Hell On Tracks
Part 52
"Miss Evans, may I have a word with you?" The Chieftain asked from his office in the garage. I paused mid step and quickly caught my balance, looking at my two companions. Jane and April looked back.
"One sec, Chief!" I answered, before quickly scanning the area for someone to give them a hand in my absence. Naomi was the first person I spotted, and I gave her a wave. "Hey, Naomi!"
"What's up?" Naomi asked as she approached.
"Can you give these two a brief on the Stuart, and show them the ropes? Chief needs me for something." I said, gesturing to Jane and April as I spoke.
"Sure thing." Naomi nodded, and I turned away. As she led the pair towards where I'd left the Stuart, I heard her begin with the same question I'd asked them earlier. "How much do you know about tanks?"
Naomi was gonna be in for a long few minutes…
With my charges safely passed off, I jogged over to the Chief's office. The door was open, and I slipped right in. He was typing away at something, and I took a moment to examine the office. It was a little bit smaller than his office in the main sports building, but no less packed. A large shelving unit was set up behind his desk, and it was full of manuals, reference books, histories, and model tanks. He had maps on either side wall, pinned to corkboards and full of pins and holes where pins had previously gone.
"Please, take a seat Tally. This should only be a minute." The Chief said, and I took the seat he gestured to. I scanned the bookshelves, trying to see if there was anything of interest. Multiple manuals for every vehicle in Saunders' arsenal - plus a few I knew we didn't have - a couple of examinations of historical battles, and a history of Sensha-do. Where he got a manual for the T28 Superheavy, I'll never know, because the darned things are just as impractical as the Maus, if not more.
"Apologies, I just needed to finish up a bit of paperwork." The Chief said.
I nodded. "So, what did you need me for, Chief?"
"Two things. First, in light of what you went through in yesterday's match, and going by the brief version I got from Kay, I'd like to recommend you pay a visit to Miss Gale when you have an opportunity. She's one of the school's counselors, though you wouldn't be able to tell by what the school has her doing most of the time."
I blinked. This was the first I'd heard about any sort of school counselors. "Saunders actually has counselors? I thought that since Japan is rather, ah… against the concept, there wouldn't be any here."
"Any school but Saunders, you'd probably be right. But Saunders was originally an American school, and the first school ship was actually former Navy. It's carried on some naval traditions, and the ship's chaplain being available for spiritual guidance is one of them, though it's evolved to be less secular." The Chief explained. "Sarah's a good person, and I'm sure she'd be willing to give helping you out a shot."
"Oh." I oh'd. "Yeah, I'll definitely have to give her a visit in that case. What was the other thing?"
"Your former crew." The Chieftain began.
"What about them?"
"They'll no longer be a problem. What they did to you, and tried to do to you and your teammates was absolutely unacceptable. They've been expelled."
I blinked. That… wasn't what I had been expecting. Off the team, sure, but expelled?
"I see." I said, trying to hide just how stunned I was by that.
"Which has the unfortunate side effect of leaving you without a tank or a crew." The Chief continued. "Now, getting you a new tank should be easy enough, since we need to give your old one a thorough inspection, but a crew's a mite harder this far into the semester."
"I think I've got that taken care of, actually. I invited a few friends in today to give them a look around one of the Stuarts, and see if they'd be interested and are any good inside a tank." I said.
"Very good!" The Chief smiled. "Since you seem to have that taken care of, I'll let you get back to it. Remember to contact Miss Gale at some point, too."
"Will do!" I flashed the Chief a thumbs up as I stood and exited the office. My feet quickly carried me over to the corner of the Oddball Collection, where Naomi was clearly exasperated with April and Jane. The gunner was pinching her nose, with something that looked like a grimace on her face.
"Hi Tally!" Jane called as I approached. "I think we broke her."
"You did not break me." Naomi insisted.
"What did they do this time?" I asked.
"We did nothing." April interjected.
Naomi didn't say anything, and just gestured to Jane. I nodded in sympathy.
"Yeah, that'd do it."
"Hey!"
"Naomi, I'll let you get back to your own stuff, I can take it from here." I said. Naomi thanked me and fled at a dignified but swift pace.
Jane had the presence of mind to look embarrassed. "Sorry…"
"It's fine. Not everyone is as used to your antics as I am. Now, let's get you acquainted with your tank, if you two are certain you want in."
"Of course!" Jane and April both said, standing at attention. Jane's posture was picture perfect, while April had a close enough approximation for the image to be deeply amusing. Not that I laughed, of course.
I walked over to the tank I'd spent so many hours fixing up, and gently patted its front glacis plate. "This is the M5A1 Stuart light tank. Equipped with twin Cadillac V8s, bogie-style suspension, and a hydramatic transmission, it is one of the fastest tanks in Saunders' arsenal, but it's thin armor and 37mm gun M6 also make it one of the weakest. As such, our job is probably going to be more in the range of scouting and flanking, rather than head on assaults and overwhelming tactics with the rest of the team.
"Due to its small size, the Stuart only has a crew of 4, but we can reduce that to 3 by ignoring the assistant driver, AKA the Bog. I kinda had Jane pegged for Driver and April for Gunner, but I'll give you both a shot at either position to make sure you're both comfortable, once you've got the basics down pat."
Jane waited a moment after I finished my lecture before speaking. "She's confident we'll do great! She already likes you, Tally."
I gave Jane my usual 'you're being weird' look before diving into the nitty gritty part of the basics of tankery. There would be no getting in the tank and driving around with it for a few days, there was a lot of theory to learn first. A lot of it was stuff that I was gonna be learning for the first time, myself.
When I'd pitched my plan of action to Kay on the drive over to the garage, I wanted to get them in the tank almost right away, in a sort of learn-by-doing manner. It had worked for me, so it should work here too, or at least that was my idea. Kay shut it down hard, saying that if we were going to do this, we were going to do it properly. Expedited, but properly.
"Okay, that all makes a certain amount of sense." April said with a nod once I finished the brief version of the basics. "I'm a little disappointed we won't get to drive the tank around at first, but it makes sense. What's our schedule going to look like?"
"The Chief gives lectures to the Training Company on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though from what I hear the first few weeks are all lecture, so don't expect to be driving around with Training tomorrow. We'll probably have to steal him for lectures on the off days. Beyond that, it'll be the fast tracked basic training to get you two up to speed as fast as possible. The next tournament match is the week after next, and I figure Kay is gonna want me in a tank for it. I'd like that tank to be the Stuart, but I doubt that you'll be up to snuff by then, no offense." I explained.
"At the bare minimum, we have just over a week to get up to par if you want the Stuart?" Jane asked.
I nodded. "If we get Saturday through Monday for our match, chances are you won't be anywhere near ready. Even then, I don't think you'll be ready for this match at all. Maybe the next one."
Jane and April's faces both grew serious for a moment. "We'll make it. If we have to put in extra training, evenings, weekends, whatever it takes." Jane said, while April nodded along.
"Alrighty then. I'll probably be there to help every step of the way, though don't expect me to be super helpful in learning your specific roles. Naomi said I've got very little potential as a gunner, and, well, I rolled a Sherman while driving it."
"What now?"
"Now, we wait for Kay to call the gathering for announcements and what everyone will be doing today, and then we head to the lecture hall in the back for the Chief's lecture." I answered.
"Sounds good!"
I was full of nervous energy when I entered the leadership room at the end of practice. There was a spring to my step, and I was bouncing around on my heels when I stopped to open the door and slip inside.
"Good day today?" Arisa asked me.
"Sort of. The Chief gives really good lectures, but I have been sitting around all day and just need to move for a bit." I answered, as I started pacing around the room.
"Note to self: Never give Tally coffee." Arisa said aloud, before doodling something on a sheet of paper.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, holding a hand to my chest. "At east I'm not addicted to the stuff like you are, you early morning zombie."
"I am what I am." Arisa stated with a smirk.
We bantered back and forth for a while as the others trickled in, Hannah, Naomi, and finally Kay. All the while, I never stopped moving, be it pacing, bouncing in place, or tapping my foot.
The meeting went fairly typically, and we took this opportunity to plan out the next few days' practices. Naomi was insistent on mobile gunnery training, which nobody objected to, but we interspersed some regular practice stuff here and there to make sure we didn't lose anything while we focused on that one particular skill.
"Arisa, last night you mentioned that you had a new idea for something we could use?" Kay asked once the planning was done.
"The Canal Defense Light." Arisa said with a nod. Judging by the looks of confusion around the room, nobody knew what she was talking about. "It's an M3 medium tank, either pattern, with the 37mm turret replaced by a high power searchlight. It was originally intended to provide spotting assistance during night ops, and had a secondary purpose of dazzling and blinding the enemy."
"That's legal?" I asked.
"It was a legitimate modification made to the tank, and it actually saw combat service during the war. It's a lot more than can be said about certain other designs people have fielded." Arisa answered, tapping her pen against the table. "Though I'm still annoyed we couldn't get that T29. We still need a proper heavy tank."
"Pershing was just as good as, if not better than Tiger I, even more so in Tankery." Hannah input.
"And as much as I hate it, we have the M6 if we truly need a heavy tank while our Pershing is out of action." I added.
Kay hummed softly as she considered the proposal. "I'm not sure it would be worth the effort. At worst, it's a tank that's less effective than an M4 with a fairly specialized crew, and unless a match goes really long, there aren't any night battles, so the best case perspective is a lot less likely than the worst case."
"It could be worth a try, though." Arisa insisted. "A high powered spotlight could be helpful for getting everyone on target, and temporarily blinding a gunner could be the difference between a win and a loss."
Kay looked around the rest of the table. I shrugged, Hannah shook her head, and Naomi spoke up. "It could potentially be useful. If we can find the stuff for a reasonable price, it might be worth it to buy and convert one of our Lees over. We don't use them anyways, so at worst it's just a little money lost."
"Alright." Kay said. "In that case, Arisa, Naomi, I want you two to find the parts for a reasonable price, and I want you to find me a concrete situation that we have a reasonable chance of seeing where it will be useful. Otherwise, we won't buy it. We'll have to clear it with the Chief regardless."
"Yes ma'am!" Arisa and Naomi responded in sync.
Kay flashed them a thumbs up. "Is there anything else that anybody wanted to bring up, or are we good to call things here?"
I half raised my hand, getting everyone's attention. "It's not related to what we've got going on in practice, but I got an email from Eclair earlier today, asking if I could review her match footage and see if I had any advice. Apparently, she had a particularly embarrassing loss to Anzio. And, well, I was wondering if anybody wanted to help me watch it, since two sets of eyes are better than one."
"Ooooh, we can learn from the mistakes of others, and help them improve at the same time. I like it!" Kay said enthusiastically.
"How long is the video? I have classwork I need to get to." Naomi asked.
"I won't hold you back if you need to head out." I answered. "But I think it was a fairly short match."
Naomi nodded. "I'll see you all tomorrow then."
"Later!" "See you!" "Bye!"
"Do we have a projector or something, so I can put it up on the screen?" I asked, as Naomi left the room.
"Should be over here." Kay said, indicating a cart with a computer attached.
"Thanks." I moved over to the computer and booted it up. It only took a few minutes of work to get the video open and displayed on the screen. I was about to press play when Arisa stopped me.
"Tally, are you sure that this isn't a highlights reel? Twenty minutes is far too short for a Tankery match."
"It's the video Eclair sent me."
"Play it!" Kay said cheerfully. I complied, and quickly retook my seat as the match started on the screen.
It didn't take long for any of us to realize why the match was so short and so embarrassing for Eclair. Maginot took a defensive position only to immediately abandon it as soon as it looked like Anzio's tankettes were retreating, and they chased the tankettes entirely too far, leaving their heavy tanks to lag behind, one of which was their flag.
Anzio's Semoventes used this opportunity to swarm the pair of heavy tanks, and it was over quickly. Part of Maginot's forces turned back to assist their flag tank, but they were too late, and the flag tanks traded blows, knocking each other out.
"... wow." Hannah breathed as the video ended. "You said Maginot lost that? How do you decide a tie?"
"It's an incredibly rare occurrence, but in the chance that both flag tanks are knocked out simultaneously, the match goes to a judge's decision. Same thing happens in Annihilation matches when both teams lose their last tank at the same time." Arisa answered. "They also consult recordings to see if one flag tank went down first, because it can be incredibly close at times."
"Twenty minutes, and only two tanks knocked out. Just… wow." Hannah said.
"Chi-Ha-Tan lasted longer against Kuromorimine." Kay said simply.
"So, I think the obvious lesson there is to not overcommit to chasing after the other team and leave your flag tank exposed. Same lesson we had to learn." I summarized.
"Temper aggression with caution." Kay said with a nod. "Better tanks would probably help a ton, too. Those one person turrets are overwhelming at the best of times, and being aggressive can only make that worse."
"I've already mentioned that to Eclair, but she's denied getting upgrades. She wants to keep their lineup in theme."
"French tanks are awful. And they didn't build any between 1940 and 1945. Any upgrades would have to be imports or Lend-Lease." Arisa added. "We should have a few M4A2s we could loan them."
"Anything we can loan would not only be a significant increase in firepower, but also manpower requirements. Somuas are 3 people max, Shermans are 5. That was one of their issues, a lack of crews." I commented, tapping my foot as I leaned back. There were a lot of possibilities, but Eclair had thrown out most of my suggestions.
"We can offer the A2s, but maybe also something lighter?" Hannah suggested. "The light tanks need less crew."
"We aren't sending them the Stuarts." I stated firmly.
"The Locusts might be a good choice, if Eclair accepts. Three person crews, the TC has a lot less on her plate by not needing to gun, and they're better than the lights Maginot fields." Kay suggested.
"That could work." Arisa said, and we all nodded our agreement.
"So, temper their aggression with caution, don't commit all of your forces to one area, and offer Lend-Lease M4A2s and M22s?" I summarized.
"Sounds about right." Arisa nodded. "Though let her know we'll want the Locusts back for Tankathlon this fall."
I gave a thumbs up and started jotting down the gist of the email, which I would compose back in my dorm.
"Anything else anybody would like to discuss?" Kay asked as she turned off the projector.
"Do we know when the next match is?" Hannah asked.
Kay shook her head. "We don't know who or when we're playing until Sunday, once all of the matches for the first round are over. The league will send out an announcement, which we can then share during practice on Monday."
"Okay." Hannah nodded.
"Any more questions? No? In that case, see you all tomorrow!" Kay said cheerfully. We all gathered up our stuff and filed out of the leadership room. Arisa and Hannah went one way, while Kay and I headed for the parking lot and Kay's Jeep. The light was on inside the lecture hall, and I peeked inside to see what was going on, since practice was well over by now.
I'm not quite sure what I was expecting to see, but it wasn't Jane and April, hunched over books and bookwork.
"You'll have yourself a good crew in no time." Kay said quietly. "They're hard workers, just like you."
I nodded. "Thanks. Both for the opportunity and the encouragement."
Kay drew me into a side hug. "Of course. Y'know, we should do something this weekend, just the two of us."
"Like what?"
Kay shrugged. "Haven't thought of anything yet, just that we should. If you have any ideas, let me know."
I thought about it for a moment. Going out and doing stuff as friends would be nice… No tanks, no responsibilities, just the two of us, good friends, doing friend things. "Will do."