The first week of the break before the season began had passed Miho by fairly slowly. There was one final team meeting the Saturday after the team introductions and in that meeting Miho and the rest of the team learned of their itinerary to start the season.

The team would first be flying to London the next Thursday to open their season in Portsmouth on Sunday, then travelling to Lorient (France) , Hamburg (Germany), Genoa (Italy), Valencia (Spain) then crossing through the Strait of Gibraltar to Rabat in Morocco, before returning home. 6 weeks away from her new home, but 6 weeks surrounded by her new team and friends. The vehicles and support staff would be leaving by ship that Monday, and will travel around the European continent where they could, with Hamberg and Genoa being the only situations where the team's equipment were sent via rail.

Looking through the documents outlining the travel plans, Miho learned the team owned it's own transport ship and plane; they would not be held at the mercy of airline schedules or shipping delays. The team would also take with them, outside of the required vehicles to compete, a number of full spare vehicles as well as enough parts to fully overhaul another 10. Of note to her was that the league supplied the required ammunition to ensure that it was all to spec. She gathered from whispered conversation that the team still paid for it, but it was more economical for the league to supply it as there were only so many different rifles in use by the teams.

Also being brought along were the site facilities. 10 full sized sea containers were converted into various mobile offices, lounges, workshops, and the like; it was, for all intents and purposes, like taking their compound with them. Each team had permanent rooming and mess facilities for visiting teams, and based on the plans they were well furnished and fitted.

Every detail was painstakingly noted, such as load-in/out times, team meetings,press meetings, even their free time; it would not do for the team to be stuck in their temporary lodging and it was encouraged that they responsibly enjoy their host city.

Also included was her season pass, a large plastic placard on a lanyard that listed her name, her team, and included her photo, as well as some other information that she didn't know the purpose of. She would be required to wear this on-site at all times other than when a match was underway.

At the conclusion of the meeting Miho stuffed everything into her bag; now was not the time to look over the documents: vacation was waiting!

During that first week, Miho had found herself spending most of her free time at the Den; she used the gym and massage facilities in the morning (as well as the breakfast bar), and spent afternoons either with her teammates in the lounge or exploring the compound, sometimes by herself, sometimes with Erika. As she grew more comfortable with her new teammates and friends, she found herself enjoying this downtime. Other than being tankers, she also found them to be highly entertaining individuals. She heard stories that made her laugh and made her tear up. She learned about how school-age tankery worked in other countries. She also found herself meeting with Mari and her group almost daily, be it in person or in a group chat.

When Mari had offered her to be an assistant to her early on in camp, she had meant it. Miho found herself in a leadership group that included the team captain, 'Princess' Galiena, Kay, an older Danish woman named Nielsine (who didn't say much but seemed to be a well respected arbitrator of discussion and debate), and two members of the Technical and Support crew, Matt being one of them.

Most of these discussions revolved around the travel itinerary: who was responsible for organizing outings and what outings they'd do, who would room with who, how meals were seated… basically the day to day of the team. Miho learned that while the focus was on the tank and AFV crews, the leadership group was cognizant that the support crew was equally important to the success of the team. While the tank crews and spotters (known internally as Fire group) spent 8 hours in a match, the technical and support crews (known internally as Support group) worked upwards of 12 hours a day on the days around a match, and have been known to work up to 18 hours on a match day, as well as the logistics of moving the equipment around, setting it up, tearing it down, and moving it again. The team did not separate the two groups in relation to meals or R other than the obvious lodging and 'facilities' they were one very large team. Obvious, as there were women in the Support Group. Miho knew that some of these women were the locker room assistants and other crew that needed access to where Fire Group could be… 'exposed' as it were. This didn't mean that there weren't women in technical roles; there was a roughly 50/50 split of men and women in both the mechanical and technical teams.

The meetings could get tense, but Miho found herself looking forward to them; the work in the background interested her just as much as being in a tank. Erika, for her part, had simply said 'Have fun with that' and spent her afternoons out exploring the city with Eva and a few other women who had been in her crew earlier in camp.

Early on Friday of the first week a very important meeting was called; Miho got the message and by the arranged 11AM meeting time she was in the meeting room on the second floor of the Den. The atmosphere of the room before the meeting started was serious; Miho worried that some major changes were going to be made to their itinerary; this was the most focused she had seen this group all week. Adding to the atmosphere was their General Manager, Jessica, would be present.

I hope that nothing's gone seriously wrong, Miho worried to herself, did we try to do too much, or did the management not like the plan?

"Alright folks, let's get this going." Jessica closed the door as she came in the room and sat at a random chair at the table.

"Perfect." Mari opened her clipboard and started writing. "It is time for the annual cornboil."

...What?

"So as you all know the Support group heads out on Monday and as tradition, we have one final get together as a team before they leave, as a 'We made it' kinda thing. Well, everyone who is still around and wants to come."

Miho slowly put her hand up, and Mari motioned her to speak.

"What's a… cornboil?"

A few moments of silence, then Jessica started with a smirk and explained.

"It must be a local thing. Basically it's like an outdoor party for the team and our families. We boil a big bunch of corn-on-the-cob and have a feast. Corn, lobster, hamburgers and hotdogs, salads of various types, finger foods. Some games and stuff for the kids to enjoy. A few drinks. Some music from out more.. Inclined folks. An afternoon to just relax and enjoy a fine fall day."

"And we're organizing it?"

Mari nodded. "Yes. It's tradition. Not very hard to do. Get lots of corn, some large boiling pots, boil corn. Barbeques are already here. We make everything that morning and by 2PM we're relaxing. We also clean it up, although we've never really had a problem with a mess. Well, other than that one time a few years back."

At the last statement from Mari, Jessica smiled and Nielsine barked out a laugh, at which Galiena and Mari both turned red. Judging that something needed to be explained by Miho's inquisitive look at both the statement and the reaction, the normally quiet woman spoke up.

"Oh, nothing too major. The Captain and Princess here decided that they would have a drinking contest. By 5 or so that day they were done. Nothing like watching 2 rookies try to impress the rest of the team only to need babysitters." As the short tale was told both Mari and Galiena found the ceiling quite interesting, their faces turning redder and redder with every word. Galiena even managed a wince at the 'babysitter' reference.

"... oh."

"AN-Y-WAY-MOVINGRIGHTALONG," Galiena said with a bit more volume that should have been needed, "we need to figure out some final details. As you're new to this we won't expect you to do much… are you handy in the kitchen?"

"Yes!"

"Good attitude, makes me happy. Well, you'll help me and the big man over there make the salads and finish the other finger foods." Galiena motioned with her head towards Matt, who for his part just rolled his eyes. "Besides the usual leafy salad, we got macaroni, potato, and coleslaw to make, as well as a few other odds and ends to heat up. Veggies and fruit will be done the day before by the cooks; we gave them the day-of off. Kay will be helping Marianne with the BBQ, as is the usual. Mari will be boiling corn, and you," she pointed at the other man seated by Matt, "are the bartender. As always." The man nodded and repeated "As always."

Mari looked down at her notes in review. "Jessica…"

"Yes yes. I got all the entertainment taken care of, and it's sitting in the spare office beside mine."

Mari nodded and jotted something down in her clipboard. "And drivers?"

"The usual."

"O. K." With a final scribble Mari set her pen down.

"Well, that's that. Anything else?"

At 11AM on Sunday Miho found herself in the Den's kitchen. Herself, Galiena, and Matt were busy preparing the remaining items for the cornboil due to start in around 2 hours. Although, it was more Matt and Galiena preparing food and Miho simply trying to stay out of their way. While Miho could cook, she did not often make anything that wasn't considered traditional Japanese fare and Matt and Galiena seemed more than happy to simply explain the dishes and hold a nice and light conversation. Miho determined that her initial thoughts about the 'Princess' were wrong; she had a fiery personality, to be sure, but was only that way when it came to tankery. In normal conversation she was actually very friendly and considerate, though this came with a certain… vocabulary that would not suit a conversation in public. She swore… a lot. But Miho determined this was her upbringing: both her parents were in the German Armed Forces and as such the older woman could accentuate any point being made with a certain flair.

Matt was far more calm, and was quite nimble in the kitchen. Besides being a talented engineer he was also a fantastic cook, seamlessly guiding herself and Galiena while dealing with the food in front of him. Most of the more complicated dishes were his responsibility, and he seemed to cook with the same excitement and fun that he showed when working on the tanks.

Over the 3 hours they worked together, Miho again found herself interested in the stories the tall man was telling. Instead of technical explanations though, the man was explaining various things about the area. Even Galiena was interested in the stories. He was from this area of Canada, and explained the culture and interests of the area much better than any guide or book could. He explained about the small-town feel of even the large cities of the region, and how people are always looking out for their neighbours. He even told a story about how in some places people don't even lock their doors, which was accompanied by a story that was equally amusing and scary that involved a man who was drunk once coming into his house early in the morning and sleeping on his couch, only to realize he was a block off from his own. Matt told the story with a laugh, and said that he gave the man a bottle of water for the road when the mistake was noticed and made sure he got home OK. As the stories continued Miho found herself glancing at the man more and more, once or twice catching his eye with hers, once even staring at him briefly after he looked back down at the coleslaw he was mixing. She wasn't sure why, but something about his easy going nature, or his boyish mischievousness, distracted her from the task at hand a few times.

Before any time had passed, it seemed, they were visited by the rest of the party planners and, with everything coming up as done, they put all the dishes on a buggy and headed across the river to the expansive lawn to begin the party.

"Miss Miho. Why don't you pull up some lawn and stay a while."

Deciding that she'd been on her feet long enough, Miho sat down on the lawn at her feet as the group already seated made room. The coinboil had been ongoing for a few hours and Miho had spent that time checking on the food and helping the others with ensuring that everything was ready to be used. A good number of her teammates had showed up, Erika among them, and most of them who had them were accompanied by their families. She met Danielle's children, both daughters who were some of the most adorable children she ever met, and her rather soft-spoken and unassuming husband. A local school teacher, he did not seem like the type that would get the attention of the loud and outgoing woman she knew, but it had been (according to Danielle) love at first sight. From everything Miho had seen over the few hours, the man was reserved but well liked by the people who knew him.

Miho also met Marianne's family and determined that she was quite lucky. She didn't know how to describe her 3 children at first, but Shelby had labelled them 'Adorkable' and the description was apt. They were so 'dorky' it was cute, her husband was almost her mirror image. Same height, same hair color, same level of zaniness that kept the pair and their friends amused for the day.

Other children she didn't have a chance to really identify, along with lovers, partners, and even parents, were all enjoying a relaxing afternoon with food, drink, and entertainment.

Miho looked around the group and realized that outside of Chiyomi and Sora, she didn't know these teammates as well, but they were welcoming and within minutes she was enjoying the conversation, which was split between tankery on one side and some TV program on the other. Miho just listened in and tried to follow both conversations as best she could, but was more interested in the tankery discussion. Her teammates were discussing the upcoming opening match with the Portsmouth team, and the general consensus was that Halifax was a far better team and should handily claim victory.

And so for the rest of the afternoon Miho sat on the lawn and relaxed with her teammates.