First fanfic, probably going to be absolute trash so be brutal in the comments. If you like tanks, friendship, adventure, romance, armor piercing rounds, and the girls who make it all happen I hope you enjoy. Rest assured, there will be yuri, though not the lewd kind, and hopefully not too prevalent, but some characters are -in my eyes- very obviously into eachother (Carpaccio and Caesar come to mind). I also want to keep this from turning into a "MC bangs all of Tankery and is awesome" fic, he's mostly there to provide eyes into what's going on. Every school will get a tank team from their country, some might have guys, some won't (Anzio would probably be desperate enough to take what they can get, but KMM I doubt would accept such an untraditional crew so quickly, for example). Very heavily inspired by the Black Jack fanfic, though I'll try and stand out from it.All characters are property of their creators, IS-1 is property of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
"Loader, load AP!"
"UP!"
"Gunner, target bearing 0-6-4, range 700 meters, target is T-34-85, bringing you on target"
"Target in sight"
"Fire!"
"On the way!"
"Good hit, target destroyed. Loader reload AP, Driver, reverse, left stick. Gunner, new target bearing 0-8-7, range 800 meters, target is IS-1, bringing you on target"
"target aquired"
"UP!"
"Fire! Good hit, but the targets still up. Driver, bring us behind this building, loader, load hyper shot"
Joshua Whitman took the time to breath just for a moment, and took stock of the situation.
Okay; one target down, one damaged, probably repairing. hyper shot being loaded, one friendly down and the other on its way to this position. third enemy tank unknown, location also unknown, but most likely to my east-northeast. Easy day.
His loader, Hector Perkins, was of a different mind
"Fucking goddamn motherfuck fucking fuck shell with this mother FUCKING weight and this-"
"Hector? you're doing it again"
"Fuck off Rachel"
Josh held in a chuckle at his gunners observation; irritating the already easily irritated loader would do no good here. Instead he decided to ask a pertinent question; those were always smart, right?
"how we looking, Heck?
Hector wiped the sweat from his brow "We got... onetwothreefour...uh... 19 AP rounds, 9 hyper shot left, 6 HE."
"good, may need them all... you gonna be good?"
the burly loader blew air out his nose "I'm fine commander, arms just hurt like a bitch..."
"Maybe hitting arms the day before a match should be on your 'not to do' list then, numbnuts" Piped up from the front of the tank
"Oi!"
Hector reached over and tried to kick the driver that had targeted him, the driver and radio operator bubbling with laughter. Josh shook his head and obliged the disgruntled loader, lightly kicking the back of the drivers helmet
"Ow! The hell was that for?"
"Michael, focus up. that IS is probably repaired by now, or close to combat capable at least. Please do not anger the man who loads my rounds while I have rounds that need loading"
The jokester flipped him off, but otherwise turned back twords his periscope and grumbled.
"Sam, see if you can raise Katy on the horn, and find out where the fuck that girl is"
The radio operator beamed a bright smile (no doubt at the opportunity to talk to the cute redhead manning the radio in his allies' T20), shouted "On it!" and fiddled with her dials. Her voice drowned out into the background as Joshua opened and stood out of the coupla, his mic in his hand. Just over the sounds of his idling engine, he heard another one rev up and the clinking of tracks to his 5 O'clock, on the other side of the building
"so that's what your game is, is it?"
Ducking back into the turret, he addressed his crew
"Driver, reverse, point us twords the building and then continue to reverse. Gunner, I'm bringing the turret around to 2 O'clock. Enemy tank is going to try to flank us from the right side of the building. Loader, load AP after this shot. Sam?"
"they're about 2 minutes out commander"
"great, fucking useless as always" were the words that entered Joshua's mind, but the words that left were a simple acknowledgement and a request to keep him informed before gluing his eyes to the periscope and the corner of the building. He wished he'd loaded AP instead of HVAP, but it couldn't be helped now.
"c'mere you, I know you think you've got me... take the damned bait"
As if by his command, the front of the IS-1 crept around the side of the building, expecting the enemy to be facing his last known direction. Much to their surprise, instead of the delicious sight of the thin rear armor of the enemy, they instead were faced with a long steel tube bearing down on them
"Gotcha"
The IS-1 lurched forward as the driver slammed the brakes and began reversing, but it was too late
"Target aquired!"
"Fire!"
the report of the gun rocked the tank as the breech spit out the shell casing, with Hector already hefting a new round into it. Joshua however kept his eyes on the Soviet surplus tank, seeing the shell impact just below the turret, causing it to suddenly stop it's traverse
"turret ring hit, but still alive"
"Hit em again!"
"UP!"
"FIRE!"
"On the wa-"
Just as Rachel shouted her status and before the breach belched once more, a loud ringing shook the tank and joslted the crew
his head still ringing, Joshua steadied himself and shouted
"Report!"
"Turret drive damaged, it's jammed! Gun breech unresponsive, it's out too!"
"Engine hit, I can't move her!"
"WERE ON FIRE! FIRE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT!"
"FUCK!"
Shouting, Joshua took command over the panicking crew
"I'll smother those flames! Driver, anything? Sam, get Katy here NOW! Loader help with the turret, Gunner on the breech!"
Joshua opened the coupla with a fire extinguisher in hand, spraying the rear of his tank and putting out the fire
"okay, next..."
Just as he was preparing to duck back in, he heard the roar of an all too familiar engine caused his head to turn as the IS-1 moved forward, sensing blood
Ah fuck.
The Russian tank jerked and moved. It's turret may be unable to traverse, but that wouldn't matter at this range once the driver got the hull pointed in the right direction, and by extension the gun.
30 seconds of silence filled the air as the tank manuevered forward, stopping suddenly with the gun pointed at his vulnerable side armor. The coupla opened up to reveal a pale young woman with dark red hair and piercing blue eyes, with a wolfish smile upon her face. She would look beautiful if Joshua wasn't about to get his world rocked by her (and almost certainly not in a good way)
"Привет, товарищ! Was that American barbecue you promise to show me before match?" she said, probably referring to the fire she had just witnessed him extinguish
It's said that there is a beast inside of Man. That it will not die, that it will fight back; Joshua found that beast, as he had many times before, and offered the only resistance he could.
"Fuck you!"
"I am generous, Mister Joshua! It will be easier if you hide in tank for next part!"
"Once more, a fuck to the you"
the girl winked at him and blew a kiss
"до свидания товарищ!"
She dove into her tank
"Пожар!"
the next sound was an earth shattering boom that consumed the entirety of Joshua's world for a moment, leaving him stunned and falling back into his tank. His crew were cursing, throwing their headsets against the walls of the hull, but all Joshua could hear was the familiar sound of tinnitus as the Russians rumbled off.
"You alright Josh?"
"YEAH, I'M FINE. ALL GOOD." Joshua insisted all too loudly, shooing off the worried Sam from fussing over him too much. He still didn't have all his hearing back, but the headache had subsided with some water and tylenol at least, as well as getting out of the hot Arizona sun and under the structure of the hanger.
A whistle caught his attention, and he turned to face the source.
"Hey Boss, looks like we got some visitors who wanna pay their respects"
Sam snickered at her best friend's "joke" causing a groan and a "don't encourage him, Sam" from Rachel
true to his word however, an IS-1 lazily rolled into the hanger before coming to a stop near the group. Joshua sat on his tanks hull, hopping off to greet the new arrivals.
the hatches popped on the IS, with the commander climbing out and gracefully jumping off her tank
"надеюсь, ты не ранен?" she said, extending her hand
Joshua approached and shook the girls offered hand
"THAT WAS A GOOD MATCH. WE ALMOST HAD YOU."
the girl flinched back, suppresing a giggle at his unintentional shouting
"it would seem you should have taken up offer to hide in tank!"
"WHAT?"
she rolled her eyes
"IT WOULD SEEM HIDING IN TANK WAS GOOD IDEA!"
Joshua fixed her with a bewildered expression, "YOU WANNA GO SHOPPING AT IKEA?"
"Черт побери... NO! IT WOULD SEEM-"
Joshua's sudden laughter cut her off, "Stop, stop- I'm just messing with you!"
The Russian girl fixed him with a glare as his crew busted out laughing, before she took off her tankers cap and began smacking him with it
"Cyka, I teach you about mess with me you bitches son!
He laughed and swatted the hat away, before the girl eventually cracked a smile and accepted his sincerest apology in broken Russian, before talk turned back to the match.
"... and so, we aquire new tank. ISU-122. He is very good at long range shotting I say. Other tank stood no chance and charge right in after destroy you!"
Joshua grimaced. Yep, sounds like Katy alright. Why in the world you were placed on her composition team would baffle him for ever. But, this entire thing was a bit unprecedented; American Tankery usually consisted of 1-2 tank teams. Even having 3 tanks was a rare occurrence, as was having foreign teams visit. Not unwelcome though, if Joshua had to think about it.
As Natalia chatted on about the newest Tankery developments at Surov Academy, Joshua noticed a hefty Asian man standing in the hanger doorway, with a pretty young woman in a military uniform next to him. When their eyes met, the pair began approaching the Russo-American group.
Joshua decided to be the first to greet them
"Hello. something we can do for you?"
The woman and man smiled and spoke quickly to eachother in Japanese, before bowing and turning their attention to the two commanders.
"Hello to the two of you, and congratulations on a wonderful match! I am Kodama Shichiro, and this is my associate Captain Chōno Ami of the JSDF. We represent the Japanese Sensha-Dō Federation. Might we have a word?"
Shrugging their shoulders, the young American and Russian nodded, and the military woman led Natalia away to another corner of the hanger, while the man continued to talk to Joshua about the performance of their tank.
"Bastards probably want to buy her from us, Tankery is real popular in Japan from what Sam says""... suffice it to say, Mister Whitman, we have a very generous offer for you and your crew. You will be well compensated, and your school has already approved the preliminary transfer paperwork, if you and your crew would simply sign..."
Joshua interuptted the man, "Sir, I appreciate you coming all this way. Really. But the tank is not for sale. It's been in my family for generations, and it's an original, not a reproduction. I'm sorry, but you seem to have come a long way for nothi-" the man held up a hand.
"Mister Whitmore, I believe we have a misunderstanding. We do not come with an offer to buy your tank."
"Then... what exactly are you here for?" Joshua questioned
The man gave a toothy grin, closing the white fan he held in his hand
"Mister Whitmore, have you ever given any thought to being a... Foreign exchange student?"
And that's part 1. Taking requests for what tank our heros drive; only restrictions is it has to have a 5 man crew and a turret. I'm partial right now to a T26E1-1 or T26E4, but I'll take any suggestions so long as they comply with Tankery rules.