X

In the halls of Saunders High the girls were all reading the latest news of the tournament on their school paper with the title "Ooarai Takes First Match" emboldened on the first page. But talk of the first game wasn't all that was printed as the paper goes on to talk about their home team first ever male player and most obviously the first ever male player in the Japanese branch of the tankery sport. However pictures of the player was not acquired instead the paper was just... "speculating" of who this boy was going on to theorize that George was seven feet tall, or he wore an eye patch, or that he came from a top secret military compound.

Their imagination showed no bounds.

While walking down the hall Naomi was requested to bring their newest member for briefing leaving the entire Saunders Team waiting for her return. When approaching George's room Naomi knocked first to see if he was even there with the response from inside following right after.

"Come in!"

Before opening the door Naomi gave a quick sigh of grief as she twisted the door knob to see George sitting on his cot.

"You're needed in the auditorium," Naomi noted.

Nodding his head George switched off the tv then reached over to grab his boots, but when lifting his right foot off the ground he unintentional revealed a small wooden box hidden under the cot just laying there in the shadow.

"Lead the way beautiful," George quips.

Naomi shot daggers from her eyes, never before she wanted to inflict harm on a person since her first introduction with Daulton, but Daulton never intended to get under her skin before. Instead of turning around to lead the way just yet, Naomi, approached George coming closer to his smug face, and in an instant she grabs his collar, then slammed him up against the wall. George didn't even seem to struggle as Naomi held him up with anger emitting from her glare and still retained his cool as for Naomi has abandon her calm attitude altogether.

"Coming onto your fellow commander I assume," George remarked effective in his attempt to annoy her.

"Shut up!" Naomi demanded, "Listen here, prick! I don't know what your game is, so you better not try anything on any of the girls."

"Ma'am I am offended that you think so lowly of me," George spoke out mimicking a posh western accent, "I would never do anything to take advantage of a woman. Scouts honor."

He saluted with a confident grin etched to his face with the other hand visible for Naomi to see, after an intense stare down Naomi finally releases him. She turns her back on him not wanting to see his face anymore and storms out of the room with George following closely and she could tell he was smiling behind her back.

\Saunders Meeting/

Going deep within the bowels of the ship George was brought forth to a heavy door, turning the wheel Naomi gave a heavy push as the sound of the metal moaning as it swung wide open. Walking through George was basked in the bright lights inside the auditorium after his eyes adjusted he was welcomed with a room filled female tankers that all stared back at him, some he recognized back at the dorm, but most were new to him.

"Ladies, our newest commander is on deck!" Kay announced with eagerness, "Come on up Mr. Stuart."

Hands behind his back George gazed over to all the girls in the room not showing an once of emotion to them as they stared back at him all the way to the front standing along Kay, Naomi, and Alisa to give out the game strategy for their match with St. Gloriana. The girls looked on in silent awe to the drastic difference between the builds of their commanders' and the new boy tanker, tall, broad shoulders, it was something they didn't put much thought to.

"Have anything to say before we begin?" Kay asked and George only response was stepping forward.

"... Shermans... what does the average person know about them?" he started with a rhetorical question, "They'll say it's a death trap, a fire cracker waiting to be lit off... a coffin on wheels," he stated the most common thing people think to know about Sherman tanks and the girls knew what he was talking about, "They'll say it's the right tank for the wrong war, while praising the trash-cans that the Russians kept rolling out." And this got the Saunders girls railed up, "And what about all of you... ?" he ask of them, "You all look like you might be the most arrogant, loud-mouth bunch I've see so far. I'm betting one way or another no one wanted to deal with you," he started to hit home, "So they sent off, wether be a teacher or your parents, they put your worthless ass here... right where you all belong," and the girls started to cheer, "I see killers. I see maniacs. I SEE HELL ON TREADS!"

The girls roared as the spirits were elevated to a level they never thought they'll reach, but right before George could hand the rest back to Kay a girl in the crowd spoke out.

"Big talk!" the girl taunted.

"..." George didn't spoke back just yet, he stared right back at her as the cheering died down, "Big talk?"

"You're all talk," the girl added trying to challenge George, "No one here has ever seen a boy drive a tank, let alone command one."

"..." George nodded his head as he registered the words into his mind, "What's your name?"

"Aiko."

"Well, Private," George called her instead in regards of her name, "Unless you wanna remain in one piece you shut your mouth or I'm gonna send you out there in the field with nothing, but a tank round and a hammer. Got it!"

At that moment the girl who spoke out sank back in her seat without saying a single word afraid if he was true to his threat, but she didn't want to take the chance.

"Thank you for the speech, George, now back to discussing game plans."

\X/

After much talk of tomorrow's game George was in the hanger he looked over the endless lines of Shermans that took up most of the space inside, but when finding the storage room of other equipment George let curiosity guide him. Entering the lights flicker on shinning down all the wooden crates that were stored, finding a crowbar George got started ripping off the lids and he got lucky right off the first pick.

Looking in George has found one of the radio-tapping balloons laying in the packing straw of the crate.

"Why would anyone shelve you?" he asked, talking to the balloon directly.

"Because it's poor sportsmanship."

Turning around George saw Kay over his shoulder with the presence of Alisa also accompanying her with a small plastic crate in her arms.

"It's not against the rules to wire tap the enemy," George reminded simply.

"Yes, but it's frowned upon," Naomi told him, "That's what we keep telling Alisa here."

"What's in the box?" he then asked.

Reaching into the box Kay pulled out a little remote control helicopter which made Alisa blush from embarrassment.

"This little guy had a camera hooked up to it," she explained leaving George to chuckle, "Now if you excuse me, I need to help the girls with training."

Kay left Alisa with George so she can store away her flying spy cam, sighing in disappointment she turn to pick a spot for the box, but suddenly felt the grasp of George's hand upon her shoulder.

"Can you help me with this?" he asked politely pointing down to the balloon.

"We can't take that! Kay is gonna be furious."

"I don't care," he so bluntly responded without hesitation, surprising Alisa, "Look, I have a plan just listen very closely."

He leaned down closer, Alisa turning her head to point her ear towards him as he whispered to her.

\Saunders VS Gloriana/

It's the day of the match and the carriers of the two teams just made it to port, the residence of both ships flooded off wanting to finally stretch their sea legs on stable grounds. Lowering the ramp St. Gloriana's tanks rolled off the ship, the smell of tea was evident in the air as a warm kettle was poured into a glass cup with perfect flow and without making a single mistake.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't Orange?" Darjeeling spoke after taking a soft sip.

"It's wonderful commander."

While still at sea the Ooarai girls gathered around in the hanger with a tv standing up front, they were watching the game as it was being broadcasted, listening to the announcer as she spewed out info about the weather before moving on to the teams involved.

"Which team should we root for?" Saori asked.

"It's kinda conflicting to pick between very close allies," Miho sighed with a smile.

"I don't mean to be a downer, but I feel like all us are here only because we want to a boy tanker," Mako voiced her opinion.

"Everyone be quiet!" Momo exclaimed as she turned the volume up.

The girls concentrated hard onto the screen seeing that Saunders was just rolling their tanks out, Kay poking out to wave at the camera, Naomi followed after, and Alisa coming right after. As each of the other identical Shermans drove off the ramp George was just setting down in his tank, the girls in his crew took their stations with the driver just igniting the engines.

"Alright, roll out," George ordered and the treads of his tanks started crawling forth into the light.

St. Gloriana watched from the harbor as they heard the last tank coming, the sounds of its engines growling then they saw the tip of the barrel poke out raising the anticipation, and then the rest of the tank poked out.

While back with the other team the Ooarai girls were surprised to see that the tank rolling out was a M8A1 tank armed with a 75mm gun, its top covered over, and George seen poking out of the tank.

"So that's George Stuart and his tank," Miho spoke with interest.

"That's a M8A1, it's a variant of the Stuart light tank, I like to call them Mini-Hellcats," Yukari informed.

"A light tank, huh, so it should be easy to take out," Momo jumped to the opportunity.

"Yes, but it's armed with a 75mm gun, it can just as easily rip through any of our tanks," Yukari brought up, "It has both the speed and the fire power."

Making it to dry land the M8 made its way to joined up with its bigger teammates while passing the opposing team as they all came to see the tiny tank. Regrouping with the Saunders commanders George dropped off from his tank, but before they could talk, Darjeeling came to greet them.

"You know when I heard the news I still had trouble believing it," she started, "But here he is. An actual boy tanker, Kay you must be mad to consider outside help."

"Just bringing in my A game," Kay responded.

Darjeeling however took a few steps closer to look at George squinting her eyes as if she were trying to read something between the lines, George remained unfazed, not even flinching when she was just inches away from each others' faces.

"You want a kiss or something?" he remarked only receiving a small smile in return.

"You know an old friend of yours warned me to take this match with you a little more serious," Darjeeling called back, "However it's a little hard when I see a tank so adorable, but I'm sure you're the type of boy that humbles himself."

"Oh you're gonna see how humble I can get," George foreboded.

"How about we let our tanks do the talking," Kay stepped in.

"Agreed, let's us have a fair battle between two equals," Darjeeling spoke so highly before walking off.

"Spoken like a true condescending bi-"

"Let's not get petty with talking smack behind people's backs," Kay advised just before he can finish that sentence.

"... You're right... I should say it to her face," George corrected his actions.

"How about we just get ready for the match instead," Alisa stopped him.

George shrugs it off then proceeds to climb back onto his tank along with the rest who were just starting to reignite their engines, reaching down into the turret George pulls out an old M1 helmet and straps it onto his head before following the rest of his team out to the battlefield.

\X/

The starting flare was already flying across the skies as St. Gloriana strolled through a forestry landscape keeping their tight formation as they drove along the tree lines staying out in an open field of grass, but it's already been thirty minutes and they hadn't seen a single trace of the Saunders team.

"Where could those girls be?" Darjeeling pondered aloud, "It's bad sportsmanship to keep hiding from your opponents."

"Commander!" a call over the radio rang out for her attention, "Over the trees to our right."

Popping her head out form the Churchill, Darjeeling looked over to the trees that towered over them along the path, just rising over the leaves Darjeeling spotted a balloon hovering above the forest, but the wire that was attached was tugging it down.

"They're just setting up their wire-tapping device... how about we go and commandeer such thing, it only seems fair," Darjeeling retorted and a portion of the team broke off to go in the woods leaving them with the flag-tank, "Rosehip, stay out here with the rest."

"Don't take too long, or my tea will get cold," Rosehip advised.

Disappearing behind the tree line Alisa was hiding among the brush that she and her crew gathered onto their tank while George sat in the shadows, she peeked through her periscope seeing the third tank with them pulling the balloon behind them.

"George are you sure about this plane?" she asked through her radio.

"Positive."

"But, what about, Carla?" she then proceeded about the friend.

"Yeah... let's just say she's considered an 'acceptable causality' where I come from."

Without a second thought Alisa was left dumbfounded and St. Gloriana found their bait.

"Fire!"

A shell ripped through the air and lodged itself into the side rare of the Sherman, the explosion echoing across the landscape with a scratching of George's radio coming to life.

"What was that?" Kay exclaimed as she too heard the shot thunder out.

"Don't worry about it, just wait on fire," George frankly said before switching over to Alisa, "Time to rattle the cage, girl. FIRE!"

Squeezing the trigger both Alisa's M4 and the M8 fired off their shots among the team of British tanks taking two Matildas out immediately catching them by surprise.

"Commander! they're behind us!" Rukuriri reported.

Glancing behind Darjeeling spotted the tiny M8 bolting out into view from behind the brush with Alisa making a quick getaway while leaving George to race between the panicking Matildas as one of them clumsily shot at point blank range, but ended up taking out her own teammates.

Hearing the guns firing the second team looked on in confusion.

"What's going on in there?" Rosehip questioned aloud, but as she was about to reach for her radio one of the Matildas that was with her was shot from behind, "WHA- !" Looking back she started seeing a squad of the Saunders team racing down form the hills.

While back inside the forest with St. Gloriana, Darjeeling tried desperately to keep her members in check, but George was firing off shots as he zipped pass, each of the girls finding it hard to focus together with the M8 throwing them in a panic.

"Commander! Commander!" Rosehip cried out, "We're caught in an ambush!"

"That can't be," Assam uttered in disbelief.

"... It was a trap..."

Turning its gun at the Churchill the M8 fired off a shot only to be deflected off when landing on the turret, the crew had to turn their whole tank around as the M8 was keeping itself out of the Churchill's cross hairs. Another shot echoed out however this round smashed itself right into the tracks of the Churchill, rendering it immobile.

"Our- "

"Just time the shot as he makes a lap around us!" Darjeeling ordered.

Assam squinted hard through the scope in concentration as she listened to the sound of the M8 circling around them, her trigger finger itching she waited just for the right moment only to be thrown back from within her tank. Outside George had rammed the M8 along side the Churchill, he then had the gun pointing straight at the base of where the barrel met the turret, and fired off its 75mm gun blowing the Churchill's gun clean off. George quickly making it out of the woods leaving the Matildas behind before they can fire a shot.

"Operation: Snake's head, is in full swing," George spoke out, "Rangler Team, you in position?"

"Ready and Waiting," Naomi sounded off as she and her team waiting on the far end of the battlefield with the guns pointing to where the action was and was heading straight to them.

"... I should've have listen to Daulton," Darjeeling self criticised.

The remaining Matildas that were left with flag tank was taken out leaving Rosehip to flee in the opposite direction where the Saunders ambush team came from. Racing across the field Rosehip was left alone and without order as her remaining teammates were in disarray, leaving the the forest path Rosehip ended up in an open field where the grass was rising up to form a small basin. However before she can proceed further the land in front of her blew apart in her path forcing her to stop. Poking her head out Rosehip looked to see a line of Shermans up high and looking back the rest of Saunders arrived surrounding her with all guns trained on her, but didn't fire just yet as a slow clap was heard among the background.

"Well. Well... Well..." George spoke so calmly, "The speed-demon just found herself corralled," he was taunting her, but the smug smile he was always seen sporting was not present instead it was the same unmoving expression he had etched on his face.

"Well then... what are you all waiting for?" Rosehip demanded she was clearly getting out of this.

"... Surrender," George ordered.

"What?" Kay interrupted in confusion.

"You can't be serious," Rosehip scoffed, but her only reply was a shot from the M8 striking the Crusader's right track.

"Am I serious now?" George reinforced firing off again this time taking out her left tracks.

The Saunders girls looked on with unease to what George was displaying for them all to see, Rosehip, hesitant reached out from her turret and unattaches the ejectable flag from within its compartment, and slowly with great humiliation waved the white flag.

"St. Gloriana surrenders. Saunders High wins the match."