Ironsides 1
The garage was abuzz with activity. This wasn't all that uncommon for the Saunders sensha-do team; the team practiced year 'round, and there were always practice matches, exhibition matches, and tournaments to prepare for. The recent exhibition match in northern France was just one such event, though differentiated by the much longer flight across multiple continents instead of the school ship being present.
Not everyone was part of the buzz of activity though. In one corner of the garage, where a dozen "oddball" vehicles sat relatively unused, all was quiet. Only a few of the tanks had seen any use in recent times. The M6 heavy tank Warden had seen periodic use as a training vehicle, and as a proper heavy tank in the last few matches of the spring season. The M26 Pershing next to her, Toast, had seen even less action due to a lack of parts to repair battle damage and had only been used in the last match of the tournament. The only tank that saw consistent use was the M5A1 Stuart Izumi, currently the tank of one of the team's lieutenants and only scout.
From her position sitting atop the rather tall M6, a tall blonde woman couldn't help but smile as she braided her hair. The season was officially over. Technically, it had been for a month and a half now, but everyone on the team knew that in reality, the season was still on until summer break and the early September exhibition matches were all wrapped up. With the completion of the exhibition match in France over the weekend, it was over.
And the season being over meant that the usual restrictions on crews using certain tanks were pulled away until next year. Many crews still preferred to stick to their trusty Shermans with the reliable 75mm M3, no matter which hull variant they had, but others enjoyed the capabilities provided by the 76mm cannons. And then, of course, came the lucky few who got to use their beloved heavy tanks.
A shorter, bespectacled brunette looked up at the blonde. Where the blonde was wearing the standard Saunders sensha-do uniform, the brunette had modified hers with a bright red neckerchief and a pair of binoculars that hung ever-presently from her neck. "Looking forward to practice today?"
"You know it!" the blonde replied. She quickly jumped down and ruffled the brunette's hair. "Cheyenne has been hard at work making sure the crew's ready to go. Think we'll get any prospective light tankers after your performance this season?"
The brunette laughed as she fixed her now-messed up ponytail. "Doubt it! We'll probably see Alisa take Volt for tankathlon season, but that's about it. As awesome as we were this season, the only KO that really caught anyone's attention was that Panther that Yogurt brought. And even then, we kinda had to steal Thunderhead's engine to get me up and running in time for the next match."
"There was the BT-42, wasn't there?"
"That was Wiz, not me. All I did was take a shot for her at the last possible second. Nobody likes being remembered for getting knocked out." The brunette couldn't hide her smile as she turned towards the M26. "Isn't that right, Toast?"
In response, a different brunette climbed halfway out of the Pershing's turret and gave the younger girl a rude gesture. "Dammit Izumi. I thought you light tanks were supposed to be busy today!"
Izumi laughed. "Nope! Tally's too busy coordinating practice and the paperwork for our new arrival to take me out for a spin."
Toast shook her head, and pointed at the blonde. "Warden, keep this little shit under control. I can't be assed to deal with her today."
"As if I can keep her any more contained than you can," Warden retorted. As Toast dropped back into her turret, Warden once again focused her attention on Izumi. "What's this about a new arrival?"
"You hadn't heard?"
"Nope." Warden shook her head and patted the steel of the heavy tank behind her. "Been hanging out around my hull all day. Haven't heard a lick."
"Huh." Izumi gestured for the spirit of the heavy tank to follow along. She started walking away, towards the main entrance, and Warden quickly followed her. "Well, Kay picked up a stray in France. She recruited a new student and somehow got her hands on an Easy Eight."
The blonde heavy tank let out a low whistle. "Where did she find that?"
"I dunno," Izumi answered. She paused and wiped a smudge off of her glasses with the corner of her shirt. As soon as they were clean, she turned back to Warden and continued walking. "I only caught a little bit of the conversation, mostly Tally complaining about all the work that's been dropped on her shoulders. We should know what's up in about an hour or so. They're nearly home."
Warden rolled her eyes. "It's a good thing those Galaxies can take an extra Sherman. It'd be incredibly awkward if the Captain picked up that stray, only to have to leave her behind for now because we couldn't ship her to Japan. Left with ten tanks, came home with eleven... Actually, that brings up a question. Do we have anything planned for the new tank when she gets here? I mean, Spunky, Wiz, Pluck, and all the others on the trip have probably already welcomed her to the team, but that's only ten tanks out of our, what, roughly eighty tank roster?"
"Axe and Innie were trying to coordinate something, but Chelsea dragged Innie out to the practice field for some early laps. I don't know if Axe has arranged anything." Izumi grimaced and pulled her glasses off to rub at the smudge more fiercely than before. "Oh for Christ's sake! My glasses won't come clean! I swear, there's some dirt or something on my gunner's sights, and fate just wants to annoy me!"
The heavy tank couldn't help but laugh at the light tank's annoyance. "Can't you just talk to your crazy freakin' driver and have her clean it?"
"If she were here. But she appears to be running late for once in her life."
"Ah, yes, the dreaded 'I have too much homework on my plate and am running late for practice,'" Warden snarked. "It happens to everyone."
Before long, the two tank spirits joined the crowd milling about the garage's small stage. It was mostly composed of the human crews, but Warden could easily make out a few of the other tank spirits mixed in. Not a single one of the human crowd noticed the presence of the tank spirits. Izumi split off and made her way to the front of the crowd while the much taller Warden was content to watch and listen from the back.
The chatter of the crowd hushed as a redhead with a braid over her shoulder walked onto the stage. Unlike the rest of the team's leadership, Tally was nervous when it came to public speaking, and it showed. The American transfer student was fidgeting with the charm held at the end of her braid, and the soft smile on her face was forced and didn't reach her blue eyes. "Hello, everyone. If I could have your attention, I have a couple of announcements before practice starts." Tally's voice echoed through the garage, the PA system working exactly as intended. A number of the crews who had been working on their tanks nearby paused in their work to join the crowd, and Warden had to sidestep to avoid phasing through one of the girls. It was a near thing, and left the tall tank spirit in a rather awkward position.
"For one, as I'm sure many of you have already heard, we lost the exhibition match in France this weekend. It was a close game, and everyone performed incredibly well, but our flag tank was sniped by our opponents' Tiger while the main portion of our team engaged a group of Panzer IVs and Chaffees. As disappointing as ending a season on a loss is, it's important to remember that everyone in the match performed well, had fun, and were good sports about it.
"And for my second point, I'm sure most of you hadn't heard this, but we will be getting a new student and a new tank today. They were recruited in France, and joined the team for the flight back to Japan. They should land in less than an hour. I hope that everyone will give Louise and Ace of Spades a warm welcome when they arrive, and help make them feel right at home. Company commanders, please stop by the leadership office once you've got your tanks prepared for the day. I have some edits to your practice itineraries. That is all. I hope everyone has a good day and a good practice. Dismissed!"
A cheer rose up from the crowd as it began to disperse.
So, naturally, that was when Warden's heart stopped. She spun on her heel as she felt her massive radial engine spin up, but there were too many people in the way. It was either suffer the discomfort of phasing through the crews, or the worse discomfort of being forcibly teleported to her hull because she got too far away from it.
Warden knew which one she preferred, and she started forcing her way through the crowd. She danced aside where she could, but even then it was slow going. Too slow. She felt her hull accelerate towards the now-open rolling door at the far end of the garage, leaving much faster than the spirit could catch up. Still, the stubborn heavy tank sprinted after her hull.
It wasn't enough. Most of the time, the half-kilometer radius around her hull wasn't a problem. It gave her enough breathing room that she could spend time with whoever she wanted, and do whatever she wanted. It was, however, a bit of an issue when the hull was accelerating in one direction while the spirit was delayed by having to force her way through a crowd.
"Shit!" Warden screamed as she felt the barrier approach. In an instant, Warden felt like she had been forced down her own gun barrel before she popped into existence again in the previously empty bow machine gunner's seat. Her metaphorical stomach churned with displeasure. It was only due to her spiritual nature that she didn't lose the lunch that she had never eaten.
Warden glared at the girl currently sitting in her driver's seat. "Next time, give me a warning before you start driving off with my hull! I hate it when that happens!"
Naturally, Chihiro didn't react at all to the annoyed heavy tank's rant. The raven-haired, bespectacled girl just focused on her driving. The rest of the crew was present too. Cheyenne stood proudly at the tank commander's station, ready to command and keep the co-ax 37mm loaded.
Across the gun breech from her sat Akiko at the gun and Sumire behind her, ready to keep the massive 3-inch gun loaded. Down in the hull, Chihiro drove and Akiko's little sister Miko was the assistant loader.
Warden liked her crew, current circumstances aside. Much like the heavy tank, Cheyenne was tall, strong, and blonde. The girl had her golden hair up in a folded ponytail to keep it under control, and the smile on her face reached her blue eyes.
Cheyenne was the tallest member of the team, and spent most mornings working out in the gym. She was proud of her numerous achievements, and Warden was happy to admit that she was proud of her TC too.
"Alright, let's get warmed up," Cheyenne began. "Any issues getting her up and running?"
"Nope," Chihiro reported. "That was probably the fastest I've ever gone from starting the engine to pulling out of the garage."
Warden glared at her driver again. "Would it hurt you to do that a little slower?" Naturally, nobody heard her.
"Good work! Sumire, we're all loaded, right?"
"Full loads of training rounds for the three-inch and thirty-seven," the loader in question reported dutifully. Sumire was Cheyenne's most common exercise partner, and it was easy to tell. Though not as obviously muscled as her TC, she more than made up for it in her sheer endurance. What Warden never understood, though, was how Sumire's long brown ponytail never got caught in any of the turret gears or other moving parts.
"Turret's traversing with no issues," Akiko added. The proactive brunette turned towards Cheyenne, and though Warden couldn't see her face, she knew that Akiko's smile was shining brightly in her brown eyes. "I've even got myself a fresh periscope."
"Good to hear!" Cheyenne cheered. "Alright, driver, take us into the driving course nice and slow. Gunner, keep an eye out for targets. They got moved around over the weekend."
"Of course they did…" Akiko grumbled good-naturedly.
And throughout the whole exchange inside the heavy tank, shy little Miko didn't say a word from her seat as assistant loader. She didn't need to, because everyone knew that the quiet girl was prepared for the practice to come.
All of Warden's grumbling and annoyance faded away as her crew sprung into action and brought her into the practice course. If there was one thing that all of the tank spirits agreed upon, it was that doing their jobs and working alongside their crews was one of the best feelings in the world.
As much as the company commanders tried to keep everyone on task when the girls from France showed up, it was an effort doomed from the start. Practice ground to a halt as eleven Sherman tanks rolled up the road towards the garage. One by one, they pulled into the parking lot.
At their head of the line was the team captain, Kay, in her M4, Spunky. Everyone cheered her return, but it was the tank next in line that everyone was waiting for: Ace of Spades.
Warden immediately knew there was something different about the Sherman Easy Eight. Her paint was faded in places, but the 2nd Armored Division markings and Allied Stars were still proudly displayed, as was the black spade painted on one corner of her frontal armor. The paint on the gun broke up the silhouette quite nicely, and made it look like Ace only had a 75mm, when in actuality, she was packing the much more dangerous 76mm.
Ace of Spades wasn't just any old tank, she was a relic from the days before sensha-do. She was a war veteran.
Someone had just decisively up-staged Warden as the oldest tank on the team.
Of course, this wasn't too much of a disappointment for the old heavy tank. She had never let her age have any impact on her appearance, nor her demeanor. She'd never made a huge deal out of her age, and she wasn't planning on starting any time soon. Instead, she just looked forward to being able to share the experiences of someone with an even greater amount of life under her belt.
As she contemplated the new tank, Warden couldn't help but take note of her driver, too. She didn't recognize the young brunette, and the casual clothes that stood out from the uniforms of the rest of the team meant that this was likely Louise, the new student from France. The girl whose family had owned Ace up until very recently.
Warden was debating with herself whether or not she wanted to go greet the new arrivals, or wait 'til after everyone had settled in to say hello to Ace. Unfortunately, as was so often the case for tank spirits, her crew made the decision for her. On Cheynne's order, Chihiro brought the heavy tank into the parking lot and parked her right next to the line of tanks.
The tank spirit followed her crew as they dismounted and walked over to Ace. Warden gave a quick wave to Spunky as she walked past, but most of her attention was on the brand new, absolutely ancient, Easy Eight. It didn't take long for a rather young-looking blonde to climb out of the closed TC's hatch and look around.
Ace was a little bit strange, on first impression. For a tank so old, she looked remarkably young, younger than Warden. Her blonde hair was cut short, less than shoulder length, and her bright blue eyes held a spark of wonder as she looked around.
"Hello Ace!" Warden called. She waved and gave the veteran a smile, which Ace returned. "Welcome to Saunders!"
Ace climbed down off of her hull and regarded Warden. Naturally, the heavy tank was the taller of the two, but she didn't comment on it. "Hello. It's nice to meet you, Miss…"
"Oh, sorry! My bad. I'm Warden, the M6 heavy tank." She paused and gestured back towards her hull. "How was the flight?"
Ace grimaced. "For my first time ever being airborne, it wasn't a particularly pleasant experience. I prefer to keep my tracks on solid ground, thank you very much. Spunky and Wiz mentioned something about this being a common occurrence?"
Warden glanced over at the command tank, who just gave a friendly shrug. "Fairly common, yes. The team will often use those Super Galaxies to fly around Japan and go to friendly practice matches that other teams might not be able to attend." Warden paused and gave Ace a sly smile. Her purple eyes twinkled with mischief. Izumi was definitely rubbing off on her a little too much. "We also used them to kidnap another team's tanks once."
Ace blinked. "I'm sorry? Could you please repeat that?"
"I'm sure you've heard the story of Ooarai Girls' Academy and their sensha-do team, right? How those poor schoolgirls had to battle to save their school only to have it ripped away from them anyway by a probably corrupt official?"
"Uh, no. Can't say that I have."
"….right," Warden murmured. She let out a sigh and continued. "Well, their school got shut down despite their victory in the spring tournament, and they called Saunders and asked for a favor. They wanted to make sure that their tanks weren't taken and scrapped with the rest of the ship, so the Captain and her lieutenants flew over to Ooarai, stole their eight tanks, and flew back. About a week later, once the Ooarai girls knew where they were going to stay, the Captain dropped the tanks off with a LAPES drop. From what I've overheard, it was quite spectacular. They got their school back in the end, thanks to our help and that of the other major schools who they'd befriended." Warden paused and let out a small laugh. "And immediately afterwards, our team flew to France for an exhibition match and saved you from being scrapped. …Or something along those lines?"
"Forcibly seized and put on display at the Musée des Blindés at Saumur, most likely. But that's not what Louise wanted, so it's rather fortunate that I get to stay with my family a little while longer." Ace gave a happy smile and gazed fondly over at the poor brunette girl who was being swarmed by all of her new friends who she didn't yet know. "That girl is like a daughter to me, and I'm so proud of her for finding a way to do tankery like she and her mother always wanted to."
Warden and Ace spent a while just standing there and getting to know each other. It was fortunate that Warden's crew had decided that this was as good an opportunity as any to slack off, and that the team as a whole was milling about and talking to each other and the recent arrivals. Off to their left, the five members of the Saunders leadership team were having an impromptu meeting, and their tank spirits were chatting too.
"Hey Spunky!" Izumi shouted loudly. It was enough to break Warden's attention away from Ace, and the two old tanks turned towards the commotion.
"What's up?" the redhead command tank responded.
"Your girlfriend wants to talk to you as soon as you get into the garage! She said it has to do with our brand new arrival!" A bright, cheeky grin was plastered on Izumi's face, and she gestured towards Ace.
Spunky's face flushed as red as her hair, and she stammered in shock and rage. "She's not my girlfriend! And Ace is right there! Let's not discuss plans about her in front of her!"
"Really? Because Axe told me specifically to tell her girlfriend! She could only be talking about you, right? Or is there another tank that caught her eye?" Izumi teased.
"Oh, you little shit!" Spunky swore. She lunged forward and tried to get her hands on Izumi, but the nimble light tank danced away. "Get back here! When I get my hands on you, you can kiss those fancy optics goodbye!"
"Hey!" the light tank protested, as she continued to dodge Spunky's attempts at grabbing her. "Don't threaten a girl's glasses! I need those things to see!"
Warden couldn't help but start laughing. Beside her, Ace was busy doing the exact same thing. It took them a minute to calm down, by which point Izumi had successfully escaped Spunky's rage and retreated back to the safety of her hull.
"Are things always this rambunctious around here?" Ace asked.
Warden shrugged. "Sometimes. Light tanks will be light tanks, and Izumi is especially wild at times. Poor girl has entirely too much energy and not enough ways to release it. If anything, she's gotten worse this year, after she got patched up and is actively commanded by a speed demon."
That got another laugh from the Easy Eight. "Light tanks will indeed be light tanks. She seems much more exuberant than any I've met, though."
"Tank communities have changed a lot in the past seventy years. We're not exactly just war fighting machines anymore. Lord knows I've seen my fair share of changes over the years…"
Ace's smile grew distant and sad. "I just wish Selena was here to see it. She always told me how much she wished that she could do tankery, but her opportunities were squashed before she could do much more than get on a team. As much as I loved spending time with her, and we were really wonderful friends, I was a poor substitute for proper tankery, cooped up in the garage like I was."
The heavy tank blinked and stared at her new friend. "I'm sorry? Did you just say that you were friends with Selena? Selena Tuckerman, Louise's mother? And you could actually talk to her?"
"I did. She was such a lovely person, and the only one who I could ever talk to that wasn't another tank. The accident was such a tragedy and I miss her so much…"
As she pulled Ace into a gentle hug, Warden couldn't help but wonder about the Easy Eight's experiences. If she'd known someone who could talk to her, just like Izumi's driver supposedly could… Was it really possible that people could talk to the tank spirits? And if so… was there a way that tank spirits could talk to all sorts of people as well?
Would she be able to talk to her crew one day?
She prayed that would be the case.
Author's Note:
Hey everyone! It's a brand new project from Darkhound! This one was inspired by a friend of mine asking "Hey, what does Izumi look like?" After a joking response about the tank's physical form, I actually got to thinking about what the tank spirit would look like, if Jane wasn't absolutely crazy. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had the first chapter of Ironsides written.
Though this story does take a lot of notes and world building from Hell on Tracks: Retracked, it is not in the same universe. The most important difference beyond the tank spirits is that of Louise and Ace of Spades, from Salocin's story Ace. In HoT:R, they've been around for a little while, but here they're brand new to Saunders. Salo, thank you so much for letting me use your characters and bits and pieces from your story. I don't think the story would be nearly as fun as it is without them.
I'd also like to give a huge shoutout to Lt Rainbow Slash's Princess of Wales, since his story inspired a lot of the physics behind my tank spirits, and I asked him for feedback and input a couple of times. Additional shoutouts go to everyone who helped me edit the first few chapters that I have written.
Like Other Side of the Mirror, this is ultimately a side project. I'll work on it intermittently with HoT:R, wherever my wildly inconsistent muse goes. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I have!
