AN: So, I'm back! After a week of dealing with finals and other projects, I finally managed to finish this chapter up. This chapter also serves as a testbed for a different writing approach I experimented with, tell me what you think about it in the reviews and as always, see y'all at the end of the chapter and until then, farewell!

Chapter 2
Getting to know you

Now a few miles from Yokohama, Japan

As the two of them set off, walking the length of lavishly decorated corridors inside the Tea Garden, past portraits upon portraits and treading lightly on the velvet carpet, the bells of Gloriana's Tiny Ben outside tolled the passing of another quarter-hour.

Rosehip couldn't help but be thrilled; she was up close and personal with her idol. She held her hero's personal articles gingerly, making sure not to drop them. She was even too anxious to zoom off, fearful of leaving behind the person she looked up to.

"Madam, it's an honour to escort you to your quarters!" she said, beaming. Her eyes were slightly shut from the intense glare of the mid-morning sun coming through the arched windows.

"The honour is mine... Rosehip, isn't it?"

She knows my name! Wait till the others hear about this!

She nodded and said, "Ma'am, may I speak up?"

"You're already speaking, aren't you?" the other replied, jokingly. "Tell me, what's on your mind?"

Rosehip breathed deeply before speaking, "It's just that I'm a big fan of yours. Can I get your autograph?"

Earl Grey laughed and the redhead's heart dropped, preparing herself for the rejection that would soon come next. But the refusal was nowhere to be found as Earl Grey cut through her misery by replying, "I would love to! Now, do you have a pen and paper with you?"

"Yup, let me just find it!" She answered back, her enthusiasm in full swing once again as she set down the luggage and the umbrella on the carpet and then began searching for any writing materials on her person.

"How did I manage to snag an avid admirer like you?" She heard the question thrown at her but she was starting to panic as she soon realized something terrible.

"Bloody hell, I don't have a pen and paper on me!" she swore before she could control herself, belatedly covering her mouth that had just let out some foul language. The next thing she knew was her blonde companion was once again roaring with laughter.

"Is there something wrong, Miss Earl Grey?" she asked, quite sure she was looking pretty abashed.

"I just remembered when I was a first-year just like you, I was sent to detention for swearing out loud in English class. So young lady, you have nothing to be ashamed of!" The blonde replied, patting her gently on the head, making her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"Now I understand you don't have a pen with you right?" Earl Grey reiterated.

"Yes, I'm very sorry, Madam!" Rosehip apologized, performing a full 90-degree bow

"There's nothing to be sorry for, will a kiss on the cheek do?" The blonde alumnus lewdly suggested silently manoeuvring herself to pin Rosehip against the wall.

She felt her cheeks warm up and Rosehip knew she was blushing madly. "I-uh well, I kinda wan- yeah sure…" she trailed off.

Earl Grey smiled vivaciously and suddenly whipped out her white silk handkerchief and dabbed it to her lips before she placed it in Rosehip's own pocket.

"Now, let's continue shall we?" Earl Grey had stepped out of the way and allowed her to break away from the wall.

Rosehip only managed a nod before she picked up the items of her "master" once again and continued their walk.

"By the way, what's your answer to my question earlier?" The alumnus asked, breaking the growing silence between them.

"Oh yeah, you're the reason why I started doing Senshadou in the first place! I watched the live broadcast of your semi-finals match at the 61st National High School Sensha-dō Tournament back when I was in my junior year," she replied, somewhat gaining her composure again.

"Ah, the one against Pravda. They made the mistake of bringing in their heavy tanks. They thought their IS-3s and ISU-152s would strike fear into our hearts but rather we used it to our advantage and made use of the nimbleness of our cruisers to make short work of their lumbering tanks. The two turned a corner and were greeted by a corridor lined with oak doors, each leading to a guest room.

"Ma'am-" Rosehip started, as she scanned the room plaque numbers of every door they passed.

"Please call me Earl Grey," the upper-class woman told her.

"Earl Grey-sama, why did you pick me and my crew to fight alongside you? You could have just as easily picked your successor, Darjeeling-sama. What if I'm not up to your standards, what if I cost you this match?"

The blonde sighed and said, "Do you know my nickname back then?"

"The Devil on the Cromwell, right?" Of course, it was right, she had read up everything she could find on her, including numerous articles in the school paper, Gloriana Times and even that time when she was on the cover page of the Gekkan Senshadou Magazine.

"Yes, and I didn't earn it by being indecisive, I've earned it by acting first and thinking later, and the results show themselves. If I can do it, I'm certain you can too."

"Even if I'm just a commoner?" she asked, remembering one of the many names she was called because of her upbringing.

"It isn't where you came from, it's where you're going that counts," she narrated.

Now she knew where Darjeeling-sama got her obsession from.

"But Darjeeling-sama said I should be elegant at all times and I don't know how to be!"

"Nonsense! You carried yourself earlier quite well," Earl Grey asserted, trying to reassure her.

That's because there's something on the line.

"But table manners don't necessarily translate into how I command my tanks!" Rosehip protested.

Earl Grey uttered a sigh. "I hate how the Alumni Association has pushed the image of elegance even for the school's Senshadou team. Elegance has no place on the battlefield. I've seen your previous match in the 63rd Senshadou semi-finals and it was a close match indeed. If only you had more cruiser tanks, you would have taken the objective first."

Rosehip nodded, remembering that fateful day, but instead of replying she realized they had reached her room. "Oh, here we are Earl Grey-sama, the Hyde Suite! Lovingly prepared by the Gloriana Maids, I hope it is up to your standards!" she said, inserting the master key given to her by the Head Maid, Bohea.

The room was fit for the Queen herself, with its rose-coloured silk curtains, which covered a large window that gave the room's occupant an excellent view of the well-cared-for Gloriana Gardens. She was quite sure that the garden was in good hands because she herself got assigned to it multiple times as punishment by none other than her senpai, Assam-sama.

Rosehip placed her escortee's belonging on the four-poster bed, taking in the sight of the sumptuous furniture inside the room, and was about to take her leave, making her way to the door, when Earl Grey called out to her. "Young lady, don't leave just yet, I have something else to say." That made her pause as Earl Grey turned around and locked the oak door. At this note, Rosehip began to get nervous.

They wouldn't do that, right?

"For quite a long time, our Senshadou team has only been a speed bump for other schools like Kuromorimine and Pravda in their quest for the cup," The former commander began, where she was going, Rosehip didn't know, but she listened nonetheless.

Earl Grey made her way to the window and parted the curtain, illuminating the room.

"But you, you have guts, we need more girls like you to raise St. Gloriana back into the pedestal she once held. You will have a future in this school's Senshadou team, I'm sure of it. Come!" she beckoned her closer to the cheval mirror on the corner, asking her to stand in front of it.

Standing in front of the mirror, she was reminded of the slight height difference between the two of them along with the fact, the way both of them were dressed. Earl-Grey-sama carried herself in the suit and tie with an air of confidence and looked the part of a confident Senshadou commander. She, on the other hand, looked like she got dressed in the dark, which was half-true, and was just now noticing mistakes in how she tucked in her skirt or the way she buttoned her collar. And without trying to appear obvious, tried to rectify these errors before it was too late.

"What do you see?" Earl Grey asked, looking at her using the mirror, scanning her and Rosehip immediately ceased trying to fix her fashion errors.

"Uhh... I see myself and you as well, Earl-Grey-sama," she nervously replied.

"I see a young woman with potential, a young woman who's loyal, who could do as she's asked and who wants to do something good with her life."

To say she was blushing would be an understatement, she was as red as the flower her name came from. Why would Earl-Grey-sama shower her with praises, does she require a favour of sorts?"

Earl Grey-sama cut her thoughts off by asking again, "You've seen the film Trading Places?"

"No."

"My Fair Lady?" she shook her head.

"Pretty Woman?" she shook her head once more.

"Alright, my point is the lack of a silver spoon set you on a certain path but you need to stay on it. If you are prepared to adapt and learn, you can transform."

"Oh, like in David Copperfield!" Rosehip replied.

"Ah, you're full of surprises. Yes, like David Copperfield. Here's the plan…."

Rosehip had had the tank parked in an alley, which lay beside the main road. With the commander's hatch open, she and her driver sat outside the turret with their legs dangling inside, to prevent further overcrowding the already crowded turret. She was thinking about the hastily made plan Earl-Grey-sama and her had come up in that room when a question from her driver turned her attention back to her own crew, which had been with her from the very beginning and made her Senshadou experience both enjoyable and regrettable.

"How did the tea party go, by the way? Surely not, you didn't wet yourself in excitement, right?" her driver, whose name was Roselle, quipped. Like Rosehip, she was a speed demon and their friendship was like a match made in heaven like Doritos and Mountain Dew or hollandaise sauce on Eggs Benedict. The crazy speed made by their tank was only possible due to Roselle's expert handling of the controls and her ability to quickly shift gears.

The driver of their Crusader wore distinctive brown leather cavalry boots that looked ridiculous when paired with her brown coloured hair. With the tank stationary, Roselle could afford to be with them at the back, as she munched on some snacks stored in the various stowage bins inside the tank.

"Quiet now, I'm trying to sleep here. One more word from you and I'll shove these shells up your..." Rosemallow muttered, the loader of the tank's 6-pounder. A kind-hearted gal, affectionately nicknamed "Breadbasket" for her habit of bringing along and sharing freshly baked bread, courtesy of her family's bakery, during matches. The ginger head was also the one who decided to share tea with the Chaffee's crew during the match against Selection University, much to her own commander's protests. Right now, however, the girl was in a foul mood today after pulling an all-nighter the night before, her orange hair laid on the throw pillow she kept on her corner of the tank for emergencies like this.

"Ey, no fighting inside the tank, remember?" Rosehip scolded. The formalities of tank commander and crew in other St. Gloriana tanks were non-existent in their Crusader, after all, they were all first-years and everyone treated each other as peers. However, said formalities were observed outside the tank, lest they incur the wrath of Darjeeling.

"Oi, who replaced the soda here with apple juice?" she asked as she hopped down back inside to refill her cup. Another difference was that they had modified the tank's built-in water heater system to be able to chill food and drinks with the help of some spare coolant and tubings from the garage. It had allowed them to store a wide variety of beverages from iced tea, to treats like ice cream and, in what should be today's case, soft drinks.

The modification had not been found out, partly because of their ingenuity and partly because they always bribed the inspector with a cold drink of her choice. Today, however, was her turn on deciding the tank's drink selection and she was not all too happy on being cheated on it.

"Hmph, I did. You know how I hate those other drinks," her gunner, Rosemary, replied, before burying her nose once again on a book. She was the calm and collected one in the quartet, which was always been referred to as the Rosebush, an allusion to how all four of them had tea names that in one way or another related to the national flower of England. Despite being the most responsible person on board, she was also a tsundere and that made teasing her very enjoyable.

"Fine," Rosehip replied, pouring some juice in a porcelain teacup, spiking it with some sugar cubes from their tea set.

Her relationship with the rest of them had always been a balance between love and hate. They had assisted her in her shenanigans before, like that time when they helped her cover up an explosion caused by mounting a homemade engine into a Crusader but they could also be a pain in the arse, especially when they teased her about Assam-senpai.

How would someone like Earl Grey lead a rowdy bunch like hers?

It's a shame she had not been able to get her autograph earlier, it was really foolish of her, if only she had brought a pen with her, but what's done is done. Rosehip then remembered the hankie given to her earlier by the alumnus. It was still in her pocket and she took it out to look at it. At first sight, the plain white handkerchief was just that, a plain white handkerchief. But, in the lower hand corner of the cloth, embroidered in golden thread, was the initials "E.G" and on its opposite corner is a red kiss mark from Earl Grey herself!

Rosehip squealed in delight as she realized the value of the gesture earlier. This was more than just a plain hanky, this was even more valuable than an autograph! Curiously, she sniffed the cloth and a collection of flowery fragrances and scent of its previous owner entered her nostrils, slowly intoxicating her and making her drunk.

"Is that someone's knickers, commander?" Her driver joked, her hands outstretched, attempting to seize the fabric. She gave her a good kicking to shut her up, not much that it would hurt but enough to make her stop.

Her wireless crackled and she stowed away the hankie. She then picked up her headset. "Come in, Revere," the voice on the other end called, which belonged to Earl Grey, whose singsong voice was carried over the waves clear as glass.

"Revere here, what is it, Longfellow?" she answered back, using the designated codenames, which thrilled her and reminded her of those old spy films.

"The regulars are coming out, one lantern only I'm afraid," Rosehip noted the message and remembered that it meant one tank had taken the bait and they were now approaching the kill zone.

"Affirmative, getting underway."

Rosehip told her crew to get into their battle stations, with Roselle hopping off the turret and making her way to her hatch, all with a teacup in hand. She saw Rosemary put away her book into one of the crevices on the turret walls and nudged Rosemallow awake. Rosehip herself took her position behind the gun, closing the turret hatch above her as she got ready for the engagement which was about to happen.

Slowly, the roar of engines started to fade in, getting louder and louder. The unmistakable purr of the Cromwell's Rolls-Royce Meteor couldn't quite mask the faint Leyland engines of the Matilda Mk. II, which sounded different from the Bedford of the Churchill. Thus, she was sure that Rukuriri was their quarry.

The pair passed the alley where they were hidden. Rukuriri was too busy chasing the Cromwell to take notice of their Crusader hiding in the alley. Rosehip spoke to Roselle via the intercom to turn on their own engine, which had been silent to lower their chance of detection, and put her pedal to the metal.

The Liberty engine on their back roared into life, rocking the tank ever so slightly, which could soothe her to sleep, but now it just made her feel more alive. The purr of it could only be compared to a cheetah about to go on a hunt, not stopping in its pursuit until it has caught up to its prey.

Roselle revved the engine a few more times before letting it run, bringing them out of their hiding place and into the street. Their plan had worked perfectly, as she used her periscope to spot the Matilda, which was a few blocks down the road, firing aimlessly at the much faster Cromwell.

They chased the infantry tank until they were at point-blank range, giving them an excellent view of the perfectly curved rear of Rukuriri…'s tank.

Of course, Rukuriri finally noticed what was happening behind her, perhaps causing a much-needed alarm inside the tank. The Matilda came to a halt and began turning its turret but Rosehip knew that Earl Grey would do a double-take and try to catch the attention of their query once again.

She hadn't finished the thought when two consecutive shots from the Cromwell jammed the Tilly's turret.

The infantry tank was now sandwiched by the two cavalry tanks and could only wait for its end. Rosehip delivered the coup de grace from behind, where Rukuriri hated it the most. Her tank's 6-pounder popped out a single shot, causing a lot of smoke to disperse from the Matilda. The smoke finally cleared and the Queen of the Desert was no more; her white flag fluttered in the wind and its commander made obscene gestures to the Crusader.

"Way to go!" she cheered, her gunner wasn't the next Hana Isuzu but she could depend on her most of the time and besides, it's pretty hard to miss a point-blank shot, right?

"Jolly good, but we're not done yet," Rosemallow reminded her.

"Good work Rosy, now only Darjeeling remains at large. Let's split up and look for her" Earl Grey responded, sounding as if she was about to burst with pride.

It did not take long for them to spot the Churchill, with its bulky chassis and slow speed, which made camouflaging it and quickly manoeuvring it virtually impossible, kind of like Brexit.

"We have found them! We're currently at junction B5, executing Operation Midnight Ride!" Rosehip said to the receiver, hoping it was Cranberry at the other end.

She used the Crusader's speed and manoeuvrability to its fullest, zigzagging to avoid the deadly game of tag Assam and Orange Pekoe were playing. The extra rush of adrenaline only aided the feeling of exhilaration she'd been feeling ever since the match started, probably caused by the sugar rush of the sweetened apple juice.

Left Right Left Right

She thought to herself. Roselle could only do so much, however, as Assam finally saw through their pattern and fired a leading shot, this time striking true and hitting their turret head-on.

"Oh bugger," she muttered as she felt the shockwave of the projectile, causing their cavalry tank to come to an abrupt halt. She quickly checked up on her turret crew and found out they were out cold, slumped in their seats with Rosemary worryingly bleeding from her head; tiny specks of blood splattered the gun sight.

Rosehip quickly turned to her wireless, switching it over to the intercom system, asking Roselle for help. No response came however and she concluded that her driver was knocked out as well. She tried approaching the gunner's seat to check up on Rosemary herself but found her movement sluggish, so she opened the turret to let in some sea breeze, lest she passed out as well.

Looking out, she gripped the tank's little flagpole with the white flag on it and used it as a support to stay upright. She saw the Churchill tank attempting to drive away from the skirmish but they were too late. A speeding green blur from the east came blazing in and collided with the Churchill's side, jammed its gun into the turret ring of the infantry tank and fired. The subsequent smoke hid the results from her sight, but it was bright as day who had won.

With an effort, she tried to stay conscious but as her vision continued to darken, she knew that it was a losing battle and she let herself be swept away and hoped for the best.


The sound of crying startled Rosehip awake, but she knew she wasn't truly awake, she was still unconscious.

She was just having her regular nightmares.

An eerie mist clouded her vision, she had seemingly left her tank, for there were no signs of the Crusader nor her crew, as she fumbled around. From somewhere in the fog, she heard screams; blood-curdling screams that resonated inside her head.

"You did this to me!"

"You'll pay for what you did!"

"This is all your fault!"

She tried to cover her ears, but she could not block out the chants. It was already inside her head, filling her with guilt, sorrow, and pain. And most importantly, made her remember that fateful day.

She was younger back then, and with no clear responsibilities in life. She played; she did whatever she wanted and didn't give a care to the world. Rosehip was riding her bicycle then, weaving through the traffic and even pedalling on the wrong side of the road. She was going about her reckless ways until a speeding van appeared. Like a future roadkill caught in the headlights, she was frozen in fear as she tried her best to swerve away, but her limbs went numb.

The side of the road was devoid of pedestrians, except for a lone girl in a white dress, who slowly walked, carrying a bag of groceries, an innocent by-stander that was about to have her life changed forever.

The motorist finally seemed to have noticed her barreling down the road and in a split-second decision, the driver turned the wheel and spared her, but unknowingly doomed that girl.

The van mounted the pavement and a loud cry was heard. What came next was a sound she would never forget, it was a weep, not of sadness, but of pain, accompanied by screams of agony and pleas for help. These noises blended to form an orchestra, an orchestra of pain and sorrow.

This must be what hell would sound like

The ginger's pristine white dress was now stained with blood, blood coming from her leg, now smashed to bits by the accident, an accident she had caused.

The girl's groceries lay scattered on the street, her blood slowly oozing on the sidewalk and as she slowly faded into unconsciousness, she stared at the girl whose foolishness caused her to suffer pain. A bicyclist who had carelessly riden her bicycle on the other side of the road, rushing oncoming traffic.

Now, an innocent bystander was on the ground, on the tightrope between life and death, all because of her. The girl's face was twisted with pain, the face was a blurry mess but the hair, her orange hair, was forever burned into Rosehip's memory.

The darkness engulfed her and she was out cold once again.


AN: Yeah it turned a bit dark at the end!

But…

*pulls out Darjeeling's gag*

"Say the line!"

"Go to hell, why the fuck did you kidnap me"

*stuffs the gag back*

"What she meant to say was "There is a light at the end of every tunnel. Some tunnels just happen to be longer than others." Ada Adams, right?."

Thanks again to the people who helped me along the way, Sharkycast for proofreading this mess of a chapter, for WolfWehrmacht for aid in the last part and to you my dear readers, who continue to inspire me to write!

Oh, btw you can influence how the story will go! Just comment your thoughts and suggestions and I'll try my best to implement it into the story.

Edit: (?) Finally finished proofreading this chapter, hopefully, I managed to remove most of the errors in this chapter (I think) and give Rosehip's companion a bit more character than they rightfully deserved, considering their only screentime is their legs. However, I do suppose it's a worthy investment nonetheless.

Edit: (9/22/21) Another proofread down, not as major as the previous ones, which I think is a nice testament to me slowly improving as I continue to write my way through this story. Also that Brexit joke aged poorly haha

Also, to answer TheRoyalHpynosis's question, yes, the Crusader Mk 3 only has a crew of three, but in Girls und Panzer's case, based on aerial shots and an after-action still, both in Der Film, we could conclude that there are four people inside Rosehip's Crusader, with Rosehip manning the radio full time. Whether this is also the case in other Crusaders or just Rosehip's, since she's the platoon commander, we can only guess. Hopefully, that answers your question well!

Here's a link to the photographs that have influenced my decision to stuff another crew member in the Crusader.

a/YMmjkZT

Just pop this over on Imgur and see for yourself.