...
As the tiger circled the elephant
Their friendship: armor and shield
Their rivalry? Irrelevant
As the true enemy was revealed
...
Rika Tatsuo's first week as vice-commander was not very eventful. Aside from leading practice, she had been doing paperwork, mostly regarding the purchase of their new uniform and the six broken Type 97 Chi-ha Kai Tanks. Three days after its purchase, Melati Automotive Club, hired especially to maintain their tank, finally could bring one Chi-Ha to life using part from the other Chi-Has. Rika was granted the privilege to assign crew for the Japanese tank by Komandan Nishijima. Considering the club's lack of manpower, she transferred the whole crew of the CTLS and the hull gunner of Harumi's Sherman to the Chi-Ha. The tank commander, Naoko Maeda was really happy to be transferred to a tank with better ergonomics and capabilities. Rika remembered Naoko as the one who had an unhappy face when Rika was inaugurated as one of the vice-commanders. Beautiful face lovely long twin-braided brown hair and blue eyes, yet Naoko was known as the stereotypical delinquent lazy boss-girl of the school.
Now, four days later, Rika's mind was focused on one thing and that was not on her approval rate.
Scene 1: The Stuart Battle
Our first official match, Rika thought to herself.
She and her team trained hard for this. From three in the afternoon to seven in the night was their usual practice time. On the weekend they even had to do morning training from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon. Granted, their training was not only for this match but also for preparing themselves for the upcoming competition, but still for one week the only thing on Rika's mind was this match. That day, Rika was confident that even though it was not as strong as Kuromorimine or as elegant as St. Gloriana, Melati girls could move in the formation as fine. Their focus of training wasn't formation though, it was guerilla tactics, ambush being chief among them. The tactics that they prepared for Tategoto, for this match.
Maybe we overestimated them a tad too much, Rika concluded to herself as she stood on her tank turret.
Her sight was focused on a Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go a hundred metres before her, the opponent's flag tank. White flag waved out of its turret. A line of black smoke steamed out of its turret ring where a shell had landed a moment before. One of the only three shells Melati shot that day.
Let's rewind a bit.
The match was set in Japan Senshado Southwestern Practice Ground. The ground was mostly flat thick jungle with occasional other features such as lakes and hills. It was also lined up with many dirt roads made for the tanks to go through.
Rika's job in this match was simple. She and her tank alone was to scout, ambush and bait Tategoto's force to a real ambush set by Dini and the rest of the team. There under cover of thick brush and trees, an M5A1 Stuart was waiting for its prey.
"They're coming, stay calm you two." Rika whispered to her crewmates, holding a 37mm armor-piercing shell on her left hand and her periscope with her right hand when a formation of seven Ha-Go approached.
"Shoot the leading tank first, that's right?" Mina said, taking her eye off the gun sight to smile at Rika. "Just like in the movie?"
Rika smirked, getting her reference. "Just like in the movie. Now get your eyeballs in the sight and wait for my command" Rika said, without taking her eyes off her periscope.
Best job I've ever had. She thought. Inhaling the jasmine fragrance on her jacket, and shouted.
"Alright, Gunner, AP, Lead vehicle!" Rika formally commanded. "Fire at will!"
"On the way!" Mina announced.
The entire tank shook, and vomited a hot shell towards Tategoto's foremost tank, immobilised it instantly.
"Traverse left, AP, rearmost tank!" Rika loaded the shell in her hand to the gun breach on her left while shouting. "Clear! Fire!"
The turret whined, pointing its barrel at the unlucky tank, and it shook again. The shot hit the tank sponson, instantly immobilising it. The whole formation was fallen apart, every Ha-Go pointed their barrel roughly at Rika's position, and bombarded it with shells, but none hit the Stuart.
"Driver, move out, hard ri..." Rika commanded, interrupted by a peculiar thing on enemy's formation, a hole.
Usually the flag tank would be covered by other tanks after an ambush like that. But it wasn't happening. Tategoto's flag tank was widely exposed, so wide that Rika wondered if she can run through a Tiger Tank between the tanks that supposedly protected the flag tank.
What? Is it a bait? Or just pure inexperience? Rika pondered. Rika knew what she had to do.
"No, Karin, belay that, stay here" Rika took a new shell from the ready rack and loaded it into the gun. "Gunner, traverse right, AP, flag tank, Fire at will!"
"What? Oh!" Mina said, surprised by the improvisation, then started cranking the turret, once she found the target, she stepped on the trigger. "On its way!"
The gun vibrated the whole tank, launching an armor piercing round straight towards the flag tank's turret ring, taking it out. Everyone inside the tank breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ohohoho, flag tank destroyed!" Mina announced, couldn't hold her laugh.
"Tategoto High School's flag tank cannot continue the match!" The match announcer shouted over the radio, sounding surprised with the quick match. "The Winner is Melati Girls High School!"
"Good job Mina!" Rika tapped her gunner in the back. "Nice shooting there, Boyd Swan!"
"Thanks Top, you too!" Mina smiled, Rika could see pure happiness emanating from her smile. "Damn, people are going to talk about this match for weeks!"
Yeah, that's what I'm worried about, Rika wanted to say, but couldn't destroy her friend's mood.
"You too, Karin. Good match!" She congratulated her driver via intercom "Now please, take us out of this damn brush"
"Thank you Top, wilco" She softly replied. With that, the tank roared, moved over the bush towards the roadside.
As her tank stopped by the roadside not far from the site of Tategoto's defeat, Rika opened her hatch and climbed outside to look around. Once she stood atop her tank, her crewmates followed suit. Rika surveyed the tiny battlefield in front of her. Three tanks were destroyed, one in the far left, one in the far right, one right in the middle. Scattered around them is other tanks and its crews, laughing and smiling as if this match was just a little embarrassing mistake like dropping a book or stumbling over a rock.
Maybe we really overestimated them a tad too much, Rika concluded to herself.
"They look pretty happy for a team who just lost the quickest match in history of Senshado." Mina said to her, finally managed to climbed up to the top.
"Well, I heard Tategoto is a positive bunch," Rika replied to her sarcastic gunner then jumped off the tank to the ground below. "Hey would you radio the team please, report them what just happened."
"What? Why don't you do that yourself, Top?" Mina protested.
"I already got down, you're still up top" Rika answered.
"Gee, okay" Mina complied, couldn't protest Rika's logics and reluctantly went inside the turret.
We won our first match, Rika smiled as she stood by her tank. She placed her hand on the tank side, as if patting its back for a job well done. Rika read the name painted on the side of her dark green M5A1 Stuart again.
Jan Cox.
Legend has it that a Dutch M3 Stuart named Jan Cox, after the famous painter, was so feared by the Indonesian revolutionary army in Surabaya so much that the word Jancuk became a swear word in East Java.
It's just a legend of course. Rika thought. She only picked the name because she loved Cox's painting.
Her tank, just like many other American tanks in Melati's lineup, was originally unused tanks of Saunders University High School before it was purchased weeks ago. Other than repainting it dark green and spraying its name, Dini hasn't done any modifications to the light tank.
You're still doing fine as you are, Jan. She Joked to herself.
"...mmander," A soft voice disturbed her appreciation of Jan Cox. "Vice-commander!"
"Ah, hey Karin!" She noticed her driver standing behind her. "Something's wrong?"
"No, um, Tategoto's overall commander want to talk to you. She's up front." Karin answered with her soft and straightforward voice.
"Yep, I'll be right there, thanks" Rika said.
As Rika walked to the front of her tank, a short tan girl with short hair and strange face paint came to her view. She was taking a look around Rika's Stuart when the girl realized Rika's presence. She immediately took her view off the light tank and greeted Rika.
"Hi, Rika Tatsuo, right?" She said ecstatically, reaching out her hand to Rika. "You're last year's Kuromorimine middle school vice-commander, right? I love what you did to St. Gloriana last year!"
"Yeah, The one you described is not me though, I got taken out early during that match," Rika smiled, shaking her hand. "Excuse me, you are?"
"Oops, excuse me, I'm Aung, nice to meet you" She smiled apologetically.
"Nice to meet you too, Aung-san," Rika smiled, trying her best not to sounds and looks awkward. "So, Aung-san, can I ask you a question?. Why did you guys leave your flag tank exposed like that?"
"Because we panicked," Aung-san casted that apologetic smile again, like a kid that broke something and using smile to prove that she is a cute kid that can't be blamed. "We're pretty new in this, sorry."
That's not a good reason. Look at our team, look at Ooarai! Rika wanted to say, then she remembered that her team hasn't proven anything in the match either since the match ended so quickly.
"Well, that's understandable," Rika agreed, trying to be cordial. "So to what I owe the pleasure?"
"Well, would you guys like to a lunch together with us?" She said politely. "We'll treat you with traditional Burmese foods and drinks."
"Ah, a fortunate coincidence!" Rika exclaimed. "As it so happens, we'd like to invite you as well to an Indonesian-style picnic. Maybe we can treat each other with each other's food."
"Yes...Yes, that'd be great!" Aung-san said with excitement.
As Aung-san finished her sentence, Rika heard growing roars of familiar engines closing in from the distance.
"Perfect, now I'm going to introduce you to the other vice-commander to arrange the further detail" Rika said, hearing the roar getting louder and louder.
"Great, where is she?" Aung-san wondered.
"She should be here," Rika said, signaling Aung to follow her to get a better view at the thick jungle and brush behind Rika's tank. "Right about now."
With growing roar, two green Shermans appeared from the brush behind Jan Cox, and stopped by the light tank, only two metres away from Rika and surprised Aung.
The first Sherman was M4A3 HVSS model armed with 105mm Howitzer. This saunders-green tank was originally a M4A3 HVSS armed with 75mm. Harumi who commanded the tank replaced the gun with a 105mm howitzer. She loved exploding or burning something up, and a large-caliber howitzer was a perfect gun for the job. the Komandan didn't object. She thought having one or two howitzer-armed tank in a team is not all bad. Keeping to her pyromaniacal tendencies, she named her tank "Atlanta" after the city that General Sherman burned during American Civil War.
The second one was the most striking. Painted dark green like Rika's Stuart, the second Sherman was an M4A3E8 commanded by Dini Nishijima herself. Taking example from Lt. Col. Creighton Abram's own Sherman, The Thunderbolt VIII, the Komandan welded some additional armor plate to its glacis, side and turret, making it looked more angular and mean. The side additional hull armor bore the tank name, Illustrious II. Rika assumed the tank was named after Komandan's first tank back in her old middle school.
"Dammit, Tatsuo," Harumi shouted while she and Dini climbed down their tanks. "That wasn't in the plan!"
"Huh, didn't know winning wasn't in our plan?" Rika replied, smirking proudly.
"Of course it is, ugh, forget it. We'll talk about this later," Harumi said, realising Aung's presence. "And why don't you introduce your new friend to us"
Barely, an acquaintance more like it. Rika said silently as Dini and Harumi approached Rika and Aung.
"I'm about to," Rika said. "Aung-san, may I introduce you the founding mothers of our Senshado club. To the left is Harumi Yoshizumi, my fellow vice-commander. To the right is Dini Nishijima, our overall commander."
Rika then talked to her teammates "Commanders, this is Aung-san, the overall commander of Tategoto high school."
"Hi there, I'm Harumi Yoshizumi." Harumi greeted cheerfully.
"Dini here." The Komandan introduced bluntly, polar opposite of Harumi.
"Hello, I'm Aung, please take care of me!" Aung-san bowed, to three of Melati's commanders.
"Anyway, as the luck would have it, Aung here invited us to a lunch party, just like we would invite her team to ours. She's here to arrange the details with you guys" Rika said to her fellow commanders.
"Really? That is great," Harumi said politely "Let's talk under that tree over there."
Scene 2: The Café
Yeah, just like in grandma's place. Rika mused, smiling to the rain outside and the scene inside about an hour after Melati's first match.
It was medium-sized café in the spectator area of Japan Senshado Southwestern Practice Ground. The café were built on sturdy wooden posts, supporting a broad wooden platform on which were the main level. A covered staircase gave access from below, while the roof was built of thatch and the wall was woven bamboo. The guests were to sit in the carpeted wooden floor by the low wooden table on which the foods were served. The guest on that very moment were all of the members of Melati and Tategoto senshado club, feasting, joking, laughing, all but one girl. The Komandan stayed on the balcony outside, enjoying the tropical rain.
Always acting cool, the Komandan. Rika thought, looking at her staring at the rain and drinking her coffee.
On the long table in front of Rika was a wide plethora of Indonesian and Burmese food. Tategoto supplied Burmese chicken curry, kyay oh and samusa. Melati on the other hand, supplied more modest of food, Liwetrice, beef and jengkolstew, chicken opor, and fried tofu, accompanied by traditional Sundanese chili sauce. All of Melati's food was specially catered for this occasion. "An Anzio-style of making friend", the Komandan called it. The café management also did their part, they supplied the whole café and the drinks free of charge for some reason.
Harumi's doctrine of negotiation and bargain in effect. Rika joked to herself.
"So, what's next for you guys?" Harumi who sat beside Rika asked to Aung-san sitting across them.
"We're going to try Tankathlon for our next match, maybe we'll have a chance there" Came Aung's reply, with that happy-go-lucky smile again.
"Oh, is that so? won't you participate in the Ooarai Commemorative Cup?" Harumi further inquired her.
"No, I think we don't have the fund and experience yet," Aung-san replied, a little bit saddened. "What would you do next? Don't you guys want to do Tankathlon?"
"The Komandan thinks we should do only authorized match for now," Rika answered after swallowing her food. "She's the boss".
"So, the Commemorative cup, then?"
"That's right my friend," Harumi confirmed. "But keep it secret, okay. It's really classified" Harumi joked.
"Here you go, miss," a blonde that seemed really out of place served Rika her tea from somewhere. "Enjoy our signature black tea"
"Ah yes, thanks", Rika sipped her tea, tasting it a little bit fancy for her.
Commemorative Cup, huh? Rika pondered. Commemorative Cup was a minor competition traditionally hosted by the victor of the year's Nationals Cup. In this year, Ooarai Girls' Academy.
Ooarai Senshado Club was only a couple weeks older than Melati's, yet they accomplished astronomically much more than Rika's school. Their overall commander was Miho Nishizumi, Rika's commander during her second year in Kuromorimine Middle School. Rika looked around to her teammates and to the Tategoto girls, almost all of them were inexperienced rookie. Rika wondered if they can compete with Miho's Ooarai and other great teams, Maho's Kuromorimine, Kay's Saunders, Katyusha's Pravda and Darjeeling's St. Gloriana. Rika diverted her sight to her Komandan, still staring at the rain.
I hope she's planning something right now.
SCENE 3: The Report
Three hours later, roughly two thousand kilometres away in a certain school ship, a girl walked down a corridor to go to her usual workplace. She was holding a black laptop tightly to her chest, knowing that it was her life and blood. She could feel the enjoyable breeze of climate-controlled room of her school in her long blond hair, a contrast from the place she went to earlier. Her sharp purple eyes sighted her destination.
She's waiting for me. She thought.
As she entered the room, she took a deep breath.
The room was filled with fragrance of black tea. There was no one there but a blond girl with French braid tied on the nape, sitting by a table with full set of afternoon tea in the middle of the room. The girl's beautiful blue eyes glanced at her, smiling.
"Darjeeling," She greeted with upmost elegance "I'm really sorry to keep you waiting."
"Assam, welcome back!" She said graciously. "Please sit down, you must be really tired."
Assam, it was her tea name. As one of the students of St. Gloriana Girls College with best behaviour and grade she was granted a soul name of the teas, a privilege that only one of five hundreds students possessed. She was the gunner of Darjeeling's Churchill and also the head of St. Gloriana's own intelligence agency, the GI6.
"So pray tell," Darjeeling said curiously as Assam took her first sip of tea of today. "Is it true? Have the ghost really come back to haunt me?".
"Apparently it is," Assam confirmed, wanting to roll her eyes for her commander's dramatic inquiry "I confirmed it myself. Although I am doubtful she built a Senshado team just to get you."
"My first kouhai has grown so much!" Darjeeling dramatically exclaimed. "So how was the match?"
Oh, please, Assam protested silently.
"Uh, it was really weird, Melati won, but their tanks barely moved, so no significant intelligence about their abilities, other than their materiel" Assam said, then she took a bite to a scone and realised she had not eat anything since morning.
"What? How come?" Darjeeling was intrigued.
As they continued their afternoon tea, Assam explained what happened in the quick match in detail.
"Oh, do you have anything on this Rika Tatsuo?" Darjeeling inquired further.
"I have actually, my agents are printing the full report as we speak," Assam smiled, closing her face to Darjeeling. "But here's the kick, she was vice-commander of last year's Kuromorimine middle school."
"Ah, really?, the one who annihilated our middle school force almost singlehandedly?" Darjeeling asked.
"No, no, that was the commander. Tatsuo was taken out early in the match".
"Oh, excuse me." Darjeeling apologized.
"But it's still interesting though" Darjeeling stood up, walked to the window, and stared beyond the window. "The one who defeated our middle school division last year, and the one who helped it win a year prior are in the same team."
"Precisely, and they're going to participate in Ooarai's Commemorative Cup." Assam shared what's she learned from Harumi in the wooden café.
"Hmm, I see" Darjeeling said after having a thought for three seconds. "Assam, I want you to be Orange Pekoe's gunner during the Commemorative Cup."
"But, Darjeeling, the Commemorative Cup is traditionally reserved to our first and second year members," Assam protested. "Having me is going to defeat the purpose. The alumnae won't be happy about it."
"I know that," Darjeeling interjected as she sat back to her chair. "You are not to guide, command, suggest, not to Orange Pekoe not to bloody anyone. just do what you do best, shoot and spy. You will be there just to assess our juniors and Melati girls, especially 'her'." Darjeeling commanded, bluntly.
Shoot and spy! Darjeeling's oversimplification of her job and her inelegant words caught Assam off guard.
"But Darjeeling...!" She protested, standing up.
"Assam, that's an order." Darjeeling graciously ordered.
"Yes ma'am, Pardon me" Assam graciously backed down.
Assam sat back down, she sipped her tea again, trying to get herself together. She saw the tea on her cup waving from her hand's quivering grip. In her silence, she reminisced the good and bad memories she had with her former comrade.
First you disappeared, now you just show up and haunt us. You really are a ghost, aren't you?
Jasmine?
...
Appendix & Bonus
Members of Melati Girls High School
The Members at this point in story were:
1. Team Illustrious II - Tank: M4A3E8 (76)W Sherman
- Komandan Dini Nishijima (Commander)
- Misaki Imamura (Gunner)
- Juwita Takagi (Driver)
- Sakura Harada (Loader)
- Ayu Morine (Hull Gunner)
2. Team Atlanta - Tank: M4A3(105) HVSS Sherman
- Vice-commander Harumi Yoshizumi (Commander)
- Cintami Kawaguchi (Gunner)
- Misako Ozawa (Driver)
- Yutsuko Kondo (Loader)
3. Team Jan Cox - Tank: M5A1 Stuart
- Vice-commander Rika Tatsuo (Commander)
- Mina Hessel (Gunner)
- Karin Terauchi (Driver)
4. Team Klees - Tank: M3A3 Stuart
- Widuri Hanzou (Commander)
- Miyako Sato (Gunner)
- Ayano Ono (Driver)
5. Team Srikandi - Tank: Type 97 Chi-ha
- Naoko Maeda (Commander)
- Camellia Yamashita (Gunner)
- Angel Malaika (Driver)
6. Team Pattimura - Tank: Type 94 Tankette
- Martha Kawilarang (Commander)
- Christina Kawilarang (Driver)
Trivia: Character Names
All of the members named after Japanese who sympathetic to Indonesian Revolution, Japanese Commanders during their invasion and occupation of East Indies, Indonesian National Heroes, or just famous fictional/non-fictional Indonesian, Japanese & Dutch who lived in Indonesia/East Indies. Here's some notable character and the origins of their names:
1. Dini Nishijima
- Shigetada Nishijima, member of staff of Tadashi Maeda and one of the witnesses of the drafting and the preparation of Indonesian Proclamation of Independence.
2. Harumi Yoshizumi
- Haroemi Wanasita, wife of an Indonesian National Hero, Ernest Douwes Dekker.
- Tomegoro Yoshizumi, an Imperial Japanese spy defected to Indonesian cause.
3. Rika Tatsuo
- Rika Meelhuysen, first girlfriend of Sukarno.
- Ichiki Tatsuo, Japanese journalist who defected to Indonesian cause.
4. Naoko Maeda
- Naoko Nemoto, Sukarno's fifth wife.
- Tadashi Maeda, an IJN officer who famously lent his house for the drafting of Indonesian Proclamation of Independence.
...