Chapter 2: Try Outs
Looking at the current state of the vehicle she was commanding, Fauna sighed and decided things needed to change. She looked down at a clipboard that listed everything that she needed to do. Next to a very large box that needed to be checked, read in capital letters 'FIX THE DAMN THING'. Nothing else was listed, so she threw the board aside. "Alright, what the hell are we going to do with you?..."
She had driven the Ke-To outside of the garage, and parked it right in the middle of the small path that leads to the building. Outside was a forest, devoid of any other human structures, and the sounds of nature softly echoed throughout the area. Fauna breathed in heavily, feeling a breeze pass by, and quite noticeably by her thighs, which were inevitably still uncovered. The redhead had chosen to wear white today, and it matched her black tee, the end hanging just below the waistline.
She checked her watch, and it wouldn't be until a few hours for the other two to arrive. This left Fauna alone with the tank, to caress its metal hide, softly brush herself against the cannon, check its oil for leakage- No, she's just going to repair it. Taking some tools from the shop, she began to get to work, getting the tank back into perfect shape.
Yawning still, Sarah walked down the forest path, eying the birds that had already begun their day's way beforehand. The early bird gets the worm, right? She stopped dead in her tracks when she arrived at the garage, the bag in her hand dropping with a soft puff. Her mouth was gaping, and she couldn't manage to say anything.
"Ah…. Ahchoo!" Someone sneezed from inside the tank, and Fauna popped out of the turret hatch, her hair looking like a mess, despite some of it being tied behind her. "Gah, 'ello Sarah, have a nice morning?" The tank looked factory fresh with a clean coat of Post 1942 Imperial Japanese Army camo. The tracks looked like new rubber, and the running gears looked well-oiled and also coated with camouflage.
"H-How… How the hell...?" Fauna jumped off the tank quickly, and put a finger to Sarah's lips. "I had some time on my hands." There were footsteps from behind, and Albert, wearing a skirt and sweater vest despite his claims that he was still a boy, greeted them. "Good morning Sarah, Faun-aaaaa?" He had seen the tank, and took it by surprise. Fauna repeated the gesture she had performed on Sarah, and they both shut up.
"Right, let's get to business. The other team is already waiting for us at the try-outs, so let's get going!" Both crew men saluted, and they all clambered into their positions, the engine roaring seconds later, and the tank sped away from the garage at top speed. "You even fixed the engine?!" Sarah blurted, and Fauna laughed heartily. "That's right, have fun with it!" she shouted back, and she continued to enjoy the breeze that the tank's movement produced.
Let's kick some arse!
Arriving at the competition, the Ke-To was greeted by a chorus of gunfire, the first match already starting. They found the crew of the Autoblinda 40 and parked their vehicle beside it. The match area looked like a small expo overlooking a huge farmland with hills. "How's it looking so far, Hanna?" Fauna asked, sipping on a cup of cola as she watched the match unfurl.
It was between two small teams of tankettes of multiple sizes, and surprisingly she saw one of them was gunning with a Bren Carrier. The commander of the vehicle seemed to be laughing manically as the other crewmembers ducked into cover, the high-caliber machine gun supporting its allies from a medium distance. The crazies here are an amazing bunch.
"We're being put up against another amateur team that's just starting up, balanced to us by having the same loadout," Hanna replied, munching on some fries. She pointed over to a nearby group of people, who were also watching the match with intensity. "One light tank and one armored car, just like us. That's pretty much the only thing that matches; I have no idea what vehicles they are exactly."
The Bren Carrier erupted in flames, and the screams of the crew could be heard as they put the fire out, the white flag popping out amongst the flames. The announcer called out that the other team had won, and some parts of the crowd cheered. "We're next, let's go!"
There was no courtesy in this sport; they didn't shake before the match started. Dirty tactics were showcased here, and were tested if they could be pulled off correctly. Fauna looked over to her left, where the AB 40 was rumbling quietly. Hanna gave her a thumb up, and she replied with her own thumb and a devilish grin. "Let's roll!" Fauna shouted, and both vehicles charged forwards into the field, plowing through a fresh crop of corn. This was their battlefield picked by the 'officials', but it didn't matter if they didn't follow through.
"Halt!" Fauna ordered, the tank coming to a stop, but the Autoblinda continued to run through. She took out her scope, and climbed out of the hatch, now standing on top of the turret. The wind blew around her furiously as she looked through her scope, watching the movement in the distance. Before the match had started, she had found a moment to add her army uniform onto her top, but otherwise her attire did not change.
She found the movement that was needed, and two lines were racing towards the Autoblinda that was also moving. It would appear that both did not know they were going to come into contact, but they would soon enough. "Those sonsof-" she hissed, "sure it's the bloody same class, but THESE two?!"
From her sights, she could see before her a Humber Armored Car, with its powerful M6 37mm gun rivaling even the Ke-To's. And then the light tank was a T-70, which also had a respectable gun and impressive frontal armor. Both were tough kills, and the Autoblinda 40 wouldn't be able to handle them on its own. "Sarah, take us through the right flank!" The engine groaned to life once more, and they raced off towards the right, Fauna beginning to get back down into the turret.
"Albert, prepare to fire to our 9 o'clock. Load AP as always, can't risk this shot." Albert loaded the right round into the gun, and turned the turret accordingly. Up ahead to the left, they could hear the sounds of a machine gun cutting through the air, and two cannon shots breaking the echo. It didn't continue, but Fauna could still see the rustling of corn.
"Now!" The tank came to a complete halt, and just as expected something had collided into its side roughly. As planned, it was the T-70, which began to slowly turn its turret, just not fast enough. The Ke-To was also keeping it from turning its hull. Albert fired a round, but alas it ricocheted off the side of the vehicle's turret. "Forwards!" The Ke-To accelerated forwards before the T-70 could take its shot, and Albert loaded another round while turning the turret.
"Firing!" Both turrets had pointed towards each other at the same moment, but it all mattered on the gunner's reaction speed, and Albert had pulled the trigger first. And yet once more, he missed. But so did the T-70, and they turned to face each other once more. Both hulls were now pointed directly their enemy, and the front armor of the T-70 was obviously thick.
Fauna pointed at the tank wildly, and screamed, "Charge!" The Ke-To roared forwards, and Albert fired the machine gun in frenzy. Fauna watched the enemy's cannon for a moment. The gun's loaded! "Swerve!" They turned just in time, and the round scratched with a deafening screech on the side of the Ke-To's hull. Fauna covered her ears, but kept her eyes open as the T-70 slowly tried to reverse. "Fire at the damn thing, Albert!" A round spat out of the Type 1's mouth, racing towards the enemy, impacting with a 'ding!' on the left running gear, destroying the track links. They sped past it, and Sarah stopped the tank to let Albert take his aim. He loaded HE, and pointed directly at the engine deck. He launched a shell, and it exploded like a firecracker, setting the enemy on fire, and a white flag flew high. "That was fucking close…" Fauna murmured, watching as the crew spilled out of the tank, screaming for their lives as the tank's engine exploded behind them.
"Jordan, wait until you can hit its weakspots!" Hanna commanded, keeping the gunner on target as the two armored cars brawled it out. With one shot enough to destroy them, Hanna had to keep the Humber's gun off her vehicle. She thought of a way out, and she finally thought of one. "Marelda, I want you to go full speed in any direction, just make sure it's a straight line!"
The Autoblinda quickly retreated towards a random direction, and the Humber crew was left in the dust. But they didn't stop chase, and despite the AB 40's rapid speed, it still had to maneuver against the 37mm rounds being thrown at it. "Hard left!" They swerved to the left just in time to dodge a game ending shot. "Gottvordamm that was close!" Hanna exclaimed, looking behind as they quickly out ran the enemy vehicle.
After a minute of driving, the world became clear once more as they forced themselves out of the cornfield. This startled the audience that had been waiting on the edges of the field, and some of them laughed nervously at the vehicle.
"Okay, drive over to the right a bit, that's it…" The waited patiently at the edge of all that corn, and after a minute or so, the Humber Armored Car could finally be heard within, and it emerged outside of the field, the commander on top looking confused. Some of their team's fans were trying to help out by pointing to the AB 40 that was about to hit their side. "Look over there!"
"Opening fire!" Jordan reported, firing away at the side armor of the boxy vehicle. The 8mm rounds had no trouble in ripping the Humber to shreds, and the enemy commander ducked down into the turret in shock, the white flag finally revealing itself from the engine deck. "Humber Armored Car's down, the Keto-Aybee pair wins!" cried the announcer. A chorus of applause could be heard from around the battleground, and Hanna sighed in relief.
"Cheers mates!" Fauna cheered, raising her glass to the air. The other crew members of the Ke-To and the AB 40 also raised theirs, and they downed their drinks at once. And no, silly reader, they're minors. It's just cups of soda, nothing wrong here, just cups of sugary and carbonated delight. Fauna giggled as she took the cup off her lips, and put her empty cup on the table.
"Alright, so we passed the try out, that's a good start!" she commented. "It's pretty much the only way we're supposed to start," Sarah added, and Fauna just laughed some more before patting the girl's back. "Don't be like that! Imagine what would happen if we lost!" Sarah rolled her eyes. "Then we'd be going back home right now. Nothing odd about that."
Fauna's eye twitched, but before she could reply, Albert asked, "By the way, how does this competition work?" Fauna tapped her chin for a few moments. "Well, after the trials are done, we're then put in a state-wide event, and we're given maps of the huge area we're allowed to hunt in. Imagine the Hunger Games, tank style." Everyone's eyes widened at the thought. "Is fuel and ammo going to be supplied?" Hanna asked.
"Just fuel from what I hear," Fauna replied, "this isn't exactly as rich as those official tank competitions, remember? We'll have to figure out munitions later." Everyone began to think to themselves, wondering how they were going to work out the situation. "Well, we can start looking for sponsors or advertisers!" Hanna suggested, "Lots of bigger teams in Tankathlon do that." Everyone nodded at her suggestion, and so did Fauna.
"Right, so after we're wrapped up here, we'll look for someone to sponsor us, alright?!" "Yes ma'am!"
"How the hell does one look for sponsors?!" Fauna exasperated, looking at her monitor's screen. Sarah and Albert were also in her room, lying on her bed or looking through her miniature models. "Don't you just go up to the businesses and ask them personally?" Sarah wondered aloud, her feet kicking in the air as she lied down on her belly. Fauna turned around and looked at her as if she were a silly girl. Which of course, she was.
"What, ask them, 'Hey, want to support our tank team? We'll destroy them in your name!'?" Fauna replied, swiveling her chair back to face the screen. "It was just a thought," Sarah muttered, looking around her commander's room. "You really do love armored history and guns, don't you Fauna?" Plastered on the wall were movie posters of 20th century films based around World War II, there were framed pictures of tanks and other vehicles, and she had an impressive collection of tank models, of which Albert was browsing through.
"Hey Faun, where did you get this VK 30.01 P model?" he asked, poking the scaled tank gently. Fauna stretched her head to look over at where Albert was standing. "Oh, I bought it at a nearby store; they're stockpiled with all sorts of unique tanks." The room went silent, and a figurative light bulb popped over their heads. "That's it!"
"You want us to sponsor your team? That'd be pretty darn cool!" the young cashier said, his middle aged boss nodding. "It could also work as some great advertising," Fauna added, showing them pictures of their Type 2 Ke-To. "Hmm, I see. I think we can work something out," the man replied, "any documents I should sign?" Excited, Fauna took out several sheets of paperwork that she had printed out earlier.
The shop looked like your average model vehicle reseller, but inside was extremely hard to obtain kits. Some of them were custom produced by the shop, which had a workshop in the back to produce the difficult kits. Vehicles that had never even seen the light of day were showcased, and so were those that were only ideas sketched out by the inventor. A Type 2 Ke-To model kit was also available, sitting with the other Japanese tank kits that the shop owned.
"Aaand, agreed," the owner finished muttered, signing the last piece of work, "we'll see if we can help you with money. Just fight hard and bring us back some glory!" Taking back the documents, the three saluted, and walked to the exit of the shop at once. "Oh by the way! I'll send some cash right now to your account, maybe you can find some way to use it!" he hollered before they left. "Thank you sir!" Fauna replied happily, and they walked out the door.
"Woo, we found our sponsor!" she beamed, pumping a fist into the air, "now then, how should we put that money to good use?" They walked in silence for a few minutes on the empty sidewalk, Fauna finally wearing something more decent, skin tight running shorts in this matter. It didn't cover up her well curved body, but it was something. She took out her phone, checking her account's balance. "Is this enough for anything…?"
Sarah and Albert looked over, and they frowned in thought. "I don't think that'll get us a new vehicle, that's for sure. Ammunition's covered, so maybe we should look for some upgrades?" Albert suggested. "Great idea! Let's go to the surplus, maybe we can snag something for ourselves."
The surplus was filled with used weapons; machine guns and cannons were also available. Browsing through the selection, the trio stopped before an autocannon that looked brand new. "Well, this is the Breda 35, the main armament of the AB 41," Fauna muttered. "You mean that freakish armored car on our team has a brother?" Sarah joked. "Yes, and it was armed with this," Albert concluded.
They checked the price tag, and there would be no way their current balance could cover this. "Can I help you three?" boomed a deep voice next to them, and they turned their heads to see a dark-skinned man wearing a t-shirt and an aviator jacket. "Yes sir, do you have any more of these?" The man scratched his chin. "Yeah, come with me to the back."
He led them to the back of the shop, turning on the lights and revealing a stockpile of rather worn out equipment. "Over there on the floor," he pointed out, and they found the rusted cannon on the floor. It no longer had any coating that once covered its exterior, and it looked like it had been peppered by machine gun fire. "Looks like something we're used to…" Sarah muttered, wiping her hand on the gun and revealing her blackened hand.
"There are also several extra parts for that thing in the other guns lying around," the man added, pointing at the other wrecks left, "I don't care what you do to anything here, but if you come out with a decent piece of equipment, I'll let you walk out with it for only 10% of what'd you'd have to pay from that other gun." It was a sweet deal, and Fauna shook the man's hand in agreement. "We'll do that."
The man nodded and walked out of the room, and the three began to look around. "So how are we going to do this?" Sarah asked. Fauna hummed, and pointed at the scattered guns. "Put them in the center, and we'll use the one that looks the best at a base."
And so they worked, using a gun that had a barrel and frame in good condition, but its internal parts had been stripped clean. It was a difficult task that took several hours, but eventually, they had stripped the other guns clean of usable parts and had a decently adequate weapon now in their midst. "Fucking fantastic work, team," Fauna chuckled, marveling at their work.
They picked it up together and carried it out of the room, the shopkeeper looking at them impressed. "That's a mighty fine gun you've put together. Think it'll hold up?" he asked, holding his hand out. Fauna handed her credit card, and grinned. "We've made things in worse condition hold up." The man handed back the card, and waved as they left. "Have some good tanking."
"Does it look like we know how to install that thing?" Hanna asked, as they stood outside the woodland garage, the AB 40 and Ke-To standing side-by-side. The 20mm gun also lied in front of the Autoblinda. "Well, we could always just use the same turret," Sarah wondered. Fauna, Albert and Hanna looked at her like she was crazy. The other crew members nodded in agreement, but didn't get why the three were looking at her funny.
"Oh, of course we can do that. But then we wouldn't even be able to point the gun down, let alone fit inside the turret," Hanna chided, and Sarah swore she would never talk about tanks until she learned more about them. "Anyways, we're going to need a new turret. Any ideas, commander?" Fauna smiled and raised her arms in the air excitedly. "Let's get welding!" she exclaimed, and Albert groaned. "Fauna, we can just buy the turret online. I already checked, and the price is within our budget. Without the gun of course."
Fauna giggled, and punched Albert's shoulder playfully. "You're so useful to us. Alright, we'll purchase it. In the meantime, let's get some training done!" Everyone stood at attention at the word 'training', and they all pumped their fists into the air. "Let's go!"