Chapter 1: The Letter
12:30 pm
Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean
Oarai Girls Academy's Carrier Zuikaku
It was lunchtime, Miho and her group of friends are enjoying lunch until she heard her name being called out by the PA system,
ATTENTION CALLING MISS NISHIZUMI PLEASE PROCEED TO THE STUDENT COUNCIL'S OFFICE! AGAIN CALLING MISS NISHIZUMI PLEASE PROCEED TO THE STUDENT COUNCIL'S OFFICE!
"Sorry, guys I guess I have to go, it looks like the prez needs to discuss something..." Miho said as she began to stand up
"But you didn't even take a bite! At least take an apple with you Miporin!" insisted a girl with orange hair whose name was Saori.
"Fine I suppose a small bite wouldn't hurt," Miho picked up the apple from her tray.
"Say if you don't mind, can I have the rest of your lunch?" asked a tall long black haired girl with an ahoge.
"Hana, you've already eaten your lunch!" Saori fumed.
"No, its fine she can have it," Miho replied as she pushed the tray to Hana.
"No, Miporin don't encourage her!" Saori exclaimed.
In the head of the table, a small black haired girl woke with a start and lets out a yawn so loud that every one of them stared.
"What's it with the ruckus?" the girl said with a start "And why are you all staring at me" she adds as she notices the stare others are giving her.
"Good afternoon Mako-san you've finally woke up" Miho greeted her as she rubs her eyes
"By the way, Nishizumi-dono can I join you on your meeting with the student council?" A fluffy brown haired girl asked.
"Sorry Yukari but the student council explicitly says that-"
AGAIN MISS NISHIZUMI, PLEASE PROCEED TO THE STUDENT COUNCIL'S OFFICE I REPEAT...
"Sorry, guys I really need to go!" Miho said as she made her way to the student council's office.
"Whatever we're about to discuss seems to be important or the student council wouldn't be in such a hurry." Miho thiought as she continued to take bites from the apple.
She managed to eat the entire apple, which made her quite full already and she threw the apple core into a corridor waste bin before continuing her walk.
"Could it be that MEXT found another way to shut down their school for good?" The brunette said to herself grimly one last time as she knocks on the council's door.
The door opens to reveal a meek girl with brunette hair. "Oh Hello Miho-san, come in we've been waiting for you," said a girl, she recognized as Yuzu, the Student Council Vice President.
The student council's office looks like what you expect from an office, a desk, carpeted floor, paintings, and piles of paperwork and a nice view of the grounds below. On a corner of the room, is the flagpole carrying the school flag and on one wall is the victory banner for the 63rd National High School Sensha-do Tournament proudly stands.
"About time you show up, a commander should set a good example you know." A monocled girl snarled with an irritated look on her face.
"Cut her some slack, Kawashima this is an unofficial meeting after all." a small red-headed girl ordered as she sits in a swivel chair behind a heavy wooden desk while munching on dried sweet potatoes.
"Don't call me Momo-chan!" The black haired girl snapped.
"Ummm so what's the urgent matter kaichou?" Miho timidly asked as she watched the student council president makes her chair spin while eating her favorite snack.
"This letter arrived earlier this morning in this," Momo announced as she hands Miho an envelope.
The plain white envelope was adorned with a globe with a picture of an early Mark IV tank in it with the letters "Federation Internationale Tankery Association" underneath it.
"This is from the Association, what does the letter say?" Miho asked.
"Yuzu, if you please," Anzu said as she crumpled he empty bag of sweet potatoes and shot it into the wastebasket.
Dear Öarai Girls Academy,
If you have received this letter, then your school have shown exceptional skills in the sport of Tankery. We are proud to invite you to the World Tankery Cup: Asian Qualifiers, where you will battle with Asia's best for a spot to compete in the World Tankery Cup, which will be held in your country two years from now. It would be an honor if you can attend the competition. The drawing of the match selections along with the opening ceremony would happen on the October 30 in the city of Seoul, South Korea. May you continue to excel in the sport of tankery and may we see you in the October 30th.
"Did Kuromorime receive this kind of letter?" Yuzu asked.
"Well now that I remember it, yes! But it was a long time ago and I think we got eliminated in the first round" Miho replied.
"If a school like Kuromorime got eliminated in the first round, what chance do we have?!" Momo exclaimed with a hint of despair in her voice.
"Well we did beat Kuromorime last year, so I guess we would have a better chance," Anzu said she opens another bag of her favorite treat
"So we only have less than a month before the drawing of slots, what preparations are we going to make?" Miho inquired.
"Well for starters, we are looking possible replacements for the Type 89 since Duck team's I-Go is long overdue for replacement." Yuzu replied.
"Also, the Fisheries Management Department reported that they managed to find a tank inside one of their old herring fishing tanks," Momo added.
"What type of tank is it?" Miho asked.
"We aren't sure yet but we already sent the automobile club to start the recovery process," Anzu said in between munches of her sweet potatoes.
"Who would crew the new tank if we could restore it in time?" Miho asked. "Not to mention how long it will take to train them?" she added.
"Here-"Anzu said as she opened a drawer and threw four folders across the desk-"these four used to be students of Sakura Girls Academy in Kyoto but were expelled recently after causing havoc when they stole one of the school's Sensha-do tanks".
"They must have a good reason to do that," Miho opened the folders, inside are dossiers for each of the four.
Hideyoshi, Monika
Birthday: September 22
Gender: Female
Blood Type: AB+
Height: 5'3"
Notable Information: Gymnastics champion, Honour Student, President of the literature club
Kawamoto, Sayori
Birthday: December 4
Gender: Female
Blood Type: O-
Height: 5'2"
Notable Information: Vice President of the literature club
Akazawa, Yuri
Birthday: February 9
Gender: Female
Blood Type: A+
Height: 5'5"
Notable Information: Defending champion of the SGHS's Poetry Slam, a member of the literature club.
Fujima, Natsuki
Birthday: August 17
Gender: Female
Blood Type: B-
Height: 4'11"
Notable Information: Winner of the Kyoto Prefecture Baking Competition, a member of the literature club.
"All of them are members of some sort of literature club?" Miho asked with her eyebrows raised.
"Yes, and from what we can gather, the school decided to close down their club. One of the members, Natsuki in particular, along with another club member, went ahead and stole a tank from the Sensha-do storage room, in protest for what the school administration did. In response, the school mobilized its entire Sensha-do team in pursuit of the stolen tank. The other two decided to help their friends out to survive the onslaught." Anzu replied
"How many tanks did they fight?" Miho inquired.
"From what we have heard, at most 10, including the principal's own private M47 Patton main battle tank, they were outnumbered 10 to 1," Momo butted in.
"Wait, how did a principal manage to his hands on such a fine tank? Miho asked.
"We don't know, anyway the story goes that the lone tank, utilizing the terrain and unorthodox tactics, they managed to beat every single of them before being taken out themselves," Anzu responded.
"And you're telling me that these four didn't have any prior training on tanks?"
"Yup and these four will arrive here within this week, so we can see for ourselves how great they are."
The door suddenly slammed open and Hoshino, one of the automobile club members, stepped into the room bringing sweat and grime with her. "We managed to retrieve the tank and Yukari-san, identified it as a Swedish tank," she said.
"Thank you for your hard work, we'll be down there shortly. We are just wrapping this meeting up" Anzu answered as she stood up from her chair and faced the window panels, turning her back on Miho while the tanned girl made her exit from the room and closed the door behind her. "This discovery just confirms the rumors"
"What rumors?" Miho asked, getting more curious.
"There have been rumors long ago that a few years after the school's first Sensha-do club was closed, a bunch of students founded their own club but didn't bother to get permission from the student council, knowing they will be outright rejected. Using money from their pockets, some even suspected that they embezzled school funds, they managed to buy a few tanks, we aren't sure of how many, but they say it is more than two. There's even a witness seeing them drive those tanks. But one of them snitched the others and that resulted in the largest number of students expelled over a single event in the history of this school." Anzu explained.
"How many of them were expelled?" Miho questioned
"We are looking at around a dozen to thirty students, we tried contacting some of them but they wouldn't respond or else if they did, they say they don't want to talk about it," Momo responded.
"What we know is that they utilized the old laboratory building as a meeting room. We learned that by reading the testimony of the student who snitched but she didn't bother mentioning the number of tanks, their types and their location."
"We figured out that the club got wind of the events and made measures to hide their tracks. The tanks disappeared. Either they were hidden away or sold. The old laboratory building burned down mysteriously but we managed to track a piece of evidence related to them." Anzu pressed a button under her desk.
The bookcase in the office suddenly got split into two to reveal a hidden safe. "Yuzu, if you please," Anzu ordered. "And Miho, this is a secret that wouldn't leave this room, okay?"
"Hai," Miho responded
"Here, it is." Yuzu said, handling the objects with care. The objects were two tiny cylindrical things that fit nicely in the palm of her hands. She kindly gave it to Miho, who after inspecting them, hands them back to Yuzu.
"Those are leg capsules from the First World War. The soldiers attach those to carrier pigeons to relay their message to others. Early tanker crews also used those capsules for communication especially since radios weren't invented yet." Miho explained
"Correct," Anzu said nicely, as she opened a drawer once more and retrieve something from it. "And here is what is inside them." She handed two photographs to Miho, which Miho accepts immediately. "Those are blown up versions of the notes." She said and Miho looked at one of the photographs to see a bunch of jumbled letters.
NSRDLVKBCEYWTMIE
But the second one's readable, unlike the first photo.
KEYWORD: TANKERY
"What do pictures these mean?" Miho questioned while trying to make sense of the letters. "And why do you think we need a keyword?" she asked aloud as she examined the second photo. "I think it is in some kind of code." She put down the two photographs.
"That's what we have been also concluded," Anzu began walking around Miho in circles. "We also knew that one of your friends has recently passed the Radio Operators Exam.
"Who, Saori?" Miho replied, remembering how proud Anko team's radio operator when she managed to get her license.
"Yeah, Miss Takebe, she probably handled codes and ciphers in her studies, especially after the incident with Saunders. Miho smiled as she too remembered the events all too well. Arisa tapping on their comms, the chase that happened afterward, which all accumulated into their victory. "Can you please ask her? But do not take the photographs. It would be very dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands." She said with her arm outstretched as she asks Miho give her the photographs.
"Okay, that's all that we have to discuss, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Anzu sits down once again on her swivel chair. "Oh, Kawaisama-chan can you please get the thing? She asks the monocle girl. Momo quickly gives to her a rectangular object. "Here, take this bento box as a sign of good will. Because we called this meeting all of a sudden, you must have missed your lunch," she said as she hands out the box to Miho.
"Arigato gozaimasu!" Miho accepted the box and bowed, preparing to leave, thinking of how she'll excuse herself for being late.
"Also if you're worried about missing classes, we excused all the members of the Sensha-do team not to mention the commander," Anzu said with a smile. "If you don't have any more questions, let us see this tank for ourselves."
My very first (and probably last ) fanfic, please understand that I am quite new here so I'm just learning the ropes. So any comments and reviews are nice not to mention favs and follows. xD
I had this idea for many months now, of a global competition in which Oarai will have to outsmart and outmaneuver enemies from various countries around the world. So I hope that I managed to put in on paper nicely, and thank you for the support.
Edits: 12/9/18
Fixed some grammar issues and changed the placement of Ōarai's victory banner
Edits: 08/10/19
Again grammatical errors.