The first thing that greeted Miho as she exited the plane was the strong, chilly wind striking at her face and blowing her hair. Thank goodness, she thought, if Lucius-san had not led us through the clothes store, her and her friends would be practically freezing to death in this weather. She looked around the tarmac on which the transport had landed; she could not get a good enough view from the plane since she was in an aisle seat, and the windows themselves had fogged up during the transit.
About 500m slightly left of her, was a complex of grey and white buildings, with windows about half the size of what she was used to seeing in buildings. Two were long, narrow, and extended up to three storeys, two were of wider construction but at only two floors, all of which were connected by a series of covered corridors. The wider buildings were placed in the centre, with the longer ones surrounding the former. In addition, a number of what could only be hangars, from their oval roofs, stood in two lines, a longer one bordering the right side of the entire complex facing a large clearing, and the shorter one lining the runway. An unbroken line of snow-covered trees closed the academy in, as if trying to swallow the school whole, save for a road that led out of the area.
"If you are all freshened up from the flight," Lucius began once he was in front of his crowd of visitors, "please, follow me to the Academy; I will introduce all of you to our Academy Chief Executive."
Anzu, who up until now had been quite unconcerned with Lucius' words, crunched up her face in confusion. "Academy Chief Executive? That just sounds…boring. Don't you have a Student Council?"
"We…did, and still do, but a very disastrous event led to almost all major decisions coming from the president, and the current Chief Executive renamed the position as such some time ago," came the response.
Momo added, "What could they have failed to a degree of such proportions?" In the background, Yuzu said as much, but in a softer, and a more polite tone than Momo.
"…Well, my job is to bring you to our Chief Executive, so I guess I should start doing that." The sudden cutoff startled Ooarai's Student Council, and everyone else who heard the conversation, but shrugged it off, deciding it was unimportant.
Miho took a step forward to follow her friends, but slipped on a patch of ice she did not notice, and fell down with a yelp, her back crashing onto the cold, hard, and rough tarmac.
Or, she would have, had Lucius, who was walking just to the right of her, not moved to aid her. He thrust his left arm under Miho's back and gripped her hand with his right, stopping her fall. In the process, his body ended up quite close to Miho's, their position resembling a frozen frame of a dance sequence. His stoic face that showed no evidence of any particular emotion save for a faint smile he always wore from the moment he first greeted Miho and her friends back in Vancouver. It contrasted heavily with Miho's deep crimson blush and a mouth that opened and closed repeatedly, as if it tried to let loose a protest but could not find the words. Yukari, who was walking slightly behind her, stopped in her step trembling, trying to decide between relief and anger.
"You should be more careful," Lucius said. After putting a blank-minded Miho back on her feet, he stared at the patch of ice she slipped on, he continued, "I will need to speak to whoever was responsible for keeping the runway clear. This could have been a landing aircraft spiralling out of control." He then motioned for the girls to resume following him, and continued to walk to the Academy buildings.
The interior of this Academy was certainly strange. Both sides of the corridor had classrooms, unlike Ooarai in which one side of the corridor was lined with windows to the outside. Oh well, it certainly helps with keeping the inside warmer, Yukari thought as she held onto her coat tighter, wincing at the brief exposure to the freezing outside weather, wincing at the prospect of having to fight in that weather. It was going to be like the Pravda match, all over again. Though the team should be better prepared for it this time, what with this Vimy Ridge Academy being responsible for most of the provisions.
In contrast to Yukari, to her surprise, Lucius had in fact taken off his coat once he entered the building to reveal a plain light blue button-up shirt and black pants. It was as if this weather did not face him in the least!
As Yukari continued to observe this odd representative with curiosity, she noted a group of three people nearing her school's Senshado club members. They stopped in front of Lucius. The one in the front, a girl, said something short to him, probably a greeting that was replied with a 'thank you', but in a completely passive tone. A second person, a boy this time, also talked, with a slight sneer in his face, responded with something in a slightly annoyed tone this time, by Lucius.
After the group passed behind her, she leaned towards Isuzu-dono, and whispered at her, "Isuzu dono, did you understand what the two of them said to Park-dono?"
Hana replied, "The first person said 'welcome back' to Park-san." She then added, in confusion, "and the second person said something about us being the ape's guests, to which Park-san replied to not call the Chief Executive by that name, especially in the company of guests such as these people."
Ape? That was certainly an unusual insult. For a second, Yukari wondered why the Chief Executive was insulted in that way. Maybe this person was particularly slow-witted, or had an attraction to bananas.
Yukari then noticed Lucius had once again stopped, this time in front of an entrance to a room with rows upon rows of tables and chairs. Smell of roasted food emanated from inside. She looked up, and saw a sign that read, "Cafeteria". Only then did she remember that they did not have a single meal since arriving in Canada.
"You all must be hungry," Lucius began, reflecting what Yukari remembered, and continued to speak as he removed a pocket watch from his shirt. "It's only 6:40 P.M., but for today, we will only have dinner, and then show everyone to their accommodations."
"That was a good dinner! And the chefs weren't bad to look at either," Saori exclaimed as the girls, having finished their meals, placed their plates and trays in a trolley left in the cafeteria.
"Yes, while the food was not quite what I was used to eating, it was delicious, and quite filling," Hana agreed, wiping her mouth with a tissue from a container from a condiment bar.
Then Mako spoke, in her bored tone, but with a bit of surprise mixed in this time. "Hm? Where did Lucius-san go? He's not here…"
Miho and Yukari scanned the cafeteria, viewing every place where their guide could be at to no avail. Instead, they spotted another boy, wearing a slightly worn-out brown leather jacket and beige winter pants. He was leaning against the wall, flipping a coin back and forth across his fist. Two white cords hung down from his ears. He looked up, and once he realized that the girls were finished with their meals, remove his earphones, placed his coin back into his pocket, and stood up.
He then spoke in English, "My name is Jack. Luke said he had something to do, and told me to bring you girls to your rooms. Follow me. Don't get lost. Oh, and he says sorry for leaving early," as he proceeded to exit the cafeteria, as if he expected them to follow immediately.
Saori puffed her face in discontent. "How rude! He is one boy that I am never going to be interested in!" Miho gave an uncertain laugh at his display, along with Yukari who shook her head in disapproval.
"At least he spoke in words easy enough to understand," Mako commented, "as long as we stay away from him, we'll be fine." She gave a slight glare at where Jack used to stand, showing in her own way her discontent with this Jack.
Their trip to wherever they were to stay during the exercises was wordless. Yukari could clearly see that this Jack was upset with something from his heavy steps and constant mumbling. Her schoolmates were not exactly at their happiest either, after Jack's almost hostile introduction. She felt that if someone made one mistake, everyone's patience would break and everyone would descend to…spirited arguments. Therefore, she was immensely relieved when they arrived at their living quarters-which turned out to be a section of a dormitory fitted with two-bed rooms without incident.
Jack opened his mouth for a second time since he introduced himself to the Ooarai girls. "You will sleep here," He continued, taking out a box and opening it to reveal room keys, "here are your keys. Organize yourselves into roommates, and take the key for the room you want to stay in. I will leave the box here. Good day." He finished his instructions, viciously spitting out the last word as if it hurt him to say it. He placed the box of keys on a table placed in the corridor and left.
Yukari silently hoped this was the last time she and her friends would never have to face that person ever again.
Saori spoke, trying to be understood above the chatter of others deciding on who would stay in the same room with whom. "I'll take a room with Hana. Miho, Yukari, it'll be alright if you two sleep in the same room, right?"
Yukari responded, "then what bout Reizei-dono?"
"I'll be fine with anyone…as long as they don't disturb me in any way while I sleep. But it's still a bit early…"
"But it has been a long day," Hana gently chided, "You should sleep as early as you can if you want to wake up at the right time tomorrow. After all, we are guests here; we don't want to be an inconvenience to Lucius-san and the president."
Mako brushed the criticism aside. "Right, right…see you tomorrow morning then."
The moment Yukari opened her eyes the next morning, she simply could not restrain herself. She wanted to see just what kind of tanks Vimy Ridge operated, and no one and nothing was going to get stop her in that quest. She washed up in record time, put on her clothing, including her new coat, and rushed outside to the hangars, presumably where the tanks were stored. She blindly tried to slam the gates open, and was disappointed to find out that every hangar gate had a padlock keeping them locked. She could see silhouettes of vehicles with guns sticking out of them from the tiny gaps between each door, so she was clearly in the right spot.
Pausing briefly to think who might hold the keys, she ran back into the dormitories and through its corridors, searching for a 'Lucius Park' on one of the doors. She eventually found it, and started to knock the door so hard she might as well have been slamming it with her fist.
The door slowly opened, Lucius came into view, in all the glory of someone who just woke up. His hair was a mess, his eyes were barely open, and he was clad in a worn-out set of short-sleeved shirt and shorts. He inquired in a quiet, raspy voice in English, "What."
Yukari immediately responded. "Please allow me to see your tanks parked in the hangar!"
Lucius turned his head slowly toward a clock, then back to her. Once again in English he said, "It's not even 6 o'clock yet…I will give a proper tour later today for everyone before the training starts, so can you please let me get my sleep until it is actually time to wake up?"
Only then did Yukari realize just how early in the day it was, and how much of a nuisance she must have been to this poor boy who was rudely awakened by an overenthusiastic girl. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment. "Sorry…" was the only word she could muster.
Despite the situation, Lucius couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I guess I should be sorry too. Heard just what Jack did yesterday. Should've picked someone else. He can be an absolute bastard when he is told to do something during his spare time."
Although Yukari knew she wasn't exactly an expert in English, but she was fairly certain Lucius, the polite and well-mannered boy who led them from Vancouver to this academy, just swore. She froze, startled, as Lucius closed his door, presumably to catch up on his lost slumber.
After everyone finished washing up for the morning and had their breakfasts, Lucius, in the same pattern of clothing he wore yesterday, brought everyone, including Vimy Ridge's tankers, to the row of hangars nearer to the Academy complex. In fact, they stopped in front of the same hangar Yukari tried to force open earlier in the morning. While Ooarai's girls stayed with Lucius, Vimy Ridge's tankers spread out to two other hangars and started to unlock them.
Yukari decide this was finally a good time, and asked, "So, what tanks do you use?"
Lucius, who was unlocking the padlock as she asked, answered while opening the gates. "We use…these."
Yukari's eyes bulged in glee. "Cromwell Mk. IVs and Comets! They have such great speed, and Comets have very capable 77mm guns! They are very good tanks...but why do you use them? I expected a Canadian school to use Rams."
"We did use Rams, but they were showing their limits in matches with more capable vehicles, so we decide to replace them some time ago. Likewise, sometime in the future, we plan to upgrade our Cromwells to Mk. VIIs. Not to mention, spare parts for Rams aren't exactly as widely available for repairs. We still have five Ram IIs in storage as reserve tanks, just in case we need them. Pity though, that's one more tank than we would have liked."
Caesar approached the foremost Cromwell, staring at the inscription on its turret. "VI Ferrata? This is supposed to mean the Roman 6th 'ironclad' legion, right? Why did you inscribe names of legions on your tanks?"
"It's just how we decided to identify one tank from the other. The reason why is not really important enough to talk about." He finished, and entered the Commander's cupola of the 'ferrata' tank, to Saori's, and everyone else's shock."
Saori shouted, "You ride a tank? A boy?"
Lucius, from his position in the cupola, answered, "Yes, Why?...Oh right, Tankery is seen as a womanly sport in Japan, is it not?" The girls could do nothing but nod. "I guess I have some more explaining to do after practises. But, such things are for later. Jack should have opened the hangar containing your vehicles; they arrived by truck last night." Lucius exited the tank, "Your tanks should be stored in the leftmost hangar."
At this moment, Miho remembered that they were one tank short. "Lucius-san, do you know if we may be able to burrow a tank not in use from your storage? One of our tanks has been permanently destroyed in our last match…"
"That is a serious problem," Lucius pondered for a moment, "You can use one of the Rams in storage for now. Follow me, I will show you to the vehicle." As he moved out of the hangar, he stopped, and gave a short chuckle. "Remember when I said almost everything that is motorized and is fully armoured is capable of taking part in Tankery in North America? Well, that rule allows the use of some types of vehicles that are not tanks at all…such as artillery." No sooner had he finished his sentence had a trio of armoured halftracks in white winter camouflage mounting a rack of short, wide tubes passed by.
Yukari could not believe what she was seeing. "Panzerwerfer rocket artillery!" Indeed, the halftracks that just passed by were German Heavy Military Tractors, Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper, mounted with Nebelwerfer 42 rocket launchers, a larger version of the infamous SdKfz. 4/1s.
These menacing machines instantly instilled fear into the freshmen team, one of them saying, "Ehhh? We're going to be shot at by rockets now?' The other teams were not exactly confident either.
Miho, wanting to keep their morale from plummeting like they had during the match against Pravda, spoke, "You don't have to worry! Rockets are not accurate, and after they fire, they take a long time to reload for another volley." Lucius, Yukari, and Erwin nodded.
"Well, we still have an extra tank to bring out, and other members of my team seem to be getting exasperated at our delays, so I suggest we do so as quickly as we can."
After everyone, including the volleyball team, climbed into their tanks, they followed a snow-cleared road into a large clearing. They passed by a sign that read, "Vimy Ridge Academy Training Ground". At a crossroad, tanks of Ooarai and Vimy Ridge separated, each heading to their own starting positions. It took some time, but everyone eventually reached the proper deployment zone.
Miho was giving last minute instructions to her team. "As Lucius-san said while we were moving, this is an annihilation-rule game. We have eight tanks on our side, and Vimy Ridge has twelve tanks. Three of them are the larger Comets, and the others are Cromwells. In addition, they have three rocket artillery pieces. Be careful everyone, their tanks are very fast and mobile; we should try to corner them, and pick them off one by one." All the girls cheered, wishing each other a good victory.
With nothing else to do, Miho started to do a countdown in her mind, eyes closed. About five seconds after she counted down to zero, a fireworks rocket screeched its way into the sky, exploding into a red ball.
She opened her eyes at the signal to begin, and shouted over the radio to everyone, "Panzer Vor!"
AN: this was a bit rushed towards the end from around where Yukari woke up in the morning; I wanted to finish this chapter before the end of Saturday. Hopefully the quality didn't deteriorate too badly. So how am I doing so far? Good? Bad? Any particular opinions?
P.S.: man, each chapter just gets longer and longer ^.^;. Finding a good place to end a chapter without sounding too abrupt is harder than I thought it would be…