Assembly Hall, Jatkosota School Carrier

Not again...

Those two words were the only words in Jouko's mind as each second of the assembly passed into history. Her nose capillaries had decided to once again rupture, for the third time since the group's arrival in Japan. Just as she was entering the assembly hall for the traditional first assembly of students for the first day of school's orientation, the inner floodgates had opened. Through a combination of swiftness and luck, Jouko was barely able to prevent an embarrassing, blood-filled episode. Unfortunately, Lady Luck didn't seem to be on her side for this nosebleed.

"What do we do?! They're gonna be welcoming us foreigners soon!"

Hannes was panicking. The student council president was on the podium alongside two of her subordinates, speaking to the assembled audience of students in an orientation assembly, going over teachers, grades, programs, school history, the usual, and they were going to be acknowledging the foreign students soon, for they were just about to wrap up with the students from different provinces in Japan. This was simply the worst time for Jouko, let alone anybody for that matter, to have a nosebleed.

"This is the third time... I told you this was gonna happen, do you have any napkins or handkerchiefs?"

Löfström didn't want to get embarrassed on their first day of school, neither did everyone else. While the four friends were actively fighting for their reputation, the president was still blabbering on about where everyone was and the usual boring acknowledgement stuff, unaware of what was going on somewhere in the audience.

"Of course we have some students from the province of..."

"No I don't, we forgot to bring some!"

"There's some in my backpack, but its outside, and we can't just walk out now!"

Frisell was trying to help stop the bleeding, keeping Jouko's head pointed upwards to allow the blood to flow back in. Unfortunately, their time to be rid of the bleeding had now subsided, and their biggest fears were now to be realized.

"I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge our students coming from abroad! May all of our foreign students please stand?"

Everyone seemed to scream in their minds at the exact same moment:

OH NO, WHY NOW?

Jouko's, as well as everyone else's hearts were racing faster than they had been five seconds before. If everyone saw Jouko with a bloody nose, with the eyes of the entire school on them no less, this would obviously be a very embarrassing moment for the four foreigners. They had barely avoided an embarrassing moment earlier, but now it seemed that their luck had finally run out, and what a time for it to run out.

"Just keep your head upright, Jouko, don't let any blood flow out!"

But, she had been taught to overcome all challenges that came her way, so what could a little mockery or dirty looks do to stop her?

"Frisell, she'll look ridiculous looking at the roof, don't be stupid!"

On the other hand, what's the use? Just stay seated and avoid embarrassment.

"Oh, for goodness' sake."

Without further hesitation Hannes leaned into Jouko's ear and loudly whispered in her ear,

Come on, just stand up! Be a real woman!

Jouko suddenly felt being pulled up, and facing her head downwards to fix her clothes, blood again rushed downwards, and in desperation, clogged her nose using her hands. As she looked around, she tried to make out how many other foreign students were there, aside from herself and her friends, all while ignoring the stares the crowd was giving her. To her surprise, they were the only foreign students. Even worse.

Jouko attempted to keep a positive profile by smiling to the crowd, trying to hide her fear and embarrassment from getting effectively her mouth and hands drenched in blood by trying in vain to stem the bleeding. Bracing for the worst, the four listened anxiously as the president continued speaking.

"It seems we have a few foreigners from Finland, one with a bloody nose. Don't get too worried over there, it happens while adjusting to the climate!"

Accordingly, Jouko was greeted with smiles, respectful bows, and handshakes, albeit a bit awkward given her right hand was still somewhat stained with blood after wiping it on her clothes, but it helped in easing her up, happy and comforted by their friendly reception. The students didn't really seem to care, some even providing their own towels and napkins for Jouko to wipe the blood off of her.

As she sat back down, the student council introduced the electives. There was ikebana, the art of flower arrangement, the tea ceremony, a highly-regarded ceremony in Japan which had its roots date back to the Sengoku period and way back, tech class, stuff about computers and electronics and whatnot, engineering, about how engines and vehicles work, the usual. When Sensha-do was mentioned, however, the assembled crowd erupted in a flurry of excitement and chatter. Jouko could hear the other students speaking and whispering in Japanese, which she had learned by now. She could make out a few sentences:

"Sensha-do sounds lots of fun!"

"I'm joining that as soon as possible!"

"I can't wait to show my boyfriend how great it is to go around in tanks!"

Jouko kept quiet, however. The sport would make zero sense to a foreigner like her, but whatever floated her boat. She knew what her elective would be.

School Hallways, Jatkosota School Carrier

As the meeting drew to a close, the students quickly left for their first classes. Frisell had grabbed her backpack, taken out several napkins, and was helping Jouko with dealing with her nosebleed, which was finally beginning to subside by now. Along the way, the four friends bumped into Mika, a fellow freshman who always carried around a kantele at all times, and Aki, her friend from, and still in elementary, who was visiting the school and wanting to wish her classmate well. Jouko, seeing the kantele hanging from Mika's shoulder, stuttered and asked,

"You-you play the kantele?"

Mika gave a subtle nod, explaining how she came to play:

"My parents gave it to me as a gift from our relatives in Finland when I was only six years old. It is a very delicate and beautiful instrument. My parents were pleasantly surprised at how fast I learned it, and pretty soon I was the star of my elementary school's talent shows. Heh, how time flies..."

Jouko and her friends listened intently; Hannes was about to speak up but was interrupted by a shout from across the hall:

"HEY THERE! WERE YOU THE KID WITH A NOSEBLEED?!"

It was Mikko, the hot-blooded, impulsive, eccentric student, also an eighth grader. Jouko was jumped from the sudden surprise, which not only resulted in another outburst of blood, but also prompted an audible groan from Aki, though Jouko quickly regained her composure and cordially greeted Mikko.

"I-um, it's very nice to meet you... my name's Jouko, and these are my friends-"

"Great to meet you too! Name's Mikko, great to see a student from around the world as always! What's the deal, Mika?"

"Oh, nothing, just talking with our new friend here. He has followed the wind to distant lands."

Taking a quick glance at Aki, Jouko could see her rolling her eyes.

"What's the deal with Aki?"

"Oh, Mika's a very cryptic girl, she always talks about the wind. Wind this, wind that, I don't understand what she means most of the time. But don't worry, you'll quickly get used to it."

"Okay, then..."

"So, from which realm has the wind blown you here?"

"Saariselkä, from Lapland. A nice place, surrounded by nature."

"Hm. I've never visited it before, but I may in the future."

"My three friends are also from there as well."

"Do they understand any Japanese, perchance?"

"They're all still learning, so I guess I have to be the translator for now."

"I see."

The bell suddenly rang, interrupting the conversation and signaling the beginning of the school year's first classes. The hall was more active than before as students began walking to their respective classrooms to begin the school year. Mikko grabbed Aki and after wishing the others well, bolted through the hallways through the mass of high schoolers, ignoring the many insults and curses lobbed in the duo's general direction. Meanwhile, the conversation quickly wrapped up.

"We'll talk later. As much as I'd love to continue, I gotta prioritize school work. I kinda set some high standards for myself."

"Very well, then. It was a pleasure having this discourse."

"We'll continue at lunchtime?"

"As you wish."

Classrooms

Although she spent some time socializing with her classmates, Jouko was hard-affixed to the lessons at school. The first day was made up of taking the entrance examinations of the school, which went over the subjects at her skill level and what were the subjects she was good at and not as good at. Unsurprisingly, she passed the entrance exams with flying colors, and wasn't in need of worry over catch-up work, a liberty not many other newcomers were given.

Now, with the entrance examinations dealt with, Jouko was fully determined to finish everything as fast, precise, and correct as possible. Almsot immediately, she was given her courses. She took each lecture, problem, and solution to heart, taking notes and leaving no room for error. Her classmates, surprised at this dedication, often approached her for help in solving difficult problems, and Jouko was indeed always willing and ready to help, explaining complex solutions in simple terms for her colleagues to understand, something taken up from her elementary days.

However, her main aspiration was Sensha-do. It had always been Sensha-do, ever since she was 7 years old and took up sniping, Sensha-do never left her mind. She wanted to sign up at the first opportunity, to honor a great family friend and legend to her native country, and when it came, it came quick.

Outdoors

"...so, Aarne fires a dummy bullet in my direction, it whizzes past, and I duck for cover."

"I assume you used a plate of some sort?"

"Yep, held it high, felt impact, tried to calculate the direction, and aimed where I felt the bullet come from."

"You hit him, right?"

"Heh, of course! Poor boy moved his body, I saw it, one shot and he shot up in defeat."

It was official: Jouko, Löfström, Frisell, Hannes, Mika, Aki, and Mikko were now to take up Sensha-do as an elective, and practice would be starting relatively soon. Jouko's dream was coming true, all she needed was to secure a gunner position in the tank of her choosing. And luckily for her, she had the perfect one in her mind, and with her knowledge of the Winter War, she knew exactly what it was.

The next day, an assembly was called for all who had signed up for Sensha-do, and the hall was, although less packed, still filled with students. The Student Council presented a video outlining Sensha-do, and the school's previous history regarding Sensha-do. It turns out that the school had never won a single tournament, given their materiel was not on par with the major schools that participated in Sensha-do. The martial art is by far the biggest in Japan, and the elective most female students tend to choose. After the introduction, the Student Council gave a lineup of the tanks in use by the school: as the screen showed the Sturmi, a variation of the StuG III, Jouko's eyes lit up. An assault gun with no rotating turret, it had long range and a powerful barrel, perfect for sniping.

Mika, seated next to Jouko, whispered quietly: "It seems the winds have blown you to your destiny."

Indeed, Jouko had found her tank.

Weeks passed by as Jouko continued to vigorously pursue her school studies and finish important lessons given her in class, doing all her assigned homework and studies, and working hard to keep a good performance in school before something happened one day that caused Jouko great anxiety. One morning, just as math classes were wrapping up, Hannes tapped Jouko and handed her a note.

It read, The headmaster wants to see you, report to his office as soon as possible.

With her heart racing like never before, Jouko stood up, explained her reason for leaving class. After being excused, she dreadfully walked towards the headmaster's office to deal with whatever was about to happen as she crumpled the note and threw it in the closest trash bin, the class erupting in discussion over what Jouko had to go to the Headmaster for.

As she drew nearer to the headmaster's office, Jouko was worriedly thinking of every charge that could possibly be brought against her, as to her knowledge she had done virtually nothing wrong. She had been sticking to her studies very well, and her grades were good, very good. She had been behaving like a very good girl in class, making new friends and just being an all-around great kid to be around. Had she been unintentionally involved in some illegal ring of sorts? Was she associated with any delinquents or criminals or something? Had she participated in gambling activities? She didn't seem to encounter anyone bad. What could she have possibly done to warrant such a summons?

As she opened the door to the headmaster's room, she felt faint. Sitting rigid on the chair she was invited to sit on, she expected the worst, bracing for the dark, firm sentencing that would ensure her a punishment she feared greatly. She'd be fine with detention, but a suspension or expulsion was what really got her shaking.

But, to her surprise, the headmaster was more friendly than expected. Hearing his friendly tone, Jouko appeared to relax into an expression of surprise.

"Well, Jouko, don't be looking so frightened in front of me. I'm just here to give you some really great news that I know you'll love."

"Wh- really?"

"Your grades are just all-around great. Your studies are paying off well, and you're outperforming her class to the extent you're now being allowed to work ahead, and within a few weeks of school starting you've already finished with most of the work for this quarter, with high scores in each lesson. I'm thoroughly impressed with your performance, and it seems I'll be allowing you to prioritize Sensha-do over school work, since you're doing so well at school. Unless, of course, you wanna pass on this offer."

Jouko was left stunned. "Is-is there anything to this?" was all she could muster in her mouth.

Without further hesitation, bearing a smile, the headmaster reached for the drawer behind him labeled "SENSHA-DO", and after rummaging for a few seconds, handed her a simple paper that bore in large, red letters surrounded by some text:

SENSHA-DO EXCUSAL COUPON

"This will allow you to skip as many classes as you like in favor of practicing Sensha-do. And, speaking of which, your friends seem to be having good grades as well, so I'll be sending 3 more passes their way. In the meantime, you can finish your class or start taking a look at your tank, whichever one you wanna do first, no particular order I'll make you follow."

"Th-thank you, Headmaster! Thank you so much!"

"No problem! Oh, wait a moment!"

As Jouko turned to leave after bowing, the Headmaster stopped her, intending to tell her more. Again the worry returned, and you could see the life draining from her face in a single second. Breathing heavily, and bracing for a possible accusation that the headmaster likely left out until now, she turned around, she readied herself to hear what the headmaster had to say.

"It's a Sturmi, by the way."

Why do I take things so negatively...

Sensha-do garages

Bringing with them their passes at lunch, the four were very excited, and traveled to catch the first glimpse of the tank they would use for their Sensha-do journey: the Sturmi.

The Sturmi was a modified StuG III, and in Continuation's case, they had the Ausf. G. variant. During the Continuation War, thirty StuG IIIs had been shipped to Finland to be used by them. Normally, a StuG III would have had around 30-50mm armor. Here, however, is where the Finnish demonstrated their ingenuity. To add more armor to the Sturmi, they had placed big logs on the side armor, offering more protection from enemy shells as well as to act as a little sponge. There was also concrete armor added to the front for the same reason.

The Sturmi could hold 4 people, and in this modified Sturmi, the commander's cupola was also the gunnery seat, perfect for their group. Jouko spent more time inside the tank as she carefully studied the tank's mechanisms, complements, armaments, and whatnot. As the four continued looking around, they were greeted by Rumi, the school's Sensha-do commander who had served the post for the past 2 years. This was her final year in Continuation before she graduated, planning to join the All-Stars University Team. Ever since that embarrassing incident in the assembly, and being intimidated by Jouko's height, she had grown particularly interested in the four Finns.

"I'm Rumi, Continuation High School's Sensha-do commander. I'm very pleased to meet you, Jouko."

Turning around, Jouko greeted Rumi back.

"A pleasure to meet you too, commander."

Both girls shook hands, and casually began to converse about their respective backgrounds. Rumi listened with great interest in Jouko's backstory, and thought of all the possibilities this young freshman from the other side of the world could have. This was not just a very promising individual before her, but also a very promising group of people who came with her to have at the school's disposal. These four foreigners could very well be the next top commanders of Continuation, and maybe they would be the ones to get Continuation its first tournament win, who knows.

"Well, it was nice hearing about you, Jouko. Our first practice match takes place in a few weeks, the terrain will be snowy and we'll mostly fight in a large field. I hope you will be prepared for that, though saying that isn't necessary. I know you will be ready."

Jouko readily nodded, and ran back to her friends.

"Oh, Jouko, I see you talked with Commander Rumi over there."
Aki was curious on what they had talked about.

Jouko responded, "Rumi seems to be very interested in me after my mentioning my sniping back in Finland, and I think I can see why."

Mikko barged in. "Well, what a pleasant surprise! I hope you'll be able to help us get our first-ever tournament victory, the next one's coming up soon!"

"Well, I'll try my best. In the meantime, Hannes, Löfström, Frisell!"

"Yep!"

"We're trying out the new tank, we'll do a bit of driving around to get ourselves used to our positions. I feel we've decided which roles we're taking?"

The three, caught off-guard, were only able to muster sounds of confusion.

Letting out a sigh, Jouko finalized the roles.

"Alright, I'll be the gunner, and since the gunner is also the commander with these modifications, it looks like I'm commanding the tank in addition to that. Frisell, you have excellent communication skills, so you're going to be our radio operator, telling our teammates of our plans and transmitting their messages to me. Löfström, you've got lots of strength and endurance, so I don't think you'll do too bad as the loader. Hannes, from what I've heard you've been practicing driving around on old cars. I don't think a tank will be too hard to get used to. Any questions? Or is everything good with you all?"

Affirmative responses from the three of them were enough to convince Jouko she had the perfect tank crew on her hands. Without further hesitation, they rushed to the Sturmi, got themselves comfortable, and after fiddling around for a few minutes to find out which mechanic, lever, and switch was which, Hannes activated the engine, the sound of which got her pumped up, and sent the tank rolling out of the garage, its engine roaring louder than the mightiest lion or the fiercest bear. Their first practice run had begun.

Sensha-do practice field

"Löfström, come on, it's just like hauling logs!"

"Yeah, but its different knowing screwing up means you'll get blown to kingdom come!"

"Oh, don't worry, even if you drop it from the cupola to solid ground it won't detonate."

"You sure?"

"Plus, there's some carbon nanotubes that prevent these bad boys from penetrating, so that too."

"Carbon nano- what kind of place is this?!"

"Just keep working on your loading, ask questions later!"

"Okay, steering wheels are how I work this out, steering levers are totally different- woah!"

"Careful, Hannes, this tank doesn't come cheap!"

"Plus, you'll knock a shell and my feet will be at the Pearly Gates in a split second!"

"I'm trying here, I can't be a pro at this overnight!"

Jouko paid little attention, knowing her crew wasn't perfect, yet. All she focused on were the targets, and was actively trying to hit them on the move. Firing several shells as they came into view, she hit several of them. Granted, being new to a tank, she missed many of her shots. No one could be instantly good at a new trade overnight. Expectedly, the rest of the crew didn't fare much better.

Löfström's reload was relatively long given how careful she was trying to be, knowing she was handling heavy ordinance that could reduce her feet to little more than a pile of mush if something went wrong with keeping it in her hands, which was the last thing she wanted in her life, although she could be the popular kid when on a wheelchair, but it was better walking than sitting for the rest of your life. But, she knew as she gained more experience, she would be able to be quicker in her reload, though for now, it was better safe than sorry with her technique.

Frisell was busy figuring out the individual workings of the radio set, pouring over the hundreds of words on the booklet that served as a guide on how to operate a tank's radio. The radio was connected to Rumi's own tank, where she was listening in from to monitor the inner communications of the tank as well as judge Frisell's radio work. It was difficult, to say the least. Frisell often had to deal with high-pitched screeching from having too high of a frequency, and frustratingly dealing with static as she turned the knobs, trying to establish that connection with Rumi. No doubt the mess-ups were getting on her nerves by now.

Hannes was still trying to figure out how to operate using steering levers, and since this was the first time she had ever used them, she often bumped into obstacles or nearly got the Sturmi tipped over by a ridge, boulder, or some other obstacle like that. The tracks and armor had suffered multiple scratches from it scraping a majority of the obstacles on the field, something that would no doubt anger those who worked on the Sturmi's paint job, as well as to restore the whole tank given how badly damaged it had become by the end.

It wasn't a good first showing to a pro's standards, but for newbies, they were at the very least doing alright, but sooner or later something had to completely screw them over.

"Hey... uhhh..."

"Hannes, what is it now?!"

"Err... the steering lever broke!"

"The lever broke-WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"

"I DON'T KNOW, LÖFSTRÖM, IT JUST BROKE ALL OF A SUDDEN!"

"I'M TEN TIMES STRONGER THAN YOU, HOW CAN YOU BREAK IT SO EASILY?"

"THIS THING'S RUSTIER THAN MY FORTY-YEAR OLD CAR!"

With the Sturmi entering a turn right thanks to the broken lever, everyone was panicking, worried that they were literally about to die. Everyone, that is, except Jouko.

"Hannes, relax and slam the brakes."

Taken aback by Jouko's cool, Hannes, still shaken, gently stepped on the brakes, and slowly brought the Sturmi to a halt. As everything settled, the tank was filled with heavy breathing, everyone grasping for air after holding their breath from the tension of the moment. After everyone had calmed down, Jouko spoke again.

"I said slam, not slowly step."

"Sorry, Jouko. Fear got the best of me there."

"Whatever, at least we're stopped."

"Uhh... Jouko?"

"Yep?"

"I think... I broke the radio..."

Sure enough, the radio was in a state of ruination. The knobs were turned to places they shouldn't, the arrow pointing out the frequency wasn't visible behind the glass, the headset was nothing but high-pitched screeching from an absolutely obliterated frequency, and the book Frisell was reading was a mess on the floor. Two important parts of the tank had been broken from this training session alone. They had to pray Rumi wouldn't kill them once she found out. Collectively, the others screamed:

"FRISELL!"

As the Sturmi returned to its garage, Rumi walked up to the crew, applauding and congratulating them on a good, albeit questionable first performance.

"I must say, for complete starters, you did alright. Granted, there were many errors with your respective roles, but as the day dragged on you all seemed to improve.

Hannes, you'll need to adjust to the Sturmi's driving levers, I understand that you aren't used to it, so, try your best, you have some promise as one of our best drivers.

Löfström, your reload is a bit slow, I understand your caution, but please try to be faster, knowing your strength, I know you can be able to manage fourteen shells a minute in due time.

Frisell, judging from your radio reports, that I could manage to put together, you're quite a good communicator. You're straight to the point and no matter which type you go with, its always effective.

As for Jouko... let me put it simply. You're the best gunner out of our team so far. Keep training and you'll never miss a shot. Ever."

The four were silent, taking in every word that had come out of Rumi's mouth. Each of them contained so much potential, and Rumi was pleased with their first showing. After a few seconds of silence, Jouko accepted Rumi's debriefing, thanking her and confidently telling her that with time, they'd be the best in Continuation's history. The others joined, with confidence in future glory.

"Just you wait! Within a year, like Jouko said, we'll be on top of the world!"

"Yeah, those other schools got nothing on us!"

"We'll show those Kuromorimine and Pravda schools what Continuation's truly made of!"

Rumi loved the enthusiasm, and was visibly more excited seeing how eager these four were to truly making Continuation what so many generations long passed wanted to make it. She hoped that, with these charismatic foreigners, Continuation would rise to what it truly could be as an unstoppable force, feared and respected by all, a hope shared by many other minor schools like Continuation, though not having the personnel or materiel to see that hope realized. Here, though, Continuation had a powerful tank, three in fact, and now with a promising crew, things were looking up.

However, seeing the roughed-up nature of the tank, she had something to ask.

"Aside from the tank's outer armor, was there anything damaged?"

Oh boy, here we go...

"Well?"

"Uhhh... Heheh! I...erm..."

"We... might have broken some other stuff-"

"Löfström, you idiot! Don't give her too much-"

"You broke the steering levers, didn't you."

"HOW DID YOU KNOW?!" yelled all at once.

"Yep, called it. I saw you turn for a longer period of time than expected, in fact you made a couple of 360-degree turns before you slammed the brakes and stopped the tank, which gave me that conclusion. The levers have been rusty for the past few months, I tried to get the mechanics to fix it, but they kept refusing. I'll just hire some other ones. Anything else ruined?"

"Um."

"Frisell, looking red there. Please tell me the radio is okay."

"Commander... it..it's-"

"Ruined, Commander! We apologize for the ruination of the radio!"

"JOUKO?!"

"What are you doing, we're all dead!"

Rumi just glared.

"Okay... we're going to have a lot of issues tonight..."

"I'll pay for it, don't worry, Commander!"

"Jouko? You know how much this costs, don't you?"

"I have enough, no need to use your or the school's money."

"Well, in that case, it's around a hundred thousand to a hundred fifty thousand yen. I'm sure you have that sort of money?"

"Yeah, I'll pay you later."

"That money better be in my hands tonight, otherwise you're fixing it yourself."

"Understood, Commander."

After that little scare and getting the steering levers fixed, as well as Jouko exchanging her money and giving the necessary amount to Rumi to fund the repairs, the quartet spent the rest of the week practicing on their tank, getting used to the mechanics and doing experiments with some techniques that would help with their overall efficiency, with mixed results decent at the very best.

Frisell was experimenting with her radio reports, trying to come up with phrases that could best describe a situation her crew were in while not being too cryptic or confusing. Contrary to her aims, given her versing in literature, she often got too enigmatic when it came to delivering her reports, which increasingly frustrated Rumi and the other commanders, who were struggling to grasp the message Frisell was trying to send, though it was a good source of comedic entertainment for Hannes, who struggled to control her laughter overhearing Rumi get angry at Frisell being too poetic for her liking.

Löfström experimented with her loading technique, comparing the speed and efficiency of each one she tried, and lifting shells as much and as long as she could each day to better and expand her muscles in order to be able to more easily haul a shell into the cannon's chamber, as she knew that her current caution would have no place on the battlefield or in any combat situation. Unfortunately, she narrowly avoided a permanent injury, allowing herself to get distracted, resulting in her dropping the shell she was carrying, a mistake that nearly cost her her foot, had she not moved it at the last possible second, forcing her back to her usual cautious state and slowing her reload speed back to 9 seconds.

Hannes experimented with her driving abilities, learning new things along the way and slowly getting used to the controls. With better-quality steering levers, she now had no need to worry about them breaking, and was practicing many hours a day on perfecting her driving. It was real hard work, but there were still a few problems as she continued to make motions as if she were still using a steering wheel, catching her off-guard at the non-respondence of the levers, but she was determined to get better and get used to the new method of driving. Unfortunately, she had to deal with a few jams here and there, much to Rumi's annoyance at having to stop practice every time Hannes pulled a lever in any direction too much, causing it to jam.

Jouko was trying to get used to the feel of her tank's 75mm cannon, testing her shots on wooden targets that were placed on the outdoors tankery range as Hannes drove her around. Each target took several shots to hit, as not all of her shots would hit and some went way off-target, her being inexperienced in using a weapon like this. But as she got better used to her tank, and soon began to know each of its capabilities, the more accurate her shots were as she was better able to calculate them. Soon enough, she was hitting targets in the hundreds of meters by the next month's end, and she was approaching the kilometer-long hit at a faster pace as the days went by, though she was still experiencing problems with her shooting,

As word of Jouko and her friends' backgrounds and very promising potential spread throughout the school, despite their mediocre, and somewhat embarrassing first showing, many, like Rumi, were optimistic at the prospect of these four newcomers possibly being a turning point in Continuation's Sensha-do history. Perhaps they would be major players in winning the school's first-ever tournament, or at the very least move them to the coveted Semifinals position for once, something that, due to the school's status as a "minor school", was incredibly difficult, almost to the border of impossible to gain given the powerful opponents they always faced. They wanted that placement, for good reason.

All of the past tournaments they had participated in had ended in them getting knocked out either in the first round or the quarterfinals, and seeing how good the new students were, they saw this as their chance to go beyond the quarterfinals. As a result, Jouko's status in the school was elevated, some even seeing her as Messianic figure, something she vigorously tried to suppress, disliking that form of attention intensely. Detesting publicity, she tried her best to avoid the attention and focus on finishing her school work, as that was some of what mattered the most at the end of the day, after all. She didn't use her Sensha-do coupon much, and still regularly attended class, albeit less often than usual, of course.

3 weeks after the first practice - nighttime

"So, how is it going, Jouko?"

"Went well, we learned how to operate the tank, everyone wasn't great at first but we're improving, slowly but surely."

"Good to hear! How was your shooting?"

"T'was alright, missed a bunch, but hey, I'm still getting used to this stuff."

"Oi! If it isn't little Simuna here!"

"Aarne- of course you're one to barge in randomly!"

"Haha, same old same old! Antero! Where are you!"

"Coming! Oh, hello, Jouko. How's Japan?"

"It's good, everyone's friendly and warm here. Had three nosebleeds after coming but let's not talk about that."

"Ah, it happens. Anyways, we're going to participate in a shooting competition in a few days!"

"Yeah, and I'll be the one to take that prize!"

"Not if I shoot better!"

"Calm down, its just friendly. Besides, you can split the money if you like."

"I guess."

"Well, good luck to the both of you, be sure to take note of what I taught you both."

"Oh, we will."

"Hah, and maybe by the end of it I'll teach YOU a thing or two!"

"Heheh, I really hope so, Aarne. I'll be off to bed now, we have practice tomorrow morning."

"All good, good night, Jouko! We miss you here in Finland!"

"Yeah, we hope to see you soon!"

"Good night, mother, good night father, and good night you two, be sure to make me proud!"

"You can count on us! Good night, 'sweetheart'!"

"Oh, don't you-"

Call ended. The red "end call" button had disappeared, leaving the six other buttons left and her father's name on the top.

Jouko simply laughed it off, for Aarne was like that ever since the dawn of time. Deactivating her phone and placing it on her bedside, Jouko read a few verses from her King James Bible, recited the Lord's Prayer as well as said her own right afterwards, expressing thankfulness to God for keeping them all safe during their practice sessions with the Sturmi, especially that first practice.

After finishing the prayer, Jouko lay flat on her bed, reminiscing on the past few weeks. The first practice was considered by Rumi to be a fairly good showing, but in reality, all knew that it was a disaster. Broken components, scraped armor, it wasn't at all a good showing. But, after that, they had begun to improve, coming up with new methods to train their capabilities in driving the Sturmi. Each had improved on their roles, and now, they were performing far better than they had in their first practice. Things were looking up.

For the first few weeks since Sensha-do had begun for the year, there had been set an "adjustment period", a period encouraged by the Federation to allow all of its newcomer practitioners to get used to each of their respective tanks, to know them and to get well-versed with them in preparation for their new careers in Sensha-do. However, tomorrow, Monday, would mark the end of this adjustment period, for that day would be the first Sensha-do practice match for the school year in all of the participant schools, and everyone was excited for it. No one was more excited, however, than Jouko and her crew.

This would finally be their time to shine, to make a glorious debut on the Sensha-do stage, and they were willing and determined to give a good show.

San Francisco, California, USA

"Well, wish him good luck for me, and safe service as well. It's unlikely, but there's a lot of things that can go wrong."

"Don't worry, Akira isn't the type to mess up or get into something bad."

"I hope so. Say, is Alice doing alright? I miss seeing her terribly."

"Oh, she's doing extremely well! So far, she's pursuing four degrees, and I can't be all the prouder at her performance."

"Oh, my! Well, Japan must be proud to have a student like that!"

"Indeed! Though, without Akira, it does get a little lonely, moreso with Alice at school."

"Hm, I understand. You know, I think you can have something that can help with that loneliness."

"Oh, really? Like what?"

"I have this spare Bible with me that I've been hoping to send to someone, so naturally I'll decide to give it to you!"

"Oh, isnt the Bible the..."

"Yes, it's the book us Christians read."

"Are you sure, Ayami? You do realize I'm a heavily traditional woman."

"If you wish to remain with that lonely feeling until Akira comes back in, I don't know, ten to fifteen years? Feel free to skip out, I'm just doing this to help you."

"Alright, alright, I'll try it."

"Perfect. I'll pack this up and ship it to you, please read it every day, I'm sure it will cure your loneliness, somewhat at least."

"I'll do my best, I hope that it indeed does the trick."

"It'll arrive in a few weeks at most from now, if my calculations are correct."

"Well, talk to you later?"

"Mhm, hopefully we can meet again soon."

"Oh, for sure. I'll be looking forward to this Bible of yours."

"Once again, please read it. It can help you with your loneliness."

"Of course, of course. It was nice talking to you, Ayami."

"And you, Chiyo."

"Goodbye, hope to see you soon."

"You as well."

After the phone call ended, Ayami immediately went straight to packing the spare Bible for her cousin Chiyo. Hearing of her situation over the phone, having to deal with much Sensha-do business, raising her daughter Alice, and now her husband leaving for naval service, leaving her alone with her daughter, who also had to leave the house due to school, she wanted to lend her a hand and give her some needed comfort. Wrapping the wrapping paper around the Bible, securing it with tape, and placing it in the package which was further secured with more tape and placed into the packaging bag, Ayami tucked the package under her left arm, exited her suburban house, and walked over to her local mailbox, gently placing the Bible through the large hole where packages were usually placed.

After the Bible was secured inside the mail compartment, Ayami prayed a silent prayer, praying that this Bible she was sending to the other side of the world would be a great blessing to her cousin, and even better, a blessing to her whole family, perhaps even allowing them all to accept its teachings. With that, she began the short walk back to her house just as the mailman had arrived to do his job of collecting and depositing the mail. She was still praying in her mind as she walked somewhat slowly, her hands folded together in earnest prayer that what she was doing would bear great fruit, and greeting some of the neighbors who were outside at the same time, before preparing herself for church later that morning once she had gotten back home, imagining all the possibilities her action may have.