Hell on Tracks
Part 1
My jaw dropped as I watched the schoolship drop anchor a few miles offshore. Even from this distance, I could tell that the ship was massive, and even just seeing it from this far away was awe-inspiring. I'd never really looked into the history of the schoolships, so I didn't know how the Japanese had an entire fleet of them without running out of money, fuel, building supplies, or any of the various other necessities to build and operate one, but frankly, at this moment, I didn't care.
Saunders University High School was right there. My soon-to-be home away from home.
None of the schoolships were capable of actually entering port this far north on the North American coastline, since the turbulent and tight waterways of the Columbia River and Strait of Juan de Fuca were far too small and we didn't have any major coastal ports here in Washington State. In practical matters, all it meant was that instead of the schoolship calling port somewhere, we'd get one of the transport ships to bring people to and from the coast.
In that regard, I was more than lucky. Saunders was here to have a Sensha-do exhibition match against the local Tankery team of Astoria High, which meant that I could bring some actual stuff with me instead of two suitcases worth of stuff on the flight over to Japan.
"C'mon, Tally! The ship's here, let's get going before we're late!" my best friend, Rachel Knight, called from her seat at the beach parking lot. Well, "seat" was a bit of a misnomer, considering she was sitting on top of the cab of her pickup.
I grinned and dashed back to the truck with all of my usual energetic speed. Rach had volunteered to drive me out to the coast today, and we'd spent the morning enjoying the slightly colder than was usually acceptable beach. It was too cold to take a dip in the ocean or get some sun, but it wasn't too cold to have Rach chase me around the beach with a handful of wet sand.
Not that she could ever catch me like that. I'd managed to get around her, and turned the tables on her by making her sandy blonde ponytail even more sandy.
Rach already had the truck warmed up as I double checked the bungee cables tying all of my stuff down. It wasn't much, really; just my bags, a desk lamp, and a western-style futon. Thankfully, it seemed like everything was still there, and I only needed to adjust one of the cables before I joined Rach in the cab.
"All set, let's go!" I grinned, giving Rach a thumbs up once I had buckled in.
"Tally-ho!" Rach cheered, and we pulled out of the parking lot. It was a short drive back across the river to Astoria, where we'd meet the incoming transport, and the both of us just had massive grins on our faces as we chatted about what Saunders was going to be like.
We managed to reach the docks before the transport did, but only by a few minutes. There had been traffic on the bridge, which, while annoying, hadn't soured my mood in the slightest. I was going to be leaving for my foreign exchange program today! And not only that, but we'd get to watch a live Sensha-do match!
There were a few other foreign exchange students waiting at the docks, but there was nobody I recognized, so I just stuck to hanging out with Rach, waiting on top of the truck's cab.
"So, what do you think they'll have for a team?" Rach asked, as the transport pulled in.
"From what I found in my research, mostly Shermans. A mix of M4s and M4A1s, with mostly the 75mm," I answered, with a shrug. "It's like the epitome of a boring but practical team. No big fancy guns, very few unique tanks, and even less variation between them."
"Huh," Rach huh'd. "You'd think when you've got access to stuff like Pershing or Stuart, you'd use 'em. Heavies and scouts are just as important as your mainline mediums. Heck, you might even be able to get your beloved Hellcat!"
I shook my head, my grin only growing. "Nah. Even with the roof kits, I doubt that the GMCs are Sensha-do legal. If you want high mobility and a good gun, you'll have to go Easy Eight. Plus, it fits with the theme."
Our conversation petered out as vehicles started driving out of the ferry. There were a couple of military-themed cargo haulers, a couple of food trucks, and then, finally, the column of tanks that I was looking forward to.
An M4A1 with the 76mm gun proudly led the way, a little blue flag waving up from its engine deck. Her commander was unbuttoned, too. She was a shorter brunette with pigtails and a confident grin. I'd be confident in her position, too; I knew what Astoria fielded, and the 76mm was more than enough to take out anything they ran into.
Behind it was a basic M4 with a blonde commander also unbuttoned. The blonde was waving happily to everyone, and I waved back with a shout of "Haha, tanks!" She laughed, and gave me a big thumbs up.
After her, it was just more M4(75)s until the last couple tanks in the column. I recognized the first of the two at the end, and I couldn't help but grin at Rach. Curiously, it was the only tank in the column to sport more decoration than the basic olive drab and Saunders insignia. There was a black spade painted on the side of the turret. "See? I told you they'd be running an Easy Eight!"
"Yeah, but look what's behind it," Rach pointed at the last tank in the line, and I had to double take.
"Is that an A4?" I asked, confused at what I was seeing. "I thought the US didn't use any in the war?"
"Not just any A4, look at the turret."
"What do you- ohhhh…" I drew out the word as I took in what I was looking at. The rear tank's commander was also unbuttoned, and her hair was cropped short enough to almost be boyish. But that wasn't the important thing about the tank. "Why do they have a Firefly?"
"Maybe they're using it for the same reasons as that E8?" Rach suggested with a shrug. "It's a Sherman platform with a big honking AT gun."
"But the US Army never used them!" I complained.
"Tally, I'm starting think the theme here isn't the US Armored Force, and they just went for Shermans instead."
"But that's- Gah!" I complained some more before shaking my head and smiling. Such was the hubris of a tank nerd like myself. The school Rach and I went to was far too small to have a Sensha-do team of our own, so we'd taken to criticizing big name teams on what they brought. At least we got some interaction with the sport that way.
The procession of tanks came to a halt in a different portion of the parking lot, and the blonde commander of the M4 dismounted and ran over to join the representative from Saunders who was telling us where to go to bring our stuff aboard.
When they were done, the blonde stepped forward. Her English was accented, but surprisingly good. "Hey everyone! I'm Kay, captain of the Tankery team! I hope to see you all at the match later! If anyone is interested in joining the team, I'll be at the Tankery garage until an hour before the match starts! And even if you don't come, I hope you have a wonderful time at Saunders!"
The crowd gave her polite applause. Well, most of the crowd. Rach and I did what we did best, and gave our best cheer of "Haha, tanks!" Kay's smile grew into a grin when we did that, and she waved at us again.
A few other club leaders and team captains came up and did the same before we were allowed to bring our vehicles onto the ferry. Rach climbed back into the cab, but I was determined to stay on top of it.
"Driver, advance!" I announced grandiosely, pointing forward.
"You got it!" Rach replied to my order, and the truck joined the growing line. I managed to stay atop the truck until the point where we actually boarded the ferry. The ceiling was slightly too low, and I had to either duck or bonk my head. I took a third option and dismounted entirely, walking alongside the truck until Rach parked it.
The ferry ride was quiet, with Rach and I hanging out in the truck and chatting, but when we actually reached the island of a vessel, everything was suddenly so surreal. The schoolship's deck was dolled up to look more American than most American towns! Cheap fast food, a coffee shop every couple of blocks in the city proper, and the most curious, at least to me, was the signs being written in English first, and then Japanese.
"This is so weird..." I muttered as we drove towards my dorm building.
"Agreed," Rach nodded. "I'd heard that the schoolships have themes, but this is just absurd. They look more American than we do!"
"I kind of expect that St. Gloriana's would be the same way, but British…" I shook my head. I'd applied to the foreign exchange programs for both Saunders and St. Gloriana's, but between the money issue and my grades not quite being up to muster for the more prestigious school, Saunders was really my only option.
"Well, I just can't imagine you on their Sensha-do team, so this is probably for the best," Rach grinned and gently elbowed me.
"Agreed. I would hate being stuck in an infantry tank, no matter which role I got. Except maybe loader, if only because I've got no idea what's going on outside while I'm doing my job. Actually... I'd probably still be able to tell it's slow."
"If I had to guess, I'd love it there, at least for Sensha-do," Rach nodded. "Seeing as I like having actual armor on my tanks. Oh hey, we're here!"
I blinked, and double checked the building I'd been assigned to. Yup, we were here.
"Want to haul the bags up first, or the futon?" Rach asked as she parked us as close as she could to the building.
"Futon. It's bigger and more awkward," I answered, before quickly exiting the car and getting to taking off the bungee cords. It didn't take us very long to haul everything inside and upstairs to where my room was located. Unfortunately, it was on the fifth floor, though the stairs were thankfully easy to navigate with the large wooden frame.
My room should be right… aha! Room 552. I nearly fumbled my key before opening the door. The room was pre-furnished, if sparsely, with a Japanese-style futon, desk, and dresser. It took me all of 30 seconds to fold up the futon and put it into storage before Rach and I maneuvered the big frame into position.
After that, everything else was relatively easy, even if we had to make sure to be careful with my electric kettle and tea supply. There were far too many coffee shops around for me to feel comfortable admitting that I hated the stuff and preferred a nice mug of morning tea. We took a few minutes to make sure everything was in position and unpacked as much as possible before collapsing onto the futon together.
"Oh, wow, that was more work than I expected," I let out a small groan. "I may be athletic, but three trips up and down five flights of stairs while carrying heavy loads is not fun."
"Only because you're crazy enough to try to take them all at a full sprint! I'm barely winded!" Rach retorted.
"Hey! Don't hit me with logic and reason right now, Rach!" I pulled my phone from my coat's pocket and checked the time. "We've got a little over two hours til the match. Let's go hunt down Sensha-do and meet Kay. Maybe they'll have something there that isn't a Sherman!"