Chapter 2 - A young heart of blue
11th February, The Tea Garden, 09:03 - The Handover (11 days after Sarah landed in Japan)
"If I might have your attention please ladies?" Darjeeling spoke at no more than a quiet conversational level, but she was the sort of person that didn't need to raise her voice in order to command the attention of others. The girls assembled in the old wood panelled meeting room inside the Sensha-do house (or 'tea rooms', as they were known) instantly fell silent. Darjeeling had a quick inspection of the girls around her. The numbers of the Sensha-do students had taken a steep nose dive. Parents had been forcing their daughters not to take part out of concerns that the sport was still not safe. Some girls just gave up out of fear as well. Others had simply moved on; this being their last year and final exams looming around the corner. From the A team pool, a total of about ten tanks could be crewed at one given time, compared to nearly three times that number about three months ago.
"Welcome ladies" Darjeeling was being very formal and evidently enjoying herself, but a little saddened by the lack of faces in front of her. "This is the first formal meeting of the St. Gloriana Sensha-do Team since the tragic events of the week-long match that we participated in. As I am sure you are all fully aware, the JSF has offered its sincere apologies and has launched a full investigation into those events. I'm sure you are also aware that the JSF is offered counselling and support for anyone who took part in that match, and I encourage anyone to take up that offer if they feel they need it."
Darjeeling continued. "The JSF have also put together a new tournament for this spring. There is no obligation for any school, especially those involved in the week-long match, to take part. However, after discussing the matter with the new commander-elect, in the spirit of 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends', we have decided that St. Gloriana will compete."
Rukuriri flicked a glance at Sarah, who was sitting next to her, as she wrote 'William Shakespeare' in small letters on the page of the open notebook on her knee. Sarah gave a surreptitious wink accompanied by the faintest of nods.
Darjeeling continued: "Which brings me onto my second point. I shall be graduating soon and so will Assam. We have both therefore decided to stand down and concentrate on our final exams."
"I shan't need the extra revision time; but Miss Darjeeling, however…" Assam teased from where she sat on one of the armchairs. There was a titter of laughter from the other girls.
"No comedians, please" Darjeeling said in a stern voice although her eyes showed that she didn't mind her friend's teasing.
Sarah quickly scribbled 'Nigel Green in film 'Zulu' 1964' in her note book where Rukuriri could see. Rukuriri slightly raised a surprised eyebrow. Sarah smiled, pleased to have scored a point against her friend.
"Before I formally hand over command of the team, it is my last and sad duty to pay tribute to the friends and colleagues that we lost in the last match," Darjeeling said solemnly.
Darjeeling looked over to the wall of the suite and everyone's gaze followed hers. Edged with a wooden frame, the wall was adorned with a portrait of Lady Grey in her red St. Gloriana Sensha-do uniform. It had been Darjeeling's idea, in agreement with Lady Grey's parents, that the school would commission such a picture, which had been drawn and painted from photos of Lady Grey. Two copies had been made; one for her parents and this one, which now hung on the wall of the Sensha-do team's headquarters. There was a black ribbon across one corner and the words "in memoriam" inscribed on a plaque at the bottom. That too had been Darjeeling's idea - she insisted that things like were better when written in Latin.
Underneath Lady Grey's portrait were framed pictures of the other girls who had died during that hellish week. There were the 'Anglerfish' crew; Saori, Hana, Yukari and Mako, alongside the photos of those they had not known so well; the BT-5 crew and the loader from the IS-3 from Pravda. The pictures were of varying quality, taken from social media or other sources, but each was similarly adorned with a small black ribbon as a mark of respect.
Absent from the memorial wall was James, Sarah's brother. There had been talk about putting pictures of him and Lady Grey together, since they had secretly been in love, but after discussions with the families it was felt that, as they had deliberately kept their relationship a secret while alive, it would not be fitting to publicise it now. Sarah had also not wanted to have to see a picture of James every time she came into the HQ suite. He was commemorated separately at home and within the Tankery clubs that he had been part of.
Darjeeling spoke touchingly about the loss of their colleagues and friends and how the school and Sensha-do would be poorer for their loss. There were quite a few damp eyes by the time Darjeeling had finished. After a moment's silence she ended with: "It is not length of life, but depth of life."
Sarah's pencil was poised yet still above her notepad. Rukuriri, however, wrote 'Ralph Waldo Emerson' on her own pad where Sarah could see it. Sarah gave a tiny shrug.
Turning back to them, Darjeeling smiled a warm and inviting smile.
"It is now my pleasure to hand over this team to its new commanders!" Darjeeling said with a smile. None of the changes in the command structure were a surprise to anyone, but Darjeeling liked to announce things formally and properly.
"Firstly, taking over from me, I would like to welcome Orange Pekoe as the new Commander of St. Gloriana's Sensha-do team!" There was a smattering of polite applause, but nothing wild. This was St. Gloriana after all, not a bunch of hooligans like Saunders.
Orange Pekoe blushed and grinned, looking around at everyone.
"Going forward we will have two Vice-Commanders. One will be Rukuriri, who will also take over Assam's role as Head of Intelligence. The other will be English Breakfast…"
It had come as something of a shock to Sarah when she had been invited to a meeting with Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe only the day after she had returned from England, and learned that her name had been put forward as a Vice-Commander. Part of her had immediately assumed this was some sort of practical joke, but the others convinced her that they were very sincere. Of course, all her plans and ambitions that she had thought about on the flight now seemed even more possible and she quickly accepted the offer without any further discussion.
Now that it was officially announced she found she was a little taken aback; going from being a relative nobody (albeit a tank commander in the Chindits, but nothing very special in the eyes of fans, other schools players, too even her own teammates in St. Gloriana) to suddenly now a Vice-Commander.
She felt herself blushing as her name was called out but this was because of her sudden promotion. She'd previously found her tea-based nickname to be rather embarrassing but had eventually just got used to it. That had now changed, however. She'd only recently learned that her late brother James had been involved in choosing it for her, and had obviously made sure that it was something as embarrassing as possible! This gave her a lot of comfort, as well as some pride; now every time she heard her nickname it was like he was sharing a joke with her.
She realised she'd been thinking about James while Darjeeling was still talking.
"...Rosehip will continue in command of the 'Chindits' where her… unique talents… can be put to best use!" Darjeeling said with a smile. Rosehip just grinned.
'So, there we have it', Sarah thought. She was now a Vice-Commander of one of the most prestigious Sensha-do teams in the world! She was slightly annoyed not to be Assam's successor, but despite her now excellent command of Japanese, it was not her native language and she could see why this could potentially be an issue in intelligence work. Rukuriri had been a good protégé of Assam and Sarah was sure that GI6 was in safe hands.
"I know St. Gloriana will continue to be a shining beacon of chivalry and elegance in the Sensha-do world under its new leadership. After all, 'if everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself'. And for the two ladies guessing the authors of my quotes, that was from industrialist Henry Ford!" Darjeeling shot a look at Sarah and Rukuriri as she said this. Rukuriri stiffened and blushed, but Sarah couldn't help but chuckle. Nothing, it seemed, could escape Darjeeling's meticulous eye for detail.
"So without further ado, I shall let Orange Pekoe explain the Spring Tournament to you!" Darjeeling left her position in front of the group of armchairs and sofas and came to sit on Sarah's right. Darjeeling's hand sought out Sarah's and she gave it a small squeeze.
Orange Pekoe now took centre stage, looking a little daunted by the occasion. Nonetheless she put on a serious face and began her short speech of thanks to Darjeeling. It was formal and to the point, and mercifully free of quotes and idioms.
"So… the Spring Tournament!" Orange Pekoe announced with some excitement in her voice and eyes. "This will be a completely different style of tournament to those that we're used to. It's a trial format of a points-based league."
There was some widening of eyes at this statement and a few murmurs. Rosehip repeated the words 'points based league' to herself, as if the repetition might unravel their meaning.
"I will explain" Orange Pekoe said, finding her stride in her new role as Commander. "The tournament will feature eight teams in total. As well as us, there will be…" She glanced down at her notes. "...Saunders, Kuromorimine, Ooarai…" That name produced some more murmurs from the seated St. Gloriana girls. "...Chi Ha Tan, BC Freedom and Anzio" Orange Pekoe continued.
She frowned slightly and counted lines on her notepad. "Oh, and Pravda, of course!" she added slightly sheepishly.
"Each team will play every other team once, meaning there will be a total of…" Orange Pekoe again paused and looked down at her notes.
"Twenty eight matches" Assam said from her chair.
"We're taking part in twenty eight matches this spring?!" Rosehip piped up.
"No no…" Orange Pekoe patiently explained. "As I said, each team plays all the other teams once, so we will therefore be taking part in a total of seven matches. Twenty eight is the total number when you count up all the matches that every team will compete in. This is part of the Tournament's appeal for the spectators. It allows for a lot of matches and many of these will be televised, especially in the later stages of the Tournament."
Rosehip vigorously nodded her understanding.
"In order not to be too costly to the schools involved, each match will be limited to eight tanks," Orange Pekoe further explained. No one said anything, but there were some inward sighs of relief. With the team depleted as it was, and allowing for girls missing matches through study or personal commitments, eight tanks was about as much as the team could handle.
Rukuriri spoke up. "Excuse me Miss Pekoe, but could you explain this 'points-based league' system you mentioned?"
"I am coming to that now" Orange Pekoe said. "The matches will be the flag tank battles that we are all used to, but with a difference. Immobilising the enemy flag tank ends the match and earns that winning team three points. A further two points, however, can be scored by either team if they have destroyed more than fifty percent of their opponent's tanks."
There was silence as the girls mentally digested this information, some quicker than others.
"So that means…" Sarah began to say.
"It means…" cut in Assam, who was obviously getting impatient with those who did not possess computer-grade brains. "It means that winning the battle by immobilising the opposing flag tank may not be enough. For example, a team might win by knocking out the enemy flag team, but lose four or more of their own tanks in the process. That would mean the final score would be three points to the winning team, but the losers also score two points. If, on the other hand, a team could immobilise four or more tanks including the flag tank they would get a full five points. So even if that team lost half of their own tanks, the score is five points to two. In a league, the more points you can get over an opponent is better. But bear in mind that a team that lost a few battles may still get the two points for having knocked out fifty percent of the enemy force. They could still very easily be in the running to win the tournament with only a couple of good victories in the last matches. Overall, my analysis of the scoring system suggests that teams should be aggressive, which is obvious really. That is what this new tournament is all about: Fast paced, quick and exciting battles."
She turned and nodded at Orange by way of an apology for taking centre stage.
"As I am sure the new commander was about to point out to you; this Tournament is one that will test your tactical thinking too. There will be challenges both on the battleground and in the planning stages beforehand. The current position of your opponent within the league table will also be something that might affect your planning, as it will very probably alter your opponent's tactics. Are they in a leading position, and therefore likely to be playing it safe; or are they desperate for the points and so may play a more risky game? We will have to wait and see."
Rosehip still looked baffled but continued to smile to give the impression she absorbed all this information in one go. Which was obviously not true whatsoever, but smiles were spread over the faces of some of the others, especially Sarah. She considered herself to be good at the planning and tactical elements of sensha-do and was happy that this tournament would give her a chance to make good use of those skills. Extrapolating what other teams might be planning based on their position within the league, like Assam had talked about, would also be very interesting, although she admitted she didn't have Assam's brain and so might need to take a bit longer to work things out. She was, however, pretty good at maths and number puzzles, so didn't see why she wouldn't be able to master this too. She allowed herself to daydream a little at this point; hopefully her abilities in this area would quickly become obvious to Orange Pekoe and she would shine out as one of the best Vice-Commanders in St. Gloriana's history. Maybe there was even a possibility of her becoming the first ever foreign student to become Commander of St. Gloriana in the not so distant future.
12th February, Pravda High School, Sensha-do HQ, 2:03 PM,
Katyusha sat grinning and occasionally cackling to herself in the palatial office which was the residence of the head of the Pravda Sensha-do Team. She was reading the rules and the team information regarding the upcoming Spring Tournament.
"Haha!" she laughed out loud. "Katyusha's glorious victory is certain!"
She decided she needed to inform her trusted Number Two about her plans, and so loudly shouted "Nonna! NONNA!" at the office door.
The same door opened instantly to admit the tall, dark-haired figure of Nonna.
"Nonna, I… wait, how did you come in so quickly?!" Katyusha asked. "Were you standing outside the door?!"
"I just so happened to be passing when I heard you call for me" Nonna explained calmly.
"Hmpf… good!" Katyusha reassured herself. "Anyway, we have great things ahead of us for the Spring Tournament!"
"Shouldn't you think about your exams?" Nonna asked in a motherly tone. "Both Maho and Darjeeling have handed over command of their teams to their successors already. You have your future to think about…"
"Don't patronise me!" Katyusha snapped. "Kay and other commanders have not! The Great Katyusha does not and will not step down until the very end! How will Pravda succeed without me?! The Great Katyusha will win a truly glorious victory to mark her departure!"
"You seem very confident" Nonna commented.
"Oh, I am!" Katyusha said quietly, with the sort of smile a man-eating crocodile might make. "The Great Katyusha has a long reach! The Great Katyusha will have control over this tournament from the very start!" Katyusha started to dribble slightly as she ranted.
"That is truly wonderful Katyusha" Nonna said as she dabbed her commander's mouth with a handkerchief. "How is it that Katyusha has so much power?" She fished for details.
"Uh-uh" Katyusha said, reclining back in her chair. "Details are not important at this stage Nonna. But let's say we have used these means before but now on a larger scale. A pretty little bird sings to Katyusha! And she sings Katyusha's tune!"
"I see," Nonna said. "And does Katyusha's pretty little bird have a name?"
Katyusha looked smug. "That name is known only between the Great Katyusha and her little birds" the short megalomaniac answered. "You and I can refer to her as 'Redwing', and she likes to migrate to many places. I will be very interested in seeing what she will do."
"I see…" Nonna said, standing patiently waiting for any new orders from her overlord. "Am I needed, Katyusha?"
"Leave me. I have work to do," Katyusha said shooing her away towards the door of her office. Nonna immediately bowed and walked away closing the door behind her. A girl with snow coloured hair and sapphire blue eyes waited for her outside. Nonna nodded towards her and Klara began to walk alongside her.
"So what do you know?" Klara asked.
"Red Crossbill, Redcoat, Northern Red Bishop, Red Goshawk and Redwing it seems are ready. Let's just hope you are not a spy Klara..." Nonna stopped and turned to face Klara. "As I will break any Pravda girl's neck if they betray us…!"
AN: Me and Sharky are looking forward to bring more of The Fallen Crown, to you. so if you have any feedback please post them we are always looking to improve this story to make it as good as it can be.
hakimsohit51 Thanks for the review and we will!