Houston, two days after the battle...

After quite the uneventful trip back to Houston, the boys of the Lone Star gathered together at a beach on the gulf coast. They were enjoying the last few days of summer vacation, as school was right around the corner. They laughed and talked about the many matches they had over the summer.

"Man, I tell you these teams get better and better each year. Except for those high-end schools, man.." Marcus said, cracking open a soda.

"You got that right. Remember that one school from Cali we faced? A whole team of King Tigers and Panthers, and they got whooped." Jackson retorted. The boys all shared another good laugh. "Speaking of getting whooped, Darrien, what's been up with you lately man? You usually are more talkative than this."

"I just got a lot on my mind." He said, bluntly. He took a long swig of soda.

"Nah, he's just beating himself up because he won't be going to Japan." Scotty replied. "I told you you should've been more accepting of the opportunity." He had a smug grin on his face, which made Tyrell deck him in the shoulder. "Ow! The hell was that for?!"

"You should be happy he chose to stay. Not many people would say no to something like that." He explained. Darrien gave Ty a nod and sighed.

"Although, he is right. I kinda wished I said yes." He admitted. It had bothered him throughout the entire trip back home, and it showed both in and out the tank. But in that moment he looked around to see his friends. His family all laughing and having a good time. He then walked over to the TV and turned it on, as well as a game console. "Now who's trying to get worked?" He asked, picking up a controller. The rest of that evening was filled with the crew all going up against each other in a tank combat game.

After everyone had left for the night, Darrien laid on his bed. He stared at the ceiling and began to wonder what could've been. He stared until he fell asleep. He dreamt about meeting up with the boys on one of the many school ships, sitting by the edge of the ship in their Sherman and watching the sun sink below the horizon, among other things. Unfortunately, morning came all too quickly. He was awoken by the sound of rain. Torrential rain. The type of rain that would turn a street into a slip-n'-slide. He groveled out of bed to complete his morning routine.

Soon as he got ready for the day, he looked to see that it was about 7 in the morning. He cooked himself something to eat and turned on the TV. The rain was a bit soothing. He cleaned up the house, wanting to make sure he left it as it was when his mother left. He checked his phone to see that his mother was still at the family beach house in Florida.

"Damn…" He then just lazed around the house for the day. He got a call from Tyrell, and let it go to voicemail. But then he called again. He figured he should answer it.

"Hello?"

"Yo! You gotta get to the garage fast dude! It's something really important that the bossman wants to tell us. I'll drop by and pick you up" It was Scotty. Over the phone, the rushing of the air over the car could be heard as he drove and talked.

"Yeah, just hang up the phone. I'll be ready to go by the time you get here." He said, walking to his room and picking out something to wear.

"Alright, see ya!" He hung up the phone and got ready to go. After about 15 minutes of agonizing waiting, Scotty pulled up to the house and honked his horn. Darrien came out of the house, locked the door, and rushed to the car. He hopped into the passenger seat and buckled up for the ride.

The "Garage", as it was called, was a giant warehouse where all the team's tanks were stored. The Garage wasn't as busy as one would think on a Tuesday afternoon, but something was definitely in the air. The weight of someone's presence resonated as they got closer. And seeing a couple of fancy cars parked in the small lot didn't help things either. The two arrived, parking in the usual spot, and got out of the car.

It was relatively quiet when they opened the door and walked down the side of the wall to the smaller rooms of the warehouse. The two turned down a small corridor and walked into the third door on the right. The room was filled with team photos, a desk, and a window that let in the afternoon sun. The other three members of the crew were already there, with Jackson blurting out.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up."

"Quiet, Jackie." Otis, the team commander, said. "I'm glad all of you could come on such short notice." He motioned for them to have a seat. The five all sat. "Firstly, I want to commend you all for your work in our last match, very well done. And secondly…" He was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and closing. Everyone turned around and a woman walked by them. Darrien and Scotty both nearly gasped as they saw who it was.

"Misses Tsubaki, your timing is impeccable," Otis said.

"What's the big idea bringing her into this?" Ty chimed in. "I heard about what you said to my friend there."

"Easy Ty," Darrien said, glancing over at him. Ty just scoffed and sat back in silence. "Sorry, but why I'm with Ty, why are you here?" Darrien asked Ms. Tsubaki. She sat in silence for a second, tuning about how to word her response.

"Well, I have a proposition...no, an offer for you." She said, glaring right back at Darrien. He raised an eyebrow. "When you told me no the first time, you said something I had only heard from one other person."

"If you're talking about how he didn't just want to up and leave, I'm sure other people you asked said the same thing," Marcus said "Why would you ask the same thing again?"

"Because I'm offering this opportunity to all of you." The room went silent, all that could be heard was the soft humming of the AC unit. "You said it yourself, Mr. Washington. Either you all go or none of you go. And we need one more unit to begin this project." She explained. The whole crew looked at one another.

"Well, Darrien, what'll it be?" Otis asked. "Blue pill or Red Pill?"

"Shit, I'm down." Scotty said.

"If you go, you'll need a gunner," Ty said. "So, I'm in."

"Hell yeah! I'm down to get some action!" Jack shouted.

"I'm going too," Marcus said. "I'll convince my mother somehow." Everyone waited for Darrien's response. He looked Ms. Tsubaki dead in the eye.

"What does this entail exactly? I'm in, but I need details." He had a smile on his face, but not your ordinary everyday smile. More, a smile that hid something.

"Well, in short, you'll be spending a year aboard one of the school ships. Participating in Senshado combat and going to school with your teammates." She explained.

"So, like a student exchange?" Jack asked.

"No, this sounds more akin to studying abroad," Ty stated. "Which, come to think of it, we don't know a lick of Japanese."

"Hey, don't lump me into this." Scotty said. "I know enough."

"Scotty can teach you then. Besides, I'm sure your future schoolmates would be more than eager to teach you." She explained.

"I'll discuss logistics ahead of your departure. But just know that you guys will be missed." Otis said. "Oh, and bring me something back when you do return."

"When do we head on out? And which school are we even going to?" Scotty asked.

"Well, you will be going to Saunders University High School." Everyone's heart skipped a beat when she said that. Especially Tyrone, who had a look of disbelief.

"You mean the Saunders University?" He asked. "The richest high school in the world?"

"I wouldn't say that, but yes."

"Oh great.." He sighed. "This should prove interesting. So, when are we expected to be there."

"We'll we can schedule an itinerary for your travel to Nagasaki, or.."

"Nah, we'll fly straight to ship. We've already made arrangements with the airlift division. Hope you boys still remember how to connect with a tanker." Otis said. The team had a couple of cargo planes ready to go at a moment's notice, and as with most teams, the boys of the Lone Star knew how to fly.

"What? How?"

"I'm just pulling your leg. But you boys have a lot to do before you can take off. Plus, some of us are coming with so we can fly the damn thing back to base." Otis explained. "We'll have them ready to take off by the end of the week." The boys all nodded.

"Well, I'll leave you with a few final things. Firstly, you boys will be getting uniforms as soon as you arrive." She handed each boy a large manila envelope, full of items. "I'll go over it with you all once you arrive on the carrier." She said.

A few days later….

After a couple of days of goodbyes, good lucks, and some emotional moments, the boys all arrived at the airfield where they would depart from. The previous day had their flight plan routed out, the crews briefed even the first contact with the Saunders team. They called their operation "Homecoming I", in which the crew would fly three legs, with the third leg being air to air refueling. The airfield was bustling with teammates and fellow tanks and aviation enthusiasts in the area.

Darrien was overseeing the loading of the Sherman into the cargo hold of their aircraft, a Lockheed C-141C Starlifter. The team had a couple of them, with their nicknames being Lewis and Clark K. The Sherman was slowly backing into the hold of the cargo jet and it was a tight fit.

"Keep it going! Keep going! A little more!" Marcus shouted. He was looking back from his position, seeing a piece of tape where the Sherman should be to maintain balance. "Alright, Stop! Shut it down!" The engine of the Sherman was cut and the two began to latch it down to the cargo hold. Tyrell, the co-pilot, was walking around and checking the systems while Jackson was inside, going over the flight route. But on everyone's mind was the fact that they were actually getting ready to go on this big journey halfway around the globe. There was excitement in the air when everything was tied down and the jet was properly fueled up. The final checks had been made to make sure the aircraft would be in top shape during the two-day journey.

"Alright, cargo is loaded. Luggage and tank are tied down, the jet is fueled and we have our clearance. Let's go over the general flight path to Saunders, Nav." Darrien said, looking back over his shoulder to the navigator.

Jackson was busy keeping everything in its correct order. "Well, a quick hop over to Paine Field, and then from there further north to Anchorage. No changes." He said.

"Right then. Marcus, how are we looking back there?" Ty asked.

"All good in the back, cargo is stored and the tank is secured." He stated, taking a seat in the jump seat.

"Well boys, let's roll." They began the startup procedure, bringing the jet's four engines to life. They soon began to taxi the jet out to the runway, and within 10 minutes of closing the doors, they were airborne and on their way to Anchorage.

After about 4 hours of flying, they touched down in Washington state to refuel for the hop up to Anchorage. They were there for a few hours and explored the area around their parking stand. They got some food for the journey up to Alaska, as it would be another four-hour hop up to the cargo plane capital of the world. While they were they, Darrien met up with some family he had up there briefly, and soon was returning to the airport to fly the next leg.

The boys started up the jet once more and took off into the sky. The flight up to Anchorage was a bit more scenic as they flew over Victoria island and the Alaskan archipelago. The sun seemed to stay in place as they flew further north and west. They flew at a higher altitude, around 40,000 feet, passing over a few mountain ranges. The crew then prepared to land, flying out over the water and turning around to line up with the runway. At around 6 pm, the jet taxied into the stand and the crew went to a hotel for the evening.

"Alright, everyone gathers around. We have an important call to make here." Darrien said, opening up his laptop. He opened a video calling app and called their host. They picked up and they seemed pretty happy to see them.

"Hey everyone! Glad you all made it safe to Alaska!" One of the girls exclaimed. "Only a few more hours before you all touch down here. We're all really excited to meet you face to face." The bubbly blonde on the screen seemed to carry the energy of the three who were sat next to her.

"We're all excited as well," Darrien said, but the contrary was seen as everyone was tired from the flight. "Just a bit low energy right now. But anyway, about the tanker rendezvous tomorrow. We're gonna be taking off around 4 pm our time tomorrow."

"Alright, we know your range is a bit limited, so we'll have our tanker take off a couple of hours before you all leave." She said. "You ever done an air-to-air refueling?" She asked.

"I mean, it's a bit late to ask that now, but yeah, a couple of times."

"Don't forget to mention me as well, Darrien," Ty said. He didn't seem as tired s everyone else, who was just barely awake.

"Yeah, and my co-pilot has enough experience as well." He said. The rest of the call was more of discussing how to find the carrier after they liked up with the tanker. Mostly just involving the boys to follow the KC-10 back to the carrier.

"You know when you guys get here, it's gonna be quite the spectacle." The girl said. Darrien knew she was right, an all-male crewed tank going to participate in the most competitive senshadou league in the world was going to be something special.

"You know, Kay, I have a feeling you're right about all this," Darrien said. "Especially what Naomi said during our first chat."

"She's just trying to scare you. Nothing more. Call it hazing, or whatever you call it where you come from." She said.

"That's more of intimidation. But anyway, we need to get some sleep. We'll see you tomorrow." He ended the call and closed up his laptop. Scotty and Jackson were already snoring on the bed closest to the bathroom. Darrien got up and stretched a bit, taking a peek outside to see bright sun lower a bit from when they arrived. He got on the second bed in the room, next to Marcus, and he fell asleep.

The next day…

The boys all were up pretty early in the morning, but most went back to sleep for a few more hours. By ten, everyone was up for the day and ready to get moving. Time seemed to speed on by pretty fast as departure time came. They all piled into the aircraft and began the startup procedure. Within the hour they were airborne and flying on a south-westerly heading towards the rendezvous with the tanker.

"How are we looking on fuel?" Darrien asked his flight engineer.

"Enough to make it to the rendezvous. They even gave us a radio frequency since we're out of range of any ATC." Marcus replied. "And we just crossed the dateline. We just lost a day, boys."

"Roger that. Hey, can you pass the water up here?" Darrien asked. "Oh, and get us down to Flight level 220." He said. Ty put the numbers into the autopilot and the aircraft began descending. Darrien took a nice long drink out of his bottle and set it on his lap. He began looking all around for other aircraft and the tanker. Then he began to hear a crackle of voices over the radio. Mostly broken. The voices then became clearer as they got within closer range.

"This is Lancer 02 calling aircraft Lewis 77, we are at Flight level 240, currently on heading 095 at 290 knots." The voice was that of a girl about their age.

"Roger, this is Lewis 77, we are descending through level 260, heading 195, we request to refuel at 275 knots," Ty replied.

"Roger will slow to 275 knots."

Soon they linked up with the KC-10. And the boys were shocked that the school had enough money to own and fly their own tankers for transports. After the refueling, to the relief of the guys, they flew in trail behind the Extender, following it all the way to the carrier.

"Look at the size of that thing.." Jackson stated, standing behind the co-pilot's seat and looking out the window. "It's massive!"

"Alright boys, let's get ready to land," Ty said, disabling the autopilot and hand flying the plane down to the ship. They first did a flyby over the carrier before circling back to land They all sighed a breath of relief once they touched down on the runway. They taxied off the runway and parked the aircraft on the very end of the ramp. Not before They powered down the jet and got ready to offload the tank. When the cargo doors opened, Scotty was there to meet their new team commander. She stood at the then of the cargo ramp, with the slight breeze blowing her hair.

"Good to see you, Kay! You might wanna move though, I gotta unload the tank!" He shouted.

"Take your time!" She shouted back. Once everything in the cockpit was in order, Darrien walked off the flight deck and into the cargo hold. The Sherman was just barely letting light into the hold. He opened the door and let unfold onto the tarmac. Another girl was there to meet him.

"Ah, I don't believe we've met!" He said.

"Not face to face!" The girl was incredibly short compared to Darrien, and when he climbed down the steps to get a better look, he had to look down slightly. He chuckled a little and extended a hand to her.

"You already know me then. Nice to meet you…"

"Alisa."

"Ah yes, Alisa. A pleasure to meet you." He said, shaking her hand. The boys all offloaded the tank and closed up shop. The jet was made ready for storage, as it wouldn't be flown for a while. They all mounted the Sherman, bags in hand, and followed the three girls to their garage.

Once they made it to the garage, they were instructed to park their Sherman next to another 76 armed Sherman. The Firefly that was commanded by their sharpshooter. The boys all dismounted the tank and began to look around. They were stunned by the number of tanks they had, as they hadn't seen anything like it.

They were then led to another building where Kay, Naomi, and Alisa were waiting. When they entered the room, the tension in the air was quite palpable.

"Well, you all made it. I'm glad you all decided to come here." She said. "A new Easy 8 Sherman will definitely bolster our force." She said.

"Well, I may as well be the first to ask, but do we have to wear skirts like yall?" Jack asked. "Cause that was never part of the deal." They all snickered a little, including Darrien.

"Unfortunately no, your clothes are all at your apartments." She said.

"Wait, apartment? Not a dorm room?" Marcus asked.

"Well, it is a dorm, but it's more like an apartment complex than a dorm." The boys all looked at each other in disbelief. "Either way, everything you need to know is in your rooms. And you'll be given a couple of days to rest. Because we have a lot planned to show you guys." Kay said.

"Including a practice match. Just so we can see where you fit." Naomi said. Her eyes told a different story. It was a look Darrien had seen before, but it felt different coming from her.

"Right, well anyways. Welcome to Saunders!" And just like that, the boys were welcomed into their new home. And they knew that their journey had just begun.