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Chapter Text

"You think this is gonna do the trick?"
"Hey, we've got nothing to lose!"
"Then why such a risky plan?! We could've gone with something else!"
"Um..."
"See? British fangirl..."
"What did you just call me, commie?"
"Oh, you're really asking for it now, bitch!"
"Oh, you wanna go?"
"Shut up, y'all! I can hear incoming!"

The 5 feminine voices quieted down, and sure enough, the rumbling of powerful engines could be heard.
"Far right."
"Gotta take a closer look, can't hear shit inside."
"講咗等於冇講... (No shit Sherlock...)"
The commander hatch opened up, and a bob of black hair popped out of it like a jack-in-the-box. The girl took a moment to scan the right with her binoculars before signalling to the other 4 girls below inside the tank.
"Got enemy armour. Four Crusaders, headed towards point delta by the looks of it."
"Oh shit, we can't let them get there before we do."
"Start the engine then, what are you waiting for?"

The girl sitting at the driver's seat pressed a button, and the 450 horsepower V8 engine roared into life. The gunner took up her position, and the loader slammed a 105mm HEAT (high explosive anti tank) round into the breach, commenting, "I hope this plan of yours works. Locked and loaded."

"Guess we'll find out," the girl in the commander hatch replied with a grin, "Forward!"
The tank jerked forward, and after a bit of sneaking they fell upon the aforementioned Crusaders. With a roar, the M4A3 Sherman burst from the bushes, and its 105mm howitzer let slip the dogs of war (or in this case, tankery), firing the first shot of this match. The HEAT round wobbled clumsily through the air, nailing the rear of the Crusader furthest behind and taking it out of the competition. The remaining 3 Crusaders gave chase, and their 6-pounder guns sounded their defiance, sending up sprays of dirt where the shells hit the ground.

"啲粉腸打得唔錯啊，送多一炮俾佢地！(These suckers are good, give them another one!)"
"你係講緊打炮定係「打炮」啊，小姐？快啲上彈啦！(Do you mean firing this cannon or jacking off, miss? Load faster!)"
"These rounds are fucking heavy, homegirl! Up!"
"開砲！(Fire!)"
The Sherman's 105mm boomed again, another HEAT round hitting another Crusader's hull and eliminating it. More shots were exchanged between the now fleeing Sherman and the 2 pursuing Crusaders, but none found their mark. All of a sudden, the Sherman veered off sharply to the left, and the remaining Crusaders found themselves staring down the loaded barrels of a Strv m/38's 37mm cannon and a T14's 75mm cannon. Two more booms sounded, one distinctly louder than the other, and the company of Crusaders were wiped.

The crews inside the Sherman, the T14, and the Strv m/38 cheered with excitement, until they heard a voice crackle over their radio.
"Big Shot, bzz... Matildas and their Churchill, bzz... your position, bzz..."
"Well, fuck. Now what then, oh mighty captain?"
"Um..."

Chapter Text

A teenage girl dressed in a school uniform was currently on her way to school, blasting Green Day on her headphones while scrolling through her Instagram. Her long hair was left as is, flowing behind her amidst the slight breeze, A slight smile decorated her face, and for good reason: today was her first day attending the famous Eastern Pearl Girls' High School.

Now, Eastern Pearl wasn't super successful at anything. Sure, it was well-rounded and performed decently well at inter-school competitions, but no major wins in any big competitions so far. Except for one thing. It was the only school in Hong Kong that had a tankery team. It wasn't very spectacular, only managing to qualify for mid-tier events and sometimes winning low-tier ones, but it was the only one in Hong Kong. And that's something.

Back to our lovely protagonist. As she arrived at the main gate of the school, the first thing she noticed was all the representatives from the school's clubs and teams hunting for new members. A normal student new to the school would go around and look around for a bit, maybe join a club or two, but not our protagonist. She just looked around for a while until she spotted something, and made a beeline for a specific booth manned by a foreign girl with flowing blonde hair.

"呃，唔好意思，呢到係唔係戰車道校隊？(Um... excuse me, this is the tankery team booth, right?)"
"你想報名？(You wanna join?)"
"係啊，請問係唔係要填一張報名紙？(Yeah, do I need to fill in a form?)"
"Yeah, here you go."

The blonde girl pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen.

"Just read it and sign at the bottom if you're okay, alright?"
"Good. You speak good Chinese for a foreigner."
"我喺香港大㗎，好多人都以為我唔識講廣東話，不過我已經慣左。(I grew up in Hong Kong, but a lotta people think I don't understand Cantonese. I'm used to it, though.)"
The girls exchanged more pleasantries and engaged in chitchat about tanks and schools until the bell rang, at which point our protagonist turned around and headed towards her classroom.

She felt butterflies in her stomach. This was a dream come true for her, to be able to experience tankery for the first time, but why was she so... nervous? She's been wanting to participate in the sport since she watched the Kuromorimine vs Pravda finals 2 years ago. Not to mention, the fact that Oarai won the tournament last year meant that other schools outside of the big dogs had a fighting chance. No, nervous wasn't the right word for it.

Scared. Yes, that was the word. Perhaps it was fear of the unknown. Perhaps it was fear of the cannon booms. Perhaps deep down, she was actually scared of the tanks themselves. Perhaps... perhaps...

"Gin? Gin Pang?"
The voice calling her name jolted her awake, derailing her train of thoughts and sending it tumbling into the abyss of her mind.
"Yes?"
"Roll call, young lady. Didn't sleep well?"
The teacher, a middle-aged woman smiled kindly at Gin.
"First day of the school year, eh? Don't worry, young lady, you're in good hands."
Gin was about to send a half-assed and moody reply the teacher's way, but she knew that the teacher meant well, and not wanting to leave a poor first impression, she muttered a "Sorry, miss." She felt like the whole classroom was staring at her, and she slowly looked around, only to find that thankfully, nobody was paying attention towards her.

Gin may have skipped her morning ritual of coffee, but she wasn't going to let that deter her from enjoying her first day at school. As the bell sounded, the classroom was filled with the scraping of chairs and the general hubbub of students eager to leave the classroom. She could hear the teacher saying something, but her mind was already on autopilot, thinking about what the blondie at the tankery team booth had told her. Gin had told her that she liked tanks with howitzers, and the blondie had replied with "then you'll find many of our tanks to your liking, including our newest addition". She was obviously implying that a big portion of the tanks were armed with howitzers, including their newest purchase. Wait, newest purchase?

Did they buy a KV-2? No, it's very expensive to acquire and maintain one, Eastern Pearl couldn't possibly afford it. A StuH 42? No, it was banned in China following a safety scandal regarding the unsafe carbon lining that almost killed a tankery crew. BT-42? No, the only one in Asia was owned by some Finnish or Japanese school. M8 HMC? No, it doesn't have a closed turret. An SU-14, perhaps? No, only a school called Mojave Rose had an operational one. The T6E1 Grizzly? No, only a few were converted for tankery use and they're all ridiculously expensive. What about the Ho-I that was found underwater? It was last seen being shipped to a restoration facility in Taishan (台山, a county in China), and then it was never seen again. Even the worldwide tank tracking website listed the PLS as the restoration facility. Wait a minute, could it be...

A piece of paper taped to a wall caught her attention, mainly due to there being an M4 Sherman on the poster. Right, she'd almost forgotten about the tankery team meeting today after school. Well, no time for dwelling on your own forgetfulness, Gin thought, I got classes to go to.

The rest of the school day went by fairly quick, due to the first day of school being a half day only. As the final bell sounded, the school was filled with students trying to get the hell out of the main gate. Not Gin, though. She pushed through the throng of students and disappeared into a side staircase, waiting until the cacophony and chaos of the last school day resided, before heading to the tank hangar. However, when she got there, instead of the group of students she was expecting, she was instead met with silence. There was nobody there, only the hangar door left slightly ajar.

Gin debated silently on whether to raise her voice or just head in, and a few seconds later the latter won out. Squeezing through the gap between the hangar doors, she stepped further inside, and that's when she saw them. The tanks. Giant metal contraptions, relics of a war almost a century ago, now used for sport. She immediately laid her eyes on the one closest to her, and her encyclopedia-like tank-loving mind instantly identified it. M4A3 HVSS Sherman, with the 105mm M4 howitzer instead of the normal 75mm M3 cannon. Her hand moved by itself, brushing the rough metal surface of the Sherman, feeling the deep gash left by a round ricocheting off the side.

All of a sudden, a voice from behind her echoed through the hangar.
"Who are you? You're not supposed to be here!"

Chapter Text

"Who are you? You're not supposed to be here!"
The newcomer's voice echoed loud and clear through the hangar, causing Gin to freeze and slowly turn her head towards the source of the voice. She saw a girl about the same height as her, dressed in a hoodie and a miniskirt, with brown hair flowing halfway down her back, knuckle rolling a black poker chip on her right hand. But perhaps the most noticeable thing about the girl was her eyes: her left eye was blue but her right eye was hazel brown.

"I... Uh... I thought we were supposed to meet here today."
"Oh, you joined the tankery team, didn't you? The meeting's tomorrow."
"Sorry, I'll just head out..."
"No, it's alright. You're here anyways, might as well just check out the tanks. I gotta give them a once-over anyways. Go look around, I'm gonna take quite a while anyways."
The brunette walked up next to Gin, eyeing the gash on its side armour.
"I was there when it happened. We were up against Saunders, and their Firefly fired at us from behind, over a kilometer away. The first shot missed and grazed her, leaving this gash. The second one didn't."

Gin said nothing. She was still staring at the deep gash on the Sherman's side, and for a brief moment, she felt the full power of the 17-pounder. Turning around, she was about to ask the blondie something, but another tank caught her eye. The silhouette was undeniably Japanese, yet the barrel looked too short for a mid-war Japanese tank... Gin slowly walked towards the tank until she was almost leaning against the Type 2 Ho-I, it's brown paint fresh from the restoration facility, barely a dent or scratch on the hull or turret. So this is where it ended up. She ran her hand along the cold metal, which was in pristine condition, having been delivered straight from the restoration facility to Eastern Pearl's hangar. Despite her elation at coming face to face with such a rare tank (1 of 31), she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, considering the pure amount of stories and encounters that the original metal could tell.

She heard a giggle from behind her, and she turned around to see the brunette sitting atop the turret of the Sherman, feet dangling off the side, staring at Gin with a small smile on her lips.
"What do you find funny?"
"Oh, you remind me of my first day in the tankery team."
"Who are you anyways?"
The brunette's eyes twinkled with amusement, as she languidly stretched and leaped off the turret, landing gracefully on the floor.
"Take a guess," she said, pointing to a photo on the wall.

Gin took a single look at the photo, and it suddenly made sense. Why she seemed so familiar with the Sherman. Why she was in the centre of the photo holding up a trophy and smiling. Why she was even allowed in the hangar in the first place. Standing in front of her was the former captain of Eastern Pearl High School's tankery team. Claudia Zhang herself. The girl that managed to somehow qualify for the World Tankery Tournament a year ago, although they got destroyed in the first elimination round by an American team called Mojave Rose. But still, it was thanks to her that Hong Kong even made it into the World Tankery Tournament.

Gin was about to turn around to ask Claudia another question, but yet another tank made her stop and stare, its mere silhouette inspiring awe and confusion alike. Its metal wasn't pristine, but even more scratched and scuffed than the Sherman, each scar telling a unique story of its own. The confusion came from the gun, for it was too long to be a Soviet gun. It only took Gin a moment to recognize the tank before her, however out of the place the gun seemed on it. Staring back at Gin was the Kliment Voroshilov 1 (KV-1), once the main breakthrough tank of the Red Army, captured by the Germans and rearmed with one of their most fearsome guns, the 75mm KwK40.

Parked directly next to the KV-1 was another Soviet tank, but this one was more of an oddball experiment than an actual engineering success. Standing even taller than the KV-1 and towering over the other tanks, the T-28E's 3 turrets stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the other tanks in the hangar. The twin machine gun turrets had their machine guns removed long ago, but the main turret with the 76mm L-10 low velocity gun was still there, standing the testament of time as a pretty decent tankery AFV.

Gin could go on exploring the different tanks, but then she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and her hearing become muted. Turning around, she suddenly saw everything as if it was in slow motion, the dust lingering in the air, a willow tree visible through the open hangar door swaying slightly in the breeze, and a poker chip flying towards her face. Her body reacted on its own, her hand swatting the poker chip aside just mere inches away from her face. As everything returned to normal, she saw Claudia leaning against the side of the Sherman, a slight smile on her face.
"What was that for?!"
"You felt something when I threw it at you, right?"
"Yeah? So what? That doesn't explain why."
"Alright, then."

Claudia seemed to nod in understanding before walking towards the hangar doors, leaving Gin a bit miffed and flabbergasted.
"You're the new commander for the Sherman."
That single sentence was more than enough to stop Gin from flying off the handle with insults.
"I don't like repeating myself, newbie. You're officially the new commander of the Sherman. Now get out of the hangar, I gotta head home and I don't wanna lock you in here overnight."
Gin was more than confused. She was flummoxed. Angry. Nervous. But most importantly, curious. Her body moved of its own accord, following Claudia out of the hangar and watching her close and padlock the hangar gate shut.

She suddenly found her voice, and squeaked out a single word as a question.
"Why?"
In response, Claudia simply tossed a black poker chip towards Gin. Catching it, she turned it over in her palm, and saw the number 100 etched on it. The poker chip with the highest value. When she looked up, she was alone, except for the slight September wind blowing through the eerily quiet campus.

Chapter Text

"You're the new commander for the Sherman."
The sentence kept repeating itself over and over in Gin's mind that night. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why THE Claudia Zhang chose her merely from throwing a poker chip at her. She didn't even know what was going on. All she felt was her sixth sense tingling like mad, and then her hand swatted away the poker chip. But it felt too fast, even for Gin herself. She held the poker chip in one hand, turning it over and over in her hand. What did Claudia mean by giving her the poker chip?

She wanted answers, and she'd get them tomorrow. Probably. Head hurting from all the thinking, Gin crawled onto her bed and promptly fell asleep hugging her KV-2 pillow, most likely dreaming about tanks.

The sharp buzz of an alarm jolted her awake. Gin blearily sat up and shook the cobwebs out of her head, before trudging to the bathroom to freshen up, absentmindedly grabbing her phone with her. As the shower ran and warm water sprayed all over her, with "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC playing on endless repeat, she quickly replayed the events of yesterday in her mind. That one sentence still bothered her, though. Why? Just why?

The rest of the morning went as usual, with Gin's body running on autopilot while her mind still tried to wake itself up. Just before heading out, Gin's eyes noticed the black poker chip, still sitting on the coffee table. On an impulse, she snatched it up and stuffed it into her pocket before leaving her apartment and locking the door behind her.

The rest of the day proceeded as usual (to Gin's delight), until the end of the the school day, when an announcement was made. "Those who have signed up for the tankery team, please stay behind after the last bell." The announcement instantly caught Gin's attention. Of course she had to stay behind. As she started to head towards the hangar, a familiar voice sounded behind her.
"Where d'you think you're going, newbie?"

Standing next to Gin was Claudia, still wearing that mischievous smirk, her heterochromatic eyes twinkling with amusement and another emotion that Gin couldn't read. Before she could react, Claudia was already walking away, and Gin could only follow in her wake. Arriving at the hangar, she saw a group of schoolgirls standing there already, with the blondie from the tankery booth yesterday giggling among several other of her friends.

A sharp whistle from Claudia got everyone's attention, and the group fell silent.
"Sam! Get over here!"
The blondie was by Claudia's side in an instant. Claudia patted Gin on the shoulder and spoke.
"Get this newbie to the Sherman first, I'll haze the other newbies."
"Sure thing, boss."
The blondie, or Sam, gave Claudia a curt nod and headed inside the hangar, beckoning Gin to follow. Once they were inside standing next to the Sherman, Gin was about to climb on top the Sherman, but Sam stopped her.
"I'm Samantha Cromwell, but you can call me Sam. I'm the T-28E's commander. Show me the poker chip."
Gin was dumbstruck for a second, but then she remembered the back poker chip that Claudia gave her, and she fished it out of her pocket.
"Hmm. What's your name?"
"Uh... Gin Pang."
"Well, Gin Pang, nice to meet you. I trust that Claudia's told you about today's arrangements."
Gin only nodded mutely.
"Alright, then. Up you go, and good luck."

With a nod, Gin clambered onto the Sherman and sat down on the commander's hatch, nearly trembling in anticipation. She could hear Claudia talking to the other team members outside, albeit muffled, and soon the doors opened wide and the group trundled in, some taking notice of her already atop the Sherman's turret. Gin stole a glance at Sam, who was already comfortably perched inside the commander's cupola, headset already on. She caught Sam's attention and motioned for her headset, to which Sam pointed at Claudia, who was overseeing the general hubbub of the members choosing their tanks.

After a bit of bickering, the teams were chosen, with some veteran teams and some with entirely new members. Gin noticed that the Sherman's (or her Sherman's crew) seemed to be veterans, and her guess was proven correct when Claudia barked out a sharp "Crew positions!". The Sherman's crew entered the tank in a swift motion, with Gin waiting for them to enter before entering the commander's hatch herself for the first time. She felt someone tap her leg, and crouched down to see who the culprit was.

It was the loader, with her dark brown hair pulled into a single ponytail and a pair of rimless glasses perched atop her face.
"Hey newbie, you know what you're doing, right?"
"Yeah, kinda..."
"Don't give her a hard time, Chloe. Hey Gin, relax. Just give us orders, and stay focused, alright? You got this."
Gin gave a wordless nod and climbed back up the commander's hatch. So this is what it feels like to be part of a tank crew, she thought. Full and unwavering trust in each other's abilities.

Claudia blew a sharp whistle, catching everyone's attention.
"Hey, listen up! We're gonna head to the gunnery range to let y'all noobs experience tank firing for the first time! I'll hitch a ride in the Sherman, the rest of you make a single file and follow my lead. Got it? Now start your engines!"
She clambered up the side of the Sherman as the roar of a dozen tank engines filled the hangar, reverberating around the building and making the metal foundations vibrate.
"I'll give you directions, Gin. Let's see how your directional commands are."
Gin swallowed nervously and steeled her nerves, before issuing her first ever order.
"Forward."

The Sherman lurched forward, trundling out of the hangar, before turning left and going towards the practice range. Looking behind her, Gin saw that the KV-1 was directly behind her, followed by a Somua SAu40, and the the rest of the tanks. As the tank turned another corner around the main building, Gin realised that the driver knew where she was going even without her giving orders, so she just relaxed a bit and enjoyed the feeling. Soon, they arrived at the range, a wooden barrier separating the tank spaces with a set of 9 targets painted on the ground of a steep incline a fair distance away, forming a square.

"Halt!"
Claudia's yelled command made Gin jump a bit, as the line of tanks ground to a halt near the barrier.
"About face!"
As one, the tanks turned so that their fronts were facing the targets directly, some taking more time than others to traverse.
"Load!"
Gin could hear Chloe loading a shell into the breech beneath her and slamming it shut, followed by a brisk "Up!" from her. Gin then relayed it to Claudia with a sharp "Loaded." To the right of her, the other commanders followed suit, yelling "Loaded!". Gin took a deep breath, readying herself for what was about to come next, when she felt Claudia whisper into her ear.

"Order them to fire on the bottom centre target."
"What?"
"Order them to fire, Gin. Raise your voice."
Gin sighed in embarrassment, before raising her voice and yelling the word.

"Bottom centre target!"
12 tank guns traversed and took aim at the bottom centre target.
"Fire!"

The thunder of 12 tanks firing their main guns filled the air, the recoil kicking up dust and jerking the tanks back. Gin felt herself being jerked backwards in the cupola by the recoil, overcome with awe and shock at the power of the guns. Suddenly, as the dust was settling, another tank gun barked, scaring Gin out of her uniform. However, Claudia seemed unfazed and merely turned to yell "Who the hell fired late?!".

"We did" came the meek reply, coming from the M5A1 Stuart. As Claudia stomped over to give the crew of the Stuart an earful, Gin sighed. The recoil was way stronger than she expected. A voice rang out from inside the tank.
"Did it shock you, newbie?"
"Ya think?"
"Get used to it."
Gin just heaved another sigh and said nothing. She just had a single thought going through her mind at that moment.

"This... is gonna be harder than I thought."

Chapter Text

It's been a week since the first training session, and Gin was already doing a lot better. She knew how to give well-timed commands such as firing and directional orders, and she got used to the sound of tanks firing and the recoil generated from the cannons. Most importantly, she'd gotten to know and trust her crew. Claudia's crew. After all, there was a reason she placed so much trust in them, which was the same reason they were one of the most talented crews in Eastern Pearl's tankery history.

But she hadn't only been bonding with the Sherman's crew. She'd also gotten to know the Sherman, her Sherman, well. The frontal armour was reasonably good, as was the front of the turret, but the sides and rear were weak, as with any other medium tank from that era. A true jack of all trades, master of none. The gun, however, was a completely entire beast, packing a whopping 130mm of penetration with an abysmal muzzle velocity of 381m/s, coupled with a much bigger bark than the standard 75mm. She sorely wished that the 105mm howitzer could be fitted on a Sherman Jumbo to make it more suitable for close-range combat, but as Asa once said, "You can't have everything in life."

And the most important part of a tankery AFV, the crew themselves. Anna was a soft-spoken, courteous young lady, seemingly more suited to a St Gloriana tea party than the gunner's seat of a Sherman, but her performance in training proved otherwise. Her uncanny ability to accurately gauge the distance to the target made her a menace with the 105mm howitzer. Chloe was the exact opposite of Anna, the loudest in the Sherman. She was always heard having intense and overly passionate debates with Anna, with her nearly yelling arguments and the latter muttering good-natured counterarguments. "Never a dull moment with these two," as Claudia once said. Yet her seemingly constant banter with the gunner never got in the way of reloading; as soon as a round was fired, Chloe would always have another shell at the ready, providing Anna with a seemingly endless stream of shells to send hurtling towards whatever was on the other end of the gunner sights.

Claudia seemed to have one sentence to describe every single one of her crew, yet "parallel parking the Sherman in rush hour Central" sounded like a bit of an exaggeration. Asa, however, did live up to the expectations of an excellent tank driver; the Sherman was one of the best performers in obstacle courses, just losing out to the BT-7A and the Stuart, despite both being lighter, more maneuverable and way faster than the Sherman. Last but not least, there was Kimi. She hadn't done much other than calibrating the radio several times, but Gin could tell she knew what she was doing with that set of knobs and dials and whatnot. 

However, no matter how well-experienced and well-trained the crew were, there was still one weak link: Gin herself. She had only tried practicing commands in firing drills and obstacle courses, so she had yet to actually experience what it was like in a real tankery battle. She was an avid enjoyer of games like World of Tanks and War Thunder, which did help her understand the strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of tanks, but commanding a tankery AFV by issuing verbal commands to crew members was still a lot more difficult and different compared to WASD and a mouse. 

A tap on our protagonist's shoulder derailed her train of thought and brought her back to the real world inside the Eastern Pearl tank hangar. She turned around and found herself staring into the heterochromatic eyes of Claudia. The blue and brown orbs twinkled back at her, drawing her in, as if she was being sucked into them. 

"A dollar for your thoughts? (7.82HKD = 1USD)"
"我有啲擔心... (I'm a bit worried...)"
"擔心咩啊？ (About what?)"
"我一啲實戰經驗都冇... (I don't have any actual match experience...)"
"Ah... tell you what, I got an idea. Free-for-all practice match."
"邊度啊？ (Where though?)"
"你唔使煩啦，我會處理。 (Don't you worry, I got that covered.)"
"咁即係邊度啊？ (So where is it?)"
"廣州有個戰車道場地，地主係舊生。 (There's a sensha-do arena in Guangzhou, the landlord is a former student of Eastern Pearl.)"
"咁團體賽呢？ (What about team matches?)"
"唔好咁心急，一樣還一樣先。你連實戰經驗都冇，仲想帶隊打團體賽？(One step at a time. You don't even have any match experience and you're already thinking about leading in a team match?)"
"Sorry..."
"It's alright, it's alright. So, how's the crew?"

Gin sighed, a frown forming on her face.
"I feel that Chloe and Kimi don't trust my abilities as a tank commander. Asa's fine with me though, and Anna hasn't said anything yet."
"Yeah, I've talked to them as well. Asa and Anna have faith in your skills, they truly do. Kimi feels like you need some more guidance, but she's willing to help you out whenever you need it. As for Chloe... she's just skeptical."
"So what do I do?"
"The only way to make her believe in you is to prove yourself. She means well, she just isn't the best at expressing herself. To be honest, she has trust issues with people who aren't her friends, but once you gain her trust, she's one of the most loyal people you'll ever get to know."

Gin looked over at her Sherman, which her crew were milling around. The scratched metal shone from the late afternoon sunlight, telling indecipherable stories of its past encounters and matches. The freshly minted commander of Eastern Pearl's captain tank then took a proper good look at the tanks of her team for the first time. The KV-1 was an oddity, with its German-made 75mm KwK40 gun, but oddball or not, it was a powerful asset, combining thick armour (100mm in the front) with a hard-hitting gun. The SAu40, aptly named "Baguette" was a good tank destroyer in its own right, which was rare considering that it was a WW2 French tank. The Stuart, a Chinese Lend-Lease relic, was a perfect scout tank, though the 47mm Japanese gun it received did allow it to somewhat hold its own when needed. Her eyes then wandered over to the Churchill III sitting at the far corner of the hangar, its name giving her a good chuckle; "Oogway" was certainly a fitting name for the lumbering British heavyweight. The BT-7A, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of the Churchill III: superb mobility, good gun, but nonexistent protection. Wet paper would've been a better choice for protection. 

Our heroine's eyes then landed on a tank that made her groan internally. Of course they had to have one of the worst WW2 tanks ever. A fucking Carro Armato M15/42, most likely acquired from Anzio (assuming they were even willing to sell it in the first place). She was tempted to ask Claudia her reason for obtaining this tank and actually using it competitively, but she knew better than to question the former veteran commander's choices. Her attention then went to the drab olive monster towering over the M15/42. The T-28E was obviously the oldest tank in the hangar by far, but it sorely needed an upgrade, its gun and armour being gradually outclassed by tanks fielded by other opponent tankery teams. Its size certainly didn't help either, turning a potential flanker into a massive target that was 75% bullseye. The entire body was filled with repairs of varying quality, further compromising its reliability and promising that the line between a functioning tank and an unsalvageable wreck was getting pretty thin.

The last row of tanks were a combination of practical, mass-produced tanks and rare experiments that should've been sitting in AFV museums. Or at least, that's what Gin thought. The Panzer III Ausf. N was an example of Nazi Germany going full send with an outdated chassis to squeeze the most potential out of it. Armed with the 75mm howitzer found on early Panzer IV models and possessing extra armour including side skirts, it gave off a menacing look, not unlike a certain world-famous Oarai tank. The tank next to it seemed narrow and small in comparison, maybe even weak, but it was anything but. The Chi-Ha Short Gun was the definition of derp, possessing a monstrous 120mm howitzer atop a chassis that was arguably as incompetent as the damn M15/42. 

The next tank was already rather well-known among Chinese tankery enthusiasts, as it was the first ever tank bought from a Japanese school by a Chinese school: the T-26-4. The miniscule Pravda captain had put it up for sale after Pravda engineers had failed to strengthen the turret ring, and it was promptly snatched up by Eastern Pearl. Funnily enough, a cheap turret ring engineered on a nonexistent budget somehow accomplished what the Pravda engineers failed to do: harness the recoil of the 76mm howitzer. And then, the final tank in the hangar, the piece de resistance: a Type 2 Ho-I, recently restored and acquired by Eastern Pearl. Gin was familiar with this tank, having suffered countless unfruitful games in War Thunder while grinding through the tank. However, its HEAT round was potent, and when deployed carefully, could be a powerful asset for any team. It was a miracle that Chi-Ha-Tan hadn't snatched it up when they could, but considering that they couldn't afford to field anything beyond Chi-Has and Ha-Gos, it wasn't completely without reason.

So this was it, the musing captain thought. The motley crew. Her motley crew. They didn't even have a crew for the Ho-I yet, which rendered it unusable. A thousand thoughts ran through her head, but only one truly stuck out.

"This... is a dumpster fire waiting to happen."

Chapter Text

She'd never felt so much dread before. Sure, she'd felt it before, but never to such a degree. 

The reason was looming in front of her 10 metres away, with two of its 3 turrets blown clean off, twin plumes of flame spitting out from the holes where they once sat. A thick column of black smoke rose to the skies like an SOS beacon, and sirens wailed in the distance. But how? This wasn't supposed to happen at all... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We've arrived, folks! Everybody wake up whoever is sleeping and haul ass, we've got a busy day ahead of us!"
Gin blearily shook her head and removed her headphones, joining the rest of Eastern Pearl's tankery team as they file off the bus. Before them stood a massive gate, with a fence stretching towards both sides as far as the eye could see. A lone gravel road snaked into the distance, ending at a lone concrete warehouse of some sort. Turning around, she notices the train carriages behind her on the track, loaded with Eastern Pearl's tanks, including her trustworthy Sherman. 

A sharp whistle caught everyone's attention, and they turned to see the former team captain standing atop a train carriage next to the KV-1. 
"Listen up, everybody!"
Her voice wasn't particularly loud, but it commanded attention.
"We're gonna load the tanks off the train, and then we're gonna head towards the training grounds. That concrete building there is the hangar, which will double as our dorms for the next 2 days. We're gonna be doing some free-for-alls and team battles, both flag tank and annihilation. First thing is to get our tanks to the hangar first, then I'll go over everything in detail once we're all set. Got it?"

A chorus of affirmatives responded in kind, but Gin remained silent. On one hand, she was excited to finally experience some real action; on the other hand, she was nervous as hell. She'd never been fired at, and she'd never even been to an actual tankery battle. The closest she'd ever been was streaming the Ooarai vs All-Stars annihilation match and watching some highlights on YouTube - mostly the Keizoku and Mojave Rose matches. She particularly enjoyed watching their unconventional tactics which surprised and caught many opponents off guard. 

A sharp "Crew positions!" brought the inexperienced Sherman commander back to her senses, and she sprinted for the Sherman, reaching it just as the rest of her crew has disappeared inside the machine. However, her next memory wasn't of her climbing up the Sherman's hull.

Instead, she felt the direction of gravity shift and the hull of her tank rapidly approaching her face. 

A dull clang and a yell of pain later, Gin found herself lying on the ground next to her Sherman, with her face sore and red. Giggling and snickering could be heard all around her, but a sturdy voice penetrated the laughter and a pair of firm, steady hands grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her up onto the Sherman's hull. 
"You good?"
"Yeah, just slipped."
"I can tell. Look, we're gonna head to the hangar first, then I'll give everyone a rundown of the schedule for the next 2 days. After that, I want to speak to you alone."
"What? Already?" 
"Get in the cupola first, we'll talk later."

Still dumbfounded and reeling from her embarrassing fall, the embarrassed newbie clambered into the cupola and took a few deep breaths, before making the first of many commands she would yell that day.

"Forward!"

In response, the Sherman's V12 engine growled and the 31.7-tonne machine eased forward, with the other tanks following in single file. As the tanks approached the gate, the red-faced captain realised that the gate was still closed, and at this rate they'd run into and break the gate. However, the former veteran captain seemed to have read her mind.
"It's not locked, Asa, ram it."
In response, the Sherman lurched forward, gradually picking up speed before a metallic crash was heard. True to Claudia's word, the gate wasn't unlocked, and the impact swung it open on its hinges. The rest of the tanks followed, with the last tank in the line, the T-26-4, barely clearing the gate as it swung back shut with a loud clang.

Gin took the time to seriously consider the tactical possibilities of such a mishmash of different tanks for the first time. The synergy seemed to be quite poor at first, owing to the fact that the tanks hailed from different countries that participated in WW2. The doctrines for AFV usage differed from country to country, and therefore each tank was designed and build with completely different philosophies and ideologies in mind. There was also the factor of a major technological gap - a lot of these tanks were designed and produced in different periods of AFV technological advancement, and therefore were either still decently competitive or mostly outclassed, either in the firepower department or the armour department, or in some cases even both. 

Glancing back behind her, our heroine noticed Claudia looking at something on her phone. Her screen was angled which made the text hard to read, but at that moment, Claudia suddenly looked up, as if noticing the new captain spying on her screen, and her thumb flicked on the screen once, switching back to her home page. Almost as if...

"Heads up, peeps. We're approaching the hangar."
Asa's voice rang out through the intercom, and Gin turned her attention towards the red concrete hangar looming ever closer. The Sherman slowed as its engine quieted down a bit, and the rest of the tanks behind it followed suit. However, further down the line, there was the sound of a tank engine spluttering before a loud crash was heard, scaring the daylights out of many a team member. As it turned out, the T-28's engine had stalled, causing it to lose power; the Panzer III N behind it couldn't slow down in time and slammed into the T-28's rear, hence the crash. 

"What happened to 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', huh?"
"This is literally the oldest tank in the team, you just got your engine rebuilt!"
"Then it's maybe time for y'all to replace that heap of junk!"
"Oh, you wanna go?"
"What's up, bitch?"
"SHUT UP, GODDAMMIT!"

The intercom instantly went silent. 

"This is Gin speaking. I want a word with the Panzer III's crew and the T-28's crew once we arrive. Understood?"
Different variations of "understood" came over Gin's radio.
"Everyone into the hangar, then."
She looked back at Claudia, who was staring at her with a sort of amazement and newfound respect. Almost as if her outburst had kind of impressed her. 

A few minutes later, all the tanks were safely parked inside the hangar, and the crews standing at attention beside their tanks. The former captain was going over the schedule for the day, with her successor standing next to her, listening to every word. The way that she stood straight, the way that she looked everyone in the eye, the way in which she delivered her words, all spoke of an experienced commander and captain, confident in her abilities but not overly so. Her voice was powerful but not too loud, and her heterochromatic eyes twinkled in the sunlight shining through the overhead windows. 

A nudge brought the freshly minted captain back to the real world, with the crews of the T-28 and the Panzer III standing before her. Her predecessor nodded her head at a balcony overlooking the hangar, and departed with a smirk. Once she exited hearing range, the two crews started talking all at once, but Gin was having none of it, silencing all of then with a raised hand and a sharp "Oi".

"Don't go playing the blame game with me, ladies. All of you are at fault. Let's start with the Panzer III. There was enough space so that if the tank before you came to a sudden halt, you could brake in time without hitting him. You simply weren't paying attention, or you were just following too closely. As for the T-28's crew, I can tell that you guys know how old your tank is. Sam, when was the last time the T-28 was taken to maintenance?"
"5 months ago. To be fair, some hinges and wheels and stuff are jamming a bit, even after applying WD-40."
"Should've checked monthly, or before a big outing or match. As I've said, both parties are at fault here. I'll let it slide this time, but remember. Just because I'm new doesn't mean you can pull the wool over my eyes. Now hurry and load your tanks, not much time left before the free-for-all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's up."
"You don't have much faith in yourself, do you?"
"Yeah, I- huh?"
"Did I stutter?"
"I... just nerves, that's all."
"You know why I chose you? Your sixth sense. It's so strong it's unreal."
"So?"
"Use it. I assume you watch tankery matches as well?"
"Yeah, quite a bit."
"Then you know some basic and common tankery tactics. But that doesn't mean you have to use them. Hell, just look at Ooarai. They use unconventional tactics, that throw the opponents off. Go for a risky flank if you know you can come out as the winner, but know your tank's limits. It's still an M4A3 Sherman at the end of the day."
"Got it. Any more advice?"
"That's all you'll need for now. One thing at a time, remember? Now hurry down and get ready, you've got 3 minutes till mobilisation."

As she clattered down the metal stairs, a sharp whistle from her mentor on the balcony caught everyone's attention.
"3 minutes to mobilisation, girls!"
Gin reached the hangar floor and headed straight towards the Sherman, with the other tank crews muttering in anticipation and excitement. Only her crew seemed to be relaxed and at ease. Asa was leaning against the sloped front of the Sherman, arguing with an irate Chloe who was busy loading the last training shells into the tank; Anna was lying on top of the rear of the hull, leaning against the turret and scribbling away on her notebook; YOASOBI J-pop music blared from inside the tank, giving a clue as to where Kimi was. 

The Sherman commander clambered up the Sherman and knocked on the cupola hatch, signalling for the radio operator to turn off the music, before calling her crew forward. 
"I assume you all know the drill. I'll be honest, I'm not as good as Claudia in terms of experience, but I'll do my best. All I ask is that you guys do your best as well, okay?"
Her short speech was received with nods, and now confident that her crew would do their best, she closed her eyes and prepared for the command. She didn't have to wait long.

"Crew positions!"
The crew became a well-oiled machine, entering the Sherman with practiced ease. The captain took one last glance at the team, before hopping inside the commander's cupola and putting on her radio headset. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She found herself perched atop the cupola of her Sherman, mind on full alert as her eyes scanned her surroundings. A faint boom was heard in the distance, and then her mentor's voice came over the radio.
"6 tanks remaining."
Her machine was well hidden within the forest area of the tankery arena, hiding behind a cluster of bushes, with a fallen tree trunk behind them obscuring them from all but the most sharp-eyed commanders. 
"Hey captain, are we just gonna sit here like a tank destroyer?"
"We're just a Sherman. There are plenty of tanks that can penetrate us frontally, and the last thing we want is to be caught unawares."
"You sound like Claudia already, I can see why she chose you."
"Is that a compliment or - hold it, everybody shush."

The chatter in the tank abruptly died down, and the radio went silent. The forest sounded the same to the casual person, but Gin noticed something unnatural: the slightest grumbling, unmistakably from a tank, approximately somewhere directly ahead of the Sherman, but far away. 
"I hear an engine up ahead, very far away."
"Your call, captain."
"You know what? Fuck it, full speed straight ahead. Get a shell ready."
"Now that's more like it."
The Sherman's engine roared to life, and a moment later it lurched forward, rapidly picking up pace. The wind whipped at her commander's hair, yet she kept her composure as the tank sped over the uneven ground, throwing her around a bit in the cupola. 

As they gained ground on their unknown opponent, another engine's roar could be heard in front,  signalling that their cover was blown. And they didn't have to wait long for the action. Just as the Sherman swerved round a tree, a boom was heard, followed by a harsh clang as the round ricocheted off the sloped frontal armour. The culprit was none other than the M5A1 Stuart, barrel smoking and speeding away in an attempt to escape.
"開砲！(Fire!)"
However, the 105mm howitzer remained silent. The Stuart was swerving erratically, making it near impossible to land an accurate shot, and the howitzer meant that they wouldn't want to risk missing and being vulnerable while reloading. 

Luckily, or unluckily for the Stuart's crew, the driver was too focused on distracting the Sherman's gunner to notice the eliminated T-28E in front of them, on a direct a collision course. I believe we all know what happened next. With a mighty crash, the Stuart collided with the T-28E's hull, rendering it immobile as the force of the impact jarred its inexperienced crew. 
"Send 'em to Jesus!"
Anna needed no further encouragement. A 105mm shell went sent flying towards the Stuart at barely supersonic speeds, before slamming into its rear and eliminating it from the match. 

Gin could feel the victory cheer rising in her throat. Her first elimination in an actual tankery match, practice or not. But the whoop faltered as she saw a bone-chilling sight: the T-28E, with its barrel pointed straight towards her tank. If this were a normal free-for-all training match, the T-28E would have its flag up and waving in plain sight, but the hinge for the flag had jammed, and even though it showed up as eliminated on Claudia's monitor, the flag hadn't deployed.
"Fuck, another shell! T-28!"
Time slowed as she could hear the breech opening and the spent shell casing ejected, a fresh round loaded in and the breech slammed shut. She could barely register Chloe's harsh "Up!", and she didn't even have to give the order to fire as Anna fired again.

And then she felt it. The familiar tug in her gut, heralding something.

The T-28E was by far the oldest serving tank in Eastern Pearl's tankery team, being the only tank that has lasted from the formation of the tankery team in 1978 till now. After 45 long years of matches, it finally happened. The aged protective carbon lining finally gave way as the 105mm shell hit the turret ring, punching a hole through it and spiralling inside the tank, striking one of the shells still remaining on the ammo rack after its elimination. 

The fallout was both magnificent and heart-stopping as the ammunition cooked off. There was an unearthly scream as the hatches were all blasted open, fire spitting out of every single one as the left machine gun turret and the main turret were blown clean off, followed by an ear-splitting boom and a shockwave that sent ripples through the forest. All Gin's eyes could register was the T-28E's main turret being sent sky-high. 

Then the shockwave hit her, and everything went silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She'd never felt so much dread before. Sure, she'd felt it before, but never to such a degree. 

The reason was looming in front of her 10 metres away, with two of its 3 turrets blown clean off, twin plumes of flame spitting out from the holes where they once sat. A thick column of black smoke rose to the skies like an SOS beacon, and sirens wailed in the distance.

Chapter Text

"What do you mean, it was an accident?!"
"I meant that the white flag didn't pop up!"
"Then why is it our fault?"
"Samantha Cromwell! Shut up! That is enough! This applies to you too, Gin!"

The hangar instantly fell silent, as all eyes turned to the burnt-out husk of the T-28E sitting atop a trailer in the centre of the hangar. The once scratched and dented drab olive hull was reduced to an unsightly charred black, with bare metal exposed in some places. The insides weren't much better off, with the crew seats and storage racks blown to pieces; the gun breech had literally been shattered by the explosion. 

The only thing that had been kept intact were the wheels and tracks.

Sam ran a hand over what was left of her tank, her hand brushing over the spot where the word "DRAGUNOV" used to be painted in bright white letters. Used to, because the fire resulting from the ammunition cook-off had burned away the painted letters, leaving a charred surface that looked more at home on a Call of Duty gun skin than an ammo-racked tank. 

"Sam and Gin, you both stay behind. The rest of you, back to your quarters. No more practice for today."
The dejected tankery team shuffled back to their rooms upstairs, their high spirits all but quashed due to the destruction of the T-28E. After the crowd had mostly left, Claudia turned to the girls that stayed behind.
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat it; the blame lies only in you, Sam, and your crew. If you guys had gotten your tank serviced, the flag would've popped out and the carbon lining would've been fixed. That way you wouldn't have been ammoracked by the Sherman."
"But..."
"I watched the feed from every single camera pointed at the accident. The T-28's gun was pointed right at Gin, and the flag wasn't up, so she had every reason to believe that it was still in play. Hell, if I were her, I would've fired as well."

"Let's not talk about the blame. We've got a bigger problem in the form of a tankery team with no tank."
Gin's words brought everyone present back to reality, and to the more pressing issue. It goes without saying that a tankery crew without a tank is a very big problem. But where could they find a new tank?
"We have a Ho-I wi-"
"No, we want something with armour, and that's final. I'm tired of commanding a support tank."
"Something with armour, eh? Do you guys want a casemate assault tank or something with a turret?"
"Turret, of course."

The Sherman's commander mused for a bit, while the other two looked on with a certain degree of amusement.
"Ah fuck it, I'm heading upstairs. See ya in a bit."
"But... what about..."
The former T-28 commander was about to physically engage her until she was stopped by Claudia.
"Let her cook, she's onto something."
Our favourite freshman commander ignored them both, heading upstairs and retrieving the records of the previous tank battles hosted in the arena they were in, along with the number and models of tanks arriving and leaving the arena. She flipped through page after page after page, as the shadows stretched and the rays of sunlight turned from bright yellow to a vibrant orange, occasionally jotting down something in a little notebook she had with her. Soon, the Sun sank beneath the horizon and all turned dark, but she kept at it, flipping through the records book under the fizzy light bulb in the storage room, coffee mug in hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rise and shine."
"Mmrpff... 5 minutes..."
"5 minutes my ass, I said get up!"
Gin reluctantly opened her eyes, instinctively shielding her eyes from the morning sunlight streaming through the windows. A humanlike shadow sat in front of her, which quickly focused to form the image of Claudia smiling at her gently. As she rose, a blanket fell from her shoulders, tumbling onto the floor in a heap.
"Here, you missed breakfast."
The former commander pushed a plate of eggs and toast and a cup of hot cocoa in front of her. As her trainee chowed down on her late breakfast, the latter took the chance to flip through the notebook, eyes slightly widening at the sheer amount of info she had managed to dig up over the night. 

"Goddamn, you went all the way back to 1995."
"I planned on looking further, but then I fell asleep, so..."
"I can tell. Actually I've already found replacements for several of our tanks."
"Like what, the T14?"
"Nah, that's for Sam and company. I'm talking about the SAu40."
"Let me guess, 77mm of penetration bothering you?"
"I mean, sub-100 pen for a casemate tank destroyer isn't the most ideal... And we need something with a lower profile."
"So an ambusher. July 15th 1999, a visiting German team left their totaled StuH 42 behind. That what you looking for?"
"Bingo. It's a casemate tank, so they won't have to get used to a turret; 105mm howitzer with way superior penetration; low profile makes it hard to hit and easy to hide as well. It's also quite fast."

The captain-in-training let the words sink in. The team was definitely lacking in the ambushing department, with every single one of their tanks being rather tall compared to a traditional tank destroyer. A StuH 42 could be a powerful asset, able to hold down an entire flank or corridor as the opponents wouldn't know where they were being shot from, or pull out an effective ambush or hit-and-run with its capable gun and surprising mobility. On the downside, it was still a casemate tank destroyer, which meant it had no turret, meaning that it was doomed once flanked. 

And there was the other elephant in the room: the T14. It had the same armour thickness as a Sherman, but even more sloped, granting it way more protection than one. It was also armed with the same 75mm gun used on the Sherman, making it a rather capable heavy tank, one of the most heavily armoured tanks on the team. 

Problem was, they had to find them in the first place.

"Don't worry, I already sent the team out to look for them. If they're still here, we'll find them within the day."
"How long have they been looking?"
"About 3 hours. I convinced them to let you sleep in."
"Wait, what time is it?"
"11am."
"God damn."
"Go freshen up first, then we'll chill here until they find one of the tanks."

With a nod and a grunt, Gin exited the storage room and headed to the bedroom she shared with her crew, grabbing a change of clothes from her suitcase and her comb, before hurrying to the showers. As the lukewarm water ran over her body, she took the time to process what had happened over the past 24 hours. First ever proper training match, and she'd destroyed the trademark tank of her school's tankery team, and probably destroyed the team's morale along with it. 

And then what? She'd tried to make it up to them by finding possible replacements that would be better, possibly, assuming they were in working condition. On the other hand, there was no guarantee that it would work. For starters, they had to find the tanks in the first place, and they had to be in fixable condition. And then they had to actually retrain the crew to let them get used to their new tanks. And then...

As the flow of water began to get colder, she realised that she was probably draining the hot water tank, and promptly scrubbed off the soap and dried herself up, before putting on a Sturmtiger t-shirt and a pair of form-fitting jeans. She headed back to her room to stuff her clothes into the laundry bag, before making her way downstairs, noticing Claudia still flipping through her notebook. 

"Give it back."
Her precursor obliged, handing the offending object over.
"They found anything yet?"
"Not yet."
As if on cue, the walkie-talkie crackled to life.
"Found something, but it's not the StuH you wanted. Check your GPS."
"Alright Brianna, we're on our way."
"What GPS?"
"I told them to set off a GPS signal at the tank's location if they find one."
"But how are we gonna get there?"

A small grin found its way onto Claudia's face.
"Have you ever drove or ridden an ATV before?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wind whipped at their hair as the humble ATV engine buzzed like a nest of angry hornets, propelling mentor and protégé through the forest as a blistering pace. It was all Gin could do to wrap both her arms tightly around Claudia as she skilfully weaved the ATV through trees and over bumps. Finally, she felt the ATV slow to a halt, and gingerly stepped off. The T-26-4 sat in front of it, blocking her view, with its commander sending a nod of acknowledgement her way. 
"Right over here."
Brianna led the pair around the T-26-4, and Gin saw it for the first time.

It was definitely not a StuH 42 G.

After over 3 decades of being abandoned, mother nature had gotten the better of the abandoned tank. The tracks on both sides were broken, and mould grew all over it; a fallen log had landed on the engine cover, and there was a bird's nest sitting on the sloped front of the small tank. The white flag indicating its elimination was still standing, although rather mouldy and discoloured from exposure to the elements.
"God damn. First time seeing a Swedish tank in person."
"What is it, then?"
"A Stridsvagn m/38."
"Can we leave now? I hate mosquitoes."
"Fine, head back, but leave the GPS tracker here, we'll get the others to help tow it back. And get some chains ready while you're at it!"

The T-26-4's commander fired off a 2-finger salute before hopping into the commander's hatch, knocking on the turret. An instant later the 90 horsepower 4-cylinder petrol engine spluttered to life, and the small interwar tank trundled off, leaving Gin and Claudia alone with the small Swedish tank. Our protagonist attempted to climb onto the turret, but the moss prevented her foot from finding purchase; her mentor noticed and gave her a hand, pushing her up before clambering on herself via the fallen log. 

The cupola hatch was closed but not buttoned up, and the two managed to prise it open after a fair bit of pulling and grunting. The inside was in surprisingly good shape, with only some rust forming on the seats; the breech remained open, a shell lying there. Evidently the crew were in the midst of reloading when they got eliminated, most likely from the sides or rear. 

At this point a certain sense of mischief overcame the commander-in-training. She leapt into the turret and slammed the beech shut with a bit of difficulty, before her hands found the trigger. Her ears registered Claudia saying something, but it was too late; her finger pulled the trigger, and a bang washed over the forest. A plume of dirt sprayed up from where the shell landed, and a tree fell, its trunk severed by the tiny 37mm shell. 

“What was that for?!”
“Why not?”
“You could’ve killed us both!”
“Well, we’re both still alive.”
The older girl sighed in disappointment.
“Sometimes I wonder why I chose you as my successor.”
The duo sat in silence for a while, with Claudia being quite pissed and Gin being more than a little embarrassed.
“Hey Claudia.”
“The fuck do you want this time?”
“Gimme a hand up, I wanna show you something.”

The disgruntled veteran commander heaved an almighty sigh and reached into the crew compartment of the abandoned Swedish tank, hauling her protégé up onto the roof of the tank.
“Speak.”
“March 17, 2001, a Spanish team left their KV-9 behind.”
“What’s that?”
“Think KV-1 with a 122mm U-11 howitzer.”
“Oh, that prototype. You think it’s still here?”
“Only one way to find out. You mind driving more?”

A ghost of a smile flickered over Claudia’s face. Wordlessly, she hopped down from the Stridsvagn and straddled her ATV, gunning the engine. Her protégé needed no further encouragement, leaping onto the back of the ATV.
“Onwards buttercup, there is fuckery to spread.”
“Anna was right.”
“About what?”
“You never know when to shut up."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Text

“This is it?”
“What do you mean, this is it?”
“Not what you think, boss. This thing’s badass!”

Samantha Cromwell and co. were more than just excited. She was downright ecstatic. The assault tank co-developed by the British and the Americans was not only a big improvement over her previous tank offensive-wise thanks to the 75mm M3 gun, it was also tough, having over 110 mm of effective frontal armour sloped at an extreme angle. However, it was in a bad shape, with the left track missing a link and the right one missing entirely. Moss covered the barrel, rust was everywhere, the turret hatch had a hole in it, and the insides were nasty to say the least. 

This, however, didn’t dampen the spirits of Dragunov squad in the slightest. They finally had a tank that could withstand hits and dish out punishment. The entire team’s spirits were quite high, considering that the mascot tank was destroyed just 24 hours prior. And their spirits were gonna get even better.

“All right, all right, simmer down!”

Even with Claudia raising her voice, it took half a minute before the hubbub died down.
“That’s not all, girls. Hester, how much penetration does your SAu40 have?”
A girl in a Gaijin crop top and black leggings took a step forward.
“77 mm at 10 metres.”
“Not very ideal for a casemate tank destroyer, is it? Allow me to direct your attention to this.”
All eyes instantly turned towards whatever was next to the T14, covered by a massive tarp. With a snap of the former captain’s fingers, the tarp was removed, revealing the Strv m/38 in all its dilapidated glory. 

To be fair, it looked very underwhelming. It wasn’t a large tank, and being abandoned for 3 decades definitely made it a lot less imposing than it actually was.
“Now you guys can be more mobile and have some actual firepower.”
“Huh?”
“Top speed of 47 kilometres, 37mm main gun with APDS and 115mm of penetration point blank. Oh, and you guys have a turret now.”
The words had a singular effect on the audience. Up till now the SAu40 was a sluggish, weak tank destroyer with 77mm of penetration, yet here sat this tiny early-war Swedish tank with a fucking 37mm sabot round. A sabot round. In 1939.

“Of course, it will be a while before you guys can actually use these tanks, considering the shape they’re in, so I’ve contacted the headmaster. He’s allowed us to postpone our return by a day or two, so we can wait for them to get restored and get some proper training done before we head back.”
But at this point nobody was listening anymore. Everyone was celebrating the extra time off from school. Only the crew of the Sherman remained composed and disciplined. A pair of pitch black eyes looked towards her predecessor who looked like she was about to burst a gasket, then towards her crew. 

“Load a blank shell.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
The crew obeyed Claudia’s command, Chloe slamming a blank shell into the breech and slamming it shut; Anna didn’t need another command and fired. A thunderclap from the 105mm howitzer echoed through the hangar, and suddenly, all was silent. All eyes turned towards the source of the noise.

The former captain’s voice was dangerously soft as she spoke.
“I said, shut up and fall back in line.”
A newcomer with twin pigtails spoke up, her chirpy voice rivalling Claudia’s deep, commanding tones.
“Hey, we didn’t sign up for this boot camp shit!”
“If you don’t like it, there’s the door. You leave now, you’re not welcome here anymore. I’m treating you guys like a proper tankery team, like I did last year. Ask any of my crew, go ahead. If you guys want to be treated like a proper tankery team, then fucking act like one. If not, then get the fuck out of my team. Any takers?”
The newcomer stayed rooted to her spot, oddly silent now.
“Thought so. Now shut the fuck up and fall back in line, princess. All of you as well, back in line or out you go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A knock on the door.
“Fuck off.”
She wasn’t in the mood, yet the knocking persisted.
“I said, fuck off!”
More knocking. She reluctantly got up from the couch and headed to the door, muttering obscenities the entire way, which was just a few steps. She opened the door, and came face to face with the pitch black eyes of Gin, twinkling with concern and worry. Seizing the opportunity of momentary confusion on Claudia’s part, she squeezed through the open door before her mentor could react.
“You skipped dinner.”
A plate of spaghetti was gently placed on the table.
“So? You skipped sleep last night.”
“Worried that everyone will hate you after what you pulled?”

For the first time, a flicker of worry flashed over the former commander’s features. She wordlessly slumped down into the saggy couch, heaved a sigh, and buried her head in her hands. A brief moment later, she did something that her trainee would never expect her to do.

She burst into tears.

Her protege didn’t know what to say, so she just stood there for a good minute. Should she try to talk to her predecessor? Should she comfort her? After all, she hadn’t done anything wrong, merely shown everyone the truth that being in a tankery team is more than just fun and games. Her feet took her closer towards her crying senior, her mind filled with concern and worry.

She found herself sitting on the floor, staring at Claudia’s outstretched hand in shock.
“Get out.”
“But…”
“GET THE FUCK OUT BEFORE I BREAK YOUR FUCKING ARM AND KICK YOU OUT OF THE TEAM!”
There was silence. And then came the reply.
“No. Not with you like this.”

A hand reached behind and gently shut the door to the office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Chloe.”
“I’m listening.”
“They’ve been in there for quite a bit now.”
“Yeah, I hope Gin can calm her down.”
The two souls sat on a bunk bed, one on the top bunk and the other on the bottom. Everyone else had retired to their rooms, minding their own business, and some had already fallen asleep. Cranky teenage girls and being woken up don’t go together. It helped that the soft music emanating from Kimi’s bass guitar served as a pretty good sleep-inducing agent, namely the baseline from The Beatles’ “Come Together”. For now, the only people awake were the Sherman’s crew with the exception of Asa, who was already snoring lightly on her bunk.

“She’s worried that we’re gonna fail without her around.”
“She doesn’t have to. Gin’s got what it takes, I can tell.”
“Hey, do you think they might be doing… That inside?”
“I swear to God, you and your horny ass! You gotta read less AO3 NSFW works, y’know?”
The duo chuckled before falling silent once more, the prospect of the break-in period worrying them. The aptly-named period was the most tense period of a tankery team’s career whenever they switched to a new tank. The week following the switch would determine whether the new tank was a good fit for the crew, with the most prominent factor being whether the crew felt comfortable operating the tank.

And now they had to worry about not one, but two break-in periods simultaneously. If it didn’t work out, then they would have to deal with a tankery team without a tank, or even worse, two tankery teams with no tanks. On top of that, there was a very burnt-out former captain and her replacement who was probably suffering from PTSD. There were a multitude of things that could go wrong, and Anna really hoped that Murphy’s Law wasn’t about to take effect right then and there. 

She felt her loader gently lower herself from the bunk above her, gently sitting down next to her.
“You look cute when you’re deep in thought.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Come here, you.”
A pair of strong hands wrapped around her midriff and pulled her close. And then her mind went blank as lips pressed against hers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gin stifled another yawn as she absentmindedly chewed on her toast, observing the general hustle and bustle of tank crews getting their tanks warmed up. Claudia hadn’t bothered to wake up after instructing her on commanding and leadership skills late into the early hours of the morning. Of course, she had listened to every single word. Tired but now more confident in her leadership skills, she finished her toast and headed towards her Sherman, finding the crew already finished with the preparations. She also had some news for the team, but it could wait, for they had more pressing matters at hand.

The on-site engineers had pulled an all-nighter to restore the two abandoned tanks, and they did not disappoint. The T14 and the Strv m/38 were both sitting side by side, two hulks of smooth metal and fresh paint. The American heavy had a yin-yang symbol painted on the back of the turret, symbolising the transition of the crew from an early-war Soviet tank to a far more capable yet completely different American tank. The Strv m/38 had its name changed at the behest of its new crew, who now went by team “Hornet”; a fitting name for a small tank that could punch above its weight class. Samantha could be seen helping load shells into her T14, while the former SAu40’s commander was engaged in a game of catch with her crew, the object in question being one of their 37mm sabot rounds. 

“HEY HESTER!”
The Strv m/38’s commander trained her eyes onto her new captain standing on the walkway above.
“STOP FUCKING ABOUT AND GET YOUR TANK READY!”
Giggles sounded around the hangar as the embarrassed crew stopped their tomfoolery and put the finishing touches to their preparations. She rolled her eyes and finished her toast, before grabbing her thermoflask of coffee and heading down to her Sherman, where she found her crew already done and idling about. 

“Status?”
“Full tank, ammo racks are full, radio and gun sights are calibrated.”
“Good. Listen up, guys. Claudia won’t be overseeing us in person today, she’s sleeping in. That doesn’t change our schedule. Today’s the first time we get the T14 and Stridsvagn in action, and we gotta make it count. We’ve only got 3 more days of training left, and we’ve got some real matches coming up. Now get ready.”
Her crew nodded and did a final check on their Sherman. They seemed nonchalant, but a well-trained eye would notice the way they efficiently performed their check, like a well-oiled machine, each component working in tandem.

“TWO MINUTES LEFT GIRLS, GET READY!”
The air filled with mutters and voices as the crews made themselves comfortable in their tanks, some more so than others, and prepared themselves for a fresh day of training. Gin tightened her grip on her tablet before hopping into the commander’s cupola, the Sherman’s engine roaring to life as she did so. The other tanks followed suit, and the voices of excited high school girls were replaced with the cacophony of 11 tank engines.
“Hey Anna.”
“What up?”
“I saw a bruise on the side of your neck, near your right shoulder. You good?”
“Uhm… yeah, all good… all good…”
“Alright, then.”

The captain looked back at the team. Her team. She wasn’t gonna let anything go wrong. Not on her watch. This time, she was ready. She closed her eyes, and took herself back to the conversation with Claudia last night. The noises became muted as she concentrated, hanging on to every word of advice that came out of the former commander’s mouth. Her friend’s mouth. Then she opened her eyes.
“All tanks, move forward!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Text

A week had passed since Eastern Pearl High School’s tankery team had returned from its training excursion, and to say that the students were surprised was an understatement. Gone was the mascot of the team, and instead a hulking brute of a heavy tank had replaced it. Samantha Cromwell, commander of the rechristened “Rasputin”, was reveling in the attention her brand new T14 received. Of course, it didn’t look brand new anymore, not after receiving dozens of non-penetrating hits from the other tanks on the team. 

The early-war Stridsvagn had also been put through its paces relatively well. With over 110mm of penetration thanks to its sabot rounds, its crew were way less hesitant when a shot presented itself, and were willing to perform more risky maneuvers if it meant that they could get a good angle to shoot. They hadn’t forgotten about their old SAu40, though, opting to have it placed in the back of their school hangar, next to the Ho-I, waiting for a new crew to crew it once more.

Everyone was confident, for the time being. School was progressing normally, practice was still being held regularly, and everyone was working hard, both academically and tankery-wise. Even Chloe, who wasn’t big on studying, had managed to get all her grades above 70% for the time being. It was going great.

Until fate decided to throw a curveball their way, because of course things had to go wrong. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN A CASUAL MATCH?!”
“That’s what the email said.”
“Oh fuck, please tell me you didn’t accept.”
“The match is 5 months away, for Christ’s sake!”
“Do you not remember how we got demolished last year? Have you not seen the shit that Valarie Woodlin has pulled off? She isn’t called the Miho Nishizumi of America for nothing.”
“That’s actually a fair point. Nearly half of the tankery team are freshmen, and they have next to no experience in an actual tankery match. Plus, who are we gonna practice with? We’re the only tankery team in Hong Kong.”

The Sherman’s crew relapsed into silence in the tankery office. None of them wanted to face Mojave Rose, not when they had their Boogeyman of the East. All of them could vividly remember how every single shell of theirs had faltered against the infamous IS-3. And they still had a T-44. And an AC IV. And a Pershing. And a Panther II. And a Jadgpanzer. And an SU-100. And a Sherman Jumbo. And an SPG. And they still fielded more.

“No.”
All eyes in the room turned towards Gin.
“We’re not the only tankery team in China.”
Her crew shared a look amongst themselves as their captain and commander continued.
“Our best bet is Guangzhou and Macau. Possibly Taiwan, if you will. Macau’s tankery team is ass, so we’ll leave it at that; Guangzhou Girls Academy’s tank team is among the top 5 in China, so it’s got something going for it. Taiwan’s tankery team is also decent, considering how they almost pulled off an upset against Russia last year.”

Her plan seemed somewhat plausible. Both tankery teams were good teams in their own rights, and could be more than a match for Eastern Pearl. But that didn’t mean Gin and co. were going to sit there and take it without a fight.
“Guys, I want a list of Guangzhou Girls Academy and the Taiwan tankery team’s tanks respectively. I want them in 72 hours’ time, and no, do not pull a Yukari.”
“Pull a what now?”
“No spying, now out you go. And close the door behind you.”
Her crew filed out of the door, which gently closed behind them. As soon as the door was closed, Gin slumped back into her chair, her facade dropping instantly.
“We’re so fucked,” she said to nobody in particular.

Chloe chose that exact moment to burst back into the office, her eyes wide in worry and shock.
“THE STRIDSVAGN AND THE BT ARE GONE!”
“No shot…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The grasslands were filled with the roar of powerful engines as the Strv m/38 and the BT-7A raced across the landscape. Music blared from the two war machines, namely AC/DC’s “Back In Black”, as they bumped and jolted over the grass.
“Whoo! This is amazing!”
“Try and keep up if you can! Michelle, floor it!”
In response, the Swedish tank’s engine roared as it was being pushed to its absolute limits, its crew hanging on as the wind whipped at their hair like a gale. Meanwhile in the BT, the crew found themselves falling further and further behind. But they still had one ace up their sleeve. A certain trick learnt from a certain pink-haired Japanese speedster.

“Hey Nat! Remove the speed limiter!”

The Soviet light tank accelerated past its Swedish counterpart, with both commanders in shock. Just then, a yell that would’ve given a lion’s roar a run for its money came over the radio.
“VODKA! HORNET! GET YOUR ASSES BACK TO THE SCHOOL HANGAR BEFORE I ASSIGN YOU GUYS TO CLEAN UP DUTIES FOR THE REST OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of Gin’s voice yelling at full volume was deafening as it echoed through the otherwise silent garage. Still, no curses or swearing could be heard… yet. Leaning back in her chair with a sigh, Claudia rolled her eyes and put down the book she had been reading. Of course Debbie had convinced Hester to race them in their Stridsvagn. Of course they had agreed to race in the grasslands.
“Fucking hell, those guys are gonna be the end of me.”

The burnt-out former captain stood up from her chair and languidly stretched her limbs, before grabbing her thermoflask and gulping down a mouthful of refrigerated Earl Gray tea. Now rejuvenated from her binge-reading session, she headed onto the balcony, where she could see the culprits of the tank race getting a massive earful from her protege.
“Hey Gin!”
“WHAT?”
“Knock it off, you made your point. You’ve been yelling for 15 minutes or so. And get up here.”
The captain-in-training rolled her eyes and gave the two offending commanders a final death glare, before stomping up the metal steps and into the office, slamming the door behind her.

“What?”
“Want some tea? Earl Gray, refrigerated.”
“Just get to the point.”
“Blunt. I always liked that part of you. Straight to the point.”
Claudia giggled and slowly lowered herself into a chair, gesturing for a seething Gin to do so.
“I’m leaving next Monday.”
The words took Gin’s breath right out of her mouth. A pair of wide black eyes stared back at her, dumbfounded.

“Come again?”
“I'm leaving next Monday.”
“Where?”
“All-Stars University Team. Applied and got accepted. I mean, not to toot my own horn, but I am rather famous in the tankery circle after what I pulled off last year.”
“Wh-why didn’t you tell us?”
“I told the veterans. The newbies don’t need to be told. Look, I’ve been with you for a month. I’ve taught you everything you need to know about being a tankery commander and captain. I can’t stay by your side forever.”
“But…”
“No buts, Gin.”

The former commander stood up from her chair and handed Gin a notebook.
“Everything I’ve taught you, everything I learnt during my time as a commander and captain, is written here. You’ll need it, in case your dumbass forgets anything.”
“But why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I wanted to make sure that you were truly ready to fill my shoes. Now I know you are capable of doing so.”
“I need you here. I’m… I’m not ready…”
“I can’t guide you every single step of the way. If I did, you’d be just like me, using the exact same tactics. You need to develop your own style of tankery.”
“You sure we’ll be fine?”
“Of course. You got this. Now let’s head down, we got firing range practice.”
The door was opened, and all they could hear was the song “Rasputin” being blasted at full volume over peals of laughter.
“Motherfu-”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aurora ducked in her cupola out of instinct, as the massive 120mm howitzer of her Chi-Ha Short Gun lobbed a shell downrange, sending shockwaves throughout the practice range. She was still new to the sport of tankery, and as a result still needed some getting used to the constant cannon fire. Her first practice match ended spectacularly, with the BT-7A nailing her tank smack in the front of the hull as she froze up. It was crewed completely by last year’s veterans, after all, and her crew were all first-timers, still getting used to the Japanese light tank.

That didn’t stop her from trying, though. The loss of her left hand up to her wrist in a car crash several years ago did nothing to stop her; instead, it fuelled her more, urging her to keep trying new things. So much so, that when news of the tankery team’s recruitment reached them, she had practically dragged her reluctant friend to sign up. Surprisingly, the foreign-looking blonde didn’t even bat an eyelash when she saw her stump of a wrist, but instead commended her on her courage. 

A sharp whistle from her captain signalled for the tanks to stop shooting, so she banged on the metal of her turret twice, and the sounds of cannon fire ceased. And hoo boy, speaking of her captain… she could go on and on and on about Gin for hours on end. Just the way she walked into the hangar, Aurora could feel her presence, her intimidating aura that would make her instinctively flinch every time she looked at her.

Her voice was rather low, which only added to her attention-commanding attitude; she stood with both hands in her pocket and with one foot in front of the other, oftentimes leaning on something; she also had a peculiar habit of fiddling with a poker chip with her right hand when thinking deeply, brows furrowed as her fingers rolled the poker chip across her knuckles. On the rare occasions that Gin was talking to her, she could feel the intensity of her gaze emanating from her black irises, which bordered on scrutiny, the kind that airport customs guards would give you.

She’d always look forward to talking one-on-one with her, but every time once those black eyes focused on her, she’d always feel an urge to run and hide. It also didn’t help that her crew would tease her nonstop about it, something she hated but couldn’t 100% deny.

For the moment, however, she was content with relaxing in the cupola of her Chi-Ha as it trundled back to the school hangar. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So this is it.”
A small crowd of girls gathered around Claudia. Normally, this scene wouldn’t look out of place at the Eastern Pearl hangar, but this time it was taking place in the Hong Kong International Airport. The uncountable photos had already been taken, and now it was time.

“Now, I’m not good with shit like this, but I’ll try. I’ll be blunt here, girls, it has been 2 years with this team. I do understand that there are still some problems with the team, especially discipline-wise.”
At this, Claudia gave a pointed look towards the crew of the BT-7A.
“But all in all, you guys have been wonderful. I know our performance still leaves something to be desired, but make no mistake, you all tried your best, every single one of you. I couldn’t have asked for more. Fuck, this is making me cry. God damn.”
Several sniffles could be heard amongst the crew, especially the veterans.
“All I ask of you now, is to have faith in Gin. I chose her for a reason. And most importantly, have faith among yourselves. And no more earrape and racing, okay?”

The last part earned more than a few laughs and jabs with the girls, mostly directed at Debbie, the BT’s commander.

“Gin, come here.”
Our protagonist stepped forward to face her mentor, eyes slightly puffy as well.
“Hand me the poker chip. Now.”
Although a bit taken aback, she did as she was told and withdrew the black poker chip, handing it over to its original owner. As she did so, she felt another metallic object pressed against her palm as the poker chip left her hand. Glancing down, she saw a poker chip engraved from bare metal, with an insignia of the Eastern Pearl tankery team on one side and the team’s Sherman on another.

“You’re always full of surprises, Gin. Use that to your advantage. Now go make me proud. Make our school proud.”
A second later, she found herself wrapped in Gin’s tight embrace, an embrace which she returned. But soon, reluctantly, they separated. With a final pat on the shoulder, Claudia made her way through the gate separating the check-in zone and the departures. Before she got out of sight, however, she turned back to face Gin. And gave a 2-finger salute.
“All the best… captain.”

And then she was gone, behind the opaque glass that separated Hong Kong jurisdiction from international territories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Text

Contrary to some beliefs, nothing went to shit after Claudia left. Somehow.

The students were studying, the tankery team was tanking, the commanders were commanding, and Gin was captaining. Even the antics from the BT-7A’s crew had subsided, which definitely helped Gin with getting more sleep. There was, however, one problem remaining. Their tanks.

Some of them were… obsolete, and that was phrasing it nicely. Take the T-26-4, for example, with 37mm of penetration; or the Carro Armato M15/42, with 69mm of penetration; or even the Chi-Ha Short Gun, with only HE shells and 31mm of penetration. To make matters worse, once they made it to the world tournament, their opponents would be fielding top-of-the-line tanks, tanks with powerful guns and very strong armour. Especially a certain IS-3 from America. 

And Gin had a plan to remedy that.

“All right, everyone! Gather round! Got some announcements to make before we leave today.”
The team was already tired from all the practice, but something in her tone made it clear that whatever she was about to say was important.
“Right, as we know, our goal is to make as deep a run into the world tournament as possible. Problem is, some of our tanks are straight up ass. We need more firepower and armour, so we’ll start with firepower. Aurora and co., starting from tomorrow, you guys will be crewing the Ho-I instead of the Chi-Ha. I know, 120mm to 75mm calibre and whatnot, but your armour penetration goes up from 31mm to 90mm.”

The crew looked towards the brown machine in the back of the hangar. It did look more intimidating thanks to its larger size.
“The KV-1. You guys are by far the heaviest hitter on our team. The L48 gun will do for now, but I’m working on getting you guys some APCR shells, which should arrive soon as long as the deans approve my request. And there’s more. I have a plan to get rid of the T-26-4, and I have several candidates for its replacement. I’ve sent Brianna the list, and I expect a unanimous answer in 7 days’ time. Now, I can’t guarantee that I’ll find a better tank for you, but even if I do, it’s gonna take a while to get it here, so you will have to make do for now.”
“About time, cap’n. We can’t pen shit with this.”
“One more thing. The Italian shitbox. That’s gotta go as well. Selina, Grace, Ruth, Edith, in the tankery office now. The rest of you are dismissed.”

There was a general murmur among the girls as they dispersed. Not even a week after Claudia had left, Gin was already making some big changes. Some of them were sceptical, but after all, she was chosen to be the new captain for a reason. Claudia never made mistakes when it came to important matters like these, did she?

Only one way to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank you for your invitation, blah blah blah… we are more than glad to accept your invite to a match. Welp, there’s that. Match confirmed, 8 days later at our training arena in Taishan. How we looking with the intel?”
“Guangzhou Girls Academy. Currently ranked fifth in all of China. They have an IS-1, ten Type 58s, basically T-34-85 bootlegs, and three A-20 light tanks armed with the 76mm L11.”
“Decent lineup.”
“They also have an ISU-152.”
“I rescind my previous statement.”

It was 11pm, and the commanders of the Eastern Pearl tankery team, along with the Sherman’s crew, were gathered in a Discord call for obvious reasons. To discuss the match between Eastern Pearl and Guangzhou Girls Academy. And right now, things were looking bleak. Their ISU could knock out any of their tanks with one shot, and the IS-1 and Type 58s could also cause major problems. 

“The fuck have you gotten us into, Gin?”
“A chance to test your abilities, what else? Hell, even Ooarai got their ass whooped by St Glory or whatever before they went on a winning streak.”
“But we’re not Ooarai.”
“The same principle still stands, goddammit! I’m not letting my team go into the international qualifiers without any actual experience!”
“Okay, everybody calm down. Bickering won’t help, we gotta think of a strategy.”
“Yeah, sorry, I’m running on minimal sleep and a massive caffeine overdose. Gimme stats, like armour and penetration. Starting with the ISU, then the IS, Type 58, and then the A-20.”
“Okay, let’s see. ISU-152, 152mm ML-20S, 250mm pen with HEAT…”

As her crew prattled on and on about the specifications of the tanks of Guangzhou Girls Academy, the captain closed her eyes and made a silent prayer.
Claudia, I could really use your help right now, because I don’t got this…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Gin Pang, please report to the headmaster’s office.”
Most of the students were indifferent to the announcement, but the girls of the tankery team all raised their heads at the speakers. As for Gin herself, she heaved a sigh, motioned to her teacher that she was needed elsewhere, and promptly exited the classroom.
“God damn, I gotta have the shittiest RNG ever known to mankind.” she muttered as she headed towards the headmaster’s office.

The headmaster’s office was located on the second floor of the main building, away from the classrooms. The hallway leading towards it was filled with portraits and busts of previous headmasters, and doors leading to the separate offices of the several deans of the school. Reaching the door labelled ‘Headmaster’, Our protagonist took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Enter.”

The door swung open on noiseless hinges.
“Ah, Gin, good to see you again. Please, have a seat.”
“I’m not in trouble, right?”
“Take a seat first.”
She gingerly sat down in a chair at the office desk, facing the headmaster. A cup of tea was already waiting for her, and she sipped on it nervously, all while the headmaster looked at her with a gaze that was easygoing and friendly, yet gave off the impression that he could be very strict if he wanted to. Not unlike a certain someone, Gin thought.

“What does being a captain feel like?”
“Uhm… scary. I’ll try my best though.”
“I’m sure you will. Now, on to business. Do you know why I summoned you?”
“No, sir. I… I don’t.”
“It has something to do with the amount of requests you have handed in.”
“But our team isn’t competent enough without those upgrades! We can’t possibly…”
“I know, I know, let me finish first. Several of the deans have expressed their disapproval, but I just want to hear your side of the story before I make a decision.”

Gin let out a sigh of relief.
“In that case, sir, I’ll get right to the point. The tankery team is the pride of the school, so naturally everyone wants us to win, if not make a deep run into the World Tankery Tournament. However, the tanks we’ll be facing are top-tier, late-war tanks with cutting-edge abilities compared to ours. We mostly own early to mid-war tanks, and more than half of us stand no chance against their armour, while they can cut through us like butter.”
“Go on, young lady, I’m listening. I know a bit about tankery as well.”
The conversation went on for the remainder of the period, until the bell rang for lunch.

“So in a nutshell, headmaster, either we get better tanks or we get a repeat of last year.”
The headmaster had listened to Gin’s explanations attentively for the duration of the meeting, and after a while he spoke.
“I see. Well, in that case, I see no reason to deny your requests. Consider them all approved. Oh, and if any of your future requests get denied by the deans, send them straight to me. I will approve them personally. I trust you won’t overstep your boundaries, young lady?”
“No, headmaster.”
“Good. Go enjoy your lunch.”

Gin gave the headmaster a nod and a smile before draining her cup of tea and heading out of the door, gently closing it. The aftertaste of the tea lingered in her mouth, a taste that Gin recognized as a very strong blend of Earl Grey. The headmaster gave a small smile in return, and once she was gone, sank back into his armchair and set his gaze upon a photo on his desk. A smiling girl stared back at him with her heterochromatic eyes, while a very familiar Sherman sat in the background of the photo.
“I knew she wouldn’t pick the wrong person.” he said to the now empty chair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True to the headmaster’s words, the new ammunition arrived the very next day, delivered in large wooden crates that were plastered all over with caution and fragile warnings. At the captain’s request, a crowbar was found, and after some jimmying and swearing the lid was pried opened, revealing a massive stash of APCR ammunition for the KV-1’s KwK40 L48, along with some HEAT ammo for the Ho-I. As the crews marvelled over their radical increase in firepower, Aurora took the opportunity to approach Gin.

“Uhm… captain…?”
“What up?”
“You got a minute?”
“Sure, but make it quick, we’re rolling out in a bit.”
“So you changed me and my crew from the Chi-Ha to the Ho-I, right? Well, I wanna know more about my tank and its strengths and weaknesses.”
“Well, that’s simple! Do you play War Thunder?”
Aurora held up her stump.
“Do I look like I can?”
“Sorry, I shoulda figured that one out. In that case, you got any tests or exams coming up soon?”
“No…?”
“Good. Meet me after practice ends this Friday, we’ll go over your tank in detail then. Now mount up.”

The one-handed girl managed to splutter out an affirmative reply before hurrying to her tank, her cheeks redder than the Soviet Union flag. On the good side, Gin didn’t notice her embarrassment; on the bad side, her entire crew noticed.
“Aw, look at you!”
“Gin and Aurora sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
“Skibidi rizz for the win.”
“One, it is not a date. Two, we’re only gonna talk about tank tactics. Three, stop mentioning Skibidi or anything related to it. Please.”
“In any case, good luck on your date.”
“I said… ah fuck it, you guys are hopeless.”

The bickering continued as the tanks accelerated one by one out of the hangar and towards the obstacle course. Soon, the incident was pushed into the back of the crew’s minds as they had to focus all their attention just to complete the training. They weren’t gonna get used to their new tank overnight, and they still had a match to win next week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Text

The air was tense at Hung Hom train station, and a grand cacophony of voices filled the air. There were curious onlookers, tankery fans, reporters, the media, and of course, the Eastern Pearl tankery team and their tanks. The big day had arrived. Eastern Pearl’s first tankery match this school year, against Guangzhou Girls Academy. The girls milled around the transport train, making last minute checks and preparations before their departure an hour later, and at the centre of it all was Gin.

She was like a conductor trying to rein her disorganised orchestra back into control, barking commands and answering questions between breaths, all while running to and from the tanks herself. Sprockets and road wheels were being lubricated, gun sights were being calibrated, commands were being barked, and engines were being started. At the sound of a sharp whistle, the tanks rumbled to life one by one and drove up the ramps to the train carriages, where they were promptly chained down.

“5 MINUTES LEFT GIRLS, SAY YOUR GOODBYES NOW!”
Gin never realised how much she sounded like Claudia in that moment until she watched the news report that night, but at that moment, all she cared about was the fact that she had to do her duty as captain. The girls gathered on the platform to exchange hugs and words with their friends and families, some more than others. As for Gin, she was already inside the passenger carriage, hidden out of sight of everyone. She was looking at her phone, at an image of a woman in her early forties, faced towards the camera with a gentle smile.

“Wish me luck, mom.”
At that moment, the whistle sounded and the girls hurriedly boarded the train. Soon, the doors closed and the train rolled out of the station, gradually picking up speed as it headed towards the Taishan Tankery Grounds. 

“Scoot over, you’re hogging the bench.”
The voice belonged to none other than the team’s ace gunner. Andy was a menace behind the gunner sights of the KV-1, as Gin had witnessed time and time again during training. She had a tendency to land near impossible shots at ridiculous distances, sometimes even when the tank was moving. After the acquisition of APCR for the KwK40, Andy had sounded her approval over the leap up in penetration power and muzzle velocity, as she could compensate less for shell drop. 

The captain moved over for her star marksman, and the two sat in silence for a while as the scenery flashed by.
“Y’know, Gin, at first I had no idea why Claudia would choose you.”
“Well, do you know now?”
“Your… seventh sense. Some people call it the zone, I call it seventh sense, whatever, same thing. My point is, you have it.”
“What?”
“The ability to zone in. Tell me, when you’re commanding, do you feel your sixth sense thingy tingling like mad sometimes?”
“Yeah…?”
“And then what happens?”

The unexpected round of questioning surprised Gin, but she composed herself enough to reply.
“Like… the environment gets muffled a bit and I can hear certain things more clearly than others.”
“I knew it. Can you predict when it happens?”
“I can’t, it just comes randomly during tense moments or when something’s about to go wrong.”
“That state of mind can help you focus. Makes you tune out any unnecessary sensory input and only lets through things that matter. You’re still new to it, so you just get slightly filtered hearing, but the more you get used to it the more you can utilise it to your benefit.”
“Like how?”

The veteran gunner pursed her lips for a second before replying.
“Your hearing gets filtered further, and background noises get tuned out completely. In extreme cases, even your vision gets filtered. It’s like tunnel vision except that you only see things that matter, like the gun sight reticles, weakspots in enemy tanks, stuff like that. It’s only happened to me once, during the match against Mojave Rose.”
“But is there a trigger of sorts for this state of mind?”
“No, the more you think about it the less likely you are to enter it. It has to come to you naturally. Just focus on commanding, and when you enter the seventh state, try and get the most you can out of the time period.”
“There’s a time limit?”
“It varies from time to time. The most I’ve stayed in it was a minute, give or take a few seconds. But in tankery, one minute is all it takes sometimes. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta head to the next carriage. They’re holding a concert there.”

At this revelation, Gin became aware of faint music coming from the carriage behind hers, and a chorus of voices could be heard singing, some more out of key than others. Andy gave her a grin and a pat on the knee before getting up and heading to the carriage. As the door opened, the music increased in volume and the lyrics became audible.
Ra Ra Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen~
There was a cat that really was gone~
Ra Ra Rasputin, Russia’s greatest love machine~
It was a shame how he carried on~

The captain mentally rolled her eyes at the cringeworthy song of choice as the door closed once more and the sounds quieted down, leaving her to her own devices once more. The seventh sense, she mused to herself. Perhaps an audience with Claudia and Andy was in order after the match. How did she know about it in the first place?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey everyone! The match is about to start! Emma, come here!”
A chorus of responses, both masculine and feminine, assaulted the computer speakers and filled the dimly-lit room as its owner rubbed her hands in excitement. Every single one of her team’s members was on the video conference, a live feed of the practice match between Eastern Pearl and Guangzhou Girls Academy being broadcasted on everyone’s screens.
“They probably have some new tanks.”
“Maybe, guess we’ll find out. They did buy a Ho-I, after all.”
“What’s that? Actually, don’t answer, I don’t want to hear you nerd out.”
“Aw man, you’re hurting my feelings!”
“Wait guys, they got a new captain!”

The news stopped the girl mid-sentence. A new captain, eh? She vividly remembered how last year’s captain had almost managed to lure half the team to their deaths via Bluetooth speakers, music, and cleverly placed decoys. If the new captain was anything like her predecessor, then their rematch was gonna be a challenge.

And backing down wasn’t in Valarie Woodlin’s vocabulary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey everyone, gather round! The match is about to start!”
The girls of the Eastern Pearl tankery team formed a semicircle, everyone standing and paying attention to Gin.
“Listen up! This is our chance to show everyone what we can do as a team. I didn’t train you all for nothing. Rasputin, you guys have much better armour now, don’t be afraid to stay in the front lines; Hornet, you guys have APDS and a turret and over 110 pen, use it to your benefit. Everyone else, business as usual. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“I can’t hear you!”
“GOT IT!”
“Saddle up, girls!”

As one, the girls mounted their tanks and the sounds of 10 powerful engines fired to life. Except for the T-26-4, whose engine was sputtering and coughing as its crew muttered obscenities and curses. Thankfully, a while later, it gave a last cough and rumbled to life.
“Can’t beat Russian engineering, eh?”
“Cyka…”
“Hey, no Russian!”
“Perkele.”
Gin rolled her eyes at the bickering over the radio, and pressed her hand to her mic.
“All tanks, move forward, single file formation.”

Meanwhile, at the other end of the arena, 15 Soviet tank engines roared to life in unison, some louder than others. A chorus of voices yelled in Mandarin, and a girl climbed atop the turret of her IS-1, which had a red flag on the back of the turret swaying in the slight breeze. Her jet black hair was tied up in a single ponytail flowing down her back, her uniform immaculate and creaseless, and she looked backwards at her team. Her IS-1 sat at the very front of a spearhead, with her Type 58s forming the flank guards. The A-20 light tanks formed the very edges of the wedge, and at the very back sat their ace in the hole. The ISU-152 looked every bit like the menacing war machine it was supposed to be, its 152mm gun inspiring fear and awe in friend and foe alike.

“麗晴，都準備好了。(Liqing, we’re all ready.)”
“好。待會兒面對她們的時候別留情。速戰速決。(Good. Show them no mercy, make it quick.)”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back on Eastern Pearl’s side, everyone was anxiously waiting in their tanks for the match to start. Well, everyone except the BT-7A’s crew, who were (obviously) blasting earrape and fucking about in the cramped confines of their tank. Their captain rolled her eyes at their antics and did another mental tally of their tanks. 

M4A3 HVSS Sherman (105mm M4)
KV-1 (75mm KwK40 L48)
Stridsvagn m/38
M5A1 Stuart (47mm Type 1)
Churchill III
BT-7A (76mm F-32)
Carro Armato M15/42
T14
Panzer III Ausf. N
Type 2 Ho-I (flag tank)
T-26-4

This was all they had against an ISU-152, an IS-1, ten Type 58s, and three A-20s. Well it could be worse, Gin thought, but any further reflection was interrupted by a boom in the distance, and as a 40mm Bofors flak round exploded in the clear blue skies, two commanders barked a command.

“Panzer Vor!”
“啟動！”

The air filled with rumbles and roars on both sides as their tanks accelerated forward. Almost immediately, Gin issued a command.
“Hornet, Vodka, Mozzie, Dumbo, go scout for us.”
The Stridsvagn, BT, Stuart and M15/42 broke ahead of the formation as they raced towards the vantage points, engines straining to their limits.
“Impostor, Oogway, Rasputin, do what heavies do best. Draw as much enemy fire as you can, but don’t get taken out. This isn’t War Thunder or World of Tanks, you only need to get penned once. Everyone else, on me.”

The KV-1, Churchill and T14 kept going straight ahead and the remaining tanks followed the Sherman as it peeled away towards the ruins of the town. They had the advantage of holding the match on their home turf, after all, and they had committed every hiding spot, nook and cranny to their memory.
“Listen up, people. Once we get to town we split up into two cells. Brianna and Hans, go harass them for all you’re worth. Baba Yaga, stay with me.”
The T-26-4 and the Panzer III split off and headed towards the other side of the town, leaving only the Sherman and the Ho-I, which was the flag tank. Already, they could hear faint reports of cannon fire from the distance, but all they could do was press on and pray for the best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I haven't seen anyone yet…”
“Your wish shall be granted in 1… 2… 3… 4…”
“Oh shut up.”
“Five-four-three-two-one!”
As if like magic, a 76mm L-11 barked and a round flew past the Stuart’s hull.
“Woah!”
“What the fuck?”
The 4 Eastern Pearl light tanks instantly peeled off in different directions, forcing the A-20s who had been waiting in an ambush to pick all their targets. The other A-20s fired and missed as they too joined the fray. Soon the ambush devolved into a delicate dance of gunpowder and metal between the two forces as they clashed, broke off, and reengaged. The BT and the Stridsvagn were each facing a 1-on-1 against a single A-20, while the Stuart and M15/42 were ganging up on the remaining A-20. 

“Dumbo! Pincer, now!”
The Carro Armato narrowly avoided a shot from an A-20 as it swerved to the left, its loader working double overtime to keep the shells coming, but the next shot connected with its rear, making Dumbo the first elimination of the match. The A-20’s commander smirked in its direction, but a split second later the Stuart rammed into it, directly opposite the direction the A-20’s turret was facing. There was a boom, and the A-20 flew its white flag.

Elsewhere in the jungle, The BT-7A and another A-20 were playing a game of cat and mouse, with the A-20 in pursuit. Several rounds were exchanged, but none found their mark.
“I can’t fucking aim, stop bumping it all over the place!”
“WE’VE GOT A FUCKING TANK ON OUR ASS, THE MOMENT I STOP SWERVING WE GET HIT!”
“Hard right!”
“We’ll spin at this speed! Wait… oh, got it! Brace yourselves!”
With a hefty yank on the levers, the BT-7A started spinning clockwise as the A-20 passed it; it then slowed to a stop, allowing the BT’s gunner to take aim.
“Ya yeet!”

The 76mm shell streaked through the air towards the A-20, nailing it in the back of the turret and taking it out of the match.
“Nice!”
Debbie popped her head out of the commander’s hatch, relishing in her victory, before the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She couldn’t quite put her hand on it, but it suddenly hit her.

It was quiet. Too damn quiet.
“Oh shi-”
A massive 152mm shell impacted with the BT’s hull, followed by a massive boom. After the smoke cleared, the BT-7A was lying on its side, having rolled over due to the sheer force of the impact and leaving no doubt as to whether it survived. A white flag popping out of the turret confirmed Vodka’s elimination from the match.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere, another completely different style of tank battle was being fought. The centre of the arena was a plain grassland, though the many elevation changes would oftentimes obscure the view of enemy tanks as well as restrict gun depression. Shell after shell clanged off the three heavyweights of Eastern Pearl, as the IS-1 did the same; it didn’t help that several Type 58s had also arrived as backup to the IS. In the Churchill III, Kat let loose another shot from her 6-pounder against a Type 58, although the 57mm projectile predictably bounced off its nigh-impenetrable gun mantlet. The Type 58 then retaliated, resulting in a sharp clang against the metal as the round also ricocheted. 

The KV-1, however, was faring slightly better thanks to its new APCR ammunition. A very lucky shot hit the bottom of a Type 58’s gun mantlet and ricocheted into the front of the 45mm thick hull at a nearly perpendicular angle.
“Whoo! Keep ‘em coming, baby!”

“It’s like a Tiger H1 vs a Sherman Jumbo! We both can’t do shit.”
“We’ll try and flank them. Pop smoke.”
In response, smoke shells were fired, blanketing the area separating the two sides’ tanks with a thick fog. The IS and Type 58s kept firing into the smoke in vain, resulting in only one lucky hit that glanced off the T14’s frontal armour.
“We’ll need a decoy. I’ve got more smoke, I’ll go left. You two go right.”
“That’s not gonna work, they’re smarter than this. They will know it's a decoy.”
“In that case… why not do what they don’t expect us to do?”
“Huh?”

A grin formed over the Churchill commander’s mouth.
“Let’s pull a Stewie2K.”
“I have no idea what that means, Juniper.”
“Do you not watch competitive CSGO, my guy?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gin’s first match as captain wasn’t going well. The reason being that the T-26-4 and the Panzer III had tried to harass the enemies for all they were worth, but they’d rounded a corner and came face to face with a full contingent of five Type 58s, their barrels pointed right at them. The subsequent booms and the litany of swearing that came through the radio told her all she needed to know. She was all that standed between the Type 58s and her flag tank. But she wasn’t going down without a fight.

As the Sherman and the Ho-I slowly trundled through the ruins of the town, her radio crackled to life.
“Hey Gin.”
She turned around, and saw Aurora pointing at something. That something in question was a massive hole in a wall, just wide enough for the Ho-I to squeeze through but not the Sherman.
“Sneak 100, eh?”
“You’re a fucking genius, Aurora. You hear me? Genius!”

In response, the Ho-I commander raised her stump and knocked it against her head twice, earning giggles from their respective crews. However, the sound of engines in the distance wiped the smiles off their faces. The captain gave a grim nod, and the Ho-I slowly drove into the hole, discovering that it led to an alleyway which was in turn connected to the adjacent street. The turret was rotated backwards so that if they got busted, they could still fire a shot and get away. Gin then gave the flag tank a 2-finger salute and pounded on the metal of the Sherman’s turret twice. In response, it reversed up to the intersection behind them and partially behind the corner, only exposing its sloped frontal armour at an angle and the 105mm howitzer. 

And they didn’t have to wait long.

A Type 58 rounded the corner, and was promptly met by a 105mm HEAT shell right to the hull, eliminating it and bringing it to a grinding halt.The 4 other Type 58s, eager for revenge, appeared behind their eliminated comrade and fired off retaliation shots, though only one managed to graze the Sherman’s frontal armour as it retreated behind the corner and disappeared out of sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say the crew of the Strv m/38 were frightened was an understatement. They were scared shitless. They had managed to take out the A-20 pursuing them after an intense dogfight by ramming it into a tree and then shooting it point blank, and now they were alone in the forest. They had previously already come across the eliminated M15/42, with its crew dejectedly moping around the tank and giving them a slight nod of encouragement, along with the two other eliminated A-20s. But then they saw the Stuart lying on its side, a massive dent on its hull. Such a massive hit only meant one thing.

The ISU-152 was still in play.

It was for this reason that they were hiding at the bottom of a small cliff, surrounded by shrubbery, with the engine off. They felt like wildlife in Africa, not knowing when the predator would strike.
“Stop humming!”
“It helps me relax, and I’m scared.”
“You’re making all of us even more scared!”
“Wait, shush!”
The girls quieted down, and they could all hear it. The sound of something large slowly making its way through the shrubbery, and the unmistakable sound of a tank engine, however faint it was. And worse still, it was coming from the direction of the cliff. 

Then Hester had a massive brain wave.
“You guys think we can get this tank facing up the cliff?”
Her crew looked at her as if she had two heads, but she quickly explained her plan. It was a fairly terrible plan, to be fair, but what other option did they have? With great trepidation, the Strv m/38 started its engine and manoeuvred itself so that it was facing the cliff. It then partially climbed up the cliff so that the gun was able to fire at the edge of the cliff. And then they waited.

The engine sounds from the ISU-152 grew closer and closer and closer, until the Stridsvagn’s crew could literally hear it right at the edge of the cliff. Like an apex predator, sitting at a high spot and looking for its prey. No doubt they had heard the Swedish light tank’s engine. This time, though, the prey was about to fight back. Seconds stretched into minutes as the ISU stayed at the top of the cliff, presumably scanning the surroundings. 

And then it drove forward a bit, exposing just a teeny bit of its vulnerable undercarriage. Michelle saw the ISU’s undercarriage fill up her crosshairs in the Strv m/38; she exhaled. And she pulled the trigger. A 37mm armour-piercing sabot shell zipped through the humid air of the forest and impacted against the Soviet tank killer’s metal.

The white flag popped up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The IS-1 and its remaining escort of 4 Type 58s were currently sitting behind a large-ish rise, hidden from sight.
“聯絡到蘇-152了嘛？(Have you established contact with the ISU-152 yet?)”
“還沒有。(No.)”
“我操！怎麼會這樣？(Dammit! Why did it turn out like this?)”
“隊長，左邊有煙！(Captain, smoke on the left!)”
“別管，一定是陷阱！她們會從另一邊過來，大家瞄向右邊！(They’re trying to bait us, ignore that! Everyone, aim to the right!)”

In response, the 5 tanks’ turrets traversed to the right side of the rise and the guns were loaded. All that was left was to wait and get on with the turkey shoot. Instead, Eastern Pearl’s heavies never showed up on their right. There were three booms from the smoke, and two of the Type 58s were hit in the turret rear and hull side respectively. The Guangzhou Girls Academy contingent was plunged into disarray as the crews frantically worked to get their guns facing the right direction. Another shot by the Churchill III knocked out another Type 58, but by then the remaining 2 tanks had gotten their eyes on their targets. The final remaining Type 58 sent a shell into the turret cheek of the Churchill while the IS nailed the untangled T14 right in its front. 

“It’s all up to us now! Fire!”
The freshly reloaded KV-1 sent another APCR shell into the hull of the Type 58, taking it out of the match, but they still had an IS-1 to deal with.
“Back up back up back up!”
The Impostor was slammed into full reverse, its engine and transmission working double overtime to compensate for Mai’s frantic inputs at the controls; the IS-1 didn’t relent, as it kept going forward and closing the gap in an attempt to minimise the hull angle of the KV. Seeing that the IS was aimed at the KV’s frontal plate, Gladys made a split second decision.
“Hard left!”

The hull of Eastern Pearl's final remaining heavy was rapidly angled in an attempt to bounce the IS’s shot, but it would be in vain, for in doing so it had exposed its weak side armour. The 85mm D-5T fired, and a white flag popped out of the KV’s turret. The girl perched in the cupola of the IS-1 breathed a sigh of relief, before barking a command in mandarin; the heavy tank then turned away from the eliminated KV-1 and trundled towards the town ruins, where cannon fire could still be heard. There was unfinished business, after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Jesus fucking Christ, how many more are there?” exclaimed Gin as the Sherman sent another 105mm shell towards the pursuing Type 58s. It seemed as though they were taking on the entirety of Guangzhou Girls Academy’s Type 58s, which isn’t surprising considering it was one versus four. However, its crew was handpicked by Claudia, and for a good reason. No commands had to be given. Asa drove the Sherman like a stolen Ferrari, while Chloe kept slamming shells into the breech for Anna to send downrange. And they still had several tricks up their sleeves. 

The Sherman rounded a corner and then abruptly did a 180 turn, the g-force throwing Gin around in her cupola. As a Type 58 rounded the corner, it was blasted point blank by Anna before Asa sent Big Shot barrelling down the intersection. The 3 remaining T-34-85 clones gave pursuit, but their eliminated comrade was in the way, and after several more twists and turns they had lost the Sherman.
“Looks like we lost them. Damn, we’re lucky.”
They were, in a sense, but their luck had run out. No sooner had the Sherman rounded another corner than its crew felt a bone-jarring impact. The reason for that was quite disheartening, to be honest. 

They had rammed into the IS-1, which had made it to the town.
“Welp, looks like this is it, girls.”
The 85mm D-5T gun fired at the Sherman’s hull point blank, taking it out. In her haze-filled state, Gin could hear a cheer coming from the open cupola of the IS-1, and it filled her with despair. 

A shell pinging off the armour of the IS brought its crew back to reality. Their flag tank was still active, and they had a problem in the form of a Strv m/38 barrelling straight towards them from their side. As it traversed its hull to face the petite Swedish tank, APDS rounds pinged harmlessly off the front of the IS, and another 85mm shell silenced it for good. 

The Guangzhou Girls Academy tankery captain was confident. Victory was well within their grasp now, wasn’t it?

Spoiler alert, it wasn’t.

As if like black magic, the Type 2 Ho-I appeared from an alleyway behind the IS, the exact same alleyway it had hidden in to escape the Type 58s earlier. A frantic command was barked in Mandarin, but it would not be enough. The Ho-I lobbed a 75mm HEAT shell, and time seemed to slow down as it wobbled clumsily through the air and impacted with the rear armour of the IS-1’s hull. There was a deafening clang as the round connected. Then there was a thwip as a white flag popped out of Guangzhou Girls Academy’s flag tank. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was muted for Gin since she got eliminated. Her vision was hazy, and her hearing was muffled, but the voice that came over her radio was crystal clear.
“Eastern Pearl is officially the victor in today’s tankery match!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Text

“Gin, congratulations on your first win, how does it feel?”
“Gin, what was going through your mind when you got eliminated?”
“Gin, is there anything you want to say about today’s match?”
The reporters and paparazzi were relentless, crowding around Gin the moment she exited the train in Hung Hom station. Cameras flashed in her face and microphones were thrusted in her direction. However, she was not in the mood for it. She leaned forward and spoke to the cameras.

“All I want to say is… leave me alone. Please.”
The reporters were obviously dissatisfied with the reply they got, and being reporters, they kept pressing for more answers until security stepped in, forcing them to back off. However, the cameras kept clicking and flashing, blinding the platform in strobes of white flashes.
“So this is how it feels like.”
“Yep, just gotta get used to it.”
Gin turned around to face the entirety of her team. All of them looked tired, yet there was a certain kind of satisfaction in all of their eyes. The kind of satisfaction that comes with doing one’s best and reaping the benefits.
“Good job today, girls. You all must be tired, I know I am. Go home now and get some rest, we get the day off school tomorrow to relax and unwind. No need for any formalities, just go, we’ll hold the debrief tomorrow night at 9:30 pm on Discord. Save the time, 9:30 pm tomorrow, Discord call in the Eastern Pearl tankery server. Dismissed.”

The girls separated into groups of 2-4 as they each went their own ways, and soon only the captain remained, still staring at her Sherman. The tanks would still need to be repaired, which meant that practice would be cancelled for the next two to three days. But Gin was totally fine with it. After all, she needed to talk to some people.

The captain smiled and headed towards the bus stop, a slight spring in her step. She’d have to visit the flower shop first thing tomorrow morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey dad, hey mom. I finally found some time to visit you. Being a tankery captain is hard work. We just barely won a match yesterday, but I got taken out. You guys would probably be scared for my safety, but I’m having an absolute blast right now.”
Silence greeted Gin in return as she stood in front of a headstone among many others. A small bouquet of flowers laid in front of the headstone, and smoked wafted from a few sticks of incense placed nearby. A picture of a middle-aged couple smiled back at Gin, just like they had when she was in elementary school. 

“My crew are the best in the world. It was us against 5 of them, and we took out 2 and ditched the remaining three. Shame that we got taken out in the end, though. But my team pulled through. You guys should’ve seen the look on the opponent captain’s face when my teammates popped out of that alleyway.”
She chuckled a bit at the memory before gently sitting down in the grass, slightly leaning onto her parents’ headstone.
“I brought Singapore-style noodles this time, because last time I brought dad’s favourite dim sum. It’s mom’s turn this time.”
A takeaway container of said noodles was placed in front of the tombstone, along with a peeled orange. 

She remembered the conversation she had had with her parents almost a decade ago, when they’d taken her to visit her grandfather’s grave. Her dad had told her that, according to ancient Chinese customs, if you placed food in front of a headstone, the deceased’s soul would be able to spiritually enjoy the food, after which the food could be eaten by the people in the realm of the living.
“Bon appetit.”
A slight breeze blew through the graveyard, and the flowers gently swayed in response.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is everyone here yet?”
“Andy’s not coming, she’s got a family reunion thing.”
“Alright then, we’ll start without her. She did an excellent job anyways.”
It was 9:45 pm, and the Eastern Pearl tankery team was gathered in a Discord call for their debriefing.
“First of all, I wanna congratulate everyone on a well played match. Win or lose, every one of you tried your best, and that’s all I want from you. Winning is just an added bonus. Now, I hate to rip off the bandaid, but we have to talk about the blunders, because there were still some blunders. Starting with the T-26-4 and the Panzer III. Why did you guys get taken out?”
“We, um, we heard engine noises and thought we’d take the fight to them.”
“That was a stupid thing to do. If you can hear the enemy, the enemy could also hear you, considering you two were barrelling at them full tilt. First lesson, don’t rush your enemy unless you’re 100% confident your tank could bounce their shots.”

“Onto the scouts. You guys all got taken out by the ISU, I don’t blame you. Normally I would’ve recommended you guys take the fight to the open grass, but you would inevitably run into their IS and backup. Plus, going into the open would only give the ISU a clear shot. Staying in the jungle was the right choice, but not a good one; you guys were caught between a rock and a hard place anyways, so I won’t blame you. Also, the KV-1. Your solo fight against the IS was a bad matchup, but what put the final nail in the coffin was the hard left. It would work against a novice triggerhappy crew, but that’s their captain’s tank, the elite crew. Was a good plan, though, not gonna lie.”

Goddamn I’m sounding like Claudia, Gin thought to herself before continuing.
“Okay, enough depressing shit, onto the good things. The shot into the ISU’s bottom armour, that was genius. Baiting him with engine noises at the bottom of the cliff and then taking them out. 1000 IQ play. Same with the smoke bluff, hoping that the overconfident enemy would refuse to take the bait; that was a massive gamble, but it paid off, and you don’t win matches by playing safe unless your name is Maho Nishizumi. Finally, last but not least, sneaking the Ho-I into the alleyway. It was a combination of quick-witted thinking and luck. You guys were lucky that the Stridsvagn baited the IS to traverse the hull, leaving its ass ripe for the taking. Um… I should’ve worded that better, but point made.”
A chorus of giggles responded, evidently poking fun at Gin's very poor choice of words. 

“Alright, alright, when you’re done laughing at my expense, back to business. The tanks will be repaired and waiting for us tomorrow, so tankery training resumes tomorrow after school, as usual. And one last announcement. We’re going to Japan next month.”
“Wait, what?”
“Tankery exchange program, funded by the government. We’ll be staying there for 3 weeks, and we’ll be taking part in joint training with some of their high school tankery teams. I’ve sent the initial draft of the list of schools in the announcements channel and to your school emails, but I’ll go through it here. Subject to change, of course. Um… Saunders University High School… Kuromorimine Girls Academy… Continuation High… and us. We’ll be training with the different schools in turn for 3 weeks, and on the final day there will be an exhibition match between us and a school called St Gloriana’s. That’s it, according to the email. Shame we couldn’t meet the people from Ooarai, though…”

“We might face them in the World Tankery Tournament.”
“Yeah, probably, assuming they don’t get knocked out before us. Anyways, I’ll see you all tomorrow at school and after school. There's more that I wanna tell you guys, but that can wait until we meet in person tomorrow. Get some rest, folks. Dismissed.”
Gin left the Discord call and shut off her laptop, plugging it in to charge it. Now they not only had to worry about not embarrassing themselves in their excursion, they also had to find more capable tanks. And there was the rematch against Mojave Rose looming in the distant horizon. Sighing in frustration and exhaustion, she flopped onto her bed and pulled out her headphones and started playing some ASMR, hoping to get some sleep. 

Unfortunately, sleep would prove hard to come by that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright, we’ll go through this one last time. Ready? One, two, three, and…”
The famous bassline of ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ filled the music room as Kimi worked her magic on her bass guitar, while Gin hammered on the drums. They were supposed to be having their lunch, but instead Kimi had asked for help with finishing her music project which was due the very next day. So of course Gin said yes.

Steve walks warily down the street with the rim pulled way down low~
Ain’t nobody but the sound of his feet, machine guns ready to go~
Are you ready? Are you ready for this~
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat~
Out of the doorway the bullets rip, repeating to the sound of the beat, yeah~

Kimi was having the time of her life as she belted out the lyrics while her bass sang in tandem. Gin didn’t have to do much thinking because the drum beat was relatively simple, so she just put her drumming on autopilot and focused on other matters. Like tankery, for example. After she’d received the email notifying her of the planned tankery exchange program, she had spent a good chunk of her time thinking about it. The fact that they’d been chosen to practise with such well-known tankery schools in Japan meant that this exchange was highly anticipated, and they were expected to be on par with said schools if not better. 

It was obvious that they were basing the calibre of Eastern Pearl’s tankery team based on their performance last year and their win against Guangzhou Girls Academy, but their most recent win was just a fluke; the Ho-I had simply been there in the right place and at the right time. If not, they would have lost for sure.
And another one gone, and another one gone~
Another one bites the dust~
Hey, I’m gonna get you too~
Another one bites the dust~
The closing lyrics brought Gin back to reality as Kimi ended her performance, before leaping off stage and ending the recording.

“And… we are officially done. Thanks Gin, couldn’t have done it without you.”
“No it’s alright, I’m just doing what I like to do. You were a badass, singing while playing the bass.”
“Eh, all I did was practice and practice. I’ll pack up here, you should go get a sandwich or something.”
“You don’t need help?”
“Eh, I’ll be fine, go grab a bite. Lunch is almost over. Besides, don't push yourself too hard. You look like a panda”
The tankery captain smiled in understanding and agreement before retrieving her drumsticks and making her way out of the music room. As she headed towards the canteen to buy a sandwich, she checked her phone for her timetable.

“Double chemistry again? Fuck me…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True to the headmaster’s word, the tanks were all repaired and waiting for the girls by the time school ended. Even the massive dents on the light tanks had been repaired. Gin noticed some of the crew members of the light tanks sporting various cuts and bruises, courtesy of the ISU-152. They wouldn’t be forgetting it anytime soon.
“All right, attention!”
The girls formed a semicircle in front of Gin, grouped into their crews already.
“Right, I’ve got a surprise. Brianna, what was your tank called again?”
“T-26-4, we named it Notankyou.”
“That’s a nice name. But not a nice tank. That will change, though. I’ve got my eyes on a new tank for you guys. It’s a T-34 conversion, based on a single prototype tested near the very end of WW2. Anyone wanna guess? No one?”

The hangar remained silent.
“How about this? If, at any point during today’s training, someone gives me the right answer, I’ll treat her entire crew to bubble tea. If not, I’ll reveal the tank anyways after training ends. And there’s more. The Panzer III is currently equipped with a short-barrel 75mm, with a HEAT round capable of penetrating 100mm of armour. That penetration number’s gonna go up to 130. The headmaster approved my request and ordered a 50mm long barrel gun, which will convert the Panzer III from the N variant to the M variant. No more abysmal muzzle velocity.”

This announcement was met with cheers and applause. Any increase in firepower was more than welcome, especially to the underpowered light tanks.
“Man, this is better than getting kudos on AO3.”
“Finally, regarding that joke of a French tank destroyer collecting dust in the back. It’s gone."
"It's not a joke."
"But its performance is. A school called BC Freedom Academy wants to make a trade with us. We’re gonna rid ourselves of that French shitbox and in return, we’ll get an abandoned SU-122. It’s a tank destroyer based on the chassis of the T-34, armed with a 122mm howitzer capable of shooting HEAT shells with 160mm of penetration. I won’t go over the specs in detail, look it up on the War Thunder wiki if you want. In any case, once we acquire the tank, we’ll send it to the restoration facility to get it ready for use, and then all that’s left is to find a crew for it. Enough talking, saddle up!”

At the command, all the girls swiftly got into their tanks and soon the familiar sound of rumbling tank engines filled the air.
“Roll out!”
“That’s a new command.”
“Same meaning, now drive before I throttle you. You're lucky I had my morning dose of coffee.”
Asa chuckled and steered the Sherman towards the gunnery range.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Text

G'day wankers.

I would like to start by thanking everyone for your support. It has been a wonderful journey, writing about Eastern Pearl's tankery team. But I'd also like to apologise in advance here for some trauma-dumping in future chapters. The next few chapters will go into some of the characters' personal lives in detail, and spoiler alert, some people hide who they are for a reason. Like, nobody in the team knows that Gin's an orphan. There will be mentions of self-harm, PTSD and some implied sexual assault, which might trigger some of you. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, feel free to stop reading this. Kudos and hits aren't everything.

I treat writing as a way to express my feelings, sometimes to vent and release my emotions through here. I will be honest with all of you here. I am a former victim of self harm and sexual assault myself, but most people have shrugged my trauma off because "you are a male and males should not cry or be weak". I have contemplated over whether to tell you all about this for a long time, but I feel like I should be honest with my readers. I am feeling much better, thank you, and I have been working as a peer counsellor for a year despite only being 17 years old as of now. I just didn't want others to go through what I went through.

The Pearl Of The Orient is my way of paying homage to my deceased BFF Ada, who was also an avid fan of cars and tanks and anime. She lost her life in a suicide attempt 2 years ago. In fact, it was her who first expressed a wish to write a Girls und Panzer fanfiction, and I have decided to honour her final wish. I have never been good at keeping promises, but this is a promise that I will definitely keep. To Ada, if you are reading this, this is for you.

This fic is not only the fruit of my creativity, but also the fruit of my struggles in coming to terms with my past and who I am as a person. Every time I publish a new chapter, I learn more about myself along with my characters. It is my way of dealing with things, and it's like a healing process for me and for my characters. One chapter at a time. The road to complete healing may be long, but we'll get there, because unlike most fics that get abandoned, this fic will have an ending, I swear.

Also, if there is any one of you that needs someone to talk to, just leave a comment here and I will be more than happy to help you out the best I can. However, if you are having serious thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please don't hesitate to seek professional help. I did and it has helped me enormously.

If you have managed to read up to here, thank you for taking your time to read this note, and I wish you all a nice day. Until the next chapter, folks. 

Yours Truly,
Nathan

Chapter Text

“Guh… Damn…”
Gin woke up gradually, a sledgehammer pounding on her head every second. The sunlight shone in through a gap in the curtains, painfully blinding her eyes. She put up a hand to shield them, and attempted to swing her legs off the bed, but something was holding her down. That something was a naked Aurora lying next to her in bed, her stump laid across Gin’s equally bare chest in her deep slumber. The last words that Aurora spoke that night before going to town flashed across the tankery captain’s mind.

“I don’t care, just help me forget everything for now.”
She glanced at her fellow commander’s arm and gently lifted it up without waking her, the scars on her stump barely visible due to the captain’s squinted eyes.
“The fuck happened last night?”
The one-handed sleeping beauty in question kept snoring lightly, oblivious to the question. Sighing in defeat, Gin turned her head away from the window and saw what seemed to be at least 10 cans of empty beer on the table, some lying sideways and others standing upright.
“You gotta be shitting me…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Before y’all folks are dismissed, I just wanna ask, has anyone figured out what the replacement for the T-26-4 is?”
“Um… T-34-57?”
“Good guess, but no; the latest T-34-57 prototype was made in 1943.”
“T-34-85?”
“That’s a mass-produced variant. Ok, looks like nobody actually knows. It is… drumroll please… a T-34-100, aka the T-34 with a 100mm LB-1 cannon. Shoots APCBC with 239mm penetration point blank and 170mm penetration at 2 km. Which means, Brianna, you guys are gonna be relegated to sniper duty. I know, it’s a big change from our CQB style, but our goal is the World Tankery Tournament, where the majority of matches will be fought in more open areas. We’ll be up against the top teams from each country, and they’ll be fielding mid to late war tanks. Some of our current tanks simply will not cut it.”

“So, uh… what about mobility and armour?”
“A bit slower than a regular T-34 thanks to that thicc gun, as in thicc with three ‘c’s; armour is same as a regular T-34-85, same hull but different turret for the bigger gun. Comparing the T-26-4 to that would be like the meme ‘you vs the girl he told you not to worry about’.”
“And you had to reference a meme.”
“Well, why not? Oh shit, it’s 6:30 pm already! Aurora, stay behind; everyone else, dismissed.”
The girls were more than eager to head home to rest after a hard day of practice, but a certain girl with one hand remained behind.

“Again, Gin?”
“You skipped our session last time.”
“I told you, I had other things to do!”
“The problem isn’t you not showing up, the problem is you not telling me that you weren’t gonna show up.”
“Sorry, won’t happen again.”
The captain huffed and marched out of the hangar, her one-handed subordinate in tow. The doors were pulled shut with a clang and padlocked for the night, and the duo headed towards the school dorms at the other end of the school grounds.

“Get changed and meet me at the dorm entrance in 30 minutes.”
“What?”
“We gotta talk about how to use your tank.”
“But why do we gotta change?”
“We’re heading out for dinner.”
“We?”
“Yes, we, unless you wanna eat the shitty cafeteria food.”
“Where are we eating tho?”
“MOKO (shopping centre in Hong Kong), assuming you ain’t broke as fuck.”
“Sold.”

Aurora darted up the stairs faster than Gin could say jack-knife, leaving her captain shaking her head in mock disappointment before heading in the same direction she had disappeared in. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Whatchu watching?”
“A fanfiction.”
“Again? What’s this one about?”
“A single boy in an all-girls Japanese tankery team. It’s pretty good.”
A gunner and a loader of a certain Sherman sat at a table in a ramen restaurant, one leaning against the other. Around them was the general hustle and bustle of a shopping centre at 7pm, especially the restaurants. The two lovebirds were seated next to each other, with Anna leaning on Chloe’s arm while scrolling through her fanfiction, resting against the muscles honed through countless hours of loading the 105mm gun of the Sherman. Chloe, meanwhile, was slurping up her ramen with gusto, the alarming amount of chilli sauce in the soup not bothering her in the slightest.

“Mmrf, I can never get tired of this ramen place, I swear.”
“Yeah, portions are a bit too big for me though.”
“You’re full already?”
“I know what you want, chungus. Finish mine if you want, there’s still about a quarter left.”
“Miso ramen, right? Don’t mind if I do, then.”
As the larger of the lovebirds continued her meal, the gunner simply sighed in mock disappointment and refocused her attention on her phone.
“I overheard Gin on the phone this morning. She was talking about a ‘Gun Carrier’ or something.”
Chloe just gave a half-hearted reply, too preoccupied with her ramen.

At that moment, they heard the waitress greet a new customer in Japanese, as was the custom in Japanese restaurants, and two girls entered the ramen place. What caught Anna’s attention, however, wasn’t the fact that they were girls; it wasn’t because they were both around the same age as her. It was because one of the girls was wearing a very familiar Sturmtiger sleeveless hoodie. A split-second inspection revealed that the other girl’s left hand ended in a stump where her palm was supposed to be. She pointed out the new arrivals to Chloe, who also wore a face of amazement with her mouth full of ramen.

“So… they’re actually dating?”
“Looks like it. Didn’t think Gin would actually date Aurora, though. Nothing against them…”
“Eh, I don’t mind. It’s none of our business anyways, so just leave them be. You said you wanted to go to the cinema?”
“Sure.”
As two girls got up to pay their bill, two other girls were seated at a booth several tables away. 

“Trust me Aurora, this place has the best ramen. Period.”
“But…”
“My treat, relax. I haven’t had dinner with anyone for quite a bit now. Small price to pay for your company.”
The tankery captain and her subordinate ordered their meals, and once the waiter left, Gin pulled out an iPad from her backpack.
“All right, pay attention. I have a lot to go through, and I will only go through it once. If you miss anything, it's your loss. Capish?”
“I’m listening. Go to town.”

Gin pulled up the Ho-I’s page on the War Thunder Wiki (because of course War Thunder) and started explaining everything about the Japanese tank in detail. Her companion listened in rapt attention, hanging on to every single word and periodically asking questions related to her tank. Eventually, like all spiels, this one came to an end due to their ramen arriving. The duo dug in, both slurping down the noodles like it was the best thing since sliced bread; it most likely wasn’t, but it still tasted divine compared to the shit that was served in the school cafeteria.

As time ticked by, the talk turned from generic tankery stuff to more personal topics and gossip, like Aurora’s missing hand.
“Oh, I was in a car accident, my hand got squished by what was left of the car door.”
Or the large white patch of skin on the back of Gin’s neck.
“My mom put some kind of skin lotion on me when I was 3 months old, but then the lotion sorta bleached my skin in some patches. I have another patch on my right thigh.”
Or the number of Hot Wheels that Aurora had collected.
“I kinda regret spending that much money, because I have like 500 Hot Wheels mainlines and nowhere to store them.”
Or why Anna only used Incognito mode on Chrome. Or how much of a stuck up bitch that girl in class was. Or how cringy Brianna’s Roblox videos were.

Soon the ramen was finished, yet the gossip continued because, well… girls. The bill was paid, they started heading back to the school dorms, yet the talking continued. At this point neither of them were thinking about tanks anymore, which was rare for Gin. She couldn’t remember the last time she spent so long talking to anyone, let alone someone she’d known for only a few months; yet here she was, chatting with Aurora in her dorm room as the minutes stretched into hours. They witnessed a number of girls walk past in the corridor, some of whom they knew by name, some of whom they simply recognised, as the moon kept rising in the sky. 

Gin hadn’t actually expected their conversation to go this far in the first place. She just expected this to be a simple dinner date, but as the clock on her desk showed, it wasn’t just a simple date anymore. A knock on the door brought them out of their conversation, and Gin went to check on it. On the other side was the dorm superintendent, who was going about her pre-lights-out check.
“You guys have 30 minutes left before lights out, it’s 10:30 pm.”
“We’re just going over some tankery stuff Ms. Chong, she’ll be back in her own room before 11.”
“Alright, then. Good night to you both, and good luck with your next matches.”
The matron then left with a slight nod to Gin, leaving the girls to their own devices and moving on to the next dorm room. 

“Um… can I… can I stay?”
“You’re not the first one to ask. Well, if you’re gonna stay, you’re sleeping on the ground. I’ve got an inflatable mattress and a spare blanket, but I gotta shower and change first, though. You’ve showered already, I can tell, so can I trust you to not touch my shit while I do so?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Righto. Be back soon.”
The hostess grabbed a change of clothes and a towel and exited the room, leaving Aurora sitting on a chair in front of the table. How the deuce did her captain know that she’d showered beforehand? Something definitely gave it away, she thought. In any case, the one-handed brunette pushed the matter to the back of her mind and took stock of her surroundings for the first time.

A number of textbooks, folders and notebooks were stacked haphazardly on the corner of the table, while a collection of 1:72 tank models sat in a row in front of an open notebook on the table. She could recognise some of the tanks, such as a Hetzer and a Challenger, but there were also some that she couldn’t recognise, such as a Sherman with a weirdly-shaped turret and a very different gun. She stared at it for quite a while, but couldn’t for the life of her figure out which Sherman variant it was.

Eventually, the one-handed girl couldn’t resist the temptation and picked up said Sherman variant, reading the words etched on the bottom of the scale model.
“M4… T26? It’s gotta be a post-war thing, right?”
She carefully placed it back between the Hetzer and a Sturmtiger, and moved on to the other scale models. There was a tank that looked like a stripped-down prototype version of a Pershing, a two-turreted tank that looked like Eastern Pearl’s KV-1, a KV-2 with a long thin gun that made it look like Pinocchio, a Cromwell with a ludicrously short barrel, the Challenger, a Churchill-looking box-shaped thing, and an ARL-44. There wasn’t any dust on the tanks, indicating that Gin cleaned her scaled-down tanks often. 

She then turned her attention to the open notebook. Immediately, the plethora of equations and notes made it clear that this notebook was for physics only, and the next few pages only served to prove that point further. The two girls were in the same physics class, and although the tankery captain’s marks were nowhere near stellar, she did put in a respectable amount of effort in her schoolwork. And Aurora could respect that. Someone who put in effort regardless of personal likings would definitely be going places. 

The sound of the door opening returned her attention to reality.
“Hey Aurora, we got a physics test on Monday.”
“Yeah, I already studied.”
“Then recite Kepler’s First Law.”
“Um… an orbit must be an eclipse?”
“Eh, close enough.”
The captain flicked her half-wet hair behind her ears and removed a hair dryer from her drawer; the noisy whir of the fan soon filled the room.

“How did you kno-”
“That you already showered? I could smell the shampoo. Lavender suits you quite nicely.”
“Was it that obvious?”
“No, I just have a good nose. It smelled good anyways girl, it doesn’t matter.”
“Um… Thanks… Do you mind if I touch your scale models?”
"Go ahead."
The two girls lapsed back into silence, Gin drying her hair and the other messing around with the shrunken tanks on the desk. A long while later, the whirring stopped and the hair dryer was returned to its drawer; Aurora picked up the boxy Churchill and faced Gin, a wordless question on her face.

“Churchill Gun Carrier. Basically the Brits had a shit ton of 3-inch, aka 76mm artillery guns from World War One left over, so they took 100 of them and put them in the boxiest hull ever to grace a British tank. 89mm of armour on the front and 130mm of penetration point blank.”
Halfway through her explanation, she headed to a mini fridge hidden under the table and pulled out 2 cans of beer.
“You drink?”
“Nothing like Asahi.”
The two girls opened their cans and took a swig, before Aurora set down her can and lifted up another scale model.
“What’s this, then?”
“That’s the SMK, a KV-1 prototype. Small turret in the front has a 45mm from a BT, and the big turret has a 76mm L-11. Armour is 75mm in the hull front and 60mm on both turrets.”

The discussion continued into the night as the number of tanks being discussed increased along with the number of opened (and empty) beer cans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gin couldn't recall how she ended up on the bed, half-naked, making out with a brunette. Everything felt a bit woozy and different, but she was way past caring. The other girl moaned and pulled her closer, and she threw caution to the wind.

Chapter Text

“Hey Gin, something came in the mail for you,” Chloe half-yelled over the din of the hangar as the Eastern Pearl tankery team prepared their tanks.
“You mean an email?” Kimi glanced up from her phone in disbelief.
“No, like an actual handwritten letter.”
“The fuck? Who still writes letters nowadays? Gimme.”
The Eastern Pearl captain reached across the table and took the letter, glancing at the envelope.
“It’s from Japan, some place called Nagano."
“Nagano Prefecture? I don’t know anyone from Nagano…”

She read the letter carefully, going over the Japanese written on the paper. After several minutes, she flipped the paper over and saw a stamp of a centipede on the rear; the letter was signed “ムカデ” – the katakana for “Centipede”. A more detailed inspection of the envelope revealed a secret message within: “Please write any replies to the following address”. A quick Google search showed the address as a school ship in Nagano.
“Gin? You good?”
“Yeah I’m fine. Get the girls ready; we’re rolling out in 10.”
As the order was relayed to the rest of the tank crews in the hangar, the captain pondered over the mysterious letter. She would have to look further into Tatenashi High School later, but for now, they had to introduce a new tank to the team.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brianna would argue that wider and longer didn’t always mean better, whichever way it was interpreted, but her new tank was certainly making a strong argument. The 100mm cannon of the T-34-100 was almost longer than the entire hull of the tank, making it seem lopsided and unbalanced; those weren’t the main concerns, however.
“How are we gonna fight in close quarters when the barrel is, well… this long?”
“That’s the thing. You don’t.”
“I thought…”
“Yes, but that was in the past. We’re aiming for the World Tankery Tournament, and the vast majority of the shootouts will be at medium and long distances, which means you guys are now relegated to sniper duty. Stay behind, snipe your targets, and let the heavies do the close range stuff. Which, to be fair… they wouldn’t be doing a very good job of, not with that 'speed'.”
“We heard that!” a voice yelled from the KV-1.

Gin rolled her eyes and blasted an air horn in her hand, getting everyone’s attention.
“Saddle up!”
The usual cacophony of tank engines filled the hangar, with the dainty putter of the T-26-4’s 4-cylinder replaced by the mighty roar of the T-34-100’s massive diesel engine.
“Horsepower and gunpowder, baby! Whoo!”
The tanks trundled out of the hangar in single file, with a few people taking photos on the other side of the school gates as usual. The girls had mostly gotten used to the attention, especially when they were in their tanks; being a member of the only tankery team in Hong Kong had its own perks. Brianna smiled inwardly when she thought about the Blue Archive merchandise she’d gotten for free when the shopkeeper recognised her, and her friends have never let her hear the end of it ever since, because, well… Blue Archive. 

Still blushing a bit at her inner weeb being caught, she crouched down into the turret of her new tank to check on her crew.
“Y’all good down here?”
“Couldn’t be better,” Lisa chimed in from the driver's seat.
“Nice.”
“Hey guys, apparently wider and longer is actually better,” her loader joked, hefting up a massive 100mm shell.
“Make one more sexual joke and I will beat your ass with one of these shells. And stop playing the Driftveil City theme song!”
“Joke’s on you, I’m into that shit.”
“Yeah, Imma just get out of Dodge. Radio was on, by the way.”
The T-34-100 commander popped back out of the commander’s cupola, a look of annoyance on her face as the jeering and laughter from other tank crews came in through her headset. The problem was that it made her look like she was pouting. 

Brianna ran a hand through her bob of hair and tried to focus on the task of commanding her new tank. She joined the tankery team last year, and was part of Eastern Pearl’s maiden run into the World Tankery Tournament, only to be sniped by a tank she couldn’t even see with her binoculars. Only after the crushing defeat would she learn that it was an SU-100 that had shot her, which had slightly lifted her spirits, for the tank was one of the world’s best tankery sniper; she only had herself to blame for crossing a bridge in open view. The resigned look of defeat on everyone’s faces was one image that would be seared into her mind, as Claudia herself was too busy bawling her eyes out to even be able to meet Mojave Rose’s captain after the match, causing Kimi to take her place. And on top of it all, she felt that she was responsible. Had she found another way to cross the river hidden instead of taking the risk, she wouldn’t have been taken out, and Eastern Pearl might not have suffered such a one-sided defeat. 

It was all her fault, she thought, tears forming in her eyes. She was exactly what her parents had called her: a good-for-nothing failure that was destined to fail.

“Hey Bri, you good?” Lisa's concerned voice rang from inside the tank.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine, I was just, uh… thinking about other stuff.”
“Well, concentrate. Wouldn’t do you any favour if you gave a wrong command on the first outing of your new tank.”
“R… right…”
Brianna’s hand moved subconsciously, tugging the sleeve of her tankery uniform downwards and covering her wrists. Or rather, covering the scars lining the insides of her left one. Perhaps some things are best left unknown for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An earth-shattering boom reverberated through the target range as the 100mm cannon of Eastern Pearl’s newest acquisition sent a shell downrange for the first time, hitting the target square in the centre and leaving a crater at its point of impact. It was by far the loudest gun in their arsenal, rivalling the 105mm howitzer of the Sherman and even the KV-1’s German-made 75mm; it also hit the hardest, its 100mm LB-1 gun having even more penetration than the German-made 75mm KwK40 of the KV-1. 

“STALINIUM LAUNCHER BABY, ONE MORE!” Aurora hollered from the sidelines.
“TRY HIGH EXPLOSIVE!” yelled another.
“SEND IT!” yelled a third tankery team member.
At their encouragement, another shell was shoved into the breech, and sent towards another target downrange. It, too, exploded in a mix of gunpowder, heat and dust, courtesy of the TNT filler in the HE shell.
“Ok, that’s enough. Out of the tank.”
At Gin’s command, the three crew members of Notankyou exited their T-34-100, standing at attention in a row in front of their Soviet war machine.

“Good job today, everyone. I’ve talked enough about the T-34-100, now we gotta put it to the test. I have the Taishan tankery grounds booked for the weekend, we’ll get some actual combat training done there. I know, it’s a weekend, but our Japan exchange trip is less than two weeks away, and everyone expects us to perform well. If there are no further questions, then we’ll drive back to the hangar, and y’all are dismissed. Brianna and my crew stay behind after dismissal. Go.”
The girls broke into scattered conversations as they returned to their tanks and began the drive back to the school hangar. However, as they dispersed, Aurora caught sight of what seemed like the world’s fluffiest shock of hair disappearing behind a wall; she figured that it was probably a new student at the school, and resumed her conversation with her crew.

The tanks trundled their way back into the hangar as the girls kept their conversations going, now that practice was over. As the tank engines shut down one after another, their crews bid goodbye to each other and streamed out of the hangar doors, eager to head home and shower. Brianna attempted to sneak out along with the others, but a sharp “Did I say you could leave?” made her turn around and face her captain.
“Answer me.”
“No.”
“Look, I’m not trying to chew you out.”
The eyes of her captain were filled with worry and concern.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not, I can tell. If there’s anything bothering you, feel free to tell me. I’m not just your captain, but your friend as well.”

It was at this point that Brianna looked Gin straight in her eyes.
“How would you know? How would you know what I’ve gone through? Your bullshit is nothing.”
She turned on her heels and marched away, leaving her captain’s sad gaze lingering on her rapidly retreating form.
“I know, Bri. Believe me, I know…” she mumbled, to no one in particular. The slam of the hangar personnel door was the only reply she got.
“Gin, you asked for us?”
She turned to find her crew waiting.
“Yeah. Look, I have some big changes planned for the team, and I feel like it would be best to share with you guys, considering the experience you’ve accumulated under Claudia.”
The slam of the hangar door still echoed through the hangar ever so slightly as the 5 girls conversed, and another hid behind the corner of the hangar, sobbing her eyes out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The air was thick with smoke as the Type 2 Ho-I trundled out from behind the ruins of a building, barely exposing its gun and firing a HEAT shell before reversing back into cover. Through the smoke, the bright glow of a Crusader’s ammunition cooking off could be seen as its turret blew off, the fire revealing the silhouettes of two Valentines, guns pointed right at the Ho-I.
“HEAT loaded!”
The Japanese tank peek-a-boomed once more, and one of the Valentines burst into flames. As risky as peek-a-booming was, both sides were shrouded in the smokescreen, and the Ho-I was not the one near a light source. 

It had seemed impossible, but she was winning against three enemy tanks somehow. She was in a one on three, in a random Japanese tank against three British ones, and she was winning. Then she heard an unfamiliar engine right behind her.
“Oh well, make it four,” she thought dejectedly as the Churchill Gun Carrier opened fire, sending a 3-inch projectile right through the back of her Ho-I and out the front. As it turned into a smouldering wreck, Gin threw her mouse onto the bed in frustration and stood up, knocking her chair over in the process.
“HOW THE FUCK DID HE END UP BEHIND ME?! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”
She grabbed one of her pillows and slammed it against the bed repeatedly for a good minute, venting her frustration.
“I JUST WANNA HAVE FUN IN LOW-TIER! FUCK THIS SHIT, I SWEAR TO GOD!”
A knock on her door retrieved her attention.
“What?”

The raging captain yanked open her door with way more force than necessary, revealing a slightly giggling one-handed girl on the other side.
“I could hear you yelling through the ceiling,” Aurora's soothing voice chimed between giggles.
“Was I that loud?”
“I think a good portion of the dorm also heard you.”
“Fuck me… wait, did I say you could come in?”
Aurora had already made her way inside Gin’s dorm room and was comfortably seated on one of the beanbag chairs Gin had taken (read permanently borrowed) from the school library since Aurora’s initial visit.
“I think we’re well past the phase of asking before entering.”

The tankery captain sighed and closed the door, a tad more gently than she opened it.
“You normally don’t rage that hard, though. Is something bothering you?”
“Nah, I’m fine.”
That earned her a side eye from the one-handed girl.
“You know Brianna? The commander of the new T-34-100?”
“Yeah, what about her?”
“She’s been a bit… off. I can tell. She even admitted it herself.”
She then proceeded to spill everything she’d noticed. From how she absolutely refused to leave her left wrist uncovered, to the sudden and random outbursts she’d had during various training sessions. Throughout it all, Aurora listened attentively. 

“There’s gotta be something else making you this worried.”
“New tanks.”
“Bruh.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter as much as Brianna. Even if I gave her a top-of-the-line tank, her personal issues would affect her ability to command and communicate with others effectively.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“We’ll have to get her to open up and see how we can help. I can’t figure out how though…”
“Can it wait?”
“Why?”

In response, Aurora reached into the bookbag she brought along with her and pulled out a box. Gin instantly recognized it: it was a 1:72 tank model, and a fully adjustable one at that.
“No, you did not. Tell me you did not.”
“Happy birthday.”
“How did you-”
“Your Instagram post on your birthday last year. Considering how little you use it, I didn’t even have to scroll.”
“Of course you did.”
She set the unopened 1:72 model aside on the table and carefully opened it with a box cutter, revealing a miniature Brummbar in the signature three-colour camouflage of the Third Reich’s armoured forces. 

“It’s a Brummbar.”
“I know, I bought it.”
“IT’S ONE OF THE RAREST 1:72 TANK MODELS, HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIND IT?!”
The visitor found herself lying on the beanbag chair, being squished as her captain hugged the breath out of her.
“I… can’t… breathe…”
“Sorry, sorry, I’m just too excited.”
The grip around her chest lessened.
“But how? I’ve been hunting for a 1:72 Brummbar for almost 2 years! They’re expensive!”

Aurora gave a small chuckle, thanking her lucky stars for removing the price tag attached to the box.
“It wasn’t that bad, I found it in a clearance sale somewhere in a night market.”
“Really…?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh huh. Cuz I can tell that the price tag’s been ripped off. Tell me.”
Gin’s small smile turned menacing as her aura intensified, causing her visitor to gulp and sweat in fear.
“Actually you don’t have to talk, I saw the ToysRUs clearance sale sticker, so you’re at least telling the truth about something. I’ll let you off the hook.”

The captain's expression relaxed and she sat back onto her bed. And then the two talked until the wee hours of the morning. No funny business happened this time, to the relief of Gin’s dorm neighbours. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A girl sat curled up in her bed, her whole body shaking with excitement as she pondered the aftermath of her letter. It should have reached the captain of Eastern Pearl High School's tankery team by now, and her response would decide the future of her and her friends. She glanced out of her bedroom window, at her little Japanese light tank. She could not wait to get revenge on that bitch from Bonple; she would show the world what she was capable of.

The Te-Ke seemed to nod its 37mm cannon in agreement, and the girl closed her eyes. Sleep would come soon after, with dreams filled with official tankery matches alongside a certain Sherman and its commander, against an all-too-familiar Panzer IV.

Chapter Text

Two weeks later in Kumamoto, Japan…

The bus jolted over another speed bump, trundling on its way to the Kumamoto Tankery Training Grounds. From her seat next to the window, Gin Pang sighed as Metallica blasted from her headphones in nearly-deafening volumes, nodding her head along to the rapid beat of Master of Puppets. Trees and various wildlife flashed past the window as the convoy of buses carrying Eastern Pearl High School’s tankery team drove along the road leading to Kumamoto’s tankery training ground, home to Kuromorimine Girls’ Academy’s sensha-do team. She had to keep reminding herself that the Japanese called it sensha-do. As she simmered in her thoughts, a cluster of periwinkle pots zipped past the window, grabbing Gin’s attention in an instant. She was suddenly several years younger, inside a flower bush maze with seemingly no exit, hot tears streaming down her face as she ran in what seemed like endless circles, several cuts and scratches from the sharp bush branches adorning her skin and clothes. At least an entire hour had passed before staff had found her and returned her to her school group, which was more than enough reason for the future tank aficionado to stay away from any flowers and/or mazes.

A song change pulled her consciousness back into the real world, as the opening notes of The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights started playing. Shaking her head to rid her minds of unhappy thoughts, Gin swiveled her neck and torso to take a look at the members of her tankery team, or her girls as she called them. Or at least she tried to, because there was currently a one-handed girl fast asleep on her shoulder, snoring lightly. She looks even more lovely under the sunlight, her captain thought, brushing the stray strands of hair from her face. The first thing that Aurora mumbled when the alarm rang was some rather creative profanity in Cantonese about wanting to sleep in, which wasn’t surprising given that the, uh… commotion, from Gin’s room didn’t subside until the wee hours. She blushed slightly at the memories and cranked up the noise cancellation on her music-blasting earmuffs (she referred to her headphones as “earmuffs”), returning her consciousness to the land of songs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Gin, they’re late,” Kimi drawled in her sleepy tone, still nodding off despite being awake for 2 hours already. How she could comfortably nod off inside a fully crewed Sherman was a mystery.
“Yeah, they said they would arrive at 9am and it’s already 9:15,” the loud-mouthed gunner Chloe chimed in.
“Be patient, guys. They probably took more time to prepare to leave a good first impression, just like we did,” their commander and overall captain replied. As if right on cue, a tank appeared on the horizon, followed by easily a dozen and half others close behind it.
“Speak of the devil. Alright girls, attention!”
Gin’s command spurred the girls into action as they made themselves presentable: most notably, the thumping Russian hardbass and laughter coming from the BT-7A grew quiet. Even the most mischievous crew members knew when to be actually serious for a change. 

If someone had asked Gin what she thought of Japanese tankery, she would say it was one of the best tankery countries, without a second thought. In a way, it was somewhat true, except that she had also neglected to notice the vastly different tactics employed by different tankery teams, some of which she would soon be fortunate enough to experience firsthand. The disciplined, iron-fisted style of Kuromorimine Girls’ Academy that never yielded in the face of fire; the calm, collected and no-nonsense team that was St Gloriana Girls’ College, sipping tea in their tanks while literally being shot at; the ever-mischievous, talented girls of Continuation High School with their constant devilry and thefts; the raw unfiltered USA-ness and bald eagles of Saunders University High School, full of the spirit of gunpowder and horsepower.

And that brought her train of thoughts to this tankery exchange program as a whole. Sure, it was one of those mutually beneficial things for both nations (or region in Hong Kong’s case), but Gin was still smart enough to see beneath all the flowery bullshit and notice the politics that were at play here. Not that she minded in the very least, since it meant she got a chance to practice tankery with and against some of the best Japanese high school tankery teams, and to see whether the new tanks she had planned or acquired would actually make a difference. Especially the T-34-100 with its heavy-hitting 100mm cannon. There was also the SU-122 they had to pick up when BC Freedom made port next week, but that would have to wait until their school ship actually made port. How they got their hands on the Soviet tank destroyer was a mystery, but as long as her girls got a new tank to work with, Gin didn’t care. 

There were more unique and equally talented tankery teams she had yet to discover, but the problem was, did she have it in her to go toe to toe with the best that Japan had to offer? To be honest, the captain of Hong Kong’s one and only sensha-do team didn’t know, but she was determined to give it her best shot; after all, she did have some pretty big shoes to fill. Right now, though, she was content with steadying her nerves as she sat atop the turret of her Sherman, awaiting the arrival of the three other Japanese schools she would be training with for the following three weeks, doing tricks with her poker chip between her fingers. She was admittedly quite good at it now, being able to casually flick it between her fingers and palms without paying much attention.

The approaching tanks slowly became identifiable through the commanders’ binoculars as a Maus leading the contingent in a panzerkeil formation. It was bigger than a literal 18-wheeler, towering over the rest of the tanks and making the girls in their “puny” medium tanks feel like they were ants in comparison, and it was flanked by a BT-42 and a KV-1 on one side with a Sherman and a Firefly on the other. A host of tanks from more Shermans to Panthers to Vickers 6-Tons followed in the spearhead’s wake, totaling over twenty vehicles fielded by the Japanese schools; the sharp-eyed Andy even spotted a Panzer IV H and a Sturmi among the pack in the rear. To the untrained eye this perhaps looked like a show of force, but one look at Eastern Pearl’s side would dispel any notion of that thought, for they fielded their full force of eleven tanks in total. 

“Presentation formation! Now!”
At once, the engines of Eastern Pearl’s tanks rumbled to life, and the steel monsters arranged themselves into two rows of five, with the KV-1, T14, Panzer III, Churchill III and T-34-100 forming the first row and the remaining tanks in the second row behind them; the Sherman positioned itself in front of the center of the first row, cementing its status as the captain tank. Gin tidied her hair and her tankery uniform, heart beating faster than a hummingbird’s; this was their first time meeting the Japanese tankery teams, and the entire thing was being broadcast live throughout the world, which did not help her nerves at all. If anyone on her side somehow fucked up, it would be embarrassing not just for Eastern Pearl, but for Hong Kong as a whole. 

After what seemed like an eternity, the Maus leading the panzerkeil formation came to a stop about two tank lengths short of Big Shot, as did the rest of the panzerkeil formation it led. The tank hatches of the three tanks leading the panzerkeil formation creaked open, and three tank commanders stepped out. Gin followed suit, motioning for Gladys to follow her, and the commander of the KV-1 followed the order. The Japanese commander in the middle spoke up first in accented English.
“Eastern Pearl’s captain, I presume?”
“That is me, and this is my vice-captain Gladys; we command the Sherman and the KV-1 respectively.”

“I am honored to meet you and your team. I am Hida Emma, commander of the Maus and captain of the Kuromorimine Girls’ Academy tankery team,” she said as she bowed slightly and the school badge on the collar of her gray uniform twinkled in the sunlight. The two Eastern Pearl commanders followed suit, and the same formalities were repeated with the helmet-wearing captain of Saunders’ tankery team and the twin-pigtailed diminutive blondie commanding the Jaokosota girls. Gin had already forgotten the Saunders captain’s name, so she just resorted to calling her Helmet-Gal, but she somehow remembered Aki because of the way she spoke: Aki mostly spoke like a normal person, but she occasionally liked to use proverbs related to the wind which puzzled her greatly. She also had a habit of referencing someone called Mika, someone that the Japanese tankery teams all seemed to know.

Presently, the official formalities were concluded and the live camera feed turned off, and Gin breathed a sigh of relief. At least she hadn’t messed up the initial ceremony. 
“Alright girls, show’s over, you can relax.”
She could almost feel the collective sigh as her team relaxed and resumed conversations, and she suspected that the Japanese crews were doing the same.
“Gin?” the Maus commander’s gentle voice rang out in front of her. “Can I borrow Gladys for a bit?”
The captain of Eastern Pearl nodded, and the vice-captain in question followed Hida as they walked towards the Kuromorimine tanks while engaged in conversation, leaving her standing there with nothing to do. 

Some of Eastern Pearl’s crews were already making new friends and mingling with the Japanese tank crews, while the rest (including Gin’s crew) just minded their own business in their tanks.
“Great, not even 5 minutes in and I’m already bored,” Gin mumbled to herself, as she steeled her nerves and started strolling through the formation of Japanese tanks, admiring them in her own way. The Maus was of course the most imposing one, towering over the other tanks fielded by the Japanese; Kuromorimine also fielded a Jagdtiger, a Ferdinand, a Jagdpanther, a Jagdpanzer IV and several Panthers, cementing its status as the heavyweight amongst the 3 Japanese tankery teams. 

She then turned her attention to the tanks fielded by Jatkosota. The leading tank was a BT-42, followed by a T-34, a Panzer IV H, a Sturmi, and several Vickers 6-Tons, which looked cute in comparison to the Shermans and big cats next to them. On the other hand, not unlike Oarai, they were known for being dark horses capable of punching way above their weight class, if their performance in the Winter Continuous Track Cup was any indication. The captain of Eastern Pearl could still remember sneaking away from class just to watch the Jatkosota vs Oarai match, which was 100% worth the week of detention, at least to her.

And then there was Saunders, which fielded several different variants of the famous (or infamous, depending on which end of its gun you were on) M4 Sherman, plus a Firefly with an intimidating British 17-pounder cannon in place of the regular 75mm one. The Firefly was the one that stood out to Gin, as it was capable of slicing through all of the tanks present except for the Maus; on the other hand, it was a British variant, so it seemed a bit out of place in an obviously American-themed tankery team. Speaking of the tea drinkers… weren’t they supposed to show up as well? A quick inquiry directed at the crew of one of the Panthers revealed that St Gloriana wasn't going to show up until day 3 of the exchange program. “Ah well, thanks for telling me anyways,” she had replied before thanking the Panther crew and moving on. “Fucking colonialists…” she had muttered out of earshot. 

At this point she was right in the middle of the sea of tanks that made up the 3 Japanese tankery teams, close enough to the tank crews to hear their conversations, and one sentence in particular caught Gin’s attention.
“... Oarai’s match with Lagom…”
She wasn’t particularly interested in Lagom, nor had she heard of them before, but if Oarai agreed to a match against them, then they should be of a similar caliber if not better, right? She would have to look into this Lagom Girls’ Tankery Team tonight, assuming she wasn’t tired as hell after the joint training; commanding an entire platoon of 11 tanks required a lot more awareness and attention than just commanding a single tank. 

Several peals of laughter from Eastern Pearl’s side made Gin snap her head in the direction of her team. There were at least 10 voices laughing, but two of them definitely belonged to Debbie and Hester, the commanders of the BT-7A and the Stridsvagn m/38 respectively. As any regular commander would do, she feared that some severe fuckery was afoot, as a loud Japanese voice penetrated through the laughter, which grew even louder. Pushing through the crowds of tankery crews congregated among their tanks, she came upon an odd sight indeed: the crews of the BT-7A, m/38 and the Jatkosota BT-42 laughing their heads off. 

“Hester. Debbie. What. The fuck. Are you guys doing.”
“Oh, we were just joking about the Christie suspension,” Hester giggled.
“We also tried to throw one of the Stridsvagn’s sabot rounds at the BT-7A as hard as we could, just to see if we could dent it, and look what happened.”
Debbie could barely contain her laughter as she pointed to a fresh new dent on the hull of Eastern Pearl’s beloved BT. As Gin was shaking her head in disappointment and helplessness, a girl wearing a Jatkosota uniform lifted a 37mm sabot shell with both her hands and hurled it against the turret of the BT-7A, causing another loud clang and a small thwip as the white flag popped up. This sent the group of girls into hysterics; even the usually stoic captain from Hong Kong let out a chuckle at the little incident, sneaking a glance at the Jatkosota girl that caused it. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants under her skirt, and seemed to be chewing on a stalk of straw in her mouth like a toothpick; an image popped into Gin’s mind of the same girl at the driver’s seat of the BT-42 last year, skillfully weaving the Finnish tank around the battlefield. 

“Aki, Mikko, what did I say about not causing trouble?” a sharp voice rang out behind the group of girls. Everyone turned and noticed a less than pleased Hida standing there, arms crossed in disappointment; Gladys was right next to her, trying to hold in her laughter at the tomfoolery that was currently unfolding.
“Ah, Mauko-san, sorry… we, uh… got a little carried away,” the Jatkosota captain replied.
“Be that as it may, I told you not to mess with their tanks.”
As the conversation between the two Japanese captains continued, Gin turned to admonish the two troublemaking commanders under her command, eliciting looks and giggles from many a tank crew. 

“Yep, definitely off to a great start,” the Hong Kong vice-captain sighed in mock disappointment, attempting to get her captain to stop telling off Hester and Debbie.
“What?” our protagonist snapped back at her poor vice-captain.
“Um… we have to figure out the schools we’re boarding at for this exchange trip. Did you forget?”
“Oh shit, I almost forgot! Get the girls ready, I’ll go tell Hida and Aki and uh… Little Miss Helmet or whatever her name is.”
And with that, she hurried away, leaving Gladys to her own devices. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, cleared her throat, and issued a command.
“‘Tention!”
The girls instantly snapped to attention with unnerving efficiency, for Gin and Claudia had made it crystal clear that when one of the captains asked for attention, attention was to be paid. 

“Right. So, uh… we will be split up into 3 groups for boarding at Kuromorimine, Saunders and Jatkosota. Kuromorimine will accommodate 4 tank crews and their tanks, Saunders will house 4, and the remaining 3 will be boarding at Jatkosota. If there is any disagreement within your crew, just take a vote amongst yourselves and the majority gets to choose. Any questions? Right, off you go.”
The din of dozens of high school girls chattering and arguing soon filled the air as Gladys turned to her crew, who were already in a heated discussion about whether Saunders or Kuromorimine was better. In a while, Gin had returned from her discussion, with the captains of the 3 Japanese tankery teams in tow, and the boarding arrangements were made.

“Gladys, has your crew made up their mind yet?”
“We’re going with Kuromorimine.”
“Okay, lemme write that down… Hester, your turn.”
"Jatkosota."
“Jatkosota, of course. The Swedish tank and the Finns. Jase?”
“Saunders!” the newbie commander of the M5A1 Stuart yelled excitedly.
As Gin went down the list, she secretly admired how her girls had stored out the schools they were going to stay at without much hemming and hawing. But then, she reached the Ho-I’s crew.
“Aurora?”
“Saunders.”
Only the ones closest to the captain would notice how her eyes dimmed or how her hand hesitated ever so slightly before noting the reply on her clipboard and moving on to the next tank on the list. Most of the girls present, including the three Japanese captains, didn’t notice, but a one-handed commander did.

Once she was done, she politely handed the clipboard to Hida and addressed her girls properly.
“Okay, listen up! Now that we have our boarding arrangements for the next 3 weeks sorted out, we have roughly… 3 hours before lunch, which is enough time to give the Japanese teams a demonstration of our training. After our demonstration, we’ll break for lunch at 1300 and reassemble here at 1500 for some actual joint training. At 1800, we’ll head back to our hotels and I’ll brief y’all on tomorrow before we dismiss. For now, business as usual, got it girls?”
“Yes captain!”
“I can’t hear you!”
“YES CAPTAIN!”
“MOUNT UP!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mmh, that hits the spot,” moaned our favorite captain as she slurped down a mouthful of ramen with gusto. Chloe attempted to sound her approval, but with her mouth filled like that of a hamster she could only manage a hum in response. The crew of Big Shot were seated in one of the ramen restaurants near their hotel, enjoying their well-deserved dinner after an intense training session with the Japanese tankery teams. In case nobody’s figured it out, the entire crew loved ramen; actual Japanese ramen, the kind you get in restaurants, not the crappy instant ones. In the middle of their meal, an AC/DC ringtone blared from Gin’s phone, and she motioned with her hands for her crew to quiet down before swallowing her mouthful of ramen and answering the phone.
“Hello?... Yeah?… YOU FOUND IT?!… WHAT DO YOU MEAN… Oh, oh, I see… Yeah, I’ll tell them later, we’re having dinner right now… I chose Jatkosota, what about it?… Eh, could be worse… Alright, I gotta go, the ramen isn’t gonna finish itself… Yeah, I’ll call later… Later broski.”

Four pairs of incredulous eyes stared at their commander and captain as she pocketed her phone and facepalmed, wordlessly asking the same question. The reply they got was a look that screamed “not now” as Gin busied herself with filling her mouth with the last of the ramen and soup base; however she soon acquiesced and leaned forward to deliver the news in a hushed whisper.
“What I am about to tell you stays among the 5 of us only, okay?”
She received 4 nods in response.
“So, remember when I told everyone to find a new tank in Taishan? Well, I was hoping to find a StuH 42 G, which is basically a StuG III with a 105mm howitzer; but we found a Stridsvagn and a T14 instead, as you might recall. Apparently, the folks at Taishan did actually find the StuH, but the barrel, uh… petaled. As in the barrel is literally un-fucking-usable, which means if we do plan to use it then we need a new 105mm howitzer for it.”

Gin’s phone pinged with a notification of an image someone just messaged her. Pulling up the image showed a very dirty StuH 42 G with a barrel petaling outwards, Gin noted, not unlike a flower’s petals. She showed the image to her crew, who made certain remarks about how they were gonna have to hunt for a cheap 105mm German howitzer.
“Don’t tell anyone, alright? Now, hurry up and finish your dinner, we have 30 minutes left to eat and pay and walk back to the hotel. I still have to address the girls about our schedule tomorrow.”
Her crew nodded and resumed their meal, as Gin sat back and stared at her now-empty bowl of ramen, patting her full stomach with satisfaction; it soon melted into concern and worry, however. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t be seeing Aurora again for 3 weeks, and it wasn’t her feeling that something was a bit off about this exchange trip. 

No, the main reason for her concern was the hydraulic problems the Churchill had been having since the morning. 

Truth be told, other than the newer or recently acquired tanks, Eastern Pearl’s tanks were due for a major checkup, especially the older models like the Stuart and the Churchill. The latter’s turret hydraulics had malfunctioned half an hour into the day’s demonstration training session, which had delayed everything by roughly 15 minutes; and even then, it was only semi-functional, reducing the British heavy’s turret rotation speed to a hand-cranked one. Eastern Pearl’s captain could practically feel her hair turn white one strand at a time as the list of troubles and problems piled up. 

At least they could get it fixed at Saunders, which was where the Churchill would be going. Hopefully.

As the Sherman’s crew paid for their dinner and started heading back towards the hotel, Gin took a moment to linger behind a bit and observe her crew. The 4 of them couldn’t be more different from each other, yet they walked close together like close-knit buddies who’ve been through life and death together. She just needed something to fit right in, she thought, something to make her belong among one of the best tankery crews in the world.

But she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what she was lacking.

Chapter Text

I just got hospitalized. Failed suicide attempt. Contemplating ditching this fic altogether.

Reason for doing so: girl I was dating was cheating on me and used my status as a sexual assault victim as justification. Fuck this. Fuck her.

Chapter Text

This isn't Nathan speaking. I'm Em, one of Nathan's close friends. There's no subtle way to put this. 

Nathan's slipped into a coma. His overdose attempt did some damage to his liver and part of the overdose medication ended up in his heart. He's stable right now but he's hooked up to so many machines I can't even stand to see him. We just want him to live through this. 

I know of this fanfiction because Nathan told me about it. He talks about his writing a lot. He takes a lot of pride in his work, and I'm sure he would've wanted his readers to not be in the dark. Please, pray for him. He's been through a lot, and I didn't even find out until his parents told me at the hospital. I just wanna go to winter formal and prom with him. 

I've asked Nathan what he would do if he decides to stop writing, and he said to let some guy called OrbitalHamlet finish the story. OrbitalHamlet, whoever you are, I'm entrusting Nathan's work to you for now. "Tell him to not fuck it up," Nathan said.

That's all I can bear to type for now. I'm sorry.

Update: Nathan's hanging on, but there's a chance he could go at any moment, or he could wake up at any moment. I hope it's the latter.

Update #2: This is Nathan speaking. I live. Sorta kinda.

Update #3: This is also Nathan speaking. I have a lot to apologise for, not just to my dear readers. Well, anyways, writing will recommence in short order, and Petals Part 2 will be out soon. Writing is a way to channel my emotions after all. Finally, Justine, if you're reading this, I hope you're happy with that dickweed, and fuck you.

Chapter Text

Rarely was there a sight as majestic as four behemoth school ships anchored in the same harbor. One school ship or two at port was a rare enough event, but not too uncommon, as tankery matches could only be held on solid ground; yet the school ships of Kuromorimine, Jatkosota, Saunders and BC Freedom were moored side by side in the harbor of Kumamoto, making for an awe-inducing sight indeed. The port was rife with activity, filled with cranes, high school girls, dock workers, reporters, cameras, and government officials, as the girls of Hong Kong’s tankery team were making their final preparations to embark on their 3 week long exchange trip aboard one of the Japanese school ships.
“Alright girls, listen up. This is the last time I’ll be seeing the majority of you in person for quite a while; we’ll meet again in 3 weeks’ time for our match against St Gloriana in Tokyo. Now, you guys will be following the orders of your respective school’s tankery team captains who have plenty of experience, so you’re in good hands. I expect no trouble whatsoever, no tomfoolery, no bullshit, none.”

Gin paused her speech to look into the eyes of her girls. At this point there were giggles from the crews of the BT-7A and the Strv m/38.
“If I receive a single phone call or text message about any of you being uncooperative or being a dickweed in general, you’re out of the team. I’m serious. We’re representing not just our school, we’re representing Hong Kong. Do Claudia proud… hell, do me proud. Got it?”

A chorus of affirmatives responded loudly, reaffirming Gin’s faith in her school. Her girls were going to fight tooth and nail to prove to the world that they were by no means inferior to any tankery team in Japan, she was sure of it.
“Good luck, and godspeed. Do svidaniya.”
The girls dispersed into their crews and groups, and started heading towards their chosen school ships; their captain sighed and looked up at the sky.
“With my luck, it could be raining titties and I’d look up and still catch a dick.”
Throughout the din of her girls making final preparations, Gin could make out a Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe transport helicopter with a logo of a blue star with a yellow lightning bolt in the middle across its side take off from BC Freedom’s school ship, carrying a massive object covered in a massive camo net. She made a mental note to thank Helmet-Gal for helping her get the SU-122 back to Taishan for restoration. BC Freedom was apparently more than willing to trade the Soviet howitzer-armed assault gun for Eastern Pearl’s now-retired SAu40, which delighted Gin as the Stalinium bias machine was a major step up from the sub-par gun and mobility of the baguette launcher. 

The booming noise of a ship horn shook the ground as Kuromorimine’s school ship lifted anchor and slowly heaved its way out of the dock, the 4 Eastern Pearl tanks and their respective crew members already on board.
“Oi, Gin!” The voice belonged to none other than Hester. “It’s go time!”
“Yessir!” She put her thumb and index fingers to her mouth and blew a sharp whistle.
“Attention! Big Shot , Hornet , Vodka , mount up!”
The 3 Jatkosota-bound tanks fired up their engines and started their short trek towards the Finland-themed school ship, passing by dock workers and onlookers on their way. Their home for the next 3 weeks was largely different from the other school ships, in that there was a massive snow-covered tree smack in the middle of the deck like a mast, while the rest of the deck was covered in a similar white color.
“There are two types of white powder, and this is the kind I like. Best thing since the Armenian Gen- I mean sliced bread,” Chloe muttered.
“You sound like you’ve tried it before.”
“I DON’T DO CRACK, ANNA! JESUS, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?”
“Then choose your words wisely, chucklefuck.”
“Oi! Enough of that, puta!”
“Chloe! Anna! Both of you, shut it!” Gin crouched back into the turret to reproach her crew, eliciting giggles from the other two tank crews. “Wait till we’re in our dorms first, then you two lovebirds can argue all you want. Capish?”

Said lovebirds sat fuming in silence as Asa coaxed the Sherman into a gentle 90 degree turn and up the ramp leading to the main entrance of Jatkosota’s school ship, with the BT-7A and the Strv m/38 following suit, albeit without the same precision as the Sherman’s driving line. As the tanks crested the top of the ramp, they were instantly greeted by the sight of a very busy road, filled with schoolgirls and Vickers 6-Tons painted in pure white with their school emblem on the side of their turrets.
“Why are their skirts so damn short? It’s like the people who made the rules have a schoolgirl fetish or something…”
“Chloe, I said shut it!”

Asa chuckled and steered the Sherman along the road leading to the gargantuan ship’s hangar.
“Jesus guys, quiet down, you’re louder than a skeleton orgy on a tin roof.”
Howls of laughter came over the radio and the crew of the Sherman stayed silent as the normally mild-mannered Kimi’s sudden outburst left everyone in shock. Then, all hell broke loose.

“Wow, I never knew you had it in you, Kimi.”
“It’s always the quiet ones…”
“Jesus Christ!”
“By Jove!”
“Fucking hell, man..”
The girls from the other 2 tanks were still laughing their heads off, and Chloe was still given vent to the finest assorted collection of oaths that ever the girls listened to as the three tanks made their way into a massive tank hangar that seemed to rival downtown Central in terms of noise and traffic volume. However, the commotion died down as the Japanese schoolgirls collectively hushed to watch the Hong Kong tanks make their way to a corner of the hangar, where a spot was reserved for the three of them. 

“Great, five minutes in and I already wanna throttle someone,” Gin muttered while sending a sideways glare at her crew. However, this only served to anger her more, so she turned her attention to the captain of Jatkosota’s tankery captain, who was already making her way to Gin.
“It’s nice to have you here, Gin. A lot of our girls are interested in your upcoming match against Mojave Rose.”
“How did you-”
“Well… let’s just say we have connections.”
Aki giggled and held up a letter with the stamp of a centipede on the back.
“Huh… looks like Centipede’s someone you know.”
“Ah yes, Shizuka’s a very mysterious person, and also hard to get hold of. It’s lucky she even wrote to you in the first place.”
“I actually want to find out who this Shizuka really is, but… she’s on a different school ship, isn’t she?”
“I feel like she’s much closer than we think, but anyways, we’ve got a school ship to introduce you guys to!”

Aki clapped her hands together in excitement.
“Let’s go, then!”
She led the way out of the hangar, with the Eastern Pearl girls in tow, giggling like schoolgirls on a field trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later…

“What’s this called again?”
“Fried Baltic herring with mashed potatoes, with chanterelle soup. It’s a Finnish dish. You like it?”
“I… love it,” Gin smiled at Aki across the table as she wolfed down the fried fish and mushroom soup.
“That’s good to know. We Finns love being hospitable.”
“Except, uh… you weren’t exactly hospitable to the Russians, were you?”
“Eh, that’s just tradition from Mika, I’m just carrying on the torch.”
However, the twinkle in Aki’s eyes and the corners of her mouth betrayed her true thoughts, however blase her reply sounded.

It was at this very moment that Gin’s phone pinged with a message containing the following: “HESTER AND DEBBIE ARE MISSING WTF”
Eh, I’m sure they’ll be able to find their way home , the captain from Hong Kong thought to herself as she returned her phone to her pocket and her attention to her meal. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day…

“Up!”
“Fire!”
The boom of a 105mm howitzer reverberated through the tankery grounds of Jatkosota’s school ship as a HEAT shell soared through the air and annihilated a wooden mockup of a T-34.
“HEAT, traverse right! And… on!”
“Up!”
“Fire!”
“On the way!”
“Cease fire, cease fire. All targets destroyed, good job girls. 全世界休息10分鐘。”

The M4 Sherman’s crew relaxed and took a break as their commander gave the order to do so. The commander in question hopped out of her cupola and made her way over to the BT-42 parked to the side.
“So… how was it?”
“Very good. Your crew is one of the most well-trained ones we’ve ever seen. The other 2 crews are also pretty good. There is one problem, though…”
“I’m all ears.”
“You guys are aiming for the World Tankery Tournament, I assume. Well, simply put, your tanks aren’t fit for long range combat.”
“Yes, we’ve heard that a lot. That’s why I’ve got some upgrades planned.”
Aki leaned closer to her Hong Kong counterpart.
“I’m all ears.”

“Well, to start off, the Churchill sorely needs an upgrade. I was thinking about converting it to a…”
As the two captains conversed, the remaining two tank crews of the BT-7A and the Strv m/38 struck up another conversation amongst themselves.
“Did you hear how the German captain was raging last night?”
“Yeah, I thought it was my mom for a second. Man, could she scream!”
“What would Gin do if she found out?”
“I imagine she’d be less than pleased.”
“Should we, y’know… do less pranks? ‘Cuz someday we’re gonna get busted and it ain’t gonna be pretty once they find out.”
“Alright, everybody shush!” Hester, who hadn’t said a single word since the conversation started, butted in to give a piece of her mind.
“Look, here’s what I think of it. We’re here to represent Hong Kong. If we get busted, we’re gonna single-handedly ruin Hong Kong’s reputation, so no more pranks during the exchange trip, period. As much as I like pranks, we have a reputation to uphold. Are we all good with that?”

A quick glance around confirmed that everyone was on board with Hester’s suggestion, so the tank crews retreated into their tanks. Debbie sighed in boredom, not particularly looking forward to 3 weeks without pranks, as she closed her eyes and pressed the play/pause button on the speaker in her BT-7A.
'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play ~
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate ~
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake ~
I shake it off, I shake it off ~
“I thought you said you weren’t a Swiftie?” her driver Natasha joked from the front of the compact Soviet tank.
“I’m not. It just happens to be in this USB. I’ll skip it if you want.”
“Please do.”
The gunner Tanya reached past Debbie and pressed the skip button.

When I was a young boy living in the city ~
All I did was run, run, run, run, run ~
Staring at the lights they look so pretty ~
Momma said “Son, son, son, son, son” ~
“You’re gonna grow up, you’re gonna get old ~
All that glitter don’t turn to gold ~
But until then just have your fun ~
Boy, run, run, run, run, run” ~

“That’s the shit. OneRepublic’s always the GOAT,” Natasha muttered, tapping her feet to the beat of the song. The captain leaned back and closed her eyes, taking herself on a trip down memory lane to their prank on Kuromorimine yesterday. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night, aboard the Graf Zeppelin

‘Twas a calm and peaceful night in the Kuromorimine tank hangar, as the crews had been dismissed and the tanks parked. Only two people were left in the hangar, having a conversation within the captain’s office.
“You’ve been doing a very good job so far, Emma. Well done.”
“I’m humbled, Itsumi-dono. I’m just carrying on the legacy left by Nishizumi-dono and Itsumi-dono.”
“Indeed. However, sometimes I ask myself whether I should’ve broken from Kuromorimine’s doctrine, I mean, Maho-senpai’s doctrine. On the other hand, Miho’s tactics were cleverly effective, if you still remember, so I had to improvise in that match against Pravda.”
The light blondie turned away from the Maus commander and set her gaze on the night streets of Kuromorimine’s school ship, still filled with activity despite the dark sky.
“Maho-senpai’s too busy with her studies in Germany to be able to oversee this exchange program in person, so she reached out to me for help. I must say, I was expecting Eastern Pearl to be somewhat sub-caliber, but from what I’ve seen, they’re excellent at adapting and using unorthodox methods. Reminds me a bit of Miho, if I’m honest.”

As the two girls reminisced about the past and talked about the present, they weren’t aware of the hangar gate being opened by someone. Two humans clad in black from head to toe and wearing ski masks sneaked into the hangar, and after confirming that no witnesses were present, they snuck all the way to the door marked Captain’s Office .

The intruders crouched in front of the closed door, right outside the captain’s office, whispering to each other in hushed voices.
“How much did the speaker cost?”
“Pocket change. Got it from a flea market in Mong Kok.”
“Your words, not mine. You ready? Here goes.”
One of the intruders hit a button on her phone, and suddenly an earrape version of Erika started blasting in the office, causing its occupants to start demolishing the room in an attempt to find the offending speaker, all while yelling in what sounded like an unfiltered mix of Japanese and German swears.
“Well… that’s our cue to leave. The supply ship’s gonna head back to Jatkosota soon, so we gotta run.”
The two culprits scampered away from the door and out into the school ship, all while the Kuromorimine tankery captain raged in her office.
“SCHEISSE!!! I WILL HAVE YOUR GOTTVERDAMMT HEAD ADORNING MY WALL, YOU RUSSIAN MIDGET!!!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the same time, aboard the Kiev…

“Achoo!”
“Katyusha-sama, is everything alright?”
“Ne, must be the dust. Get me the person responsible for dusting my room, Nonna. I have something… special for her.”
“Yes, Katyusha-sama.”
“Right now! At once! Immediately!”
“Of course, Katyusha-sama.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, aboard the George Washington, USS…

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WENT MISSING?!”
“I MEAN IT’S GONE!”
“WELL NO SHIT SHERLOCK!”
The entire school ship was in a state of confusion and alarm as the entire tankery team gathered around a pallet covered by a tarp that clearly used to house something. 

Because that something was gone, the ropes holding it together snapped in half. 

The Eastern Pearl girls were quick to figure out what happened, with their de facto leader asking for a word with Helmet-Gal, who was more than willing to ask for help. Then, a Saunders girl yelled from the back of the crowd.
“Hey, them outsiders probably stole our shit!”
Racist or not, that lit a fire under Aurora’s ass. Before anyone could react properly, the one-handed girl was already bearing down on the culprit, backing her up against the wall.
“Listen here, chucklefuck. Just because we’re Chinese doesn’t mean we’re kleptomaniacs. Also, that’s terribly racist. Normally I’d let it slide, but you’re getting real close to ‘fuck around and find out’ territory. You’ve got fucking cameras installed everywhere, go check the footage first before making wild accusations. Now fuck off before I tell my girls to get a crowbar for me.”

Aurora was vaguely aware of someone tugging at her shoulder, begging her to let go of the racist Saunders girl, and she turned around to redirect her fury towards the person that dared to intrude on her private session, only to be met with the steely eyes of Helmet-Gal.
“Aurora, I know you wanna beat her up, and I do as well, but that’s enough.”
The two girls stared each other down for what seemed like eternity, until the one not wearing a helmet threw up her hands (hand?) in defeat.
“Fine. But don’t let me see her again, or I will get my hands on a crowbar.”
“Alright. Someone remove her name from our team, she isn’t welcome in the hangar anymore. Just because we’re an American-themed school doesn’t mean we can be racist, period.”

The racist in question tried to protest.
“But I-”
“Get the hell out of my hangar,” Helmet-Gal muttered threateningly.
“Why-”
“Someone get Aurora a crowbar, please.”
At those words, the racist turned and fled the hangar with her tail between her legs, while the one-handed tank commander turned to face the crowd, the same wordless question etched on her face.

Unsurprisingly, nobody wanted to find out.

With that taken care of, Aurora then turned to Helmet-Gal.
“So, anyone mind telling me what went missing that’s got y’all so worried?”
“Um… it’s a prototype Pershing turret.”
“A… what?!”
“Yes.”
“Keep talking, now I’m interested.”

Chapter Text

G'day wankers.

I have a lot of things on my plate right now. Driving license, school projects, post-secondary application follow-ups, etc. Average grade 12 things. I still try my best to work on the upcoming chapter, but life keeps getting in the way. I promise, it will arrive, just not now. To compensate, I'll reveal what I have in store for the Eastern Pearl girls going forward.

First of all, tanks. I've made a Reddit post about it, but I'll repeat it here. The M4/T26 will show up, along with the Elefant and the Brummbar. There are 2 other tanks, but they're both quite controversial and I'm still discussing with OrbitalHamlet about it, so I'll wait until a later opportunity to talk about it. If you've read the last chapter, the SU-122 and the StuH 42 G have been confirmed, so there's that.

Next up, the girls. Gin is still very much a novice in the grand scheme of things, so she still has a lot of lessons to learn, some more painful than others. It's hard to write about dozens of girls without making the majority of them background characters that are just... there. The passion to write is still there, but I just don't know how to proceed with the story without making it a shitty filler chapter. 

Lastly, credits. I have to thank my dear friends Erin and Brianna for giving their (dubious) consent for me to base characters off their likeness. Expect a short little tsundere with major anger issues to join the roster soon. I also want to thank OrbitalHamlet for being my beta reader/co-author, and of course, to my dear readers. 

I'll see y'all in the next chapter, folks. 

Yours Truly,
Nathan

Chapter Text

This is a hiatus announcement. I lost my grandma last night. I will be taking a break from writing for god knows how long. But I'll be back. Eventually.

Chapter Text

3 weeks later, in Yokohama…

“Hello?”
“Is this Gin speaking?”
“Yes, and to whom am I speaking?”
“Most of your classmates would’ve recognised my voice by now, young lady.”
“Oh crap, I’m sorry Headmaster Zhang!”
“No, don’t be. How are you feeling?”
“Very nervous. And also very excited. I hope the girls have improved on their skills.”
“That makes two of us. Also, we received a new tank called the SU-122… I think? The one you traded the French tank for. And we also received a new tank gun.”

“Tank gun… what’s the diameter?”
“Um… 105mm, I believe. Why?”
“Did it come with anything else?”
“No, the crate just had a red centipede drawn on the side.”
“Centipede. Of course. I have to talk to someone, can we talk later?”
“Of course, young lady, and good luck.”

Gin pocketed her phone and returned her attention to her crewmates, who were doing their things as usual. Chloe and Anna were having a whispered yet heated argument, Asa was reading from a paperback novel titled “1984”, and Kimi was nodding her head along to her earphones. In the tanks behind theirs, loud music could be heard from the BT-7A, while the Stridsvagn was surprisingly quiet. Which was weird, Gin thought, because there was no trouble whatsoever from the two mischievous tank commanders throughout the entire exchange stay at Jatkosota. Either they had actually decided to stop the pranks, or they were saving up for a massive one, and she didn’t know which was worse. 

But she didn’t have time to think about that, for a very familiar voice came over the radio.
“Didja miss me?”
The captain of Eastern Pearl popped her head out of the cupola to see four tanks drive out of a cluster of trees and towards them, with the brown Type 2 Ho-I leading. A girl with long brown hair could be seen perched atop the Japanese bunker buster, waving with her stump. Gin waved back with enthusiasm, as her time at Jatkosota was usually too busy and tiring to permit video calls, and she had to resort to only several Instagram messages and reels per day (admittedly more reels than actual words). Soon, the girls were reunited and many greetings and hugs and girly stuff took place.

“Wotcha,” purred Gin as she pulled Aurora close.
“Careful, Gin. Don’t wanna give the others the wrong idea,” her one-handed partner chided.
“Fine,” she pouted. “How was Saunders, then?”
“As American as Japanese schoolgirls can get. They’re filthy rich and they have a ton of everything. I don’t understand why they never used Pershings instead of Shermans; that way, they could even give Kuromorimine a run for their money. Instead, the closest thing they have is a prototype Pershing turret that got stolen on day one of our exchange.”
“Wait, you said a stolen Pershing turret? Tell me more, spill the beans.”

As the two friends (with benefits) conversed, two other girls were having a conversation of their own within the confines of the Sherman.
“Anna! Enough AO3 screen time!”
“Lemme finish this chapter first, babe…”
“It’s always one more chapter! You spend more time on AO3 than with me! What’s this one about?”
“Um… medieval knights getting knocked up by literal dragons?”
“What the fu- y’know what? I’m not even gonna question it.”
“Oh boy, I just said that out loud, didn’t I…”

“G’day wankers, could you make space for four more tanks?”
The voice over the radio spurred everyone present to look into the distance, and sure enough, the silhouettes of four tanks could be seen cresting the hill in the distance, with a T-34-100 leading.
“Took y’all long enough! First to leave, last to return!” Hester jested.
“Mauko gave us an honour guard, we couldn’t just speed off!” came Brianna’s reply over the radio.
“She what?!”
Gin facepalmed internally as the girls started bickering amongst themselves again, oblivious to their seething captain standing several tank lengths away. 

“GIRLS! Enough!” Gin’s yell brought the noise down to 0 decibels.
“Thank you. Now, as you all know, we will be playing against St Gloriana Girls’ College today, as the final ‘big thing’ of this exchange program. Therefore, I sincerely hope all of you have actually been practicing your tankery skills over the past three weeks instead of fucking around. Now, here’s the game plan. St Gloriana has several Matildas, a few Crusaders, and a Churchill VII. Hornet, Mozzie, Vodka, Dumbo, Hans, you’re on scouting duty; take out the Crusaders as well. Impostor, Oogway, Rasputin, Notankyou, you lot are capable of taking the Matildas head on. Separate and isolate the Churchill from any reinforcements and keep them busy; once that’s done, I’ll deal with the Churchill. Babayaga, you’re coming with me in case the faux Brits are smart enough to have a bodyguard for their Churchill. Capish?”
The Eastern Pearl tankers nodded in unison. After three weeks of drills and practice, they finally had a chance to stretch their legs and show off a bit. Gin looked at her team proudly, confident that they would deliver.
“Mount up!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The spectator areas were crowded, filled with tankery fans eager to see St Gloriana face off against the best Hong Kong had to offer. Meanwhile, a fair distance behind the crowds, an M4A1 Sherman and an Fa 223 Drache helicopter sat side by side, with more than several girls conversing amongst themselves.
“Ah, it’s been a long time since we’ve been in a Saunders Sherman, right Alisa?”
“Yeah, brings me back. I also haven’t seen you in a long time, Maho.”
“I could say the same about you and Kay and Naomi.”
“Hmm,” the former Firefly gunner replied, chewing on a piece of gum as usual.

“Erm, Nishizumi-dono, shouldn’t Darjeeling be here as well? It’s her protege going up against the Hong Kongers after all.”
“I did ask her if she would show up, Erika. She replied that she wasn’t worried because St Gloriana has some new hardware, courtesy of some mysterious donations.”
At this point, Maho Nishizumi leaned in to whisper in Erika’s ear, after which Erika’s eyes grew wide as saucers.
“No they did not!”
“Ooh, what did they get? Tell us Maho, spill the beans!”
“I’m… afraid I can’t, so you’ll have to find out for yourself later.”
Maho smiled ruefully as the Saunders University tankers badgered her for an answer to no avail. 

Meanwhile, a lone BT-42 puttered its way towards the group of girls, with an instantly recognizable girl sitting atop the turret, playing her kantele as her hair whipped in the wind.
“Look who showed up!” Kay enthusiastically yelled. “Who you got your money on?”
“The wind favours nobody today. It is anyone’s guess.”
“I bet you stole that line from Darjeeling,” Maho giggled.
“I am capable of stealing more than just quotes. Just ask Pravda.”
“I mean, we all love it when you guys put that midget in her place,” joked Kay.
“Manners.”
“My apologies, Nishizumi-dono.”
“Stop calling me Nishizumi-dono!” an exasperated Maho sighed as the other girls giggled in response.

However, their reunion was cut short by a 40mm Bofors round exploding midair, signalling the start of the exhibition match.
“Well, let’s get ourselves comfy!” the former Saunders captain exclaimed.
“I know you brought popcorn and soda, so you better share with us.” Maho followed it up with a mock Nishizumi glare.
“Yep, got enough for everyone, even the tank kleptomaniacs!” Kay proudly announced as Naomi and Alisa pulled out popcorn and soda from the Sherman.
“I brought some beer for us as well.”
“Of course you did, Erika. Of course…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of clattering tracks and roaring tank engines punctuated the otherwise calm air at the Yokohama Tankery Grounds, as the full might of Eastern Pearl High School’s tankery team trundled in a panzerkeil formation, with Gin’s pride and joy, the M4A3, leading the spearhead as usual. All the girls were itching for action, for they had spent the past three weeks learning about tankery tactics and practicing at tankery grounds.
“Alright girls, we’ll stick to the plan! Y’all know what to do?”
A chorus of affirmative replies sounded over the radio.

“Righto. Happy hunting, girls. Hooah!”
“HOOAH!”
The Stridsvagn, Stuart, BT, M15/42 and Pz.III split up into several directions and sped forward to scout, while the KV-1, Churchill, T-34-100 and T14 advanced steadily in a group; the Ho-I and the Sherman broke off on their own to hunt for St Gloriana’s Churchill VII. From her position behind the Sherman, Aurora could see Gin’s hair whipping in the wind, her eyes fixated on the town in the distance and the gears in her head calculating every single possible outcome and backup plan.

“Hey Aurora! You done ogling your bae yet?” the Ho-I’s loader joked.
“Shut it, Christy.”
“Uh-uh, temper,” was her reply.
“Oi, girls! Enough chit-chat. Get your heads outta your asses and pay attention. We’re in a forest, and forests are prime spots for ambushes. Remember the ISU?”
As expected, the girls all remembered the ISU-152 of Guangzhou, the beast that took out almost the entire scouting force of Eastern Pearl; and even then it was only a lucky shot that took it out.
“They never learn,” sighed Eastern Pearl’s captain. “Always gotta remind them to sober up.”

The duo continued on through the forest until they reached the edge of a hill that overlooked almost the entire field minus the city.
“Park the tanks behind the ridge, and engines off.”
The drivers of the Sherman and the Ho-I followed Gin’s command and reversed their tanks so that they were hidden from below the hill, after which they shut off the engines.
“Aurora, binoculars out. Everyone else relax a bit, but be ready to hustle just in case. And no high ground jokes, please.”
The one-handed girl grabbed the binoculars hanging from her neck and started scanning the distance along with Gin, looking for any St Gloriana tanks.

It didn’t take long.

“Gin? Lone Crusader, skirting the edge of the forest.”
“I see it. Brianna, you got a bead on it?”
“I see her, but it’s gotta be bait,” the T-34-100 commander replied. 
“Are you sniping from deep within the forest, or near the edge?”
“The former, very well hidden in shrubbery,” came the reply.
“Heh, the British imitators really think they can bait us into revealing our positions?” Aurora chuckled under her breath, her tone filled with scorn at how St Gloriana were underestimating them. Gin, however, remained silent, her brain working through the possibilities and outcomes. She then declared her verdict.

“Brianna? Shoot that Crusader and then retreat somewhere else. Rasputin, Hornet, get to Bri’s camping spot once she takes out that bait. I’m on my way.”
“What? Where are you going?” Aurora stared at her captain as if she had two heads.
“You stay here and keep spotting, no ifs ands or buts. I’m gonna be doing some trolling.”
Just as she finished her sentence, a shell struck the lone Matilda right on the side of the turret, taking it out; the elimination was followed by the sound of a tank cannon’s boom from deep within the forest.
“That’s our cue Asa, giddy up.”
The M4 of Eastern Pearl started up its massive V8 engine and made its way down the hill, disappearing past a line of trees into the forest. 

Aurora sighed and turned her binoculars back to the field, her vision lingering for a moment on the eliminated Crusader and its disgruntled crew making their way out of the tank, obviously none too pleased at being taken out less than several minutes into the match. One thing troubled her though: if St Gloriana had Crusaders, then what other tanks did they field that Eastern Pearl didn’t know about? She forced the nagging question into the back of her mind and refocused her attention on lookout duty, confident that Gin had it under control. 

Spoiler alert, she didn’t.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gin was more than irritated. She’d only spent less than five minutes buttoned up inside the Sherman with her crew, and already they were driving her nuts.
“You think this is gonna do the trick?” Chloe asked from her loader’s position in the turret, which served only to amplify her boisterous voice more in the confined quarters of the Sherman’s turret.
“Hey, we’ve got nothing to lose!” Kimi replied from her radioman’s position.
Bullshit , Gin thought, our reputation and pride is at stake .
“Then why such a risky plan?! We could’ve gone with something else!”
“Um…”
“See? British fangirl…”
“What did you just call me, commie?”
“Oh, you’re really asking for it now, bitch!”
“Oh, you wanna go?”
“Shut up, y’all! I can hear incoming!”

The five occupants of the tank instantly went silent, and sure enough, the rumbling of tank engines and tank tracks could be heard outside.
“Far right, I think… maybe…?”
“I gotta take a closer look, can’t hear shit inside. Pass me my binocs.”
“Can’t hear, she said. Well, no shit Sherlock…”
The commander’s hatch opened with a metallic creak, and Gin popped out like a jack-in-the-box, binoculars at the ready. She took a moment to scan the rough direction of the noise source before laying eyes upon the culprits, upon which she reentered the Sherman and announced her findings.

“We got enemy armour. Four Crusaders, headed towards Notankyou by the looks of it.”
“Crusaders, you say? That’s a problem…”
“Start the engine, we’ll intercept them.”
Asa hit the ignition and the massive V8 rumbled to life, while Chloe slammed a HEAT shell into the breech.
“I hope this plan of yours works, Gin. HEAT loaded.”
“It’ll work… probably.”
“That does not inspire confidence,” Asa muttered. 

But despite her reservations, she slammed the throttle to full and the 32-tonne steel monster heaved forward, gathering more and more speed as the engine’s rumble crescendoed into an almighty roar. It was with this exact almighty roar that the Sherman burst out of a row of bushes, right on the heels of the four Crusader tanks of St Gloriana.
“Closest one! Fire at will!”
The 105mm boomed and a massive 13kg HEAT shell slammed into the rearguard Crusader, promptly taking it out of action. Asa instinctively broke into evasive manoeuvres as the three remaining Crusaders broke formation, desperate to avoid being the next to be eliminated. One of the grey British light tanks got a bead on Big Shot , and a 57mm projectile was fired from its 6-pounder cannon, which soared past Gin’s head and hit a tree in the distance. Soon, the other two Crusaders got their eyes on the Sherman and started to return fire.

Throughout all this, Asa was driving the Sherman like she stole it, while Anna kept up the return fire for every shell that Chloe reloaded. And Gin? She was having the time of her life.
“Fire!” “Brake!” “Left!” “On! Fire!”
“Captain, Hornet and Dragunov are in position!” Kimi notified her commander.
“Nice! Asa, get ready to show em the old razzle dazzle! Chloe, Anna, load a HEAT shell but don’t fire!”
“Got it!” “Up!” “Ready!”
“Just a bit more… Just a bit more… And… NOW!”

Asa pulled hard on the steering, and the 105mm-armed Sherman veered off sharply to the left, revealing the T14 and the Strv m/38, both of which had their barrels pointed square at the Crusaders, AP shells loaded. The perfect bait indeed.
“Surprise, motherfu-”
Samantha’s exclamation was drowned out by the twin booms of her tank’s 75mm and the Swedish welterweight’s 37mm guns, taking out two Crusaders. The last remaining one had the wherewithal to do a u-turn and attempt to run, but it would all be in vain. Gin’s pride and joy had swerved around to cut off the surviving Crusader, and one more 105mm HEAT shell finished the job.

“Whoo!” “Nice one, girls!” “Yessir!”
The crews of the three tanks celebrated their apparent victory over St Gloriana’s scouting force, but their celebrations didn’t last long.
“Hey Gin, Aurora speaking. Got their entire damn force headed your way. A Churchill and, uh… a lot of Matildas.”
“Specificity, my dear.”
“It’s basically their entire fucking team.”
“Hoo boy… Kimi, patch me to the entire team.” The Sherman’s radio operator did so with a few deft switches on her radio.

“Alright girls, listen up. This is your captain speaking. I’ve got good news and bad news. Good news is we took out their entire scouting force. Bad news is the rest of their team is heading over. Heavyweights, head to the city ASAP and set up ambush positions; lights skirmish and distract their team, guerilla style; once I give the signal, lure them to the city and we’ll dismantle them there. Hooah!”
“HOOAH!”
The T14 and Strv m/38 peeled off and headed in separate directions, while Gin gave the order to patch her radio directly to Aurora.
“Aurora, you’ve done enough scouting. Get down here and join the skirmishers.”
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to say that?”
The Eastern Pearl captain could hear the excitement in her one-handed lieutenant’s voice as the Ho-I started its engine and helter-skeltered down the hill and into the jungle.

“Now what then, oh mighty captain?” Chloe’s voice reverberated through the rather cramped confines of the Sherman’s turret.
“Now… we rat.”
“Huh?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot y’all don’t play War Thunder. Anyways… semper fi, do or die.”
Gin lightly tapped Asa on the shoulder with her foot, and the Sherman’s driver sent the Sherman on a direct collision course with the main St Gloriana force
“好心你下次講人話啦，小姐。” (“Please speak human next time, miss.”) Kimi sighed exasperatedly as the Sherman rumbled through the forest. 

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the girls of Eastern Pearl, a sneaky little rat observed Eastern Pearl’s Sherman rumble away before starting its engine and discreetly shadowing Gin and co. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Orange Pekoe-sama, why are we heading towards the trap?”
“Have you heard of this saying, Rukuriri? ‘Sometimes, you just have to play the role of a fool to fool the fool who thinks they are fooling you’. This was one of Darjeeling-sama’s favourite quotes. Still is, I believe.”
“Uh… so you mean…”
Whatever Rukuriri was going to say was cut short by the M5A1 Stuart bursting out of a bush at full throttle and nailing one of the Matildas in the side of the turret before disappearing into the forest.
“I see… very clever, Gin Pang. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this before. Circular shield formation.”
In response, the St Gloriana Matildas grouped themselves into a hollow circle, guns pointed outwards, shielding the Churchill in the middle.

They didn’t have to wait long.

Another bush exploded in gunfire as the Strv m/38’s 37mm APDS shell ricocheted off the corner of the Churchill’s turret. Several Matildas returned fire with their 2-pounder guns, but by then the Swedish light tank was nowhere to be seen, having escaped into the shrubbery. An instant later, smoke grenades started raining from the Pz.III N, blanketing the St Gloriana contingent in a thick smog. 

Then all hell broke loose.

The air instantly filled with the roar of a multitude of engines as what seemed like the entirety of Eastern Pearl’s tankery team bum rushed St Gloriana. Tank tracks clattered, guns boomed, and metal screeched against metal as more than a few tanks made contact. And all this within the massive smoke cloud courtesy of Eastern Pearl’s Pz.III. Whenever an Eastern Pearl tank made it out of the smoke cloud, it would reload, turn around, and make another run; this was the first usage of what would be known as Gin Pang’s signature tactic: the blind kamikaze. 

Now, that’s not to say St Gloriana weren’t doing anything. They’d arranged themselves in a circular shield formation, thick frontal armour facing outwards, guns firing at anything that moved and wasn’t their teammate. But the blind kamikaze couldn’t be kept up forever. Both Orange Pekoe and Gin knew it. One side would have to hit their limit first, and sure enough, the shit hit the fan.

The smoke was still in effect, but the sporadic muzzle flashes from the cannon fire would reveal shadowy outlines of tanks before the cloud engulfed everything once again.
“Anna! The flashes!”
“Gotcha.”
The Sherman’s veteran gunner took careful aim, and soon enough, a muzzle flash lit up the outline of a Matilda. One trigger pull later, said Matilda was now smoking from the engine bay with a white flag on top of the turret.
“That’s it! Rinse and repeat!”
The Sherman’s 105mm howitzer fired yet again, this time ricocheting off the side of the Churchill’s turret. 

“Oi captain! The Pz.III’s smoke won’t last long!”
“Y’all heard Cheryl! Fighting withdrawal!”
The timing was impeccable. Just as the Eastern Pearl skirmishers sped off towards the city, the smokescreen started to clear; Orange Pekoe and co were obviously more than a little miffed at being trolled like that, so the entire St Gloriana contingent gave chase. All the while, cannon fire from both sides kept booming nonstop, causing plumes of dirt and vegetation to spray up from where the rounds hit the ground.
“That’s it, they’re getting pissed! Draw them to the city. We’ll pick them off there. Hooah!”
“HOOAH!” 

Meanwhile, in the city, the Hong Kong heavyweights could hear the sounds of gunfire and tank engines drawing nearer.
“HEADS UP GIRLS, WE’RE COMING IN HOT, HOSTILES ON OUR SIX! YOU KNOW THE DRILL!”
“收到！” (“Copy that!”)
The crews of the T-34-100, KV-1C, Churchill III and T14 sprung to action, with AP shells loaded and engines rumbling, ready to throw down at a moment’s notice. However, none of them noticed the olive medium tank in their vicinity, silently crouched under an overpass like a tiger waiting for its prey. Inside, a girl with pinkish red hair waited impatiently, taking large gulps of tea from her teacup, tapping her feet against the metal floor of the tank. 

“I have to be patient! Pekoe told me to be patient!”
“Commander, do you really think we’ll be able to pull this off?” the loader questioned.
“Oh ye of little faith. We’re not in a Crusader anymore, sweetie. They’ll never stand a chance. Besides… Pekoe gave me this tank for a reason. I’m the ace for a reason.”
The crew relapsed back into an uneasy silence as they prepared themselves mentally for whatever was about to go down. They didn’t know what would happen for sure, but one thing was certain: things were about to get ugly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Gin, I thought Matildas were supposed to be slow?!”
“You’re not helping, Aurora! Shut up!” Gin shot back as a pursuing Matilda nearly nailed the Sherman in the back of the turret. Anna let fly a 105mm shell in retaliation, which missed by a mile and impacted the dirt in front of the pursuers.
“Buddy, what was that shot?!” her loader yelled.
“Try A-Team firing without a fucking stabilizer, let’s see how many shots you land!”
“Kimi! Call the heavies, ETA 2 minutes!” the Sherman commander signalled to her radiowoman.

The Eastern Pearl skirmishers weaved their way between the trees, turrets pointed backwards, squeezing off shots whenever they had the chance. Likewise, the pursuing Matildas and Churchill refused to let them off, tailing the Hong Kongers with relentless fury and returning fire with just as much vigour.
“This is going surprisingly well…” Seline muttered in her commander’s position in the M15/42’s turret. A second later, the Churchill nailed her Italian light tank in one of its tracks, sending it into a spin; another Matilda shot it at point-blank range as they caught up, taking it out of the match.
“You had to jinx it, didn’t you…” her driver sighed in annoyance.

“Gin, the Italian shitbox is reporting KO,” Kimi informed the Eastern Pearl captain.
“Jesus fucking Christ, why is it always them?”
“Oi, heads up! We’re at the city!” Asa yelled from her driver’s seat. Sure enough, the forest thinned out in front to reveal an assortment of buildings.
“This is Gin speaking, we’re at the city. Skirmishers, split up; heavies, it’s go time. Hooah!”
“HOOAH!”
The skirmishers instantly split up into different directions and darted into the city, with the St Gloriana forces thinning out as a result. 

The orange-haired commander inside the Churchill let out a slight chuckle at the sight.
“I see how it is, Gin. Clever.”
She thumbed the mic on her throat and issued a single order.
“Rosehip. You have my permission. Go wild.”
“Thank you, captain! I’ve been waiting for this!” the recipient screamed over the mic, causing Pekoe to wince. Nevertheless, her lip curled up in a smirk.
“Elegance, Rosehip. Elegance.”

Rosehip reached down and gave a command to her crew; in an instant, a 77mm sabot round was loaded and the mighty Rolls Royce V12 engine roared to life.
“Forward!”
In response, the late-war British cruiser tank rumbled forward out of its hiding place, ready to claim the flags of some rather unfortunate Hong Kong tankers. And maybe win the match along the way. 

Eastern Pearl’s Churchill III was still waiting for the Matildas to show up when an olive-coloured tank burst into a stop in front of them. Kat instinctively pulled the trigger and let loose a shot, but the 57mm projectile ricocheted off the side of the hostile. Juniper watched from her commander’s seat as a girl with flowing pink hair popped out of the opposite tank’s hatch and fired off a 2-finger salute while grinning from ear to ear, and a split second later a 77mm APDS round took them out of the match, right through the frontal armour. However, the veteran commander only gave a small sigh of disappointment and got on the radio to her captain.

“Gin! They have a fucking Comet in the city! We got one-shotted!”
The Hong Kong commander instantly froze up.
“Please repeat that.”
“THEY! HAVE! A! COMET!”
“Oh shit… everyone, this is Gin speaking, keep your eyes and ears sharp, the wannabe Brits have a Comet lurking around in the city. New priority target is the Comet, our plan isn’t gonna work with that blasted thing in play. You see it, you shoot it. It’s got a gun that can tear through any one of us, so do not engage head on. Hooah!”
“HOOAH!” 

Meanwhile…

“Pekoe! I got their Churchill!”
“Good job, Rosehip. They think they can win with an inferior Churchill to ours. I’ll prove them wrong. Keep it up, and take out the rest of their heavies.”
“Alrighty!” Rosehip cut off her comms and crouched down to address her crew.
“Y’all heard Pekoe! Full offensive!”
“Uh… Rosehip, we can’t get too cocky. If we get taken out, then the whole plan’s done for,” her loader cautiously replied.
“Yeah, they also have plenty of tanks that can penetrate our armour. We should be more cautious and less gung-ho,” the driver added.

“All of you shut up! I spent months learning how to command a tank in the most suitable tank for my playstyle! I won’t be told to slow it down! Now either you listen, or you get out!”
The interior of the Comet was silent for a few seconds, then it started away from the eliminated Churchill III into another alleyway, just wide enough to accommodate it.
“That’s more like it, girls!” Rosehip exclaimed as St Gloriana’s ace in the hole continued to prowl for more heavies to devour. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hester was having the time of her life in the Strv as it ran circles two Matildas while taking out one of them; a second later her partner-in-crime eliminated the other one as it was traversing its turret to shoot at the Swedish light tank.
“Damn, never thought a BT and a Swedish tank would work well together,” Debbie quipped from her commander’s position in the BT-7A.
“See, I told you it’d be fun!” the Strv commander replied. Then, a voice came over the team radio.
“This is the T14 speaking, we just got taken out by the Comet. It’s using Matildas as distractions.”
“Hans here, we’re in pursuit.”
“You heard her, girls. Keep your wits sharp,” Gin added.
“Mozzie speaking, I got eyes on- OH SHIT!” This was followed by a very audible clang, which was in turn followed by a dejected “Stuart here, reporting KO from Matilda.”

The two Eastern Pearl pranksters shared a worried look as a faint clattering and rumbling could be heard getting ever louder by the second, then they sprang into action. Just as the two light tanks had about-faced the threat, the Comet came thundering down the intersection, narrowly missing a shot at the BT as they set forward in pursuit. However, they had miscalculated: the pursuing Pz.III N rammed into the BT-7A just as it started to pursue the Comet, while said British cruiser tank knocked the Strv out of the match with a shot to the turret front before disappearing into another alleyway. 

“WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING, FUCKWIT!” Cheryl screamed from her commander’s cupola in the Pz.III, as the offending commander could only apologise; the BT then untangled itself from the German light tank as they both approached the intersection where the Comet had disappeared, but understandably only a row of tank treads were left on the ground.
“SEE?! YOU LET HER GET AWAY!”
“Can we focus on winning the match instead of blaming people, even though it was my fault?” an exasperated Debbie shot back.

Their argument was cut short by yet another person over the comms.
“Impostor here, contact with two Matildas… that’s one down, and… oh, the Comet’s behind us, of course.” * Boom* “KV-1C reporting KO.”
“God fucking dammit girls, what happened to locking in?!” Gin yelled over the radio.
“The Comet can’t be far. Divide and conquer, but stay close,” Debbie radioed.
“Got it. Can’t wait to flush that cunt out, she made me dent my spaced armour.”
“And here I thought my swearing was bad.”
“Shut your trap, will ya?”

Both tanks rounded a corner… and came face to face with a group of four Matildas, all with guns pointed at them.
“Oh for fuck’s sakes-”
Multiple shots were heard, followed by a somewhat eerie silence.
“BT-7A and Pz.III N reporting KO.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aurora was internally panicking as the Comet wreaked havoc both in the city and in Eastern Pearl’s plans, it being a very nasty surprise that Gin did not see coming at all; it also didn’t help that over half the team was already taken out just because of the blasted thing. Her Ho-I was currently hidden behind the smoking remains of an eliminated Matilda, accompanied by a Sherman and very battle-worn T-34-100 as the fighting reached a lull and both sides’ tanks regrouped (“The puny Matildas couldn’t do shit to me,” Brianna had said upon showing up). More than once, a Matilda had passed through the intersection in front of them, but the gunners had the trigger discipline not to fire. 

“Hey Gin, who’s left?” Brianna radioed from her T-34-100.
“Uh… there’s the Sherman, you, the Ho-I… that’s it. They have, uh… the Comet, a number of Matildas remaining, and their Churchill VII.”
“Holy shit… although to be honest, I don’t think they have that many Matildas left,” Aurora chimed in.
“That’s true, that’s true… hey Aurora, do you believe in miracles?”
“Why are you asking that now of all times?!”
“Because I have a plan which is basically a death sentence for you, but if it works we might be able to even the playing field.”

The radio went silent for a moment, then Aurora’s voice came through loud and clear.
“Elaborate.”
“Ok, so I’ll draw away the Matildas because they can’t do shit to me anyways, then you bait the Comet into chasing you. Put up a fight, but lead it to a dead end on purpose. Chances are you’ll get shot, but Brianna will be hiding nearby, and that 100mm will make quick work of the Comet… unless her gunner whiffs, of course.”
“You’re lucky she didn’t hear that, Gin,” Brianna chuckled.
“Alright, let’s do it. I remember a public park that has a dead end a short bit down the street, so I’ll bait the Comet there. Brianna, you hide in the public park. I’ll send you the Google Maps address.”
“Bet. Semper fi, do or die, eh?” 

Brianna’s phone pinged, and a moment later the T-34-100 drove off, leaving the Ho-I and the Sherman alone.
“Well, I better get going then,” Gin radioed.
“I swear to God, if you get taken out I’m never letting your dumbass hear the end of it,” her one-handed lieutenant warned semi-menacingly.
“I wanna say something but I don’t wanna jinx it.”
“Blud, just shut up and go, you’re wasting time!”
“承你貴言。” (As you wish.)

Aurora lurched in her cupola as the Ho-I accelerated forward, and she heard the Sherman turn down an intersection behind her.
“Hey Aurora! You think Gin’s gonna pull it off? Distracting the Matildas, I mean,” Sadie joked from the turret as she loaded a 75mm HEAT shell into the breech.
“Eh, if anyone’s crazy enough to pull it off, it’s gotta be that madlad and her crew,” she replied.
“To be honest, you’re also off your rocker to challenge a Comet like that. Huh, maybe Gin’s craziness is rubbing off on you a bit,” her driver butted in.
“Just shut up and focus on driving, Astrid. We ball.”
“See? Even her catchphrase!”
“Can you just shut up?”

“Oi Aurora!” Gin’s voice yelled over the comms, followed by several audible booms in the distance. “I got their Matildas away, their Churchill is hanging back. Now’s your time to shine!”
“Gotcha!”
The Ho-I slowed down right before an intersection, before accelerating hard through it and squeezing off a shot at the Comet which was down the perpendicular street, predictably causing it to set off in hot pursuit.
“Right, then left, then right! Drive it like you stole it!”
Astrid apparently took the words to heart, sending the Ho-I barrelling through the streets of Yokohama like a girl possessed, as Margo squeezed off shots at the Comet behind them, which also kept up return fire. 

Meanwhile in the Comet, Rosehip was getting increasingly frustrated at her crew’s inability to take out the Ho-I.
“Rosehip, we can’t overextend ourselves, if we get too far away from Pekoe-sama, they can gang up on her.”
“I DON’T CARE! That puny little Japanese thing thinks it can shoot me and get away with it? Keep chasing it down!”
To her glee, the Ho-I rounded the corner and immediately found itself in a dead end, with the Comet barrelling down on it and blocking its only escape. A 77mm APDS shell to the front, and the Ho-I’s white flag flew.

“Yeah, that’ll teach you to mess with the Queen of Speed!” Rosehip celebrated from her spot in the cupola, before her eyes wandered over to the drab olive metal hulk to the side of her Comet, hidden in the public park.
“Oh… I guess Pekoe was right about overextending after all…”
At nearly point blank range, the T-34-100 unleashed the fury of its massive cannon at the Comet, instantly eliminating it from the match.
“Oh yeah baby, get jebaited! Sucker!”

“That was a bit overkill, don’t you think?”
Brianna’s blood ran cold as she turned around to face the speaker… and found herself staring at St Gloriana’s Churchill, with the gun pointed right at her T-34-100’s rear.
“It was a good bait though, you can’t argue with that,” Brianna smiled wryly.
“I won’t, although I suppose Rosehip’s overconfidence somewhat contributed to your plan succeeding.”
“You done gloating yet?”
“Oh, I wasn’t gloating,” Orange Pekoe giggled, “I was just genuinely commending you and your tankery team on a proper well-fought match. However, I’m sorry to say that the victor will be us. Be rest assured, there is no shame in losing as long as you give it your all.”

The orange-haired captain of St Gloriana’s tankery team patted her hand on the turret, and the Churchill’s cannon fired a round into the T-34-100’s rear, taking it out of the match.
“Unfortunately, I have to tend to your captain’s antics with her Sherman, so I must depart. Have a good day, Brianna.”
And with that, the Churchill lumbered out of the park and away from the dead end.
“Gin, this is Brianna. Ho-I and T-34-100 are KO, but we took out the Comet.”
“I was afraid that would happen, but no matter. You gave your all. Have some well-deserved rest, we’ll take over from here,” her captain replied.
“May the Force be with you,” Brianna joked half-heartedly as she cut the comms and slumped down into the (relatively) roomy confines of her tank and glanced at her equally tired crew.

“By the way, how the deuce did their captain know my name?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright ladies, I have another plan. I must say that it is a fairly terrible plan, and almost certainly won’t work.”
“Bruh.”
“Yeah, maybe I should’ve ended it with ‘fairly terrible’. Anyways, here’s the plan…”
Gin proceeded to explain her plan to her crew, which was met with mostly incredulous looks.
“Look, either we do this and have a chance of winning, or we lose. Simple as that.”
“Remind me again, but have we tried this before?” asked Asa.
“Nope, but I’ve seen it before. In a Panzer IV. So it should work fine if nobody chokes, but knowing my luck, there’s a good chance that someone’s gonna choke hard.”
“Did you really have to do us dirty like that, broski?”
“No, but we don’t have much time! I can hear them!”
Indeed, the grumbling of engines and clattering of tracks signalled that the main contingent of St Gloriana’s tanks wasn’t that far off.

“All right then, let’s do it.”
All eyes in the tank turned towards Kimi.
“I second that,” Asa chimed in.
“No objection, boss,” added Chloe. Anna just nodded her head in agreement.
“Good. Load HEAT and have another at the ready. Asa, unto the breach.”
“Atta boy.”
The Sherman lurched forward, the massive gasoline V8 propelling the 31.7-tonne machine down an alleyway. As it turned a corner, the olive hull of a Churchill could be seen; Anna wasted no time in letting loose a shot which hit the corner of the Churchill’s turret and didn’t penetrate. The next instant, Asa had sent Big Shot into another 90 degree turn and away from St Gloriana’s flag tank before they could get their turret into place. 

“Up!”
“Asa, left!”
The Sherman veered left into another alleyway.
“Matilda, 12 o’clock!”
“Sayonara, bitches!”
A boom later, the Matilda was taken out with a clean hit to its side armour, white flag flying from its turret.
“Reverse!”
With a crunching of gears, Eastern Pearl’s captain tank ground to a halt and accelerated in the opposite direction, Chloe desperately cranking the turret to the left. 

Her intuition happened to be spot on. Just as the Sherman cleared a corner, another Matilda could be seen on their left, and she instinctively let loose another shot. The HEAT shell wobbled clumsily through the air and impacted with the Matilda’s turret, sending yet another white flag flying up with a thwip.
“Toldja.”
“Oh shit!”
Right when Gin made that exclamation, a Matilda appeared from the right of the alleyway and fired at Big Shot , the 40mm projectile bouncing off the corner of the Sherman’s turret and very nearly taking Gin’s head off, who promptly flipped off the offending Matilda as she reversed back into cover. 

“Wait a second… girls, is it just me or did their Churchill’s barrel look abnormally long?”
“It’s not just you, Gin,” her trusty driver replied.
“Churchill with a long barrel… oh shit…”
“What? What’s wrong?” Anna questioned from next to her commander.
“What’s wrong is they don’t have a Churchill VII. They have a fucking Black Prince.”
“You mean the Churchill with a 17-pounder? That’s… we’re so outclassed,” Chloe mused, a worried expression on her face.
“Never mind that. Their armour layout is the same, so we’ll stick to our plan of breaking their ankles. Use the streets to our advantage, get to their sides where we can pen them. Chloe, where’s my megaphone?”

“Huh?!” the loader in question stared at her captain as if she had two heads.
“I said, give me the megaphone.”
She sighed and handed over the megaphone. Gin grabbed it, a Cheshire grin on her face, and popped her hatch to yell a message.
“All right, tea-drinkers! I see you guys have got some upgrades. Well, I don’t care what upgrades you got or how you got them: Pravda, Mojave Rose, even the Peaky Blinders… I DON’T FUCKING CARE! You want mano a mano? Well, buckle up chucklefucks! Давай!”
She retreated back into the confines of her Sherman and addressed her crew once more.
“All right girls, all bets are off. We’re shoving.”

She pulled out her poker chip and played with it for a bit.
“All in. Asa, get us outta here.”
“Did you have to say the Peaky Blinders part in a British accent, though?” the Sherman driver enquired half-jokingly.
“Maybe not.”
The medium tank lurched forward once more, emerging from the alleyway and into the street, right beside an eliminated Matilda. The street, however, was silent and empty, with nary an engine rumble beside their own.
“Huh… that’s weird…” muttered its commander.

But just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the hairs on the back of her neck stood ramrod straight. Which meant… oh no …

“OH SHIT, FLOOR IT ASA! GOGOGOGOGO!!!”
In response, Big Shot rocketed forward, the tracks clattering and digging into the stone ground, while the rumbles of several engines rang around them. I fell for their trap, Gin thought, as her mind raced through every backup plan she had memorised.
“Fuck it, we’ll stick to the plan! Asa, find us a way to get behind the Churchill! Chloe, get HEAT ready at all times! Anna, fire at will! And Kimi, uh… just hang on!”
“Hooah!” her crew replied.
“Hooah indeed.”
She didn’t have to say more. As they rounded the corner, they came face to face with yet another Matilda, which Anna wasted no time in taking out. The moment the HEAT round exited the barrel, Chloe tossed away the spent shell casing and rammed another one into the breech. This, Gin realised, was her crew at their very best: calm, collected, yet full of fight and determination. They were in the best mental condition possible.

“Found it!”
The Sherman swerved around a corner and came face to face with the mighty Black Prince of St Gloriana, its turret facing 180 degrees away from their target. Even at this distance, Gin could spy the orange-haired commander of the Churchill, staring at them in horror while frantically issuing commands to her crew.
“Do it, Asa!”
“We might snap a track.”
“That’s fine, the match will end here.”
“As you wish.”

The Black Prince turned both its turret and hull to traverse its gun quicker, all while its nemesis barreled towards it. At the last moment, the Sherman made a hard left, causing it to start sliding along the ground and almost flipping; however, right as it came to a rest, the Black Prince fired its gun right at Big Shot , and the 76mm projectile wedged itself right into the barrel of the 105mm howitzer. Gin didn’t have any time to react before Anna let loose another shot. The HEAT shell started its journey through the barrel, before colliding with the 76mm shell stuck in the gun muzzle… and promptly exploding.

And then the resulting shockwave knocked her out, causing everything to go dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She came to her senses gradually, lying on the cobblestone ground for some reason. Her vision was blurry, but when it finally came into focus, Gin’s blood ran cold. She was staring at yet another one of her team’s destroyed tanks, her own tank to be specific. Its left track had snapped completely, and its right track was also pretty mangled; all that paled in comparison to its gun, though. The 105mm howitzer of her beloved M4 had petaled, the barrel splitting outwards in several warped metal tendrils like a twisted version of a flower. A flower that seemed to mock its commander. A flower that threatened to tear down what she had tried so hard to build. A flower that stank of failure. 

A flower that destroyed a legacy. 

She let loose the dams in her eyes and the tears flowed, with sobs racking her entire body as she cried her heart out. Through her tears, she was barely aware of several pairs of arms wrapping around her in a hug, but she was way past the point of even acknowledging them. To her, at this moment, nothing existed except her M4 Sherman with its destroyed barrel. 

Chapter Text

There was no fanfare this time, the streets devoid of any cheering supporters and/or fangirls as the Eastern Pearl tanks trundled back into their home hangar in Hong Kong. And the end of the procession was the Sherman, its petaled barrel a mangled mess jutting out of the front of the turret. Gin wasn’t even standing in the cupola; she was just crouched down inside the turret, with a thousand yard stare on her face. 

“Hey Gin, we’re almost there.”
“Mmh.”
“You gotta get up and out of the cupola.”
“Nah, don’t wanna see the barrel.”
“Ah… okay…”
The rest of the ride was completed in silence, with Big Shot ’s crew sharing worried looks amongst themselves and Gin herself crouching in a stupor inside the labyrinth of her own mind. 

A single janitor heaved apart the metal gates of Eastern Pearl’s tank hangar, and the tanks once again returned to their abode inside the concrete and metal construct within the school.
The rumbling of tank engines subsided one by one, until the hangar was silent once more.
“Attention.”
The girls instantly got into formation.
“You all did well. I couldn’t ask for better. Training will be cancelled for the remainder of the week, but will resume as normal next Monday. Now go home and get some rest. Dismissed.”
Their captain didn’t even spare them another look as she turned around and trudged her way up the flight of stairs into the commander’s office, locking the door behind her. With the exception of Big Shot ’s crew, the rest of the girls dispersed on their own, leaving the hangar in ones and twos and threes; only Bri spared one last glance backwards at the closed office door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear diary,

Honestly I don’t know why I even call this a diary, because I only write once a week. Is there a specific word for a weekly diary, or am I just tripping balls? Yeah, maybe the latter. Been tripping since forever, I guess…

I mean… there are worse things than starting with “dear diary”, like losing a tankery match, for example. 

Yeah, we sorta kinda got crushed by St Gloriana. And everything’s felt different since then. Me commanding the T-26-4, then upgrading to the T-34-100 was originally a source of pride for me; now it’s just a source of shame. What if I had done better? What if I had noticed their Churchill earlier? Churchill, Black Prince, whatever. It doesn’t change the fact that I cost the team the win. And the biggest problem is, it’s not just me; the atmosphere within the team’s changed. 

I mean, sure, we’re still doing regular tankery practices, but everything just feels subdued… Gin’s still doing her best to lead by example, but I can’t see the fire in her eyes anymore. Hell, after I saw the Sherman’s destroyed barrel, I can’t bring myself to blame her anymore. I feel like the Sherman was Claudia’s way of passing on her legacy to Gin, and it’s also Gin’s promise to Claudia that she’d carry on Big Shot’s legacy. And now look at what happened. Team morale is gone, the symbol of leadership is gone, and Gin is in pieces. Everyone’s in pieces.

It’s funny, isn’t it? When you’re doing well, people keep trying to help even when you don’t need it; when you aren’t doing so hot and actually need help, everyone leaves. All because of me. 

All because of me.

If only.

I feel like someone’s gonna find this one day, so Gin, if you somehow get your hands on this, I just have one thing to say to you and everyone else in the tankery team: “it’s not your fault, I’m sorry I failed you”.

Farewell.

Brianna Ava Choi

21-3-2024

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I swear to god, Chloe, if this isn’t the right hospital I will throttle your ass in front of everyone,” Gin snarled as she and her crew hurried through the corridors of a hospital.
“Hey, I’m just following Google Maps,” the Sherman’s loader retorted. A few moments later they arrived at the door of a hospital room.
“Okay, let’s see… yep, that’s her full name,” Gin muttered to herself before turning around and addressing her crew in a hushed yet very serious tone. “Now, I am abso-fucking-lutely serious about this, when you’re in there, watch your words very carefully. You know what happened, and you know better than to fuck around at an occasion like this, because this is very high on the fuck around and find out graph. Are we all good? Alright, unto the breach.”

The hospital room was understandably very quiet, with only the beeping of a heartbeat monitor echoing through the space; on the hospital bed lay Brianna, hooked up to said heartbeat monitor and an IV drip, seemingly slumbering peacefully. A suicide watch officer nodded at the 5 visitors as she looked up from a tankery magazine.
“Almost 24 hours, and not a single adult has shown up other than the medical personnel. Just you five, and two other girls that said they’d be back soon.”
“She’s gonna live, right?” Gin asked, getting straight to the point.
“She will, but we don’t know how long it’ll take for her to wake up,” the officer replied, “For now, I’m just looking at tankery-related stuff so that if she wakes up alone, I can talk with her.”

“Thank you. You, uh… mind leaving us alone for a bit?”
“Actually, one of Brianna’s diary entries addressed you directly.”
“Who, me?”
“Yeah, Gin.”
“How did you-”
“You’re famous now, Gin.”
“Oh, of course. But I don’t think reading her diary-”
“It’s only a copy of that single entry, not her entire diary. Relax.”

The Eastern Pearl captain skeptically took the sheet of paper from the officer on watch and read its contents.
“You sure this is a diary and not a suicide note?” she asked after reading.
“It’s from her diary, but it does sound like the latter.”
“Well… at least she’s alive… cuz she sent a farewell message to everyone in the tankery team, and I was like ‘what the hell’, and then a few hours later we got the news. Had me worried sick. To be honest, Bri’s always been a bit off, but I… girls, can you leave me alone for a while, I wanna talk to the officer in private.”

Gin’s crew acquiesced and headed out into the corridor.
“Yeah, as I was saying, I started suspecting something was up when I told her to stay behind after training once, cuz she looked a bit downcast and distracted. I was like ‘you can talk to me if there’s anything wrong’ and she just went like ‘you don’t know what I’ve been through’. Or something to a similar effect.”
“Ah, I see… well… I’m not saying you did anything wrong, but why didn’t you notify others earlier?”

Gin let out a dry chuckle.
“Because I was in her shoes once, and I did cry out for help. What changed? Nothing. No offense, but I would’ve notified people if I had faith in the system. Problem is, I don’t have faith in the system.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Not after last time.”
The suicide prevention officer was about to reply, when there came the sounds of a short kerfuffle out in the hallway. The Sherman commander’s sixth sense flared up, and she barely had time to dodge the empty juice box that was thrown at her head.

She didn’t have enough time to turn around and avoid the slap to her face. 

She didn’t even have to think; she let her instincts do the talking for her, and that is how she found herself basically pinning a petite 5-foot-tall girl to the wall with her hands and a knee, with the girl shooting death glares in return.
“Now, we could either head outside and talk this out like two respectable young ladies, or I could have you arrested right now on a simple assault charge. Your pick.”
The death glares abated finally as she glanced downwards.
“Get your knee off my stomach first, it fucking hurts.”

The Eastern Pearl captain obliged and released her captive from the wall, who upon release simply strode away towards the corridor, flipping her shoulder-length hair in Gin’s direction. Another slightly taller girl with her hair done in a single ponytail took a small step forward.
“Erin, don’t…”
“Move.”
“But-”
“Em. Move.”
Em visibly wilted a bit under Erin’s fierce gaze, and proceeded to make way for the lil shorty.

“Is she always like this, Em?” Gin asked
“Name’s Emily. Yeah, she’s always like this when she’s in a bad mood, which is roughly 50% of the time.”
“Ah, Little Ms Temper, eh? Don’t worry, I got this. Probably.”
“Probably…?”
“Just get security if I’m not back after a few minutes. Or, y’know… stop Little Ms Temper from murdering me. Ah, fuck it, we ball.”
Gin flashed Emily a wry smile and hurried after Erin’s rapidly retreating form down the hallway.

Erin strode down a few twists and turns before abruptly stopping at a corner; Gin almost bumped into the lil shorty staring daggers at her.
“Well, care to explain now?”
“What is there to explain?”
“First of all, you slapping me for no reason-”
“No reason? NO REASON?! YOU’RE THE ONE FLAMING HER IN YOUR GODDAMN OFFICE AFTER EVERY GODFORSAKEN PRACTICE!”
“Woah woah woah, the fuck did ‘flaming her’ come from? You think I’m the type of person to bully an emotionally unstable person?”
“You look the part.”
“I-”

Gin ran a hand through her hair to calm her nerves, as she was also getting worked up.
“You really think I was flaming her and blaming her for every little mistake she made?”
“Well-”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, Erin. I was teaching her.”
“By laying into her? Really?!”
“I swear to the powers that be, if you don’t stop raising your voice I am going to have you fucking arrested.”
Erin looked into the tankery captain’s glaring eyes and felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise up. 

She shut up.

“Did Bri play any video games before joining?” Gin asked out of the blue.
“Only Blue Archive.”
“Did she play any other games after joining?”
“War Thunder, but I don’t see-”
“War Thunder is a fucking tank simulation game. I learnt tankery from it, and I taught Bri to play it more, especially her tank. Hell, I even spent real money to buy the tank for her account in-game. Now, if I were setting her up to fail, would I do that?”
“Then why only her? Why does Bri and Bri only get the special treatment?”
“I’ve seen the scars.”

Erin’s entire demeanor changed instantly as if Gin had snapped her fingers. Her eyes stopped launching daggers at Gin and looked away at the floor.
“Then what took you so long every time?”
“Have you noticed that Bri’s started playing card games?”
“Wait… that was you?”
“Yep. Blackjack, Texas hold ’em, cribbage, gin rummy. I taught her.”
Gin took a small notebook out of her pocket and flipped to a tab marked “Bri”.
“Here, have a look. It’s all dated.”

The hot-tempered shorty flipped through the pages, each page noting what Bri did well or needed improvement on, as well as suitable training methods in War Thunder.
“So… all of this is for her?”
“Yep.”
“Damn. She never told us, she just looked so tired after practice every day, we thought she was getting ragged on.”
“I can see where that came from.”
“So… are we good now?”
“Nah,” Gin shook her head and gestured to her cheek.

“Oh… erm… sorry…”
“Alright, no hard feelings. Now, let’s go back before your precious Emily thinks that you’ve murdered me.”
“Oh no, Embean…”
“Oh, so it’s Embean.”
“Shut.”
Erin turned on her heels and jogged back to Brianna’s hospital room, where the rest of the ensemble were waiting.

“Before y’all ask, no I didn’t murder her. Yes, I apologized. I wasn’t thinking straight,” Erin stated the instant she entered the hospital room.
“Oh yeah? Not thinking straight? Lemme show ya-” Chloe was about to throw hands when Gin appeared behind Erin and gave Chloe a death glare.
“No one’s fighting anyone today.”
“Make me.”
“Try me.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop a degree or two as everyone with the exception of Gin felt a slight chill down their spine, while Gin herself was looking positively murderous.

Emily broke the stare-off competition by grabbing Erin and dragging her outside the hospital room into the corridor, where a rapid whispered conversation could be heard.
“Sorry Gin, I saw red for a bit,” Chloe muttered sheepishly
“No hard feelings, we’ve all been there.”
Eastern Pearl’s tankery captain moved to sit next to Bri’s hospital bed, gently laying a hand on the slumbering girl’s shoulder.
“Listen up, Bri, this is your captain speaking. You better wake up soon, alright? We still have a lot of things to do before you can master commanding the T-34-100, ya heard? Don’t you fucking dare leave us all behind. We’re all waiting for our favourite Blue Archive weeb to shit talk us over the radio. Can you do that?”

There was no reply.

Gin abruptly stood up and heaved a deep sigh.
“Holy hell, I’m not good with shit like this. Emotions and stuff. Goddamn.”
Her phone started to vibrate.
“Stay with her, guys, someone’s blowing up my phone.”
Her crew nodded as she stepped out into the corridor, running into Erin and Emily.
“Hey Gin, uh…”
“Can it wait?” the Sherman commander asked, gesturing to her vibrating phone.
“Yeah.”

Gin hurried along the corridor to a quiet corner and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Gin, this is headmaster Zhang speaking.”
“Yes?”
“Um… this might be a bad time to say this, but I need you back at Eastern Pearl ASAP.”
“Let me guess… tank stuff.”
“Yes, let’s just say… unexpected delivery.”
“Let me guess again… centipede.”
“Yes and no, I’ll explain later.”

"I'll deal with it later, I'm with Brianna right now."
"Oh, I see," the headmaster understood immediately, "In that case, take as much time as you want or need, we can deal with the centipede problem another day. For now, just take a break, iron out the issues on your end, and we'll deal with everything else when you're back in condition, okay?"
"Thank you headmaster," Gin muttered before hanging up and returning to Bri's hospital room. Asa and Kimi were standing next to each other, staring out of the window; Chloe and Anna were having a very whispered conversation in the corner; Erin was sitting on a chair next to Bri's hospital bed caressing her cold unmoving hand, while Emily stood behind rubbing Erin's shoulders reassuringly.

The normally stoic Sherman commander took a seat next to Erin, stared at Bri's unconscious face for a few seconds, and promptly burst into tears.
"I'm sorry," she muttered over and over again. "I'm sorry." She felt a hand on her shoulder, and saw that Erin was trying to hold back tears of her own. 
"What do you have to be sorry for, you idiot?" Erin choked out, "You were trying your best to help her."
"I couldn't prevent it. I couldn't stop her."
"Shush, shush. We can both read her the riot act for being an idiot when she wakes up. For now, we can make sure that we will be there for her every step of the way, and last I checked, that's what we're doing right now. Bri, if you're listening, you better wake up soon, I still need someone to hug and talk to and make arts and crafts with."

A lone tear drip onto Bri's unmoving left hand, and it ever so slightly held on to Erin's hand just a bit tighter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WE GOT A DISCORD BABY

https://discord.gg/5FusmEBa

Chapter Text

Gin found herself rushing through the hospital corridors again, this time under a different circumstance. Upon reaching Bri’s hospital room, she allowed her feet to slow down with trepidation, hearing voices from the room, including a voice she hadn’t heard for a long time.
“Don’t bother hiding, I heard your footsteps from a mile away,” the voice said. The Eastern Pearl captain let out a chuckle and jokingly poked her head through the open door frame, and saw Bri sitting upright in her hospital bed, with Erin and Emily on either side of the bed.
“Look who’s here,” Bri joked.

“Brianna Ava Choi, I’d smack some sense into you if you weren’t in a hospital bed,” Gin announced, rapidly approaching the hospital bed and wrapping her arms around the diminutive T-34-100 commander. 

Both girls soon found their faces wet with silent tears as they enveloped each other in a bear hug. Or as hard as Bri could hug, at least, considering the fact that she had just woken up from a coma only a few hours ago.
“Don’t you ever do something this stupid again, you hear me?”
“Loud and clear, captain.”
“You idiot. Do you know how many hours of sleep we all lost over you?”
“Okay, I get it.”

After what seemed like an eternity, the two finally separated.
“So… mind telling me what I missed?”
Gin smiled and started talking about literally everything related to tankery. About the two new tanks, about the two deliveries, about everything the team had been working on.
“Hey Gin,” Erin interrupted.
“Yeah?”
“Might as well break the news to you now. We wanna join the tankery team.”
“We? You and Erin?”
“Yep.”

The news was evidently a surprise to Bri as well.
“And you two never thought of consulting me beforehand?”
“And let you reject it?” Erin shot back.
“What she’s saying is, we want someone to be there for you in the tankery team,” Emily interjected.
“And whose idea was it?” Gin asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Mine,” Erin and Emily blurted out simultaneously, before giving each other a look.

The Hong Kong tankery captain thought long and hard for all of three seconds before nodding her head.
“Sure. Do you two have anything to do later?”
“No, don’t think so.”
“Nope, why?”
“Because I will be taking you two on a tour of our tank hangar. We have two tanks with no crew to pilot them, so you two can choose the tank you want to command.”

“Were you in on this, Gin?” Bri asked skeptically.
“For once, no I am not.”
“I doubt that.”
“That’s on you. Anyways,” Gin turned to Erin and Emily. “Are you two coming with me later?”
They both nodded in agreement.
“Alright, then. Now, ladies, let us divert our attention to another pressing matter at hand: hugging the stuffings out of Brianna.”
“Wait, lemme get- oomph! I… can’t breathe… ack!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The headmaster and several other non-teaching staff were already staring at the two tarp-covered deliveries when Gin arrived with Erin and Emily in tow.
“The two of you enter the hangar first, get familiar with the tanks but do not touch any buttons or crank any levers, I’ll be with you in a few short minutes.” She turned toward the headmaster once the newcomers were out of earshot.
“Who are they from?”
“One of them is from the Japanese tankery association, the other is from your mysterious centipede.”
“Can we open the tarps?”
“Sure.”
The headmaster gave a nod to the janitors, and they quickly uncovered the delivery from the Japanese government, revealing a Chi-Nu turret.

“Huh, Chi-Nu… Wait a minute… that’s not the Chi-Nu gun…”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s… the turret of a Chi-Nu II. Basically a Chi-Nu turret with a much better 75mm gun from the Chi-To. 150mm of penetration point blank, uncapped APHE, same hull… Headmaster, remember the Ho-I we just got?”
“Yes…?”
“We can just remove the Ho-I’s turret and slap this on top. Same hull, should be a relatively straightforward conversion. We get way better firepower from this; the tank turns from a point blank glass ambusher into a glass sniper.”

The headmaster pursed his lips in thought for a moment.
“Alright, approved. I’ll contact the tankery restoration facility in Guangzhou. But what about the other one from ‘Centipede’?”
“Well, we gotta open up the gift first.”
“That is true, that is true. Please.”
The janitors removed the tarp with a centipede logo on it, revealing something that made Gin very excited, very angry, and very perplexed at the same time. She reached for her phone and made a phone call.

“Aurora, where are you?”
“In my dorm room. Why?”
“Good, get your ass to the hangar right now. We need to talk.”
“What?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself, I’m not in the mood for jokes here.”
“Um… okay…”
She heard her one-handed lieutenant shuffle off the bed before hanging up.

“Gin? Is there anything wrong?”
She ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath.
“Headmaster Zhang, with all due respect, a lot of things are wrong at this point or are going wrong. My tank’s gun has exploded and we have a most likely stolen turret delivered to our doorstep. So yeah, things are currently going to shit.”
“Gin? What’s going on?” Aurora’s voice came from behind her. Gin just wordlessly pointed to the Pershing turret that lay half covered by a tarp with a centipede logo on it.

“Oh. Oh …”
“Care to explain?”
“I thought I told you, it got stolen before we even arrived on their school ship!”
“Ok, then why the fuck does Centipede of all people know about it?!”
“Why’re you asking me?!”
“Um, girls?”

The headmaster was pointing towards an envelope taped to the back of the Pershing turret; Aurora hurried over and ripped it off the turret, handing it to Gin.
“It’s for you.”
Gin wordlessly ripped open the envelope and retrieved its contents, revealing a letter written in Japanese:

“Gin Pang,
We’ve never met, yet you feel like a very familiar person to me. Same underdog story, same willpower and wit. I have a feeling you two are going to meet one day, but that can wait. I admit, we probably did steal the Pershing turret to sell it and keep Centipede Team running, but after I saw what St Gloriana did to your Sherman, I feel like you need it more than me. I have taken the liberty to ask Saunders, and they thankfully agreed to give it to you as a gift and not take me to court for one count of theft. I have seen an image of a Sherman hull with a Pershing turret, and if I remember correctly it is a WW2 prototype, which means that it is most likely allowed in the rulebooks. I hope you enjoy your new firepower, and I wish to see you soon.

Signed,
Shizuka Tsuruki, aka ‘Centipede’”

“She wants me to convert Big Shot into… that thing?” Gin mumbled under her breath.
“What thing? Gin?”
Eastern Pearl’s tankery captain handed Aurora the letter to read and turned to the headmaster.
“Headmaster Zhang, can we put that turret onto the Sherman?”
“Are you sure…?”
“Yes, I am 100% sure. The turret rings are exactly the same, so it should be just like swapping Lego minifigure heads.”
“Well… I trust your judgement when it comes to matters like these. I’ll have both of the tanks sent to the tankery restoration facility, along with both turrets. All I have to do now is convince the deans to let me use some more treasury funds. Not looking forward to that.”

The headmaster turned and plodded away towards his office, while Aurora finished reading the letter.
“Oh, so that’s what happened.”
“Hey Aurora, can you send a message on the Eastern Pearl Discord server? Urgent Discord meeting next Monday night, 2100 hours sharp. Say that members who don’t attend may get their tankery team memberships revoked. And send it to the tankery WhatsApp as well. Ping everyone.”
“What’re you gonna do?”
“Me? I’m gonna deal with the two guests in our hangar. You could join us if you want.”

Aurora raised her eyebrows and followed Gin into the tank hangar, where they could already see the pair of said guests marveling at the sheer size of the hulking metal beasts.
“Intimidating?” the Eastern Pearl tankery captain asked as she approached the prospective tank commanders.
“They look a lot bigger in person compared to the photos Bri’s been showing us,” Erin replied.
“Well, the literal lightest tank on our team weighs almost 9 tons without any ammo or crew.”
“And how heavy is the heaviest tank?” Emily asked
“Erm… 47.5 tons when empty, which is around 45 cars. That would be the KV-1C over there,” she pointed at the heavy tank in question.

“It sure looks the part,” Erin exclaimed, letting out a whistle.
“Alright, ladies, allow me to direct your attention to the two tanks in the very back. Those two are the uncrewed ones. Go ahead, pick your poison.”
The two excitedly scampered over to the StuH 42 G and the SU-122, staring at the two tank destroyers. Funnily enough, it didn’t take them long to choose.
“I call dibs on the slanted one!” Erin yelled.
“I guess I’m getting the derpy-looking one then,” stated Emily.
“It suits you,” the girl with short person syndrome (literally) ribbed.
“Wha- HEY!”

“Ahem, ladies.” Gin's commanding tone brought the two newcomers silent. “Now that you’ve chosen your respective tanks, you guys need your own crews, preferably chosen from your friends. Erin, your SU-122 needs 4 more people, and Emily needs 3 more.”
“Why do I need one more?”
“Because your SU-122 needs two loaders while Emily’s StuH only has one. A 122mm diameter shell is way heavier than a 105mm diameter shell.”
“Oh.”
“I highly recommend looking up your tank on the War Thunder wiki and on Wikipedia. Also, for the love of god, download War Thunder and get your tank and play with it. It helps you get used to your tank; nothing beats actual seat time in the tank, though. Questions, thoughts, comments, concerns? No? Good.”

Gin did an abrupt 180 and started walking towards the hangar door.
“In that case, you two are dismissed for today. Can I trust you two to not break anything?”
Erin and Emily both nodded simultaneously.
“Okay. Have a look around, check out the other tanks if you want, just remember to get the janitor to lock the hangar doors before you leave. Aurora, follow me.”
The one-handed girl followed in her captain’s footsteps until they were out of earshot.
“What’s the matter?”
“Get your gaming laptop and head to my room, I want someone to play War Thunder with. Wanna let off some steam.”
“Sure.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ok, Gin, we’re all here. Not a single person missing.”
“Good. What I am about to tell you stays within the tankery group only. Whoever spills the beans to outsiders will be removed from the team. Now, I trust that all of you are self-respecting young ladies who understand the importance of privacy, and that you all understand the upsides of not being a gossipy bitch who can’t keep a damn secret. Have I made myself clear? Good. First things first, two of our tanks will be getting upgraded. The Ho-I will be having its turret replaced, turning it into a Chi-Nu II with a way better 75mm high-velocity anti-tank gun.”

This was news to Aurora and her crew. Their new gun meant that they could readily take on more heavily armoured tanks at a longer distance.
“Aurora and co, don’t start celebrating too early. You guys all need to get used to the new gun, especially the loader, gunner and commander. Longer reload, flatter shell trajectory, faster muzzle velocity, and a complete 180 change in tactics. Aurora, you better start grinding hours in War Thunder with the Chi-Nu II; the rest of the crew will be subjected to a different training regime to help you get used to your new tank.

“And that’s not all. Second upgrade is the Sherman. You all know what happened with the barrel. The entire 105mm gun is a total loss, but we have received a prototype Pershing turret, which means that we are literally removing the Sherman turret and slapping the Pershing turret on top. I have checked the rulebook, and the resulting tank was indeed a US prototype from 1944, so it is allowed. The two tanks will be retrofitted and back in Eastern Pearl in a few days’ time, so practice will be cancelled until then. In the meantime, get some well-deserved rest, catch up on your schoolwork, play a bit of War Thunder, whatever. 

“One last thing, girls. You may or may not have noticed two new faces in the Zoom meeting today. We got two new team members. Care to introduce yourselves?”
“Hi everyone, I’m Emily, you can call me Em.”
“Sup. Name’s Erin.”
“There we go. I believe all of you have noticed the two new tank destroyers sitting in the back of the hangar, both fully restored. Emily has chosen the StuH 42 G, armed with a 105mm howitzer. The other one is an SU-122 with a 122mm howitzer; Erin has chosen the SU-122, armed with a 122mm howitzer. I trust that both of you have already assembled your crews?”

“Yep.”
“Yessir.”
“Good. Both of you have been added to the Eastern Pearl Discord server and WhatsApp group, and it is your responsibility to check daily for any updates and announcements. To everyone else, same thing, mutual respect is a road that goes both ways; if I find any one of you being an asshole, you’re kicked. Capish?”
“Yes captain!”
“Aurora stay behind, everyone else is dismissed.”

The Discord logoff sound rang out over the next minute as the tankery team members logged out one by one, until only Aurora was left with Gin.
“What’s cooking, good looking?” purred the one-handed lieutenant.
“My god, that was criminal.”
“Sorry, couldn’t help it.”
“You’re hopeless… Okay, back to business. Do you have the Chi-Nu II in your War Thunder account?”
“Um… no I don’t.”
“Good. My dorm room, now. And bring your gaming laptop.”

Aurora flashed a grin at the camera before she left the call; Gin ended the meeting and fired up War Thunder on her computer. She didn’t have to wait long; a knock sounded at her door, prompting her to answer it.
“At your service, ma’am.”
“Come in, sit on the bed, and open up War Thunder.”
“Huh?”
“How many Golden Eagles you got?”
“Let me check… um, I have just over 600.”

Gin handed her two banknotes.
“Should be enough for 1000 GEs, the Chi-Nu II costs 1600 GE.”
“Gin. You know I can afford it.”
“The offer still stands.”
“What was your true intention of getting me to come down?”
The business-like tankery captain suddenly made a pouty face.
“Been back a week and not even a hug.”

“Aiyah, why are you like this?” Aurora muttered, pulling her captain/girlfriend close for a hug.
“I’m still angry.”
“In that case…” Gin found herself being flung onto the bed, with her one-handed lieutenant flopping down next to her.
“Aurora, don’t you dare-”
“I don’t care, I wanna cuddle.”
“Hmph.”
Despite Gin’s demeanor, the Eastern Pearl captain snuggled up closer to Aurora and stifled a yawn.

“I’m tired…” Gin moaned.
“I locked the door.”
“Not today, Aurora.”
“What? Every time we cuddle we end up doing more than that.”
“No, I’m actually tired today.”
“Yeah, sure…”

“ Sigh … Aurora, I’m worried.”
“About what?”
“Erin and Emily.”
“Oh… should we be actually worried, or are you overthinking again?”
“I don’t know… Emily has no prior experience whatsoever, and Erin’s a known juvie kid…”
“It doesn’t matter, Gin. They can be trained. They’ll get better with regular practice.”

“But there’s only so much we can do…”
“Gin Pang, you can do more than you think. You have done way more good than you think by taking leadership of the tankery team. We have more influence and power in our words than we think. And I can say this calmly and pragmatically: the team needs someone like you to guide and help them out of this situation. You’re the beacon of light the team needs, just like how you are my beacon of light. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Mhm,” Gin muttered and shuffled closer into Aurora’s embrace.

A few moments of silence elapsed, with Gin not moving a muscle.
“Huh… no way she’s actually already asleep,” the one-handed girl muttered.
“Zzz…”
“Oh. Sweet dreams then, I guess,” she whispered, lowering her voice so as not to disturb her slumbering girlfriend. “Although this is also very enjoyable.”
She planted a gentle kiss on Gin’s head and laid still, and before she knew it, she was also yawning, arms still wrapped tightly around her human pillow. 

Was it just her, or was her sweetheart a lot less fitful in her sleep?   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, somewhere in Japan…

“Hello, this is Matsumoto Tankery Restoration Company. How may we assist you today?”
“This is Claudia Zhang speaking. I am here to inquire about-”
“Ah yes, Claudia Zhang! We were just about to contact you! Yes, your request has been approved by MEXT and the High School Sensha-do Federation. We have obtained the blueprints, and restoration has begun on your requested project.”
“Thank you. Do you have an estimated finish date?”
“As of right now, we should be finished in three months’ time, but we could hurry it along a bit if you wish.”
“No, do it properly. Rushing it means a higher chance of flaws and defects.”
“Indeed. We will contact you again once the general mockup has been completed with further estimated deadlines.”

“Thank you for your work,” said Claudia, hanging up and refocusing her attention on Gin’s email, titled “Trade request”.
“Damn, she really can’t catch a fucking break, can she?” the former Eastern Pearl captain and current All-Stars tankery team member muttered to herself, “But at least she’s working hard. I swear to god, if she ever overworks herself again and sends me another long-ass text to rant, I’m gonna…”
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

“It’s almost 11, who the fuck…”
The knocking persisted.
“Fine! Come in!”
The door swung open on noiseless hinges, revealing a girl with brown eyes and short black hair, with a massive red bow adorning her head.
“Shizuka Tsuruki. The princess of Tatenashi High School in the flesh. Was wondering when you’d finally show up in person.”

Shizuka gave a wry smile and gently closed the door behind her.
“Well, when the one and only Claudia Zhang asks me for a favour, I have to see for myself.”
“Did you come here and expect me to heap praise upon you?”
“No, I just want to know why.”
“Why what?”
“Why you asked me of all people to do the job.”

Claudia paused for a moment and let out a chuckle, her heterochromatic eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Gin is a smart girl. If I told Saunders to blatantly give her the Pershing turret, she’d instantly put two and two together. True, I could’ve asked Jatkosota to yoink it, but there is a real possibility they’d keep the turret for themselves, and last I checked they only steal from Pravda. Speaking of the wannabe Russians, they would gladly agree, but their loudmouth midget of a captain would spill the beans pretty quick. Oarai aren’t the type of girls to steal from their fellow Sensha-do practitioners, so they’re ruled out. That leaves me with only one option in my contact list.”

“Life is like a game of chess to you, isn’t it?”
“Eh, it’s just called ‘pulling the right strings and knowing the right people’. When your dad is a high school principal in Hong Kong, you learn a lot about how the world works real quick. Three things: money, connections, and power.”
“Feeling cynical today, are we?”
“Oh, please, you’re a fucking edgelord who’s obsessed with fighting so-called ‘worthy opponents’ and acts like a fucking feudal Japanese princess.”
“I am a princess though.”
“Yeah, yeah, Takeda blood and all that. I know.”

The two girls fell silent, with Claudia rearranging the mess that was her table and Shizuka glancing around at the room that was half filled with model cars.
“Come on, just spill it. I doubt that you’re here just to ask that question.”
“I would like to meet your protege.”
A moment of awkward silence followed as Claudia stopped pretending to tidy up her table.
“Sure,” she replied after a while, “I’ll be seeing them in a few months’ time, you can tag along.”
“I was expecting questions on your behalf, although I am glad that you agreed to help.”
“When one has to return favours, one doesn’t ask more questions than is necessary.”

The rising tankathlon star chuckled and rose from the sofa.
“Claudia Zhang, you are a discombobulating person indeed.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“I shall take my leave then. Oh, by the way, I didn’t know that the MEXT and the JSF allowed that thing.”
“How-”
“You should make a habit of tidying your table regularly. Leaving tank blueprints on a table for all to see isn’t a great habit, especially when your table is right up against the window.”

And with that, Shizuka Tsuruki took her leave, closing the door behind her and leaving Claudia alone to her thoughts. Her first action was to lock the door, roll up said blueprints and toss it under the bed. She then returned her attention to Gin’s email.
“How the fuck am I gonna get her any new toys? I may be on the All-Stars University tankery team but I don’t work at the logistics department. I’m not her fucking messiah… not in that sense, at least…”
She turned her attention to the tattoos on her forearms, with an M4 Sherman on the right forearm and a Panzer IV on the left, her brows furrowed in deep thought.

“Huh… Panzer IV… I wonder if they could use the hull for anything… wait, we also have a… damn, what was the name again?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eastern Pearl's Discord: https://discord.gg/ZdcG6MMB

Chapter Text

The air was filled with the chattering of voices and the odd yell as the girls of Eastern Pearl High School’s tankery team did their routine post-practice tank checkup. However, not all was cheery within the team. More than a few girls noticed Aurora marching across the hangar towards Gin’s M4/T26, with an expression on her face that would curdle new milk. Upon reaching said tank, she rapped on the metal of the turret twice to get her captain’s attention, and whispered something in her ear which made the listener face palm and sigh in annoyance.

“Jesus of Nazareth… ERIN!” Gin yelled at the top of her voice.
“WHAT?!”
“I TOLD YOU BEFORE, DON’T SHOOT AT TANKS WITH A WHITE FLAG STICKING OUT OF THEM!”
“WELL, I COULDN’T SEE THE DAMN THING WITH ALL THE SMOKE AND SHIT AROUND IT!”
“GET YOUR EYES CHECKED THEN!”
“WHY YOU MAD, BRO? IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL!”

“Not a big deal? Tell that to Sam, then.”
Sam just pointed at a photo hanging on the wall next to her T14’s spot, the charred wreck of her old T-28E very much a glaring warning as to what would happen if something went wrong in tankery.
“Ah. What happened?”
“Gin shot us in the turret ring and the protective carbon lining gave way. The shell hit an ammo rack and cooked it off,” Sam replied.
“So, like…”
“All the shells in the tank exploded at once. That’s what happens when shit goes wrong. Gin may not be nice with her speech, but she knows what she’s talking about and she has a point.”
“Oh please, I’ve heard this speech before.”
“Well, like it or not, Gin has a very good reason to be angry at you, Erin. Plus, I’ve got more experience than Gin herself, so I highly recommend you stop whining and stop pissing her off.”

Erin stewed in silence for a few moments and glanced at Brianna, who was obviously on the verge of saying something, before sighing and nodding her head.
“You’re right, I shouldn’t have done that. Sorry,” she muttered.
Everyone present did a double take in shock at the words coming from Erin’s mouth.
“Well, that’s a first,” Aurora muttered. However, before Erin could snap a nasty reply back, Kimi came running into the hangar waving an envelope and yelling “IT’S HERE”. Said envelope sported a distinctive seal in the shape of an Easy Eight Sherman and a Tiger 1 trading shots, while the initials “W.T.O” were printed on the flap of the envelope in a striking hue of purple. 

Gin grabbed the envelope from an obviously much excited Kimi (which was a rare sight indeed) and yelled, “EVERYONE GATHER AROUND AND LISTEN UP!” The Eastern Pearl High School Tankery Team formed a tight crowd around their captain and stood at attention. Once confident that her team was paying attention, Gin ripped open the envelope and read its contents aloud:

“To the captain of the Eastern Pearl High School Tankery Team,
I am pleased to inform you that your tankery team has been chosen to represent Hong Kong in the upcoming World Tankery Tournament. As your team is the only operational one, you are automatically guaranteed a spot in the tournament bracket. The tournament is held in an elimination bracket format, where the winner of the match will advance to the next round and the loser is immediately eliminated. Below is a link to the tournament bracket, where you can see the opponent you will be facing as well as the progress of your team and others in the tournament. A copy of the rulebook is also included in the envelope, please ensure that your team and your tanks qualify according to the rulebook. The match times for the first round will be posted on our website at ( insert random website ) within the next 48 hours, please check daily for any updates and/or changes. We look forward to seeing you in the tournament. 

Yours Truly,
The World Tankery Organization”

Gin carefully slipped the letter back into the envelope and addressed her girls once more.
“Right, we now officially have one foot in the door. However, it won’t do for us to simply make it a one-stop round trip like last year. We’re making a deep run whether we like it or not. Erin and Emily, you two have very good potential to be a good tank commander, but methinks your apprenticeships still have some distance to travel. Aurora, you’re getting used to your new role as a sniper, which is good, but remember that your gun shoots uncapped APHE, aka it doesn’t like angled armor. Keep that in mind when engaging enemy armor. Good work, everyone. My crew stay behind, everyone else is dismissed.”

The vast majority of the tankery team filed out of the hangar in groups, until only Gin’s trusted crew remained.
“What’s up, Gin?” Chloe asked.
“How was the Sherman?” their captain replied.
“I’m still not used to not having to aim so high up and I don’t have to pre-aim so much. Don’t get me wrong, the gun is absolutely superb, but I’ve been shooting that snubby HEAT slinger for a year and a half so I need a bit more time to adjust,” said Anna.
Asa then chimed in. “It feels slower. Um… the right words would be sluggish and top-heavy; very top-heavy compared to the old turret. I can make it work, just gotta be more careful with driving this thing.”

It was now Kimi’s turn to speak. “The radio’s better and I get more room to work with, so I see it as an absolute win.”
“The shells are heavier, but still very much manageable. Just gotta treat it as a work out session,” Chloe butted in.
“Good, good. I’m glad to see that all of you are adjusting well to the new turret and gun. Actually, seeing as how I just got my paycheck… it’s almost six, so get changed and meet me at the entrance to the shopping center next door (author’s note, my old high school in Hong Kong was actually next to a shopping center called MOKO). Dinner’s on me.”

The girls cheered excitedly and ran towards the dormitory building, leaving Gin alone with her thoughts. She ran her hand along the new Pershing turret of her tank, its spotless and perfectly smooth metal surface a stark contrast to the Sherman hull covered in dents and scratches. The powerful 90mm gun jutted far out from the mantlet compared to the snub-nosed 105mm it had, an obvious clue to its much-increased firepower, while the larger turret gave it a bobblehead-esque look which Gin found rather endearing. Her train of thought then took her to the other newly upgraded tank in the hangar.

The Chi-Nu II’s long 75mm gun seemed almost comically long for such a small hull, but it sent a powerful message that it was not to be trifled with. To other non-tank enthusiasts, it would just be a regular Chi-Nu, but those in the know would immediately notice the absence of a muzzle brake, as well as the gun just being bigger in general. Its biggest liabilities, however, were still its paper thin armor and the fact that the shells it fired do not go well with sloped armor. 

To make matters worse, only half of the tankery team were veterans, which meant the other half of the team were about to experience their first ever proper high-stakes tankery tournament; and as Gin knew all too well, pressure could either burst pipes or make diamonds. She forced herself to redirect her train of thought away from her tankery team, lest she get another headache from overthinking until 4 in the morning; Gin was a tank fanatic for a reason. 

Her phone pinged with an email notification, and she reached into her pocket to pull out her phone; however, a pair of very strong hands clapped down onto her shoulders, notifying her of her crew’s return.
“Ey, where we going for dinner?” Chloe asked.
“Haiyaa, let Gin choose for once, you always say ramen anyways,” retorted Anna.
“Don’t gotta call me out like that, young lady, that shit is good” the loader pouted.
“Good, as in only that restaurant’s ramen is spicy enough for you. It’s ‘variety is the spice of life’, not ‘spice is the variety of life’,” chuckled Asa
“That doesn’t even make sense,” muttered Kimi, who always seemed to have an earbud in one of her ears and was absentmindedly sketching on her notebook. 

Gin smiled at her crew’s antics and motioned for them to shush.
“Nah, we’re going to the Korean fusion place, their noodles are awesome. They also got carbonara, baked rice, and the usual Korean stuff. (author’s note, there’s a place in Hong Kong called Momoku in the shopping center MOKO that serves absolutely scrumptious food)”
“Sold,” her entire crew said almost in unison.
“We didn’t plan that,” Chloe laughed.
“Alright, let’s go, I’m getting hungry,” Kimi mumbled.

“Wait, can we go shopping afterwards? I feel like six is a bit too early for dinner,” Anna mentioned.
“Sure, why not, I saw this cute crop top in UNIQLO,” Gin replied.
“Then clothes shopping it is, and then Momoku later!” Asa exclaimed, “Wait… how much is your shopping budget, Gin?”
“I don’t give a shit, I’m treating myself well today. We ball.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t remember seeing you wear this hoodie before, Gin,” Aurora commented.
“Yeah, I went shopping with my crew yesterday and kinda splurged a bit. Y’know, a few tops and a skort. And maybe a few more tank models.”
“You and your tank models, I swear to god.”
“Well, I think splurging a bit is a slight understatement,” yelled Chloe as she sauntered over.
“I see some new shoes, they go so well with your fit. The colors match so well” Aurora pointed out.
“Thanks!”
“Where are the others?” Gin asked.
“They said they’ll be here in a bit, probably a few minutes behind.”
“Alright, let’s go then.”

The trio headed into the hangar, where their ears were immediately assaulted by the cacophony of girls arguing and yelling.
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Gin yelled, immediately quieting the girls down.
“THOSE BITCHES SAID I WAS CHEATING!”
“HEY, WHO YOU CALLING-”
“EVERYBODY ZIP IT!!!” Gin roared, bringing the decibel meter down to zero. “Aurora, check the SU-122 for any cheating devices please.”
The one-handed lieutenant nodded and clambered into the Soviet tank destroyer.

After what seemed like an eternity, Aurora popped her head out of the SU-122’s hatch and gave a thumbs up.
“She’s all clear, no cheating aids of any sort.”
Normally this wouldn’t raise any eyebrows other than “this crew is apparently pretty good”, but Erin had only joined a week ago, and she notably had no prior experience whatsoever with tankery. However, she had an uncanny talent of accurately guessing where the next shell or the next hostile tank would come from. Many a time a tank crew has rounded the corner, confident that Erin’s lack of experience would doom her, only to find themselves looking down the business end of a 122mm howitzer and their tank hit by a HEAT shell of said caliber.

Throw in the fact that this had happened multiple times already, and this had the entire tankery team associating this with Erin’s juvie background.

Murmurs of “I don’t believe it” and “check her tank again” could be heard resonating through the hangar, but Gin simply grunted and nodded.
“Erin, outta the hangar for a second, please,” she ordered. Said girl huffed in annoyance and reluctantly turned to exit the tank hangar, while Gin removed her tank commander’s headset and motioned for everyone to maintain their silence. The tension in the hangar was palpable, but nobody noticed Gin give a peculiar look towards Brianna and Emily. Then, the Eastern Pearl tankery captain hurled her headset at Erin, whose back was turned. Time seemed to slow as the headset tumbled through the air.

Erin caught the headset with one hand without even looking.

“You felt that, didn’t you?” Gin asked aloud.
“I just felt that there was something dangerous behind me, so I just instinctively grabbed whatever it was.” The entirety of the tankery team were nonplussed at the display.
“Well,” chirped Gin as she hopped down from her M4/T26’s turret, ”that concludes the ‘is Erin cheating or cracked’ debate. Erin and Aurora, in my office; everyone else is dismissed.” 

A slow handclap drew everyone’s attention to the hangar entrance, where the silhouette of a girl could be seen against the setting sun.
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” joked the mysterious new arrival.
“Wha…” muttered Erin as the newcomer walked past without even acknowledging her.
“I’m glad that you’re learning quickly. Oh, and congratulations on making the first round of the world tournament,” the girl’s voice rang out and echoed through the hangar. “I also like what you’ve done with the Pershing turret upgrade, looks pretty endearing to be honest. Almost like a bobblehead Sherman.”
The new arrival stepped into a ray of sunlight, and her heterochromatic eyes twinkled with amusement.

“Well then,” exclaimed Claudia, “why don’t y’all update me on recent events?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So let me get this straight,” the former Eastern Pearl captain interrupted, “you got your barrel blown up by the Japs, they sent a Pershing turret as an apology, and you just slapped it onto my Sherman.”
“You left out some important information, but that is the gist of it,” Gin replied.
“Heh… not bad, kid. Not bad at all,” Claudia chuckled, “But, I daresay, not good enough. I’ll cut to the chase; you need more training and better tanks. To put it bluntly, some of Eastern Pearl’s tanks are downright garbage. Like the M15/42, or the Churchill… okay, the Churchill has sabot so get some of those for Juniper ASAP, but my point still stands for some tanks.”

“So you’re saying we need more hardware and crews,” Gin pointed out.
“Exactly. And for that, I’ve decided to lend you a hand.”
“Claudia, I swear to God, if you…”
“If I what? What’re you gonna do about it?”
“I actually can’t with you… my goodness…”
“Yes, I have a new tank for you, deal with it,” Claudia deadpanned and headed out towards the hangar door, before stopping and turning to face her mentee.

“One more thing before the big reveal. About the shorty… um, I believe her name is Erin?”
“Yeah… What about her? Is it about her juvie record?”
“Nah, you know I don’t discriminate against shit like that. She’s got potential. A lot of potential. But the potential can also be a double-edged sword, you know that. She needs a lot more training, and I mean a lot, before she can call herself a good tankery captain.”
“I know, I’ll keep her on her toes,” Gin replied.
“Give her a special training regimen to sharpen her seventh sense. Pull that off, and she’ll be a one of a kind trump card for the team, especially with that gun of hers.”
“I know, 160mm penetration with HEAT, and the SU-122 tends to be underestimated.”

Claudia chuckled and said, “Looks like I didn’t choose the wrong person to be the captain.” before heading towards the hangar door and pushing it open. Gin followed in her mentor’s footsteps, and what she saw parked at the hangar entrance stunned her with disbelief. She had only encountered it in War Thunder and online sources, and only once in person. Before her was a German casemate tank destroyer sporting a gun which looked disproportionately short compared to the rest of the bulky square-shaped crew compartment, but she knew of the potential of the massive rounds it fired. It was a Panzer variant, no doubt, but a rare one that made it a unicorn of sorts, capable of leveling buildings with one shot.

Claudia turned towards Gin with a proud expression on her face.
“Hey Gin, consider this my late Christmas Present to you,” she said, slapping the hull of the tank she brought, “say hello to the Sturmpanzer IV, or as everyone calls it… the Brummbar.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eastern Pearl's Discord: https://discord.gg/EQhVDhHA

Chapter Text

“This thing is stupid,” Erin muttered as she stared at the massive tube that was the Brummbar’s gun barrel. The slight breeze gently brushed her hair to and fro, causing it to alternate between purple, red and brown in the sunlight. “Why do I get the Soviet trapezoid instead of whatever this German monstrosity is?”
“Because, Erin,” said Gin, turning towards the diminutive walking anger issue, “your tank is much more low-profile and agile, and you’ve only gotten used to the characteristics of your so-called ‘Soviet trapezoid’… I actually kinda like that nickname. Besides, you perform better when you’re more worked up.”

“Wait, I do?”
“Some people crumble when in high pressure environments; others thrive under pressure. Considering the amount of times you’ve clutched up in practice matches, I’d say you belong to the latter category. Coupled with the fact that you have an exceptionally strong sixth sense, you’re more suited to be an ambusher, like the SU-122: low profile, gun suited for close quarters, and when there’s enemies behind you’ll sense it. The Brummbar’s frontal armor is 100mm thick and its gun is more powerful than the SU-122’s one, so it’s more of a frontline brawler. A tank has to suit its commander’s playstyle in order to get the most out of its performance.”

Erin ruminated on her captain’s words for a good minute before nodding and returning her attention to her phone, muttering to herself and swiping in different directions. Gin leaned to the side slightly and caught an eye of an online chess game that Erin was obviously participating in.
“You play chess?”
“Yeah, I do it as a stress reliever and temper control thing my therapist told me. Works surprisingly well. Do you play?”
“Used to. Still remember the rules but I’m quite rusty.”
“Watch this, I just pulled off the ICBM Gambit on this guy, he’s toast.”

Gin took a closer look at the chessboard and noticed that Erin’s pieces were indeed in a very advantageous situation.
“Did you just discover attack his queen?”
“Yep, it was either his queen or checkmate. He’s still gonna lose either way.”
“There’s only one way you can fuck this up. Watch the discovered attack, his bishop and rook there.”
“I see it. I’m at 1400 Elo for a reason.” 

“Are they… talking about chess…?”
“Looks like it. I never knew Gin liked chess.”
“She doesn’t look like the type to play chess… hell, Erin doesn’t look like a chess girl.”
“Well, last I checked most juvie kids aren’t chess players.”
Erin and Gin were blissfully unaware of other members of the tankery team staring at them and whispering in hushed voices, but in all honesty, even if they knew they wouldn’t care. 

And so the impromptu chess session continued. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And… FIRE!”
Deafening bangs washed over the Eastern Pearl campus as the entirety of their team, in a line abreast formation, let rip at numerous targets downrange. From her spot on top of Erin’s SU-122, Claudia surveyed the team’s accuracy with a pair of binoculars before reaching for her throat-mounted mic.
“Not bad, folks. Accuracy’s definitely better since the last time I saw the videos Gin sent me. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect, though. Some of you didn’t hit the center of the target, and one tank didn’t even hit their assigned target. That’s… third target from the left, who did I assign Target Hotel to?”
“We missed, Claudia,” Emily muttered sheepishly from the adjacent tank.
“Speak up, pipsqueak. Either you don’t own up or you own up loud enough for me to hear.”

“We missed, Claudia. I apologise,” Emily repeated loudly.
“Don’t apologise. This is what training is for, to find out what you’re bad at and improve on it. If and when you do mess up, don’t bother apologising; instead, think of what you did wrong and how you can fix it. If you don’t know where you messed up, ask your captain. Well, Gin isn’t here, but I’m here and I have more experience captaining. I wasn’t tooting my own horn, just stating the facts. This applies to everyone here, not just Emily. Now back to Emily, your shot landed further away, which means your gunner overcorrected.”
As Claudia used her tankery knowledge to coach the Eastern Pearl tankers, in the M4/T26, Asa turned to Chloe.
“Yo, you seen Gin and Erin today?”
“Nah, heard Erin needed some special training or something. Didn’t say what kind of training though.”

“Speaking of which, guys, do y’all prefer Claudia’s training over Gin?” Kimi wondered out loud.
“Honestly, I don’t see much of a difference. They both train us hard, but the training always yields proper results,” Chloe replied.
“Betcha some of the old timers are feeling nostalgic.”
“Emily probably doesn't like Claudia,” Asa chimed in, causing the entire crew to giggle.

Meanwhile, in the sound-proof music room on the other side of campus…

“Can you see anything?” Gin asked from behind Erin.
“No, the blindfold’s working.”
“Good. Now, I’m gonna put these noise-cancelling headphones on you. Once they’re on, you won’t be able to hear anything. What’s gonna happen is I’m going to be throwing these table tennis balls at you from different directions.”
“Wait, why are we doing this?”
“Well, you have an exceptional sixth sense, so I have to sharpen it through training. Yours is superb, even by my mentor’s standards, which is saying a lot. Pure talent and IQ can only get you so far, because someday you’ll get your ass handed to you by someone who trains regularly. Now enough chitchat, ready yourself.”

The blindfold went over Erin’s eyes and soon enough, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prick up, warning her of danger behind her; she instinctively ducked from the table tennis ball, earning a sigh from Gin.
“Girl, I said catch, not dodge.”
“No you did not tell me.”
“Wait… you know what, just try to dodge for now, but you can’t crouch or move your feet, all you can do is lean your body. Once you’ve mastered that, we’ll move on to having you catch the balls.”

A few minutes later…

“This is bullshit!” Gin yelled as she stormed out of the practice room, with the few nearby students turning to watch the spectacle in amusement. “Did you really have to thundercunt the balls at my head at mach fuck?”
“That wasn’t thundercunting; this is,” Gin calmly replied before actually throwing one of the balls hard into the back of Erin’s head.
“OWWWW!!!!!!!!!!”
“See? Now get your ass back in here.”
“But the bruises…”
“Oh sweetie, when you’re getting jostled around in a tank the bruises accumulate to the point you won’t even mind it that much at all. Now get back here before I lose my patience.”
“Fineeeee…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Gin. A word, please?” Claudia asked as the teams wound down after training.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“You’re mighty confident in Erin.”
“Why wouldn’t I? She’s a literal prodigy. Her talent is through the roof, even more so than mine.”
“True. What about her experience?”
“She’ll earn a lot, trust me. I’ve got several training matches lined up-”
“Have you ever considered what other team members might think?”

The question stopped Gin dead in her tracks.
“Um… yeah…?”
“Gotcha there. In all seriousness, there are more than multiple team members who have been here as long as me, and who haven’t gotten any promotions, yet they put in hard work every training session. They give it their all and play their part, yet some newcomer is getting way more attention than they ever did in their entire tankery career. Anyone would be salty.”
“But… Erin’s a fucking prodigy-”
“Gin, look, I’m not trying to bash you or demoralize you. You’re new to this. Of course you’ll make mistakes. Think of the team as a machine with many gears and cogs. All cogs need to be working well in order for the machine to run, yet remove even one single cog and everything goes to shit. Each team member plays a crucial role in a battle-ready tank, and each tank plays a crucial role in the team. When one team member underperforms the tank underperforms; when one tank underperforms the entire team loses cohesion.”

“Hey, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been taking care of the girls!” Gin retorted.
“Y’know what? You’re dismissed for today.”
“For what? Talking back?”
“No, for you to think about what I said. Also, I’m not gonna be babysitting the other girls tomorrow, you’ll be doing your job as captain.”
“Does that mean-”
“Yep, no special training for Erin tomorrow. Now off you go.”

Gin angrily sulked off, muttering to herself about something related to “her way or the highway”. Claudia just sighed and laid down on a crate of 75mm APHE shells for the Chi-Nu II, waiting for the rest of the team to exit the hangar, until it was empty, echoing with only the tapping of Claudia’s own fingers as she mindlessly drummed on the crate lid. She hopped off the wooden crate and tapped the lid gently, whispering “You can come out now.” The crate lid was rather violently flung open as a disheveled girl with a massive crooked red bow on top of her head popped out like a jack-in-the-box. 

“Finally! It was so uncomfortable being inside that crate!” Shizuka exclaimed.
“I bet,” Claudia replied, stifling a chuckle.
“You try laying on some 75mm tank shells then, see how you feel after half an hour.”
“Sorry, that was sorta kinda the only place you could hide in.”
“What about the office?”
“Gin goes in there at least once every time, so you would’ve been busted.”
“That would have been preferable.”
“Only after she’s calmed down. You heard how agitated she was just now, I hope.”

The seemingly annoyed princess of Tatenashi High School fixed her ruffled bob of jet black hair before languidly stretching her aching back and limbs.
“Well… I really do have to thank you for allowing me to meet with your protégé.”
“Yeah, sorry for giving you such short notice.”
“No worries. But what’s so special about your protégé anyways? Why put so much effort into training your successor?”
Claudia sighed and ran a hand through her hair before replying.
“Because… I see myself in her. A young girl with zero experience and so much talent. I don’t want her to make the mistakes I made.”
“But how will she learn if you ‘lawnmower parent’ her to such a degree?”

The former Eastern Pearl captain pulled out her trusty little notebook and started absentmindedly flipping through the pages.
“I don’t plan on coddling. She needs to make mistakes to learn, that part is true, but some mistakes may end up costing more than the lessons learnt.”
Shizuka stared at Claudia expectantly, waiting for an elaboration. It came in the form of two photos dated a month apart glued to one of the pages in Claudia’s notebook, which Claudia had passed to Shizuka. In the one dated earlier, the group of girls were smiling radiantly, while in the later one their smiles were quite a bit muted, with the addition of the absence of one of the girls originally next to Claudia in the former photo.
“Lessons are indeed supposed to hurt,” Claudia continued, “but there is a point where the pain far overshadows everything else, to the point where it becomes a grim reminder that clings on to one for the rest of their life.”

“I was not aware of any deaths in the team’s history,” Shizuka muttered.
“No there weren’t, thank god, but it was arguably just as bad,” came the reply.
The two girls sat in silence, each stewing in their own thoughts.
“Ah, Shizuka, would you mind helping me with something?” Claudia suddenly asked, piercing the veil of silence.
“I’m all ears.”
“You’re not dumb, so you can probably see the wall that Gin’s about to encounter.”
“And you want me to take her head out of her ass?”
“Precisely. I can’t be the messenger this time.”

The Tatenashi tankery princess thought about it for a while before slowly nodding her head. Claudia smiled at the reply which was obviously to her liking, before leaning in and giving instructions to the Japanese girl. Neither of them noticed an unwanted visitor with a head full of very fluffy hair climbing over the fence within view of one of the hangar’s windows. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gin sat sulking on her bed, contemplating Claudia’s words to her earlier in the hangar. She’d always looked up to the girl that taught her how to be a tankery team captain, and yet for some reason nobody could see her reasoning. Already she had spent the rest of her day distracting herself with schoolwork, and when that ran out, War Thunder. As the screen showed yet another “mission failed” courtesy of yet another HEAT round slicing clean through the front of her Jumbo, Gin banged her mouse on her keyboard in frustration and flopped onto her bed, her mind racing with profanities against “BR compressions and full uptiers”. 

A few moments of angry silence later, a knock sounded on her door, pulling her out of her train of thoughts.
“Who?”
“Just open the damn door, girl.”
Gin reluctantly shuffled to the door and opened a crack, revealing a half-amputated arm. She threw the door open and dragged Aurora inside, locking the door and showering her one-handed girlfriend with hugs.
“Gin, not now. I’m serious.”

The Eastern Pearl tankery captain sighed melodramatically and sat down on the bed.
“If Claudia sent you to talk to me, forget it.”
“No, she didn’t talk to me. I came here of my own accord.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.”
“It’s about Erin.”
Gin opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Aurora.
“I know you’re biased, but just listen!”

“I see the talent in her,” she continued, “I really do. But this special treatment isn’t going to win you any favors from the rest of the team, including me.”
“I thought you were supposed to be on my side.”
“But as a girlfriend, as one of the commanders under your command… hell, as someone who cares, I have the responsibility to tell you when you’re doing stuff wrong, as well as the responsibility to knock your ego down a peg when it’s too damn high for your own good.”
“But-”
“Just listen, Gin. Just zip it and listen. You know what people are saying in the hangar? They say that you’re neglecting them in favor of this prodigy. I get it, she is a prodigy, but the team doesn’t revolve around one person. They’re also saying that Claudia’s training them better than you.”

“I sure hope so, she’s my mentor,” Gin retorted.
“But that’s your job. Your job is to train everyone, not just that one guy. What you’re doing is exactly what you said Mr. Marr’s doing in physics class: focusing on the two geniuses in the front and neglecting everyone else, including the ones who truly wanna learn and improve. And let me tell you right now, the consensus amongst the team is that you’re not doing a good job as captain.”
Throughout Aurora’s mini-speech, Gin just sat there looking like a wounded dog.
“Don’t give me puppy eyes, that’s not gonna work this time. Truth be told, I’m beyond frustrated; I’m disappointed in you. In the way you handled this situation. Do you realize how disrespectful you’re being to everyone else on the team? You just proved that you don’t give that much of a fuck about them compared to this newcomer genius you’re fawning over.”

“But Erin’s improving!”
“At the cost of the team’s cohesion and their trust in you!” Aurora yelled, silencing her captain. “You just disrespected the entire team, and that’s fucking disappointing. I have had three very frustrated tank commanders I won’t name come up to me and express their desire to quit if this goes on.”
“What’re you getting at?”
“As someone who loves you and genuinely wants you to succeed, take your head outta your ass and fucking listen. Not hearing, but listening. I want you to spend the entire night stewing in your thoughts and thinking about the damage you’ve done, because the way I see it, your shitass team management isn’t it.”

Gin was silent for a few seconds before replying, “And what if I don’t?”
Aurora turned around so that her back was facing Gin, voice cracking slightly.
“Then you’ve proven that you’re not a good leader, and are unwilling to compromise, in which case, I will no longer be a part of the tankery team.”
She started towards the door but paused mid-step.
“Claudia’s cancelled training for the rest of the week. She’s giving you time to reflect. Use it wisely, Gin. I mean it.”
And with that, Aurora departed, leaving a very despondent Gin sitting on her bed. 

Unbeknownst to Gin, a certain one-handed girl was leaning on the other side of the door, with her head in her hand and choking down sobs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~