Continuation High's primary roster of tanks had thin skins and high speed. They were some of the fastest tanks used in Sensha-do and extremely manoeuvrable, using designs made for agility and benefitting from being built using modern equipment which made them even faster and durable. Their high speed complimented their low firepower, in a long range duel they were doomed to defeat but lunging in at high speed, they could strike at point blank range and be away before the other side knew what was happening. Keizoku had constructed a special course for the purpose of enhancing the skills of both their drivers and gunners; the unimaginatively named 'Gauntlet'.

Tearing through the course at high speed, avoiding bogs and obstacles that were always being moved so the drivers couldn't simply learn the course, the gunners would hone their skills at firing not just on the move but anticipating the spikes and plunges of the tank.

Mika was loading for Aki so she could focus on her gunnery. Aki's reputation for shooting on the move was known throughout the school, even those who didn't follow Sensha-do. Students were fascinated by recordings of the BT-42 roaring through the Gauntlet, dodging around obstacles on one track and blasting targets into splinters. It took incredible reflexes to aim and fire in barely a second and Aki had those reflexes.

Mika could sense that Aki was venting her feelings into her gunnery. Every mock-up she reduced to splinters made her growl in a distinctly non-Aki manner. While Sensha-do certainly required a degree of aggressiveness, bloodthirstiness was frowned upon and Mika certainly didn't like to see gentle Aki revelling in destruction, even if it was only wooden mock ups.

Mikko performed another side wheelie and Aki righted them by firing and the wooden version of a Panther had a hole blown in its flank. The BT-42's oversized turret stressed the suspension and gave it a higher centre of gravity and it was a testament to Mikko's impressive skills that they didn't spend most of their training time capsized and waiting to be righted.

There was a surprise waiting for them at the end of the gauntlet but Mikko had anticipated it. The Gauntlet was for the speedsters but Keizoku didn't just rely on speed. Their small force of tank destroyers were famous for their accuracy and they needed to train too and static targets were poor targets. Mikko anticipated but her adversary had anticipated that anticipation. As the BT-42 swept out of the Gauntlet and Mikko threw them to the left, the shell hit them directly on their front glacis. They came skidding to a halt and almost mockingly, their flag popped.

Mikko raised her eyes to the heavens. "How does she do that?"

"Magic." Mika replied, beaming and then placed her hands on Aki's shoulders. "Twelve for twelve." She told her.

"I wish they were actually tanks." Aki complained. "How do we know if we actually scored a knockout blow if we're only shooting at wood?"

"Because we know how good you are." Mika squeezed her shoulders and then let go of her before turning to her mic. "Recovery, please."

The BT-42 was hauled away to receive the simple repair and its three crew members went to observe the next team through the gauntlet. Of their assailant, they could see nothing and Aki and Mikko both marvelled at their skill at such long range. It was the terrible duality of Keizoku's tactics, being devastating in a close-range melee but also excelling at long-range ambushes.

A T-26 raced through the course and only managed nine out of twelve. It received no surprise at the end and trundled off, muddy and unharmed. The BT-7 that followed had no such luck, taking a hit in the flank that revealed the shooter had relocated. And still no one could tell where they were.

"She's going to cripple our team before we can compete." Mikko remarked dryly.

"We can handle it. For now." Mika's fingers were twitching, playing the kantele even though it wasn't there. "Though I think everyone would like the chance to shoot back at her." She beamed at Mikko and then forced her fingers still. "Aki."

"I'm listening."

"You need to stop worrying about what's to come."

"We're going to antagonise another school. My sister's school. We have to travel around the entire country to reach its home waters and then get aboard without them knowing even though they're waiting for us because you told me to warn them. And then somehow get to the St Gloriana Sensha-do club and into their hanger and take away a tank… Undetected…"

"Exactly." Mika squeezed her arm. "Don't worry about it. Everything is how it should be."

"Then why does nothing feel right?"

There were many things that Aki had learned at Keizoku but the most challenging had been managing her emotions whenever Mika gave one of her knowing smiles as she did now. It was a lesson she was still struggling with but the smiles alone were a picnic compared to when they came with a cryptic aphorism, the meaning of which would probably have been unclear even to ancient philosophers. What really bugged her was that she knew if Mika ever stopped, she would miss it. She thought about her sister and their brief discussion about their respective commanders. So far as she knew the two of them hadn't met in person but it would certainly be fascinating to see them interact. Would they be attracted or repelled by their similarities?

"When are we going?" Mikko asked, meaning only one thing.

"In the fullness of time." Mika answered.

"What does that mean?"

"If you want to know your past, looking into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, looking into your present actions."

Aki watched as Mikko took a moment to process this and then tried to respond. "We're just standing here… Should we be doing something? But… Eh?"

Mika smiled winsomely. "We'll pick the fruit of our deeds when they're ripe. Until then, everyone is where they're supposed to be." She glanced to the left. "Aren't they?"

Aki and Mikko both jumped. They had neither seen nor heard her approach and yet somehow Jouko was standing beside Mika as if she had been there the whole time. There was no sign of her vehicle so it was almost as if she had materialised out of thin air and there was nothing any of them had ever seen that dissuaded them from that belief. Jouko raised her arm, formed her hand into a gun and fired a silent shot at the horizon.

"I've seen them." Mika didn't even look. "They've been watching us since we started. It's almost as if they think we're up to something." She nearly broke into a grin.

"Pravda?" Aki inquired, not bothering to try and look for the spies. She was tired of spies. Between the decoys and the actual intelligence gatherers, Keizoku had an infestation of infiltrators. The rest of the school was getting annoyed with it and considering Sensha-do's niche appeal, had trouble understanding why it was being taken with such seriousness that it was worth invading the school.

"Assam would come in person." Mika replied. "Others run the risk of being… Inelegant."

"How do we know she isn't here?"

"We wouldn't. Which is how we know any other interlopers are from Pravda."

Another T-26 came cautiously out of the gauntlet, unaware they were in no danger and also apparently unaware that their slow speed meant they would have been an easy target if the threat had still been present. Jouko smiled and it was the kind of smile Aki thought an executioner would have worn as they surveyed their completed work. She was glad she was on their side. The other schools were in for a nasty shock when she made her presence known amongst them.

[][][][][][]

Klara and Nonna were watching them. It wasn't Nonna's first spy op and Keizoku was a whole different world to Kuromorimine but even so they had taken precautions. They had eschewed the traditional means of infiltrating a school, the supply ships, in place of being airdropped. Once upon a time Nonna had thought the biggest challenges she would face at school were exams and being ostracised for her height, not being flown under the radar in a chopper at night and then parachuting into Keizoku's mountains. The things they did for their favourite sport.

Not that she would change a single thing.

Klara was enjoying herself. Since transferring to Pravda she had never had a dull moment. At first she had wondered if the school's eccentricities were their own and then she had discovered, to her delight, that Pravda was far from unique in that regard. All these Japanese schools and their Sensha-do clubs were gloriously insane though some were more aware of it than others. Some were totally oblivious of how they appeared to outsiders. She loved it.

Katyusha had ordered them here to observe Mika for themselves. The other spies had been unable to uncover her plans for Pravda, with several returning with messages directly from Mika that Continuation High had no plans for raiding Pravda. Others had returned with wild claims that they were planning a trip to St Gloriana. Katyusha was unwilling to believe any of it. Not unless her two most trusted friends told her the same.

So far what they had seen and heard only confirmed what they had been told. They had even received a message reporting that St Gloriana was on alert. It was unlikely that Katyusha would be anything other than furious to learn that Keizoku's attention was focused elsewhere but perhaps they would be able to convince her it was a good thing. They could focus on themselves instead of worrying about what another school was doing. After their shock defeat at the hands of Oarai, clearly they needed to ensure they had no complacency left in their systems. Though they had won the exhibition match against Oarai with St Gloriana as their allies, it wasn't enough to fully regain their reputation. Especially as Chi-Ha-Tan had been Oarai's support.

"The pale one is worth watching." Klara remarked, speaking her native Russian and providing the description Nonna could not. With their pale hair and blue eyes, Klara and Jouko were very similar though the Keizoku girl lacked Klara's twinkle.

"We should be learning what vehicle she's using, not confirming what we already know." It was as close to critical of Katyusha as Nonna could get. "We know they're going to St Gloriana, we know they're just training today and we won't find out when they're going to St Gloriana until they set off."

"You're tetchy today." Klara remarked.

"Mika is… Mika. We can't find learn what she's up to because only she knows. That's how it's always been. If we asked Aki or Mikko what they know about Mika's plans; they'd laugh at us." Nonna sighed and then laughed dryly. "And we've left Katyusha unsupervised. She'll have the team running with KV shells."

"They can handle it for one day."

They watched Keizoku finish their Gauntlet training and then perform maintenance. It was especially tedious to watch due to their light tanks being the same as Pravda's and so the only difference between what she was seeing here and what she would see at home was the uniforms.

"Would Katyusha like a Gauntlet?" Klara asked.

"She considers it too predictable."

"Keizoku doesn't seem predictable."

"The course follows the same route. They can move the obstacles and targets but they still have to drive the same route. Katyusha likes coming up with entirely new courses for us to train on, where she can throw surprises at us. But you're right, Keizoku isn't predictable. This is just for training their reflexes."

"If Keizoku is planning to take from St Gloriana, why should we intervene?"

"Besides our friendly relations with St Gloriana?" Nonna smiled for the first time that day. "She just wants to foil Mika. Even just the once. Even if it isn't at home."

"Does Mika know that?"

"I'm sure it amuses her knowing how much Katyusha cares. But Mika only cares about her team, providing for them."

"She's their 'Team Mum', then?"

"Who likes to confuse her children." Nonna mused. "Clearly it works."

"Their Sensha-do. Pilfering the stores of other schools so they can keep fuel in their tanks and have something to shoot. Must be tough."

"And makes them a tough opponent. We can afford to take chances and trust our armour to protect us." She shook her head, admiring that a school that could usually only manage to field a majority of light tanks could be respected, even feared, by schools that could roll out nothing but heavy tanks and destroyers if they wished. "They've seen us."

"I know." Klara couldn't disguise the note of excitement in her voice. "Are they going to come after us?"

"Not yet. Later." If Klara had been enjoying herself before, what was to come next would certainly entertain her.

[][][][][][]

Orange Pekoe knew that Assam was dedicated to her role as St Gloriana's intelligence officer but that normally she was an easy-going girl who loved jokes, and the more awful they were, the better. Now though she was firmly in the role of intelligence officer and even Darjeeling seemed perturbed by how seriously she was taking the threat of a Keizoku raid.

Enlisting 'volunteers' to keep watch on their hangers; that was expected. Reasonable. Visiting the naval studies department and telling them to watch radar, sonar, thermal, etc, like hawks and to report to her anything suspicious; that was rather dedicated. Asking the people who maintained the ship's systems to report so much as a blip on their monitoring in case it was a sign that Keizoku was tampering with the power supply; that definitely raised questions of paranoia.

The rest of the club was mostly supportive of her. Mostly. Some asked why they couldn't rely on proper security measures for their defence while others were suggesting outlandish plans to ensure the safety of their tanks. One thing no one was recommending were guard dogs. Pekoe meanwhile was certain that the only thing that would work was catching them in the act though she really didn't want to be the one to confront her sister. But she understood more than most why it was of utter importance not to be shown up by Keizoku and that was why she was happy to genuinely volunteer rather than be coerced into spending a few hours at night standing sentry and enjoying listening to Rosehip grouse that she wasn't allowed to keep watch from her Crusader.

"How can a flour round be too much?" Rosehip was grumbling. "She has us out here with these." She hefted the paintball gun they had all been issued. "Why's paint okay but flour isn't?"

"Because these are small and a six pounder cannon… Isn't." Putting it simply like this should have been enough but this was Rosehip. It was amazing enough she had been sitting still for thirty minutes.

"You can take out an entire raiding party with a cannon though."

"I think that taking them out is what Assam's worried about." Pekoe told her and enjoyed Rosehip's confusion before remembering her sister's assertion that she belonged in Chi-Ha-Tan. In fairness to Aki, she was hardly the first person to make that judgement. Even members of St Gloriana's Sensha-do club had difficulty letting go of the stereotypes they thought they had to be. Rosehip and her hyperactivity might have been a far cry from the established image of them as calm and calculated, elegant and measured, but anyone with a grain of sense knew what advantages she brought. St Gloriana needed her aggression and desire to throw herself into the fray without worrying about every little thing that could happen.

"If they did take a tank, couldn't we just take it back?"

"I think it's easier if we stop them taking it in the first place."

"Not as fun though. Imagine making our own heist." Rosehip lit up. "Imagine if we took a Panther from Kuromorimine!"

"They would call the police."

"Really?" Rosehip pouted. "That's no fun!" She frowned. "Couldn't we just do that?" She asked, meaning Keizoku.

"I've thought about that and I think we've agreed to play a game together."

"Fun game..." Rosehip bounced on her stool. "When are they going to get here?"

"If I knew that, we wouldn't need to sit here."

"Can't you just ask your sister?"

Another St Gloriana student wouldn't have said this. "Who told you?"

"That you have a sister at another school? A sister who's Mika's best friend?" Rosehip pulled a face. "You know how everyone suddenly knows something but no one knows how they know?"

Unfortunately she did. "Aki came here to tell me they were coming. She wouldn't tell me when, even if she wanted to."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Would you tell her if we were going to Keizoku?"

"I'd want to." Pekoe could hear her own self-pity. "But I wouldn't…"

"Which is good. We can be loyal to our team, our club, our family and ourselves without compromising any of them."

Pekoe stared at her.

"What?" Rosehip placed a hand on her heart. "I have depth."

"Do you have a sister?"

"I have seven brothers."

"Seven?!"

Rosehip shrugged. "Brothers are… They're a pain in the backside but they're pretty simple. And they don't pay attention to their kid sister unless they're bored. Or if they think it's funny to scare a boy for looking at me." Rosehip rolled her eyes. "If you've got a sister to argue with, be grateful. And don't let anyone tell you how you're supposed to act."

"This is getting weird."

Rosehip laughed outright. "Don't worry, I'm still thinking about how much fun it would be to turn your sister and her friends into a bakery. But unless you've something else to talk about?"

Pekoe sighed as nothing came to mind. "What do you want to know?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone? Not even Darjee?"

"It wasn't anyone's business."

"Really? Mika's right hand?"

"They're not the Yakuza!"

"No, Mika's more like Nezumi Kozo." Rosehip thought about it and gave a more appropriate example for St Gloriana. "Or Robin Hood. Which makes Aki Little John I guess."

"Are you making fun of our height?"

"I would never make fun of my future commander's height." Rosehip stood and bowed formally.

"Don't do that. I don't even want to think about that."

"It'll happen. Captain Orange Pekoe of St Gloriana." Rosehip's grin became rather feral. "And Captain Aki of Keizoku."

Pekoe let this play around in her mind for a few moments and then laughed. "I guess that's one fight I missed then." Suddenly it wasn't funny. "Unless she would have liked me as her captain…"

"Do you think so?"

"We were in 38(t) in middle school. We used to take turns being the gunner and if you're the gunner in a 38(t) you're the commander. I think she preferred being my loader while I commanded… But I think what she would really have liked is if I was the commander and she was the gunner."

"I could have been your driver."

"At Keizoku?"

"Maybe not then."

"Why did you come here?"

Rosehip giggled. "You mean why did the girl who when Darjee says 'Good things come to those who wait' says it's faster if you just go get the thing yourself come to the school of patience and restraint?" She said all this without taking a breath.

"Something like that, yes."

"Maybe I'm just trying to bring the place down from within."

"Are you?"

"Some days." Rosehip admitted. "I do have a sister too. An older sister. Much older. She's more like a second mother than a sister and she came here, a long time ago. She really wanted me to come here, like if I made any other choice I would be letting her down."

"So that's why you came here? To make her happy?"

"Nah." Rosehip replied in a most unladylike manner. "Now she winces every time her alumni friends tell a story about the crazy Crusader girl disturbing the peace. She got just what she wanted." Rosehip beamed. "Did you?"

"Everyone keeps asking me that. I wanted to come here. I'm happy here. …But I'm sorry Aki misses me. I miss her… I just wish there was a way to fix things."

"There isn't."

Pekoe was startled by Rosehip's stalwart certainty. "There isn't?"

"She wants to be at her school. You want to be at your school. There's no compromise. You just have to accept it." Rosehip smirked at Pekoe. "Seven brothers." She reminded her. "My mother always had to resolve lots of fights, and quickly. I don't know how sugar coat this stuff."

"Could I send you to talk to Aki?"

"Why don't we just wait until she comes here? That's what we're doing right now, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Pekoe said, and couldn't quite believe it.

[][][][][][]

Bitter cold, running through the woods, people with guns… Klara felt like she was on holiday back home. It would have been exhilarating even without the paint smacking on the trees around her and the Keizoku students chanting 'Hakkaa Päälle!' She didn't think that they knew she was Russian and therefore how appropriate their Finnish war cry was. All that did was add to the fun.

Nonna was impossible to read when she was in her combat mode. A mask fell and she seemed emotionless, icy. It was difficult to reconcile this 'soldier' with the warm, caring girl with the wry smile. Was she enjoying herself now, enjoying the feeling of her racing heart and the mix of fear and excitement, or simply focused on the mission?

A paintball whipped Klara's hair across her face, twigs cracked under her feet and the war cry seemed to momentarily surround her and then she was tumbling, head over heels onto her back and sliding down the hillside in a mess of twigs and scree. The war cries came to an abrupt halt and Klara reached the bottom where she was abruptly pulled onto her feet. Nonna looked like she had never left her feet.

For a few moments, the two Pravda girls looked up the slope while the Keizoku girls looked down on them and then they saw a safe path down and it was time to run again.

"They take our tanks but we're the ones running from them?" Klara asked as they ran.

"Don't mention it to Katyusha." Nonna warned with a smile that passed with such swiftness that if Klara hadn't been looking for it, she wouldn't have seen it.

They ran. They ran as only Pravda girls could. The war cries had gone now as the Keizoku girls saved their breath. Their training didn't involve the rigorous, brutal physical conditioning that Pravda put its Sensha-do members through. That Katyusha put them through. Nor did they have the long gait of the two Pravda lieutenants. Only one of the pursuers was enjoying themselves and only because they enjoyed being the hunter rather than the hunted for once.

"Where are they going?" Mikko panted. "They're heading straight for the rail."

"Then that's where they're headed." Mika was breathless but from excitement, not exertion. "That must be their escape route."

"There's nothing there!"

"That we know of." Mika's anticipation was almost tangible.

Klara and Nonna had repacked and stashed their parachutes when they had landed. Now they retrieved them, put on their suits and then surprised the Keizoku students by waddling the final distance to the rail, to the edge of the ship and then climbing that rail.

Aki's breath caught in her throat as she saw the two girls standing on the rail and then leaning forward and plummeting over the side. The Keizoku girls put on an extra burst of speed and then reached the rail themselves. They got there in time to look down and watch as Klara and Nonna spread their wings.

The wingsuits they had put on swept them away from the ship, their waddling gait revealed as a result of the fabric between their legs, and they seemed to fly high before deploying their parachutes. They glided steadily down toward the waves and to the waiting Pravda hovercraft that had been shadowing the Continuation High vessel.

"Okay." Mikko declared. "That was awesome."

"You don't think that was… Too much?" Aki asked, her expression becoming the pensive she known for.

"Like a dog eating a fire truck?"

"Maybe not…"

Mika put her arms around both of them. "We'll do better."

Author's Note: I really had no idea where I was going with this chapter when I started it. I certainly did not expect to find myself writing Rosehip the way I did though I really enjoyed it. She doesn't get much characterisation in the show beyond being impatient, impetuous and somewhat clumsy. I liked having her being able to cut through the platitudes and set things out at their simplest. Useful character that way.

If you think Klara and Nonna's escape is unrealistic, remember they all live on leviathan ships, Erika pilots helicopters and Naomi a Galaxy airplane.