"Huskies, why would you name them after huskies?" Takako asked Aya, she wasn't too thrilled with what they named their snowmobiles. "Couldn't we just vote with it? I would've named them Caesar, Octavius, Antony, Hannibal and Lucius with Mallard team named Elephant."
"What's so significant with Hannibal and Elephants in the snow?" Aya asked. Takako was displeased with Aya.
"Look it up yourself, it's not going to cross the Alps and die on the way over." Takako began to walk away as she was deeply annoyed. Aya felt hurt by this but the others were indifferent about the names.
"I think huskies and snowmobiles are strange for a combination but they have one thing in common which makes them fit." Azusa told Aya that she shouldn't feel down by what Takako had said, but things should have a common theme if they were going to fit together. Takako had walked away and left the scene entirely.
Momo meanwhile was trying to get a phone call from one of the schools that had just established themselves and they wanted to invite them over for a match. The phone from another school began to ring while the school's office was bustling with activity. Then a dark colored hand picked up the phone as the student began talking.
"This is Trout, can I help you with something?" The dark skinned girl would ask. Her two friends were busy working around her, hauling papers and getting them organized.
"Okay Trout, this is Momo from Ooarai, we request a skirmish to see what we can accomplish. Okay Brianna." Momo told Trout her actual name. Trout began to think about it as this was an opportunity to not pass up.
"Okay, skirmish will come tomorrow, we would like to practice the sport as we heard something from Ami. Need any Maple Syrup or anything?" Trout offered.
"Sure… we can take a bottle for breakfast." Momo replied. Trout nodded in response as she was pleased with this.
"Thanks, we'll be over there at ten tomorrow, hopefully the weather should be clear." Trout responded. "Dream big Momo." Trout then hung up before she turned to her friends. "Amber, Oleo, get the snowcraft ready, we're going hunting." Trout told the group. Amber and Oleo nodded and they began to walk away to get themselves ready. Trout knew she had something waiting for Ooarai.
The next day, the snow had finally dissipated even though the beacons were picking up that more was on the way. The snow machines were busy clearing the snow off the streets in preparations for the next blizzard. The five groups had arrived out as they were still wearing their bundles.
"Aya stayed up all night designing our logos for our winter uniforms. We're getting the same one's for the Sensha-do team?" Miho asked Momo. Aya just yawned as she was tired from working on the logos.
"Yes we did, we ordered them from MEXT as Azusa says we need to make a second set for the Sensha-Do team as well as this new sport.
"I just hope Aya stays awake, she was up at midnight designing these logos and when she was done, she passed out." Azusa said; she was worried that her driver was going to pass out during the match, especially at the crucial moment.
"Let's hope that doesn't happen, Trout said she was coming at ten." Momo responded. She crunched her boots in the snow, waiting for their arrival. Then she spotted something. Trout was leading her team to the meeting spot where they were going to have their match. They pulled in as they were now in formation with the leader at the center. Trout dismounted as she was carrying a Thompson with two others carrying Lee Enfield, one with a Bren gun and another with a Sten Gun. The five gunners walked up as the drivers were now preparing breakfast.
"Good to see you here Momo." Trout began. "We're getting breakfast ready as Ami said she was on her way with the field judges."
"Breakfast, so that was why you wanted to bring the maple syrup." Momo figured out why these girls wanted to sit them down to something good and get them to slow down during the match and therefore make eliminating them a lot easier.
"It's a good gesture. We intend on playing fair as Darjeeling would put it instead of against Saunders who always plays dirty." Trout would tell them. The others were setting up their grill and pan while Trout dusted the snow off of the table. "These are my friends, Amber, Oleo, Moose and Jessica. Jessica wanted to bring her pet husky Chestnut to the match but we said no. She felt pretty bummed out about it."
"Nice to meet all of you." Yuzu greeted them with a smile. She stuck out her hand in a kind gesture as she wanted a hand shake. Jessica ,who had red hair and light blue eyes, walked up and was the first to shake Yuzu's hand.
"Nice to meet you too, I think I can't wait to see the logos that Aya had made. She looks sleepy because of it." Jessica smiled back. She was more than eager to greet her new friend. "Do you have any pets Yuzu?"
"Not that I'm aware of but I've always wanted to own one. Something small as I don't want to own a big dog." Yuzu giggled. The drivers got their grill fired up and they began making breakfast. Trout sat down with Miho as she wanted to speak to her next. She wanted to figure out who Ooarai's commander really was.
"Are you the commander who won the Sensha-Do match as of last year?" Trout began. Miho seemed puzzled before remembering.
"Yeah, I was." Miho responded. Trout knew she was talking to the right girl.
"Congrats, we never really participate unless Darjeeling calls us in. She's the one working the high chain of command." Trout responded. Oleo came as she was holding something.
"Any of you want something to drink?" Oleo asked. The girls turned their heads up to see what Oleo needed.
"Something warm and sweet, also put the marshmallows in the breakfast." Trout told her. Oleo nodded as Trout never specified anything but she knew what she was in the mood for. She raced off to find the cocoa packets.
"You seem to never give what you actually want away." Miho told Trout with a warm look to her face.
"Yeah, it's a thing to keep my foes guessing. You have to pay attention to what the commander is saying as there might be a hint to find what the commander is actually saying. The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."
"Seems that a lot of the commanders read the Art of War." Miho told Trout. Trout nodded with a smile on her face.
"It's something all good commanders have to take in mind when fighting their foes." Trout responded. Momo then walked over as she brought the drinks.
"Hey Brianna, I hope you'll warm yourself up, it might be hot so don't burn your tongue." Momo told Trout that their drinks were ready but they needed to wait a minute to let them cool off or risk getting a burnt tongue.
"Thanks Momo." Trout responded to Momo. Momo walked away as she was going to get everyone their breakfast. Miho wanted to know more about Trout.
"So your actual name is Brianna?" Miho asked.
"Yep but I prefer to be called Trout." Trout responded. Miho nodded about that.
"I've also overheard something that you don't play dirty like Saunders, do you have a beef against them? I know a few students don't even like them but what's your reason for hatred? Yukari said they were alright when we faced off against them in that Sensha-Do tournament." Miho asked as she wanted a reason for this.
"Yukari must be blind-minded, they say they're friendly but it's just a mask on how they truly are, it's like the entire school is acting nice but in reality, they're tearing each other's throats out. When I was still called Brianna, I went to Saunders as a first year and I hated it. Their leaders, who I don't know their names to, were conscripting us into the Sensha-Do team even though many of us didn't want to be a part of it. There was a huge divide with the staff and the leftists that controlled the other half of the school, race wars and such. Then summer came around and the school exploded into rebellion against Kay from what I heard only to get crushed. I never participated in that or much of Sensha-Do as many of us went under the ship to where the intellectuals were as they didn't believe in the violence and tried making their escape to all of the smaller schools as I wanted to be in a tank but not a tank like Saunders has." Trout explained what exactly had happened during her time as a first year. Miho was interested but she needed to know more.
"Where were you at the time of the rebellion?" Miho asked Trout where she was when all of this was going on.
"Me and the intellectuals escaped to Aomori Prefecture where we stayed for three days before heading off to Vladivostok thinking that Kay was on her way to round up the escapees and punish them so we went into hiding. MEXT got us back and we just said we just wanted to leave Saunders and go somewhere else. So Shichiro and his infinite wisdom decided to send us to the smaller schools and spared us from punishment. I ended up in Maple High where I was welcomed by Amber and Oleo and we went fishing, they decided to give me a nickname. When I caught my first fish, that was what I was called, Trout." Trout told Miho about where she was and how she ended up and earned her name.
"Sounds pretty interesting that you and the others escaped. Any friends you know from Saunders or?" Miho asked. Trout began to think about it when she began speaking again.
"Not really, I do vaguely remember this one girl, Brown twintails, blue eyes. Always rambling about how Saunders is terrible, she needed Vodka and Semechki, how she was going to hopefully "disappear from the state" one day. How she wants to have the workers and peasants take over and place their tiny commander Katyusha as their leader." Trout told Miho what she meant. "Then one day, we heard the news that she was never found again, I guess she really got her wish."
"I kind of think I know who you're talking about but the last part really isn't true, she's still alive." Miho told Trout about the last part about her disappearing.
"What? She's still out there?" Trout asked. Momo came along and began serving them their breakfast.
"Yeah she is. Anything memorable she says, we can trace her to find out where she really is?" Miho asked Trout if there was anything she remembered about this girl by what she said.
"She just said that we were all below Katyusha when she was sitting on Naomi's Shoulders. Our tanks, our technology and our height." Trout told Miho the only thing she remembered was this girl.
"It's pretty obvious where she has ended up from what I heard." Miho told Trout about where this girl had gone off to.
"Where did she end up going?" Trout asked while she was eating her breakfast.
"That is something you need to figure out." Miho told her. They decided to continue eating as they figured out about Trout.
Breakfast wrapped up an hour later as the girls had decided to speak away until their heart's content. Now came the match that both sides were waiting for. Ooarai just had blue balloons as Maple High only had red. Ami had arrived with the field judges as both sides were at their starting areas. Ami decided to speak to Trout.
"Okay Trout, I know I'm giving you these words but go easy on Ooarai, they still don't have helmets." Ami told Trout and the other students of Maple High School to take it easy as the other team was still unprepared for anything serious as of yet.
"Okay I will." Trout responded with a smile. She placed her helmet on and loaded a magazine into the thompson. Then the signal gun was fired as both sides began driving off to the enemy. "Everyone split up, I want to take them on at all angles. You can dismount and try getting the first shot off without them realizing." Trout gave the order for them to drive along and find a spot worth ambushing from. The five snowmobiles split up as they drove off into many different directions, Troup suspected they would be moving in uniform but she was wrong.
Memphis and Kira teams had moved off somewhere away from the main crowd, they were going to try to get them and cripple the enemy one at a time.
"Where do you suspect they will be?" Azusa asked as she loaded up her Auto 5.
"Well according to the mini map, they had split up. If they decide to attack all at once we should sneak behind them and take them out one at a time." Momoga told them they were completely apart and decided to try to bait Ooarai into a trap. Then the two snowmobiles stopped. Nekota began looking out ahead to see one of them sitting idle with the gunner having dismounted.
"Hey there's one. And the gunner is heading off into the forest." Nekota began. She got off of her seat and began to make her way to where the enemy was. Nekota hid in some bushes as she wanted to draw first blood. She raised her grease gun and began firing at the enemy snowcraft.
"Contact!" Amber shouted as she came running from the tree cover. She raised her Sten gun and began firing back, the enemy was somewhat exposed. She fired a burst, popping one of Kira team's balloons. Nekota fired again, popping one of Amber's in return. "Drive! We need to get out of here!" She shouted. The driver nodded and began driving off. Momoga pulled up as she needed to begin the chase ride with Azusa.
"Hop on." Momoga told Nekota. Nekota nodded as she mounted back onto her seat. Momoga and Aya drove off after them as they needed to catch up to Amber before she was going to draw them into an ambush.
Amber was driving along as she was beginning to panic. Azusa and Nekota were catching up fast.
"We need a distraction and fast, we can't have ourselves taken out like this." Amber called out to her driver. Nekota began firing the Grease gun again and popped another of Amber's balloons, she had one left, after that she was out. She turned and fired her Sten away and popped one of Memphis team's balloons. Amber turned around and spotted another one of the snowmobiles sitting idle. "Jessica give us some cover. We need to get out of here." Amber called out.
"Okay we're going to cover your retreat." Jessica called out. Jessica began firing the Bren gun at Memphis and Kira teams. She managed to pop another Kira team's balloons as Momoga splits off from Aya as she was going to pursue Amber. Jessica continued firing again, popping Memphis team's second balloon. Aya knew is was all or nothing as she charged at Jessica. Azusa raised her Auto 5 and fired the first shot, popping Jessica's first balloon. Jessica fired back and popped Memphis team's last balloon, knocking them out of the match. Aya came to a stop as they managed to eliminate nobody. Kira team has disappeared, Jessica and her driver drove away from the scene. Aya had charged head on and paid the price in doing so.
The three remaining teams had moved far away from the scene as they were definitely going to figure out what to do next. Shiloh, Shelby and Oakley teams were still intact as they were unaware that Kira team was on their last balloon and Memphis team was out of the match completely.
"Well Aya and Azusa are out, they decided to charge head on and were gunned down. Amber is down to her last Balloon and Jessica has two remaining, we need to do damage to Trout as she's leading this." We have about ten remaining and they have twelve." Miho told the remaining teams that they needed to pick up their pace if they were going to beat out their foes.
"Let's do what we do best in these forests, ambush like we're tanks in the city." Riko gave her call as she knew that they could use what they learned from Sensha-Do and apply it here.
"Okay if that can get us to victory, then let it be our move." Miho told Riko. "Everyone split up." Miho ordered the remaining teams to disperse as their enemies had done earlier that match, now they needed to fight Trout on her own terms.
Oakley team decided to camouflage themselves into the snow as Takako was going to ambush one of the unsuspecting teams. Oleo's team was driving along as they were looking for Ooarai's groups so they could take them out. Takako waited near the trail with the M1 Garand. She spotted Oleo's team driving along as Riko began speaking.
"Now let's blow them down." Riko told her friend. She whipped out her luger as she and Takako began firing on Oleo without her even noticing them. Oleo heard the first balloon pop and turned her head but within seconds of doing so, her remaining two balloons were also popped with them just starting at Oakley team having done all the damage themselves.
"Trout, we got taken out, Ooarai is being sneaky." Oleo told Trout that a team has just lost its balloons and was now out of the match.
"Ooarai might have the upper hand for now but they will certainly not win." Trout told herself before they sped off to find the remaining tanks.
Moose's team was driving along as the small girl had a Lee Enfield rifle that she was using, They came across a patch of bushes. Moose thought that was where they were hiding.
"Hiding in some bushes eh? The moose will eat all of the green leaves off of them." The small girl told them. She thought Shelby team was hiding in the bushes ahead of them when in fact they were hiding in the bushes behind them.
"Okay Akebi, let's give them a volley they'll never forget." Noriko told them as they then drove out of the bushes ahead of them. Akebi raised her Pattern 14 Enfield rifle and fired the first shot, popping one of Moose's balloons.
"Yeah we nailed them!" Akebi shouted with excitement. However, Moose and her driver turned around and whipped out their pistols.
"We still have two left." Moose taunted Noriko and Akebi. Noriko turned to Akebi as her rifle wasn't a semi auto.
"What are you waiting for? Cycle the bolt." Noriko told Akebi. Akebi began cycling the bolt Noriko looked at her friend with much annoyance. "Faster Akebi." Noriko shouted.
"I'm trying!" Akebi told her friend as she just ejected the empty case and was chambering a new round into the barrel. Moose and her driver fired their pistols, popping all three balloons from Shelby team, taking them out completely.
"Shelby team is out." Takako began.
"We just hope we can get to Miho and Momoga to try fighting the rest of the school." Riko told her. Trout, Amber and Jessica were waiting nearby, they had arranged themselves into a triangle formation and were going to fire all at the same time. Riko was driving herself straight into a trap and she didn't know about it. Then the three girls fired all at the same time. Oakley team was taken out within a split second.
"Well we're out, I think the school got the jump on us." Takako explained to Riko why they were out.
"Of course they did!" Riko growled with anger. Now Miho and Nekota were the only ones that remained in the match.
"Well now it's just us that is left. A plus work Riko." Miho teased Riko about this. She drove off to find a spot to fight the rest of the team and whittle them down one at a time.
"Well I hope Nekota reaches you in time to save you. Have fun with the rest of them." Riko told Miho as Maple High School's remaining Snowmobiles began gathering around to hunt them down.
"Well Yukari, it was nice knowing ya." Miho joked. She drove off as she was baiting them away from the area. She turned right to only drive them into a dead end.
"Well we're stuck in the same situation when we first started Sensha-Do last year." Yukari grumbled she didn't even finish Miho's joke.
"Wait, you remember that stuff that happened to us?" Miho asked Yukari.
"It's blatantly obvious." Yukari replied. Miho turned the snowmobile as she was fired upon, her first balloon popped a few moments later.
"Try firing back Yukari." Miho called out to her. Suddenly, one Jessica's balloons popped when Nekota and Momoga came from the forest to try to save Miho and Yukari.
"Surprise there!" Momoga called out. Nekota then fired a couple more bursts, popping one of Moose's Balloon, then click click.
"We have to reload." Nekota told Momoga. Then the others fired, popping Kira team's last balloon.
"Four down, Shiloh team is the only one remaining." Trout smiled as she had the confidence to win. Suddenly she heard a popping sound, she turned behind her to see one of her balloons had been popped. Shiloh team had moved off while Kira team kept them distracted. Now Trout gave the order. "After them." Trout shouted, the rest of the groups chased Shiloh team as Miho and Yukari was thinking of a new plan.
"It's four against one, how are we going to win this?" Miho began. She needed ideas on how they could finish this match in a narrow victory.
"Well a lot of the team is weak already being down on their last balloon, when we pop them they'll be out of the match." Yukari told Miho that the team had taken several hits and were now weak.
"Good idea. Be prepared to fight." Miho told Yukari. Yukari nodded as they drove off. Their final reckoning was about to begin.
Amber's snowmobile pulled up in front of them. Miho whipped out her TT-33 and fired, popping Amber's last balloon. Amber was knocked out completely as Miho placed her pistol away and drove off quickly. She whipped around, got out her TT-33 again and fired at Moose, popping her last balloon too. Jessica attempted to flank around but Yukari was right on her tail, she fired at her using the M/21 BAR and popped her last balloon, Trout came around the corner as she was going to finish this fight head on. Miho realized her mistake as the other students were blocking the way. She began to back up as Trout fired at Miho, popping Shiloh team's second balloon. Miho charged in as she was going to attempt an all or nothing move. She drifted around and Yukari and Trout fired at the same time, each popping a balloon. However, Trout had one balloon left as Miho had none. Ami and Momo were watching what was happening and they knew they had a winner.
"Maple High School has won the match." Ami announced. Miho and Yukari looked at each other as if they had … tried.
The field was cleaned up a few minutes later as Trout walked up to Miho with Amber and Oleo.
"That was a close match but I clearly won in the end. You still have a lot to learn but you're starting to get there." Trout told Miho that she enjoyed this match even at Ooarai's loss.
"Well thanks. Will I be seeing you around like, on your ship?" Miho asked Trout. "I wonder if we took this match too slowly and you managed to beat us in the end?"
"Yeah, you were too slow but you're more than free to visit us. Come by anytime." Trout told Miho. She shook her hand as it was a symbol of their friendship that was beginning to blossom. "Oh yeah, the first national match of this sport is happening in Vancouver in three days time as the schools had just signed themselves up, hopefully you'll get yourselves prepared by then and get your helmets." Trout smiled before she released her friend's hand and began to walk away.
"Wow she is a really nice lady. I wonder who else we'll bump into." Anzu began as she was watching the conversation unfold.
"All of Maple High School's girls are really nice to our surprise. Trout seems to be a calm and friendly commander." Yuzu added. She looked at Momo who was staring at her phone as they were gathering intel about who was going to participate. "Who's participating in this sport Momo?"
"Well it's us and Maple High School so far as we have established teams, Pravda for obvious reasons, Saunders as they have the money, Jatkosota, Viggen and Viking Fisheries for reasons we don't understand, they probably just like the cold and Kuromorimine as they were upset for Pravda sneaking a victory over them in that blizzard with their alliance and they're researching into climate training and decided to participate in this to get a footing in the cold." Momo read out the schools that would be participating.
"Is that it?" Yuzu asked.
"That's it, just the eight schools that will be participating. No St. Gloriana, No Anzio, No Chi-Ha-Tan and none of the minor schools want to participate." Momo answered Yuzu. It was just those eight schools and just them only.
"Okay let's get those helmets and uniforms." Yuzu responded.
[A/N]: The first match of the fanfic and Ooarai ends up losing due to a lack of being prepared and having nothing they needed to be risky and be safe, let's hope they get what they needed for what they need for the upcoming tournament. See you until then.
