A/N: Hello again! I'm gonna take the time before this chapter to address guest reviews.
TankNut: Yes, Valarie does indeed take the people who hate the fact that Mojave Rose is coed seriously. She doesn't want to team to attract any more controversy, so, she is very much against the team doing tankathlon to protect them. And in regards to the Flamingos in the match area, don't you worry. Those beautiful birds will be okay :)
Kunoichi69: It would be very lucky if one of the crews that will secretly do tankathlon was one who got the fifty bucks. Lucky indeed ;) And yes, Heather needs to be more careful about sharing personal info over the internet. She got lucky here.
TurboDriver7: You and TankNut have picked up on my habit of making the new crews unique, most specifically the commanders. The guesses you guys give...are very interesting. One of you guessed a future commander right. You'll have to wait on who though ;)
Guest (Chapter 68): The Type 97 crew are still relatively new to the team so they don't fully know Valarie. So seeing Madison's reaction to the bullet storm wouldn't make them suspicious. It makes them think that Valarie, even though she been with the team since the beginning, can still get rattled by machine gun fire. It makes them feel better as beginners to tankery as they learn the ropes
Guest (Chapter 67): You ask if I plan on adding something like a reserve force for the team in case a member is unable to perform their duties. You also ask if I ever plan of filling the roles of unoccupied spaces on tanks, like the Sherman Jumbo and its hull-machine gunner. The answer is no to both. Simply put, its more characters for me to keep track of. The Mojave Rose tankery team alone is over 60 members strong, each a character I have created. Other than a few exceptions, such as Harper, I focus mainly on the team's commanders to flesh out their characters.
They are more guest reviews but addressing them all would make this the world's longest author's note. I'll make more of an effort to respond to gust reviews. I do read every review I get and love them all 3 Enjoy the chapter!
Tuesday, September 10th 2013
After several days of sailing, Catalina's school ship reached the warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean, with them crossing the Panama Canal during the previous night. The ship now traveled south toward the Port of Iquique in Chile. For Madison she was excited. It has been too long since she's been to anywhere in South America. Already was she making all sorts of plans of things to do in Chile and the surrounding countries. Though before she allowed herself to daydream for too long, she did have an important matter to attend to. The crew for the Mojave Rose's new Churchill. It was the adults on the team, Martin and Gabrielle, to choose the new members out of a list of applicants which worked on first-come-first-serve basis. To get them to the ship was where Madison stepped in.
Mojave Rose had a unique problem compared to the rest of the schools participating in the world tournament. Per the rules set forth by the governing body that regulates international tankery, members of a tankery team must be current students of the school that team belongs to. The problem here was that the student body of Mojave Rose High School tends to be over a thousand miles away from Catalina's school ship.
A problem that did have a solution thanks to Madison who has arranged the air travel for the last two crews and now a third. In her dorm, she reviewed the flight information. How the new crew will get here will be a little different. She will for sure have Valarie close-by to see the crew arrive as it'll surely be a spectacle.
Once the flight info was sufficiently reviewed, she set aside her laptop and got dressed for the day. In was early in the morning as slipped into her school uniform. At first, one would be puzzled as to why a girl like Madison when she first came to Catalina would go and live in the dorms rather than the more spacious and luxurious student apartments. The answer was simple; she was enamored with the concept of a dorm room. A small space with every square inch used to its maximum efficiency. A bed, closet, shelves, and a desk. Of course, with Catalina being the wealthy school that it was, also had its dorms have a TV and a mini-fridge. Something not even some colleges have for their own dorms.
Once she finished brushing her hair, she got her bag and left the dorm building. There was a chill in the morning air as she headed toward the direction of the theater to do some business over there when just on the border of her peripheral vision was a girl leaning against a lamp post. A girl whose hair was as brown as freshly dug soil from the earth that was slightly wavy. On her hair was a pair of aviator sunglasses that Madison could tell were on the expensive side. There was a familiarity to her, Madison could feel it. The girl made her way over to her. She snapped her fingers as she tried to recall something.
"...Madison, right?" the girl asked.
"Right," Madison confirmed. "I know you from somewhere but for the life of me I can't attach a name to your face."
"Jacqueline," she told her with a grin. "Commander of Mojave Rose's artillery."
"Oh! Yes! That's where I remember you. You look awfully different when not in your tankery uniform."
"Mmmhmm," hummed Jacqueline. "Now, Madison, I understand that you've done a lot for this team. Hell, it was you that made it possible for us to even be on this ship in the first place making travel for our matches so much easier. That makes you what?"
"Your most generous benefactor." Madison said slowly and happily.
"Right. I wonder just how generous are you."
"I've bought tanks for your team and I'm more than willing to buy more."
"How about a plane?"
Madison narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side.
"A...plane?" she said quizzically. "The team gonna start up some kinda bomber squadron?"
"I'm thinking more of reconnaissance," Jacqueline said to her. "What do you know about RC planes?"
Madison shrugged.
"Nothing. Other than it's a hobby." she admitted.
"A very fun hobby. I fly RC stuff a lot. Back home in Barstow I have a whole squadron of RC aircraft. I also play those flight simulators games, read books about aircraft, watch airplane documentaries...look I love anything that flies."
"I can see that."
"I come to you to make a request for something that can help the team. An RC plane."
"Is that so? What kind of plane?"
"One where nose-to-tail is as tall as. Has a mounted camera to provide a first-person perspective and out-of-visual flight. And a powerful radio transmitter to control the craft twenty to thirty miles away from the controller."
Madison eyed her up and down.
"I don't think you can find something like that in some hobby shop."
"Nope. Thankfully, I have found a place where you can order such a plane."
Jacqueline showed Madison her phone where on it was a picture of the RC plane she wanted.
"What is it?" Madison asked curiously.
"A 1/12 RC Model of a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. The model is powered by a pair of miniature turbojet engines that run on either diesel or kerosene."
"Geez, this is one hell of a toy."
"I know!" Jacqueline nearly squealed. "I can fly that thing and do a whole lot of recon during our matches."
"Is this even allowed in a tankery match?"
"Sure is. You'd be surprised at what things can be allowed in a match. For the team, we've faced off against people who used fake wooden tank models to throw us off. I also hear of some people using some kind of siege mortar. If a monster like that can be in a match, then surely a little ol' model spy plane can too."
"Hmm. Well, if it's allowed then I don't see why not."
"Awesome! Say, the six-and-half thousand dollar price tag isn't a problem, right?"
"Nah," Madison said with a dismissive wave. "I spent much more money without a second thought. Much more."
"Damn. Okay." Jacqueline said with some surprise.
"You can expect this toy to arrive sometime after we make port in Chile."
"Wicked. Oh, and more more thing," Jacqueline got real close to her. "Is it true you and Valarie are sisters? We heard the rumors."
Madison answered with a nod.
"Shit man," Jacqueline exclaimed with a laugh. "You two look so alike!"
She departed with a wave, leaving Madison with an ever-growing smile.
"So I've heard."
Later
Throughout the school day, Ashley noticed something peculiar about Heather's behavior. Normally a girl so reserved in her emotions, at times even stoic, was now acting all giddy with the biggest, warmest smile Ashley has ever seen on her. Ashley has never seen her like this. The only times she ever departed from her normal, normal to her, behavior was either when she lost total control of her temper or was struggling with her inner turmoil.
Ashley was obviously delighted to the moon and back to see Heather in a wonderful mood. She was just curious as to what caused it in the first place. Heather being hunter, she answered cryptically when asked.
"I'm hunting a metal gargantua."
Her answer didn't satisfy Ashley. She prodded her again and again to explain what she was talking about but Heather would always playfully refuse, clearly enjoying teasing her. Each time, Ashley would get a bit more desperate to achieve any sort of headway. She would try to hide it but Heather could hear and feel the desperation in Ashley's requests, further contributing to her fun. In between class periods, a near exasperated Ashley pulled Heather aside to an empty classroom to try another attempt.
"Okay, what's up with you? Keeping some sort of secret."
Heather flashed a smile.
"I'm just loving it. Teasing you all day." she said.
"All this teasing and no reward, you know how I hate that. So, please, tell me, what has put you in a good mood.
"Why would I do that and spoil my fun, darling?"
Ashley blushed at that.
"Alright. Name what you want and I'll do it. Keep in mind that since we're dating, you have options at your disposal that no one else has."
Heather smirked.
"Oh, I know. I'm well aware of what they are," she paused to ponder what she wanted from Ashley. Her eyes lit up when she had something good in mind. "I want you to sing for me."
"O-oh," Ashley stuttered out in surprise. "I, uh, I thought you wanted us to f—okay I'll sing for you. Been a while since I last did it."
"Well, go on then."
"What? Now?! I gotta prepare for that! I don't even have a song in mind and I perform better with an instrument."
Heather crossed both her arms and legs. She was disappointment.
"I guess you'll never know then."
"Wait, just give me time. I'll get a routine sorted out and..and...I'll perform not just for you but for Valarie and Emma as well."
Heather let out an excited gasp.
"Oh! A more proper audience. That's what I wanted for a long time. Okay, you have your preparation. I can't wait!"
"Will you please tell me now?"
At long last, Heather gave a nod. She pulled out her phone and read aloud what was on the screen.
"If you are reading this, then you are the person that my son has entrusted to embark on this grand adventure. Someone who will truly appreciate what lies in store for you in the end. Who I am needn't concern you. What you need to know is this," Heather paused for a moment to look up from her phone at Ashley, who was absolutely enthralled. Pleased, she went on. "Somewhere in Europe is a genuine German tank from the First World War. I have devised a series of clues that will lead to its location. These clues will test you on a series of things from historical knowledge to cryptography. I wish you all the luck, and above all, that you have one hell of a time."
She again looked up from her phone, now done.
"Oh...man!" exclaimed Ashley. "You sure found something good. Real good! A hunt for a German tank from World War I? There is really only one possibility as to what that tank is."
Heather slowly nodded.
"Valarie's all-time favorite tank, the A7V." she said.
"She's gonna freak out once we tell her about this."
"That girl is gonna scream."
"So!" Ashley said with an eager clap. "What's the first clue?"
Heather resumed her attention to her phone and read aloud the clue.
"You'd have to be as mad as a hatter to fly this thing."
They both looked at each other with blank expressions.
"You got anything?" Heather wondered.
"Nada," Ashley replied with a shrug. "Hey, what are we supposed to do with the answer when we figure it out?"
"In the file I was sent to kick off this adventure was a link to a website. It was blank, though I can tell it was made in the early 2000s. The only thing on it is an input box."
"A password box." Ashley figured.
"And whatever the answer is for the clue is, presumably, the password to unlock the next step."
"Okay," Ashley had a hand on her chin. "Mad as a hatter. That mean's someone is crazy. So a guy gotta be outta his mind to fly the plane or whatever the clue is talking about. So...some kind of experimental plane maybe?"
"Or it could also be talking about flying something that was never designed to fly in the first place."
Ashley threw her arms up in the air.
"In that case, the clue could literally refer to anything. Man, I'm already getting annoyed!"
"Imagine how I feel. Since I first read the clue I've scoured lists of experimental aircraft. Planes, jets, rockets, gliders, even blimps and hot air balloons. Aircraft development spans over a hundred years so, understandably, there is a lot of prototype aircraft that makes it all overwhelming.
"And you could be wasting your time if the clue isn't referring to some aircraft."
"Yeah," Heather sighed. "I've got my work cut out for me."
"Well now you got me to help you out. Take on my fair share of the workload."
"Thank you, I appreciate that."
"This is gonna be fun."
"Totally."
A warning bell sounded, informing students that they have a minute to get to their classes before being marked tardy.
"Gotta go. Trying not to be late to classes is my new thing," Ashley said. She then leaned close to Heather. "Catch you later...darling."
She gave Heather a peck on her blushing cheeks and went off. Heather giggled as she strolled to class, her mind occupied by both the clue and of Ashley.
That Afternoon
When Martin and Gabrielle arrived to open up the garage ahead of the start of the team's meeting today, the very first the pair saw when the doors opened was the Churchill NA 75, its conversion work completed.
"What in the goddamn...it's finished?" Gabrielle said with shock. "When I left the garage yesterday the thing still had a mountain of work ahead of it. Now it looks ready for action. Who did this?"
"I don't have the slightest idea." Martin said.
Before the two could speak further, some members of the team were already arriving to the garage. Among them was Emma, walking straight to the T-44, with Valarie following quickly behind. They could hear the words from her voice.
"You're not still mad at me, are you?"
The pair was soon out of sight.
"I think I know who did it," Gabrielle said with a small chuckle. "Oh Valarie. You poor girl."
At the T-44, Emma climbed upon the tank and sat on the turret with her back aimed at Valarie, arms crossed. Valarie remained on the ground level.
"Are you going to give me the silent treatment all day?" Valarie questioned. "Emma. Please. I said I'm sorry over a hundred times. But you know how I am."
She could hear Emma give a sigh.
"Yeah...I know," Emma said, finally speaking to her. She turned to face her. "I've known you for a decade now. Since day one, I know how much of a fanatical you are when it comes to tanks. It'll take a while, but I think I'll soon accept the fact that when it comes to your loves, I'll always be below tanks."
"What?!" Valarie scrambled to the turret top with Emma. "That can't be more further than the truth."
"Well waiting all night for you to return from the garage for you to supposedly to 'clean' says otherwise."
Valarie sighed. She glanced toward the garage door and saw more of the team enter. Wanting some privacy, she motioned Emma into the turret where the two continued to talk.
"Emma," Valarie said as she held her hands. "I love tanks. So very much. But my love for you outshines it in every regard. Brighter than the brightest stars in the universe. I want to marry you. You as my wife would be the absolute crowing achievement of my entire life. Bar none."
"Emma Woodlin has a nice ring to it." Emma said with a small smile, a blush steadily growing on her cheeks.
"It suits you beautifully."
Valarie brought Emma's hand close to her to lay a kiss on it.
"I'm so sorry about last night. I promise nothing like that will ever happen again. I will always be with you when we walk back home from our meetings."
"Mmm, that's a start."
"And to more properly make it up, how about I take you out somewhere? There's an art exhibition happening tomorrow night that I did have a hand in its creation."
"An art exhibition, huh?" Emma asked intrigued. "That sounds fun."
"It'll be a date! We'll dress all nice and walk around looking at art. Act like members of high society."
"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy that."
"But I'm not gonna wait 'til tomorrow to start making up to you," Valarie said in a gentle whisper as she pulled Emma close to her. "It's starting now."
Outside the T-44, Heather and Ashley made their arrival. They looked at the tank for a moment.
"We got here before them, huh?" Heather remarked. "I don't buy it."
"Same. They must be in the tank." Ashley determined.
"Doing what?"
"Well, knowing Valarie, probably not what we think."
"I'll just find out real quick."
Heather went to the driver's hatch and opened it as quietly as possible. She aimed her ear to the opening and listened closely. She only needed to listen for a moment to understand what was going on and shut the hatch as quick as she opened it.
"They're kissing."
"That all?"
"Just kissing."
"Well," Ashley said as she moved to rear section of the tracks. "They'll be busy for a bit. Wanna do some track tightening?"
"I'd love to."
The two performed track maintenance to occupy their time. Soon, Emma and Valarie emerge from the turret and join in on tank maintenance. Their faces were of pure happiness. The meeting for today proceeded as normal and when it came to a close and the team were dismissed. With their arms interlocked, Valarie and Emma walked together back to their apartment. Their relationship stronger than ever.
Wednesday
When lunchtime rolled around at Catalina, it wasn't unusual at all for the tank crews of Mojave Rose to come and eat together. That was the case for the crew of ACIV Sentinel cruiser tank, who were eating and chatting among themselves. Save for Robin, who after eating quietly, dug out her yarn and a pair of bamboo knitting needles. Robin has already long established to her crew that she enjoyed to knit. Since the early days of the team, she has knitted a variety of things. Scarves, cup cozies, knitted cactus, mittens, and her biggest project, a several foot long blanket that she started back in January and still working on. What she was working currently, however, was the most interesting any of them has seen thus far. Lucy, the ACIV's driver, watched with curiosity as Robin knitted what looked like some kind of hat. A small one.
"What are you making there?" she asked her. "Looks way too small for you or any of us to wear."
"A little lamb hat. Once it's done, it'll be a white beanie with lamb's ear. It's gonna be super cute." Robin answered.
"Oooh, I love it! You making the hat just for fun?"
"Well, I am having fun making it but it will be a gift for Mrs. Redwood when her due date arrives. I'll make two of these hats for her twins."
"Cool! But, ah, her due date isn't until March, right?"
"True. But, man, I just can't wait for next year to make 'em."
"You and babies, Robin. Can't get enough of them, hmm?" remarked Autumn, their loader.
"Oh my god, I adore them. Every time I see a baby out in public it makes me instantly smile and I can't resist making faces at them to make them laugh."
"What is that dream job of yours?" Alexa then said, snapping her fingers. "A Neo-something nurse?"
"Neonatal nurse," Robin answered. "They're the people who take care of newborn babies, especially those who have any kind of complications or defects. I was a premature baby, born five weeks before the due date. A neonatal nurse took care of me and made sure I, well, you know, lived. Now, I want to return the favor and take care of the kind of babies I once was."
The bell that signaled the end of lunch was heard and the students out in the courtyard started to disperse and head to their classes.
"Now," Robin then said as she gathered her things. "What is this art thing the school is shouting about nonstop?"
That Night
The school day was over. The team's meeting was over. The moon has taken the place of the sun and with the sky being cloudless, shined almost as brilliantly. On regular nights, Catalina's campus would be devoid of students and faculty. But for tonight, a special event, planned and executed in a short amount of time, was drawing people in. An art exhibition hosted at, where else, the school's art museum. Valarie and Emma, the moment they returned home from the team's meeting, exchanged their tankery uniforms for formal attire. The couple decided to each wear identical clothing and choose a simple marooned-colored cocktail dress. They had fun as they got dressed, making sure their outfits were just right. They washed their faces and gave their hair extra attention.
"How do I look?" Emma asked.
"Gorgeous." Valarie replied with a warm smile.
"Thank you. Ready then?"
"Ready."
Valarie extended her hand and Emma was more than happy to accept and hold it. The pair left their apartment and headed toward the direction of campus. The night was cool, but not cold enough to necessitate a jacket. Along the way, they came across a few other people, dressed in a manner similar to them, heading to the same place they were. As Valarie and Emma were relatively new students at Catalina, they did not yet understand just how popular and important the art museum is to the school. It was the place Catalina used to showcase, some would say 'brag', the art created by its students to the world. It was an institution not only just for students to come and browse, but also for members of the general public to come and 'get cultured', as the school would put it. As such, when the pair got closer to campus they noticed an increasing amount of people congregating at campus, and a flat-out crowd at the entrance of the museum.
The girls entered and had to carefully maneuver their way through the main entrance hall as it too was crowed with people looking at the exhibits. Valarie led Emma further into the building where the crowd thinned and choose a hallway at random. Here the walls were lined with paintings, most of which beautifully crafted art of scenery. Some natural, with some paintings more certainly of Inspiration Park, others of the ocean the ship traveled filled with sea life, and others of Little Long Beach capturing the essence of the town. All these paintings had different styles to them. One student went for a photorealistic painting, another took a page from Van Gogh and painted their own rendition of a Starry Night with Little Long Beach as the backdrop. A third had a student made use of pointillism to create their self-portrait. All the little dots painstakingly created with the utmost precision.
They walked down a bit more and both halted before a painting that had them transfixed. It was a painting of some bizarre figure. Golden wheels interlocked in a manner that seemed impossible to do, on these wheels were eyes, human eyes, looking in all directions, with some appearing to look directly at the viewer. In the center of these wheels looked what appeared to be a baby. It had its arms and knees close to it, as if it was these wheels served as its womb. The baby was black, not in skin color, but more like it was cast under some shadow despite being surrounded by light. Emma and Valarie stared at this painting, their minds running at full speed to make sense of it. Valarie's turned her eyes to what laid below the painting, its title. It simply said,
"Be. Not. Afraid."
"What the hell is this supposed to be?" Emma questioned.
"I dunno. Madison told me of an artist who makes weird stuff," Valarie said. "Andromeda is her name."
"She did not make this," said a voice from behind. Valarie and Emma turned around to see a boy, wearing his school uniform. "It's mine. A Biblically-accurate angel."
"That's an angel?" Emma remarked. "It looks terrifying!"
"A bit different from those porcelain angels you see at the store, eh?" he said with a laugh. "Yes, accurate angels look horrifying. You might even say they look like demons."
"Totally!"
"But that's the point. You ever seen depictions of Lucifer? The fallen angel?"
Valarie gave a half-nod.
"He's normally depicted as a human, right? Kinda handsome."
"Exactly. When demons interact with humans, they make themselves appear attractive. To better convince people to sin. So, that's why the angels are the way they are. To scare the demons and protect humans."
"Huh. Interesting. You religious?"
The boy shook his head.
"Not particularly. I just find the Bible super fascinating."
"If it can inspire art like that, it must be."
"Glad you enjoyed it. Now, if it's Andromeda you're looking for...she's around. Her art is hung up a few halls away. I swear, in a less enlightened time, she'd be locked up in some insane asylum. Have a good night, ladies."
He made his leave. Emma and Valarie remained in place in the hall. Alone.
"I'm actually a bit worried to see the art of this girl," Emma admitted. "If it can freak out a guy who made that 'angel', then it must be something much scarier."
"Same. But I do still have a curiosity. A morbid one, maybe."
"Yeah...me too. Let's go and see it."
With their hands held tight, the girls traveled the halls looking for Andromeda's art. Past by paintings, pottery, glass sculptures, and well-done photographs of animals. They went down a hall near the end of the museum where it was entirely composed of paintings. Slowly they walked down it, gazing upon each and every painting to look for the one that screamed that it was made by Andromeda. Thankfully for them, it didn't take long to find what they were looking for. It stood out from the rest so extremely that it was impossible to miss.
The painting for its background was inverted space. The void between planets and stars was an uncomfortable white, and the stars, instead of the familiar bright lights, were as dark as coal. In the top right section of the painting was a planet. If it can even be called a planet. It looked alive. Some kind of eldritch abomination. How big it was couldn't be ascertained as there was nothing else in the painting to compare it to.
For appearance, it was an horrid amalgamation of flesh and rock that even in a still painting, looked like it was pulsating. Extending from what can be called the surface were a mass of tendrils that, if real, would have lengths of thousands of miles. Its tendrils sprawled in various directions as if it feeling the space around it, looking for something. Below the painting was its title and it provided no clarification at the slightest.
"My Friend."
"Good god," Emma remarked with a gasp. "What compels people to make something like this?"
Valarie stepped back to get a better look when she bumped into someone. She let out a small gasp and turned to see a girl who was standing right behind them. Somehow, she managed to get so close without even them knowing. The girl had dark blond hair done up in a ponytail. She wore a pair of oversized glasses with rounded lenses and frame gold in color. Though, considering the amount of wealthy students attending Catalina, there was the real possibility of the frame being made of genuine gold. This girl looked at both Emma and Valarie in a studious manner.
"You must be Andromeda." Valarie said to her.
A grin appeared on the girl's face.
"My reputation precedes me," Andromeda said all drawn out. "To a point where even the operators of those steel beasts know who I am."
"Madison told me about you."
"Madison," echoed Andromeda. "Our own little rabble-rouser. And I mean that in a good way."
"Hmm?"
"When Madison ran for the position of student council president, the speeches she made fired up the electorate and would often criticize the school's administration. Suffice the say the relation between the two has always been tense. But she is effective in her role, no doubt about that."
"Fascinating," Valarie remarked, pleased to learn more about her sister. "Now, Andromeda, mind explaining to us this painting of yours?"
"As you wish!" exclaimed Andromeda. She positioned herself next to her creation and cleared her throat. "I present to you...the thing I've seen in my dreams."
"You...dreamed this? A monstrosity?" Emma said with surprise. "Nightmares more like it."
"My dear, appearances can be quite deceiving."
"That appears to be a theme tonight." Valarie commented.
"When I dream this thing," Andromeda went on. "I feel nothing but remarkable calm."
"How big is it?" Emma questioned
"About the size of Mars."
"How can you tell?"
"Oh, it told me."
"...It told you? That thing can talk?"
"Yup," Andromeda answered as if what she said was the most normal thing in the world. "We had many interesting conversations over a course of multiple dreams."
"You dream the thing more than one, huh?" Valarie remarked. "You think that means something?"
Andromeda looked toward the ceiling for half a minute in silence.
"It could very well be that this thing is just the product of my mind. A concoction of my subconscious that manifests in and only in my dreams," she then smiled. "Or...what appears in my dreams is in fact a real, genuine, entity that exists in some dimension foreign to our own and my brainwaves are set in just the right frequency to see it. I know what possibility I prefer."
Valarie and Emma exchanged glances.
"I think for everyone's sake, I hope for the former." Valarie said.
"Believe me you have nothing to fear from it. Real or not, it's not some thing deadset on catastrophe and calamity. It serves the greater good."
"Gotcha. Well. It's a pleasure to meet you and your painting is genuinely a good piece of work. Even if the content is, uh, a bit disturbing."
"Meeting you has indeed been pleasant," Andromeda said. "We'll meet again. I'll make sure of it."
Andromeda left quickly before any of the girls could respond. Valarie and Emma turned to look at each other.
"We call the interesting people we meet in this goal eccentric," Emma remarked. "But I think she's beyond that."
"I see what you mean. I feel that if she and Heather met, they'd become fast friends."
"They'd be friends so fast it'll make a sonic boom."
They shared a laugh and again held hands. They had much more to see of the art exhibition and resumed their walk. Fortunately, the art they saw was much more wholesome and induced positive emotions as compared to the previous art they had observed. The exhibition was enjoyed well into the night. A date that went superb.
Thursday
"What do you mean they're arriving in a few minutes?"
"I mean they're arriving in a few minutes, what don't you understand?"
Prior to the start of the team's meeting, Madison has informed Valarie of the imminent arrival of the new Churchill crew. Understandably, she was flummoxed.
"We're haven't made port yet though."
"True. We're still approximately two hours and twenty-three minutes away from the Port of Iquique. But why wait 'till then?"
"How are they getting here?"
"You'll see."
The pair were in an SUV Madison has rented to help out with the new arrivals. How she managed to rent a car at the age of seventeen was beyond Valarie, though she suspected Madison paid much more than what was typical to 'persuade' the car rental service to allow it.
She drove to the other side of the school ship and parked outside a building that looked like a terminal. Behind it was a clearing with several landing pads. A sign on the building read,
Little Long Beach Heliport
"They're coming in a chopper?" Valarie asked
"That they are!"
"Geez. They haven't stepped foot on the ship and already are you spoiling them."
"I sure do move fast." Madison grinned.
They got out of the SUV and waiting by the vehicle. It wasn't long before the sound of the whirling blades of a helicopter was heard followed by the aircraft itself. It was without a doubt a luxurious chopper, sleek and modern. It came to a landing at the heliport out of view. The girls waited for a few minutes when four people exited the terminal, each wearing backpacks and pulling luggage. Two girls and two guys.
"Oh! Another coed crew!" Valarie remarked with excitement.
One of the girls was walking ahead of the rest. Her hair was unbelievably black that it seemed to absorbed all the light that touched it. The color black was a clear favorite of hers as her tank-top was black, her denim jeans, black, and graced on her face was a pair of sunglasses that was, of course, black. To contrast it all was her skin tone, a pale white. This was a girl that once upon a time had submersed herself in goth culture only to later move on. But she hasn't totally left that period of her life behind. Vestiges of it still remained and she wore it proudly.
"Wee'ree heeeere!" the girl exclaimed.
"Hello!" Valarie greeted "I'm glad you're all arrived. Hope the travel over here was okay."
"Someone must have damn deep pockets because our travel over here was fucking fancy, man!"
Madison cleared her throat.
"I'm the one with deep pockets."
"My girl. You. I love."
"It was the least I could do," Madison said with a faint blush. "To make things for the team as easy as possible."
"Let's get a move on guys," Valarie then said. "The team's meeting is happening right now."
"Hit the ground running, huh?" the girl remarked. "Hell yeah, let's go!"
The luggage of the new crew was stowed on the SUV and everyone piled in. Once the doors was shut, they were off. As they drove to the team's garage, Valarie spoke with the new crew.
"First things first, what are your names?"
"Claudia." the girl answered, still wearing her sunglasses.
"I'm Millie." said the other girl.
"I'm Cody," said one of the guys. He then pointed to the other remaining boy. "He's Noah. He's a bit of a shy guy."
"Oh yes he is!" Claudia near shouted out. "The only words I heard from the guy during our travel were timid 'please' and 'thank-yous' to the flight attendants. But I'll get him out of his shell, don't you worry. Soon, he'll be one talkative son of a bitch."
"Well...alright," Valarie remarked. Claudia was definitely the type of person who uses swear words more frequently than most. "You guys determined your roles?"
"Just me," Claudia said. "I'm to serve as the commander."
"Really? Not to be rude or anything, but why?"
"I'm the only person outta the four that has done tankery before."
"You have? When!"
"Middle school."
"Huh? I don't know of any middle schools back home operating any tankery teams."
"You talking about Barstow and the surround area, huh? Well, I'm not from Barstow. Or California. I was born on the other side of the country in Maine. Moved to California before the semester started."
"Oh wow. Moving across the country to California only to then come to a school ship. You barely had enough time to get a feel for the place. How does your parents feel about it?"
"Dunno how my dad feels, the bastard left when I was just ten weeks old, but my mom, oh man, she nearly flipped out. She said, 'We only just arrive to California and you want to leave already?!', and I said to her, "Mom, dude, I'm coming back! You said you wanted me to continue tankery!', where she then replied 'Yeah, but, the tankery team of your new school is in the internationals and so far away!', then I hit her with this, 'It'll look so good in college applications!' and she was sold then and there.
"Um..." Valarie said after processing the information dump. "Okay. Ah. It's...it's fantastic that you have previous tankery experience. That'll be a great help when it comes to training you guys."
Claudia leaned toward Valarie who was in the front passenger seat.
"Don't lie to me. You're curious about the first part of what I said, hmm?" she asked.
Valarie hesitated for a moment.
"Well...I didn't want to ask in case it was a sore sport for you."
"Nah," Claudia replied. "Like I said, he left when I was ten weeks old. Too young to remember him. Good riddance really, if the stories my mom tells me are even half true."
"I see. So, your mom raised you by herself?"
"She sure did, and she's doing a good job is I say so myself. The bond we have? Iron tight, dude."
"That's great to hear."
They arrived at the garage a few minutes later. Valarie and the Churchill crew got out of the SUV and went inside. When the new crew latched eyes on their tank, they raced toward it. Claudia, displaying her experience in the sport, climbed upon the tank with skill and got inside the turret quickly. Valarie let them explore their tank for several minutes when she gathered them for another chat.
"All tanks on the team have callsigns," she told them. "Come up with one and you can also paint it on the left side of the turret."
"Kickass. Give us a hot minute and we'll get you our callsign." Claudia said
The Churchill crew grouped up and entered into a brainstorming session with all of them chatting, save for Noah who merely nodded every once in a while. Once they were done, Claudia returned to Valarie.
"We came up with a lotta good names. But tumbleweed won it out."
"Tumbleweed, gotcha. Cute name!"
"Damn right."
"Now you can paint a tumbleweed on your turret if you like."
Claudia snapped her fingers and her crew set out to work. Already do they recognize her authority as their commander.
"If you don't mind, I got an interesting story I want to share with you." Claudia said.
"Sure, what is it?" Valarie responded.
"I was doing some reading during the flight to Chile and I came across something from the Second World War," she got close to Valarie. "A U.S soldier was out walking down a dirt road. He soon found a wrecked Panther that was lit ablaze for it was struck by a shot earlier in the day. Flames shot out from every opening and he could feel the intense heat. He gave the thing the wide berth it needed as he continued his walk. Though he still looked at it as he did and noticed something. There was some kind of yellow liquid bubbling out from the space between the hull and the turret. To his horror did he realize what it was. The boiling fat from the Panther crew. They never escaped from their metal coffin."
"Oh my good god..."
"Fucking brutal, eh?" Claudia remarked. "Good thing we have that protective carbon lining."
"Yeah...thankfully."
Claudia playfully tapped on Valarie's shoulder.
"We're gonna have lots of fun! It's been two years since my middle school tankery days so I'm a bit rusty."
"Don't sweat it. We'll all help you get up to speed."
"Awesome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got to be with my crew."
Claudia went to assist in her crew in painting their callsign on their tank. Valarie watched them for a moment before heading off to her own tank. Claudia has only been on the ship for barely an hour and already has she left a big impression on Valarie. A girl whose personality that Valarie will have to get accustomed to as she has never met a person like her before. But what she liked about her most was her previous experience in tankery. Claudia will no doubt prove herself to be a wonderful asset to the team. One that has a seemingly grand fascination with anything morbid.
With another crew, the Mojave Rose tankery team has another vehicle to field for their matches, a Churchill NA 75. Another gun to contribute to their firepower.
They're gonna need all the help they can get.
