And here we go with Hector and Sam. Remember, these kids aren't the best at Tankery; overall, they're a pretty average crew with a great tank. Oorai got really lucky that they only wanted a scholarship and not guarantees, privileges, or straight up cash like some top tier teams would be able to demand. That being said, if some of my training I'm writing isn't up to par, wrote it off as them not knowing any better. If it's completely idiotic and immersion breaking, any tankers or tank experts are more than welcome to correct me, I welcome new knowledge.
In addition, please forgive my google-translate Latin and complete lack of knowledge about Japanese radio law and operations in general.
Now without further ado, Armor, Advance!
Hector looked out at the girls gathered before him. He wasn't ever good at this whole public speaking thing, or training thing. He loaded the shells in the tank, simple as, and he had told Joshua as much. Joshua was honestly about to let him off the hook when Rachel, in her irritating way of always wanting people to feel needed, had pointed out that loading was much more than that; Hector had to memorize the different shells and their locations, organize shells based on their usage, train his arms, core and back to heft the rounds in, and so on. When he really thought about it, He guessed alot more went into loading than previously thought. He had just gotten so used to it that it was second nature, like Michael switching gears or Sam adjusting radio frequencies. He didn't think about it, he just... did.
Still, he was determined. He'd stripped down to his OD green tank top, which had an outline of a tank shell and the word "Loaded" beneath it, along with his jeans. One thing he hated about this uniform was that he couldn't wear his jeans day to day anymore, so he was enjoying the opportunity
He'd gathered the girls around a few practice loading breech mechanisms, which used sand-filled dummy rounds weighted to the shells actual weight, and ejected the shells out like a real breech would. He likened it to a pitching machine for baseball players, but instead of hitting fastballs, he was loading rounds.
"Alright, so... uh... ahem... I'm Hector Perkins. Nice to meet you ladies."
The girls just stared at him with a mixture of slight fear, awe at his size, and... hunger?
Odd girl, that CaesarSaki was spacing out as usual. Many of the loaders were actually preoccupied with other training, as on light tanks like these commanders many times doubled or even tripled up as loader, radio operator, and commander, the Panzer 38 (t) being a prime example.
Yukari already had a pen and paper out, eager to absorb any sort of knowledge that Hector had to pass on.
He struggled to find an analogy he could relate to. He remembered those dance lessons his mother had made him take to prepare for one of his cousins weddings. Despite his size, he found he actually picked it up quite well, just letting the music and the girl in his arms carry him away while he didn't think about it, he just... did.
"Loading... is like dancing. It's very simple. it's also very intricate; there's alot you just have to get used to on the job. The heft of each round. The best way to grip each shell, the position of individual ammunition racks, knowing if the gun breech is angled up or down. One of the biggest things is loading on the move, and you have to get that down."
Caeser raised her hand
"Hunkto-I MEAN HECTOR! Ahem... why is loading on the move so important? Don't we just have to have the shell in the breech, and that's that?"
Hector nodded, ignoring her freudian slip
"Partly, and this applies to you and other tank destroyers a bit less. Typically you guys like to sit in one area and ambush. But for the rest of tanks, Joshua has a saying; If they can see you, they can hit you. and if they can hit you, they can kill you. A smart commander will fire and immediately order the tank to move. A still tank is a dead tank. That means you have to be able to load a shell while the tank is rocking back and forth, rolling over rough terrain. You need to get into a rhythm with your gunner, she's the one who will set your pace, and you'll set hers."
Caeser nodded, as Yukari asked when they'll be practicing
Hector grinned a bit, "Right now, actually. We'll use this training breech for now, it's loaded and weighted for standard M4 Sherman 75mm APBC shells. The key here is to get a rhythm going; when your tank and another are locked in a duel, you need to toss shells in the gun as fast as you can, and your gunner is going to be firing as soon as you get a shell in and get clear. We're going to have a race; I'll be hefting simulated 90 mm shells from a Pershing tank, and you guys will be loading the Sherman rounds. Your goal is to get to where you can load two rounds for every one round I load; if you don't get it now, don't worry, we have time."
he smiled at his students as they all took positions
"Now, LOAD AP!"
The American quickly reached down, hefting a 90mm shell into the breech and slamming it home before the training tool 'fired' and spit the casing out. After 5 rounds, he looked up to see how his students were doing
Yukari was doing alright; she'd managed to load 6 shells, and was getting faster. He began walking behind the girls, observing their loading. Saki he noticed next, was struggling a bit. Her small size meant she wasn't having the easiest time of loading the shells. He approached her from behind, tapping her on the shoulder
"Saki? you doing okay hun?"
the spacey first year turned twords him and shook her head, pointing at the shells on the ground
"Heavy."
Hector nodded, before addressing her again, "They are heavy, dear. But these rounds are actrvery similar to the 75mm shells your Lee will be using. If you want, you can load the 37mm, since the shells are much smaller, until your arms get used to the weight. But until then, I noticed you were using your arms and back to get the shells out, is that right?"
She nodded, trying to pick another one up
"Here, try lifting using your legs and keeping your back straight. Those muscles are stronger, and if you keep this up you might hurt yourself, and that's the last thing I want, alright dear?"
She nodded, giving it a try. Her time noticably improved, and the first year was trembling much less lifting the rounds.
"better?"
Saki nodded, smiling at the large american.
"Better. Thank you Hector-chan"
He smiled and ruffled her hair, before moving on to the history buff girl
Caeser was loading much faster than Yukari even managed, loading 8 shells in the time it took Hector to load 5 of the 90mm ones. Paying closer attention, he saw that she was grabbing the back of the shell for leverage, and using it to load faster.
He approached the girl, "Caeser, isn't it?"
The girl turned and addressed the foreigner, "Actually, it's pronounced Caeser. But nobody knows that, so I guess your way is fine" she said with a grin
Hector chuckled, "Right. So, I noticed you were actually loading pretty fast. But you're grabbing the rear of the shell. You don't wanna do that; these training aides are safe, but in a real breech, if your fingers are near the shell when the gun loads it, they can take your finger off. Always use your fist to push the shell and ram it home."
Caeser tried that, but had difficulty and almost dropped the shell several times without her grip on it, then struggled to use her fist instead of her palm to ram it home
"Damnare! Mister Perkins, that's just... that's too difficult! I feel like Carthage trying to grow crops!"
"You can call me Hector, hun. And I know it's harder, but once you get used to it it's not so bad. Here, I'll take the weight off and you can get used to the motions"
Before she could protest, the American had stepped behind her and was using his arms alongside her own to lift the shell, allowing Caeser to practice the muscle memory of the movements to load it.
She improved quickly, but once her normal focus on her task was interrupted by the triumph of advancement, she realized what sort of compromising position she was in.
The American loader that her and Erwin had been gawki- SCOUTING, they were SCOUTING- during the infamous Tank Washing Incident had his arms wrapped around her, his head above hers peeking around her shoulder, and his chest pressed up against her back. Hector, of course was oblivious to all this, focusing instead on lifting the shells for Caeser.
The poor girl, unfortunately, was not so lucky. She'd become aware of how his solid pectoral muscles flexed as he lifted, seeing the slight drip of sweat on his bare, thick arms. She heard every little grunt he made as he lifted the heavy shell like it weighed no more than a Pilum. She caught herself feeling lightheaded when she noticed his smell; Masculine, potent, and mixed with the slight sting of gunpowder and cordite.
She couldn't help herself; She modeled herself after the famous Roman General, and yet she was still a high school girl. Her eyes vegan fluttering, and her mouth curled into a loopy grin that Erwin would later describe as looking like a dog having it's belly rubbed
If I wasn't crushing on this persoană din altă ţară before...
She let out a slight moan when he bent her over to pick up another round, engrossed in his art to the point she was just following his lead
His worried voice took her out of her fantasies of seeing this man in a gladiator outfit, ready for inspection and... rental... by the elite women of Rome the night before a match
"Caesar, you okay dear?"
"F-FINE! Haaa... I'm... I'm fine... just... sore?"
"please buy it, please by it..."
Hector nodded, stepping away from the girl and allowing her to clear her head
"Ah, sorry, got carried away there hun. Anyway, think you got the hang of it?"
Caeser than noticed that several eyes were trained on her, her fellow STuG crewmates gawking at seeing their friend in such a state, not to mention the look of intense jealousy Saori was throwing her way.
"A-ah, I think I may have it..."
Her drăguţă smiled and turned away, leaving Caeser feeling like something was missing
"No, come back! My American, give me back my American!"
As he made to continue his training, she thought fast; She would need to navigate this particularly carefully. Not only was there her objective, but she must consider the political ramifications amongst her friends. Could her very own Brutus be lurking in the crew should she make the wrong move? She saw the way Erwin had eyed him; Like Julius Caeser before her, she would have to snatch this victory from the very jaws of peril, when an idea struck her
"When you are strong, make them think you are weak..."
Not quite what Sun Tzu had meant, but wisdom is often found when one is not looking for it.
"H-hector, Perhaps.. Perhaps I could use some additional practice. The shells, they're just so heavy, and I would hate to develop bad habits for loading..."
Fortunately, Hector's mind was not on any ulterior motives she had, and instead nodded his head and gave a friendly smile
"Sure, hun. We'll practice more later, okay?"
Caeser couldn't help but stare as him as he walked away, his back muscles and glutes right against his clothes, looking like a proud Legate she often fantasied about.
"Veni, Vidi, Vici, PLEASE!"
Caeser noticed a certain Wermacht-clad friend of hers silently fumed in the distance, her face bright red and her mouth fixated in a pout.
Caeser smiled smugly to herself turning back twords her shells, before whispering "As they say in America; eat your heart out, Erwin."
"... luckily for us, modern Sensha-Dō allows the use of more modern radio equipment. If it didn't, alot tanks wouldn't even be equipped with radios; obviously in a sport, that's very dangerous. That means we have alot more range, battery life, and a much simpler method of communication. Each team are given a range of MHz they're allowed to use, and we set our channels for those. The team commander will typically determine the channels at the start of a match, but in battle- Saori, pay attention! stop looking at the loaders! As I was saying, your tank commander may ask you to set up a channel with a specific tank, or a specific group or section they divide our forces into. So you need to be able to think on the move!"
Sam had been giving the girls lessons in radio operations for the past 30 minutes, and she was very happy with the way things had been going.There had been a few hiccups and bumps in the road, but overall the girls were catching on very quickly. They'd already discussed radio security, communication importance, and how to relay messages to eachother using the 'Hey you, It's Me, Message' template.
Sam handed each girl a handheld VHF radio, "Alright, you girls are gonna take these home so we can practice! These are also a pretty fun way to talk to eachother, or annoy Michael when he's sleeping by leaving one in his pillow. I've also picked up some chatter from random ships on the water! just be sure you follow the rules we set our and you'll be good to go!"
The girls nodded, putting their radios to good use as they made their way to their respective tanks.
Sam noticed that as she was walking away, Saori was fiddling with the dials on her radio with an intense look on her face.
She approached the redhead, "Saori, whatcha doin?"
The boy-crazed radiowoman had her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, not looking up as she replied, "I'm trying to find this one station... and... Aha! got it!"
As she shouted in triumph, music began playing from the handheld radio, which Saori quickly turned up
"Ah... If only we could play this music in the tanks intercom system!"
Sam grinned, "You can actually! Cmon, I'll show you how I set it up in Sugar!"
Sam led her to the T32 tank, dropping down into her radio seat as Saori dropped into the drivers seat next to her
"I didn't exactly slice into the intercom system, since if I did that then we wouldn't be able to hear radio messages with music playing. Instead I spliced the power lines into an entirely seperate audio system that plays over speakers I've positioned in the tank. They're all vintage WWII era so it's Sensha-Dō legal, even though it's a bit less high quality than what we're used to. But it works pretty well, and I can hook up either my handheld radio or a music player depending on what we wanna listen to!"
Saori studied the setup with curious eyes, leaning over Sam to get a closer look
"I bet I can set up something just like this in the panzer!" She thought excitedly
Sam, however, was preoccupied by the Garupan currently leaning over her lap, and the scent of strawberries from Saoris soft red hair in her face
"GIRL. GIRL. TANK GIRL. GIRL IN YOUR LAP. GIRL. SHES SO CUTE. MAKE A MOVE! SHES RIGHT THERE!"
Sam cleared her throat, "Ahem, well... would you like to see it in action?"
Saori nodded, and Sam began playing soft music over the speakers. Édith Piaf began softly singing over the radio, and Saoris eyes went wide before a smile overtook her face
"This song is so pretty! Is this En glish??"
Sam laughed, "No, no it's French... some say it's... th-the language of love..."
As Saori closed her eyes, rocking to the music, Sam seized her opportunity and placed her hand on Saoris knee
Saori opened her eyes to see Sam staring at her, her saphire eyes shining and that beautiful smile on her face-
"I-I LIKE BOYS. I LIKE BOYS. I LIKE BOYS. I DONT CARE WHAT HANA SAYS I LIKE BOYS. SAM DOESNT LOOM PRETTY. I AM NOT CRUSHING ON SAM."
Saori sat frozen, just staring at the American blonde as the final notes of music played, captivated by her blue pools that stared back at her.
When the sing ended, Saori noticed just how close they had leaned in, and jumped back
"A-ah, well! that was very very nice! Th-thank you Sam! W-we should probably join the others again, right?"
Sam was blushing madly, having realized just how close the two had gotten to kissing
"I really need to watch what I'm doing, I'm gonna end up in a love triangle at this rate! And remember what Joshua said, we're supposed to be training! God why did you have to give me a thing for redheads??"
Sam nodded, sat up straight and opened the hatch, hopping out and helping Saori down.
"Y-yeah, probably a good idea!"
As they walked back to the group, they passed Hana and Rachel walking twords the T32, looks of excitement on their faces. Rachel waved as she saw Sam, and Hana only looked between the blushing radiowomen with a raised eyebrow. Rachel was the first to speak up,
"Oh Hi Sam! Hi Saori! what were you guys doing?"
"J-just showing Saori the music, haha! nothing else!"
Saori nodded vigorously, "She was! it was good! uhm.. french, right?"
"That's right!"
Rachel beamed, "Oh, did you play La Vie Ein Rose!? I love that song Sammy! it's so sweet and romantic!"
At this Hana did a double take, staring at Saori who screwed her fists shut and pouted at her. Hana only waggled her eyebrows at her before Sam interrupted,
"H-haha! you're so silly Rachel! we were just playing music! A-anyways, are you guys gonna shoot the gun?"
At this Hana and Rachel both got red cheeks, before Rachel confirmed that they were, Hana backing her up with murmers of "gunnery practice"
"alright, have fun guys! dont waste too many rounds!
When Sam and Saori reached the rest of the team, they split off, Sam grabbing Saoris sleeve before she could go
"Hey... I uh... had fun back there. If you wanna listen to some more music, maybe we can hang out again sometime? In the tank o-or at... m-my place?"
Saori would play this moment in her mind over and over again for years to come, absolutely bewildered as to why she nodded her head and shouted that she'd love that, stuttering and blushing, before desperately repeating her mantra in her mind that she'd adopted ever since those confusing feelings emerged when Hana rested her head on her thighs for the first time
"I LIKE BOYS. I LIKE BOYS. I LIKE BOYS."
"They seemed... quite odd, didn't they?"
Rachel hummed, climbing on the turret and helping Hana up, "Oh, I guess... Do you think they were having a romantic rendezvous in the tank!? Eeeeeiii! It'd be just like Hearts Of Iron!"
Hana's eyes widened, before thinking back to the way Saori and Sam had reacted
"They certainly seemed like they were hiding something...""P-perhaps... But perhaps it was nothing! Besides, they've only just met, and Saori is a romantic sort! if they did, I don't see how it's any of our business..."
Rachel rocked her head back and forth, dropping into the loaders seat as Hanna gracefully lowered herself into the gunners
"Oh no, I'm happy for them, but... well, Hecky says I'm a bit of a gossip... I just like knowing my friends are having fun!"
Hana smiled at that; truth be told, gossiping was one of her guilty pleasures too.
Rachel then added, "I bet they got to second base!"
Hana looked at her stunned, as Rachel could only picture the sweetness of the two love birds holding hands and listening to music
Well there we go, chapter 11. Doki Doki Tank Club vibes abound, but I wanted to give more characters some romance than just the trash insinuation of Joshua and Miho, who at this point I see more as friends than anything else. I also hope I captured everyone's characters well. Next up will be Joshua and Miho, with Joshua dealing with Miho being upset that his crew are all doing what he explicitly told them NOT to do.Read, review, criticize. Listen to some Édith Piaf too, woman has a beautiful voice. I don't speak Frogspeak, but its a very romantic language.