"You're…" Danube Lamberg couldn't really believe what she had just heard. "You're breaking up the school?"
For good reason, too. Danube was the latest of a long family tradition of attending Edelweiss Imperial College, one of the oldest foreign schools in Japan. Her great-great-grandfather was the very man who founded the school over three hundred years ago. And since then, every single member of the Lamberg family (on her mother's side) attended Edelweiss. Later, many would become teachers. Administrators. Disciplinarians. Principals. Chairs and members of the board. They pledged their devotion and service to the school. Her very own father was the current chairman of the school.
But now, Danube may be the very last person to pledge their service to the school.
"Now… it's not certain yet," her father said. "But, the mood in the board is quite clear. They want to break the school up."
"So… what do we do now?"
Danube's father didn't know. He's faced many struggles in this life before, but none other quite like trying to rescue his ancestral family's work. Over the last thirty years, he'd guided the school through a whole host of crises; the various financial problems, rampant corruption among the administration, and personal scandals that made the news only touching the surface of the deep-rooted problems that faced the school. His solutions did stave off the inevitable for a good amount of time. In particular, during his second year of leadership, he finalized a deal with several high schools to sell their old fleet of school-ships, most notably the sale of one of its old destroyers to Tatra High School. He also presided over the development of the famed early Edelweiss Ressha-do team. The massive early victories of said team, winning two out of the first five National Ressha-do Championships (equal only to Kuromorimime) and the large reserved gained by the ship sales staved off bankruptcy for a good twenty years, and Edelweiss even enjoyed a brief hike in admissions for many years during that period.
But, alas, things would get bad, quickly. First came the scandal around the Sixth National Ressha-do Competition, where it was uncovered that Edelweiss had attached small electric engines to their railcars, allowing them to reach much higher speeds than with only their steam locomotives. This particular scandal caused enrolment rates to drop significantly, investors to withdraw, and even a decent number of transfers out of the school.
But more importantly, that particular scandal saw the beginning of the rapid decline of the Ressha-do team. After that incident, recruitment started to dry up. Morale was shattered. For the next ten years, Edelweiss would only be known as frauds. They did not make it past the semi-finals once in that period of time. During that time, Kuromorimime and Pravda cemented their dominance as the true masters of the sport, leaving Edelweiss behind.
Commander after commander tried and failed to reinvigorate the team. To reintroduce some fighting spirit. But it never succeeded. They found themselves stumbling and crashing down in every single tournament. And every single tournament they lost, a few middle school students would be discouraged from joining the school. A few upcoming freshmen would be discouraged from joining the team. A few team members contemplated quitting. And, the more Edelweiss' coffers started drying up. The vicious cycle continued to repeat and repeat itself.
Edelweiss' last hope laid in its newest, and possibly last, Ressha-do commander. She had finally started to succeed in what her predecessors all failed, reinvigorating some of the fighting spirit of the team. In the Twentieth National Ressha-do Championships, they'd finished third, their best result in eight years. It was not enough, but it was definitely a start.
"We're on our last legs, Dan…" Danube's father sighed. "I suppose… all things must come to an end."
"No, no, no…" Danube pleaded. "It can't end like this, it can't! This school is hundreds of years old, we've survived earthquakes, wars, bombs. We, we can't go down like this…"
"I'm sorry, darling. I've failed you. I've failed my family." It was clear that her father was just as much in despair has Danube.
Danube's father left the room, and gently closed the door behind him.
If anybody knew Danube, it was that sadness never lasted long with her. Even when the circumstances were this rough, despair turned to resolve as Danube wiped away the single tear that had been making its treacherous path through her face.
I'm going to win this goddamned competition, regardless of whether I'll ever get to touch the white marble floor of this school again, whether I'll ever get to sit on my seat in Mrs. Tiberius' third period Math class and sleep the entire time again, or whether I'll ever get to talk to my compatriots in the team again. If this school has gone to shit, then I will go out with the greatest victory in Ressha-do history.
And if anybody knew Danube, if there was one thing one did not want to mess around with, it was her resolve. Stronger than the River Danube's cruelest current, thicker than the deepest walls of the Hofburg, more profound and more passionate than Mont Blanc's harshest snowstorm. Many of her colleagues and opponents had found that out the hard way.
It was Tatra's turn next.
Tatra had faced a vastly technologically superior enemy with much more experience than itself. But, as they were about to learn, Edelweiss and Danube's sheer willpower was much, much worse.
—-
"Edelweiss, huh," Janosik said. "Interesting. And apparently, this match will be fought on a neutral location too. A school-ship. Some school named Oaarai Girls' Academy."
It was only a day before the next match. The quartet of Janosik, Ivana, Miroslava, and Svetlana had been (again), sitting in the Student Council conference, planning strategy for the next match. This was a scene that had taken place no less than six times throughout the last, well, six days, and they still had not even come close to developing a comprehensive strategy. They knew full well how much of a threat Edelweiss was, and how well they would know Tatra's specific playstyle.
"Well, this is going to be a real tough nut to crack," Miroslava said. "We have a ton in common with them, so it's likely that they know exactly what weak links we have and how to exploit it."
"Miro, wasn't your cousin in the Edelweiss Ressha-do team?" Ivana asked.
"Ah, Nadeja!" Miroslava exclaimed. "She was in the team… twenty-odd years ago? I can't quite remember. Yeah, she's pretty darn old now. Now, she was there in Edelweiss'... let's say, better times, but I do recall her talking about a very particular weakness that Edelweiss has…"
"What is it?" Janosik asked.
Miroslava scoured her mind for an answer, but no matter how hard she searched, she couldn't find any.
"I'm sorry, girls, I can't quite remember it. All I remember is that she told us the team did keep this under wraps for a pretty long time."
"Shame," Janosik said. "Anyways, we could start planning our strategy for the next match. So, Ivana, you got anything for us?"
In their last meeting, Ivana had been asked to dig a little into Edelweiss' Ressha-do team. And, she did not disappoint.
"Edelweiss' arsenal was actually rather old, consisting of two Austro-Hungarian Type B trains, Panzerzug V and Panzerzug XI, respectively. While old, it they still pack significant firepower, much greater than ours, with a variety of small, medium, and large-calibre artilley. The crown jewel, of course, is their 10cm naval gun, which, in the right hands, could cause mass mayhem."
"What's the range of this thing?" Janosik interjected.
"Eleven kilometers, I believe."
Janosik grimaced. "We have to find a way to get real close then."
"One more thing," Ivana continued. "Last year, their new commander, this girl named Danube, she conducted a large-scale modernization of their trains. Most importantly, installing radios on their ships, and adding thicker armour plating to their weak-spots. What this means is that the Hurban's 37mm cannon probably cannot penetrate some parts of the armour until, I did the math, and it would seem like… six hundred metres. Our chase gun could probably penetrate most parts of the armour at about two kilometres."
"So, we have to get to six hundred metres of the enemy to do any significant damage, are outnumbered, and outgunned. Splendid. Just splendid."
"Now now," Miroslava said. "We have advantages too. We have the T18, remember?"
"Well, the T18… isn't crewed by the smartest of us, is it?" Janosik asked.
Miroslava gave Janosik her now-classic hairy eyeball. That did seem to do the trick, since what Janosik said next was, "Right, right. I'm sorry. We have the T18."
"Anyways, we have to devise a plan to get within that six hundred metre sweet-spot," Miroslava said. "Any ideas?"
"Well, the T18 could serve as almost a rangefinder for us," Ivana said. "We should utilise it in a reconnaissance role. That way, once we do get into that six hundred metre threshold, we'll get the first shot off."
"No, the T18 should be used as a distraction," Janosik said. It should harass the rear of the enemy and buying the Hurban time to get shots off."
"No, Janosik, that's an idiotic idea," Ivana raised her voice. "What do you think a machine-gun will do to a heavily armoured train? It wouldn't even scratch the damn paint off. You'd be wasting a perfectly good reconnaissance trolley for nothing."
"No, what do you mean-"
"Janosik, you're an-"
The room quickly became flooded with the noise of the duo duking it out again. This was a common scene in all the meetings, the constant bickering of Janosik and Ivana. Now, it had, of course, drastically improved from their mutual contempt (or really, just Janosik's contempt for Ivana), but it was a far cry from cordial. They had still taken every opportunity possible to argue about any matter, whether it be Ressha-do, food, television, the school. Anything they could ever talk about, it eventually devolved into an argument. Once, they even had an argument over whether Timbuktu was a real place. That was a real low.
Miroslava and Svetlana both sighed. "There they go again," Miroslava, exasperated, said.
"I need some coffee," Svetlana said.
"Likewise," Miroslava agreed.
Svetlana and Miroslava got up, both to get coffee from the kitchen, but more importantly, to escape the infernal noise of Janosik and Ivana's shenanigans.
"Now that we've gotten away from those two, I feel like we should get Marta in here," Miroslava said.
"Marta?" Svetlana asked.
"Yeah, the second-year girl? She seems to know a lot about this sport, perhaps she could help a little bit with the strategy. You can arrange that, right?"
"I believe Marta's in… chemistry class right now, if I remember correctly. I'll fetch her, right after I get some coffee."
"Oh, yeah, go ahead."
Svetlana got a mug from a drawer, placed a pod in the coffee machine, and let it do the magic. Just a splash of milk, two sugar cubes, and Svetlana was in heaven.
"Alright, I'm gonna go and get Marta now."
Just a few minutes later, Svetlana returned with Marta.
"Hey, Marta!" Miroslava greeted. "You doing alright?"
"Meh," Marta answered.
"Listen, we thought we'd bring you here to get a little bit of your expertise on Edelweiss' specific strategies and how we could counter them, since as I understand it, you're quite the train expert."
"Yeah," Marta answered.
"But first, want some coffee? Tea? Water?"
"No, thank you."
"Quite the talker, are ya…"
"Miro," Svetlana said. "We should probably go and discuss this with them now. Surely they've stopped fighting now."
"Yeah, let's do that."
As they approached the door from the kitchen to the main office, they could very much hear how wrong they were. When they opened it, they could see how wrong they were.
"You scoundrel! Scumbag!"
"Oh, for God's sake…" Miroslava raised her voice. "ENOUGH!"
The two arguing voices finally fell silent.
"Now that I've got your attention," Miroslava continued. "Say hi to Marta! She's joining us today. We all know Marta's expertise in trains, so we brought her here for some input on our strategy."
"Hey, Marta," Ivana and Janosik greeted.
"You have the floor, Marta," Miroslava said.
"Well," Marta started. "Edelweiss has a very particular doctrine. It would be difficult to defeat them in detail, like we did with Bonple. Their doctrine states that all their assets must be grouped together in a large convoy at all times. Edelweiss commanders also have a bit of a reputation for thinking and deliberating for a very long time before making a move. Their strategy is based on reacting, not being proactive."
"No wonder why they lost so much…" Janosik said.
"Their "convoy" doctrine is something we can take advantage of," Marta continued, with her now-famous monotonous voice. "Their trains are old, and slow. Their convoys usually move even slower. I suggest that we whittle down their forces with hit-and-run tactics and then finish them off in a pitched battle."
"We'll have to avoid a pitched battle at any cost until we are confident we can beat them, then," Janosik said.
"Yes," Marta replied.
Janosik had some doubts about the plan, though. Of course. "Even if we're faster, I doubt that the entire Hurban can get out of their large guns' range before they retaliate."
"Well, it doesn't have to be the entire train," Ivana said. "We could just have the locomotive car pull one or two artillery cars. That way we'll be much faster, and have a smaller profile as well. The T18 can act as an extra two pairs of eyes."
"Jan, what do you think?" Miroslava asked.
In the previous few days, Janosik was still finding it rather hard to swallow her pride. While of course, not quite openly hostile towards anyone who disagreed with her, she still resisted, willingly or not, to any ideas which were not her own, even when she completely agreed with it. It was a feeling which Janosik, most of all, hated.
"Well, I mean…" Janosik said. "It's a great plan, but…"
"But?" Ivana asked.
"But…"
"You alright there?" Miroslava asked.
"Yeah… it's a great plan," Janosik finally admitted.
"Great!" Miroslava exclaimed. "Well, it is nearly lunchtime now, so what do you girls say about getting a bite to eat? And yes, Jan, there will be fried cheese."
"Yeah, why the hell not," Janosik agreed.
Janosik proceeded to eat eight servings of fried cheese. She would've eaten ten, but the restaurant had run out of cheese. She was pretty close to launching into another one of her now-famous temper tantrums, but was calmed down before she had a chance to lash out.
"Oh… I feel so sick…" Janosik groaned while they were walking back to school.
Yeah, no fucking shit, Sherlock, what did she expect from eating one Hermann Goering's worth of cheese?
"Oh, get over yourself, you can nap when you get back," Miroslava said.
"Actually, Janosik has classes this afternoon," Svetlana interjected.
"Huh. Tough luck then."
"Classes…?" Janosik asked. "Wha- What classes?"
Is there such a thing as being food-drunk? Cheese-drunk? Clearly, Janosik maybe ate a little too much cheese? Just maybe?
"Math, history, and science, dumm-" Before she could finish her sentence, Svetlana was rather rudely interrupted.
THUMP!
Janosik was on the ground.
"Jan?!" Svetlana rushed over. "Are you okay?!"
"No… no… we can't lose her like this!" Miroslava shouted. "Jan? Jan? Someone check her pulse-"
It is worth mentioning that Miroslava had been the President of the Drama Club in seventh grade.
And then the snoring began.
Ivana was the first to laugh. As the tension wore off, the other two joined in the cackling.
"Oh, I thought she was dead!" Miroslava exclaimed.
"You're such a drama queen, Miro…" Svetlana said.
"Guys… how will we get her back to class now?" Ivana asked.
"Aw, fuck," Svetlana said.
"We aren't gonna have to carry her, don't we?" Ivana asked.
"Well, do you want to leave her here?" Miroslava asked in response.
"I'm considering it," Ivana asserted.
"Oh, don't be silly, come on now," Miroslava said. "Ivana, grab her from the feet. Svetlana, grab her from the head. We probably should go to the nurse, she might have a concussion or something from hitting her head on the pavement."
"Aw, no way in hell I'm touching that," Ivana said, pointing at the now-drooling snoring figure of Janosik.
"Come on now," Miroslava commanded.
"Wait, what will you do?" Svetlana asked Miroslava.
"Oh, y'all two are carrying her." Miroslava said. "Not me."
"Wha-" Ivana said. "No fair!"
"Come on now, let's go!" Miroslava ordered.
Ivana and Svetlana finally picked Janosik up and got to work. Not without groaning quite a few times before, of course. But with quite a bit of elbow grease, they eventually got her up to the nurse's office.
"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Miroslava said.
No answer. Probably because Ivana and Svetlana were panting for dear life as soon as they haphazardly dropped, literally dropped, Janosik at the nurse's office.
"I'd rather spend the rest of today hearing her rant about whatever it is she likes to get angry about nowadays then do that ever again," Svetlana said, still panting hard. "Good Lord, she is heavy."
"Right?" Ivana said. "She doesn't look like it, but you can feel all that cheese in her."
"Oh, stop crying, you little babies," Miroslava said.
"Well, maybe you could have tried hauling her a kilometre yourself!"
Miroslava laughed. "I have to go now, seeya girls!"
And there Miroslava went.
"You should go to classes, Ivana," Svetlana said.
"Well, maybe I'd want to stick around, looking after Janosik," Ivana said. "You're the President of the Student Council, Svetlana, you can make something up right?"
"Come on, go to class."
"Come on Svetlana, I have all my classwork done. Let me do this."
"Fiine. But don't stay for long. And I've got a principal who's waiting for me, so if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go clean myself up from my cheese-stenched sweat and maybe make myself look half-presentable so I don't get fired. Later!"
And, just like that, Svetlana was gone and Ivana was alone with a sleeping Janosik.
—-
"So, Miss Hacha," the principal said. "What do you have for me?"
"Well, not good news, I'm afraid," Svetlana answered. "We have enough money in the bank left to dock and refuel fifteen times, plus to cover all the costs to maintain the ship and the school for the remainder of the year. That should get us through this year, but I expect our coffers to dry up somewhere around next fall."
"And the equipment?"
"Well, for now, they are functioning, but only barely. The Lead Engineer gave it four months before the ship would be dead in the water. Of course, assuming no storms or accidents. She said if there were to be any severe weather occurrence, the ship would be dead in the water, or worse, sunk."
"Sunk?"
"Yes, sir, sunk," Svetlana repeated. "Several nuts and bolts have already started to loosen. The Lead Engineer also gave a recommendation to keep to ten nautical miles off the coast, to avoid rough seas."
"That's definitely… concerning," the principal replied. "How are things going with that little Janosik wonder girl of yours?"
"Well, as you know, we won our first match, against Bonple," Svetlana said. "Our next match is against Edelweiss High School tomorrow."
"Are you confident in the team's ability?"
"Yes, sir. But if they don't make it… should we tell everyone about everything that has been going on?"
"Absolutely not," the principal said. "I've spent months keeping this secret from the school board. If they catch wind of this, we're all gone. They'll sell this to god-knows-who."
Indeed, the principal had spent the past four months under intense questioning from the school board. "Why did the ship slow down to half speed?" "Why was the Ressha-do team restarted?" "Why were all the instruments of the school band sold?" Every day he was summoned, the elderly man dreaded entering that school board meeting room. Thankfully, most of the school board members hadn't even seen the Tatra in years, so it was rather easy to hide the dire situation. It was still extremely tiring nonetheless.
"But sir, they deserve to know…"
"No means no," the old man snapped. "This, all of this, stays between us, alright? Don't tell that squad of yours, don't tell your friends, don't tell your mother, nobody. Is that clear, Miss Hacha?"
Svetlana knew it was no use arguing with her stubborn principal. "Yes, sir."
"Good luck, Miss Hacha. I, your friends, and your school are counting on you. Do not let us down."
"I will not, sir."
"Now get out."
Svetlana did not hesitate in darting out of the room.
—-
Janosik finally rose, wide awake.
"Where the hell am I?"
"Oh, you're finally awake," Ivana said. "You passed out for five hours. Probably a combination of the sun and well, your lunch. You're in the nurse's office right now."
"Oh… hey, Ivana."
"Hey, Jan."
"Where are the others?"
"Well, Svetlana went out to see the principal a few hours ago, and Miroslava is out doing… something."
"God, my stomach hurts…" Janosik laid back down, clutching her abdomen.
"Maybe next time, tone down a bit on the cheese there, Jan."
"No one asked for your opi-" Janosik began to snap. "I'm sorry. You're right. I should eat a little less cheese." She chuckled lightly.
"The nurse did give me a little something to help you with the inevitable stomach pain." Ivana reached out and gave Janosik a small orange pill and a glass of water. "Here, see if that helps."
It was only then that Janosik noticed the throbbing pain in her head. "Ow-"
"And an icepack," Ivana said. "Take the pill, and then put the icepack on your head. You got a pretty nasty fall."
"Yup, yup," Janosik groaned.
"Also, Jan. Mind if I ask you a favour?"
"Yeah, ow!-, yeah, go ahead."
"I was evicted a little while ago. Had to sleep inside the school for a week. Would you mind if I moved in with you, just until this all gets sorted out?"
"What gets sorted out?"
I suppose it's time, Ivana thought. No real use in hiding it anymore.
Ivana told Janosik everything. Her parents' death, enrolling in the school, living in destitution, all of it.
"And that's why I've well… been so closed off," Ivana finished. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't even have told you anything." She looked to the white bed, only to see a sobbing Janosik.
"Jan?"
"I'm so sorry…" Janosik sobbed, with her groans making brief interdictions here and there; she was still in pain, after all. "The things I said, I was so cruel to you…"
"Hey, hey, you're okay. There was no way you could have known what I was going through."
"But you still are going through it!" Janosik buried her face in her arms. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"
"It's alright. I have you guys."
"I- I can't, I'm sorry, Ivana."
"Can't what?"
"Can't… can't do this. I'm an asshole. I did nothing but cause pain. I almost lost us the match. I did nothing but belittle and insult our team." Janosik continued sobbing.
"It wasn't your fault…"
Yes it was. Leave me alone now."
"But Jan…"
"Leave. Me. Alone." Janosik snapped.
That night, Ivana secretly slept at school, for the eighth consecutive time.
—-
"Jan?" Ivana knocked on the door.
"Leave me alone," Janosik growled.
"Jan… the battle with Edelweiss is tonight. It's already two o' clock, the team is waiting for you."
"You lead the team. I quit."
"Jan, we are counting on you. You can't just quit."
"Yes I can. I am a bad commander, not to mention, a dick. You command the team. Goodbye now."
"Jan, you cannot leave us. You want to apologize to me? Leading us, that's how you do it."
"No. Never talking to you again is how I do it. Now get out."
"Bu-"
"Fuck. Off."
—-
"Where's Jan?" Miroslava asked. She had been waiting right outside of the depot for a while now, desperate for any news on Janosik.
Ivana had just finished running back to the warehouse. "Miro… we have a big problem."
"Oh, no," Miroslava said. "We can't have 'big problems' now."
"Janosik is refusing to lead the team."
"What, why?"
"I told her about 'the thing'," Ivana said.
A look of realization swept across Miroslava's face. She knew how Janosik would've reacted if she found out. "I take it she didn't deal with it well."
"No, she did not."
Miroslava sighed. "I'll try and talk to her. If it doesn't work, you're in charge, okay?"
"But-"
"Brief the team now. The battle is in two hours, with Jan or not."
Ivana went into the depot and started to address the team, who had already assembled there for an hour.
"Hey, girls, Janosik can't be here for a little bit. So for now, I will be in charge."
"Why isn't Janosik here?" Dominika asked.
Ivana grimaced, then hesitated for just a second. "She feels unwell."
"Will she be here for the battle?" Cecilia asked.
"I don't know," Ivana was desperate to put an end to the "interrogation" of sorts. "But what I know is that, with or without her, you will do your best, and we will win. Yes?"
Nods and murmurs of approval spread through the team.
"Come on. Don't be shy. Will we win?"
A wave of confidence swept through the team. "YES WE WILL!" they chanted.
Just as they said that, the Zuikaku and Tokyo Harborcame into sight.
—-
Danube cracked her knuckles. This was to be the fight of her life, and she knew it. The fate of her school depended on her and her team. And she would stop at nothing before that is fulfilled.
Little did she know, the stakes were just as high in the school she would face.
She turned to her deputy commander, Drava.
"Drava, are the trains ready?"
"Polished, repaired, and fully stocked, Commander Lamberg."
"Are our crews ready?"
"Morale is high, Commander. They know exactly what they are fighting for, and they will perform their duties to the end."
"Excellent. Victory is inevitable."
"Yes it is, Commander."
And just like that, Tokyo Harbour came into view.
"So it begins."
A/N: Hello again! My sincere apologies, this chapter was at least two weeks late. There is pretty good reason though; I've been working on a new fic, and its first chapter should be coming out relatively soon! Look out for that. Or not, if you don't want to. I'm not your mom.
Anyways. So this is mostly a character building character. A little bit of planning for the battle, but in general, less Ressha-do related stuff than before. This is deliberate, as Chapters 6-10 will be very action-packed, and not much time for character development outside of the heat of battle. If you like that, you have those to look forward to. If you like a little less focused character development, well, here's the chapter for you.
It is also definitely possible, although not likely, that the main series will extend to 11 chapters instead of the planned 10. We shall see. Also, I may or may not do the bonus/epilogue/whatever you want to call it. Maybe I'll still do it. Who knows.
Also, I mentioned Oaarai for the first time in this fic! Unfortunately, it will be the last. It's just a cameo, to be honest. They will not play any significant role in the plot.
Anyways, that's about it, I think. I hope I'll do Chapter 6 on time. No promises though. Read my new fic when it comes out, if you want to. As always, reviews and criticism are welcomed. Thank you for sticking to the end, and I will see you whenever I write a new chapter!
