Chapter 3. Meet the Squad

It was a day like any other day for miss Yamamoto. Laundry, cleaning, cooking, maybe some gossips with the neighbor about this year's Sensha-do national drawing and a bit of time to sit around looking at the sky with a cup of green tea accompanying her. There were, admittedly, some odd sounds that didn't mesh well with the lazy red hue of dusk that Aomori's outskirt is known for. Distant crackles spread over the air, with occasional thump silencing the firecracker sound, all of them are coming from the southern part of Aomori. But she couldn't care less about them. "I wonder if he'll be home for this year? Maybe he'll get the PhD done by this summer, or at least that's what he said when he called home quite some time ago on New Year." She wonders, her mind ignoring the geographical distance as she thinks about her lovely little chemist.

As she was enjoying the mundane atmosphere at this time of the day, the door suddenly got knocked. "Hm? That's odd. Usually there wouldn't be anyone knocking on the door right now. Maybe it's just a lost delivery man asking for directions." She thought, making her way towards the source of the sound.

When she finally got to the doorway, three knocks rang again from the rustic red door. She turns the knob as quickly as possible, ensuring the person on the other side don't have to wait anymore. "Excuse me, who's there?" She instinctively said, before she even had time to see the person in front of her.

"Ah, you're finally here. Thought you were somewhere else, talking some stuff about girls and tanks, mom." The person casually responded, his tone way off from someone she initially expected to be. His clothing definitely throws her off, the woodland camo different from the olive green uniform he usually arrives home with. The timing is also different, as it is late afternoon, not early evening when the sun has already set. Denial is no use, however, for she can clearly see that it is her son Yamamoto Araki.

"But… A-Aren't you supposed to be at school for your club? And… who are those people you brought with?" Miss Yamamoto questioned Araki.

"Ah, right! This is my first bringing you guys over after all." Araki looks back to the group of people.

"It's good to see you, miss Yamamoto." A Japanese girl from the group moved to the front and bowed.

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

"M-Me four…"

"Me five!"

"Me six!"

"Seven!"

"Eight."

"Nine!

"And ten…" The boy who showed himself with his hand at the tail end of the group with less enthusiasm compared to the others.

"Рудолфо! Перестань быть таким остойным, блядь! (Rudolfo! Stop being so lame, dammit!)" A bombastic Russian boy shouted with great annoyance.

"Ты знаешь, что мне не нравится быть таким громким, Михаил. (You know, I don't like being so loud, Mikhail.)" The withdrawn one snapped back, though maintaining his calm.

"Миша, остывать, пожалуйста! И Рудолфо, быдьте более восторженными, да? (Misha, simmer down, please! And Rudolfo, be more enthusiastic, alright?)" A boy with brown hair and blue eyes acted as the mediator, then turns and respectfully bows to the woman. "Sorry for the trouble, miss Yamamoto. They may act like this, but they don't have anything against each other."

"A-Ah, don't think much about it. I don't mind it." The woman frantically waved her hand. The boys, recognizing how they disturbed the neighborhood with their typical arguments, avoid any further eye contact.

Another Japanese girl, seeing the boys finally stopped with their bickering, reminded. "With that out of the way, can we just get into the house, please? I want to see if miss Yamamoto's apple kompot is as good as rumor has it."

"Rumor has it? Oh, you'll be blown out of the water right from the first sip." Araki smirked back at the girl with a huff.

"It better not disappoint then!" The girl responded back to him as if to challenge his statement.

"Do you have any kind of games on your PC, aside from Company of Heroes, squad leader? Any Call of Duty games? Battlefield?" Another boy who looks a tad bit whiter than the average Japanese asked.

"No, I don't have them installed. Buuuuut…" Araki gestured to his room. "I have Call of Pripyat in it."

"Call of Pripyat?"

"It's the subtitle for a STALKER game. We'll get to it once we enter the house."

"Araki, do you have any books on Soviet or Russian doctrine on tank desant tactics? I want to research more on how I can make better use of the vehicle my crew is piloting." A Caucasian girls asked him.

"I don't think I have any of it, and… Mariya, just make yourself at ease, okay? Don't work yourself to death, else we wouldn't be able to replace the BTR-82A's commander." Araki shook his head.

"It's not like we would like to have any replacement anyway. Mariya is for us and us only!" A girl loudly proclaims.

"Yeah, for us only!" The other joins in.

"Please, I am not that great of a BTR commander." The supposedly Slavic girl waved her hands, feeling awkward at the compliments.

"Speaking of books, do you have any written by Dostoyevsky?" A boy with dreamy looking eyes interjects.

"For that, I've got plenty. 'Crime and Punishment', 'Poor Folk', 'Notes from Underground'…"

"You got 'The Brothers Karamazov'?"

"Yes. You want to?"

"Sure thing. I've read 'Crime and Punishment', but I wish to read the more religious works that he left."

"Yeah, then that might be what you are looking for then."

"Come on, come on! I want to show her my BTR-60PB model I built too."

"A-And… I w-want to meet miss Yamamoto." The shy one spoke, though it's hard to hear him out in this chaotic crowd.

"Alright, alright everyone! Let's calm down and straighten ourselves out. Don't make Araki regretted his decision, yeah?"

"I-I… You know I usually do not go back on what I said, right Moteru? I appreciated the kind words, but I've already made up my mind." Then Araki turns back to his mom. "Sorry for the commotion mom, but these are friends I made at school. They're in the same club as I am."

"F-Friends?" Miss Yamamoto blinked in disbelief.

"Y-Yeah. Something the matter, mom?"

"W-Wh…" Miss Yamamoto quick shook her head. "Well, feel free to come in, everyone. Except for you Araki, you stay. I've got some things I wanted to ask you."

"O-Okay." Araki nodded with nervous. Everyone else can see some of the positivity being replaced with anxiety, but it doesn't seem like the mother is angry at her child, so they brush it off and make their way into the house. That leaves only the Yamamotos.

"So… Why did you tell me to stay here? Do you want to say something? A-Are you angry at me?" Araki looked around, fidgeting with his hands.

Miss Yamamoto stays silent, which he takes it as her being very pissed at him. He doesn't know why he got that from her, but it's not like he's great at reading expressions anyway.

After what feels like an eternity of them having a staring contest, she finally breaks out a laugh at all. "No silly, of course not! Why would I be mad that you manage to make friends, especially you of all people?" Then she pokes her finger at his forehead.

"Well, it's not just that! It's also… Uh…"

"What? I don't mind surprises."

"Yes, I know, but usually this is your-"

"Araki-chan! Do you understand how happy I am right now?"

"Uh… Ah…"

"Ever since you entered kindergarten, you never seemed to get along with anyone. And whenever I got to see you walking back from school, you were always going alone. Of course, from how your dad was in his early years, I expected you to be a little introverted, but even when you got into middle school, you still hadn't got yourself anyone. Even worse, I can see that you were very bothered by that fact, but whenever I asked you about it, you always said that you were fine, and that you weren't shunned or anything."

"You know I wasn't lying then, mom!"

"Yes, but you looked sad whenever you saw anyone your age having a happy conversation with their friends."

"I know, but-"

"So to celebrate this very historical moment, I've decided to film this entire visit."

"Mom! You know I don't like it when you pull out the cameras. We don't need to 'preserve memories', mom!"

"But I swear you will love it when you see it in the future!"

"A no is a no!" Well, that surely kills the momentum she has, but she wasn't going to just back down.

"Please!" She pleaded.

"No."

"Please!"

"No!"

"Pretty please!" It was then she pulled her ace in the sleeves – her puppy eyes, of which Araki was definitely not immune to.

"N-N…" Araki tried to refuse, but something was put into his throat, and he felt he couldn't get his work out. He takes a deep breath, and tries saying it out again, but an invisible choker seemed to have been placed onto his throat. The trick worked.

Starting off with a sigh, he rolled his eyes. "Fine. Do whatever you want with the camera. Just remember that this is for your own amusements, not mine, alright?"

"No promises!" Miss Yamamoto puts her index on her lips and playfully goes into the house. Araki soon follows, with the body language of an old man so done with everything thrown to him.

It didn't take the huddling group of first year long to settle down in the living room. There were talks about the training today being cut short for them, so the first-years and second-years get to go home early ever since the beginning of the school year. There were mixed feelings about it, some thought it proved to be a perfect time to chill out after weeks of rigorous physical training and weapon handling practices. Of course, at first there were recruits who had problem on shouldering a weapon properly, but it only took 2 weeks until all got the hang of and were able to operate the AK with relative dexterity. Some were even told to have fast hands and able to disassemble and reassemble the weapon in less than a minute. Moteru was one of them, but he simply attributed that feat to his extensive research and handling of the AK family of weapons.

Once the talk about training and progress achieved in it is done, a boy immediately puts on the table a small model of a wheeled armored personnel carrier. "Hey, remember that time I said I bought a model kit for the BTR-60PB, Mariya? Tada! Look what I got now!"

"Fuwa! That looks so well done, Tanaka!" One of the Japanese girls fangirled over the model. "You even have the KPVT turret right too! And the camo… My Kami, does it look so attractive..."

"Only took me a whole day worth of screwing around and finding out. Didn't even bother with the manual embedded with the kit."

"Whaaaaat!? H-How did you even do that? I once bought a T-34/76 model kit set when I was young. I tried to piece it together. I completed it, but it took me 5 days to actually put it together correctly. I did it with the manual's help too, but it could have been done faster. Do you have any sorcery in stored or something?"

The boy clears his throat and looks at the girl in the eyes, answering her in the most unsatisfactory explanation ever. "Well, let's just say there's a reason the drill sergeant made me a part of those who are responsible for solving practical problems, you see."

"Aaaaww, no fair. I did have to fix stuff in the past, why are you making it like you're the only one who knows his way with machineries?"

"I didn't say I am the only one. I'm just saying, I'm definitely way better at it than you are. Don't act as if you didn't appreciate it when I was able to get your autocannon working again after you accidentally held the trigger for too long and almost melted the barrel."

"It was one time! It was just one goddamn time! I didn't know you had to space your shots! I was used to being a tank gunner, not an APC gunner!"

"Hey, at least it was a good learning experience." The boy shakes his head.

"Yeah, then I got chewed on by the sergeant on the field and then the mechanics when we drove the thing back. Apparently, the BTR was more important than me. Hmph!"

"Come on, you know they are hard on you to drill it in your head, right? And look, you seemed to have better trigger discipline now. You're even able to count the exact round before it overheats too, I heard?"

"Those are rumors made up by the girls in the vehicle crew. I'm not thaaat good."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you believe in, Kyoko…" He simply shrugs.

"Эй, Рудолфо. Есть какие-нибудь советь по расчету дальности? (Hey, Rudolfo. Any tips on calculating range?) The European girl asks the withdrawn boy, catching his attention with her Russian having a particularly off-putting accent.

He thinks about the question for a quite a while, as suddenly a boy pops out from nowhere and asks. "H-Hey Kanata, I-I heard you liked modern military shooters, yes?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"I h-heard 'C-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3' being released last year. D-Did you buy it or…?"

"Nah… I didn't buy it."

"H-Huh? Wh-Why?"

"Ah… I guess the Modern Warfare series just got pretty stale after a while for me. The campaign, I heard, wasn't anything special or unique. It was just Call of Duty, as per always. Battlefield 3, on the other hand…"

"B-Battlefield 3? I-Is that another game I h-haven't heard of?"

"Yeah. It's of a lesser known series compared to the giant that is Call of Duty, but I saw that it got pretty good reviews. I gave it a try and… I was flabbergasted, to say the least. The scale, the destruction, the added layer of combined arms warfare with armored vehicles, aircrafts and infantry units being smoothly integrated to become one whole experience was eye opening for me at least. I wasn't able to get much hour on it, particularly because I had to focus on my studies last year, but the time I spent on there, I didn't regret much of it."

"Oh…" The shy boy nodded as he thought it.

"Ах, об этом... Это в основном инстинкт, Мария. Но если вы хотите научиться его развивать, ты моажешь попытаться вспомнить, насколько он велик по разным маркерам. (Ah, about that… It's mostly instinct, Mariya. But if you want to learn about it, you can try to remember it based on different markers.)" The withdrawn boy finally answered, a bit of enthusiasm sneaked into his voice.

"Так... Навык мастера ставит? (So… Practice makes perfect?)" The girl looks at him, surprised at such a simple answer.

"Авось... (Perhaps…)" The boy reiterated plainly.

"Aaaagh, when will there be kompot? I've literally refused to drink anything on the way home just to keep my tongue clean for the taste." The other girl was starting to get impatient.

"Come on. Have some wait in you, will you? This is a very special from him, after all." A boy spoke out, his eyes still glued to the book titled 'The Brothers Karamazov'. "I mean, where would you find a place in Japan that serves kompot of all things?"

"Well… Here I guess."

"But how can he make kompot with just apples though? Aren't those drinks made with a mix of fruits?"

"Maybe there is some secret ingredient miss Yamamoto add in that we don't know of? Perhaps that's why he likes drinking it so much." Another boy interjects.

"Cinnamon? Raisins? Vanilla?"

"All are very options, to be honest. But let's be real here, we will only know when we get to taste it, right?"

"Yeah! Kompot, kompot, kompot!" The girl cheered.

It is with this cheering for kompot, however, that miss Yamamoto finally arrives with a tray full of colorful drinks on one hand, alongside a very dejected. "Here, here, here! Apple kompot, fresh from the fridge!" The cups catch the attention of everyone, stopping all conversation that happened during the waiting time. But it is when she puts down the tray that she finally reveals the object she was holding in her left hand the entire time – an old, early 2000s digital camera. Upon witnessing that, Araki's mood only comes further into a downward spiral of annoyance.

Opening the camera and turning it on to record, miss Yamamoto cheers. "Come on. Everyone try the drink. It's very refreshing, especially when you are thirsty."

"Alright. The drink has finally arrived." The girl cheered. "Let's have a drink then, everyone!"

"Yeah!" Everyone followed except the two socially distanced boy and Araki himself. With sounds of cups clanking together, they all take a sip. And before they realized it, the cups have become empty of any liquid contained in them.

"Вкусный! Отлично! (Delicious! Excellent!)" The loud Russian boy verballed commented.

"Напоминает мне о доме. (Reminds me of home.)" The other Russian boy noted, his mouth broke into a smile.

"Мама робыла це кожного разу, коли наставав сезон яблук… (Mom used to make this, every time it was apple season…)" The Slavic girl mumbled, which Araki caught because it was a language he wasn't familiar with. It sounds like Russian, but oddly enough he can only understand tidbits here and there in the whole sentence.

"Fuwa! Araki wasn't lying, was he?" The girl cheering for the kompot before commented. "Miss Yamamoto, what did you put in here, besides apple anyway? I didn't taste any vanilla or cinnamon."

"It's a secret." She winked. "But if you want a hint, it's not in the original recipe, just something I added on my own."

"Just something added on my own…" The other Japanese girl repeated in her breathe. "Was there any water candy in this, miss Yamamoto? It tasted kind of sweet to me."

"Doofus! There wasn't any water candy in there." The Japanese girl who asked pumped the guesser. "I didn't taste any maltose here. It's purely monosaccharides!"

"Ow! Don't be so violent, Ringo! And besides, do you have better ideas then?" The girl grunted from the side pump.

"Let's see… I can taste some grapelike flavors in it as supplementary notes for the apple… Raisins then?"

"Oops, I guess my secret ingredient has been foiled!" The woman smacked her own head lightly.

Araki was shocked to hear the news, however. "You used raisins for kompot, mom!?"

"What? I've been adding it for years now. You seem to enjoy it more when I put it in, so I kept doing it."

"But… you know I hate raisins, yes?"

"That's why I didn't tell you."

"Ah… You know what? Fine. As long as it tastes good, I'll drink it." He rolled his eyes.

"Anyway…" Araki's mother turned to the first-years. "Do you mind if I record our meeting for today? It's very important for me to see him bring so many to the house today."

"Sure thing."

"No problem."

"I-I don't mind, miss."

"Feel free to, miss Yamamoto. We don't mind the cameras."

"Alright then…" She clears her throat and press on the recording button. "Since we've just first met, I think we all should introduce ourselves to each other, yes? So… I am Yamamoto Kimiko, mother of Yamamoto Araki. I hope we get along." She bows, holding the camera steady in her hand.

"Yep, here she is. That's my mom." Araki gestured with his hand. "She's a little bit eccentric, but I don't think any can really hate her for it to be honest." He snickers.

"Squad leader, do you think we should introduce our roles in the squad too? That would probably give her a clue on what we are doing." A guy suggested.

Araki thinks about it for a second. He definitely hasn't let her a clue on what his club activity was. There were times when the club organized small live practices to put combat theories into practice, which usually ended with him being pummeled with BB bullets used specifically for training. When his mother uncovered those bruises he sustained, she expressed worries about what he was doing, to which he can only respond that they were typical injuries that should be gone in a few days. He knows mother wouldn't be angry at what he has chosen, for she said that as long as he was happy, she would support him. But he isn't sure if she would support him with Hohei-do being his mandatory electives, of which he already has eyes on since middle school. Still, it would be unfair to hide any truths from any mother, and that fact is only exacerbated by her sweetness.

Blinking once or twice, he answers. "Yeah, I think we should. In fact, a rollcall would be nice too. And since it's a rollcall, I will be starting first, actually." He turns to his mother. "I'm Yamamoto Araki, squad leader of the infantry group. My job is to be the pillar whenever my mates need to rely on."

"I'm Takeba Kanata, resident's grenadier. I am responsible for launching grenades to places, no matter if they're fragmentation or smoke."

"My name is Sato Moteru. I'm the rifleman whose job is to carry supplies, take objectives, maintain security and fight."

"I-I'm Kobayashi Kisaragi. I-I'm a-also the rifleman with the s-same job, b-but squad leader l-lets me on s-scouting duty too."

"The name's Mikhail Degtyarov, automatic rifleman. If you need me to put a lot of lead somewhere, I'll do it to great efficiency as long as I am well supplied."

"My name is Andrey Kalashnikov and I'm designated as the squad's medic. Have any pains or are unconscious, I'll be there to get you back in the fight. And that includes you too, Misha."

"Ah, having my back as always?"

"Ever since I know for a fact you have a tendency to put yourself in danger, I have to."

Araki huffs, non-verbally asking them to remain on topic. The Russian duo silence themselves, not having any more banters.

"I am Suzuki Hikaru, the anti-tank member of the group. See any vehicle? Call me up. I'll make sure it won't be bothering us and keep it rough."

"I'm Nakajima Rudolfo. Designation? Marksman. Want someone gone? That's when I come in. Be polite, be efficient, be ready to fire at anyone I see is how I roll."

"And I'm Tanaka Ichiro. I'm a combat engineer, and that means I solve problems, miss. You may see me fixing vehicles and resupplying them with fuel for a hot minute, you may see me placing down mines and C4 charges in a different hot minute. It is within this fine line of maintenance and destruction that I operate and I take great pride in it, miss."

"And we are the BTR-82A's crew." The girls spoke together, then took turns introducing themselves.

"Fujihara Kyoko – gunner."

"Fukushima Ringo – driver."

"And last but not least, Mariya Kravchenko – commander and lead crewman of the vehicle squad, miss Yamamoto."

"And together…" Araki ends the rollcall. "We are the light mechanized unit, of the first-year platoon. За Красную Звезду. (For Kransnaya Zvezda.)"

"За Красную Звезду. (For Krasnaya Zvezda.)" Everyone chanted, their hand placed on their face and saluted before stopping.

"Huh…" Kimiko nodded, her hand with the camera still steady. "Wait, what are those roles you just called anyway? Besides gunner, driver and commander, I don't recognize anything else?"

Araki remained silent, but Kyoko butted in. "Wait… Miss Yamamoto, are you, perhaps, familiar with Sensha-do?"

"Well… I do like to talk about it with my neighbors from time to time but…"

"I see. So you are familiar with the concept of a combat sport."

"Miss Fujihara, what are you trying to tell me? Can you at least explain what kind of club are you in?" Kimiko expressed her deep confusion.

"You see… We are all members of Krasnaya Zvezda's Hohei-do club."

"Hohei-do? Does… Does it have anything to do with Sensha-do?"

"No, not much, aside from how similar they are in their popularity and how there is an entire federation dedicated to it. Basically… if Sensha-do is all about tank on tank combat, then Hohei-do is about infantry level combat. Those roles are designated by the federation themselves in the rule book, so we thought it would be appropriate to introduce ourselves that way, to get you on it. The rollcall is also something we have to do when we were designated our roles at the club too."

"Huh… Hohei-do, infantry combat…" Kimiko can partially understand what her son is participating in. "Wait… How can people firing guns at each other be safe like Sensha-do? I mean, it's physically impossible to apply carbon linings onto humans, right? Or am I missing something here?"

"Nonono, mom. We still haven't done that, and even if we did, it wouldn't provide ample protection." Araki jumped in. "We play around with brass but… it's a special kind of brass."

"A special kind of brass? What kind?" Kimiko pressed.

"The kind that doesn't kill people?"

"W-Wait… They have that already?"

"It was a surprise to us too." Andrey interjects. "But our drill sergeant did a live demonstration and… I must admit, it's actually quite safe. It still hurts a lot when you got hit by them though, and it is capable of rendering someone unconscious."

"That's so dangerous…"

"You really say that, then you look at girls firing tank shells at each other and you call that safer, miss?" Mikhail was flabbergasted, to say the least.

"Well, I guess there is no use arguing over it." The woman shrugged. "Anyway… what is a BTR-82A?"

"You don't know what that is, miss?" Mariya spoke. "It is going to be adopted by the Russian Ground Forces as an APC. The academy managed to procure it, in exchange for the manufacturer being able to document field data during practices and matches."

"Huh… Well, the extend of my knowledge is that… I only know World War Two."

"That also nicely bridges to another difference that Hohei-do has too, miss." Hikaru rose up and mused. "In Sensha-do it is known that the equipment's period is limited to World War Two and before, though experimental models that existed during the time period are also allowed. In Hohei-do, however, we are issued modern weapons and vehicles, experimental or not. As long as there is a fully built model out there, they can be given to schools in the Hohei-do League. Quite interesting, I must say."

"That's… news to me."

"It should be for a Sensha-do viewer like you."

"Anyway… how did you all got your roles anyway?" Araki's mother was intrigued on the story behind each person's specialty.

"That was decided when the school year started already. I and nine other first-years in the new recruit batches were designated as squad leaders, who also have to compete for the vacant commander position too."

"Vacant commander?"

"Basically, last year the commander quit his job, and his vice commander who he trusted took up the mantle temporarily. However, he, with the previous commander's agreement, wanted to reform the club so he planned to organize a competition to decide who will be the club's commander. The first-years who were designated as squad leaders are also candidates for the position too, though we have to go through two stages of selection."

"And one of them involves speedrunning a round of Company of Heroes with the lowest casualties possible, yes?" Kanata added.

"Correct." The squad leader nodded.

"No wonder I saw you doing something with your PC recently…" Kimiko thought about the rare times she came across his room, seeing him doing something on the PC with books of warfare placed on the table.

"Anyway… how did you get your role, Kanata?"

"Ah, you see… When the sergeant got me to try the GP-34, he challenged me to hit the 400m target without changing the ranges on the iron sight."

"How did it go?" Kyoko was curious.

"I hit it, 3 times in a row actually. Apparent he was so impressed he even said something in Russian. 'Otlichno' I heard."

"That's so cool though. Where did you learn that anyway?"

Kanata stays silent before he speaks with a bright smile. "Let's just say I got to learn ballistics from my time in the virtual world. It was… fascinating subject. Things go up, things go down. Once you got the hang of the physics, it becomes second nature. What about you, Rudolfo?"

"I got some of the best first shot accuracy in the group during the time we spent at the shooting range, my sergeant said, so I would be a natural with the SVD. He… wasn't wrong in any regard."

"Hey, that's also how I was given the RPK too, though it was for smallest shot grouping." Mikhail cut in.

"And for me, it was due to my medical background and my scores on the biology test. They also said I have good pulling strength, too." Andrey added.

"I have an engineering background, so it's a given." Ichiro proclaimed.

"Officer said I would prove to be a great guy to be given a rocket launcher with my ability to remain calm no matter the situation, a trait that is key to an anti-tank unit." Hikaru told.

"I used to drive trucks with my dad to deliver apples for my family, so driving a BTR was something quite similar, to be honest. Before I was even aware of it, I became the driver." Ringo said as if she didn't say something shocking.

"Ringo… How young you were when you grab a real steering wheel, anyway?" Kyoko asked.

"Uh… 14? No worries, though. I wasn't caught and my dad was helping me with the driving anyway."

"Anyhow…" Mariya cleared her throat. "I first did Sensha-do as tank commander, but then I started to have… affections for BMPs and BTRs. I was none the wiser back then, but I realized one of my great-grandfathers were chief of staff for the 18th Mechanized Corp. That also seemed to explain my love for desant tactics, which are precursors to modern mechanized infantry tactics."

"I also did Sensha-do too, but in the gunner position. I was having a great tournament during middle school, but what happened during the 62nd Sensha-do tournament and how Pravda walked away from it… I didn't quite agree. Plus, I hate how heavy tanks dominated Sensha-do. However, the same problem doesn't exist in Hohei-do due to how dynamic the combat is when infantry and vehicle elements are combined together, or so I heard."

"You would be correct on that one." Hikaru answers. "Just like Bartold in his documentation of the Turks, I have done researched in the history of Hohei-do and… it seems the consistently dominating Hohei-do League school is Soudainakyoukoku Academy, with a 4-year consecutive win from 2008 to 2011."

"That was just last year." Moteru noted.

"But competition is definitely fiercer in the Hohei-do League, with recent prominent candidates being Soudainakyoukoku Academy themselves, Albert Frederick's Preparatory School which is an UK-themed school, Inu no Akuma Preparatory school – a sect of Soudainakyoukoku Academy known for great amphibious capabilities and general markmanships just like the Marine Corps they are based on, and Otto von Krieger's Co-ed College, a Bundeswehr school who is very headstrong with their unique Nishizumi style."

"N-N-Nishizumi style? There are Nishizumis in Hohei-do too!?" Kyoko was in disbelief.

"You didn't hear me wrong, Kyoko. The school is financially supported by the Nishizumi family, after all, though this Nishizumi family seems to separate themselves entirely from their Sensha-do counterpart. I don't know why, but something must have happened to drive a wedge between them. Anyhow, apparently they are also the only school to always have a female commander in the League, and they are, usually, an avid practitioner of the style themselves." Hikaru dropped more info.

"Anyway…" Araki's mother finally finished with the recording. "I think that should be good enough for me. Thank you for letting me film, by the way."

"No problem, miss Yamamoto." Mariya bowed in her seat. "We are very welcome to meet such a hospitable person like you."

"Oh, don't sweat it." Kimiko waved her hand. "I'll be heading to the kitchen to cook dinner for now."

"Don't cook for them, alright mom? They'll be heading home before sunset." Araki called

"Loud and clear, Araki-chan!" His mother responded from the hallway. "And… don't say that I agreed to you filming, okay mom?"

Nothing came from the hallway until a little later. "Alright, Araki-chan. It'll be a secret between us. I won't tell him about it."

"Thank you, mom!"

"No problem! Whatever I can do for you, my dear!"

"Yeah…" Araki muttered, shaking his head.

"Anyway… what else do you reckon we should do?" Moteru requested orders again.

"Uhm… Maybe do homework? It was short today, and I think we all have a little left to solve right."

"Right, homework…" Kanata dejectedly repeated.

"Let's just get it done before we split up, okay? Call it a replacement for the usual drill we have at the club. Is that clear, people?"

"Так точно, сержант! (Good copy, sergeant!)" Everyone responded, the enthusiasm remained from the previous talk

Regardless, everyone had a great time that day. At Krasnaya Zvezda's commander post, though….

"So the sergeants and lieutenants are saying that organizing a Skirmish match for the competition would be an unnecessary waste of resources, especially when the tournament is right on the horizon after that?" Alexander repeated what Hajime said to him.

"Yeah." Hajime replied.

"Okay… First, why did they have to go through you though?"

"Because I am the only person who can convince you knucklehead? Plus, they really don't want to make it look like they are causing an insurrection due to your lead."

"Fair… Honestly though, I don't see why. A Skirmish matches mostly contains light vehicles, and repairing them is a piece of cake compared to the BTRs and the BMPs, yes?"

"But they want the final selection to get over quickly, especially in our very limited 4-hour time we have for mandatory electives. And we can't simply ask the school to call off the students for a day. I've already asked them so much as not to disband the Hohei-do club after our crippling defeat last year, so any more favors and I feel it would be in bad taste."

"I see… But do you have any ideas other than Skirmish then? That's to the best extent that I can think of a game mode that is able to emulate combat while expending the least resources possible. Unless there is an even smaller format…"

"Hey, I guess I have the answer you were looking for, captain Margelov." A figure suddenly walks into the room.

"Hm?" Alexander turns to see the figure. "Ah… sergeant Onoda. What are you doing here anyway? Don't you have the recruits to handle?"

"Well… I let them off early today. Thought it would be a good time to them rest up and catch up on homework for the upcoming tournament in a few weeks."

"That's nice of you. Too nice." Alexander shakes his head.

"Say it all you want; I didn't do it just for the love I have for the first-years. I heard you wanted an idea on organizing the second stage in a way it would wrap up as quickly as possible, yes?" Sojiro asked, hitting in just the right spot.

Alexander, even with his disagreement on what Sojiro is planning to do, admits to it.

"So… You did."

"What do you want from this, anyway? A promotion or a praise on your drill sergeant duty?"

"Nonono, I'm not here for that. It's just… I come here, on behalf of all the other officers, in peace. I understand we might be at odds the year before with Kolya leaving but…"

"But what?"

"We've decided that all the tensions we have… It should be stopped, because neither of us think it's helping the club, yes? If we are constantly at odds with each other, we won't be able to do anything."

The Russian officer nods.

"So…" Sojiro gives his hand. "Truce?"

Alexander shakes the hand. "Truce."

They shake hands for quite some time, with Hajime being happy that they manage to solve the conflict without his interference in the club.

"I hope the plan you have will bear sweet fruits, captain Margelov."

"Me too, sergeant Onoda. Me too…"

They pause for a bit, before Alexander starts the conversation again. "So, what's this suggestion of a game mode that has the criteria I needed?"

"May I suggest… Defusal?"