibly moreover helping out with what she needed to work on. Solti looked at Erika and then to Anchovy as Anchovy asked her a question.
"It's part of what I want to do for my future, I want to be a teacher, mostly for younger students like really young students. That is why I treat all the freshmen with respect like I look over them like they are my kids. This is to help me get familiarized with working with young children. I kind of became the head of the student council at my school because of my calm approach to things." Solti explained as Anchovy looked at her as she knew Solti could do good with the role she was assigned with. She soon had an idea.
"Hopefully when you do become a teacher, you can teach the students Sensha-Do since they would wish to be like you one day." Anchovy told Solti, the two of them laughed as Erika opened her mouth.
"Speaking of which, I want to build up the school's Sensha-Do team as the gang could use a few more tanks to beef up their numbers as some Renault FT's and R35's won't be enough to supplement them for very long." Erika gave their layout as she wanted to see if the two of them wanted to give some assistance to help beef up their numbers for future matches. Anchovy and Solti took a moment to decide on the matter as they came to the same conclusion.
"Sure we should be able to lend some assistance to the gang. I'll organize more training days to try to get the new gang with some experience." Solti replied as Anchovy came up with another way to assist them.
"We should sell about 3 CV-33's to them as we have a pasta party coming up and some extra cash would do nice." Anchovy told Erika. Erika nodded as they were putting their backs behind for this. Solti soon left the chat as Erika did shortly after.
Elsewhere on the Graf Zeppelin, a car was driving down the road as three students were sitting in the back with an adult driving up front. The students were happily chatting among themselves as they were excited for tonight as their clothing was more refined than the standard uniforms their schools made them wear.
"It's a pleasure I get to spend the night with you. If it wasn't for tonight, I would have been busy working on my paper." Erwin was the first to speak as he managed to get to spend the night with his friends. Olivia and Maho looked at the boy as Maho was the first to speak.
"When is this paper due?" Maho asked him as she was wondering when the paper was going to be handed in. Erwin just held Olivia's hand as she was sitting in the middle.
"I was just assigned this paper today and got the introduction and part of the first paragraph done. It's not due until a couple of weeks from now." Erwin responded as he was rubbing his friend's hand. It definitely seemed soft compared to the high life shirt he was wearing.
"You got yourself started, I think you will finish this paper this weekend or just the draft before you show it to your teacher and he or she gives you the edits, I definitely see you're following my steps even though you and Olivia are a couple years younger than me." Maho told him as she draped her arm around Olivia's neck.
"It seems everyone often uses me and a pillow which I don't mind." Olivia gave her response as she was blushing a bit, she really didn't mind all that much. Erwin leaned down as he rested his head on the girl.
"You're such a soft girl. Both on the outside and inside. I thought my friend here would treat you like everyone else but you've definitely melted her heart from the ice." Erwin told her about how she was able to even charm an aloof girl like Maho. Erika was going to take more time but maybe someone else would be able to charm her prickly exterior.
"Ich sehe, dass Sie drei miteinander auskommen, aber ich hoffe, Sie können verstehen, was diese Opern heute Abend sagen würden, als ich es geschafft habe, uns ein paar anständige Plätze zu verschaffen." Frederick responded as he did like the mood that was going on back there. Olivia looked up to her father as she was just as excited as him as she began to speak.
"Ich war noch nie in einer solchen Oper oder mit meinen Freunden, dies ist eine Premiere, die ich machen werde, und hoffentlich wird noch mehr von Frederick kommen." Olivia gave her response back. Frederick laughed as he was happy for his daughter.
"Mutter sagt, sie könnte eine Überraschung für euch drei bekommen, wenn die Oper vorbei ist, können wir den Rest der Nacht mit ihnen verbringen. Hoffentlich wären die Leute nett genug, um ein paar Fotos zu machen." Frederick gave his response as Maho was confused about this.
"Do you know what they are saying?" Maho asked Erwin as if he had any idea on what they might be saying. Erwin began thinking for a moment before the response came to his head.
"I think what Frederick is saying is that their mothers might take us out for a treat when the Opera ends." Erwin gave his response as Maho began to think what was the best way to respond to what they were going to do afterward.
"Vielleicht irgendwo übernachten, während unsere Eltern etwas trinken gehen?" Maho asked as it was clear that some of Olivia's lessons were sticking as she managed to say something.
"Ja." Erwin responded. Frederick was laughing behind them as he really did enjoy the company behind them.
"Das sind gute Kinder. Denken Sie daran, nicht die ganze Nacht wach zu bleiben." Frederick told them from the back as he expected them to be good. Maho just held Olivia in her arms as she was squeezing her tightly.
Meanwhile on the Kiev style carrier which was not far from the Graf Zeppelin, someone else had a different reason to celebrate. In the traditional ballroom, it was showing signs of not being properly maintained as someone had been using it very often. That man was Grigori.
"More vodka anyone?" Grigori called out to the crowd. The crowd was all staff as he was throwing these crazy parties all night long. The music was blasting as it was heard all over the school. Nonna was trying to sleep but she was having trouble trying to get rest as the vibrations were felt in her dorm.
"Someone must be throwing these parties again." Nonna groaned as she was exhausted. She hadn't been getting much sleep but this was caused by Grigori's non stop parties. Soon a knock was heard on the door. Nonna groaned as she got up and opened the door wondering who it was that was bothering her this late at night. It was Brook who looked like she hadn't gone to sleep for several days.
"I feel like my supposed new best friend was a complete mistake. Even though he's healing people, Grigori is freaky." Brook began as Nonna let her into her dorm. Nonna knew she wasn't wrong.
"Yeah not only is he a big fan of alcohol but he would throw these crazy parties with Pravda's staff where they party all night long and get drunk. Some of our teachers never showed up to teach us which left us getting several classes cancelled because of his parties and they were also still very drunk from his romp. When I was walking along Katyusha one day, we noticed a goat had gotten itself onto the roof of one of the buildings and we were wondering how it got up there? Grigori was just as confused as we are so we kept walking." Nonna replied as she knew who this student brought in was pretty much influencing the staff of the school. "Although he managed to heal Alexey by taking him off his doctor prescribed aspirin. I feel like he's also falling in love with the principal's wife."
"Yeah we might as well try to continue improving our lives regardless of what is happening, I fear clouds will start forming over the horizon." Brook told Nonna as she soon got into her bed. Nonna looked at her.
"I think from what I can gather, you probably need someone to be close with and Kay really isn't around all that often to help consol you of your fears. You're just as scared when you first came here a year ago. Some things sadly don't change." Nonna soon pulled the covers over her as she tucked her in. "Sleep well, little feather and hopefully the wind will change and be a lot more gentle." They soon fell asleep as the vibrating was beginning to be heard again.
[A/N]: Nothing much to report here since nothing has happened yet. Pravda students aren't getting much sleep and a new team is being formed with the pieces of a left over school. Some of the students agreed to offer their support. Next chapter will hopefully be a match.