Anarchy From the UK!
By Jangocommando27
Chapter 3: In the face of Adversity, Get creative.
St. Gloriana Tankery Shed
St. Gloriana School Ship 'HMS Ark Royal'
08:45
Darjeeling and her crew walked across the court yard from the tankery office to the shed. Today was the day that she and James would finally have their trial match to see if he and his crew were as good as they said they were, although James seemed to be slightly overconfident of late, as he'd requested that he and his crew, went up against not only Darjeeling and her crew, but 4 other Matilda's as well, using the flag tank rules. Darjeeling was happy to oblige, after all a Centurion against a Churchill was a one sided fight, but she couldn't help but feel that James had bitten off more than he could chew.
'Unless he's got something else planned...' she thought.
The sounds and smells of machinery and motor oil assaulted Darjeeling senses as she entered the hanger. Crews were working on their tanks, preparing them for the coming finals or for manoeuvres. As she walked down the line toward her own tank, she caught sight of James' Centurion, and its changed appearance.
Until recently, it had been painted in a traditional army olive green, much like her own Churchill. But at some point the tank had undergone a paint change, with the solid green being replaced by the Green and Black camouflage pattern used by the cold war British Army. Further to the camouflage the tank had gained some Winston Churchill-esk nose art in the form of a Cartoon Bulldog wearing a brodie helmet, chomping on a cigar with a union jack back ground with the words 'We shall never surrender!' on the side. The only further cosmetic change was the word 'ACHILLIES' in white paint on the side of the turret. James caught Darjeeling admiring the paint job and climbed down.
"Nice huh?"
"Impressive." Replied Darjeeling. "Did you do it yourself?"
"No." Replied James, taking a seat over gun mantle. "We asked some art students for help in return for John posing for their portrait project."
"I see." Said Darjeeling, "Why Achilles? After the Greek Hero from the Trojan war?"
"No." Replied James with a laugh. "After the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Achilles. John had a great uncle who served aboard her when she and her battlegroup engaged the German pocket battleship Graft Spee at the Battle of the River Plate."
"Ah... And why the nose art?" James just smiled and said,
"We are the British Bulldogs, our big green style, cannot be defeated, and we shall never surrender!"
"OORAH!" shouted the rest of his crew from their work. Darjeeling smiled,
"Well we'll just have to see about that." She said, "We shall commence battle at half past 9. Be at your starting positions before then. And remember... All's fair and Love and war."
"Fear naught, and Who Dare's wins." Replied James. Darjeeling then turned and started to see to her own tank's preparations. James got up from his perch and spoke softly to his crew.
"You guys got the gear ready?"
"Oh yeah." Replied Jay. "We've got the gear ready."
"Are you sure this doesn't count as cheating guys?" asked Chris, still questioning the legality of their intentions.
"Well it's as the commander said," replied James. "All's fair in love and war. Now finish up and mount up. We've got a battle to win."
St. Gloriana tankery training grounds
09:30
"MATCH START!"
"Let's roll boys!" ordered James. "Head for the forest!"
'Achilles' moved off from its start position and headed for the forest as the boys had planned. The Battlefield was a series of large grassy plains with large, thick forests. Looking at the starting positions and Darjeeling's tactics in past matches, (such as a match against Ōarai Girls High School) James assumed that she'd keep her tanks together, as neither the Churchill or Matilda was suited for scouting. They'd execute a search pattern and wait for James to come to them.
He was more than happy to oblige.
James dropped back into the turret from the cupola, leaving the hatch open to keep a cooling wind flowing into the tank. John was dozing at his station, his massive arms draped over the shell magazines for the 20mm polsten. Jay was reading a magazine by the glow of the internal turret lights, featuring stills of beautiful and well endowed women stripping out of military uniforms. Judging by the state of the pages, it'd had a great many owners over the years. James smiled to himself and tapped Jay on the shoulder. He pulled out his phone and tapped it, signalling for Jay to do the same.
James typed a message to Jay and sent it,
'You know if you go out with Assam you'll need to ditch that right?" Jay smiled at the text and typed one back,
'I know. Besides I stole it from John's wank bank ;)' James laughed at the reply.
'How's that going btw? With Assam?'
'Good. I'm showing her the .338's after practice.'
'A romantic date if ever I heard of one ;) We're getting near the forest so get ready. Just hide the porn first.' James stowed his phone in its pocket and climbed back up into his cupola, withdrew his x10 binoculars and started looking for Darjeeling.
Meanwhile... with Darjeeling's crew.
"All tank's advance."
The early war British tanks started from their position and neatly formed up into an arrow head formation, with Darjeeling's tank leading and 2 Matilda's on either side, their turrets rotated to scan for targets on the flanks.
"At last we shall see what these Brit's are truly capable of." She said to no one in particular.
"Commander?" asked Pekoe, offering a refill of tea to Darjeeling which she gladly accepted, "What is our plan for engaging the boys? We have them out numbered, but they have a far superior tank."
"True." Replied Darjeeling, "But the race goes not to the swift, nor the battle to the bold."
"A rewording of Ecclesiastes?" replied Pekoe,
"Correct." Replied Darjeeling, "And while it is true we lack the mobility or firepower of the centurion, we poses numerical advantage. And he only has one gun capable of damaging us, while we have 5."
"It was the same advantage used to defeat the tiger ace Michael Wittmann, was it not?" asked Assam. Darjeeling was surprised, her gunner was not what one would call a military history buff so she was surprised that Assam knew such an anecdote.
"I believe it was." Replied Darjeeling, "How did you know that?"
"Jay told me." She replied. Darjeeling was further surprised and with a wolfish grin pressed the matter,
"Really?" she asked, "And when did you find time to ask him about such things?" Assam chuckled slightly. Not many knew that Darjeeling quite the gossip girl, constantly on the lookout for new gossip.
"We spent a lunchtime last week on the shooting range and the conversation drifted." Replied Assam. "But the real question is when are you going to make a move on James?"
"I don't know what you are talking about." Stated Darjeeling defiantly.
"Yes you do..." teased Assam, "Weren't you the one who said he looked good in camouflage?"
"How did you... Never mind, just keep looking for their Centurion!" Assam chuckled, realizing she'd hit the nail on the head before pressing her eyes back into the gunners sight.
"Contact!" reported James to his crew, sighting Darjeeling's tanks through the gunner's sight. Their centurion was concealed just inside the tree line of a forest, looking out over the plain. Chris reached behind him to the radio in his vacant commander's station.
"Jay! Are you ready yet?" Commd James.
"All set boss." Jay replied. James smiled. He'd sent Jay out to set up part of their plan. While they could easily beat Darjeeling's tanks by sniping them from long range, that wouldn't have been any fun and Darjeeling wouldn't have learnt anything.
"Right John!" said James, turning to his loader. "Get an AP round up the chute. Chris, standby to pull back on my word."
"Got it Boss" replied Chris. The reassuring metallic slam of the 17 pounder's breech sliding shut, followed by the report from John signaled the gun's readiness to fire. James focused, staring carefully into the sights. Throughout his tankery career James had manned every crew position in the tank and while he was not even in the same category as Jay, he was still a good shot. He placed the crosshairs of the gun sight onto one of the Matilda II's and then applied a little lead.
"Brace." He said, after a moment's pause, he pulled the trigger. Achilles rocked back on its suspension from the pressure of exploding propellant. Her hull shuddered with the thunderous boom of her legendary main gun. The turret basket filled with the coppery smell of burnt propellant. James watched the shells tracer sail towards the target... and slam into the dirt in front of the Matilda. The tank was showered in dirt and sod, but otherwise undamaged. The turrets of the 5 infantry tanks started to turn towards them, signalling the immanence of a return barrage.
"Again!" ordered James. John, with thick powerful arms, hefted another round into the cannon's breech and yanked the locking leaver.
"Gun up!" John shouted. James compensated for lead fired again. This time the round went straight into the target Matilda, but clipped one of the thickly armored edges of the tank and ricocheted off into the distance.
"Fuck!" cursed James. The guns of the Infantry tanks were almost upon him and the tanks themselves were changing course towards him.
"Bit close there mate." Joked John.
"Sod off!" James replied angrily, "You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside! Chris, back up! Now!" The centurion retreated further into the forest, as it did Darjeeling's tanks returned fire. 2 pounder shells impacted the ground around where they had been, kicking up dirt and dead foliage around them. Darjeeling's Churchill also fired, causing a nearby Oak tree to explode into splinters. As Achilles withdrew deeper into the forest, Darjeeling's tanks advanced... right into the boy's trap.
Jay watched as Darjeeling's tanks slowly entered the forest. Once they were firmly in, Jay hit the radio,
"Boss," he said, "Darjeeling's tanks are in the forest."
"Good." James commd back, "Begin phase 2."
"WILCO, out." Replied Jay. He killed the radio and grabbed his next tool, the AS50. He slung the large rifle over his shoulder and set off for his sniper position. He stalked through the forest, keeping an ear open for the sounds of tanks that were getting to close for comfort. After a short hike, he arrived at a large boulder that would serve as his sniper nest. He climbed up on top of it and readied his rifle. He pulled a 10 round magazine, filled with .50 cal pink simunition rounds, from his fatigue's pocked and slotted it into the rifle's magazine well. He then racked the slide and made ready.
After a while the ground shook slightly with the sound of an approaching tank. Jay calmly stared through the low power SUSAT he'd mounted on the rifle, rather than the 35 power scope that was normally mounted. From the thick woodland, the Churchill VII emerged. It was sticking to a dirt path that was large enough to accommodate its vast form.
Jay smiled, just the tank he'd been waiting for.
He sighted in on the forward vision block on the commander's cupola, put the sight on it, released the safety and fired. The .50 cal simunition round sped from the barrel and splatted the periscope in pink paint. James grinned as he proceeded to do the same for the gunner's sight and driver's view port, effectively blinding the tank from the front. The Churchill stopped, no doubt to occupants didn't want to risk running into something. Jay replaced the safety on his rifle, grabbed it and ran, he didn't want to be there if Assam decided to fire on where the shots had come from. As he ran he clicked his radio.
"Churchill tank is blind! Hitting the smoke!"
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a remote trigger, the kind the military used to remote trigger explosives, and punched the button. Throughout the forest, strategically placed smoke generators switched on. Within minutes, it created a dense smoke screen that obscured sight and dropped vision right down to a couple of meters.
Inside Darjeeling's tank...
'What in the name of all that's holy are they doing?' thought Darjeeling to herself. In under a minute's time, her tank had been hit in its forward vision ports by some kind of paintball gun and blinded them, and then this fog had suddenly descended blinding them in all other directions. Darjeeling all of a sudden felt very, very isolated.
"Aneko, kill the engine." She ordered over the intercom. He driver then killed the Bedford 6 twin engine in the back and the tank fell silent.
"All crew. Go silent." Darjeeling ordered. If they couldn't see the enemy, they might hear him. Darjeeling then popped her hatch, and bringing her top half outside of the cupola. The fog was thick, visibility was maybe down to 10 meters. She keep looking forward to her front corner, seeing as that was where her tank was most vulnerable and it had been where the blinding shots came from. Darjeeling closed her eyes and listened, she could hear the sound of her Matilda's engine's, still searching the forest...
Then it hit her, she was alone, blind and isolated... As the thought struck her she registered the sound of an engine, much louder and deeper than the Matilda's in amongst the trees, and it was behind her and getting closer! She spun round in her cupola just to see the Centurion burst from the tree line behind her, its 17 pounder trained and ready. The tank paused, holding its fire for a moment. It's commanders hatch opened and James climbed out, a smug smile on his face,
"Well commander," he said smugly, "Are you going to surrender or am I going to have to put a AP round through your engine block?"
"You have not won yet James," Darjeeling replied defiantly, "I still have 4 other tanks out there."
"AP round it is then." Replied James simply. "I recommend you button up." Darjeeling resigned herself to James being right and dropped into her tank.
"Brace for impact." She said. Her crew braced themselves against whatever they could and waited for the inevitable.
St. Gloriana Tankery Shed
10:10
As the Centurion drove back into the hanger the boys were in a particularly good mood. Behind the centurion, the Churchill was being towed in by a recovery truck and the Matilda's were in convoy behind. As the Centurion popped hatches the boys came out singing,
"Oh, We are the champions, my friends,
And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end.
We are the champions.
We are the champions.
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions of the world."
"Yeah Yeah, Alright!" shouted James, also in a good mood, "Save it for the nationals you cheeky Bastards!"
"First kill marking for Achilles then boss?" said Jay,
"Not sure it counts considering it was our CO." Replied James. "Now! Showers! Off you fuck!" The boys ran off. Normally James would have made them stay until they'd got the tank cleaned off and put to bed, but he had a feeling that they didn't want to be under the fire he was about to come under. Darjeeling approached James as lady like as she could manage, but she failed to hide an inner fury that James could see in her.
"Sergeant." She said, "May I have a word?"
"Of course." Replied James. She lead him behind Achilles so they would have some privacy.
"Just what was that?" she asked angrily, "have you read the rules for Japanese Sensha-dō?"
"I have." Replied James calmly. "And besides the use of a sniper rifle to make a point, I don't see how we broke them. Smoke generators are legal for matches."
"Using a rifle to blind us with paint? Where did that come from?" asked Darjeeling.
"I watched the Saunders/Ōarai match on YouTube." Replied James, "I don't remember any complaints when the type 89's crew started throwing fireworks at the Saunders flag tank. Besides what are effectively glorified paint balls are much safer than throwing fireworks at another tank wouldn't you say?"
"True." Admitted Darjeeling, fighting to regain her composure, "But it wasn't exactly sporting."
"Chivalry and Sportsmanship are nice concepts off the battlefield, ones I try to follow as best I can. But you have to draw the line somewhere. I admit it wasn't sporting to blind you with paint and smoke. But would you be complaining if instead of Matilda's, you were armed with King Tigers?"
Darjeeling thought for a moment. As much as it infuriated her, he had a point. James had perfectly executed an isolation and eliminate strategy against her, one that she had personally never seen before. But she disagreed with his assessment of chivalry and sportsmanship.
"This is tankery Sergeant," she replied, "Not war. Chivalry and Sportsmanship have just as much place here as in football or cricket. And your use of an infantry weapon is illegal in a tournament match so don't do it again."
"Understood Ma'am" replied James, "But tell me have you ever heard the saying, 'if you're not cheating, you're not trying?'"
"No." Replied Darjeeling, slightly vexed that James didn't seem to get the point, "And if we get caught cheating we'll get expelled from the tankery league!"
"I'm not suggesting we 'cheat' cheat." Replied James, "I'm suggesting we get creative. Take Saunders for example. During their Ōarai match last year, they used a radio intercept balloon. Unsporting yes, but not cheating."
"But If we follow the example of Saunders and use unsporting methods, we lose the moral high ground."
"If we could shoot down onto the weak armor of the enemy tanks from it, I'd be all for the moral high ground. Same if we possessed a numerical and technological advantage." Replied James, starting to get annoyed at Darjeeling's inability to abandon morals for the sake of a tactical advantage "But we can't and we don't. And everyone on my crew knows exactly what happens when you put the moral high ground, before eliminating a threat to both you and your team. Ma'am."
James then stormed off out of the hanger. Darjeeling was slightly taken aback by James' aggressive reaction. She'd never seen him like this during his time here. But she couldn't understand why he was so willing to throw the principles of British society, chivalry and sportsmanship, to the wind so lightly. She then stalked off towards the repair crews den to see about them repairing her once again crippled Churchill.
As she did that, Assam and Jay came together to discuss their respective commanders.
"Jesus." Said Jay, "I haven't seen James that fucked off since we cut up his signed Arsenal shirt for bunting."
"And I've never seen Darjeeling that cross about anything." Added Assam.
"You think she fancies him?"
"Oh, without a doubt." Replied Assam, "But they won't get on with it while they're angry at one another."
"I'll talk to James, you talk to Darjeeling." Said Jay. "But first, you still up for some rifle time?"
"I'll see you at the range."
St. Gloriana Shooting team range
15:34
Jay walked onto the shooting range, knowing this would be where he'd find James. Sure enough he found him, one of the Glock 17's in hand and putting rounds down range. From the look of his target, he wasn't having a good shoot.
"Haven't seen you miss that bad since you tried to pull that chick in Washington. What was her name? Gladice?" Jay commented.
"What do you want Jay?" asked James, "And for the record I got off with her so up yours."
"It's about you and the boss lady." Said Jay. James groaned and reloaded his Glock for another round of shooting cardboard.
"Yah can't fight well if you're pissed off at her." Said Jay, "So what's wrong?"
"She's not willing to abandon the moral high ground to give us a slightly more even change in the tournament this year." Replied James as unloaded his Glock into the target range.
"Aye." said Jay, "that is pretty stupid. But it's what she's believed in and been taught for years. You can't be pissed at her for that."
"It's not just that." Replied James, "I lost my cool and am pissed at myself because of it."
"What cause you to that... oh... that."
"Yeah."
"You can't blame her for that mate. It wasn't her fault."
"Yeah but she touched a nerve and I went off like a grenade."
"Yeah. She touched a nerve. Unknowingly. So you need to go and make up and make out with her!" James laughed for the first time in hours.
"I'm not gonna make out with her." He replied, ejecting the spent clock mag from his pistol and laying the spent weapon down.
"Why not?" asked Jay, "you know she fancies you right?"
"No she doesn't."
"I have it from a reliable source that she does." Insisted Jay.
"By 'reliable source' you mean Assam?" guessed James. Jay nodded, "How's that going by the way? You made out with her yet?"
"Indeed we have." Replied Jay, smug at having gotten off with her.
"Really? Where?" asked James, trying to work out where they'd have had time to do the deed.
"'Bout where you're standing." Replied Jay. He laughed as James jumped back in disgust from the firing point.
"Dude! That is rank mate!" complained James.
"What can I say?" asked a smug Jay, "She really likes the SLR. But anyway mate, you need to stow that fuckin' pride of yours, forget about what happened to him, apologize and move on." James sighed,
"You're right. When did you get so fuckin' good at giving advice?" Jay shrugged,
"Been spending too much time hanging out with you. Now go apologize, make up, then bend her over that fancy desk of hers and shag her."
"Ahh." James said in realization as he passed Jay on his way out, "There's the gentlemanly Jay I know."
"Ha. Fuck being a gentleman." Jay joked, "I only came here to bang fit birds." The 2 friends laughed together as James disappeared off to find Darjeeling.
St. Gloriana Women's academy School Ship
Tankery Team Clubhouse
15:30
Darjeeling was sat in her office, working over admin issues and trying to strategise how on earth they were going to beat any of the major tankery schools in the coming tournament. However she couldn't shake the aftermath with her argument with James. A knock on her office door. Distracted her from her lack of progress, the sign of company was a welcome one.
"Come in." She called out. The door opened and Assam walked in, closing it behind her and walking up to Darjeeling's desk.
"We need to talk." Said Assam firmly. Darjeeling knew it was unusual for Assam to be firm with her so it must be serious.
"Ok."
"It's about James." Darjeeling groaned before Assam continued, "we won't be able to fight effectively if you 2 don't get along. He's the commander of the best tank on the team..."
"And I'm commander of the overall team." Interrupted Darjeeling, "meaning he should trust and respect my point of view."
"He should," replied Assam, "and does. But he's also right." Darjeeling was aghast before Assam explained, "Time and again we've been defeated because we've stuck to the same predictable, by the book strategies. I mean look at Ōarai. The reason they won last year is primarily because they used unconventional strategies. James can give us the same edge."
"But it's his blatant attitude toward disregarding chivalry and sportsmanship that gets me." Replied Darjeeling, "He claimed that chivalry and sportsmanship have no place on the battlefield."
"Well he has a point." replied Assam, "It's a question as old as war itself; If someone is trying to kill you... are you not to rise against him... and kill him first?"
"But were not at war and no one is trying to kill us!"
"True. But Sensha-dō is a combat sport. And if we want to win the nationals, we need to know when to leave chivalry at the door and go all out. Or were going to be rolled over for the 11th year in a row by a superior school, be it Saunders, Pravda, Kuromorimine or Ōarai. James can give us that unseen advantage" Darjeeling sighed, she couldn't argue with that logic.
"I suppose you're right." She replied unconvinced.
"Look," said Assam, "He's not saying give up on chivalry all together, but you yourself were talking about changing tactics to meet the new influx of heavy tanks, and for that we need to change plans. And you know it." Darjeeling knew Assam was right, she rarely wasn't.
"I suppose I you're right." She admitted. "And I should apologize to James, I think I inadvertently hurt his feelings about something. He said that everyone on his crew knew exactly what happened when you put the moral high ground, before eliminating a threat to both you and your team."
"It's for the best." Replied Assam, "Besides you said you were going to make him your second in command in the shower last night." Darjeeling looked at her friend,
"How do you find out these things?"
"Every woman has her secrets."
A short while after Assam had left, there was another knock at Darjeeling's door.
"Come in." She said. Knowing who it likely was. She was unsurprised when it was James who walked in.
"May I have a word Ma'am." Asked James formally.
"Of course Sergeant." Said Darjeeling, motioning to one of the chairs in front of her desk. Instead James stood in front of her desk, as he would as if he were about to receive a bollocking from one of his senior officers.
"Commander I would like to apologize for earlier this morning." He said, "I was out of line and should not have spoken to you in such a manner that was offensive to you and your beliefs. I would also submit myself for disciplinary action."
Darjeeling sat there for a moment, considering his words. He was sincere in his apology and genuinely looked apologetic.
"I accept your apology Sergeant." She replied, "And I too must apologise. I was wrong to question your actions when they conflicted with my own thoughts and for that I apologize as well as any other feelings of yours I may have hurt. . As for your punishment, I have one in mind. I'm going to make you my Vice Commander."
"Commander?" asked James, surprised.
"You demonstrated tactical thinking that I have rarely seen the likes of, and I doubt many of the other school Sensha-dō team leaders have either. Which makes you the perfect choice to be vice commander." Explained Darjeeling. "You will report to me as overall commander of the team and any non immediate battlefield decisions must be run past me. Do you accept?"
"I accept this punishment, Commander." Replied James with a smile. "While I'm at it, I've finished that report you asked for. Would you like the sort and sweet or long and detailed answer now?"
"I'll take the short and sweet now, and the other later." Replied Darjeeling.
"Ditch the Matilda's replace them with A27M Cromwells, A30 Challengers and A34 Comets." Replied James.
"You are aware that would require a large change to our current tank forces and tactics?"
"I am. However the Matilda fleet is in need of replacing and the new tanks I'm suggesting would make mobile warfare more of a viable strategy. Furthermore it would up gun the whole fleet to a 6 pounder gun standard."
"Hmm." Thought Darjeeling, "We'll need to talk to the governors to get funding, and quickly, tankfest is only a few weeks away."
"Tankfest?" asked James, thinking to the military gathering at the Bovington tank museum back in England.
"It's a gathering that all the major Sensha-dō tank manufactures gather to reveal their latest products and upgrade kits." Explained Darjeeling. "We usually send a delegation each year as do the majority of the tankery schools."
"Great." Replied James, "I look forward to it."
"Who said you were going?"
"By 'delegation' I assumed you meant the headmistress, yourself, Assam, Orange and the vice commander. Am I wrong?"
Darjeeling smiled, if James could read his opponents as well as he could read her, he was a good choice for vice commander.
School Cafeteria
St. Gloriana School Ship 'HMS Ark Royal'
12:55
James walked toward his usual table, bento lunch in hand, to dine with boys. They were already sat at the usual table, and he could tell that they were in a down mood. He sat down with them and tried to see what was wrong.
"Alright." He said, "I haven't seen you lot this sad since you found out that Father Christmas was a lie." There was a slight chuckle before Jay answered,
"We're feeling a bit homesick boss." He said, "We miss proper British food, British sports. Hell I even miss the rain!" James could sympathize. He was similarly homesick, if only because he missed regular deliveries of mum's homemade food. He started reminiscing on things he missed when Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe and Assam arrived.
"What's got you down then?" asked Darjeeling, seeing the down state of the group.
"Homesick." Replied James. "We haven't heard or seen anything from home in months. I miss mums chicken and ham pie."
"I miss British comedy." Replied Chris,
"I miss Roast dinner." Replied James.
"I miss seeing other men." Said Jay. All the boys turned and looked at him with a 'what the fuck?' look. "What?"
"Well I hope you're ready for tomorrow night." Said Assam seductively to Jay, "Pick me up at 7." She then turned to leave with her finished lunch. Immediately Jay realized what she had done and turned to see shit ass grins on all of his friends.
"Jay..." said James.
"Guys... no please..." pleaded Jay.
"You know what tradition demands..." menaced John.
"Come on guys..." Jay pleaded, realizing that all was lost.
"KANGAROO COURT!" James John and Chris shouted in untold glee.
"Bollocks!" Jay dived away from the table as the boys attempted to grab him. He then scrambled to his feet and started running.
"After Him!" cried James as he, John and Chris raced after him. When they'd vacated the Cafeteria, Assam returned to the table where Darjeeling and Pekoe were sitting slightly dazed.
"It's a Highlander school tradition apparently." Explained Darjeeling, "Just what they needed for a morale boost."
"You know Assam." Said Pekoe, "You scare me sometimes."
St. Gloriana hallways.
Jay ran with the desperation known only to the condemned. He knew if James and co caught him, he was done for. He glanced back over his shoulder, and saw that James and Chris were still in pursuit, but there was no sign of John. James rounded a corner before being tackled to the ground by a large bulk.
"Got him!" shouted John, keeping Jay pinned to the ground, who was trying to wriggle out from under his muscled form. He was about to escape until James as well dived on top of the pile.
"Chris!" shouted James, "Get something to hold him!"
Chris acknowledged with a nod, before diving into a nearby janitors closet. After a quick rummage, he emerged with gaffer tape and zip ties. He zip-tied Jay's hands and feet together with help from John, and they gagged him with a strip of tape over his mouth. They had just secured him when the sound of someone clearing their throat got their attention. The boys looked up and saw headmistress Lady Grey standing over them.
"Good afternoon Gentlemen" she said in a lady like manor. "May I enquirer as to why you have Mr. Ackner so detained?"
"Well, you see Miss," explained James as they got up with John putting Jay upright. "It's a tradition from our school."
"Really?" asked Lady Grey skeptically.
"Yes miss." Replied James in his best salesman accent, "You see. Mr. Ackner here has betrayed the male fraternity by entering a relationship with Miss Assam. He must stand trial for his 'crimes' against the male fraternity."
"I see." Said Lady Grey. She looked at the eager anticipation on the faces of the 'prosecuting' boys, and Jay's fearful, begging eyes for her intervention.
"Well far be it from me to stand in the way of tradition." She said, "Carry on." She looked into the pleading eyes of Jay as he was swung over John's shoulder and carried off down the hallway. Her only curiosity as to the tradition was when she heard James say as they disappeared down the hallway.
"Someone get the Bovril!"
School main entrance
St. Gloriana School Ship 'HMS Ark Royal'
07:30
Lady Grey left her car and walked purposely onto the school grounds, as she had done for many years as both student and teacher. She had made a habit of arriving early, so she could take a quiet walk through the school grounds to be herself. She found peace and tranquility amongst the gardens of St. Gloriana. Everywhere from the silent hallways, to the stables, it gave her a sense of tranquility. He walk took her towards the firing range, where she heard the sounds of gunfire. Concerned for what was happening, she proceeded towards the range. When she arrived and stepped inside, she was relieved to find only James at the range. He turned his head and saw her at the entrance. He secured his weapon and removed his ear defenders.
"Good morning Ma'am." He said bowing to her. She bowed back,
"Good morning Mr. Hunter." She replied, "Up for some morning target practice?"
"Didn't get much sleep last night so I decided to come and do something I love in the morning." Replied James. Lady Grey stepped onto the range and looked down the range at the punctured target.
"Not a bad grouping." She commented, she motioned to the Glock. "May I?"
"Umm. Of course." Said James, slightly unnerved at handing a live weapon to a civilian, even a teacher. She saw his nervousness and smiled.
"Relax Mr. Hunter." She said, "I was in the police force for 5 years and have received firearms training." James immediately relaxed. Lady Grey put on some ear defenders and James replaced his. She then with practiced ease and accuracy put a 5 round grouping into the target, half an inch across.
"Whoa." Said Jay, "I haven't seen anyone beet Jay's record since he that time he challenged that Royal Marine Drill Sergeant to a shoot off."
"How is Mr. Ackner this morning?" Asked Lady Grey. James looked down at his watch.
"Well about now," replied James, he's probably nursing an impressive headache with a side of vertigo." Lady Grey looked surprised
"What did you..."
"Once the crimes were listed..."
"All of which I assume he was found guilty of?"
"Correct. He was sentenced to a just punishment."
"Which was?"
"Go have a look over the cafeteria entrance and you'll see." Replied James.
"As humerus as it no doubt is." Answered Lady grey, "I have other matters to attend to. But first it is fortuitous that I found you Sergeant. As you have been invited to the national Sensha-dō commanders feast."
"Commander's feast?"
"It's a formal meal where the headmaster or mistress, as well as the tankery commander of all the competing nations gather the night before the first round draw." Explained Lady Grey. "It seems this year that the commanders of the 3 international exchange teams are invited as well."
"There are other exchange teams ma'am? Where from?"
"I believe one is from Italy and another from Germany. So I'd surmise they are at Anzio for the Italian, but as for the German, I don't know. Shiho Nishizumi stated that she wouldn't allow for a male tankery participant to fight on her team, mentioned something about men being not fit for tankery."
"She sounds like a charming woman." Commented James, "I look forward to debating the subject with her." Lady Grey smiled,
"And I look forward to seeing it." She said. She then bowed to James, which he returned before she left.
Here we are, amazing what can be done when one doesn't have school work to limit your times
From re-reading some chapters I decided to have a clash of opinions between James and Darjeeling and I think it went well.
Over the next few chapters I'm going to get things moving into the tournament.
For those who were asking after the 'Alpha Males' I've got something in the works.
There will be 2 other transfer student characters coming into the story soon and I've got something brewing with Shino planned.
As per usual, drop a review with your opinion and PM me if you've got any suggestions