Chapter 8: Rocket's Red Glare
When morning broke on Oarai's school carrier, they were no longer drifting through the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Instead, the carrier had docked in a gigantic port with plenty of space for the carrier and several empty concrete docks for much larger ships. From their apartment, the commanders of Freikorp Oarai could see plenty of the city's expansive maritime industry, along with a crowded seaside market with stands and tents stretching across the only active port.
While William was handling a phone call in his room. Ross looked through a tourist pamphlet with Natalie in his other arm. He had traded away his school uniform and his Sensha-do uniform for his old dark green greatcoat while Natalie wore her pink overalls and her slouch hat. While he waited near the door, Joseph was writing quickly on a paper in front of him which was complemented by several other sheets scattered around him on the kitchen island.
"You know, if you had just finished the Department's briefing last night you wouldn't be rushing right now," Ross said as he turned over the pamphlet, "Aqua World huh? Feel like going to an aquarium?"
Joseph continued furiously scribbling words that were quickly losing meaning to him as he went. "Yeah, yeah. That radio wasn't going to fix itself you know," he replied. With one last line, he completed the report and sat back. "Thank goodness we get the first port day off…" he muttered. He rubbed his eyes and looked up from his seat. "An aquarium? Sounds like fun I guess. Maybe they've got some cool gadgets or exhibits about submarines! I've always been meaning to learn more about Japanese submarines…"
"I doubt they've got anything military, looks like it focuses entirely on sea life," Ross explained.
"Hey, not everything needs to be military. Fish are pretty cool."
William exited his room and put his phone in his coat pocket. "You find anything interesting, Ross?" he asked.
Ross handed the pamphlet to his friend. "Well, I wanna check out the market that seems to have sprung up at the port. There's also an aquarium that sounds pretty neat," he answered. Natalie tried imitating his speech, but the little girl only managed unintelligible babbles. "Yep, we'll get going soon, just wait a little longer while Daddy talks over the plans with his friends, okay?" Ross assured.
"Maybe her first words will be penguin or perhaps puffin?" William joked as he passed Ross and opened the door. "Best not keep the little lady waiting!" he advised.
Ross rolled his eyes as the group left their little apartment. "Well at least the weather's nice," he muttered. The group made their way through the carrier until they reached an elevator that would take them down to the disembarkment level. With round glass walls which jutted out from the edge of the ship, the shimmering light reflected off the sea provided a nice ambiance, and a good attention grabber for Natalie, who stared at the flickering and flashing light eagerly. "So are we gonna look for anything specific at the market? Equipment, snacks, souvenirs?" Ross asked.
"Let's just see what's on offer. There's plenty of time in the day and I think now's a good time to slow down a little. Smell the roses… or the anglerfish," William decided.
000
On the ground level, the true length of the port and the market that had sprung up on it was revealed. The port itself stretched half of a mile into the sea, and each inch was being used by stalls, tents, and other temporary structures. Despite its length, it only allowed for the rear half-mile of the ship to dock for engine maintenance. The boys stayed close together as they passed the masses of people, but still took some time to browse some stalls themselves.
Natalie buried her face into Ross's shoulder with her face scrunched up in discomfort. Ross rubbed her back softly to try and calm her down. "We won't be here for long, sweetie," he assured softly. He could barely hear his voice in the masses. I haven't taken her to something like this before. She must be afraid of the noise, he thought. When his diaper bag bumped against his leg after an accidental bump from a passerby, Ross had an idea. My headphones! He awkwardly shuffled his bag up to his chest before pulling a pair of light blue headphones from the bag. After gently setting the device onto Natalie's ears, she visibly relaxed and looked up from his shoulder. "Better?"
His daughter faintly smiled and put her thumb in her mouth to suck on. Ross looked up before realizing he had stopped walking while grabbing the headphones. Mild panic followed by annoyance made his chest tighten a little. He stood up on his toes to try and see his friends, but William and Joseph were nowhere to be found in the unending sea of people. "Great, just great… oh well, I'll just text them to meet me at the aquarium," he mumbled to himself while pulling out his phone. After sending the quick text, he looked back up and gazed at some of the stalls to his right. Most were in Japanese kanji, with a few bits of English sprinkled along. Most of these are just food stalls and I'm not really hun- he stopped his train of thought when he found the deep blue starry logo of NASA adorning a sign on a stall. Except instead of the acronym for the National Aeronautics and Space Association, the name had been changed to the Oarai Aeronautics and Space Club.
Something about that stall pulled him over. Maybe it was the reference to NASA that sparked some familiarity to the U.S or maybe just because it stood out amongst the crowd. Unlike the other stalls, they weren't selling food, but rather, completed models of U.S rockets, from captured V2s to the Space Shuttle. Several examples of the models were set upon a table with a black tablecloth with cartoonish stars plastered randomly across the surface.
A girl behind the table had just finished a transaction with a customer when Ross made his way over. She wore her brown hair in a bun and had square glasses on. A white lab coat hung over her standard Oarai uniform with a name tag that Ross couldn't quite read. However, the most prominent feature was a mild red spot over her left cheek that resembled a wave. "Good morning sir, anything look inter-" she greeted before pausing when she met Ross's eyes. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be one of the Americans on the Sensha-do team would you?" she asked.
Ross blinked blankly in surprise. "Oh um, ye-"
The girl interrupted him, "Actually, you're the kid with the baby right?"
"Yes and?" he asked, mildly agitated at both the bluntness and the interruption.
"Perfect! Give me just one moment!" she exclaimed before running into the tent attached to the back of the stall. "Vandenburg, call Canaveral! I've got one of the Sensha-do boys she wanted!" She ran back into the stall excitedly. "Sorry about that! Name's Aiko Uno, but just call me Kennady!" she exclaimed with a quick bow.
Ross silently debated on whether he should run off into the crowd and pray for escape or just go along with whatever this girl wanted from him. "Um, Ross Huot and this is Natalie. Why do you need someone from the Sensha-do team? And why me?" he asked.
"I'm afraid that's something Canaveral will have to explain, but we have a problem and we need your help," she answered with energy
"Okay, who's Canaveral?" They're like the History Club with nicknames…
A tall girl wearing another lab coat with tanned skin and shiny black hair entered the stall. "That would be me, Kasumi Furutani. I apologize for Kennady, she can be a bit excitable," she answered for her fellow club member. "Kennady, why don't you tend to the customers, I'll take this from here," she ordered, "Come with me to the back if you would please."
Ross cautiously followed the president into the tent behind the stall. Inside they were given some respite from the chaos of the market. Colorful boxes plastered with images of rockets and explosions were stacked neatly against the walls and on a pair of shelves that filled the tent. At a table facing the rear wall of the market stall and at the front of the tent was a table with tools for modeling and painting, with a boy diligently working on a model of a V2 rocket. "Masura Nishiyama, but I go by Vandenburg," he stated simply without taking his silvery eyes away from the model.
"Don't mind him, he doesn't talk much," Canaveral explained while pulling up two folding chairs, "But thank you for coming back here. This must be pretty sudden, but I won't take up much of your time. Well for now at least."
Ross sat down and Canaveral followed. Natalie laid her head against Ross and gripped his coat. She's in a clingy mood today, Ross thought. "Well I can't say if we can or can't help you, I'm only a tank commander on the team so the final decision would fall to the team captain, but I can hear you out and pass the message to her if that's all you need me to do."
"Alright, that's fair," Canaveral conceded. "I'm sure you're not familiar with our club, but we're a bunch of rocket enthusiasts. We like to build, design, and launch rockets. Officially there are eight members, but after an accident last year…" she paused for a moment before speaking again. "A rocket exploded on the launchpad. I'm sure you noticed the red spot on Aiko's cheek right?" she asked, her tone becoming somber.
Ross nodded. "Is it a scar? A wound of some type?" he asked.
"Yeah, back then we built custom rockets as well. Just whatever we could find below deck not being used or stuff we bought and molded into newer designs. We pushed the limits and it exploded before we all reached cover. The sound was tremendous, kinda like you tankers when you fire your guns all at once, but the hot piece of plastic that burned her cheek was just one part of that mess."
"What was the other part?" Ross asked.
Canaveral took a deep breath. "She was the closest to the rocket when it exploded and she was the only one hurt. She lost a lot of her hearing because of it, so she has to wear hearing aids."
"I'm sorry to hear that. What can we do to help you? I mean this was last year," Ross questioned.
"Four of the members stopped working with us and formed a sorta rival group I suppose. They call themselves the 'Oarai Space Program'. Like we took inspiration from NASA for our theming, they're taking inspiration from the Soviet Space Program. We'd like your help trying to bring them back into the club and end the divide," she asked, "I know it's a lot to ask and I'm sure you're busy with the Nationals coming up soon, but you're the only people I've heard about that might get them to back down."
Ross blinked blankly. "I'm sorry, but why us? We're just normal students, albeit from across the pond, but we're not some special negotiators," he asked. Although I guess William could make a good case to them if he had all the details…
"You strong-armed Nishizumi into joining the team right? And to be the captain nonetheless! Can't you help us… knock them down a peg I guess?" Canaveral pleaded.
Ross stared down Canaveral. "We didn't strong-arm anyone, that was the crummy student council's work," he said sourly. What gave her that idea?!
"Right, right." She straightened herself. "You've got to keep up appearances, as a club leader I can understand that, but I'm at my wits end with these girls! If we just part ways after you help us, then there's no need to try to keep up the 'good guys' appearance. If you need something to gain from this then I could figure something out."
Ross narrowed his eyes. "What's giving you the idea that we're some type of gang forcing people to do what we want? We had nothing to do with the council forcing Miho onto the team and we aren't keeping up some type of appearance," he corrected her irritatedly. "What gave you that idea?" he demanded.
"That's what everyone's saying," Canaveral replied.
"Well, they're lying, causing trouble, and gossiping. We didn't force Miho onto the team or to be captain. My friend, William, objected to the council's actions, and I would have if I was there too," Ross clarified.
"Oh, I'm sorry for assuming…" She apologized. I guess I shouldn't have taken rumor as fact…
Ross sighed. "It's fine, back to business. So they split after the accident, why? Did something change in the club that they disagreed with?" he asked.
Canaveral brightened back up. They're still willing to help? "Yes, our former club president graduated and we couldn't agree on who would take her spot. At the time we just left the spot vacant, but after the accident, I wanted to take the spot to implement a strictly stock policy. No more custom rockets for safety reasons. By this point, both factions were sort of forming. The O.A.S.C and O.S.P didn't officially exist, but the members took sides that would form the factions. The O.S.P under Shiro Tamiko, who goes by 'Laika', wanted to keep building custom rockets, while I didn't, so we broke off relations. We pretend they don't exist, and the same for them. Officially we're all part of the rocketry club, but we don't speak to each other."
Ross sat back and processed Canaveral's explanation. "I think that might be the problem, there's no communication. Do you know why they want to keep building custom rockets?" Ross asked.
Canaveral bit her lip. "Well… things got heated so we didn't exactly discuss much of anything," she admitted.
"Then let's have a talk with them, come to an agreement, and then go back to working together," Ross suggested, "If I can get Miho's approval, then you can have the Sensha-do team mediate between the two parties."
"Do you really think it'd be that simple? We've been split for almost a year so I'm not sure if they'll even agree to one. Especially with Laika's attitude…" she asked.
"What's wrong with Laika? Is she stubborn?" Ross asked.
Canaveral sighed. "More like rebellious and opportunistic. Unless there's something in it for her, then she's likely to oppose any idea of reunification," Canaveral explained, "The other three, 'Yuri', 'Valentina', and 'Alexei' probably won't break ranks with her either."
"And those three, do they have disagreements of their own?" Ross questioned.
"I don't know. We haven't spoken since," Canaveral answered.
"Maybe we can meet with the three other members to get them on board with reunification? If they support us, then Laika will be left as the only opponent and maybe she'll concede?" he suggested.
"They could, but if they don't give up on the custom rockets issue then it's all pointless. I can't compromise the safety of others just because they want to play engineer," Canaveral affirmed, "I won't let accidents tarnish our image," she declared while standing up.
Ross followed her and stood up himself, adjusting Natalie who had fallen asleep during their discussion. "Compromises might have to be made, you know, at least if you want to see the club unified," he pointed out.
Canaveral stopped to think. Do I want to see the club unified again, or do I want to guarantee my friends' safety? she wondered to herself. "I guess that will have to be decided at the meeting if they even agree to one."
"Alright, I'll let you know if Miho has any objections," he replied while leaving the tent. He shook Natalie gently to wake her up. "Come on Natalie, we don't want you missing this nice weather!" he said. She pushed herself away from Ross's chest, looked up, and blinked her eyes to adjust to the sunlight. "Good morning!" Ross cooed. Natalie babbled an unintelligible response.
Kennedy skipped out of the stall. "How cute! How old is she?" she asked.
"Oh, about six and a half months," Ross answered.
Kennedy smiled and held out a small toy rocket. It wasn't a realistic model, but a cartoony white and blue rocket. "Here, we bought a few boxes of these to hand out to kids," she explained and gave the toy to Natalie. Natalie looked at the toy for a moment before shaking it up and down excitedly with a bright smile.
"Thanks, I think she likes it," Ross noted with a smile.
Kennedy pulled out a notecard with the club's contact information scribbled onto it. "Here's our phone numbers. Canaveral didn't give you ours did she?" Her question sounded more like a statement.
Ross took the card and put it in his jacket's inside pocket. "Thanks, she didn't."
"Yeah she's like that," Kennedy responded, "Well, send us a call if your captain agrees."
Ross nodded. "Sure, will do," he said. The energetic rocket enthusiast skipped back into the stall to continue selling rockets. "You know, I have to say, that's probably the most creative fundraising idea I've seen. More creative than a bake sale anyway…"
000
Anzu looked up from her presidential chair which she had fully reclined. The commanders of Freikorp Oarai and Miho stood in front of her, with the rest of the student council standing next to her on each side. "Oh, you met the rocket girls! They've been turning some heads lately. Have they finally reached the Karman Line?" she asked,
"Miss President, you do know that that's 100 kilometers into the sky right?" Yuzu asked with amusement.
Anzu waved a slice of dried sweet potato at her in dismissal. "Ah who cares, so what's new with em?" Anzu asked.
"The president of the NASA faction of the rocketry club has asked for the Sensha-do team's assistance in reuniting with the Soviet Space Program faction," Ross answered.
Anzu leaned back in her chair in thought while Momo spoke up, "Why should we care about their little conflict? The Sensha-do team should focus entirely on preparing for the nationals so we don't have time to deal with them."
"While I'm interested in their construction techniques, I have to agree with Kawashima. We should focus on improving the team. Do we have anything to gain helping them out?" Joseph said.
William stayed silent on the matter along with Yuzu. "I think we should help them," Miho decided. Everyone on the opposing side looked at her with raised eyebrows. "That's what I'd want them to decide if they were in our position right now," she reasoned.
"Exactly. I think it's the right thing to do," Ross agreed. And those rumors… I don't know who's spreading them, but doing this could disarm them and show everyone we aren't bad people.
"Well, we can't spare the time. If you haven't heard, the annual Ankou Festival will be taking place later this week as well and we're expected to put on a show," Momo countered.
Miho tilted her head in confusion. "A show?" she asked.
Anzu lightly tapped the wooden grip of a folded hand fan on her desk which grabbed the attention of everyone in the room. "That's right! Not only is the student council involved with the organization of the Ankou Festival, but the Sensha-do team will take part as well!"
"Eh? What will we be doing?" Miho asked.
"We're having a match!" Anzu announced excitedly.
Miho's eyes widened. "Wait a match? With who?"
"With St. Gloriana's Girls' College. A school that uses British tanks. We were asked to schedule an event that would bring in larger crowds than usual, and with the popularity of Sensha-do considered, we felt this was the best option." Momo answered, "This is why we can't waste time. Beating St. Gloriana would provide us with valuable combat experience and momentum into the first round."
Ross and Miho frowned but relented to Momo's reasoning. However, William remembered something they found in the garages. "Hold on, remember the rockets we found in the garages?" he asked.
"Yes, why do you ask?" Momo responded.
"The rocketry club may know more about them. More specifically, they might know more about the T34E2 that fires them. If we're lucky they might know where it is," William explained, "Let's meet with them. We won't need the full team to do this. Miho, Ross, and I should meet with them to handle the dispute and find out if they know anything about the T34E2."
Momo frowned and looked like she was going to object to William's proposal, but Anzu spoke up. "Sure, sure, we can spare you three. Kawashima and Joseph can handle practice today. You three can handle the rocket girls' request," she said.
000
The club room for the rocketry club was a strange combination of science lap and workshop. The pristine white tile of the left half of the room contrasted the concrete floor of the right half which was stained with burn marks and chemical stains. Canaveral was waiting by the door for Miho, Ross, and William to arrive while Kennady, Vandenburg, and another member were working in the workshop.
"Welcome to our lab!" Canaveral greeted as the three walked in, "Pardon the clutter, we're working on a few things right now."
The four sat down at a table in the lab section. "I'd like to thank you for being willing to help us negotiate with the Oarai Space Program," Canaveral stated.
"You're welcome. Ross filled us in on your situation with the Soviet faction so we know the basics. The question is, how far are you willing to compromise with them?" William asked.
He's already in negotiating mode? Ross thought. William's face conveyed no emotion and he sat stiffly.
Canaveral took a deep breath before answering, "I'm willing to come to any compromise that doesn't involve custom-built rockets."
"And if they demand that you allow custom-built rockets, then what?" William questioned.
Canaveral's face became stern. "Then there will be no reunification. I'm not budging on that issue," she stated.
"What about your status as President of the Oarai Rocketry Club? How will you respond if they demand that you step down? What if one of them wants the position?" William asked
Canaveral shook her head. "I can't trust that they'll dismiss the ban. The ban on custom rockets can only be enforced if I'm president. Therefore, I won't step down either," she asserted.
"What are you willing to give them in exchange for reunification?" William asked.
Canaveral thought about the question for a moment. "I'm willing to be flexible on policy with them, outside of the custom rocket issue. I'd even be willing to use Soviet or Russian-based designs, so long as they are approved for use," she answered.
"What do you mean by approved for use?" Ross asked.
"When a company produces a rocket model for use in rocketry clubs or hobby groups, the Ministry of Education must approve its safety for it to be used. However, there's no law requiring models produced by clubs or hobby groups to be approved by the ministry. It's only required for commercially sold models," Canaveral explained.
"I see… could a custom-built rocket be approved for use by the ministry?" William asked.
Canaveral shrugged. "That's something that we haven't tried since you don't have to if you're a club."
"If you could, would you be willing to accept their usage if they were approved?" William suggested.
Canaveral thought about the proposition. If the ministry examined a rocket and ensured its safety, then I guess there would be no risk in launching it… "If the ministry approves the rocket, then I'll approve its launch," she decided.
Three sharp knocks on the club room door interrupted the discussion. "That must be them," Canaveral said. She stood up from her seat at the head of the table and went to the door. Taking another deep breath, she turned the door handle and opened the door.
Four girls were on the other side, each of them a member of the Soviet faction of the rocketry club. Wait a minute, we didn't invite Laika! She narrowed her eyes at the lead girl, a second-year with red-violet hair and a red headband. Laika glared back.
"You didn't tell me that you wanted to have a meeting Canaveral," the intimidating girl stated coldly. "Or perhaps have you finally changed your mind on the issue of the custom rockets?" she sneered.
"There's a reason you weren't on the invitation Shiro," Canaveral spat.
Shiro frowned. "Oh and why is that, Kasumi," she spat back.
Kasumi grit her teeth, but relented. "I suppose you can be here, as you are a member of the Oarai Rocketry Club," she said, "Well then, everyone take a seat, we have much to discuss since this is our first full meeting in a year."
Shiro smirked and stepped past Kasumi. She looked at each of the three Sensha-do commanders without emotion, as if she was assessing their worth. "So, Kasumi roped you three into our little dispute…" she noted dryly.
William stood up and offered his hand. "William Valentine, I'm a tank commander on the Sensha-do team," he introduced cordially.
"I've heard of you three," Shiro stated. She turned to Miho. "Captain Miho Nishizumi," she stated before turning to Ross. "And you. You're the American with the baby girl. Ross Huot" She held back a mocking chuckle. "How cute."
Shiro turned away from the three. "So, you brought in two of the boys who are pushing around the Sensha-do team and their little puppet captain. I hope you plan on being negotiable 'Canaveral' because you aren't going to strong-arm us into bending the knee."
Canaveral sighed while William put a hand on Ross' shoulder. Ross fumed at Shiro but held his tongue with William's help. "Look, Shir- Laika, I'm not looking for a fight. I didn't invite them to strong-arm anyone. All I want to do is try to get the club to work together again," she pleaded.
"Well then, if you wanted a pleasant discussion then you should have said so sooner!" Laika exclaimed cheerfully.
Ross narrowed his eyes at her. That's the same fake cheerfulness that Anzu does. Does she have any serious intention to work together? But he remained quiet as Laika sat at the other end of the table, opposite of Canaveral's seat.
The first of the other three members of the Oarai Space Program approached the four students on the Oarai Aeronautics and Space Club's side. She was a second-year girl with shoulder-length snow-white hair and brown eyes. "I am Haruki Kawahara, but please just call me Yuri," she introduced with a formal bow before taking a seat next to Laika.
Another second-year student followed her. She had short light brown hair that barely reached her neck and green eyes. "My name is Shigeko Sugita, but I go by Valentina," she said before sitting at the table.
The final student was a boy with caramel-colored skin similar to Kasumi's and black hair. "I'm Kamiko Muto, call me Alexei," he quietly introduced before sitting at the table.
The other four members of the O.A.S.C left the lab and sat at the table. "I'm Eri Machida, but just call me Houston," the fourth member said. She had green eyes and red-brown hair.
"Now that we have introductions handled, let's begin the meeting," Canaveral stated.
Laika smirked. "Yes, let's begin."
William nodded in agreement. "Good, now the first thing we should discuss is the obvious issue and the main reason for the rocketry's club divide. Let's discuss the issue of custom-built rockets. Canaveral, you may speak first," he said.
"Okay, after last year's accident I- we decided to ban the construction and launch of custom rockets, We think that these rockets, which weren't approved by the Ministry of Education, pose a threat to the safety of our members and our image," Canaveral stated.
"Okay, Laika, what's your argument?" William prompted.
Laika stood up from her chair. "Building and launching rockets requires some risk, there's no point in banning something based on safety when any approved model rocket could easily blow up on the launchpad anyway. All this ban is doing is hindering our club's creativity and opportunity," she argued.
"If I may, how would building your own rockets provide the club with more opportunity?" Miho asked.
"Put yourself in the shoes of a college recruiter, what would be more impressive? A club that follows instructions and kits or utilizing their resources to the fullest to create something new and more impressive than a kit?" Laika explained.
Miho silently nodded. I see. I suppose that would look more impressive.
"Sure it looks impressive until your rockets burst into flames and start hurting people!" Canaveral exclaimed.
"And what if you mess up a kit rocket and that blows up?" Laika argued.
Canaveral grew irate. "Do you even have any concept of risk?! A custom-built rocket isn't safe because it has a higher risk of going up in flames!" she nearly shouted.
"Risk is just part of the job, who cares if one rocket has a higher chance? We've been playing the risk vs. reward game since we joined this club! What about all the other accidents that happened before last year? What about the fuel spills or workshop accidents?" Laika asked rhetorically.
Canaveral grit her teeth. "That- those accidents didn't hurt anyone! Think about Aiko! What if someone on your side got injured?"
"If we wanted to play it safe we'd be stuck inside making presentations instead of reaching for the stars!"
"There's a difference between assuming a reasonable amount of risk and building pipe bombs!" Canaveral shouted.
"Is there? Or are you just using this as an excuse to take the spot of club president?!" Laika accused.
The room fell silent as Canaveral's glare grew more intense and she started shaking with anger. "How dare you accuse me-"
A shout from across the table cut her off. "Enough!" Miho pleaded as she stood up, "Stop fighting! This was supposed to be a civil meeting! Aren't you supposed to be friends? Is it worth throwing everything away just so you can fight? If you two didn't want to reunify the club then why are you here in the first place?"
Silence overtook the room as everyone turned to Miho, who held her ground. Ross and William stood up as well. "She's right, this isn't a shouting match."
The two faction leaders softened their glares. "They're right, let's put aside our personal feelings, for the club," Canaveral said.
"Alright," Laika conceded. Everyone sat down again.
William spoke up, "I think I have a compromise that'll satisfy both parties. Canaveral brought to my attention a safety assessment the Ministry of Education performs on commercial rockets for schools. She proposed that club-built rockets will be sent in for approval by the ministry and if they are then they can be launched."
"And that would allow us to still build our own rockets?" Valentina asked.
Canaveral nodded. "Yes, so long as you don't launch them before they're approved," she answered.
"I see… if you keep that promise then I'll rejoin the main club," Valentina said.
Canaveral smiled excitedly and looked expectantly at the other members of the Oarai Space Program. Alexei and Yuri looked at each other before nodding. "We'll rejoin as well, so long as you keep your promise," they followed.
Everyone turned to Laika, who looked annoyed at her friends leaving her side but relented. "Fine, if they'll rejoin the club, then I will too," Laika conceded. "But I want to have some say in the club's affairs," she demanded.
"Don't worry about that. I have no intention of running this club like a dictator," Canaveral reassured with a smile.
"Then let me handle the job of sending in rocket designs and the creation of custom designs. That'll guarantee that we won't stop building them," Laika demanded.
"Deal! Thank you four for rejoining the club. I'll do my best to make sure you don't regret your decisions," Canaveral affirmed.
"Now that we have our old members back we can finally restart the
Organ Project!" Kennedy exclaimed.
"The Organ Project?" Miho asked.
"It's a project we began shortly before the club split to upgrade our launchpad, although I doubt we could fund its completion," Yuri answered.
Kennedy groaned. "You always say that whenever we want to take on a big project," she complained.
"Well someone has to keep our money under control," Yuri replied.
"I do enough fundraisers to cover everything, so maybe you should just calm down," Kennedy reassured while stifling a giggle.
Everyone but Alexei and Vandenburg laughed at the two's bickering. "I suppose now that we can bicker without it devolving into a shouting match is a sign that we're all friends again," Canaveral stated.
Everyone agreed and was dismissed. The Sensha-do team members were about to leave the room when William remembered something. "Hold on guys," he said. He pulled out his phone and pulled up a photo of the 7.2-inch rocket they found in the garages while approaching Canaveral and Laika, who were planning out the Organ Project at the meeting table. "If I could have just a few more moments of your time, would you be familiar with these rockets?" he asked while holding out his phone.
Canaveral examined the rocket which was laying on a shelf in the photo. "It looks familiar…" she stated, "Hey Vandenburg, would you know anything about this rocket?"
Vandenburg walked over from the lab and examined the photo. "I think I saw a few of those out behind the outdoor workshop," he said.
Laika looked over and examined the photo herself. "Actually, we've been pulling the fuel and explosives out of those to fuel some of our rockets. At least until Valentina got us some actual rocket fuel. Alexei is our history expert so he may know more," she explained.
After overhearing his name, Alexei came over while wiping off his hands. "You need me for something?"
"Yeah, those rockets we used to pull fuel from, what are they?" Laika asked while William showed him the photo.
"That's a T37 Demolition Rocket. It's a solid-fuel rocket with about 3.1 kilometers of range and weighs 61 lbs. The warhead is 32 lbs of Composition C2 explosive," he answered.
"C2? Is that related to C4 explosives?" Ross asked.
"More like C4 and C2 are part of the same family of military explosives, but yes they are similar. However they contained Sensha-do null explosives instead, similar stuff just doesn't burn as hot or produce as much force," Alexei explained.
"Yeah, null explosives only create the illusion of an explosion so they're practically just large bottle rockets.," Miho said.
"Makes for terrible fuel though. All it does is flash and make a lot of noise," Laika complained.
"Would you mind if we took a look around your outside workshop? We won't mess with anything but we'd like to see if the T34E2 that fires those rockets is somewhere nearby," William asked.
Canaveral shrugged. "Sure why not. I don't think you'll find much though."
000
The outdoor workshop and launchpad that the Oarai Rocketry Club used to launch their rockets weren't far from the main campus. The launchpad consisted of a large gravel field with a square of cinder blocks at the center The sole building, a small shed housed some parts and a small workshop while fuel tanks were leaning against the exterior walls.
What caught the eye of the commanders however was a large steel frame with dozens of tubes mounted inside mounted on four layers with some separation between the top two layers and the bottom two. The frame was simply laying in a grass field next to the workshop.
The three commanders investigated the frame and its tubes. Canaveral and Laika followed. "So what's this?" Miho asked.
"That's Project Organ," Canaveral answered, "our plan with it was to lift it up with a crane or something like that and mount it to some beams. Then we'd load the rockets in the tubes. It was something Vandenburg came up with,"
Finally, it hit William why they called it the Organ Project. "It's called the Organ Project because it resembles a musical organ!" he exclaimed.
Canaveral smirked. "Clever isn't it?"
Ross had a realization of his own. "The T34 rocket launcher had a similar nickname, Calliope. It's a type of steam organ," he said.
"Could this be the rocket launcher?" Miho asked.
Ross pulled out his phone. "Only one way to find out. I'll pull up a photo," he replied. After opening a browser on his phone, he searched for images of the T34 Calliope
A black and white image of an M4 Sherman medium tank with a large frame with tubes mounted to the top of the turret was the first result. Ross counted the tubes mounted to the frame in the photo and on the frame in front of him. "There are 60 tubes in the photo, and 60 tubes in front of us. This is without a doubt, a T34 rocket launcher," he concluded.
"Take a look here too, there's a rocket loaded in this tube!" Miho pointed out while looking through a tube on the top layer. Sure enough, a T37 Demolition Rocket was loaded in the tube. The detonation wire that set the rocket off was even still connected.
"I guess it makes sense that it'd be a rocket launcher," Canaveral noted.
Laika rolled her eyes. "You were planning on launching rockets out of it," she teased.
"If we find an M4 Sherman, could we take the rocket launcher and use it for Sensha-do? I know you said you wanted to use it as a launch frame, but we would love this in our arsenal," William asked.
"You still need to find the tank that's supposed to be mounted too? You know it could be around here if this thing is here," Canaveral proposed.
The three commanders grew excited. "May we look around to see if it is?" Miho asked.
"Sure go for it," Canaveral answered, "there's an underground warehouse that the marine course students use to dump stuff they've found while doing underdeck renovations. You could try there."
000
The smell of rusting steel and the sounds of footstep accompanied the Sensha-do commanders as they explored the warehouse that was under the rocketry club's launchpad. So far, they had dug through two of the warehouse's storage rooms without any sign of an M4 Sherman. The complex was certainly large enough to drive a tank through, with extra-wide and extra tall pathways that a vehicle could drive through. However, as they entered the third room, they noticed something different.
The entrance which they went through was on a catwalk that hugged the wall creating a space of open-air where the commanders could look below to the level below them. "Well, the third time's the charm," Ross dryly hoped. The dark and damp underdeck corridors were not his favorite part of the school ship.
The three leaned over the ledge and looked down below. Crates and rubbish cluttered the level, lowering Ross's hope that they wouldn't need to search much longer. Miho however kept her head up. "Let's find our way down there, maybe we'll find the M4 under the clutter," she proposed.
Thankfully, a stairwell next to the entrance let them down to the lower level, where they would find their treasure… sort of. In front of the stairwell was a large blue tarp covering a large tank-shaped object. "Finally! Come on let's get this thing out of here!" Ross exclaimed while running up to the tarp and grabbing the edge excitedly. A sharp tug pulled the tarp off the tank, revealing it to the commanders.
"Kliment Voroshilov, you son of a bitch," Ross bemoaned.
000
Sorry for the long time between updates. I've been trying to work on chapters when I can, but things just haven't lined up. There's light at the end of the tunnel though! Winter break is coming up and I plan to work on Tank Aces as much as I can. I enjoyed reading and replying to all the reviews I got last chapters, I appreciate all your comments! I'll see you next time for the next chapter of Tank Aces.
Chapter 9: One Small Step for Rocketeer, One Giant Leap for Oarai Sensha-do!