Hell On Tracks
Part 59
With the match over, Naomi gave my crew and I a ride back to camp while we let the ARVs handle the disabled tanks. Kay was waiting for us, as were Rach and Trips. I grinned at the sight of my best friend among the group. As soon as the Firefly pulled to a stop, I hopped off of its engine deck and sprinted over to Kay and Rach.
"Tally, that was awesome!" Rach cheered loudly. "I don't know what that plan with the light was, but it clearly worked like a charm."
"Well done, Tally!" Trips said, a proud smile on her face.
"I let them listen in on the radio," Kay said by way of explanation.
"Gotcha." I nodded to Kay, before shifting over to Rach. "We couldn't see anything in that dust cloud. Visibility was awful, and we couldn't let Eclair escape, but didn't want to risk Firefly getting too close. So I grabbed the spotlight, used it to get Naomi's eyes on target, and then ducked out of the way right before I told her to fire. Had to be unbuttoned and aiming the spotlight backwards, too."
Rach let out a whistle. "That's… wow. Naomi may be onto something."
"Really, you too?" I asked with an exaggerated pout.
Rach grinned. "Seriously though, good job. I thought you guys were done for once Kay got knocked out. Instead, you took control and did an amazing job at coming up with something that worked."
"Thanks Rach," I said, my smile growing even wider. The way Kay was nodding along with all of her points only made the praise even better. "So how did you get down here?"
"I got a plane. Darj gave me the day off with permission from the Sensha-do team. Officially, I'm doing reconnaissance and have to give Darjeeling and Assam a report of what I saw when I get back, but really I'm just here so I could watch your match in person," Rach explained. "I'll be flying back to Yokohama tomorrow morning, unless I can get a ride from you guys tonight."
"We'll see if we can work something out," Kay said.
"Thanks."
"Did you notice anything interesting, Rach? Something worthy of reporting to your team captain?" I asked, folding my arms and leaning back on my hips.
"Maginot is getting very proficient at those hit and run tactics they used against you in the early part of the match, but they abandoned their entrenchments too early. A simple HE barrage shouldn't have driven them off, even if it was to bait you into a trap. The ARL is a huge potential threat, but it also exhibited lackluster mobility, and that slowness could be used to isolate targets."
"Like how I distracted the ARL while Arisa and Naomi's group dealt with the lighter tanks?" I asked.
"More or less." Rach gave a so-so wave of her hand. "Visibility was bad for us too. Cameras couldn't see into the cloud, so we only knew the match was over when Maginot's flag tank sent out the signal that it had been KO'd."
"Have you got anything for Saunders?" Trips asked, entering into the conversation.
"Up until Kay got KO'd, your tactics were pretty standard for Saunders. The arty barrage was new, but also wasn't very effective. My biggest critique was that Tally was too far from the team to be able to support them or be supported by them. Combine that with the Locusts baiting you away from the team, and it was a perfect setup for the ambush that got Kay," Rach said.
"So what, I should try and think of my role more as a pathfinder for the team rather than a detached recon element?" I asked.
Rach shrugged. "I'm just making observations. You get to come up with your own solutions. Figure out what being a light tank and scout should mean in the Saunders style of Tankery."
"Rach has a point," Trips said. "If your scouting element is too far from the main force, they're liable to get isolated and knocked out. A dead - or knocked out - scout is a useless scout."
I nodded along with their points. "I'll have to think on it."
"I have a few ideas, but we'll discuss them tonight, after the party," Kay said.
"You guys are having a party?" Rach asked.
"Oh yeah! We have parties all the time, but the ones after matches are always great. You're always invited if you want to come."
"Sounds like fun!" Rach grinned.
Kay flashed Rach a big thumbs up. "We've got the Chief and Miss Houston cooking up a proper barbecue for us back at the Sensha-do garage."
"You got Liz to help?" Trips asked, surprised.
"Of course!" Kay grinned.
"Nice!" Trips matched Kay's grin. "I think you'll like her, Tally. Liz's cornbread is almost as good as Bannie's potato salad. And that's not touching on the rest of everything she's gonna make."
I let out a low whistle, and promptly coughed. I didn't realize how dry my throat had gotten from all that dust in the air. "Water please."
"Hadley!" Trips shouted, pivoting towards her food stall. Somehow the brunette not only heard her shout over the crowd, but knew exactly what Trips had wanted, because moments later I saw a water bottle arc upwards over the crowd, aimed towards us.
"I got it!" I called out, suppressing another cough. I didn't even need to move. The water bottle was somehow perfectly aimed, and it landed in my outstretched hands. Mere moments later, I had the water bottle cracked open, and I took a deep swig.
Trips cradled her face with her hands. "I need to go yell at her. Again."
"Go light on her this time, will you?" I requested. "That toss was amazing."
"Alright," Trips acquiesced after a moment of staring me down. "I'll see you all at the party."
"See you later, Trips!" Kay waved, as the cook ran back to her stand. As soon as Trips was out of earshot, Kay shook her head. "Honestly, what was she expecting from Hadley?"
"Is that… normal?" Rach asked. She looked only slightly more confused about things that I felt.
"More or less." I shrugged. "Faye Faith and her crew can be strange at times."
"You don't know the half of it," Kay added. "Come on, let's go help the others with unloading, and do all of the post-match official stuff that needs doing."
Eclair had wanted to talk to me after the match, and Rach stuck with me while Kay went to help the others in packing up all of our disabled vehicles. We talked about how the match went, what was up with her ARL, and what the various plans we'd pulled during the match had looked like. According to her, the ARL's engine was barely functional, but they'd pushed through since they needed the extra firepower of the heavy tank. It had been a huge risk to make it her flag, because if the engine gave out, that was game, but that had also inspired the hit and run tactics and ambushes. If you bring the enemy to you, you don't need to risk the engine giving out. I had to explain my spotlight trick to her as well, and just like everyone else, she seemed impressed by the sheer gall of it.
We exchanged congratulations over a well fought match and hard earned victory, and promised to keep in touch before Rach and I headed off to rejoin the rest of the Saunders crew. Eclair was looking forward to meeting us on the field in Tankathlon season this fall, where Saunders' weight advantage wasn't nearly as impactful. I just grinned at her in response before we went our separate ways.
When Rach and I finally made it to the Tankery garage, the party was in full swing. Food hadn't quite been served yet, but judging by the wonderful smells coming from the Chieftain's grill, it was going to be soon. Trips and her crew were already setting up their food stand, if in a much smaller capacity than at the match, and a woman I didn't recognize was laying out trays of food along one of the long tables. Though judging by the Stetson she was wearing, which nearly matched the Chief's cavalry hat for sheer size, I would bet she was Miss Houston.
"So, what do you usually do at these parties?" Rach asked.
"What do I do, or what is there that's going on?" I asked.
Rach considered my question. "Let's start with you."
"I usually just hang out with Arisa near the party's edge, and get food if I'm hungry enough," I answered, gesturing over to where Arisa was already sitting. She looked like she was getting into a book, but I couldn't tell what from here.
"Well, at least you don't do it alone!" Rach said with a smile.
I returned her smile. Rach's cheer was infectious, and her positive attitude was always uplifting. Haha, friendship!
"There's a whole bunch of other stuff going on around during the parties too. Hannah runs the dance floor just inside the main entrance, I've heard rumors of board games being hidden somewhere in there, and there are plenty of opportunities to meet people and socialize," I said, continuing my explanation of the stuff to do.
"The dance floor sounds like fun," Rach said. "And a good way to burn off some energy."
She grabbed my wrist to start dragging me over to it, but I pulled back as hard as I could, managing to pull my wrist free from her grip. "You know I can't dance."
"It's not about being good at dancing, it's about having fun!"
"I'm not going over there, and you can't make me," I said firmly.
Rach stared at me, her look somewhere between awe and confusion. For a moment I thought she was doing that thing where she spaces out for a few minutes when she needs to make an important decision of some kind, but she grinned well before we got to that point.
Comprehension dawned upon me as I realized what was going to happen, moments too late to escape.
"What's this? Tally's learning how to say no? I'm so proud of you!" Rach said, maintaining her huge grin. She pulled me into a tight side hug, despite my attempts to escape.
"Nonononono!" I said rapidly, as Rach started mussing my hair. Thankfully, my braid kept it mostly under control, but she did manage to shake up a surprising amount of dust and dirt from the earlier match. Unlike earlier, I couldn't rip myself free of Rach's grip, and was stuck there until she released me.
Desperation turned to laughter as Rach released me, and we took a moment to just laugh. Despite my annoyance at her antics, I grinned at my best friend. "You can go have fun on the dance floor and wear yourself out. I am going to go hang out with Arisa in our usual seats. I'll grab some food for you if you aren't back by the time it's ready, okay?"
Rach considered it a moment before shaking her head. "Nah. I'm here to hang out with you."
I blinked, momentarily snapped out of my cheer by the unexpected answer. It was only a moment, and I smiled widely at my friend. "Thanks Rach!"
"No problem, Tally!" Rach replied with a smile of her own.
I led Rach over to where Arisa was waving, and waved at my other friend as I called out to her. "Hey Arisa!"
"I see where you get your energy from," Arisa said dryly, looking up from her novel. It was one of the many Bond novels floating around, but I couldn't tell which from this angle.
I shook my head, laughing softly. "Actually, I've always been the more energetic of the two of us. Rach is usually more cheerful than me, but she can't keep up with me."
Arisa looked over to Rach. "So you're both a handful, got it. You aren't gonna go enjoy the other activities together?"
"I can't dance," I said simply. A thought occurred to me, and I sat down next to Arisa while I pondered it. "Though I should probably try to learn at least a little bit before prom. It's what, three weeks out?"
"Something like that. It's the weekend after the second to last round of the loser's bracket," Arisa answered. "I still need to ask Takashi out."
"I take it he has yet to notice your existence?"
"Pretty much…" Arisa slumped slightly at the admission.
"I can't claim to know how boys function, but I'm sure you'll get his attention sooner or later."
From there, our conversation devolved into whatever struck our fancy. We didn't really talk about the match, but everything else was fair game. The post-match review was to wait until after the party, at Kay's dorm. Arisa was very adamant that tonight we were going to watch a Bond movie after the meeting instead of the usual pickings of anime. And so long as it was one of the good Bond films, I was okay with that.
Rach regaled us with tales of the oddities of St Gloriana's, as well as some of the more interesting parts of her career in their Sensha-do team. Darjeeling hadn't allowed her or Rosehip to actually participate in a tournament match yet, but Rach was confident that it was only a matter of time before the rookies got their shot at the field.
She was momentarily interrupted by Hadley walking over from the food tables to let us know that dinner was ready, and the tale paused while we grabbed food. The brunette actually joined our little gathering after we'd all grabbed food.
"I hope you girls don't mind. Trips is cycling us through half hour breaks, since we've been on all day," Hadley said by way of explanation.
"It's fine," I said. "So, Rach, what's up with the tea names at St. Glo?"
"What's up with all the English names at Saunders?" Rach countered, grinning. "It's an old St Glo tradition. The Tea Garden is where the most prestigious students gather, and get tea soul names. You have to get recommended to even have a shot at joining them. The fact that Rosehip got herself a tea name so quickly is incredibly impressive, actually. Pekoe, too."
"Have you been offered a spot?" Hadley asked around a mouthful of food.
"Darj would never allow it. I'm too American for her. Though I heard she did manage to come up with a tea name for me," Rach said with a grin.
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, and Arisa momentarily put down her burger to pay attention.
"Arizona," Rach stated proudly. In three seconds flat, all four of us had broken down laughing. Canned tea. Darjeeling wanted to nickname Rach after canned tea! If that wasn't a high class insult, I don't know what was!
"Oh that…" Hadley was cut off as she descended back into laughter. "That is just too perfect!"
I was the first to recompose myself, but I took a deep breath just to be sure. "If you did get the offer, would you accept being Arizona, member of the Tea Garden of St Gloriana's?"
Hadley cracked up again as I asked my question, while Rach merely grinned. "Of course!"
Arisa rolled her eyes and huffed. "Americans."
"Oh trust me, we get worse," Rach grinned. "Tasha isn't here."
"Tasha?" Arisa asked, glancing over at Hadley who was still laughing like a maniac.
"My Russian evil twin," Rach answered easily. "No relation between us whatsoever, but we're nearly identical twins, in everything but attitude. Heck, Tally's probably closer related to Tasha than I am."
I shook my head. "Nah. My dad just knows her uncle."
"Huh." Arisa huh'd.
"So, I had this really weird dream the other day," I began, changing the subject once more. It seemed that Hadley had finally managed to calm herself, and she quietly tuned in while diving into her brisket.
"Really? I thought you didn't ever remember your dreams," Rach commented.
"I don't, which is what makes it really weird. I think it was an alien invasion of some sort. There were evil looking bugs, human-ish aliens in suits with plasma guns, and floating squid-like robots."
"I've seen enough- "
"Don't even finish that thought!" I cut Arisa off quickly. "It was an alien invasion or something, and I was one of the people fighting them. I had this really cool looking mech suit and a big laser gun. Me and this other mech were acting as a flanking force to attack a crashed UFO, while the rest of our team engaged conventionally. One of the squid robots grabbed someone, and I pulled off a very hard shot to free them before it could start crushing them. The other mech and I were ambushed by the murderbugs as we pushed forward, but her gun was also a sword. The bugs didn't stand a chance, and together we fought our way through to the command center of the UFO. It was really cool, and right as we started assaulting the main command center, I woke up."
"That's… anti-climactic1" Arisa observed.
"I can't control my dreams1" I shrugged.
"Anybody you recognize there?" Hadley asked.
"I don't think so, but everyone had a helmet on."
Hadley merely nodded. "You're right, that does sound pretty weird."
"Yeah. At least if we get attacked by aliens, we have tanks. Tanks are cooler than mechs," I said with a grin.
Rach matched my grin with a cry of "Haha, tanks!" while Arisa just rolled her eyes.
"You've been watching too much anime."
"Probably."
We carried on chatting for a while. Hadley eventually had to leave to get back to work at the food stall, and Kay came to collect the rest of us not long after. Rach politely declined a ride and a place to stay in my dorm room, saying she already had her own transportation and accommodations.
"Alright everyone, shuffle in," Kay said, opening the door to her dorm room. Arisa had insisted on a quick stop at our dorm building before we reached Kay's, just so she could grab her James Bond DVD collection, but otherwise the trip over had been uneventful.
I settled down at the kotatsu, while Naomi and Hannah each grabbed themselves a soda from Kay's minifridge. Kay sat down next to me and gave me a small hug as everyone else made themselves comfortable.
"First things first, congratulations on a well earned victory!" Kay said cheerfully. "But just because we won doesn't mean this match can't be a learning experience. So, as usual, good stuff first. Naomi, you're up."
"Eight points for ingenuity," Naomi said quickly. "This applies to both us and Maginot, really. The HE bombardment, that buried light tank trap, well planned and executed maneuvers on all sides, and of course Tally's absolutely insane spotlight trick."
"Flexibility," I said, going next. "We spent a lot of time reacting to what Maginot did, but also trying to get ahead of them. Adapting to the situation as it developed, even when unexpected challenges presented themselves." I pondered it for a moment, thinking up my score. "Nine points."
"Ten points for perseverance," Hannah said with a wide smile. "Even when we started losing tanks left and right, I never once heard people panic or give up. It was always just how do we overcome this obstacle, or stuff like that."
"Oooh, that's a high score!" Kay said cheerfully. "Eight points for sportsmanship. This is more before and after the match than during it, but I never heard anybody complaining about us loaning Maginot our tanks even after we knew we were fighting them next. We were very welcoming in the pre-match, I saw people eating lunch with the Maginot girls, and it was pretty similar in the post-match."
The room fell silent for a moment as Arisa pondered her own answer. After what seemed like an eternity, she settled on something. "Six points coordination. It wasn't perfect, and there was a lot of chaos during the early chases and especially after Kay got knocked out, but we recovered from that, and a couple of the things we did would not have worked out so well if not for that coordination."
"Good points all around!" Kay said with a big thumbs up. "Since I got knocked out fairly early into the match, I had a good opportunity to watch how the finale played out. As such, I have a few observations to share, but before I do, is there anything anybody would like to comment on?"
"Caution," Arisa said immediately. "We charged straight into too many ambushes, so caught up in our pursuit of Maginot's tanks."
Kay nodded. "We'll have to figure out a training session for commanders and drivers for the purposes of not wandering into traps. Arisa, can I trust you to handle that?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Good. Tally, since TDs are ambush weapons, I want you helping her. It'll be good practice for when we get you into the Hellcat."
"Can do," I nodded at Kay.
"Any other general concerns?" Kay asked. When we all shook our heads, she continued on with her criticisms. "Tally, Rach mentioned that you were too far from the team on your scouting missions, and she had a point. Stay closer to the team, so that we can support you, and you can support us. Arisa, as soon as we have the numbers to spare, I'm sticking an escort on you. As flag tank, we can't take risks with you, but we need that 76mm gun in the fighting. For now, pick a platoon and join them in close support, staying just behind their back line. Naomi, you were hanging back more this match, which is good, but you need to find that balance between sniping and working with your platoon. That final skirmish is a perfect example of why you need to be closer. Your 17-pdr is no good if it isn't firing."
All three of us nodded, taking in Kay's words.
"What about you?" Hannah asked, looking at Kay.
"I need to work on not running into ambushes!" Kay said with a grin. "I'm looking forward to what you two come up with, Arisa and Tally."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be enlightening," Naomi agreed.
"I do have one more criticism, for the whole team. Call out when you get engaged and when you get knocked out," Kay said. "Tally, when you ran into the Locusts while you were in the dust cloud, you didn't call them out. If you had gotten knocked out, nobody would have known, and the plan might have fallen apart. But this doesn't just apply to you, it hits the whole team. Tally didn't know I had been knocked out until after the fact, and we probably could have saved a tank or two from ambushes just by calling out targets. In addition, there's a short period of time after you get knocked out where your radio still works. We try not to abuse this, but if you get knocked out, call it."
The three of us who were TCs nodded along.
"And now the news that I'm sure everyone wants to hear!" Kay said, cheering back up. "Our next opponent will be Yogurt Academy. St Gloriana beat them two days ago. Pravda beat Viking, Kuromorimine beat Jatkosota, and Ooarai annihilated Anzio."
"Speaking of Ooarai…" Arisa interjected. "I did some digging, and with Naomi's help found out something interesting. You know how the school is slated to shut down next spring?"
"Yeah…?" I answered, and everyone else nodded along.
"Apparently, the school's student council didn't take this well, and they made a deal with the administration. If they can win the Sensha-do national tournament, they wouldn't close the school," Arisa stated.
I blinked, and there was a wall of silence from myself, Kay, and Hannah. After what felt like a solid minute of stunned silence, Kay broke the silence. "Twenty bucks on Ooarai winning the tournament!"
"No way. I'm not gonna take that bet," I said, shaking my head. Arisa and Naomi agreed with me by shaking their heads.
"Sure, I'll take that," Hannah said. "I'll match you, but I think Kuromorimine's gonna regain their title."
The two shook on it.
"What makes you think they'll win?" I asked. "They've only got five tanks."
"Seven, actually, though their Porsche Tiger is buried deep in their school ship and they probably won't have it ready until after their match with Pravda," Arisa said.
"They have something worth fighting for. We play to have fun, KMM plays to win because that's all they know, but Ooarai is fighting because they need to win. They'll fight harder than any other team, and even if their gear is generally subpar and they don't have as many tanks as everyone else, I think they can do it," Kay explained.
"Oh." Hannah oh'd. She looked like she regretted her bet with Kay. "Is there anything we can do to help them?"
"They already said they didn't want any materiel assistance," Naomi answered. "But Momo has asked if I could come over to Ooarai sometime to help her with her gunnery."
"Which one is Momo?" I asked.
"Monocle girl. She's the gunner of their 38(t), and somehow, she's a worse shot than you, Tally."
"That's impressively bad," Arisa murmured.
"Hey!"
"If you can find the time in your schedule to go help Ooarai, you have my permission to go, Naomi. If they need any other help, we would be happy to provide assistance," Kay said. "Now, if nobody has anything else they would like to address, I believe Arisa has some films she would like us to watch."
