Chapter 3: Prep It Up
Summer vacation is a great time to have fun with friends. Going to the beach together, hiking, camping, using vehicles of war to smite thy enemies. It's all good. But of course, before one should do any of this, there needs to be a plan on how it's all going to go down.
Apparently what was on Fauna, Sarah, and Albert's minds was how they were going to pack food in or onto the Ke-To. There they were, standing beside the small tank, with crates of rations next to them. Scratching her head in vain, Fauna decided now was not the best time to be thinking about this. Her apparel was still as decent as when they went to the surplus, but it showed off her curves way too well. "I suppose we should take a break, mates," she muttered, kicking a crate in the side, "let's go and meet up with the other team. Maybe have some lunch."
The other two cheered internally, and Sarah brought out her smartphone from one of her vest pockets. She started up a social media application, and opened a chat with the gunner of the AB 40.
Walther P08: Hey! Pool says we should eat out.
Run&Gun: She's asking us to go on a date? :D
Walther P08: Not now damn it. We're going as a team. :\
Run&Gun: Ah, alright then. I'll go tell Han.
Walther P08: See you at the garage.
She turned the screen off and repocketed the device. "So Fauna, have any idea where we're going to eat?" Fauna put her thumb in the air, grinning widely. "Aye!"
A couple hours later, the seven man platoon was sitting around a large table, in a bustling downtown, family-owned burger joint. "I didn't know you liked burgers, Pool," Hanna muttered, skimming through the menu. Pool waved her hand nonchalantly, and replied, "Oh no, no. I just love the milkshakes here." That was an understatement, as most likely the real reason was because the restaurant looked rather unique. There was World War II memorabilia all over the place, and pictures of a young man in army fatigues hung at the epicenter, most likely a veteran. The staff also wore clothing of soldiers from the era, from many different countries.
A young, blonde, US Marine waitress came over, a cheerful smile on her face and a notepad in hand. "Can I take y'alls orders?" she asked happily. "Uhh, five cheese Hamburg-ers, a Devil Dog, a basket of fries, and seven vanilla milkshakes please," Sarah muttered audibly from behind the menu she held, but then Fauna nudged her slightly, "wait, scratch that. Six vanilla and one chocolate." The waitress scribbled the list, and saluted. "Comin' right up!" She walked away, shouting the order to the kitchen.
Hanna and Fauna began discussing about the competition, but the other five weren't exactly in the same mindset. At first it started out well. "So, did you guys attach the 20mm yet?" "Oh yeah, the turret's running smoothly too." "Great." And then they just gave up.
"Guuuys, this is our second year of highschool already!" cried the main driver of the Autoblinda, Marelda, banging her fist to the table, "Doesn't anyone have a date already?!" Albert and Stuart, the other driver of the AB, shook their heads as if apologizing. Jordan and Sarah however didn't say a word, their faces a warm shade of pink. "Ohhh, I see how it is," Marelda snickered, a smirk growing on her face as she twirled one of her brown strands of hair, "going to keep it a secret?~"
"Shut it, Mare," Sarah mumbled, gripping Jordan's hand from under the table, "we're just not going to open up about it yet." Marelda was grinning widely now, and she laid back in her chair. "If that's how you waaant iiiit!~" Jordan groaned, and began playing with a straw to hide his embarrassment.
"Hey!" Fauna shouted, "Stop blabbering amongst yourselves, we need to discuss something that just came up!" The others nodded, and leaned in closer to the two commanders. "Right, so Hanna just mentioned to me that there's going to be a foreign team joining in as well." Hanna pulled out a small sheet of paper, which was written in Japanese and English. "Saunders University High School, they're Japanese students that study in an American oriented school," Hanna said, letting everyone take a look at the paper, "it says here that they're one of the best in the Japanese league of tanking, or Senshado as they call it, and they want to try out Tankathlon as well."
"But don't the Japs have their own Tankathlon?" Stuart commented, scratching his black hair and fixing his tie, "Why do they have to come all this way just to compete with us?" Hanna shrugged, spinning a pencil in her fingers. "Maybe they just want to have some foreign relations. Might want to try out for the American Tanking League too I guess." She then pulled out another sheet of paper, data on the tanks they'd be using. "They're sending a delegation of a four tank platoon. Two M22 Locusts and two M8 Greyhounds."
Jordan whistled as he looked at the two vehicles. "Not some bad choices," he chirped, "and both types aren't too hard to buy off the market." Hanna hummed in agreement. "We're to avoid this platoon at all costs, as we don't know their skill level, and we simply just don't have enough vehicles to take all of them out." Everyone agreed, except for Fauna, who groaned tiredly.
"I say we take them out and get more poin-" "Here's your meal girls and boys!" the waitress interrupted, putting the food onto the table. Hanna slid the Devil Dog, which was a chilidog, over to her, and the rest took a Hamburg-er while Fauna was given the basket of golden fries. "Your milkshakes will be over in just a second!~" the waitress said cheerfully, and she saluted once more before leaving them.
"Like I was saying, we should just go aggressively and take them out if we see them," Fauna said, waving a fry in the air before putting it in her mouth, "better than letting them murder everything in their path. I mean, this competition works on a point system." She let that thought hang in the air, and it left everyone with different plans on how they were going to play it out should they meet Saunders. None of them really noticed when the milkshakes arrived, as they were too deep in thought to really focus on the food.
After several minutes of silence, everyone was finishing up their meals. "By the way, what's the prize if we win this?" Albert asked, wiping his mouth from the delicious burger's crumbs. Fauna grinned widely, and flashed a brochure, slamming it into the table before sipping on her chocolate milkshake. "Take a look for yourselves!" Clearly interested, everyone's attention turned to the glossy paper, and they began reading. "Indiana State Tankathlon…" Sarah muttered, "Deathmatch… Teams Allowed… Prizes…" All eyes widened at the last section.
"$500,000 dollars and a brand new vehicle?!" Marelda exclaimed, "T-That's… How many a person?!" "Around seventy thousand a crewmember," Stuart replied, scratching his chin, "not to mention the cost to repair and resupply our ammo afterwards…" "Still! That's a lot of cash!" Sarah added, standing up suddenly with her hands on the table, "And a new ride too! That's gotta be good!"
It was mutually agreed that 1) It was a hefty prize, 2) It would let them chill in terms of money for a looong time, and 3) A new tank was greatly appreciated. "Well, I guess we should go back and practice then, aye?" Fauna wondered, putting her fist in the air. "Aye!" everyone exclaimed, pumping theirs up as well. They streamed out of the establishment, with Fauna and Hanna paying from what the team had gathered together beforehand. "Think we'll win this?" Hanna asked, receiving the receipt. "Of course we will," Fauna replied, smirking as she opened the door for them both.
"God damn it, get out of their gun's line of fire!" Fauna shouted, the Ke-To swerving deeper into the forest as they were given chase by the much faster Autoblinda. There were multiple shots flying around them, some just grazing the side of the Japanese vehicle, others slamming into the trees all around them. Fauna angrily bonked Albert's head, growling, "Turn the bloody turret!" Albert complied, and turned the mechanism, whirring the turret to life and pointing the gun at the armored car gaining on them very quickly.
"Shoot! Fire! Just fucking knock them out already!" A round thumped out of the short cannon, missing severely as the Italian vehicle easily swerved to dodge it. They returned the favor by giving the Ke-To another burst of 20mm rounds, peppering the turret and almost setting the engine on fire. It seemed that the end was near, and the AB 41 was right behind them.
"Full stop!" Sarah slammed on the brakes, and the gears cut off with the mechanism forcing it to a complete stop. The Autoblinda did not see it coming quickly enough, and their vehicle slammed into the small tank with a deafening crack. "Agh!" screamed the driver, who was close enough to hear. Albert loaded another round, but Fauna held his shoulder to stop. "Good game!" Mr. Walthers radioed in, "You guys really need to focus on the enemy's movements!"
Hanna was panting heavily, and could only put up a single finger that wasn't really the nicest gesture in the book towards Fauna. "That's. Enough. For. Today," she stammered, melting back down into the turret. "Alright then, so 3 to 4, we win today's session mates!" Fauna called into the tank, and the two crew members sighed in relief. "Let's go fix up those dents and holes again…"
The two vehicles were driven back to the garage and the two teams spent the night fixing them to their original conditions. "This is really tiring," Sarah muttered, polishing the Ke-To's exterior, "we really should hire a few mechanics." Albert slumped on the top of the turret, having inserted the last round of ammunition. "Maybe we'll get some later on…" he muttered, poking one of the rivets.
"Oh, we are getting one," Fauna mentioned as-a-matter-of-factly. "...Eh?" "Ah, nevermind that. Let's go have dinner at my place!" she said, changing the subject. As if the topic had been completely thrown away, everyone grabbed at the chance for free food. "Alright!"
Sarah was following them as they filed out, when her father grabbed her shoulders. "Don't do anything funny now, Sar." Sarah smirked, playfully saluting before catching up with her friends.
The next morning was rather lazy, and it turned out that the team had slept over at Fauna's. Sarah had woken up first, which was a rather unusual start. She stretched her arms widely, squinting her eyes as sunlight beamed onto her face. "Ugh, it's so early..." she groaned, trying to fall back asleep. But her body was already fresh and denied that action, so she slapped her cheeks to get into gear. "Gah, it's the competition day, isn't it?!" She looked to her side, seeing Albert sleeping peacefully, his breaths so warm and calm. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten a girl yet.
Wait, why is he sleeping with me?! Blushing slightly, she poked Albert's cheek lightly. "Oi, get up." Albert squirmed a little, but he eventually woke up as well. "Wha... Good morning Sarah." He straightened his body up, yawning calmly and looking around the room. "We had a sleepover?" he asked, watching as Sarah started waking everyone up. "Yeah, it looks like we did," Sarah grumbled, shaking Fauna, "and if we don't hurry, we're going to be late."
At the mention of 'late', Fauna pushed Sarah aside, looking around frantically. "What the hell are we still doing here?! MOVE!" Everyone woke up straight, and they jumped out of their sleeping places to start off the new day.
It's time to compete!