Hai domo, it me. Sorry for the delays and all, life and stuff, yeah, I should do something 'bout that... But hey, I'll keep myself actively writing! It's no biggie!
Seven: About Damn Time!
"Where's Lou?" Kay asked her two vice-commanders as she looked around the arrival hall. It had been a short while since they've landed at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, and so far there had been no sign of the brunette newcomer. She had been separated from the rest of them during the confusion over the plane seats back in France and Japan was new territory for her; the blonde hoped that the girl hadn't gotten lost in the unfamiliar airport.
As the rest of the girls grouped up and reunited with their friends, the Saunders Command trio looked towards the arrival gate for Louise as even more people streamed out. With Lou being of comparable height to her peers for once, it seemed like the task was not a challenging one.
"Hey, there she is," Naomi pointed into the distance.
"Oh?" the blonde immediately looked in the direction. "Oh! Yep, there's her! Lou!" she waved.
Sure enough, there was the ponytailed brunette, looking a little unbalanced with that relatively huge backpack behind her. She had definitely seen Kay's waving, for she was now slowly approaching the group.
Lou looked terrible. Granted, it was very early in the morning and everyone was understandably a little tired, but the way the Saunders newcomer slouched forward, giving a thousand-yard stare to the ground, indicated a little bit more of a problem than a mere case of jet lag.
"I-it's a long way… to Tipperary…"
"Hey, you alright?" the Saunders team commander asked concernedly as Louise practically stumbled to a stop in front of her.
Slowly, Tuckerman raised her head to look at the blonde. A few seconds later, her lips slowly curled up into a very fatigued smile. "Y-yeah…"
"You sure ʼbout that?" Naomi raised an unconvinced eyebrow.
"Yeeep… What is my favorite tea, you ask…?"
"Uhh…" Alisa muttered. "I don't know ʼbout you two, but that doesnʼt sound 'fine' to me."
"You don't say," Kay frowned. "Where the hell was she seated?"
"Hey, do you know this saying…?"
"Oh. Never mind," the blonde girl sighed, instantly knowing what happened. "We'll let her get some rest on the bus, she'll be fine when she wakes up."
"Probably," the pigtailed brunette shrugged. "Naomi can take her bag, I'll drag her along."
"Actually, I'll need to watch our girls," the Saunders sharpshooter refused.
"What?"
"Yeah, she's helping me out," the Saunders team commander confirmed. "Well, we'll leave Lou under your care then! Thanks a bunch!"
"No, wait just a damn second-"
Too late. Both Kay and Naomi had already turned around and headed off to the crowd of schoolgirls.
"..."
Alisa sighed. "Fine, fine, it's always me doing all the dirty work… Right, come here, pass me your bag…"
"Daisy, Daisy, g-give me your answer do…"
"... -ise and shine! Oi, get up! You need to see this!"
"Huh…?" Lou's eyes opened, the smiling face of Kay greeting her. "What…"
"Oh, good, you're up!" the blonde beamed. "You've been out for quite a while!"
"Huh…?" the brunette groaned as she stretched in her seat, taking in her new surroundings as her awareness slowly returned to her. Her body felt unrested all over; granted, that was how things usually went with sleeping in a seat as opposed to lying down in a proper bed. Though, this seat was not the one that she last remembered being in. Actually, her entire surroundings were not of the plane she last remembered being in.
Tuckerman took only a few seconds to reorient herself. "Are we on a ferry…?"
"Yep!" Kay grinned. "Anyway, come on! Look out of the window! You can't miss this!"
Rubbing her eyes, the Saunders newcomer tiredly propped her seat back up to the sitting position. "I didn't get much sleep, you know…" she muttered tiredly before looking out of the window. "What do I need to…"
The view of the massive ship that greeted her properly woke her up.
The best way to describe that vessel would be the term "massive aircraft carrier", the whole behemoth of a ship resembling a Nimitz-class carrier. Only that the word "massive" was so much of an understatement an actual Nimitz-class carrier would not even look as large as a small bathroom toy boat next to this giant, which length definitely already spanned at least a good number of kilometers. It wasn't just one or two kilometers; it was so huge Louise couldn't even accurately estimate the size without hesitating. In fact, it was so large it completely blocked out the early morning sun, and the girl could not even properly see the entirety of this ship from this angle.
"(H-holy shit...)"
"Yeah, that was my reaction on my first time too!" Kay grinned as Lou stared on, wide-eyed and jaw-dropped. "Meet the George Washington! She's our schoolship! Biggest one around, too!"
"I see Louise has finally met a schoolship," Alisa grinned from the seat behind the two. "Pretty impressive, isn't she? She's around more than 14 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide. Of course she's large; she's got literally an entire city on board!"
"W-wait, t-this…" the young Tuckerman attempted to say something to no avail. None of the pictures she had ever seen did any justice to actually seeing one with her own eyes.
"Yeah, we Japanese are really enthusiastic about the floating city idea," Naomi smiled from next to the pigtailed vice-commander.
Louise could only stare as the ferry approached the George Washington. "This… This is incredible…" she gaped in pure wonder.
"She's our home away from home," Kay went on. "And from now on, she's your home too," she smiled, putting an arm around the young Tuckerman's shoulder. "We'll give you the tour as soon as possible! You'll know your way around in no time!"
"Will she?" Alisa asked doubtfully.
"Yes she would! All of us did!"
"But we were all still getting lost one month into our first years…"
"Shut it."
Some time later, the girls disembarked from their ferries and onto the George Washington with their luggage, Lou understandably still in awe at everything she was seeing. While most of the girls were headed back to campus the moment they boarded the massive schoolship, drivers selected beforehand stayed behind with the M4 while they were unloaded; those that were damaged would be taken for repairs, while others would be returned to the team's garage. It wasn't long before Louise found herself in the back seat of the Willys MB the Saunders Command team had managed to claim for the trip, with Naomi behind the wheel, Alisa riding shotgun and Kay seated next to the ponytailed brunette herself.
As the Saunders sharpshooter continued driving the Jeep on its path down the carrier's gridded streets, making one turn after the other, the new Saunders girl looked around her new surroundings in wonder and curiosity. The architecture of the Japanese suburban houses were different compared to the French suburbs, for one. And even from here, the taller buildings and skyscrapers of the busier city area were visible, standing in pleasant contrast against the residential houses.
Unsurprisingly, with a ship the size of an island, the brunette did not feel like she was at sea.
A while later, the splendid buildings of the Saunders University High School main campus came into view as the Jeep approached, the stylish designs and the sheer amount of buildings completely breaking every single expectation the school's newest student had.
"(Woah…)"
"I told you it's great!" Kay beamed proudly as the Jeep came to a stop at a traffic light. "So? What do you think?"
"I definitely wasn't expecting this…" Tuckerman replied softly. "This looks more like a university…"
"You tell me!" Alisa grinned. "We've got the best and largest campus amongst the other high schools here in Japan. "We even rival some actual universities!"
"Perks of being the richest high school around," Naomi commented.
"Woah, that's- Wait," Lou blinked, "none of you ever told me we're the richest around."
"We didn't?" the blonde beside her looked at the newcomer in surprise before shrugging. "Well, now you know!" she smiled.
And with the lights turned green, the Jeep drove off, leaving Lou to allow the revelation to set in her own time.
It didn't take long after that for the Jeep to arrive at a side street, one that Naomi turned down. A large gate guarded on either side by two girls in Saunders uniform cheerfully waving at them as they passed through the gates, and Lou could hardly believe what she was seeing.
Beyond the gate, over to the left of the street, lay a vast concrete plaza large enough for a professional football match littered with mostly jeeps, a few M4s and a small amount of other vehicles in varying conditions, a small army of girls walking back and forth between them carrying tools, spare parts, snacks and more as they worked on them all. The collection of vehicles, though impressive, was not the source of Lou's lack of ability to speak. Beyond it stood a massive warehouse lording over them, large enough to swallow the entire plaza whole and making them seem like krill to the whale-like open maw of the red brick building. And up the street, ahead of the Command Jeep, was a column of M4s, freshly unloaded from the ferries earlier that morning, turning into the warehouse through a road entrance and joining their brethren in the gullet of Saunders' gargantuan tank garage.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Alisa asked with a pleased smirk, turning back to watch Lou's stunned expression. "Oh, don't be surprised yet. Wait till you see things inside."
"O-okay…" the ponytailed brunette nodded meekly as Naomi lifted off the gas, allowing the Jeep to slow down before turning in.
This time, Lou was surprised her jaw didn't dislocate from her skull by the speed at which it dropped.
Lined all throughout inside were so many tanks of various different models and variants. M4s, M4A1s, a small handful of M4A2s, M4A4 VC Fireflies, and to the surprise of the young Tuckerman, even the incredibly-rare M4A6s. And the sheer number of Shermans present were not all; she could also see a row of Stuarts at the other end of the garage, too. All of them neatly parked in rows, this was quite the sight.
Teasingly, Alisa reached out and pushed Lou's open mouth closed again. As Lou blushed and laughed shyly in response, the Jeep slowed to a stop as the girls in the garage noticed the new arrival, much to their excitement.
"Welcome back!"
In the span of a few seconds, the Willys MB was crowded with the excited students.
"(Hello~!)" Kay waved and grinned happily in response as she hopped out of the vehicle, ahead of the other three girls. "I missed you guys!"
"How was France!" someone in the crowd asked.
"Splendid! It was loads of fun! Also, here's our newcomer!"
"H-huh?" Lou turned around just as she was about to help Alisa and Naomi unpack. She looked at the blonde for about a second before something told her to glance over at the crowd.
Of course, to her mounting realization and anxiety, the entirety of the aforementioned crowd's attention was directed at her.
"(U-uh… H-hi…)"
It didn't take a few seconds before she was swamped with a flurry of excited activity. In the center of it all, unable to make sense of anything anyone was saying, the blush on the brunette's face couldn't be redder as she smiled sheepishly, backing up until she was leaning against the Jeep, wishing that she could disappear into the truck's body as well. "(U-um… U-uhh…)"
"Now, now, you guys!" Kay's voice cut through the chatter, quietening the crowd. "Lou here's pretty shy, so give her some space, alright?" she winked. "One question at a time!"
"Okaay~!"
And very quickly, Tuckerman got her space back, much to her relief.
"Sorry!" someone apologized as Louise got up from the Jeep. "We're just excited to meet you! Lou, was it?"
"Y-yeah, Louise Tuckerman," the brunette nodded and smiled shyly. "Nice to meet you all, I'll be part of Saunders and the team from now on."
"Welcome!" the crowd cheered in response.
"We always like new people around!" one commented. "I'm sure you'll love it here!"
"I will!" the new girl grinned enthusiastically. "Can't wait to get into sensha-do!"
"Glad to hear! You'll be ready in no time!"
"How old are you?" another asked.
"H-huh? Fifteen, I-I'm going to be a 1st Year, I think…"
"Ooh, sweet!" was the collective response of the 1st Years in the crowd.
"What about your blood type?"
"B-blood type?"
"Yeah!"
"Huh? U-uh, it's AB…"
Various ooh-s came from the other girls. "AB…"
Tuckerman raised an eyebrow in confusion. "W-wait, what's with that?"
"Oh yeah, you're not aware," the girl began to answer. "So, we Japanese have the belief that the blood type of someone can influence one's personality. It's somewhat a big-ish thing here."
"Ah, I see," Louise nodded.
"Think of it like zodiac signs," another one chimed in. "Of course, they're not concrete, everyone's different in their own ways."
"I see… So, what does my blood type say about me?"
"Well, you're talented, composed and eccentric!"
"Sounds good..." Lou nodded as she listened on.
"You may also be two-faced."
The brunette blinked. "W-what?"
"Relax!" the girl chuckled. "Like I said, they're not definite! Many Type ABs aren't two-faced, else we'd have a problem!"
"Darjeeling and Rosehip are Type ABs, by the way," Alisa whispered over to Lou.
"Ah, I see…" the ponytailed brunette nodded.
"Hey, what's your favorite tank?" a new question arrived.
This question was one that Tuckerman didn't hesitate to answer. "M4."
"YEAH!" everyone cheered together in response, startling the newcomer a little.
"Which variant?" someone continued eagerly.
" M4A3(76)W HVSS!" Lou grinned in return. 'Or Easy-Eight, to make things simpler."
A mixture of approval and confusion came from the crowd.
"Wait, what's an Easy-Eight?" the question was asked from yet another in the crowd.
And as if on cue, the sound of a familiar engine approached from outside
"Well," Louise grinned proudly, "that's one right there."
Beside her, Alisa raised a confused eyebrow. "Wait, why's she here?" she asked, turning to Kay.
"Oh, right, I didn't inform her…" the Saunders team commander scratched her cheek sheepishly as the M4 in question turned into the garage and finally came into view.
With the excited crowd reacting to her arrival, Ace drove through the garage door, the unfamiliar roars of the Ford GAA echoing off the walls. Whatever other girls were present that had not been paying attention now turned their heads up to look at the newcomer M4, in all of its weathered, battle-torn, war-spec glory.
"So we really did get a new tank!" one of the girls exclaimed as the tank squealed to a stop in front of the crowd, squeaking as it rocked gently back and forth for a little bit.
"Yep!" Louise beamed proudly. "Her name's Ace of Spades, and she's mine!"
The driver's hatch swung open and out popped Reiko's head. "Commander! Where should I park her?"
"Well, about that…" the blonde scratched her head sheepishly. "I forgot to tell tell you to bring Ace to the Workshop. Sorry…"
"Oh… It's alright!" the driver grinned in return "I'll get her there in a jiffy then!"
"This engine sounds a lot like one of All-Stars' Pershings," one of the girls in the crowd commented. "And that suspension doesn't look familiar, definitely not similar to the VVSS we use."
"Well, for starters, that's because the Pershing uses the exact same engine as the M4A3," Lou replied. "Only differences are that in the A3 it's called the Ford GAA whereas in the Pershing it's called the GAF, and that one has different intake and exhaust manifolds, oil pan and flywheel. Else it's the exact same thing. A naturally-aspirated all-aluminium 32-valve DOHC liquid-cooled 60-degree V8 with twin Stromberg NA-Y5-G carburetors, a dual-ignition system and crossflow induction. Five hundred gross horsepower at 2600 rpm and a thousand and fifty foot pounds of torque at 2200 rpm," the specifications that the young Tuckerman had long committed to memory rolling off her tongue just as easily as she breathed before she tensed up in shyness. "I-is that too much info…?"
Not at all!" the girl laughed. "Keep going!"
"W-well, about the suspension, the Easy-Eight uses the Horizontal Volute Suspension System, HVSS. Heavier, stronger, increases wheel travel, uses wider tracks, allows the changing of individual wheels and makes for a much smoother ride."
"I see, I see," the girl smiled. "This tank's really an entirely new beast, isn't she?"
"You can say that, but as an M4 she's not too different, the only special thing setting her apart from fellow A3s being HVSS, which can be fitted on all other M4 variants. Furthermore, the M4A3 is practically identical to the M4A2 in all but engine, since they're counterparts to each other; the A3's exclusively domestic to the US while the A2's meant for export. So, other than HVSS and the GAA Ace's rather alike to that M4A2 over there," Louise explained, pointing to the parked M4A2(76)W a distance away alongside its few same-variant peers.
"Ooh, interesting… Wait, when was the last time we used those tanks anyway?"
Everyone turned to stare at the A2s curiously.
"Well, we use them occasionally for training. Not much for combat, though, we probably only brought them to a match only literally once some time back." one commented.
"Yeah, why didn't we use them in matches?" another asked.
"Well, mainly because they're the only tanks we have that run on diesel, much like the M4A6s over there" Alisa explained as she pointed at the latter tanks in question. "It's going to be an additional hassle. I mean, we can bring diesel along as well by all means, it's just that since there's so few of them and nobody ever uses them it's better for them to just be training tanks. But if anyone falls in love with one we sure can bring some anyway. Anyone?" the pigtailed vice-commander scanned the crowd.
Murmurs and shrugs were the responses she observed.
"We actually own more A2s," Naomi commented, "but we lent them to Pravda some time back since they said they needed them. Haven't seen or even heard about them since."
"I told you guys we weren't gonna get any of them back…" the other vice-commander grumbled.
"Hm. Well, anyway," the girl who was asking Louise the questions turned back to the new Saunders girl, "you don't need to feel shy about speaking your mind, we all want to see you be your true self around here! Besides, you seem to be really knowledgeable about this, and we love a girl that knows her stuff."
"Well, I've been in charge of keeping her running along with my Gramps since I was a kid, after all…" Louise replied softly with a shy smile.
"Woah, really?l!" someone exclaimed. "That's awesome!"
Various calls of agreement came from many other girls.
"And he's the original commander of Ace, too!" Tuckerman beamed. "You can see she's been through quite a bit."
"Yeah, that's true," one commented, observing the wartime combat damage on Ace. "What happened?"
"Long story, I'll tell you guys sometime later. Anyway, I'm very glad I'm here, honestly. It's been my lifelong dream of being able to do tankery- sensha-do, since the EU has banned the sport, and it's even better bringing Ace along with me! Especially since she's saved from the authorities thanks to this."
"Pleasure to have you as well!" was a reply amongst other similar positive comments.
"So, I guess I'll be off now?" Reiko asked.
"Yeah, go ahead!" Kay replied.
"Alright then. See you guys later!" she waved. "Don't forget our plans, Eri~!" she winked.
"H-hey!"
And with her head ducking out of view, out of fun, Reiko revved the V8 up and put the tank into gear.
Ace lurched forward as everyone jumped back, her tracks screeching as they grinded against the hard concrete ground, sending sparks flying out over the sides and back. A moment later, though, that stopped as the driver compensated by easing on the throttle. And with that, the Easy-Eight headed off without further incident.
"Well, that was a little aggressive…" Lou commented as she watched her grandfather's tank drive off.
"Yeah," Kay agreed. "Well, now that's done, I'll let you guys crowd 'round Lou sometime later. For now though, we've still got a busy day, so let's get to it!"
"Yeah!"
As the crowd dispersed, the Saunders team commander turned back to her vice-commanders and newcomer. "Alright, let's unload our stuff. Then we're hopping back on again! You're part of it, Lou!" she pointed cheerfully.
"A-ah? What are we gonna do?"
Kay grinned. "It's your tour!"
Over the course of the rest of the day, the girls brought their newcomer around the George Washington, introducing Louise to many new places while also teaching her the history of Saunders as a whole, while switching between driving as they went on. The young Tuckerman had gaped in wide wonder at the amount and types of aircraft at the air base, with the three other girls showing her around, watching in amusement as they observed their newcomer. Of course, due to how big the place was, they stayed there for quite a while, with the air team members very happily answering every single enthusiastic question Louise had for them.
After a quick lunch, the tour continued on, with the Jeep going around the schoolship to various areas and locations of interest. Of course, this was a buildup before they took her into the city area of Saunders for the final section of her tour. Stopping at the go-to fast food joint on board, Louise was treated to dinner by the other three girls, an offer she tried to politely refuse but was very quickly pressured into accepting. Sensha-do, gossip, various topics were brought up in the conversation during the meal, one that Lou thoroughly enjoyed and would never forget.
After what turned out to be a fairly heavy meal, Naomi suggested that they take a stroll at the shopping district, and this was during which Louise laid her eyes on something she knew she needed. And of course, she bought it. Soon enough, though, it was time to return to the still-busy garage to retrieve their luggage, and the two vice-commanders were dropped off there to reunite with their crews. Kay then drove Louise over to her new accommodations, which was an apartment on the 8th floor of a 10-storey block. There, the team commander showed her around her new residence for a while, asking Louise about how she found the environment of Saunders so far. Lou shared that she was impressed with absolutely everything, but found it most heartwarming that everyone was so friendly to her, something that Kay was visibly proud of.
Soon though, the commander had to leave, needing to return to the garage for a few important matters. And with a tight hug and "See ya!", the blonde was off, and the young Tuckerman was now left on her own.
Some time later, after having unpacked, Louise stepped out of the shower in her nightclothes, her damp hair let down. Using the towel around her neck to dry them more before placing it on her chair, the young Tuckerman yawned tiredly as she lay down on her bed, recalling everything that had happened so far, so quickly.
From the Japanese exhibition match back in France to Ace being discovered, from how the Easy-Eight went from nearly being seized to being saved by Saunders, from how Louise herself had went from an uneventful life in France to one that presented limitless opportunity in Japan. Everything still felt unbelievable to the girl, but fortunately the pleasant reality is that everything really did happen. And for that, she thanked her lucky stars from the very bottom of her heart.
Remembering something, Lou sat up and looked at her new purchase; a record player, now sitting on her table. Turning to look at her grandfather's record, she smiled, getting up and plugging the player in. Taking the record out, she placed it on the recorder and slowly moved and lowered the needle onto it.
And with the player coming to life and the very familiar piece recorded by Fred Waring began, one she had not heard in years, a wide smile grew on her face as all those happy memories came flooding back to her.
"Over hill, over dale,
We have hit the dusty trail,
And those caissons go rolling along!
Counter-march, right about,
Hear those wagon soldiers shout,
While those caissons go rolling along!
For it's 'Hi! Hi! Hee!' in the field artillery,
Call off your numbers loud and strong!
And where'er we go, you will always know
That those caissons are rolling along!"