The next morning would come as Miho and her friends had gathered as they were going to be looking for Cedar Lake's tanks. When it came to this type of thing, they were going to need Tanya's help in finding these tanks. Tanya knew exactly where she needed to take them.
"We should head back to my cabin for breakfast, the other girls are preparing it and I'm mostly going to bring you to that area as that's where the tanks are." Tanya explained to Miho about where the things Miho needed were from.
"Do you do some kind of cookouts regarding stuff such as this?" Miho asked Tanya.
"Yeah… we do, it's something pretty big when it comes to this type of stuff. Plus we essentially keep the tanks somewhere safe where nobody is able to get their hands on them. Even if we do hide them we're always low on supplies and we usually purchase the ammunition from Jatkosota as Jouko is willing to supply us with the firepower to ward off the bigger schools. Mika is the one who usually aids us but with her departure, this is going to leave a hole in Jatkosota's leadership and we don't know who is going to take over for her." Tanya explained to Miho where they usually got the tanks and more importantly the ammunition from. Miho began to think.
"Should we supply you with more ammunition for you to use?" Miho asked Tanya if she was willing to accept the deal. Tanya began to think about it. The girls got on their bikes and began to pedal away. They were heading to where Tanya's cabin was.
"Sure thing. It's probably the best thing I can do if it means helping out a friend in need." Tanya gave her answer. She was willing to help Miho out if Miho was going to throw her back behind with her.
"Thanks, I'll have one of them tell Anzu about this. When we have Anzu in this call, she'll give out the call to have your ammunition stocks resupplied." Miho told Tanya while they pedaled their way through the forest.
"Good, we don't want to be caught flat footed again." Tanya told Miho, she eventually pedaled her way to the area where the large cluster of cabins were situated within the clearing. Kiara up and walked over to Tanya who was with her friends, Aurora, Tia and Kate were waiting for their friend.
"Tanya, how come you didn't come home last night, where were you?" Kiara asked her as she didn't know where her friend was.
"I stayed with a bunch of friends so I can bring them over to show them where the tanks are. Miho said she was interested in them." Tanya explained to Miho. Kiara and Lindsay were listening in on this. Yukari had finished jotting everything down and the two girls looked on.
"Tanks? You must be joking?" Kiara explained to Miho. "Why would you have an interest in our tanks?"
"It's important as one school should have a proper team if you are to stand on your own two feet." Miho explained.
"Firepaw's right." Ayami explained. "If she knows what to do with the tanks then we should let her have access to them."
"Why should we? What does she know about tanks? I bet she and her friends don't know much about them." Kiara asked, she was against the idea of giving Miho access to their tanks. "What if she's a spy and she gets the school of her own to weaken us and then Saunders comes in to sweep us up?"
"Is there a possibility of trusting her with our secrets, the first years don't want to be found out and returned to the violence of the other schools especially since they need to live their lives free from any kind of interference." Lindsay expressed her concern about the young students that were residing in the school. Was Miho to be trusted? Ayami knew she needed to make a decision. She had to reason with them.
"I know but we can't live in complete isolation forever without figuring out what is going on, if we do, then we wouldn't know what Saunders will do until they're within our doorsteps." Ayami explained to them. "If Firepaw is correct about our tanks, we should let her take a look at them." Ayami tossed Miho the keys before she nodded. Tanya smiled and began to lead the way. While Kiara and Lindsay went back to cooking breakfast. Ayami and Miho followed Tanya as she led them over to where the tanks were stored.
"Well… here they are." Tanya explained to Miho and Ayami. Miho found the lock and inserted the key inside, she turned it before the lock came undone and the doors opened. Miho, Ayami and Tanya walked inside and they took a look around the area.
"Wow, your tanks are a little dusty." Miho began. She continued to walk around as the tank collection contained a Type 89 I-Go, Two T-26's, a BT-5, a BT-7, a Type-95 Ha-Go tank and two BA-10 armored cars. "Are you sure these things work?"
"Yes they do. We just tested them." Ayami told Miho as they walked around the storage room.
"When? These tanks look like they haven't been used in a long while." Miho asked Ayami.
"We took them out a couple days ago, before you came here and they ran fine." Tanya explained. Miho continued to look around.
"It seems that you specialize in light tanks, most of these still have their Jatkosota markings. I guess you didn't have the resources to paint them." Miho explained as she noticed the tanks still mostly contained their markings of the school they had previously came from.
"We… don't really have the money to spend on trivial stuff such as paint, Mika was more or less thankful for giving these tanks second hand to us." Ayami explained. Tanya climbed onto one of the T-26 tanks which had its Jatkosota markings somewhat sanded away.
"So… you girls are cheap?" Miho asked. Tanya pulled Miho onto one of the tanks.
"Yeah you can say that. That's why this school spends the least amount of money overall. It's something our system calls for which is to spend very little on consumption and since we're funded directly by MEXT, we make it our goal to make this money last and we don't have to keep borrowing as much." Ayami explained to Miho that with their very small economy and zero industry in the school, they were at a disadvantage.
"Yeah but… we need to make sure everything is in tip-top shape if it has to be used." Miho explained. She hopped in with Tanya to inspect the interior of the T-26 tank. "Okay that looks very nice. It's maintained so at least it functions." Miho started up the tank as the tank rumbled, it worked. "We should have the tanks tested and see what they need."
"Very good Firepaw. Now breakfast should be ready, we'll talk about this later." Ayami told Miho. Miho and Tanya shut the T-26 down and headed out of the storage area. The rest of the schools had gathered around with Jake with his friends.
"Morning Miho, I was wondering what you were doing in the storage shed?" Jake asked as they began to sit themselves down.
"We found this school's tanks. We should be able to conduct tests to make sure they are operational, Ayami says she'll wish to speak to me later." Miho explained to Jake about this. Jake gave a nod while he was busy serving the students.
"Wow… that's… nice to hear." Jake stuttered a bit while thinking about what Miho was going to say. Miho nodded as Jake gave the order. "Eggs, cakes and bacon ready!" The students came charging in as they were hungry. For Miho and her friends, they were curious to see what this was, there was more to this meal than what Jake had called out, there were pieces of chocolate, fruit and sausages lined up for all of the girls.
"Good to see you again, I bet you've slept well." Ritsu explained to Miho. Ritsu was gathering a few eggs with pieces of bacon for her to eat. Miho was taking the breakfast cakes.
"Definitely, Addisyn's cabin was comfortable. I can't wait to see where I will be sleeping next." Miho gave her reply to Ritsu. Ritsu began to think about where she should rest next regarding the entire thing.
"Hmm… maybe you can go sleep in my cabin or…" Ritsu began speaking, she paused trying to figure out what she was going to say next before she was cut off by a familiar voice to Miho.
"Or Tanya's cabin, I bet those are really comfortable." Nina told Miho. Miho turned her head and saw Nina and Alina as they were getting their breakfast. Yukari walked over as she saw the entire gathering and got excited.
"Nina! Alina! I haven't seen you since the year has concluded. How are you doing?" Yukari asked them if they had any ideas about how their lives were going.
"They are going all right, I've been made to succeed Katyusha, She, Nonna, Clementia, Nadezhda, Konstantina, they're all graduating. This is going to leave a competency gap within the ranks as it'll be me, Alina, Klara and Brook running the show and even our two commanders will be going the year after that." Nina explained with the higher ups of Pravda graduating, command was going to be disorganized and Nina didn't know about the future ahead.
"Oh, I hope you're going to do a good job leading Pravda's Sensha-Do team." Yukari told Nina as Alina was digging into some chocolate.
"Thank you, hopefully, we can borrow ideas from Ooarai and the other schools and change tactics up a bit." Nina explained to Yukari.
"Going forward I see. I think Pravda is going to change itself starting next year?" Yukari asked them if this was going to be the case. Nina gave a smile as she began eating.
"That I don't know for sure but the cook out this morning is something I am excited for. Don't know what this school passes off as entertainment for the rest of the day?" Nina told Yukari that even though this food was good, she didn't know what else there was to do.
"We can go exploring if that's something you're up for?" Yukari asked Nina if she was willing to go off into the wilderness if they were going to go looking for something.
"I mean sure, since we got nothing else better to do." Nina explained while taking some of the chocolate that was in the center. "I don't understand why we're having chocolate for breakfast, I don't really consider that."
"Well we have the entire day to ourselves so it's best we make use out of this." Alina explained. Brook meanwhile was looking at the two small girls while eating some fruit on her plate.
"Man I wish it was onions, potatoes and eggs for breakfast." Brook sighed. Nothing much she can do about it.
"Cheer up, maybe we'll get some fish we can cook later on today, assuming these girls want to do another cookout." Dimitri explained to his girl that there was nothing to really be upset over. Brook nodded, He was correct as Jake sat down next to Dimitri and Miho. Miho was chatting with Azusa and Rabbit team.
"How are you enjoying this place?" Jake asked Miho if she and her friends were having a good time.
"We're doing good so far, this place is one big wilderness, if this is what Megumi had suggested, you nailed her wish on the head." Miho explained that she was doing fine even with these first few days of being here.
"That's fantastic and I'm glad to hear that." Jake explained to Miho. "Oh I won't be doing anything with you, I promised I was going to take a bit of a patrol with Hikari and Chika, trying to see who else would want to join us. We're just going to be wandering around, we got no aim." Jake reminded Miho that he was going to be doing something but it wasn't very important as he had nothing better to do and there was no goal he was going for, just a walk in the park.
"I think we should split up if we are going to go looking around for stuff to do." Miho explained that she didn't want to take part in the exploration. Jake nodded.
"You're missing out then." Jake told Miho. He got up and prepared to leave. Jake then remembered something. "Oh Hailey just finished mending your uniform shirt. Here." Jake tossed Miho the mended uniform shirt as Miho tugged on the spot where Satsuki ripped it in. It was indeed sturdy. Miho turned to Yukari as she wanted to go exploring with her.
"Well… did you find anything?" Miho asked Yukari if she managed to find anything nice that they could check out while they were on the ship. Yukari began to think about it, did she find anything that was worth checking out.
"Yeah I did. I hadn't told you about that as we were just too exhausted to really give the news to the group. It appeared that someone left a bus out in the woods." Yukari described the situation to Miho. Miho was curious about this bus and wanted to know more.
"Well where is this bus? It can be a whole adventure to get there. Don't know about getting back if there is any route back?" Miho asked if they can go to the bus. Nina stepped forward after finishing her breakfast.
"Actually, I know the way there. Me and Alina were camping out there the night before, we spotted what appeared to be a Saunders student in the area and she told us she was running away from kay and she needed somewhere to stay." Nina explained that she was the best when it came to this. Yukari was curious to see who was staying in the area when it came to what Nina had just said.
"I know who is camping out in that area then. It's Rosie." Yukari told the group after hearing what Nina had just said to them.
"Lead the way Nina." Miho told Nina. She knew what Yukari was talking about and this tempted Nina's curiosity as she and Alina walked over to their bikes.
"Hop on and I'll lead the way." Nina told them. Nina began pedaling along as the other girls followed. Alina decided to take up the rear as the group pedaled along.
Nina and Alina lead Miho and her friends to the bus. Miho was curious about why Rosie would have taken up refugee in the bus, was it the fact that she still trusted nobody? They needed to find out for sure. They approached the rundown bus that Yukari and Nina were talking about. Ritsu and Mio had tagged along for the ride, wanting to get to know Miho more.
"So these are your friends from your school?" Ritsu asked Miho if this was true.
"Yeah they are, If you talk to Allisyn about this she might mention me and my tank and the 63rd National Sensha-Do tournament. Anzu said it was the very tournament and myself that saved the school. I was called up to the plate to help lead Ooarai again when Renta tried to shut us down for the reason of giving another school our ship as their home as they had lost theirs years ago. Anzu managed to handle all of the diplomacy and saved us but Ooarai had to go against a university team to stay open. We had help from all of the schools who were willing to give us a hand and we managed to squeak by." Miho described her experiences to Ritsu and Mio.
"Sounds like a wild ride you had. I don't think we have led lives as exciting as yours." Ritsu explained to Miho that their lives weren't very exciting and Miho was the one that was always in the fight.
"Don't worry, I'll get you girls accustomed to your own tanks." Miho explained to Ritsu and Mio.
"We'll be more than happy to see about this." Ritsu nodded with the reply of her own. Nina held her hand up, they had arrived where the bus was.
"It's in there. The grand Alexander Supertramp bus." Yukari told the group.
"What makes you say that Fairbanks 142 is the bus with the name?" Hana asked why she named the bus that particular name.
"Come on, it's not like we're copying both versions of the book with the same title, you must know the difference, one is a fictional book about cats…" Yukari began.
"Something that Ayami and Stephanie will read religiously." Mio gave a sly remark about the books that the leader was reading.
"Mio." Azusa snapped her shut.
"...and the other is about one person who ends up dying in the wilderness because he wanted to be free." Yukari described the book's plots if they were going to be using the same title.
"Same thing goes for the name of this fanfiction." Saki told the group. This got a laugh out of the group that were traveling but Miho knew she needed to keep Rabbit Team in line.
"That's enough of you or you will see yourself on garbage duty." Miho told Saki that she better keep quiet or she will be given an unpleasant job. Miho was only just teasing her in the end.
"Okay we were thankful of finding the bus as we used it to give some shelter to Rosie as we didn't want her to be found out by this school and them being found out by Saunders." Nina explained the situation regarding of what was going on. Miho nodded while Ritsu and Mio flanked her.
"She didn't show up with today's breakfast huh?" Miho asked if this was going to be the case.
"Yeah she didn't, if there is one thing to take away from this, it's that she's more than willing to find somewhere to take shelter in. We have found out about the tanks, that's a good sign but the question is how are we going to train the students up, one who's intelligence are questionable to begin with to be able to fend off any threat that may come to their school?" Yukari wondered about these students, she didn't know how willing they were going to be if their school was attacked, they had the spirit to fight Saunders which was a start but even then, how well were they going to resist before the much larger school overran them. To Yukari, that resistance was only going to last an hour at most.
"It's clear we have a big task ahead of them. In one fight, Ritsu nearly kicked me to the ground before seeing my uniform and said I wasn't worth beating up." Miho described the situation. "I don't know how well these students are willing to stand up against the enemy. We have a long task ahead of ourselves Yukari." Miho told her friend that this wasn't going to be as easy as they had hoped for.
"I'll call Anzu to see if she's willing to ship some of our tanks over so we can train these students." Hana explained to the group that they can borrow the tanks from Ooarai to train these students up if Kay was to be a threat.
"Good idea, I think we should send the message to Anzu when we have the chance." Yukari replied. She then opened the door to the bus and brought the breakfast inside. "Rosie, I have your food for you." Yukari called out. Rosie came forth as she spotted the breakfast.
"Thanks Yukari." Rosie replied as she began to eat.
"How are you liking it here so far?" Yukari asked Rosie how she was taking to the changes of the school.
"It's going great, I feel like I'm at peace, I don't feel like I'm being stalked around by Kay." Rosie explained to Yukari. "I bet Kay still wouldn't forgive me for making most of the businesses owned by the employees."
"Typical Kay I see." Yukari explained. She looked around as Rosie had made a personal home in the rundown bus, her sleeping bag was on one side of the room and several books were stored in her backpack, they were mostly for reading and the lantern she had used for light.
"So how long do you plan on staying in this bus?" Miho asked Rosie how long she was going to stay here.
"Well, I don't know for certain, it at least doesn't leak so that's good. Indefinitely is for certain. Maybe I can get help and apply to another school." Rosie explained to Miho that she didn't have many intentions on what to do next. She will make up her mind at some point but for now, she just wanted to hide in the bus.
"Okay if you say so." Miho explained to Rosie before getting up and heading out of the bus. Nina and Yukari were waiting outside for her.
"What did she say?" Nina asked Miho if she had any suggestions for what Rosie wanted to do.
"She says she's staying here indefinitely or until she makes up her mind. I don't know when that will be but if she does, she plans on transferring out of Saunders. Since Ayami says this school practices the Burgundian System, this place wouldn't be a good fit for her." Miho explained to Yukari and Nina, she didn't know what Rosie's spending habits were and since school was mostly designed for peace and quiet, she thought Rosie wasn't going to fit in with the crowd.
"That could be a possibility. Too bad this school was still under construction when Brook was given to us. If this school was complete and when the incident with Saunders happened, would Brook fit in here? I think she would." Nina explained to Miho about her friend. Miho began to think about it.
"I don't know Brook that well so I wouldn't know what her interests are regarding a school like this. I don't really talk to students outside of Ooarai other than Maho as I want to check up on her to see how she's doing." Miho explained that she wouldn't know about Brook and how she would fit in.
"Understandable, I guess we have the rest of the day to ourselves, anything else you want to do?" Yukari asked.
"I don't think there really is much to do unless exploring and tree climbing count." Miho expressed this to Yukari. She walked off with the rest of the group, they were going to be bored for the rest of the day.
As the long day dragged on, Miho and her friends were grateful that it was now sunset and they could finally relax and get to chat among the other students around the fire.
"So any results about the tanks?" Miho asked Ayami if there was anything to do with the tanks they had discovered.
"They're running well and we might get some students who are willing to help us out here. We're not exactly sure who should lead them but for what Rowan thinks, you're going out on patrol tomorrow Miho." Ayami explained as the girls watched the fire cackle in front of them. Brook placed another log on it.
"I finally feel like I'm in my element." Brook explained while watching the fire "Just less cold."
"I think you're going to like it here just fine, it's a nice break from the bustle of the Pravda school ship." Dimitri told Brook while patting her back. Jake was looking out ahead as Ayami began speaking.
"Well since you're here Miho, you might be asking why we hate Saunders so much." Ayami began. "It's due to the fact that we don't like Kay for everything she's done. She says we're free but if that goes against her definition, she gets really defensive about it, then she'll "Reducate" you into making you one of her minions otherwise you don't get anything. Sounds like a dictatorship to me. Most of us that undergo this kind of treatment wished we transferred to another school and in this case most of us do. Most of the crazy ones go to Pravda but the sensible ones who don't want to participate in the "Death Sport" either go here, Maple or Jatkosota. We want to be free to do as we please as long as it follows the rules of what the schools expect us to do. We're happy here as the objective is to survive here and nothing else."
"Sounds like you try to be the minimalist you are. What do you plan on doing once you graduate?" Nekota asked.
"Go to Siberia and live there, there's nowhere else we can go." Stephanie explained to Nekota that with this entire thing they didn't know what the future held for them but they didn't have many options.
"So living out in the middle of nowhere is something you want to do? What about your parents, do they matter?" Miho asked the group if they resisted Saunders so much, what about their families, were they willing to give them up too if they wanted to spend the rest of their lives in the wilderness.
"I… I don't think some of us had seen our parents in years." Ritsu explained with a rather somber tone. "Some of us ran away from home and don't want to go back. While me and Mio never did and we're students and are in contact with them. Some of us like Ayami, Makalia, Delilah and even Mikasi haven't heard from their parents in years. This school is our home and we don't know where the future is."
"Why don't you girls ever want to go back and apologize, is there some sort of pride that is preventing you from this?" Miho asked. Some of the Pravda students prepared their instruments to help set the tone of the fire.
"We just put it behind us. We don't even talk about our families and since we're so isolated, we treat each other like a family." Stephanie explained that due to the circumstances they treat each other like a family and no one else. That's why it explained their parents being absent from their lives.
"Sounds like some pretty lonesome lives you girls live." Miho replied. Stephanie sighed as this sigh was a rather depressed one.
"You get used to it." Stephanie explained with a sigh. The Pravda students began to play with their instruments around the fire and Tanya and her friends began singing:
"Изъ Румыии Походомъ
Шёлъ Дроздовский Славный Полкъ,
Во Спасение Народа
Исполняя Тяжкий Долгъ.
Во Спасение Народа
Исполняя Тяжкий Долгъ.
Видѣлъ Онъ, Что Русъ Сцятая
Погибаетъ Подъ Ярмомъ
И, Какъ Свѣчка Восковая,
Угасаетъ Съ Каждымъ Днемъ.
И, Какъ Свѣчка Восковая,
Угасаетъ Съ Каждымъ Днемъ.
Шли Дроздовцы Твёрдымъ Шагомъ,
Врагъ Подъ Натискомъ Бѣжалъ.
И Съ Трёхцвѣтнымъ Русскимъ флагомъ
Славу Полкъ Себѣ Стяжалъ!
И Съ Трёхцвѣтнымъ Русскимъ флагомъ
Славу Полкъ Себѣ Стяжалъ!
Пустъ Вернёмся Мы Сѣдые
Отъ Кроваваго Труда,
Надъ Тобой Взойдёы, Россия,
Солнце Новое Тогда!
Надъ Тобой Взойдёы, Россия,
Солнце Новое Тогда!"
"Wow you girls seem to have it inside of you, you girls would be ready to fight and take out the enemy? Did any of you see any hand to hand combat?" Miho asked as she was amused with the girl's singing, it seemed like they memorized these songs by heart.
"Many of us actually did. Most of the older members fought in the Saunders Civil War on the side of the White Army but we had many goals in mind. Tigerclaw wanted to restore the Monarchy, I wanted to have Saunders move forward and try to find a medium with democracy. As we continued to fight we became more and more alienated by Kay who wanted to bring full force Capitalism and "Patriotic" ideas to Saunders which caused a rift between us all. The White Army leaders were scarcely any better. We had reports of looting, violence against civilians and most of the army being nothing more than thieves and whores. Even though we hate America, we are no sympathizers with Pravda. The only time we tolerate Pravda students being on our ship aide from now is the fact that some come to relax but they don't really talk about what goes on in their school as much. We had to look for friends from other schools and that's how we found out about Jatkosota, Mika wasn't friends with Pravda and she was more than willing to help us out here by lending us a few tanks they had laying around in storage." Ayami explained to the girls while the fire cracked as the wood burned away.
"Sounds like you girls are split. At least the future is changing as people are moving on, should you move on too?"Miho asked Ayami if they had considered their future after their education was finished.
"Not really, we just all plan on heading off into the wilderness unless something crazy happens and the world's government and economic systems stop functioning, I would wish for that to happen and the gears of the world to stop spinning." Ayami explained to Miho.
"So nothing matters in the end?" Miho asked.
"To some, nothing matters at this point and we're just getting ready to flee. Some of us have our lives planned while others have just arrived." Stephanie explained. "I can safely say that we shouldn't be left out in the open."
"Okay then. I think you girls seem to know what you're talking about, I don't know if you want to go to University where people can take care of you?" Miho asked. Ritsu raised her head before turning to Miho.
"Listen, it seems that the message of being free is fading from your mind. We don't need any kind of care to get us going. I am planning on heading to Yakutsk in the hope of either being a farmer or a hunter for fur. I don't want to hold some boring desk job." Ritsu explained what she had in mind.
"Miho, Ritsu is right on that one, we all have our desires and our reasons for doing what we do. I know you and your friends have come here for your friend Azusa and you found our tanks, it appears that there are a lot of language barriers between us that we're having difficulty solving. I will arrange all of Ooarai's duties tomorrow morning sensing the tanks have been found and will be inspected and repaired. For now Miho, get some sleep. There is a busy day ahead." Ayami explained. "That goes for the rest of my warriors."
"Yes Bluestar." Ritsu explained before she got up and left to go to bed. Miho nodded as the students had set up several tents for the Ooarai and Pravda students. Miho curled up in the tent with the rest of her team. Yukari came over to speak to her.
"Cheer up, tomorrow can mean something will happen, It's just that we're not really fitting into this school as I expected us to." Yukari explained while pulling the covers over Miho.
"Yeah, I still don't know about Rabbit Team coming out of this unscathed, I just want Azusa to come back home." Miho explained. She was worried about the M3 Lee crew. She closed her eyes and fell asleep. She didn't know what was going to be around the corner for her tomorrow.
[A/N]: This chapter is a bit more of the characters just talking and we now have a sense of where and what the tanks are, there will be something regarding the tanks coming up and someone new that Miho will encounter in the next chapter. Don't know how to work her into the chapter but maybe things will turn in Miho's favor. Goodbye for now.