Eleven. That was the number of days the cadets had spent intensely training before the scheduled port visit in Hawaii. What for, was to be discovered as when the word was passed through the chain of command, the only information given was "Mandatory training for three of the seven days they were docked" That and of course the fine print. Anyone who did not attend was no longer a part of the Senshado team. This notice ensured apt attendance.
Only Virtanen had been informed of the schedule's purpose prior to docking while Sokolov, O'Diveley, and Knight were briefed as the first few to go ashore. Training had been steadily ramping up aboard the ship and increasing in intensity. The focus, that Kaiser had briefed them of, was to create well-rounded cadets, 'capable of withstanding any situation'. Not just within the relative safety of a vehicle.
Kaiser would then brief the group over the plan of team-building exercises, marksmanship training with a multitude of small arms till each cadet was proficient with at least a single weapon. Physical training was naturally added spontaneously throughout the days to encourage quick action, discipline, and strength. Finally, all would be tested on communication equipment, driving knowledge, and observing enemy vehicles and their weaknesses on the day the Transcendence came to port.
There had been gripes over the lack of time spent in actual vehicles but dissent was quickly erased after being assured there would be time allotted for rest and relaxation soon enough. How soon was left to question. Unfortunately, to most, they correctly predicted that it would be during their time in Hawaii, which was supposed to be off time anyway.
Upon docking, the Transcendence lay still, and streams of students filed out to explore the island. Next to the rows of offloading students in their casual attire and beachwear eager to explore the island, was the Senshado team standing in stark contrast. Dressed in brown American M42 uniforms and green helmets they fell into columns, busy loading ammunition and supplies for the next few days onto a row of American GMC two and a half tons trucks.
As both sets of Transcendent students went about their own paths, both murmured amongst their peers. The regular students whispering of the Senshado cadet's misfortune while said cadets spoke in agreement of how lucky everyone else besides themselves were.
Soon the loading of supplies finished and the team of cadets stood in formation taking accountability while the automotive club checked the vehicles before departure. The automotive students not in the Senshado team, however, were busy consoling their peers, now stuck training rather than checking the machinery.
Soon a convoy was organized with vehicles from Transcendence's hangar. An SDKFZ 251 with a 75mm Pak cannon took the lead of the formation, followed by the deuce and half trucks, and the rear covered by an SDKFZ 251 Wurfrahmen, an armored car with a rocket artillery mount.
Their destination, it seemed was a local military range. Kaiser had somehow, through a multitude of calls, had been able to convince Transcendence's staff to bargain with the military bases to rent a range or two along with a barracks, for a short period of time.
All cadets stood awaiting orders, ignoring their heights and personalized weapon load-outs, they all appeared identical in the baggy clothing and supplies. The higher-ranking cadets, Virtanen and Kaiser included, would also participate and were allowed the carrying of sidearms in this field exercise.
The majority of faces however showed eagerness to end training as quickly as possible. Almost mockingly Virtanen had called out to them from afar shouting "No matter the weather, combat stops for no one!" His attempt at encouragement earned muffled groans in the blazing Hawaiin sun and humidity. He was only forgiven in their minds because he was wearing the same equipment as them, if not even more, and showed no signs of bother due to his familiarity with the situation.
After his comment, came the order to mount up and the cadets began to load into the vehicles, cramming themselves in, attempting to fit into the limited space. Some complaining the number of vehicles was purposely limited to further inconvenience them. A fact that Virtanen's smile perhaps told the truth to, as he watched the process. Virtanen saw the cadets finish clambering in and wait to depart as a KubelWagen pulled up next to him.
Knight quickly emerged from the driver's door and held the passenger side open for his commander to enter. Tossing his garrison cap inside the vehicle, Virtanen took a seat as Knight closed the door behind him and returned to the driver's side before checking his phone.
The vehicle idled as Virtanen struck a conversation while they waited. "Who are you messaging?" He asked with a spark of curiosity.
Knight flinched, surprised at being addressed while on his phone. "Oh, um, well sir. It was my understanding I would be transporting the upper echelon of our staff during this event in order to learn from you and the Vice commander, to understand how you operate, and so forth. But Lieutenant Colonel Kaiser isn't here" he explained gesturing to the rearview mirror between them.
Virtanen looked to see two familiar shapes. Sokolov seemingly deflated at the expectation of physical labor amidst the humidity and O'Diveley leaning forward to pat Knight on the shoulder, chipper as ever.
"That would include us," O'Divrley said to Virtanen before addressing Knight. "Don't worry lad, us two ain't got much experience in the job either" he commented, gesturing at Sokolov.
Virtanen pondered aloud. "I wonder where Kaiser is. After all, we're waiting on him here". As if on cue, Virtanen's phone rang. Knight watched on as Virtanen answered, a short conversation was then carried before abruptly ending with Virtanen rolling his eyes. "He's already there awaiting our arrival, head in front of the convoy and I'll wave them along as we pass by," he instructed.
Knight did as he was told then attempted to renew their conversation, feeling anxious the moment silence began to set in. "Um, sir, Colonel Kaiser seems rather, how do I say, motivated? About all this, doesn't he?"
"Ha," snarked Virtanen, waving his arm out the window for the convoy to follow. "This isn't him excited, you should have seen him in on the InfanterieKampf field, now that, that was something to see. Although it's not like you or the other students need to know too much about all that. Besides, you don't have anything to worry about here" Virtanen grinned, leaning his head against the vehicle's window, resigning himself to looking out rather than carry the conversation.
Realizing Virtanen wasn't going to follow up on the ominous remarks, Knight glanced into the rearview to see O"Diveley busy trying to cheer up Sokolov. Seeing no opportunity to speak nor have the confidence to force conversation, Knight's mind did the one thing it did best. Wander into a field of paranoia.
A short drive found the convoy approaching a vast expanse of open field surrounded by lush tropical forest. The range seemingly 'borrowed' by Kaiser, happened to be an artillery range spanning dozens of kilometers.
At the gate entrance, Kaiser could be seen leaning against a BMW R75 motorcycle without the sidecar. Wearing the same brown uniform as the rest of the cadets, to the surprise of many, he even forewent his usual dress cap for a garrison cover as the rest of the cadet officers.
Seeing the convoys approach Kaiser gave a quick kick to the leg stand of his bike and revved the engine. Turning one hundred eighty degrees, he joined in front of the lead vehicle, guiding them to their first designated area. Soon Kaiser strayed to the side of the road and parked, leaving the student convoy to pass him and circle around as the Kubelwagon broke off to approach him.
The cadets quickly dismounted and began to unload all of their gear. Shouting in a seemingly disorganized manner, an effort was made to be quick in their movements and form up. Rather than a mass formation, Five separate squads were made. One for each squad of tanks and to easily see each face.
As accountability and gear checks went underway with the cadet NCOs, Kaiser went to rendezvous with his fellow staff. O"Diveley was the first to jump out of the vehicle eager to stretch his legs. Virtanen gestured towards the formations, speaking to the junior cadets with him, while Kaiser was still out of earshot. Quickly Knight, Sokolov, and O'Diveley picked up their gear and ran towards their respective platoons. As he approached Virtanen, O"Diveley, Sokolov, and Knight gave their greetings as they ran past.
Kaiser gave a salute as he approached, to which Virtanen returned with a snarky greeting. "If it isn't the school phantom." he joked.
Kaiser hummed at the remark. "That's a new one. How'd I earn that one?"
Virtanen chuckled at the casual response. "You've been disappearing a lot lately, especially after practice. Hardly anyone could get a hold of you. Hell, even that gossip page online barely had any updates on you over the past week." he informed.
Kaiser hummed again, showing little interest. "My absence was necessary to finalize our 'appropriation' of certain gear" he cautiously phrased, staring out at the cadets with Virtanen.
His statement raised a brow from Virtanen. "And that would be?" Virtanen asked.
"Oh, the usual" Kaiser reassured. "Canteens, Mapping equipment, maintenance gear for rifles and vehicles, Howitzers, ammunition for said howitzers, extra ammo for rifles to be delivered, Individual-first-aid-kits, and a book for my downtime." He answered, pulling an itinerary out of his chest pocket and handing it over to Virtanen.
Virtanen received the paper quietly before swinging his head so fast Kaiser could hear it pop. "What was that middle part again?" Virtanen asked, seeking clarification.
"Maintenance gear and IFAK's?" Kaiser responded aloofly.
"No, no, the howitzers and live ammunition bit." Virtanen deadpanned.
"Oh. Those" Kaiser realized mockingly. Raising his hands in an 'I don't know' gesture. "Well, you wouldn't believe what people leave just lying around." He answered as calmly as he breathed.
Despite the calm reply, Virtanen couldn't withhold his surprise. "I-What-How?" he stuttered in an effort to demand an answer.
Kaiser gave a small shrug. "it's amazing what you can acquire when you ask the right people. And when no one's looking. Besides they would have just gone to waste sitting there unused."
Virtanen shook his head dumbfounded. "How can you be so slothful and yet, somehow, somehow do all this?" he gestured swinging an arm before them, referring to their presence on the current artillery field.
"That's a question you'll realize when you're competent enough, but for now you're a fresh commander and ought to focus on here and now," With the shrug of a shoulder Kaiser answered, slapping Virtanen's back.
With a wince and a step forward from the surprisingly strong blow, Virtanen broke eye contact to see his cadets formed up and awaiting orders.
"Shall we begin?" Kaiser asked, stepping next to Virtanen. The two walked before the formation awaiting the report.
"At ease" Ordered O"Diveley to the formation as the senior NCO. "Report" was his next order. The scare tactic of being booted from the team worked as each reported themselves fully accounted for. O'Diveley turned to Virtanen with a salute. Returning it Virtanen stepped forward and O"Diveley to the side of the formation. Slowly Virtanen lowered his head taking in a deep breath, slowly exhaling.
Lifting his head Virtanen shouted. "This is the beginning! Where it will all begin, for you, your teams, your unit, and most importantly our school! This training is to evaluate how much information you've retained in this short amount of time. To further sharpen, train, and hone your skills. You will become exhausted physically and mentally. We will push you to your limits for you to realize one truth! On the field, you can rely only on those next to you! Therefore, for those who place their trust in you and those you place your trust in, do not fail each other! This is your first step to our victory!"
The boisterous speech from Virtanen was unexpected and well-received. The end of his words leaving the cadets squirming with excitement before erupting in a chorus of cheers and elation. Amidst the noise, Kaiser leaned in towards Virtanen's ear, whispering. "Nice performance, aren't you glad you rehearsed?"
Virtanen responded slowly, his voice slightly cracking. The facade of confidence faded away as he turned his back to the crowd and confide in Kaiser. "Erm, yeah thanks for writing the speech, I think I'm starting to get used to this slowly, though I won't be doing any shows anytime soon." he snickered
While the commanders chatted together O'Diveley dismissed the formation which promptly scattered for their gear and prepared for their next orders. Unbeknownst to the cadets, their fervor would quickly be snuffed out.
-Transition-
The sun was burning a path in the sky when they had arrived in Hawaii but as with any tropical paradise, it came in tandem with rain. On and off, the rain came every day they had been training. It was an incessant nuisance to those being put through the wringer.
Regardless, the days went as planned. Every Cadet from Virtanen and Kaiser, down to the newest freshman RO participated in the exercises. Through intense physical training, such as multi-kilometer runs with weight, to immediate high-intensity workouts or hikes consisting of hours worth of ascending and descending the same hills in circles. It became apparent some were far more suited to certain aspects of the training than others. The contrast was made more apparent as the hours turned over to the next day and the next, especially in physical prowess.
Though Virtanen and Kaiser had kept in the front of such runs, Sokolov and Knight were 'ensuring' the rear of cadets falling out, caught up. Certainly not because it was the only pace they could keep with.
The days ran long with no breaks other than three meals a day and the odd class mixed in to further educate the cadets on nutrition, general knowledge, or even remedial homework for classes they required assistance in.
One day specifically, the majority of time was delegated for Kaiser to teach marksmanship and its necessity to all cadets. "You can run, hide, panic, even say it's inevitable and face the end, but you can't call yourself a proud human, let alone my comrade unless you can fight back" were the words he opened the period of instruction with.
They were taught the significance of each crew member's purpose and how all worked for the gunner to execute their shot in order to accomplish the ultimate goal of defeating their enemy's crew and vehicle. Once this was drilled into their minds they began to experience it for themselves with small arms.
A small range had been improvised and allowed for the cadets to fire at one hundred, two hundred, and three hundred meters incrementally. The cadets assigned as gunners, however, were given scopes to zero in and fire at one hundred, three hundred, and five hundred meters with stricter guidelines to pass.
Naturally, some performed better than others in certain events but all performed satisfactorily in the following day's training, some even stood out exceptionally. Within the firing range, a pair of sisters had caught Kaiser's eyes as he was observing those under his command. They proved exceptional shots even though they were implemented as commanders of two separate vehicles, followed by the female Frost siblings and a few others of note.
The overarching goals were for the physical capabilities of some were proven superbly by designated loaders and a few odd ends after repetitious training. Drivers excelled in mechanical know-how and vehicle details down to the angling of armor thickness. Radio operators were made to understand their communication lines and handling as well as how to send coded messages to each other. Finally, the commanders needed to perform astoundingly overall in knowledge and quick reaction times for all events.
Needless to say, depending on the job assigned and the task they performed, some went well above, even surpassing some others in their specialties. The cadets were far from the best and further from perfect but were on track to becoming something great.
The second day of the intensive training camp included more rain as it continued pouring down in torrents. The cadets currently covered in layers of mud were slogging through an obstacle course, in which they were being timed on each lap along with being questioned on knowledge randomly at certain checkpoints by Knight and Sokolov who had already run their prior.
O'Diveley, who had also participated with them under Kaiser's guidance, was now shouting at the cadets as they ran, to "Move faster!" and "Get up or I'll bury you there!" As his enthusiastic motivation got the poor individuals trotting along, Virtanen and Kaiser watched from outside the course as the final few cadets aimed to finish. The two shared small talk as usual, despite the rain soaking them to the bone, waiting for the course to end.
"I still don't understand the need for rifle knowledge" Virtanen protested amid the rain's constant pattering.
"Of course you don't" Kaiser chided. "First, there is practicality. We can't let everyone fire hundreds of rounds through a tank barrel just to learn their teammate's value, first of all, it'll ruin the gun, hence needing a replacement, and costs will add up. Second I saw the forecast for rain and knew we'd waste time transporting the tanks in this thick mud. Hell, the cadets can barely walk in it. Third, it harbors a feeling of competition. Everyone wants to be the best, after all." he informed.
"I thought you would just say 'because it's fun,' replied Virtanen surprised at the deep thinking behind it.
"There's that too," Kaiser nodded. "Remember when we'd train for days on end? Tactical reloads, accuracy, hitting a moving target, firing while moving? We're limited on time to train so we'll implement everything we can. We're just lucky the school's Marksmanship team had such a surplus of weaponry, ammunition, and goodwill." he admitted as they returned to silently watching.
The last cadet finally came tripping his way through the finish line as O"Dively hoisted him up by an arm, followed by a slap on the back with a grin. Sokolov reported the events end to Virtanen who then gave the order for them to seek shelter and food in the nearby chow hall, which was no more than an empty shell of a building furnished with folding chairs and tables. It did however have some visiting students from the ship who kindly offered their time to provide hot meals for the team.
The sight of cleanly dressed female and male students providing hot food did wonders for the cadet's morale, but nowhere near as much as the warmth of the meals provided to their exhausted bodies. Virtanen and Kaiser were the last to get their food before they sat down at a separate table while most cadets had already returned to their temporary quarters to clean up. Even the food service volunteers from ship began to prepare for their return.
Shoveling the food into his mouth Virtanen began to sing praises over some cadets under his squad's command. "You should have seen it! I have to say I may have the best performing squad here, high marks across the board all of them! And Piper! it was astounding! Rain or shine, she was leading her team without falter and even nailed the marksmanship course!" Virtanen beamed, stopping his gloating only to swallow more food.
Kaiser took to eating his food slower and more calmly, adverse to Virtanen, however, he was no less satisfied with the results. "It seems a pair of sisters that transferred from Kuromoromine have surpassed expectations. They are both Commanders of vehicles and naturally passed all subjects, as well as excelling on the range. The strange part is neither of them participated in Senshado prior to applying here." Kaiser remarked, looking at his food, pondering over just why that was, until realizing Virtanen wasn't as interested in the subject as he.
Uninterested in the Kaiser's cadets, Virtanen sought to change topics. "By the way, I know our results haven't been publicized to the team but how did I perform?" Virtanen whispered over the table.
Without holding back Kaiser delivered the results. "Naturally, you scored in the top ten percent here but you're still lacking in a few areas. Namely memorization of nomenclature, decision making, and marksmanship could improve" replied Kaiser.
Virtanen hung his head low at the declaration. "Should have expected as much huh" he muttered in disappointment.
"Well, there was a reason I had you assigned as fire support with a BAR back in InfanterieKampf" Kaiser deadpanned.
Virtanen glanced up from his empty plate, dejected. "Should I even ask how you fared?"
Kaiser took a drink before making a show of rolling his eyes. "Virtanen, don't compare yourself to others. Otherwise, you'll never find yourself good enough," he advised.
"Aren't you the one who also told me to never be satisfied with who I am and always seek the next Goal?" Virtanen retorted.
"There's a balance to it, as with all things" Kaiser answered simply.
Virtanen gave a lame look as if to ask 'really?' before Kaiser reluctantly answered. "I was most likely the best all-rounder. However, I wasn't at the top of every event. Of course, I was beat out by others in their specialties".
Despite the attempt to play down his results Virtanen still deflated at the announcement.
"Enough wallowing in pity," Kaiser said, standing up. "Let's focus on tomorrow It's the last day after all."
Virtanen straightened himself, again interested in the change of topic. "You still haven't told anyone of what we're doing though" he replied confused. Before he could seek more answers a female student approached them. "Excuse me but we are ready to head back" she informed the two.
Looking at and past her, they saw that the volunteer students had packed the leftover food and other gear aboard one of the GMC trucks used to transport the cadets.
"I'll be right there in a moment and thank you for your time" Kaiser replied with a small smile of courtesy. Though Virtanen knew it to be as fake as fool's gold, the girl seemed briefly surprised, before nodding and quickly returning to the vehicle where she was given a hand by her jeering friends.
As the students excitedly chatted in the back of the truck of their fun little experience and taunting of their friend's flustered face as she rejoined them. Virtanen gave a begrudging compliment. "Better be careful. You're usually so stern and stoic that smile could be considered a weapon" he commented bitterly.
"I still don't get why you and the others on land say such ridiculous things" Kaiser replied cocking his head at the strange remark. "Just look forward to tomorrow, it'll be interesting. There will even be a surprise."
With another obscure remark, Kaiser departed, returning the student volunteer's shipside.
-Chapter End-