Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament

Chapter 2: International Aid

Ōarai Student Council Room

"Huh? Instructor Ami can't help us this time?" Miho asked.

"Apparently not," Momo replied, "rules in the International League differ from ours. She's not involved with the I.L."

"How are we going to get to know the rules of the World Tournament then? Their letter is unmarked, we can't ask them directly," Yuzu states.

Miho thought about it for a while. "Well if we can't ask them directly, we can try asking around other than them right?"

"What do you mean Miho?" Momo asked.

"Well, when we first got into Sensha-Dou, we asked for a friendly practice match from St. Gloriana right? Maybe there is someone out there willing to spend the time teaching us about this new format."

"Yeah, but its not like we have the right contact information." Momo replied, "Sensha-Dou, or as they know as Tankery, is a very popular sport outside Japan. Hundreds of schools out there practice it, and we can't guarantee any of them even have the time or experience to teach us the right stuff."

"Well, it won't help us if we don't try," Anzu chimes in chewing a dried sweet potato.

"Ah! Well we can ask for references." Miho exclaims.

"What do you mean by that?" Momo asked

"Well, if we want to find the right foreign school to learn from, we just have to find the ones that have experience training smaller schools."

"How do you propose we find that?" Yuzu asked.

"Well..." Miho replied, "it's not like Japan is short of foreign-affiliated schools..."

Silence fills the student council room.

"Haaaa," Momo sighs, "why didn't I think about that?" she says, hand to her forehead as she didn't see the simple solution.

"Hey, Yuzu, set up a phone call right now."

"Uh, sure Anzu, but to who?"

St. Gloriana - Tea Balcony

"I must congratulate you for receiving the invitation to the World Tournament. You must feel honored."

"Yes Darjeeling, it really is. I'm still surprised by it to be honest." Miho says in the other end.

Darjeeling sips a bit of her jasmine tea. "Well Miho, the stunts that Ōarai have pulled this last year alone is well enough to earn quote a reputation in the international community."

"Huh, was it that significant?"

"Miho, a school going against all odds and saving itself is of more caliber than a simple Sensha-Dou match."

"Oh"

"Anyways, I don't suppose you called me today just to tell me about your invitation letter?"

"Yes, that, uh Darjeeling, do you happen to know anyone willing to help us learn the international 'Sensha-Dou'?"

"Well, now that you mentioned it. I do in fact."

"Really?"

"Yes, the school helped St. Gloriana earn its root we're known for today."

"Even the tea thing in the tanks?"

"Even the tea thing in the tanks."

"Can you please help us get into contact with this school? We really need to get familiar with the foreign Sensha-Dou if we want to stand a chance."

Darjeeling lightly chuckled, "Alright Miho, I'll ask them about it then send you the details about them. But Miho, do you know this proverb? 'There is no such thing as a free lunch'."

"...huh?"

"I mean that you might just owe us one after this."

"O-oh...that's fine!"

Darjeeling smiled again, "Well, I hope you have a nice day Miho."

"You too! Good bye!"

Darjeeling hangs up on her cell phone and flips it close.

"So...Ōarai manages to gain the attention of the International League?" Assam spoke.

"Indeed. This may be the first time a relatively unknown school got picked up by the I.L."

"Darjeeling-sama," Orange Pekoe chimes in, "what do you hope to gain from Ōarai with this favor? You didn't ask for anything when we fought in that practice match with them."

"Nothing really, but it may come in handy if Ōarai should need more of our assistance," Darjeeling assured.

"Huh?"

"Please don't worry about it Pekoe. Do you know the proverb 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth'?"

"...No?"

"Well, it's abou-"

"DARJEELING-SAMAAAA!" A cry came out as the door to the balcony they are on slams open. Assam and Pekoe nearly losing their composure and spilling their tea. A certian redheaded girl started running towards the tea table.

"Hello Rosehip." Darjeeling nonchalantly says as she takes another sip.

"I HEARD SOME OF THAT! IS IT TRUE THAT ŌARAI GOT TH-" Rosehip was about to finish before Darjeeling, in almost a blink, placed her tea cup down and cupped her empty hand over Rosehip's mouth.

"Rosehip, you do know that the I.L. invitation is not a topic suppose to be spoken out loud to the public correct?"

Rosehip removed herself from Darjeeling's hands, "I'm sorry Darjeeling-sama! It was a slip of tongue!"

"Stop shouting, I'm right in front of you."

"Right."

"Anyways, if you will excuse me, I have to put in a phone call." Darjeeling says as she takes out her flip phone.

Rosehip engages a conversation with Pekoe and Assam, "So what else did I miss anyways?"

"Well, Ōarai wants our help to get familiar with Tankery, so Darjeeling-sama is calling him to help us," Pekoe says.

"Him? You don't mean Montgomery do you?"

"Yes," Assam says, "he should still be in the cadets, so this should work."

"Huh," Rosehip lamented, "This just keeps getting better and better."

Next Day

"Alright you lot! Listen up!" Momo hollered to the Sensha-Dou team in the garage. "Today we've found a school willing to help us out in the World Tournament!"

"Yes!"

"That's great!"

Cries such as those came from the team.

"However, this school is in England, so that means Ōarai Girls' Academy is about to take a cruise trip there. We should get the approval later today and arrive in about three days." The crowd murmered about this trip they are taking. "And don't worry about us missing the drawing period for the tournament, they are actually holding it in Britain as well!"

"Quite convenient if you ask me!" Anzu piped up.

"With that, we have these time to hone our skills and prepare ourselves for the new culture there." Momo continues on, "familiarize yourselves with English, learn some courtesy, know what is considered taboo and what is approved."

The team discussed among each other about this. Yes, some can speak English but not all. Miho puts a mental note to emphasize English familiarization now that they are headed to the World Tournament.

"Alright, meeting adjourned! Get back to practicing!" Momo shouted, and everyone dispersed.

Miho was headed back to the Panzer IV when Yukari grabbed her by her left shoulder.

"I can't believe we're headed to England, there's so much thing I want to see there!"

"I didn't know you liked England that much," Saori queried, "are there lots of cute boys there!?"

"Huh? No! Well, I don't know," Yukari says. "I'm excited because tanks were born in England! That's where they came from! Their concept, their utility, their names, that kind of stuff. Not to mention they have the biggest tank museum in the world at Bovington!"

"Why am I not surprised," Saori pouted.

"Yeah! Tanks were made during World War I when the Allied forces needed a way to cross the no-man's land between the great trenches. Their answer were large moving fortresses on caterpillar tracks with guns!"

"Yes, to think that we're going to the place where tanks were born to learn about the foreign culture of Sensha-Dou has a nice ring to it huh?" Miho says.

"There's certainly a correlation there." Hana says.

"I hope grandma will be okay," Mako worries.

"Oh right, we'll be leaving Ōarai behind." Miho realizes. Not all of their family member lives on the school carrier.

"She'll be fine Reizei," Saori comforts Mako, brushing her head whilst talking.

"Anyways, we should get going. Everyone's got their tanks running." Hana points out as she climbs into the gunner's hatch.

"C'mon Reizei." Saori says as she pulls herself into the radio operator's position. Reizei followed in the driver's hatch.

"Nishizumi-dono! Let's do our best today!" Yukari exclaims.

"Yes! Let's us all!" Miho replies. Standing in the commander's cupola. She puts on her throat mic and says "Panzer Vor!"

The Panzer IV roars to life as it follows the other tanks out the garage into the practice field. Another day of tank gunnery and mock battles are onto them!

Miho analyzes each team's performance in the training. Duck team is as rash as ever, charging their Type 89 I-Go into closer than comfortable ranges to take a shot. Miho wonders how Leopon team manages to make the Type 89 run that fast without tipping off anyone during the 63rd Tournament, but that's all in the past now. Speaking of Leopon, their Tiger Porsche still runs magnificently with the amount of care they give it. The hybrid engine was the main reason why the Tiger (P) wasn't accepted for usage in the Wehrmacht, but the crew made it work. They needed to make it work, the 8.8 cm KwK 36 cannon is the most powerful weapon in Ōarai's line-up. Hippo team are using StuG III Ausf. F quite conservatively, like a good tank destroyer. They fired at the targets from up to 2 kilometers now and get accurate hits due to the 7.5 cm StuK 40 cannon. Rabbit and Mallard team have been learning how to engage at two different targets at once with their double cannons, a feat that may become important against a numerous foe. Turtle team, like Hippo, also tries to fire from a long range with its 7.5 cm PaK 39 cannon, however with Momo behind the trigger, none of their shot connects. Anteater team is still showing off their strength they've gained before the match with University, Momonga ferociously pulling the steering levers on their Type 3 Chi-Nu to make some improbable turns and Piyotan reloading very quickly.

Finally, Anglerfish team is still doing well in a balanced role. The Panzer IV does not disappoint with its average armor and speed, yet can face most threats with its powerful 7.5 cm KwK 40 cannon. Mako continues to prove as their best driver by making quick response turns and positioning so Hana can get a shot off. The shots have become more consistent up to 2 km as well, though Miho notes that 2 km is beyond an optimal engagement range for the Panzer IV and should only be done when both target and shooter are stationary. Yukari has gotten a lot better in reload times, a reload with a ready round can be placed in just three seconds most. With all the team's performance plus Anglerfish, it feels like Ōarai Sensha-Dou team is back how it was last year against the odds with nothing more than the training skills on their back.

At the end of the day, the entire team cleans and maintain their tanks back at the garage. Its never easy, all the mud needs to be wiped away to prevent any erosion or suspension jams. Track tension has to be checked to prevent any walk-offs. Oil and any fluids needed by the engine and transmission is checked and filled. One of the unspoken part of Sensha-Dou. Back in the past, the entire team usually leave most of the work to the maintenance crew of Leopon, but they've taken steps to learn the basics to save them some workload. Call it a team camaraderie spirit.

"So Miho, what do you think?" Anzu somehow crept up to Miho's side. "Do you think we'll survive out in the world? I think we're pretty good now, but what's your take?"

Miho looks at Anzu. Those eyes reminded her of the ones she used to have the team join the 63rd National Tournament. Miho simply smiled, "We did great today. But I won't be able to tell until I see some of the world does Sensha-Dou."

"I see, well thats still reassuring." Anzu says, "by the way, we've gotten our approval to make the trip by MEXT. You probably didn't realize it, but we've already set sailed about two hours ago."

"Wow really? They've gotten more efficient haven't they?" Miho asked.

"I guess they decided that life is a lot easier for them if they don't disagree with us," Anzu smirked as she said that. "It's nice to be appreciated for a change."

Miho thought about that, how Ōarai must've been one of MEXT's gutter schools, slated to be closed down an scrapped. Now they have become a school seen on headlines at home. Was it all her? No, it was the entire team's effort that Ōarai is where it is now.

"Look at them Miho," Anzu says. "They're all having fun. Isn't that what Sensha-Dou is about? Having fun while competing in friendly competitions? Our last two major competitions were anything but fun because of what was riding on us, but now we can take things easy. Take things slow one-by-one."

"Yeah..." Miho though back in the 63rd National Tournament and the battle against University. The tension beneath her rumbled at those time, with the fate of the school hanging on her actions. She could hardly call those times "fun", but now maybe she can get the true Sensha-Dou experience.

Another hour past before everything was all cleaned and set up. In the twilight, the student council gathered everyone together. "And so thats that! We've set sail for England!" The whole team was ecstatic. Sodoko, the usual objector, couldn't say much against an approval from MEXT. Everyone was excited about what to expect from the foreign land. What kind of food did they have? What kinds of car do they drive? Would there be any special greetings they need to know?

"Get familiar with country and the basic language. We won't be there for very long, but we are there to improve our Sensha-Dou for the World Tournament! If we win, we will set ourselves on the world stage as one of the best practicioner of Sensha-Dou!" Momo shouted.

"Now now Momo," Anzu butts in, "thats not the point of the exhbition match at all, the World Tournament isn't even here yet remember?"

"Oh, right..." Momo deflates.

"But what's important is that we all enjoy it this time okay?" Anzu reaffirms, "We're not here to save anyone's skin today, we're doing this to show how we, Ōarai, do our Sensha-Dou! Okay!?"

"Okay!" The crowd recites.

"Alright, you're all dismissed! Have a great evening everyone! See you tomorrow!"

Gasp!

A same day chapter update? From an overworked college student? What blasphemy is this? It's like he's procrastinating from his studies because he's got nothing better to do. Oh noes!

Anyways, that's next chapter up. Chapter 3 may take a while because I want it to actually be a bit longer than ~2K words. Or who knows, maybe I can get the message across in shorter ways.

Thanks for bearing through my writing. Feel free to Favorite and Follow if you look forward to what's next!