Girls und Panzer: Beschatten Wächter Abtrennung

by F-14 Tomcat Lover

Nishizumi Miho, second daughter of a famous and prestigous house. She is the second daughter... but would that mean she was a second child? Meet her older brother, short and tough Nishizumi Hiro. He joins up right after Miho's long lost ex-intended reappears as chief mechanic for Oorai Girls High School's Sensha-do Team. His name, Japanese-Korean-American, Ryo Woodsmith.

2. Tanks Begin!

Assigned and Team:

Team A - Panzer Mark IV Ausf D

Team B - Type 89B I-Go Otsu

Team C - StuG III Ausf F with Assault Gun

Team D - M3 Lee

Team E - Panzer 38(t)

Team F - A15 Crusader Mark III

Team G - A34 Comet I

Unassigned:

SOMUA S35

BT-7M

Type-1 Chi-He

Reserve:

StuG IV

T-44

M24 Chaffee

A24 Black Prince

M10 Wolverine

A24 Centurion Mk I

Non-Competition:

M18 Hellcat with 90mm Main Gun

M24 Chaffee Light Tank with standard issue 75mm Main Gun

XxXxXxXxXxX

Girls und Panzer: Beschatten Wächter Abtrennung

Chapter 2

Panzer Anfangen!

XxXxXxXxXxX

As the sun began to rise, the bugler once again began to sound Reveille, followed by the traditional firing of a cannon. Men stumbled out of their barracks, several cursing a storm about good dreams getting interrupted. It was just another day in the morning for the 21st Armored Brigade, United Nations Ground Command.

The feared 21st AB was on standby, pending an investigation into their previous actions. Someone had claimed that members of the 21st had been little more thugs and others had committed war crimes. So the whole brigade had been stood down and ordered to remain in base until ordered otherwise.

To the last, the complaints and accusations were absurd. The 21st Armored Brigade considered itself above that and would deal with any who broke the brigade's motto, "Innocentiae Primo, Victoria Secundo."

"Innocence First, Victory Second."

On the other hand, the 21st was also known as the 'Bloody Lances' since they were typically used in the 'Spearhead' role and believed heavily in 'Maximum Damage, Minimum Cost.'

Though today, they were getting fully reactivated.

The charges were dropped not only due to lack of evidence, but questionable sources having brought them forward. The brigade had celebrated when they learned they would be reactivated and they had a Peacemaking Mission already lined up. A pair of countries in Asia were actively engaging one another in war. The war would have been allowed to run its course, but it both saw credible war crimes being committed by both sides and it endangered a trade route for seaborne traffic.

It was the 21st AB's favorite kind of mission too.

Shoot anything that shoots back until it gets the hint or can't shoot back anymore.

As the unit began its day in preparation for deployment, the Intelligence Section received some information on their Area of Operations. It was from a friendly source that often did 'out riding' for the division. There they learned that weapons supplied were going to be largely re-tuned and militarized Tankery Competition Tanks and other relics from nearly a hundred years earlier. Though there was also a listing for some top of the line second hand weapons, mostly AK-74s, Type 56 rifles, Previous Gen RPGs, hand grenades, laptops, electronics, and other equipment, but the more noticeable were the vehicles, most were late Cold War military vehicles such as Type 80/88 Chinese Tanks and even some early model T-80 tanks.

Both sides were expected to have them and that a source could be traced back to a probable beginning in Japan. It was investigating the lead already and to expect an emergency redeployment order inside of 10 minutes of confirmation, if they were lucky to get so much warning.

Well, the 21st was a 'Spearhead' for a reason. They could be re-deployed almost on the dime. They were quick for a heavy unit to be redeployed. Then again, they were equipped with Protectors, a UN variant of the British made Praetor tank, based on the highly successful Centurion with a Chieftain's turret.

Still, the Protectors, as armed as they were with Thermal Sleeved Royal Ordnance L50A2 135mm main guns, would still be a superior tank overall. The tanks were also equipped with Stronghold Area Defense Systems, which provided very noteworthy protection against incoming. It was simply a case of taking what worked before and seeing if it could be turned into something better.

The Protector 1D was the current issue to the 21st AB and it was fast becoming a feared tank by those who committed war crimes, especially so when the 21st was in command.

XxXxX

Inside an office, the time was different from that of the UN's 21st Armored Brigade. The sole occupant looked the report over and mentally cursed as he tightened his fists. Seeing that someone had found out and leaked his business dealings to the United Nations. The only good news from the report was that the person responsible was still digging around, but there was no idea on who it could be.

Standing up the occupant moved over to a window and looked out over the city of Tokyo. It was clear that the person knew more than they were letting on and was looking to avoid a major incident. That was typical of such spy work after all. You got what you wanted with minimum fuss. At least that was how the game had been played years ago.

Now, in this day and age, where information was available through so many sources and supported by so many people, it was harder to control who had access to the game. This ran contrary to the belief they could control it easily. No there were those who would find out and leak it simply to get people's attention. This created questions and for those who valued power, questions were extremely dangerous.

Eying a city ship, a Home-type flying the UN flag that clearly marked it as the home of families of UN soldiers, the man glaring at the vessel blamed such ships. They had helped close the gap between nations and their people. A global unification was soon possible, one that couldn't be controlled!

Once that happened, all that was wrong in the world would be pulled out in front of the people of the world! Such careful crafting to make others more powerful -more powerful than the five permanent UN Security Powers combined!- would be undone! The world would spin into a direction of such small minded people who simply didn't understand that they existed not to be citizens, but peasants!

Yet, if they could do away with City Ships, they might delay it enough to take control and continue on as it was business as usual, just some

new rules, which could make the smart ones even more powerful.

Turning back, he saw that the CSV Ooarai-Meiden was scheduled to be decommissioned and scrapped before the year was out. He had a granddaughter on that ship. He didn't care, she was there to be shown her place, a filthy unwanted half breed of a worthless offspring that the sow of the mother refused to abort. She tried to be the good granddaughter to gain acceptance, only living with her father because he ordered so. Once the school closed, he would simply declare to her face what he already thought.

That she was worthless to him, always had been, because she was simply not Japanese!

The worst she could do to him, is join that vain attempt to restart a Sensha-dou team.

But she wouldn't, because she was going to be a proper Japanese woman.

As if!

How small minded he would later learn he was when he finally learned the truth.

XxXxX

Ryo Woodsmith was cleaning the engine parts for the Crusader that they had managed to find the previous day. He was surprised by the condition of the tank. From the outside, it looked like it would take a few days to get ready. Then he popped the hood so to speak and ran the usual analysis on the tank's hull and armor.

The Crusader was in fact in excellent condition. The only problem was that there had been a literal rat's nest in the works, among other needs that had been overlooked. He had even spoken to some girls complaining about budget problems for Track and Field. They were more than happy to lend three of their girls, three who had been injured in strange accidents last year, costing Ooarai a chance at National level competitions.

Still, since it was a Crusader Mark III, that meant that the three girls were ideal for its crew.

The first girl, who would be driver, was actually an exchange student name Branwyn Gwynedd. She was from Wales and her father happened to be a commander of a troop of the FV4070 Black Prince tanks. She had short cut reddish orange hair and blue eyes and honestly, looked liked a Welsh version of Takebe Saori. The Welsh girl, though, wore blue-green long socks in memory of late elder brother, a gift from him when he had attended Oceanside Boys Academy of Military Science, the United Nations military academy located in sunny Southern California.

Ryo remembered that black day all too well, being formerly of that school himself. Heck, Branwyn recognized him from her brother's training troop. The same went with Nishizumi Hiro who was also in the same troop. The three got along great, it helped that she was a less excitable version of Yukari and could think like Nishizumi Miho when the first shot slammed against the tank.

The only reason Branwyn wasn't in command was that her family lived by the creed 'To Lead, First Follow.'

Of the other two girls, the first was the bookish, but skilled high jumper Yamazaki Ohana. She had pigtailed brown haired and wore simple round glasses. She had soft features and an athletic build associated with high jumping. Like both Branwyn and Saori, she wore long socks, though these were green, to go with the school uniform colors. She was the commander of the Crusader and she actually came from old samurai stock herself.

The last girl was tomboyish and track runner Suzuki Tomoko. She had long legs and combined with her name, she was called Long Tom and would be the gunner in the short in height Cruiser Tank. Her appearance was boyish, but in a charming way that would gain a boy's attention if not for the fact that she was also known for kicking rather hard too. She had a boyish cut dark hair, but was a friendly girl who was addicted to anime music, especially old classic songs.

The three were getting their papers filled out, the Japanese loved their paperwork more than the Germans did. At least in his experience, but whereas it was a matter of documentation on the German end, for the Japanese, it sometimes felt territorial to him. Like they had to defend on who would sign off for the toilet paper. Well, Anzu didn't run that kind of operation, in fact, she hated such heavily controlled ways.

'It feels like you got to be a diplomat just to request as simple as a report,' Ryo thought, he had never liked how Japanese business was done.

Though cheap, he often wondered if the market wasn't just kept their artificially, he knew the Japanese could produce some good products. Though at times it always felt to him that they were making up for something. One of his grandfathers thought it might have been the defeat of Imperial Japan during the Second World War.

'Not that it matters to me,' Ryo thought as heard multiple steps approaching, one sounded like Kadotani Anzu, Student President and flanking her as usual was Kawashima Momo, PR Manager and Vice President Koyama Yuzu, 'Japan is what it is, but that can always change just as the ever present-'

"These are... tanks?" the demure tone of a girl made it clear that she was not too happy to be in the hangar area.

"This is the maintenance area and is off limits to all, but mechanics unless otherwise authorized by the Chief Mechanic," Ryo rolled out from under the raised Crusader, covered in muck and gunk from his maintenance of the tank, he could see the girls that had assembled, though he rolled out right under Momo, but the girl was prepared with a pair of shorts on under her skirt, "Missy Kawashima, what I have said about being so closed to tanks?"

The light glinting off her monocle, "What have I said about calling me Missy?"

"I can't call you by Koyama-san's favorite nickname, can I?" he looked oh so innocent, that he barely got back under the tank before her foot came down, hard.

"Get back out from under there now Chief Woodsmith!" Momo promptly went into one of her fuming angry moments as she tried to reach under and yank Ryo out.

Ryo on the other hand simply walked around the tank and stood trying to hold in his laughter, but he was shaking like a building in a quake.

He actually had to hold onto the side of the tank as Momo was halfway under the AFV trying to find him. He hopped up and sat on an oil drum as she screamed and ranted at him to come out and face her like a man. Then she was completely under the tank only to spot his work board carefully placed to the side.

"He's sitting on an oil drum, isn't he?" Momo asked and Ryo fell off the drum laughing so hard he was having problems breathing and began to choke as he gasped for air, tears in his eyes as he laughed so hard clutching his sides even as Momo pulled herself out from under the tank and looked like she had been servicing it instead, which only made Anzu and Yuzu, who had been trying so hard, break out laughing too.

Ten minutes later and Ryo having a slight limp as he favored his right shin, they were assembled outside the Maintenance Bay as Momo stormed off to get a shower and a clean uniform.

There were five in all, as he was expecting. In the lead seemed to be a girl that had all the desperation of wanting to please. It was as James Patterson had told them. Well, it was time to see if they couldn't correct that. After all, nothing couldn't be fixed with a right amount of explosive power.

In this case, the explosive power being that of a tank.

'Time to fix,' Ryo thought in a mechanic's way, "You get a warning today since you don't seem to be the M3 crew and are with President Kadotani, but I'll warn ya here and now that if yer in my Maintenance Bay without permission, it better be damn important!"

"F-forgive us sir," the ladies bowed as one, oh yeah, proper young ladies, build up and then destroy kind, just how Ryo hated it, "We were told that we would be joining the Sensha-dou Team under Kadotoni-sempai, no one mention a male being in charged."

"That's cause I ain't," Ryo stated, before indicating Anzu, "Save for the maintenance bay and the tanks when they're left to me for care and upkeep Kadotani Anzu-dono will be in charge because she's the President and largely in charge to begin with," lifting his work goggles up, too many times of something best left undescribed finding his eyes, and pulling a rag to wipe his hands with, "The name's Ryo Woodsmith, but if yer signing on that's Chief Woodsmith to everyone but a few," he indicated off to the lone row of buildings, "That's where yer find the Chief Ordnance Tech, Nishizumi Hiro, and that's his realm and you listen to him on all matters when it comes to ordnance, this is real deal ammunition we're using," he put his rag away, "One small misstep and they'll be finding what's left of ya with a microscope, understood?"

He got a chorus of acknowledgements. Ryo knew that only the one girl in the middle was Jaina Patterson, James Patterson's daughter. She had the appearance of a proper Japanese girl from some bygone era or thereabouts with long grey hair, whether natural or some other reason was beyond him. She had ocean blue eyes that were carefully guarded and shielded yet attentive to him, more so than he would think.

In fact, each girl had something about them that seemed the same. No surprise as each of the other four girls had Mister Patterson as their guardian and all shared the same form of background, just the specifics were different. James Patterson was trying his best for each one, since each was the illegitimate granddaughter of a major mover and shaker of a Japanese government official, all Conservatives no less.

'Best place for a crook to hide,' Ryo thought in annoyance, 'As a Conservative since who would go looking after a crook who only holds up traditional values,' Ryo knew otherwise.

It was why the United States of America was led by either the Nationalists or the Constitutionalists.

The Republicans had been voted out of power and then argued so bitterly amongst themselves that they self-destructed, good riddance.

The Democrats had forgotten to maintain a core strength and became so off the walls as a coalition, that it too self-destructed only 10 years later, quite the loss.

Yet as he refocused on the key fact, that Patterson didn't have long to live though, so he had cut a deal with them. He wanted the girls to be as independent as he could make them. But they had been poisoned against him and against the thoughts of independence by those who would control them. These weren't young teenage girls before Ryo, but embarrassments that had some worth as tools for greater power.

"The madam Prez is currently overseeing you and the only reason she brought you to me, is so I'll give you the nickel tour until she's available again to take the lead and that tour starts with yer tank," Ryo's demeanor changed, switching to a guy who was no nonsense and serious,

"This is the Tank Maintenance Bay," he indicated the buildings that had a couple of the tanks in them, the Crusader and the SOMUA to be exact, "Don't ask me why it's called a bay when it doesn't look like a bay," the girls only nodded as he took in the five.

Each was wearing their uniform correctly, but with the optional long skirts as well as high length socks. He couldn't tell since they ran under the hems and wasn't about to pull one up to have a look see. For one thing, he had a reputation to rebuild, a second it was wrong, and third, he was simply not like that. He did notice that they intelligently studied the building, too intelligently in his mind.

"Now over here we have the Ordnance Magazine, also known as the Ammo Bunker," he indicated the said ammo bunker, "That I'll leave for Tech Nishizumi to explain, for safety reasons," an explosion just outside the bunker with a small mushroom cloud forming before it curled and began to fade, "He's sorting our ammo, separating good from bad so we don't have accidents," another explosion, more distant though the smoke from it was visible, "That's the JGSDF EOD team dealing with unexploded ordnance from when the school shut down the Sensha-do program," the girls shared nervous looks, "No worries, whoever directed the shutdown, did it half ass and that person is lucky no one has been killed..." stopping briefly, "To our knowledge at least."

"Why are they lucky?" one girl asked, looking curious.

"It borders on a Murder One Charge or Homicide in the language of law and order," Ryo waved it off even as the girls gasped, "For now, they're looking at 20 years in a medium class prison with parole in 10 years for good behavior."

"That serious?" another girl tilted her head in curiousity.

Ryo only nodded before indicating for them to move. He then led them over to where a tank sat. The tank was laid out in a flat style. Flat back, flat sides, it was low set, and the turret looked flat with a rounded back. It was clean and looked to have been cared for during the time since its purchase.

"This will be your tank," Ryo stated with voice like an officer speaking, "Due to our current state, I'm currently acting as second in command under PR Manager Kawashima Momo-dono and she takes her orders from the President Kadotani Anzu-dono," he turned on his heel in a way that would make a boot camp drill sergeant proud, "Until you are informed otherwise, I'm in the chain of command when in base, understood?"

The girls didn't know how to respond. True they had been raised to answer yes promptly when a man spoke, but this male before, hardly older than them, spoke differently. It was like to him, they weren't females, but something else entirely different and expected different things from them.

It scared them, but they did as told, they obediently confirmed his words.

Grunting and turning to present the tank to them, "This is the Comet I, designated A34 Cruiser Tank. This is the vehicle that led to the development of the Centurion, the most successful Cruiser Tank ever produced and later designated as a Main Battle Tank. It is equipped with a single main gun of a variant of the legendary 17 pounder Anti-Tank Gun that is referred to as the 77mm HV or High Velocity even though it is still really just a 76.2mm gun. The weight is also a reference not to the gun, but the weight of shot. Additionally it is also equipped with two Besa 7.92mm machine guns, one coaxial to the main gun and the other in the hull," the girls were absorbing what he was saying,

"The Comet's armor is only 4 inches, or 102 millimeters, thick at its maximum point, which is at the front of the tank," he patted the front of the tank, "Now, today, tanks have thickness pretty much equal all round for increased survivability, but not in those days when communications could take up to weeks to get some place in a hurry."

"Why would that matter?" another girl asked, looking genuinely curious as Ryo nodded at her question.

"Good question," he indicated the tank's radio aerials, "These are the radio aerials, in their heyday, one of the best in the world, but now hopelessly obsolete thanks to more technology advancements," he stopped for a moment, "Can you tell me why there is a difference between the Comet's radio compared to the Cell Phones most people now use?"

The girls looked confused and unsure how to answer. They spoke amongst one another for a few moments. Then one dared an answer.

"Because of the use of Rare Earth Elements?"

Ryo smiled brightly at the answer, "Finally! Someone who can answer that question correctly!" he beamed at her and her group who looked surprised, but also glad to have gotten it right.

"Rare Earth Elements did not have much use or even were generally known to many during the time of the Comet," Ryo began his lecture, "As such, the communications were built, along with everything in those days, without it," he then indicated the school, "Today though, the school alone has more Rare Earth Elements in it than entire nations had until the end of the 20th Century," he then turned back to girls, showing how please he was to discuss that topic, "Rare Earth Elements are important in everything we do, from such basics as communication and medical care to things such as space exploration and even this ship uses considerable amounts of Rare Earth Elements, from everyday life to the ship's very power core and support structure," Ryo took a look at the sun, "I'll have to cut this short, but Rare Earth Elements are what make the world go round and allows us to even begin putting old fossil fuels to the side in favor of more advance and clean energy sources like the electric cars we use to go about the ship or land or even in the engines of our tanks since, let's face it, gas and diesel fuel do catch fire quickly and explode."

"I had no idea that Rare Earth Elements were that valuable," the girls were talking amongst themselves, but Ryo wasn't surprised, even now, late into the middle of the 21st Century, most didn't know, though he had hoped for a laugh at his little ending joke.

He sighed and let them chat for a few before telling them to mount their tank. All he got was some blushes that made tomatoes look bleach white.

"NOT THAT KIND OF MOUNT!" he shouted loud enough to be heard by the approaching girls of the other tanks and even in a couple of classes, "I MEANT CLIMB UP ON THE TANK SO I CAN SHOW YOU WHAT DOES WHAT AND HOW IT WORKS!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

All the girls stood in lines before their tanks. Ryo had worked with the new girls, he secretly called Patterson's Troop, and they were up to snuff on their tank. Well, as well as could be expected short of Nishizumi Miho, Branwyn, and a couple of the others from the looks of things.

Each tank was polished and ready to serve. The guns gleamed as did the armor plates. The tanks themselves looked more than eager to roll into action once more. They were being prepared for what their lives were meant for.

To do battle and bring honor to their crews and home.

But even they looked a bit annoyed at the moment.

"O-kay... Where's the instructor?" Hiro complained from his spot, sitting with his feet up in one of the Jeeps as he read a magazine on the latest battlefronts opening up in Asia, "Looks like the Bloody Lances are back in action," the tribal warrior stated off handily, "Looks like an outrider sent them some intelligence if I'm reading how they're winning right."

Ryo was going over the list of who was in the 'troop' that they had. Really, it qualified as barely two platoons of tanks. It was that small, that he even wondered if calling it a 'troop' was accurate.

He then brought up the M3 Lee's crew:

Commander: Sawa Azusa, she seemed the leader of the all the First Years and though she was shaky at the moment, she seemed like the kind that would be a good leader, a mother like presence and would likely be a good mother some day.

Driver: Sakaguchi Karina, she was the driver, he knew practically nothing about her, like all the First Years, no previous experience.

Radio Operator: Utsugi Yūki, the communications girl of the group of First Years, seems like a frightened rabbit, then again, they all did.

Main Gun Operator: Yamagō Ayumi, this First Year seemed had decided to load and operate the M3's 75mm main gun, but Ryo had his doubts about her ability to handle both tasks.

Loader, Secondary Gun: Maruyama Saki, the fifth of the six First Years, she loaded the secondary, turret mounted 37mm gun.

Gunner, Secondary Gun: Ōno Aya, the last of the First Years, she seemed bright enough to operate the 37mm Secondary Gun in the turret and, if he wasn't mistaken, she also controlled the co-axial .30 Browning MMG.

That was the crew for the M3 Lee, though he was certain it was a late war variant. The M3 was pretty much stock, but it was missing the copula machine gun. So if that was a case, it had to be a post-1943 variant or it had simply been removed. Since after they were withdrawn from North Africa, they were sent to fight in the Pacific and CBI Theaters.

He then brought up the list for the A34 Comet's crew:

All positions: Undecided, why wasn't he surprised.

Crew members:

Jaina Patterson, long grey hair, natural he found out. She was a lot like Hana, only more of the stereotypical Japanese Housewife of a noble lord. She was learning everything to be a proper housewife. Sewing, cooking, even classes on child raising, which had its funding cut since there wasn't a teacher for it this year and no one else qualified. She had the very Asian build and appearance, but the features were definitely from the West, such as her ocean blue eye color.

Her name was even addressed in the Western Format, something that was most telling in the Asian culture of family name before personal name.

Goto Haruna: Typical of Japanese appearance and appeared and dressed the same as Jaina, nothing stands out about her, save for rare gold colored eyes. Ryo had looked in on that at Anzu's insistence and he discovered that her mother had suffered a near fatal poisoning during the pregnancy period. It was the end result of contaminated water. The cause was a Japanese merchantman sunk by US Naval Air Attacks late in the Second World War. The merchantman had been carrying Chemical Weapons for deployment against Allied Forces during the latter stages of the war. It had, since its discovery, been cleaned up and the old disposal facilities on Johnston Island reactivated to dispose of the old stock of inhuman death and pain.

Everyone was breathing a clear sign of relief at that, but at the same time, Haruna had been a lucky one. Only the gold eyes gave away how close to never being born she had come.

Arai Rei: An albino girl, more from the fact she is rather sickly, than by genetics. He was unsure about her being in a tank to begin with. Something about her sickly nature though was clearly off. The girl had been able to climb onto the Comet quite easily on her own ,after he had gotten on all fours to be allowed to be used as a stepping board though. Her stances told him that her body was healthy and she was able to actually lift one of the 17-pdr rounds with only slight trouble. He had Anzu put in a special request for her medical file, as the school was being denied.

He contacted the ship's police about the matter as a back up and they would acquire and pass on the medical file if they were denied.

Like Jaina and Haruna, she had long hair, typical Japanese black, but her facial features showed a mixed heritage. He guessed she had Vietnamese blood in her as she mentioned her mother's original name before the marriage to Rei's Japanese father.

Watanabe Momoko: She was the shortest one in the group, only taller than Anzu. She also had a reddish sheen to her hair and Branwyn apparently knew her. Ryo had pulled her to the side and found out that Momoko was a cousin of her's. Apparently she had an aunt who worked at the British Embassy and wrote home about having a daughter with a Japanese government official. She had left the country and brought the girl with her, but neither had arrived in Wales. The only give away about Momoko was the hair sheen and a birthmark that Branwyn had seen in the Locker Room the day of the incident involving Ryo himself.

Ryo had been forced to keep quiet, but he still had to inform Anzu. Branwyn did so instead, saying it was her place. Ryo, though, discreetly informed the local police to contact Scotland Yard and INTERPOL on the matter.

Imai Inoue: The last girl of the five. She wore simple wired frame glasses and accented Japanese beauty from an Anime or Manga. She was also also the tallest, about Hana's height give or take. Like Hana, she brought out exactly what a traditional girl of Japan would appear, but taken to an extreme. She was very demure and for whatever reason, she especially reminded Ryo and Hiro of an action Sun Tzu had done to prove his military prowess.

Though, when Ryo had been showing them the Comet, she kept a strong eye on the tank's main gun. Hiro suspected, when told, that she was probably more like Hana than she appeared.

That was the crew of the Comet. He already had the Loader, Gunner, and Driver pegged of the five. So Radio Operator and Commander were all that was left. But that would matter later on.

"Is that a C-2 I hear?" Hiro lifted his Crush Hat up and Ryo did the same to see the gleaming white body and red tip wings of a C-2D Japanese ASDF heavy lifter coming in.

The heavy lifter was low and slow. Which told anyone two things. It was doing that by design and preparing to drop something in the process.

"Aw hell! Not her!" Hiro shouted in disbelief at the thought of just who would be crazy enough to pull that kind of stunt off.

And sure enough, after the Type 10 was dropped from the plane, the C-2 powered up and flew back to its base in Japan. The Type 10 on the other hand slid, fast and hard despite the drag chutes, right into a nice looking red car. The car was flipped and thrown on impact, but it somehow helped to rob what was left of the Type 10's momentum as the pallet it was on turned to an awkward angle.

"Isn't that the Headmaster's car?!" Yuzu looked completely dumbfounded and shocked at the sight.

"Now that's an entrance," Anzu remarked chewing on her chips.

The look on Yuzu's face changed to abject horror after the tie downs disengaged and the Type-10 backed up, crunching and crushing the car beneath it's treads.

"Want a chip?" Anzu offered instead, but Yuzu could only stare in shock, though Erwin took the offered food stuff.

The tank then rolled at a fair clip to stop suddenly right before the assembled girls. The automatic hatch opening on command from inside as the crew shut down the tank. To their surprise, only one hatch opened and only one person climbed out, wearing a standard issue helmet and the standard green JGSDF Female Dress Uniform.

"Dammit! I was right," Hiro groused in dread and Ryo thought it looked funny.

The woman had surprisingly, blue eyes and white skin, but was otherwise Japanese. Ryo wondered if she was from one of the major trade towns or base towns that had either US or, especially as of late, British or UN troops in them.

"Hey there!" the woman called from her tank and Ryo noted the special patch of Sensha-dou instruction.

"So she learned under your mother, huh," Ryo could only remark as the girls stood dumbly.

"MY CAR!?" came a sudden shout.

"Eh?" the woman blinked.

"So much like her," Hiro was making himself as small as possible.

XxXxXxXxX

After the mess with the car had been sorted out, the decision was made to simply be thankful that the headmaster had Tank Coverage -for whatever reason-, the tank classes could finally begin.

Stepping up in front of the class, looking excited and Ryo having to remark just how hot the woman looked, the class introductions were about to begin.

"She tricked me," Saori remarked with a bummed expression.

"She does look pretty cool," Hana tried to cheer her friend up.

Momo began the introduction.

"She's the special instructor Sensha-dou-torēninguyunitto, Captain Chono Ami."

"Nice to meet you all," Captain Chono began speaking, sounding excited, "I heard there were a lot of people doing Sensha-dou for the first time, but let's do our best," she scanned the gathering of girls, then her eyes rested on Nishizumi Miho by chance, "Wait? Aren't you the second daughter of Instructor Nishizumi?" the JGSDF captain then approached Miho and nodded, it was her, "I'm surprised to you see you here," a few memories came back to her as she smiled down at Miho, "The Instructor has done much for me and I'm thankful to her," she closed her eyes smiling as she tilted her head a bit, "Is your sister doing well?" then she opened her eyes as her expression changed to one of annoyance, "What of the troublesome brother of yours! I hope he's been in contact," she grounded her teeth, "I swear if he hasn't informed you he's the commander of the Kutolah tank force, I swear I'll beat him senseless!"

Over in his seat, Hiro made himself smaller than Anzu.

Miho looked taken back by how forward the woman was and then nervously looked down, "Um, yes," she answered shyly, as Hiro slid himself out of the jeep and tried to hide.

"Instructor Nishizumi?" someone questioned in surprise.

"She's famous?" another asked.

"The Nishizumi School is the Sensha-do-ryu with the longest history out of all the Sensha-dou-ryu, dating back to before the Greater East Asian War," Captain Chono lectured the girls impressing them, though Miho felt sadden instead.

So, seeing her friend, Saori was quick to ask her burning question in order to deflect attention.

"Instructor!" the ginger haired girl raised her hand, "Are you popular with boys?"

Chono could only blink, "Huh?" as she closed her eyes in thought, missing how Miho turned her head to glance, slightly dumbstruck by her friend's actions.

After a few moments of thought, the new instructor opened her eyes and stared at Saori, "I wouldn't say that I'm popular, so much as I always hit what I aim for," she brought a close fist up next to her face, "I have a kill rate of 120 percent."

The girls weren't the only one impressed by that as Ryo blinked at hearing that.

'That means overpenetration!' his thoughts were on the available data for a Type-15 MBT, which according to all official data, was specifically design to avoid that by using specialized rounds that the current government had been touting, 'Even if the case isn't over penetration, that would mean higher than above average reflexes and naturally innate gunnery skills,' Ryo knew that was possible, Jaeger and Monty did both regularly themselves, 'That explains the marksmanship awards and the fact she has overseas deployment awards, including the Operation TOWNHOUSE Participation Medal.'

Ryo hadn't failed to noticed the fruit salad she wore. There were combat awards and participation medals. He had heard of a Japanese Type 10A5 that had seen action in Africa that had single handedly killed an 'OpFor' Brigade of T-72 and Type-80 MBTs. The rumor mill had said it was Sensha-dou woman who had pulled the feat off, but they were rare in deployment from nations outside of America, Europe, and Russia. Though the Korean Army was starting to deploy them more regularly and the UN had many women in its combat ranks.

"Instructor!" Akiyama Yukari raised her hand next, eagerly so, "What will we practice today?"

The woman instructor only smiled before speaking, "Let's see..." she paused in thought, "How about we throw you girls into your tanks and try a real mock battle."

'Sink or swim?!' Ryo was surprised, since half the girls didn't know a starter or a clutch from a suspender or a bodice, 'That is gutsy, but it will force them to adapt in response.'

Hiro sighed, figuring that was her from start to finish. His mother was somewhat the same he was told. He couldn't see it and if Maho and Miho were anything to go by, neither did they. Then again, she had been in charge of the school for so long, with such a long winning streak, it shouldn't surprise him that she preferred order and discipline to ebb and flow techniques.

Chono Ami, though, had decided to teach differently.

The girls were surprised, not so much shocked, but surprised. Yuzu commented on if the instructor was sure, but Ryo figured they'd do fine.

After all, the Volleyball girls had spunk and eagerness going for them, the First Years could get the information easily enough, and aside from Teams A, F, and G, the rest had some knowledge on how to at least get their tanks moving.

The JGSDF Captain even stated it was rather simple what she wanted them to do. It would be a good way to gain experience as well. It would, also, allow her to secretly see what their learning curve would be like and what she needs to begin addressing right away.

"So who do I turn to for information on our tanks?" Captain Chono looked around the girls and then spotted a jumpsuited figure off to the side.

She turned to note the tall, obviously male, who held a datapad in his hands. He wore a Crush Hat on his head, but she could see that he had brownish-blonde hair, though his eyebrows were a stark blonde. She couldn't see his face too well, as he was staring down at his datapad, taking care of things.

He then seemed to say something. Then he repeated it in annoyed tone. Finally he turned to yell at the person he was trying to speak to.

"Hiro put that mag- eh?" the captain chose to walk over as the teenage boy, from his tone, seemed confused, "Hey! Hiro! Where'd you get to?" he called out for his friend as the captain stopped in mid-stride, "I swear," the mechanic shook his head.

Chono Ami practically fast ran in a march over to near one of the tanks and reached over...

"CRAP!"

... and pulled Hiro out from hiding just as he was about to escape to behind the buildings and then off the grounds.

"Hello Nishizumi Hiro-kun," the captain greeted menacingly at the smaller male and with a too serene smile on her face.

"Already spoke!" Hiro tried to defend himself, she was able to hold him so high up, despite being only so much taller than him, so that his feet dangled with a good bit of air beneath them, "I mean!" he saw her expression begin to shift, "I'm the Ordnance Tech! Miho and I spent time catching up! I even told her I'm married too!" then Hiro's tanned face went bleach white while Ami's face became hard and began to turn purple, "I mean I did let them know I would likely have a chance at getting married, but you know how it goes, I barely had been able to set time aside to be there for the birth of my kids! Ack!" he realized what he said, "I mean! I tried to write, but one pirate group after another just had to step up!" he was getting desperate now, "Then we had Chinese Bigots, then after that I had to help stop a coup in Korea, then there was that mess in South America, almost got Malaria when I was there, and then one thing after another again, I mean I was pretty much disowned, wasn't I?!" he stated at the end and the woman dropped him onto his feet and Hiro looked up in surprise, "She didn't did she?" his tone was weak and he sounded very weak.

"Almost, almost," the woman admitted sadly, "Only your father's intervention prevented that or so I heard," there was a sigh, "I don't know her as well I used too, but if I'm gonna teach her daughter, then I have to do a good job to remind her why she loved Sensha-dou so much herself!"

The way the seemingly excitable woman looked with her fist held up before her as she made her declaration, worried both Hiro and Miho.

"Well..." Ryo was chuckling behind his datapad, "all I need is drink and food and I got lunch and a show," he chuckled even louder as he dodged the wrench that 'fell' out of Hiro's coveralls and into his hand and happen to start flying his way.

"That almost sounded like a declaration of love," Saori whispered to Hana, their backs turned to the display and slightly bent forward.

Then a pair of small tools struck both in their bottoms.

"ITEI!" both jumped up in surprise and pain.

Sighing, his merriment now gone, "You do know that wasn't much of a conspiratorial whisper there," Ryo sighed at both looking like caught little children with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Into your tanks now!" Chono Ami shouted as the instructor of these girls and watched as they all scrambled to their assigned armor and began to board while discussing how they were going to operate their tanks, "Teams with three people will have the Driver, Gunner, and Commander!" the captain stated as she began to feel excited again about the thought of teaching these girls the passion of tanks, "Teams with four will also have a Loader, while a team of five will also have a Radio Operator."

"What about us?" Azusa inquired waving her hand to indicated the M3 Crew, "We have six people in our team?"

Captain Chono was about to explain when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Ryo pointing at himself and then the M3 and its crew. The woman smiled and nodded, allowing him to step up and explain. She was curious just what this male might know about tanks.

"The M3 Lee and Grant variant of the the M3 Medium, both had a normal crew of six or seven," Ryo explained loud enough for all the girls in the hanger and tanks to hear him, "They had two Loaders, one for the hull mounted 75mm gun and the other for the turret mounted 37mm gun, if there was room," the First Years, aside from being girls, were also Japanese and the M3 was built with tall farmboy and streetwise Americans in mind, as was most American equipment of the time, "The M3 was built by the United States of America and used largely by the Allies, even the Soviet Army used the M3, even though the Red Army has height restrictions, American tanks were known for being 'roomy' by anyone's standards and especially so in Asia, except early tanks and Light Tanks prior to the M24 Chaffee which were generally roomy only for Asians," Ryo had once climbed into a M5 Stuart II, he wouldn't be doing that again, ever, "Available crew and their height were deciding factors."

"Is that all?" the captain asked, looking sly.

"There is also the fact that modifications were made," Ryo stated, continuing the lecture, "The Radio Operator position was eliminated and given to the Driver, this allowed one fewer person in the tank, leaving a pair of Loaders and Gunners, Commander, and Driver to handle the tank's functions," the First Years were looking rather well pleased with themselves, "Overall, for an interim tank, it did well in this role, smashing Panzer IIIs and IVs in North Africa and shocking the Afrika Korps and soldiering on successfully in the Pacific and CBI Theaters, ironically tearing up Japanese tanks and fortifications," he then shrugged, "But the issue of spalling or rivets being broken loose on shell impact to bounce around like shrapnel," the First Years were startled at that, "Coupled with the high design, placement of the main armament, and a few other issues were problems, though most problems were minor and/or resolved as time went by, though the Russians did add the nickname of Grob iz shesti brat'yev or 'Coffin of Six Brothers,' though in this case it seems that Grob shest' sester or 'Coffin of the Six Sisters' is better put, to the M3 Medium Tanks."

Now the First Years looked panicky about their tank.

"Though no worries, the hatches may open on the side, they can be welded shut later which did happen, but the hull is largely welded on the inside, the rivets are largely for show," Ryo added after a moment, "Plus this isn't combat rated ammunition, so it wouldn't be so dangerous, though there were concerns as we looked it over, but it is otherwise fine and sound, quite safer than the Panzer 38(t) or StuG III since it was in shelter all this time."

"WHAT?!" the two said tanks' crews shouted in unison.

"Well, it was in a storage place, kept from the elements," Ryo stated plainly, "But hey, no worries, or I'll have you out there in a halftrack or a Universal Carrier equipped with a 57mm instead and 2-pdr respectfully."

"You call that encouragement!" Momo looked about ready to chase him, but Chono only laughed loudly as she stepped forward.

"That's why we need to get you some starting experience now," the instructor indicated their tanks, "Even with this motley collection you could go all the way and win the International Finals easily against even better funded and equipped schools with just the right tactics after all."

The girls just nodded, wondering how much difference they would really get with just tactics, but Chono wasn't done yet.

"With time and experience, you'll be able to do much quite easily," then indicating the tanks again, "We may even be able to upgrade them with different equipment that might not have otherwise been given to these tanks when they first appear," she smiled as she clapped her hands and made a get moving motion with her hands, "It just so happens that such modifications are simply not done, but are not illegal as long as they fall within the established guidelines for safety and limitations on the equipment and technology used."

"Seriously?" Hiro walked up to her in surprise and Ami just nodded with a smile on her face, "Excellent!" Hiro jumped up and clicked his heels together.

"What's got you all excited?" Anzu looked surprised at the boy's sudden action of joy.

"I found some extra gun barrels in the Ordnance Building," Hiro's smile nearly split his face in two, "Not many, but they're definitely a few steps up!"

"Such as?" Ryo gave him a flat look.

And Hiro smiled wider, "How about a few extra 6-pdr guns fancy you?"

Ryo raised an eyebrow as he ran that through his head. They could swap out the BT-7's 45mm for a 6-pdr and if there was enough barrels, they could do the same for the Type 89B as well. In fact, switching out the Type 89B's 57mm for a 6-pdr was a very good idea. The 6-pdr was a 57mm gun as well, though it was a 57mm built for killing tanks. He was concerned on the other hand that there might be some loss of room in the turret, but not too much and they could potentially swap the turret too if what was said was true.

Such field modification could have occurred for all they know, but no one recorded them or lived to do so. It wasn't uncommon for tank teams to swap out weapons. Heck, the Israeli M-50 tanks were simply M4 Shermans given a French version of the 7.5cm PaK 43 and essentially underwent a Firefly upgrade with that gun. Under a technicality of that, they could make their own M-50 with a 7.5cm PaK 43 if they ever got a Sherman and the gun.

It would be more a matter of cost.

"We can discuss design modifications later," the captain clapped her hands, "For now, practical training experience to start things off, okay? Good!" she made a shooing gesture before going on about various facts about the tanks and what they needed to do.

The woman also passed out various maps to each team, though she was hesitant with Team G. The Comet crew seemed to immediately put her on edge, before she looked them over. Then she handed over a map and indicated for where they were to go. She was clearly not happy with that team, but she was willing to give them a shot.

Give or take how well they could shot in the first place.

Then with girls figuring out to get their tanks turned over and brought to life, it was somewhat comical as Ryo and Hiro listened in over the radio set in the observation tower.

"Alright then?" Chono nodded as the tanks began to rumble out and on the move, "Then all units..." she paused for effect, "Panzer Vor!"

"Panties fall!?" a few girls suddenly shouted in horrified shock.

And off the tanks went...

… About 15 minutes later.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Ten minutes later...

"Tell me that they did not just use Volleyball Speak to describe their actions," Ryo stated in disbelief even as Ami giggled at the various reports and commands.

"You think that's crazy," Hiro spoke up, "Listen to the StuG crew," Hiro shook his head, "How can they think that they could pull a Pinwheel Attack off in a StuG and by themselves is beyond me."

Ryo made a frown, that was one tactic he couldn't recall, "Just what is a Pinwheel Attack anyway?"

"Search me," Hiro switched to Team F's frequency, "Well the Crusader team is doing well, as expected."

Ryo was searching out the First Years and found it wasn't too hard as he sighed, "Those girls didn't secure their radio frequencies," he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "Plus they got the receiver set to low power."

"Team E is secured and at their location," Hiro stated, suddenly serious as he went through the frequencies, "Team G is also in place and ready, Team F has arrived and is securing themselves for further orders," the practice match was set to begin sooner than they thought.

"Team A is incommunicado," Ryo stated, "Probably forgot to check their radio and turn it on, but they are short a person," looking up at the digital TACMAP, "but they have reached their designated spot and- ah there! Team A is secured, radio on now,and secured as well," he checked the others, "Teams B and C have arrived and are standing by."

Captain Chono nodded as she watched the girls from the Automobile Club plot the locations of each team on a Plot Board. It didn't take long for Teams A through G to finally reach their designated points in fact. She was honestly surprised that Team G had arrived so quickly. They were clearly fast learners it would seem and highly intelligent, perhaps too intelligent and she guessed that the two boys agreed with her on that.

"All tanks positioned and standing by," Hiro reported to her as he was no longer slouched over, trying to listen in, he stood by with a professionalism that surprised the woman.

"Team A has their radio set to on and at normal strength, secured too," Ryo reported again after getting some white noise, "Team D has their radio up to normal strength and secured at last too," he sighed, what a troubling bunch.

"Whose your money on?" Hiro suddenly asked Ryo.

"If it was different, Team A, but F has a good chance," Ryo leaned back in thought, stretching his arms and popping his back against the back of his seat, "G also might be worth mentioning, but yeah, safe and even money on A, possibly F."

"So 50, 30, 15, and then broken up among the rest, ouch," Hiro already wrote off Teams C and E.

Team C he wrote off, though they had what it would take and had ideas about strategy, they were also clearly amateurs who would waste energy with historical phrases and other rookie mistakes.

As for Team E, he figured that Momo was too hot on the gun, too eager for the kill, and Anzu was too lazy to reel her in, but Hiro figured it had more to do with the fact they wanted to pressure Miho into command of the tanks.

Seriously, the idea of drawing lots was intelligent, but it was clear that Hana, like Miho, was just plain bad at driving in combat and hoped they found someone else as they would have budget problems next time if they did go through a wall or the armored doors. Saori was quick to get excited and prone to making rash choices and, frankly, was quite the talker. Only Yukari knew her limits and that she was quick to want to try things out, for such an excitable girl, she was more cool headed than Saori.

Actually, now that Hiro thought about it, Miho had told him about the Tank Store. Ryo, after he had been informed, had sent the girls from the Automotive Club there with a list of what to get. If it was a real tank parts store, they might just get what they needed, he suspected they would need a lot and Hiro agreed, plus there was that tank game in there.

'It must have taught her patience, accuracy, and tactical thinking,' as Hiro listened in as final checks were performed, his thoughts on the young tank nut, 'Maybe even strategic thought processes,' his musing was cut short when he realized he had Team F in his ears, "Sorry, lost in thought about my little sis back in a tank."

"Ah!" Branwyn's voice drifted over the radio, "Is t'e big brudder t'ere concerned for 'is li'l sis'der? 'ow sweet!"

"Oh cram it Branwyn!" Hiro's voice betrayed he found being teased about his sister's safety endearing after not being able to do so for some time, "Either way, all set?"

"Yep!" was the Welsh girl's response, "Jus' sid'ing wi' not'in bet'er ta do."

"Standby, looks like Instructor Chono is about to start," Hiro checked in on all his teams, for safety's sake and even teased Miho briefly over the radio, garnering a very shy and stuttered response.

"Hiro!" Ryo was all smiles to his eyes as the tribal marked boy just chuckled and concluded.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Outside the enclosed room of the observation tower, Chono Ami took up a pair of binoculars and took in the fields and grooves beyond. The seven tanks were correctly parked at their designated points and appeared to be sitting on standby. She had noted the time it had taken for them to reach their designated points. They had been rather quick for a bunch of new beginners at large.

"Well it looks like you've all arrived at your starting points." She said to the girls as a whole. "Now the rules are simple: you must knock out all other tanks. In other words, shoot up a storm and take out your opponents. Got it?"

"Kinda," Anzu replied with a laugh as she leaned back in her tank, not realizing she had just transmitted that.

"That's not something I hoping to hear from you madam president." Yuzu's voice mumbled to her, but still enough for the radio to pick up.

"You are aware everyone's receiving your words?" Hiro's voice came over the radio deadpanned.

"Tankery starts with a bow and ends with a bow," Ami said into the radio, cutting the chatter off, "All participants bow…" Though they couldn't see them from where they were...

XxXxXxXxXxX

All crews did as ordered and bowed to one another, even though none of them could see one another. They also thanked one another for the match they were about to have. Then they rose up and waited.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Now let the match begin!"

And she shot a flare into the sky overhead.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Don't look so bothered Hiro," Ryo noticed his friend shifting nervously, "We both agreed she'll need this and will be better for it," despite his words, Ryo's leg was bouncing up and down with nervous energy as he waited for things to actually begin.

"I wish we could have told her, I really do," Hiro was no stranger to holding out on information, but this was tearing into him since it was hitting so close to home.

Ami chose that moment to walk in briefly, the tanks were only maneuvering and she could see that they were actually all doing well. She heard the discussion between the boys and became curious and stepped up.

"We didn't tell Miho that Team A is being singled out by Teams B, C, D, and E," Hiro looked ready to simply stand up and pace, but the reality was, that Ryo had already disconnected his radio and hid the keys to their vehicles, "Teams F and G were formed too late to be brought in on the plot."

"I see," Ami's look was clearly unhappy, but understanding, "So last year really got to her."

"Nearly died trying to pry that hatch," Ryo reported as he was now drumming his fingers across his arm, "I was the one who pulled her out of the water along with the team that went into the drink," Ryo was nervous energy himself, "She managed to pop the hatch just enough that they were able to force it and get out, but they were in for too long and almost drowned, hell, I was passing out when the first rescuer grabbed my arm and pulled me up and onto the rescue barge," Ryo had dealt with death being close, but drowning, there was just something about it that was more terrifying than a rocket barrage, "I'll take a Stuka attack over drowning any day of the week."

"I didn't know that," Hiro shifted, "How'd you avoid being discovered?"

"Played the right cards," was Ryo's only response.

Ami and Hiro only nodded while the girls from the Automotive Club remained silent on what they heard.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"I can't reach!" Saori complained after she was convinced to kick Hana in the shoulder to indicate direction.

"Well, it was a Japanese Army practice," Yukari admitted in embarrassment after supporting Miho trying to get Saori to do so, "But this is a German tank and the gun and length would be issues," even Yukari couldn't reach Hana without seriously trying.

"Ooohhhh!" Saori began to furiously rub her hands through her hair, "So what can we do?!"

Hana brought the tank to a stop as they discuss the matter. As the discussion was continuing, there was a sudden blast that startled them all and especially so scared Saori.

"What was that?!"

Miho popped her side hatch and looked out and then around and that was when she saw the heat dissipation in the air and looked down.

Because Hana had stopped the tank in the way she did, the shot had barely missed them by a couple of meters. She then looked up and behind, gazing into the trees since it was opened to the front and the impact crater was angled from a shot from behind.

It didn't take her long, for there it sat.

The Type 89B I-Go Otsu and its barrel was still smoking.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Wow..."

"Such power..."

"I want to spike like that..."

The sound of another round going in, even though the official leader was just as entranced by the shot, brought them back to motion, but it was still slow going. It was shocking to the team just how powerful the 57mm gun was. While compared to most modern guns, it was very weak, the crater was no joke. Still, the shot they fired hadn't score a hit.

And if it didn't score a hit, that meant they didn't score at all.

They couldn't accept that!

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Miho got back inside the tank to let them know what was happening outside. Naturally though, Soari began to panic and ordered that they get away. Hana had barely started the tank moving when the Type 89 fired again, but since Hana was practically stomping on the gas, the Mark IV took off with a lurch and barely missed being hit by the second shot that cratered where they had been the moment before.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

As the Mark IV started running, inside the StuG III, they could see the battle starting. They all knew of the deal, save for Teams F and G. Erwin stated they would support and aid the Type 89 as agreed and Caesar remarked a historical quote.

"This does want again?" a new voice suddenly inquired and the distinctive roar of the 77mm HV could be heard as the StuG III bounced from a glancing hit that made them take off running to avoid the next shot.

"Oh! Right, that fires the main gun."

"Obviously!" Erwin growled as she leaned out to inspect the damage and saw a rent in the armor that would have to be fixed later, "Now I wish we had a Jadgtiger."

Her face couldn't be anymore flat even if she tried.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Wow!" Brandwyn remarked seeing the fleeing StuG, "A glancing 'it an' t'ey gots a migh'y long ren' in t'eir armor."

"Hmm," Ohana tapped her chin, before spotting the M3 meandering along, right behind the Panzer 38(t), "What do you two make of their movements?"

"A righ' trap, t'at's wot," Brandwyn stated before clearing her throat at the looks she was getting, "They be in company, you can bet that!"

Suzuki shook her head in disagreement of the tactic, "I know the volleyball girls are hard up, but the same is all around."

"So let's form a squadron and meet them in honorable battle," Ohana stated with a fan pointing to her the other 'team' in this battle.

"We'd be on the outnumbered side," Suzuki stated, but she didn't care, it would be a challenge.

"So were the Yorks at the Battle of Towton," Brandwyn supplied, "But then the Lancastrians exposed their flank to Yorkist reinforcements and their remaining leaders quit the field, abandoning their men."

"Then we shall be the Yorks in this battle," Ohana declared as she sought out the Comet on the radio.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"You're kidding me?!" Ryo shouted into the radio in shock and anger, "I swept the fields myself and placed the warning signs too!"

"What's wrong?" Ami stuck her head in, leaning back to observe the battle before continuing, "Is it that girl that jumped onto the Mark IV?"

"Yep," Hiro supplied, having heard the same, "Ryo is mad because she slipped by him and was napping in the training grounds."

"As long as she wasn't hurt," Ami went back outside to watch and hear.

"F and G have joined and are moving together," Hiro reported as he checked the battle himself, "Looks like a truce has been called."

"Red Rose versus White Rose," Ryo supplied, he had picked up the communique earlier, but only enough to know they were discussing the War of the Roses, "Seems like Kadotani's plans aren't as she planned."

"The Crusader is going to be on time to link up, but the same can't be said of the Comet," Hiro supplied and Ryo winced and spoke.

"Battle of Towton. Estimates place the number of combatants in the 60,000 area on the low side and in single day of snow and wind, saw the total destruction of the Lancastrian army there and they were the bigger force by factors of 5 or thereabouts."

"Ouch," Hiro replied before, "They've reached the bridge. Can they cross it?"

"Let's hope for no repeat," Ryo stated as he remembered the year before, "Or a Bridge over the River Kawi."

"Worse yet," Hiro nodded in agreement as he spoke, "A Bridge Too Far."

"Yeah," Ryo looked worried, "Definitely not that."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The Mark IV was beginning to cross the bridge, Miho guiding the tank and Hana doing her best to drive. They had time between the shots from the StuG III and the Type 89. They had to hurry and get across the bridge or else...

The distinctive sound of a 6-pdr cannon firing as the six pound projectile struck the StuG and blew a wheel off, but failed to disable the assault gun.

"What!?" Saori turned to see Ohana waving as smoke softly left the Crusader's main gun.

"Teams B and E are to the front of you, be careful," Suzuki informed Team A as she took aim with the 6-pdr and on Ohana's command, fired again, but the StuG managed to back up all the same, "Damn!"

Hana through all the shooting kept a firm eye on Miho, doing her best to follow the experienced girl's directions. But she drove the Mark IV too far to the left and it began to scrape against the steel wire support.

"AH!" Yukari made a noise at seeing something behind them, "Incoming Izumi-dono!"

The Type 89 fired a burst of machine gun fire to find the range, the rounds bouncing off the steel armor of the tank, but forcing people to duck. With that done, the volleyball club members fired the 57mm gun next, but Hana managed to bring the tank around enough that instead of the engine, the round bounced off the rear armor at an angle. Unfortunately, Hana had accidentally started tearing at another wire support at the rear of the tank and the hit jostled the AFV enough to finally cut through and begin to throw them off balance.

Then the StuG fired, but another 6-pdr shot hit it squarely in the flank, though not in the right place to knock it out. The 75mm round though, was sent off course before it could leave the barrel. The result was that it stuck the right side of the tank's rear and shoved it violently to sit squarely on the suspension bridge.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Type 89!" Erwin growled into the radio, "Do something about the Crusader!"

"ROGER!" the four girls replied as one and energetically.

"Too much energy," Oryou stated with a shake of her head.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The Type 89 backed up and then turned to meet the Crusader Mark III. The two tanks were both equipped with 57mm guns, but the Crusader had an anti-tank version as opposed to the infantry support 57mm in the Type 89. Both tanks began to maneuver, but the Crusader was also a Cruiser tank, meaning mobility was something it was built for.

Unfortunately, the weight of the Crusader's better gun's rounds meant that the Type 89 could get off more shots. Both began to trade fire with the Crusader suddenly stopping, facing its opponent. The 89's 57mm rounds bounced off the frontal armor of the Crusader, but the return fire was slow and the Type 89 dodged, just barely though.

The Mark IV suddenly gave a lurch backwards, before straightening itself out and now it was not only squarely on the bridge, but righted too. The three tanks were unaware of what was happening. The only thing they knew was that the Mark IV was suddenly moving very effectively and confidently with skill and precision.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Whose driving the Mark IV?!" Ryo shouted in disbelief at how the tank had righted itself and then charged forward, dodging fire from both the StuG and a suddenly interested Type 89, "No way that can be Izumi-san!"

"It ain't," Hiro supplied as he also observed the tank's sudden transformation into a mobile platform, "Teams B and E have begun to round the bend."

Chono Ami just smiled as she watched the Mark IV turn itself around and seemingly sort itself out.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The Crusader took advantage of the enemy's attention to finally get a good sight on the Type 89 and fire. The six pound shot was clean and struck the Japanese tank cleanly on the flank. Smoke appeared from the hit and a little hatch on the turret popped open releasing a little stand with a white flag attached to it.

"Finally you bugger!" Brandwyn cheered as her two teammates also cheered, but the StuG was still left.

Though now, seemingly re-energized itself, the Panzer Mark IV Ausf. D came to a halt on in the middle of the bridge and the turret began to rotate. It was a race to see who could shoot first. The StuG had to adjust itself, it was already a lost caused to the crew, but they wouldn't be giving up. Then their AFV made a sound that shocked them and then the right track snapped!

"The Crusader's shot!" Erwin shouted already realizing what happened.

The Mark IV, Yukari on the trigger, fired.

"Just like in many a battle," Erwin stated as the 75mm round from the Mark IV struck them in the front and smoke filled the crew compartment.

The little right flag on the StuG gently shifted in the light wind.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Dang!" Anzu looked at the sight of two knocked out tanks, "Team B, take the Crusader before they can maneuver, we got Team A as planned," and she signed off, hearing confirmation from the M3 which moved to engage the Crusader.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"That's it for the Crusader," Hiro remarked as one of the Auto girls placed a mark on its avatar, showing it was out of action.

"A 75mm to its flank, I'm not surprised even though the 37mm bounced," Ryo stated as the 38(t) was then marked as defeated.

"Where's the Comet?" one of the girls suddenly asked, as they had no idea where it was.

XxXxXxXxXxX

The tank in question suddenly burst through the foliage, having gotten lost on the way by accident. The crew though, still hadn't enough experience and only managed to ram the M3. The result was rather shocking.

Both tanks had little white flags fluttering above them.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"You've gotta be kidding me," Ryo deadpanned at the sight.

Hiro said nothing as he just stared.

XxXxXxXxXxX

A recon drone flew over the battlefield. It showed a bird's eye view of six disabled tanks and one victorious tank. It looked more like some kind of Online Massive Multiplayer RPG than an actual training exercise.

"Teams B, C, D, E, F, and G," Instructor Chono's voice was filtered over the radio, "All disabled, Team A of Second Platoon is the winner," and the woman lowered her binoculars, "Congratulations Second Platoon on your win."

It may not have been the desired exercise, but the girls had learned.

The crew of the Mark IV opened their hatches and stuck their heads up in disbelief. All around them were six disabled tanks. Two were joined, one was battered, and three others all had a single hole in their outer armor. The Panzer 38(t) had been the strangest, with an actual glowing hole, an indication of the power of the 75mm gun against the Czechoslovakian designed tank.

"We won?" Saori asked, a little awed and a little shocked.

Before anyone could say or do anything, Yukari practically tackle hugged Miho.

"You did it Nishizumi-dono!" the girl shouted out happily and despite herself, Miho felt rather warm and happy herself.

"We won?" Saori questioned in a trance of disbelief.

"Ah!" Yukari suddenly shouted as she released Miho and bowed down so fast, it was a wonder she didn't hit the tank hull, "I lost myself there for a moment Nishizumi-dono, forgive me!"

"So we are victorious?" Hana questioned herself ignoring Yukari, finding the girl's energy to be enjoyable.

"More like the last team was taken out by our allies in a kamikaze attack," Reizei Mako stated with a neutral expression that sounded like she just woke up and wasn't firing on all cylinders herself, despite the fact that the jet haired, coal eye girl was sitting in the driver's seat.

"Was that even by design?" Saori looked a little put out by how that happened.

"I don't think so," Hana stated looking at it, "They almost missed, if the M3 hadn't backed up."

"All teams standby," Chono began speaking, "Ryo and Hiro are on their way out to pick you up, but good battle everyone."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

A couple of hours later, everyone stood at attention in line and rank as Chono looked them over. Most of the girls were filthy from having their tanks knocked out. A few others had mud and grass stains from where they had fallen after dismounting their tanks. Only the Pz. IV crew looked presentable and clean.

"Good job, you do great!" Chono praised all the girls, "I noticed some work needs to be done, but you all have a great start I'm surprised!" as she smiled at the gathered girls, "Teams F and G, you really surprised, especially you Team G," Chono smiled at the surprised girls, "You showed me that you can operate the tanks, you just need some confidence and that will come with time and experience, no different from anything," she nodded, "Just believe in yourselves a little more and then you will do well."

For some reason, the five girls felt themselves perk up, feeling warm in their chests at hearing that praise.

"Thank you Instructor Chono-dono!" the five bowed as one, feeling rather happy.

"You girls owe your selves the thanks, just time is that is needed," then Chono turned to the girls of the Crusader Cruiser Tank, "You three especially well," she praised again, "Are you sure you didn't compete for other schools before?" she asked teasingly and the girls giggled and shared a look that said nope!

"Thank you Instructor Chono-dono!" the girls also bowed, though Bradwyn was still getting the hang of a proper bow.

And then Chono Ami looked over to the stars of the girls that afternoon, "and you Team A," the five looked a little straighten up as they were addressed, "A slow start, but once you sorted your selves out and found your driver, you did extremely well, better than one would think considering how you started out.

Yukari looked to be in paradise as the praise was given, while Saori and Hana looked happy, and Mako kept her face neutral, but she stood a little taller still. Miho didn't look all that much different, feeling a little lower though. She just didn't know what to think.

And as if she were reading the girl's thoughts, "Miho-chan, you did especially best of all," Ami smiled and Miho looked surprised, "You belong in command, a lonely position, but a good position when supported by friends and colleagues," then turning her head a little, "and especially when supported by family and loved ones," Ryo did his best not to blush as he smiled while Hiro put a hand behind his head and stuck his other hand out in a 'V' for victory with a big goofy smile on his face.

Miho felt warmth that she hadn't felt in a long time suddenly enter her chest and she shyly smiled with a shy nod and Ami felt she had helped her grow up a little.

"Okay," Ami clapped her hands together, "We're worry about working out the trouble spots everyone has over the next couple of weeks as we get everyone registered and ready, during which time your tanks can get a full overhaul and full maintenance check," she looked around at the girls, "During which time you can further your studies and get in some more physical training as well as learn the various nuasinences behind tank operations."

All the girls nodded.

"With that out of the way now," Chono began to wrap happily, "Graduations on today's exercise and I'll see you all tomorrow, details will be sent out and know that you can always call, text, or e-mail me for any advice you might need or concerns you have."

With that said, Anzu called all the girls through the proceedings and then dismissed them.

Once the girls began to leave, Ami turned to the two boys.

"Get some rest too," she sternly ordered, "I can make arrangements for the tanks to get some general repair tonight and detail work can be done over the week."

"Very well Captain Chono," Ryo responded, actually kind of glad at being excused from work, "I haven't had the time to actually tour the ship per se, so that'll work out."

"Yeah tell me about," Ryo responded and gave a half hearted salute, "Thank you Ami, see ya around?" the young man smiled warmly.

"Sure thing," Ami smiled back and actually leaned in, surprising both boys with a kiss to the the cheek each, "Thank you for being here for them and Miho especially."

"Always," Hiro stated with a smile as he returned the favor and Ryo only smiled with a nod.

And with that, the three headed about their business for the night.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Later that evening, the groups were enjoying a time at the local bath house. Ryo and Hiro were in their own section, though they could hear the talking from the female side. The two wandered out into an open air bath that gave a good look of the sea all around the ship. It was a raised position, surrounded by open gardens and a traditional wooden wall that kept onlookers from looking in, especially if there were ladies, though Ryo knew that women were just as likely as men.

They were just more reserved and unexpected.

"Beautiful," Hiro stated observing the clear skies above, "The world has changed since the last war."

"Yep," Ryo responded, eying the beautiful sky too, recalling his history of the last major war, only a few decades ago, the Global War of nations, organizations, terrorists, and more waging an unrelenting global conflict before those who fought for freedom finally brought it to heel.

"You don't think it ended," Hiro read his friend's mind, "Do you?"

"Evidence points that those responsible were either killed or able to regain control and end it," Ryo stated as he watched the stars, "Otherwise the UNSC wouldn't have the military might it has now."

"Objective?" Hiro sighed in both pleasure and annoyance.

Ryo's lips quirked upward, "Global control," he responded easily, "It hasn't changed, not one bit, only we seem to be getting the upper hand and so the Second Global War is gearing up."

"Well damn," Hiro responded to that anylasis and he didn't doubt his friend, "I sired my kids into a world that is supposed to be peaceful, not war locked."

"We'll win," Ryo stated with definite, assured tone, "The smart ones aren't alive any longer and all the new blood is all the kind unable to handle the responsibilities of controlling the world as is and some might actually take to helping to build it into a new world of which we will see."

"You sure sir?" Hiro addressed his friend as he was really, "Even for a general that is hard Brigadier," the response would tell much.

"We are but a moment's away from death, even in the peace of sleep, death will embrace eternally, let us decide our futures meek as mice or are we the mouse that roars like as a lion and embraces the existence of life to fullest extent so that when our time invariably comes, we can look back and say, yes, we lived?"

Chuckling, Hiro poured some sake into a pair of saucers before holding his up, "For tonight, let us live indeed!"

Collecting the other and doing the same, "For adventure, life, and the journey, let's!"

And the two knocked their drinks back, savoring the warm feeling.

XxXxXxXxX

"Huh?" Miho wondered what was just said, but shrugged, she was enjoying the baths and it was so much fun with friends as they sat down and she reached over for some water, but Bradwyn suddenly stole it.

"Nope!" instead she held up another bottle, "Since we can't be having a nip of good cheer, we'll see who can drink a saucer of soft drink and not cough up!"

Miho only blinked but nevertheless, each girl passed the bottle around and then with saucers full and a written promise that had been texted off keeping Mako in the Pz. IV, they held up their saucers and then knocked back their drink.

XxXxXxXxX

The two young males sat, drinking a little carefully each. They couldn't get pissed face drunk after all. Even City Ships had age caps and they were technically under it. Though, when you see your men and friends dying around you in the hell of war and combat, rules should be bent. Hiro reached for another bottle to pour himself a drink, but instead.

"Soda?" he blinked in surprise.

"ERGH?!" came a number of female voices from the rocks behind them.

"Oh hell," Hiro stated, though he was surprised when Ryo simply stood up and looked over the rocks and got a full view of Miho trying to stand as she wobbled.

"Hiro, check the listings for this bath will you?" Ryo reached over and studied the leader of the Pz. IV.

"O-kay," and the tribal marked commander of tanks did so and blinked, as he checked the listings and times, "It's uh..."

Ami beat him too it.

"It's mixed bathing for the rest of the night," the woman stepped in, not even bothering with a towel and showing off a body that could kill as good as her gunnery skills in a tank, "Thought I'll share with some fellow TOWNHOUSE veterans," she held up a couple things of British Beer and some containers of sake as she sat down next to Hiro who only chuckled.

"Mother would have a fit," but Hiro was a grown boy now, a man who had looked into the hellfires of war and survived its searing touch as he popped the top on a couple of beers with a stunt he mastered after watching a movie once, "One for the lady, one for me, and Ryo! Catch!"

Ryo did as Miho finally noticed the naked male holding her up. Her face went blank, then sheer crimson scarlet. Before she could say or do anything, Hiro stepped up and forced a saucer of sake into her hand.

"Bradwyn, care for the hard stuff?"

"Does the crown sit on royal heads!" she replied and caught the fourth open beer, "You wee lasses can enjoy the sake until you're fine and ready," the Welsh girl moved over, not caring about showing off her own body, hidden often by makeup and clothing, the jagged scars were there for the world to see, a reminder of a happy moment reduced to a nightmare by flash and heat.

The remaining girls of the Pz. IV and the Crusader were just gawking as the four shared backstories and chatted like old friends. On both Hiro and Ryo's right shoulders were tattoos of Oceanside Boys Academy of Military Science.

"ACK!" Saori made a noise then shouted, "Shouldn't you two be elsewhere?!"

"Hardly," Ami chuckled as she leaned back, her exposed front doing things that made several of girls slightly nervous about their own, "It is mix bathing right now," she chastised, "You should have checked the schedule and not taken the boys' sake by mistake."

Saori was about to complain when Ohana took a saucer of sake and began to sip at it. Before Saori could say something, Tomoko was also knocking a saucer back, doing so hard too. Then Hana decided to follow suit as she moved and sat next to Hiro, drawing his attention.

"Oh?" he looked her in the eyes, "You serious?"

The response was only a nod of conviction.

Smiling softly, he put an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. Hana chose to lean in close, softly drinking her sake. That close she could feel Hiro's muscles under his skin and he was rock hard. She was honestly surprised at that, but like the warm feeling when a tank's gun fired, she really felt a warm glow in her heart and she could feel the warmth that Hiro radiated.

Ryo merely drank, Miho quietly and shyly sipped her sake. She wondered what she was supposed to do. Her new friend was obviously becoming taken with her brother and her, she sat, naked and next to an also naked Ryo who drank a harder drink then her sake. Yet, she felt a kind of happiness in the awkard moment as the girls loosened up and began to drink their sake, Bradwyn enjoying her native drink and Captain Chono as Ami Chono was also drinking well enough.

By culture and tradition, they should have been separated and kept that way. But Ami seemed to insist that the girls get together for a night of light drinking and bond. She stated that they shouldn't have more than a bottle for a whole, though tonight was special, she expected them to find ways to always have time to find something to do. She informed them as well that they should consider how they would be in their own groups and even alone. That camaraderie didn't always mean they had to be by their sides, so long as they knew they supported one another.

Everyone agreed with the sense of the idea. Though it felt strange to be bonding naked in a public bath, but strangely, no one else walked in. Which was probably good, because it became clear that Hiro and Hana had a little too much to drink and were lip locked with things moving along.

Fortunately, Ami was still the adult of the group and broke that up. Then checking the time, she decided that everyone had to head off to home and to bed. There was agreement to that as they all began to work their way out.

Then Saori had a thought, whether by drunkenness or not, would have to wait until the next day.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Miho and Ryo waved to Hana and Hiro as the two wandered off to Hana's apartment. Ryo figured that Hana might have a slight limp the next morning, something that lit up Miho's face. She began to stammer out how that was wrong, until a finger landed on her lips.

"Your brother is smarter than that," Ryo leaned in close to Miho, he spoke next to her ear, "He'll ensure it isn't the sake talking or acting," the two began a slow walk themselves.

As they walked back to Miho's, Ryo as an escort, they walked in silence. Miho unable to bring herself to speak to Ryo on many things. She wanted to know more of what he had been up to. She would like to know about the tattoos he and her brother spotted. She was curious as to how they knew Bradwyn so well, how they could get along with her. She just wanted to know things.

"After a while," Ryo began as he thought how he would speak. It was really hard as he thought about it. How does one relate that they really came to their ex-intended and explain that he was spying for the UNSC, gathering intelligence and trying to protect the Oorai-Meidan from a group planning a still yet not uncovered military campaign that would likely lead to a major war. It was tough to say the least. Still, he knew how to speak about some things.

"Bradwyn's brother, myself, and Hiro all attended a UN Security Command academy," Ryo began again as he thought it out, "Oceanside Boys Academy of Military Science," he chuckled, "We were planning to poach on your turf, Sensha-dou, but as Cannon Cockers, not as Spam in a Can," he saw the look on her face and then she realized what he meant and she pouted quite cutely, "Ahaha!" he laughed lightly at her face and for the first time in a long time, deeply genuine emotions were on his face and this made Miho smile herself.

From there, it was easier, much easier. After all, his reason was right beside him as they walked, talking like a normal couple. Miho in her school uniform and Ryo in a throwback design of a military uniform modified to for school service rather than military.

It was blue and green American design based on the World War One uniform. He wore a blue with green trim service coat over a normal green blue trim issue shirt, the collar was over the edge of the service coat, like the forebearer of the previous century to prevent chafing at the neck. He wore green with blue trim service trousers with blue with green trim leggings over the issue black boots. He had a black Sam Browne Belt on and was wearing instead of the WW2 Crush Hat which looked like a normal peak cap, it was a blue and green trim Garrison Cap, also known as the Overseas Cap and Side Cap.

He looked more military, if colorful, than other uniform wearing school boys. He almost looked like her intended again. Like an officer of some distant past period saying farewell to his love before shipping off to some distant battlefield.

It was rather romantic and just behind them, far enough back to not be seen and close enough to see, Saori was already agreeing to that appearance.

Needless to say, it was a peaceful walk for the two, ending in a kiss on Miho's cheek as Ryo walked back to the 'Barracks,' the sleeping quarters he and Hiro had in the tank largar.

XxXxXxXxXxX

At precisely 0600 hours, Ryo began to blow Taps as Hiro fired at precisely 0605 the ceremonial cannon.

Two hours later, all the girls were stumbling in. It was clear, none of them liked the wake up call. Nevertheless, they came in, Mako included, but how Saori managed to be bright this early in the morning is unknown to most.

After all, of those who had a drink last night, only Mako, Ohana, Tomoko, and Yukari were clearly suffering an after effect. Hana didn't have a slight limp, but it was clear that she was walking on Cloud Nine. Miho looked like she had a slight case of post-drinking next morning, not enough in any case of the girls to term a hangover, and seemed to be well and about.

Bradwyn came marching in as fine as could be. Then again, the English loved their pints and quarts. A bit of nip here and there. They were about match to the Germans on beer, a funny irony.

When Ami showed up, she had only a mild headache. The cause was not English Beer, but a late night call from her superiors. Apparently someone claimed there had already been a serious accident. Two tanks had collided and there were a dozen injured. She reported two tanks collided and only mild bruising at worst in a training exercise that had left the tanks in need of repair as the two major casualties.

They confirmed her receipt of report and demanded to know about the girl nearly ran over. When informed said girl had wandered by all warnings and was ditching class, she was released of responsibility. Especially after the report of the girl now joining the Sensha-dou Team and added that she was a very natural and skilled driver, one the JGSDF would want to try to entice into service when she graduated.

The reports went back and forth and pretty much ended any concern.

That had taken several hours and it showed with a mild headache.

"Good morning everyone!" Ami began gently enough.

"Good morning Instructor Chono!" the girls all bowed to her.

"Very good that you all are here," Ami began as she looked the lines over, "For today, we're start off with a little morning PT and from there, you will take time to do your studies and then afterward another lighter round of PT followed by some bookwork on learning the ins and outs of your tanks and tank history," the girls all groaned as Ami giggled, "Don't worry, I'll be with you each step of the way, right Ryo?" she smiled and the boy nodded before stepping forward.

"We do not have a course properly set-up," he announced and the girls all gulped, except the track girls, volleyball girls, history girls, and Yukari, "So it will be normal PT warm-ups followed by a hike, and the cooldown exercises and back to class," he announced, taking a look at his datapad, "Should only take you two hours at worst, next time show up earlier, an hour's extra time to shower and dress will allow you to present yourselves as the pride of the Oorai All Girls High School," he finished his announcement as he spun on his heel and marched back to his spot.

"That's good to hear, so let's get things started, to the locker room!" Ami ordered and the girls complied, normally the Sensha-dou team would be housed in 'barracks' -read dorm life- or if their homes were particularly close, with their families.

Now the barracks belonged only to Hiro and Ryo and as such, the Oorai girls had everything scattered about as normal girls would.

"Hit the song?" Hiro asked suddenly.

"Crank it up Hiro," Ryo responded and the song started up as they took out their tools and joined the Automotive Club girls on tank maintenance and repair.

"I'm in over my head!"

The girls came out in a hurry, some still pouting the shorts up and shirts down. Ami Chono was already ready in her PT gear. In seconds the girls were doing their warm-ups.

"They wanna try and build me up, so they can tear me down!

I wish I could be back there, but I'm right here right now!"

Ryo coordinated the tank repairs and spoke on the phone, finally having found Perry, real name Pierre Françoise Marie Gaston De Watt. He is the second son of the De Watt Conglumerate and they have a section devoted to maintaining Chemin de la Char or 'The Path of the Tank.' As such, Perry as he became known, much to his annoyance, agreed to take the S35 in and have it looked at and repaired. He stated that it may serve at first as a training tank, but he knew that Ryo already had a plan to make it a frontline tank.

"They've taken everything that I had to give them!

They say it is over, but hey man I'm still here livin!

I don't know what to do, I think I maybe..."

"Merci Pierre, je vais attendre pour votre oiseau puis!" Ryo stated in passable French, it was a little grating and nasally, but he had come a long way from butchering it.

"Naui chingu , dangsin-eun geogjeong haji anh-adodoebnida ,hajiman nan daegalo butag-eulhanda," Pierre responded, he was actually in Mali, helping a local Chemin de la Char team get started.

"Vous avez besoin de se demander," Ryo replied, he wasn't going to pass up a chance to practice his French.

"Nae dongsaeng-i jigeum siljelo haggyo e jeonsong doebnida , dangsin-eun geunyeoui gaib eul-wihan junbileul hal su issseubnikka?" Pierre wasn't about to pass up the chance to practice his Korean.

"Je crois que je peux prendre des dispositions, le Panzer 38 (t) est l'abréviation d'un membre d'équipage en ce moment," Ryo replied, knowing it might be a bit of a hassle, "Vous espérez que j'ai un autre char de combat pour elle de fonctionner ou que vous espérez qu'elle va commander le S35?"

"Naneun dangsin-i sudo , dangsin-eul algoissda," Pierre responded before yawning, he was hours behind Ryo and the Oorai-Meiden.

"J'ai des raisons de croire qu'un char de combat, B2bis modèles, pose quelque part," Ryo responded.

"Geuleom uli neungigab 38 ( t)neun chekoui taengkeu ibnida joh-eun il hab-ui!" Pierre chuckled on the other end.

"Que nous sommes, je vais faire des arrangements dès que j'en ai l'occasion, bien dormir Pierre," Ryo concluded.

"Dangsin-eul gamsahago i dangsin ui pal-e neomu nae chingu wa donglyo ege jeulgeoun halu," and with that, Pierre hung up to sleep a little.

"I'm in over my head

Stuck in the red

Something they said

Make me think that I'm in..."

"Over my head," Ryo thought aloud, "Just maybe."

XxXxXxXxX

Second chapter done. Sorry that took so long. I got started on an old Guntech project and was working on Gear of Zero. For some reason, I feel like bashing Guiche early on. Probably his attitude needs some altitude adjustment in my book.

Things have begun to heat up and some things are out early. For those with questions, I'll only answer reviews that have something to do with the performance, not the storyline. So you'll have to wait there mates.

As for the mixed bathing moment. I know it's supposed to be cute. Unfortunately, I'm not good with cute. That and it has a ripple effect.

Trying to hammer out a timeline on this. The sheer size of the ship and the tech in it, makes it very much mid to late 21st century, bordering on the 22nd Century. So I'm also working on a dating system, to give a sense of time and place in this whole thing. I do hate it when no calendar systems are used and if they are, not very well fleshed out.

So we have two tanks not in, two more that are in, and things building up even now. So I hope you enjoy this story and yes, I'm gonna try to keep the cute, but don't hold yer breath. I don't do cute. I do what I do.