Girls und Panzer: Battle Europa (IC, Closed)

[Sonitusia]

With an audible screech, and with a non-existent playtrack from a certain Japanese cartoon about cars that drift, the silver-haired driver of Komodo had made it first into the cafeteria. Followed by Adelia, they waited for Hermione, of whom was tailed by Odetta panting her lungs out. With a giant smile of pride, Fatimah pointed a very noticeable index finger towards her Sundanese friend.

"Looks like someone's got a big wallet today!" she gleamed, which was replied by a roll of eyes and a smirk from the gunner. Indeed checking her small wallet, she shrugged, pulling out a rather crisp looking bill. "Who wants donuts?"

The four giggled together, and made their way to get food before sitting at the empty seats that were left. Coincidentally, without noticing, they were across from several members of the tankery club, including the president.

"A little down under the weather, comrade?" Adelia asked, poking her food around before stuffing it into her mouth, "Seems everyone's trying to cheer you up right now, like Berta, Tati, and... ah."

Noticing the team that had smoked them yesterday put a bitter taste into her mouth, but wanting to avoid any sort of conflict while her friends ate, she decided not to mention anything, rather let them find out on their own. And as expected, they did. It was a sort of mixed reaction, with Odetta giving a face of boredom, Fatimah tensing up nervously and unconsciously reaching for her nose. But the most obvious emotion was when Hermione picked up her tray and left the table.

"Herm, get back here!" Adelia called out, but the bespectacled girl did not even stop. Eventually she couldn't find any seats and ended up tossing out everything she had barely eaten. Save for the two o-shaped pastries of course.

"Weeeeeell, this didn't start out too well," the commander murmured, then looking at the SPG team one by one, "I can't say I'm not displeased with you all, but I have some respect for your creativity. In a tactical sense."

She sighed, and continued to eat. "But the next time I catch you setting fire to something, it had better be under direct orders from someone who understands the risks involved. There's no need to bring South-East Asia's haze to Europe."

[Republic of Hasgriu]

-snip-

Yekaterina was both thankful and terrified to see Komodo Team present in its entirety. That Fatimah had been discharged so quickly and was in surprisingly decent health was a source of relief, of course. The fact that the situation had been made a lot more awkward as a result of their appearance, less so.

Seeing the cotton-haired girl stiffen, as if flinching at the sight of the four members of Buxtehude, made Yekaterina's heart contract for a few moments too long, and a cold tingle spread throughout her body. Even worse was Hermione, who had previously, with much ire, burst into a tirade after having to perform first aid on her own fainted friend, simply storming off, heedless of even her companion's calls.

From her half-kneeling stance, Yekaterina slowly reached behind, searching for and grasping Hanna's comfortingly warm hand. All but one of the victims of their actions were right there, and they were anything but cheerful and happy, Adelia having just voiced her displeasure. However, Iveta was very downcast as well, and probably needed consolation and support more than any apology. Who to talk to first?

"The web says that you should comfort someone by listening to them and just being there, and not by telling them that their sadness is irrational or trying to cheer them up." Maya slipped her phone out of her jacket sleeve and into a pocket.

"Sources?" Hanna breathily whispered, still holding on to Yekaterina, who was glancing back and forth between the two tables with Iveta and Komodo. "Are they peer-reviewed, published in reliable jour-"

"They sound like they make sense," interjected Maya.

"Maybe scholarly standards are a bit too much, but..." Hanna started to slip into a slew of different tongues, before catching herself and ending, "Sorry for that, but the thing is, Maya, are they trustworthy?"

"They're good enough." Maya shrugged, shaking her head from side to side slowly.

Meanwhile, having finally made her mind up, Yekaterina prodded Liliya, asking, "Lilichka, would you mind supporting Iveta?"

A rapid shake of the head and a short smile, followed by Liliya silently slipping away to take a chair for herself. Hanna and Maya, on the other hand, were intermittently looking at Fatimah, wondering what to say and do.

With someone now carrying out her initial intentions, Yekaterina promptly turned, grabbed Maya's hand to accompany Hanna's, and faced the trio of Indonesians that remained. She breathed in, and began speaking.

"We're sorry for hurting you!" Yekaterina bowed, followed soon after by Hanna and Maya, with Liliya doing the same whilst holding a chair in the background.

"Accident or not, we made it happen, though it shouldn't have. You're probably angry, and upset, maybe even afraid, now. What was supposed to be sport and fun turned into an emergency because of us." Now, all four of them recovered and stood straight once more.

"Adelia, I'll take those words to heart, promise." Yekaterina let go of Maya's hand, clenching her own into a fist.

"We'll try to limit migration to people only! It might be too late this time, but we're not going to let this happen again!"

Yekaterina was particularly anxious, more than she had ever been for anything, examinations most definitely included, in part as she had made an apology on behalf of everyone, but neglected to ask for their input. Thus, she was relieved to hear Hanna follow up.

"Fatimah, I hope you'll get better! We'll do anything you ask us to if it helps."

Maya, not one to be excluded, added, "It doesn't have to be immediate, but please, don't hold a grudge against us."

Hopefully, the members of Komodo Team wouldn't take it too poorly...

"Ah, mhh..." Iveta muttered, still a bit listless, "thanks... Go ahead."

Clasping her hands together, Iveta found it hard not to act nervous. It was too much for her to hide, her hands trembling as she bowed her head.

In the meantime, Liliya had sat down next to the table Iveta and her two friends were seated at. For a while, she hesitated to say anything, not wanting to infringe on an affair that the two second years who were much closer to Iveta might consider personal. As an acquaintance, at best, and at worst, related solely by the happy coincidence of attending the same school, Liliya felt uneasy about intruding on what was possibly others' "turf".

Liliya glanced at Kirke and Avelina, attempting to wordlessly relay a distress signal and a plea for help. Surely, as her friends, they would be in a better position to provide a (non-cold) shoulder for Iveta? Had they already tried, only to be met with dismissal?

She broke eye contact, looking around at her surroundings. The cafeteria was as packed as usual, filled with chatter and the clinking of silverware, far from Liliya's idea of an ideal environment for someone to vent, and certainly not a haven of privacy, peace and quiet. Maybe a move to some less populated place would be beneficial...

With a mental prayer, Liliya tilted her head, wishing to meet Iveta's eyes, and asked, "Upset? Want to talk about it to anyone, maybe elsewhere?"

Liliya was no less uncertain than Yekaterina was about the situation. Would either of Iveta's friends take action and have some private alone time? Was it something else that she needed? The typically silent girl could only hope that her presence would not worsen things.

[Wolfenium]

"A little down under the weather, comrade?" Adelia asked, poking her food around before stuffing it into her mouth, "Seems everyone's trying to cheer you up right now, like Berta, Tati, and... ah."

With a mental prayer, Liliya tilted her head, wishing to meet Iveta's eyes, and asked, "Upset? Want to talk about it to anyone, maybe elsewhere?"

Liliya was no less uncertain than Yekaterina was about the situation. Would either of Iveta's friends take action and have some private alone time? Was it something else that she needed? The typically silent girl could only hope that her presence would not worsen things.

"Everyone... I..." Iveta blurted, feeling even more guilty than before. She appreciated the support they were giving her. Thinking over the fate of the club, she found it harder to bring the bad news to them. But as Avelina leaned over to hold her hands, the Latvian could barely hold it in. Breaking into tears, she buried herself in her friend's bosoms in agony, wailing over her own shortcomings and worries.

"I'm an idiot..." Iveta cursed, "I'm a idiot... It's frustrating!... I... I didn't know the first thing about tankery!... I just wanted to ride the tank... I didn't know it'd come to this!... I should have checked first... I should have..."

"Don't be silly," Avelina said, "we didn't want this to happen. What matters is everyone's fine now. No need to blame yourself."

"B-But..." Iveta whined.

"Let the principal and student council decide," Avelina assured her, "whatever happens, we're all still here for you. Isn't that right, everyone!?"

"My god..." Kirke blurted, giving two a smile, "I'm still here for you two. I'm sure Astlik and Terhikki are too."

Come what may, the trio would stick together no matter what. They might lose their tanks, but they could not break their friendship, not by a long shot.

[Sonitusia]

With someone now carrying out her initial intentions, Yekaterina promptly turned, grabbed Maya's hand to accompany Hanna's, and faced the trio of Indonesians that remained. She breathed in, and began speaking.

"We're sorry for hurting you!" Yekaterina bowed, followed soon after by Hanna and Maya, with Liliya doing the same whilst holding a chair in the background.

"Accident or not, we made it happen, though it shouldn't have. You're probably angry, and upset, maybe even afraid, now. What was supposed to be sport and fun turned into an emergency because of us." Now, all four of them recovered and stood straight once more.

"Adelia, I'll take those words to heart, promise." Yekaterina let go of Maya's hand, clenching her own into a fist.

"We'll try to limit migration to people only! It might be too late this time, but we're not going to let this happen again!"

Yekaterina was particularly anxious, more than she had ever been for anything, examinations most definitely included, in part as she had made an apology on behalf of everyone, but neglected to ask for their input. Thus, she was relieved to hear Hanna follow up.

"Fatimah, I hope you'll get better! We'll do anything you ask us to if it helps."

Maya, not one to be excluded, added, "It doesn't have to be immediate, but please, don't hold a grudge against us."

Hopefully, the members of Komodo Team wouldn't take it too poorly...

Once more, a mixed reaction was delivered by the three Indonesians who were still left. Odetta was firm in her resolve to look bored, though it was more apparent that she was raising her eyebrows in weak concern for what the artillery team was saying. If anything, she had been the least to find the entire affair problematic, and had already 'forgiven' the team, even though she had to guide the tank back after Hermione had went down to take care of Fatimah.

Fatimah slowly lowered her hand from her nose, tapping her fingers together and simply looking at Adelia to give the final statement. She nudged the commander to say something, and with a sigh, said girl looked up once more and nodded her head.

"I'm not one to hold things against my former opponents," Adelia began, "Granted, they never did anything life threatening to us. But considering that your sincerity seems to be honest, I, and to an extent the teammates besides me, accept your team's apology."

She then raised a finger. "However, as you've noticed, one of us is currently not going to be swayed by your words easily," she continued, "And with good reason. My half-Dutch friend is hard-headed, and well... Just cannot accept it when her friend is hurt. Surely you can tell why, but I will try in my hardest to get her to understand, and I hope that you put some effort in as well."

Liliya was no less uncertain than Yekaterina was about the situation. Would either of Iveta's friends take action and have some private alone time? Was it something else that she needed? The typically silent girl could only hope that her presence would not worsen things.

"Everyone... I..." Iveta blurted, feeling even more guilty than before. She appreciated the support they were giving her. Thinking over the fate of the club, she found it harder to bring the bad news to them. But as Avelina leaned over to hold her hands, the Latvian could barely hold it in. Breaking into tears, she buried herself in her friend's bosoms in agony, wailing over her own shortcomings and worries.

"I'm an idiot..." Iveta cursed, "I'm a idiot... It's frustrating!... I... I didn't know the first thing about tankery!... I just wanted to ride the tank... I didn't know it'd come to this!... I should have checked first... I should have..."

"Don't be silly," Avelina said, "we didn't want this to happen. What matters is everyone's fine now. No need to blame yourself."

"B-But..." Iveta whined.

"Let the principal and student council decide," Avelina assured her, "whatever happens, we're all still here for you. Isn't that right, everyone!?"

"My god..." Kirke blurted, giving two a smile, "I'm still here for you two. I'm sure Astlik and Terhikki are too."

Come what may, the trio would stick together no matter what. They might lose their tanks, but they could not break their friendship, not by a long shot.[/quote]

She then acknowledged the rest of the table. "This also goes to you as well, club commander, Berta. We're all in this together, and if we have a weak link, then there's nothing to be fighting for. You brought us together into this group, Vet, and I expect that you continue to keep us together no matter what happens. We're here for you, so you had better be here for us."

[Minroz]

"A little down under the weather, comrade?" Adelia asked, poking her food around before stuffing it into her mouth, "Seems everyone's trying to cheer you up right now, like Berta, Tati, and... ah."

With a mental prayer, Liliya tilted her head, wishing to meet Iveta's eyes, and asked, "Upset? Want to talk about it to anyone, maybe elsewhere?"

Liliya was no less uncertain than Yekaterina was about the situation. Would either of Iveta's friends take action and have some private alone time? Was it something else that she needed? The typically silent girl could only hope that her presence would not worsen things.

"Everyone... I..." Iveta blurted, feeling even more guilty than before. She appreciated the support they were giving her. Thinking over the fate of the club, she found it harder to bring the bad news to them. But as Avelina leaned over to hold her hands, the Latvian could barely hold it in. Breaking into tears, she buried herself in her friend's bosoms in agony, wailing over her own shortcomings and worries.

"I'm an idiot..." Iveta cursed, "I'm a idiot... It's frustrating!... I... I didn't know the first thing about tankery!... I just wanted to ride the tank... I didn't know it'd come to this!... I should have checked first... I should have..."

"Don't be silly," Avelina said, "we didn't want this to happen. What matters is everyone's fine now. No need to blame yourself."

"B-But..." Iveta whined.

"Let the principal and student council decide," Avelina assured her, "whatever happens, we're all still here for you. Isn't that right, everyone!?"

"My god..." Kirke blurted, giving two a smile, "I'm still here for you two. I'm sure Astlik and Terhikki are too."

Come what may, the trio would stick together no matter what. They might lose their tanks, but they could not break their friendship, not by a long shot.

“Mmh, Da. Absolutely.” Tatiana replied with a smile. She said it without any second thoughts. Being touched by the scene before her, it warms her heart to see people being supportive of their friends.

Muttering quiet words of prayer and crossing herself in the Orthodox Christian fashion, Tatiana prayed for good fortune of her new friends and teammates. “Amen. Let’s hope things turned out alright, regardless of the board’s decision, me and the others will stick by you to the end. If anything, let’s hang out in our free time together.”

Umida popped out seemingly of nowhere and hugged Iveta, Avelina and Kirke altogether. She has heard everything from the beginning when she first arrived in the cafeteria.

“Oh my!?” The blonde Russian looked on with surprise.

“Hey girls, why the long faces? It’s not like the end of the world or something. Come here, you have us as well. Haha~!” The Uzbek chirped, still hugging the trio.

“Oh Makhmudova, you nearly shocked us.”

“My bad, haha~. Oh yeah, just to let you guys know. Aliya said she’s coming with you all later on to the Student council. She’s busy with homework at the moment.”

[Wolfenium]

"Everyone..." Iveta muttered, surprised by the shower of support as Umida wrapped her arms around the trio, "you're right... I shouldn't worry..."

Climbing atop the table to her friends' surprise, Iveta called out, "I won't give up! If you're fighting for the club, then I'll keep fighting for you! For our friends and our school... I don't care what comes next! We're going straight for the crown! Who's with me!?"

She had no idea why, but hearing her friends' words had somehow given her so much vigour. For her to think she had genuinely contemplated closing the club... It took the encouragement of the crews to talk out of it. Adelia was right - this was not just Iveta's club. It was everyone's. If she would not fight for it, who will?

"Iveta," a familiar, straight-talking voice quickly cut her short, startling the mikan-haired girl, "the... principal wants to see you."

It was Henna, her arms crossed as usual. From the looks of it, she seemed displeased at something, not the least at Iveta.

---

Later
Principal's Office

"H-Hoek..." blurted Iveta in bewilderment, standing in front of the principal's desk, "you're the new principal?..."

Surprises, as it turned out, was Emma's specialty, and her latest was even more shocking. Standing beside the table as she greeted the club members, the girl eagerly squealed, "ja! Haven't you heard? But please, call me Emma! I may be the head of the school, but I'm still a student! It's like bunny chow! Great mix, isn't it?"

"B-Bunny chow," Kirke blurted in a slight cringe, a bit disturbed by the name, "I don't understand..."

"What'd you mean 'you don't understand'," whined the blonde, pouting a bit at her apprehension.

"It's exactly as she said," Henna hounded almost immediately, as the Afrikaner fell over at the yell, "why the hell did you take the position. No... Why did you even come back?"

"Aww..." Emma swooned, coddling the scowling student president, "because I miss you, that all. You and Milla~."

"You don't need to move back, you know," grunted Henna, "much less this."

"Well, I can't have you close down the club, so I took the liberty to arrange their applications instead," Emma declared cheekily.

"Emma, they nearly got someone killed by asphyxiation," the Finn with the beauty mark yelled, "how can I not close the club!?"

"Their instructor will handle that, relax," Emma assured her, waving off her concerns, "she'll be very strict on them, I assure you."

"That's not the issue, Emma," Henna barked again, "you saw what happened! They had part of the park burnt down! God knows what would have happened! You know how dangerous tankery is! You're from St. Elisabeth, of all places!"

"Wait," Iveta blurted, her eyes shifting to Emma, "she's from St. Elisabeth?"

As the eyes descended upon Emma, the girl's usual demeanour quietly melted away. A serious look in her eyes, she appeared a little displeased with Henna's slip, though far from angry. Peering at the club members, she could tell they wanted answers. She did not appear keen to make a fuss out of it. After all, everything that had happened there was in the past to her. It seemed pointless to recount that to Iveta and her new club.

[Krajstali]

7th September 2016
Cafeteria


Following the day of the mock tank battle, the group of Western slavs return for another day at school. With the exception of one however. Despite the tragic events of the previous day, the crew still carried on their everyday school lives. At the start of lunch, Jozefa had been the first to arrive out of the crew of Wojtek as she crossed her arms and leaned up against the wall beside the cafeteria's doors as she waited for the crew to form. First Krystyna came, greeting her best friend as usual before starting up a conversation with her, followed by Endeleza and finally Bogumila.

"We're missing someone." Jozefa noticed once she looked at the group. "Anyone know where Lidka is?"

Endeleza and Bogumila looked around for any sight of the short Silesian, until Krystyna snapped her fingers."Ooh, I remember! Krystyna exclaimed, until she realized the reason of her absence which turned her smile to a frown "She claimed that she had a fever afterwards I think.."

The rest of the crew looked on with concern. "Not to worry, we'll pay her a visit afterwards right?" Jozefa ensured followed by the nods of everyone's heads. Jozefa had nodded and entered the cafeteria followed by the rest of the crew. They scanned the large room before their eyes picked out where those of the Tankery club were visible and it seemed as if they were in the middle of discussion. The crew of Wojtek looked at one another and nodded, mentally knowing the drill where Jozefa and Krystyna would approach the table while Endeleza and Bogumila collected the food.

From where they were, it seemed as if they were rising up quite the attention as Iveta had decided to broadcast her voice more wider. Rather than interrupting, Jozefa and Krystyna had decided to watch as to not ruin the mood. Until of course the girl had called upon the support of her comrades.

"Well then, can't leave ourselves out of it now can we?" asked Krystyna as she turned her head towards Jozefa, only to find her setting off for the table immediately to give their support. Before the two could answer her call, they were interrupted by a stern voice who had called out for Iveta as she brought the words of her requested presence by the principal. The eager mood seemed to have stopped in it's tracks with further awkwardness added by the appearance of a confused Bogumila and Endeleza,with of course the meals for their two comrades in hand. As Iveta left, the four slavs were left concerned as they took their seats among the rest of the Tankery club, hoping for the best news to come from the Tank club's leader from her meeting with the Principal.

[Republic of Hasgriu]

"Everyone... I..." Iveta blurted, feeling even more guilty than before. She appreciated the support they were giving her. Thinking over the fate of the club, she found it harder to bring the bad news to them. But as Avelina leaned over to hold her hands, the Latvian could barely hold it in. Breaking into tears, she buried herself in her friend's bosoms in agony, wailing over her own shortcomings and worries.

"I'm an idiot..." Iveta cursed, "I'm an idiot... It's frustrating!... I... I didn't know the first thing about tankery!... I just wanted to ride the tank... I didn't know it'd come to this!... I should have checked first... I should have..."

"Don't be silly," Avelina said, "we didn't want this to happen. What matters is everyone's fine now. No need to blame yourself."

"B-But..." Iveta whined.

"Let the principal and student council decide," Avelina assured her, "whatever happens, we're all still here for you. Isn't that right, everyone!?"

"My god..." Kirke blurted, giving two a smile, "I'm still here for you two. I'm sure Astlik and Terhikki are too."

Come what may, the trio would stick together no matter what. They might lose their tanks, but they could not break their friendship, not by a long shot.

Liliya nodded in acknowledgement, and let out a sigh, not of exasperation or irritation, but of relief. While Iveta's public outburst had earned a fair few looks of concern and confusion from passers-by, she wasn't repressing her feelings like some sort of Orwellian state any longer, an improvement in the music fan's books, as long as no one, especially a teacher or prefect, misconstrued the situation.

After hearing Iveta's agonised mutterings, Liliya found herself drawing a number of comparisons between Aquarius' commander and Yekaterina. Both were like incandescent lights—they could be hotly passionate when determined, and near-perpetually full of energy, but were not necessarily the brightest of bulbs.

Much of the girl's mumbled words about herself seemed true for Katya, if not all four of Buxtehude's members, as well. Being foolish, and very green, having simple intentions, a whole slew of 'should haves', so on and so forth. Iveta was far from alone.

With someone now carrying out her initial intentions, Yekaterina promptly turned, grabbed Maya's hand to accompany Hanna's, and faced the trio of Indonesians that remained. She breathed in, and began speaking.

"We're sorry for hurting you!" Yekaterina bowed, followed soon after by Hanna and Maya, with Liliya doing the same whilst holding a chair in the background.

"Accident or not, we made it happen, though it shouldn't have. You're probably angry, and upset, maybe even afraid, now. What was supposed to be sport and fun turned into an emergency because of us." Now, all four of them recovered and stood straight once more.

"Adelia, I'll take those words to heart, promise." Yekaterina let go of Maya's hand, clenching her own into a fist.

"We'll try to limit migration to people only! It might be too late this time, but we're not going to let this happen again!"

Yekaterina was particularly anxious, more than she had ever been for anything, examinations most definitely included, in part as she had made an apology on behalf of everyone, but neglected to ask for their input. Thus, she was relieved to hear Hanna follow up.

"Fatimah, I hope you'll get better! We'll do anything you ask us to if it helps."

Maya, not one to be excluded, added, "It doesn't have to be immediate, but please, don't hold a grudge against us."

Hopefully, the members of Komodo Team wouldn't take it too poorly...

Once more, a mixed reaction was delivered by the three Indonesians who were still left. Odetta was firm in her resolve to look bored, though it was more apparent that she was raising her eyebrows in weak concern for what the artillery team was saying. If anything, she had been the least to find the entire affair problematic, and had already 'forgiven' the team, even though she had to guide the tank back after Hermione had went down to take care of Fatimah.

Fatimah slowly lowered her hand from her nose, tapping her fingers together and simply looking at Adelia to give the final statement. She nudged the commander to say something, and with a sigh, said girl looked up once more and nodded her head.

"I'm not one to hold things against my former opponents," Adelia began, "Granted, they never did anything life threatening to us. But considering that your sincerity seems to be honest, I, and to an extent the teammates besides me, accept your team's apology."

She then raised a finger. "However, as you've noticed, one of us is currently not going to be swayed by your words easily," she continued, "And with good reason. My half-Dutch friend is hard-headed, and well... Just cannot accept it when her friend is hurt. Surely you can tell why, but I will try in my hardest to get her to understand, and I hope that you put some effort in as well."

The rest of Buxtehude was no less thankful. Fatimah relaxing her almost fearful hold on her nose, Adelia's acceptance, even Odetta's nonchalant expression—sans the slight movement of her eyebrows—all gradually aided with the burden of their guilt, though Hermione remained hidden and likely out of her mind with a cocktail of emotions.

Yekaterina, far more confident now, took a step forward, reached out and wrapped her pinkie around Adelia's extended finger, shook it as firmly as she could, and said, "It's understandable. She must be upset, and might need some time, but we'll do our best!"

She then acknowledged the rest of the table. "This also goes to you as well, club commander, Berta. We're all in this together, and if we have a weak link, then there's nothing to be fighting for. You brought us together into this group, Vet, and I expect that you continue to keep us together no matter what happens. We're here for you, so you had better be here for us."

Letting go of Adelia's finger as her gaze and attention turned back towards the table where Liliya remained seated, Yekaterina, upon seeing Iveta in her tearful state and veritable verbal self-flagellation, started to reach out for her.

As if her warm garments had fallen away, a cold sensation rippled throughout Yekaterina's body. Soon after, the still-present insulating layers of fabric did their job, and she was warm again, only for the cycle to repeat itself, goosebumps forming on her skin. Iveta...

Like some sort of grittier take on the bumbling sidekick, Yekaterina's mess-ups had torn apart Iveta's plans and hopes, and with a few words, she had plopped Fatimah at death's doorstep. And now, the young joy-bringing Snegurochka was deprecating herself for all the dreams of the children that would go unfulfilled.

Yekaterina could not bear even the few metres' distance between her and someone she had tormented so much, if indirectly, especially when the individual in question was magnifying her own supposed stupidity. She felt like a criminal in comparison, and only 'like' one so long as actual charges weren't pressed. One part of her was convinced of her unworthiness to so much as approach Iveta, while the other, spurred on by Komodo's willingness to talk, urged more action.

Idleness had never been something Yekaterina often delighted in. With minimal thought, she all but charged forwards, nigh-hysterically saying, just shy of shouting, "Ба́ка Вечка! If you are an idiot, then you're not the only one! We can be airheaded together!"

Now right beside the trio of close friends, and trying to follow in the footsteps of another of her fellow schoolmates, Yekaterina shamelessly tried to envelop all four of them in a large hug, but her arms fell quite far short of the necessary length. Instead, she simply kneeled beside them, adding, "I can judge things by myself. My mistakes shouldn't have become yours!"

"She changed focuses fast," remarked Maya, still standing up, having not moved from in front of Komodo.

Biting her lower lip, Hanna bowed towards the three slightly, worriedly noting, in an attempt to cover their tracks, "Ah, please don't think that Katya was being any less sincere because of this. We'll be hoping and trying to reconcile with Hermione Johannes as soon as possible."

"Everyone..." Iveta muttered, surprised by the shower of support as Umida wrapped her arms around the trio, "you're right... I shouldn't worry..."

Climbing atop the table to her friends' surprise, Iveta called out, "I won't give up! If you're fighting for the club, then I'll keep fighting for you! For our friends and our school... I don't care what comes next! We're going straight for the crown! Who's with me!?"

"Ура!" cheered Yekaterina, elated and heartened by Iveta's much improved spirits, her hand shooting right up in approval. While she still wished to do more to atone, for not only Iveta, but also all the others she had wronged, at least a few were now in a somewhat better state than right after the incident.

"Iveta," a familiar, straight-talking voice quickly cut her short, startling the mikan-haired girl, "the... principal wants to see you."

It was Henna, her arms crossed as usual. From the looks of it, she seemed displeased at something, not the least at Iveta.

Noticing Henna's approach, Maya took a short breath, as if hiccuping, and muttered, "Seems like we're meeting the principal about now."

Hanna let out a short squeal of surprise, not daring to turn her head to look. Almost immediately after, however, seeing that their time had come, she adopted a stoic demeanour and readied herself. Everyone was in good health, and Iveta in particular was in better condition, evidently cheered by the gush of support. While others, namely Hermione, remained strongly afflicted by their wrongs, the rapid recovery rate at present promised a positive prognosis. Alliteration ahoy!

Later
Principal's Office
-snip-

'Who is this blond-eyed blonde, and why have we gotten her involved too.' That was the first thing to run through Maya's mind as she stiffly entered the office, the rest of Buxtehude following shortly after. Iveta's equally confused blurt and Emma's subsequent exchange with were clarifying yet puzzling; the former, due to the revelation of the droopy-eyed girl's identity, and the latter, for the references to South African ‘cuisine’ and the revelation of the droopy-eyed girl's identity.

"Corruption has been weeded out, they said. We're a meritocracy now, they said."

"Maya," Hanna quietly spoke, squeezing her friend's shoulder, "Please don't imply such things..."

"Hey, isn't the businessman who owns this ship a Kärkkäinen too?" Yekaterina cut in.

The attack from behind elicited a less-than-amused response from Hanna, who reminded, "These are serious allegations. Please be careful."

"Hm, why are we all suddenly relaxed and chatting?" wondered Yekaterina out loud.

"Emma, they nearly got someone killed by asphyxiation," the Finn with the beauty mark yelled, "how can I not close the club!?"

"Their instructor will handle that, relax," Emma assured her, waving off her concerns, "she'll be very strict on them, I assure you."

"That's not the issue, Emma," Henna barked again, "you saw what happened! They had part of the park burnt down! God knows what would have happened! You know how dangerous tankery is! You're from St. Elisabeth, of all places!"

Henna raising her voice substantially as she furiously mentioned their actions and the events that followed, combined with Yekaterina's audible thoughts, brought the talkative three back to their senses temporarily. Before long, however, conversation resumed as per usual.

"The keyword is nearly," Maya remarked offhand.

"No, no it isn't. That's not the way to think." Hanna admonished lightly.

"Anyways, we'll be seeing Frau Kaufmann again?" mused Μaya.

"Why do you call her Frau?" enquired Yekaterina, shuffling closer to the front. "Makes you sound like a нацистка."

"Eh, what? Habit, I suppose." She shrugged. "Speaking of which, why does St Elisabeth ring a bell?"

"Well, it does have Nazis..." Yekaterina hazarded a guess.

"Oh!" Maya tapped her fingers. "Hasn't that school got those Quislings? It's Catholic, too. Those Huns seem to have forgotten about all the persecution and the Pope's letters back then."

Yekaterina was keen to add on. "Mm! It won that match we saw on the TV back a few days ago, remember?"

"And we've started talking once more," Hanna astutely observed.

"Wait," Iveta blurted, her eyes shifting to Emma, "she's from St. Elisabeth?"

As the eyes descended upon Emma, the girl's usual demeanour quietly melted away. A serious look in her eyes, she appeared a little displeased with Henna's slip, though far from angry. Peering at the club, she could tell they wanted answers. She did not appear keen to make a fuss out of it. After all, everything that had happened there was in the past to her. It seemed pointless to recount that to Iveta and her new club.

Iveta's repetition finally made the fact that the new principal formerly attended the school of the reigning European sensha-dō champions set in.

"Wait... This could be a great opportunity. She could be a goldmine of intelligence." Maya was quite excited by the prospect of having an allied insider, privy to and familiar with the procedures and customs of the rival school.

"Eh, but St Liz's the top school in all of Europe!" Yekaterina seemed surprised by Maya's apparent star-high ambitions.

"We're going for the crown, just as Iveta said then," reminded Hanna.

"She did?" Yekaterina frowned as she vainly searched her memories. "Wasn't paying attention, she just sounded really inspired and I felt like cheering."

"It's true that St Elizabeth probably won't be relevant until we make it past our first actual matches, though."

"All the more reason to work hard, then! Even if we don't win initially, we should learn and improve!"

In spite of their errors, the group of four was hopeful and looking forward to making opportunities to atone and redeem themselves. While wins might be far and few between, as long as their performance was not some static, flat line, or worse still, degraded, they were intent on keeping at sensha-dō. Iveta's restored ambition was now also theirs, and whether probable defeat or unlikely victory came, they would stick with her.

[Sonitusia]

After a silent agreement, Komodo team stood up and followed Iveta's team along with Buxtehide. This was the key event that would change the outcome of the club into two extremes, and Adelia hoped for the positive with all the mental strength she could. There was nothing worse she could think of then having an interesting sports club be disbanded after the first blunder that had been created.

Albert wanted to follow, but decided it wasn't his place to follow the two groups. He wasn't even sure himself of what had really happen, only knowing that incendiary rounds were deployed and half the park was burnt to the ground. I should tell the rest of my crew to help with a decision...

He came back to the table where the 5 girls sat, their conversation having turned into something about politics for god knows what reason. Coughing into his hand to get their attention, they all looked up, with Theodora asking, "What's the matter, Bert?"

"They're being called to the principal's office," he murmured, which brought complete silence to the table. Everyone began to think about how, considering everything, they might have to split off once more. Even though they had already gotten to know one another, it was unspoken knowledge that they wouldn't be able to handle this shaky friendship without tankery to keep them bound together. The British soldier-to-be, the poor Italian tinkerer, the Indonesian techie, the Australian auto-mechanic, and the Belgian boy who was trying to find himself. There was no real way for them to stay together unless they forced it. Added by their separate classes, things were looking bad for the five.

"I'll go along with them," Fauna decided, standing up, much to the surprise of the others. She looked at them one by one with determination in her eyes, and even Theodora couldn't think of any sarcastic retorts. Nodding, Fauna left the table, and jogged to catch up with the rest of the commanders and the two teams that were involved.

This is a friendship I cannot lose. Not as long as I'm still their commander!

---

Later
Principal's Office

(Image)

"H-Hoek..." blurted Iveta in bewilderment, standing in front of the principal's desk, "you're the new principal?..."

Surprises, as it turned out, was Emma's specialty, and her latest was even more shocking. Standing beside the table as she greeted the club members, the girl eagerly squealed, "ja! Haven't you heard? But please, call me Emma! I may be the head of the school, but I'm still a student! It's like bunny chow! Great mix, isn't it?"

"B-Bunny chow," Kirke blurted in a slight cringe, a bit disturbed by the name, "I don't understand..."

"What'd you mean 'you don't understand'," whined the blonde, pouting a bit at her apprehension.

"It's exactly as she said," Henna hounded almost immediately, as the Afrikaner fell over at the yell, "why the hell did you take the position. No... Why did you even come back?"

"Aww..." Emma swooned, coddling the scowling student president, "because I miss you, that all. You and Milla~."

"You don't need to move back, you know," grunted Henna, "much less this."

"Well, I can't have you close down the club, so I took the liberty to arrange their applications instead," Emma declared cheekily.

"Emma, they nearly got someone killed by asphyxiation," the Finn with the beauty mark yelled, "how can I not close the club!?"

"Their instructor will handle that, relax," Emma assured her, waving off her concerns, "she'll be very strict on them, I assure you."

"That's not the issue, Emma," Henna barked again, "you saw what happened! They had part of the park burnt down! God knows what would have happened! You know how dangerous tankery is! You're from St. Elisabeth, of all places!"

"Wait," Iveta blurted, her eyes shifting to Emma, "she's from St. Elisabeth?"

As the eyes descended upon Emma, the girl's usual demeanour quietly melted away. A serious look in her eyes, she appeared a little displeased with Henna's slip, though far from angry. Peering at the club, she could tell they wanted answers. She did not appear keen to make a fuss out of it. After all, everything that had happened there was in the past to her. It seemed pointless to recount that to Iveta and her new club.

"Bunny Chow, a rather unique form of South African-Indian cuisine," Adelia noted, "Curry kept in a loaf of bread, perhaps one could develop a delicious alternative to field rations with it, considering that it balances carbohydrates, protein, and fibers in one. Though fat would be an issue..."

The three members of Komodo currently gathered, along with Fauna, did not know how to react to the principal, who was very well within their age group, and had admitted to still being a student. Truly it was quite interesting to know that a school ship had almost every student operating it, whether it be in a functional or administrative use. Any port city that owned a school ship must be rather proud of the girls on board, having put their trust in young adults who weren't even legally allowed to drive a car yet.

They let Iveta's group and Emma bash it out, until some rather sensitive information spilled out of Henna's mouth. Adelia quickly went into action, walking up with a wide, rather sinister grin spread across her face. In her eyes were clear intent; there were things they must talk about.

"Saint Elizabeth?" she chuckled, a wild fire in her eyes, "Now that's a very interesting bit of info. You wouldn't mind sharing more would you, dear-"

Unfortunately, Adelia's moment of glory was hogged by the door being burst open. Heads were turned, only to find themselves looking at a very angry looking student. Pushing her glasses up, the the lenses seemed to reflect a bit before clearly showing off her enraged pupils. Adelia looked to Odetta for explanation as the girl walked forwards, each step a very violent tap.

"I told her we were called to the principal's office," the Sundanese girl said blankly.

Suddenly speeding up upon reaching two meters, she had somehow managed to cross the distance in seemingly half a second. Adelia found herself being lifted by the collar, forced to look down to face Hermione.

"Herm, it's not what you-"

"IS THIS BECAUSE OF THAT NAZI OUTFIT YOU ALL WORE THAT OTHER DAY?!" Hermione shouted, slightly blowing Adelia's hair back, "I SWEAR TO GOD, I LEAVE YOU ALL TO YOURSELVES TO STUDY, AND YOU DECIDE TO DRESS UP AS FASCISTS AND A COMMUNIST! OR MAYBE BECAUSE OF SOME OTHER CRAZY SCHEME YOU MANAGED TO PERFO-"

Adelia was desperately pointing to the right, and the bespectacled girl turned her head for a moment to finally take notice of the other members of the Tankery Club. Going silent, her anger was replaced by absolute embarrassment, her face going red.

"Oh, err... Sorry... It looks like I'm bothering..."

Sulking and not wanting to look anyone in the eye, Hermione scooted over to the corner. The one furthest from Buxtehide, no less.

Komodo team sighed in unison, but Fauna was simply surprised at how close they were. Apparently they knew of each other way too well, and how they were willing to show all of their emotion to express something to one another. Well, except for Odetta, though the Brit had yet to see anything of the sort.

"Uhm... *cough*... In any case, I don't know about your relationship with Iveta," Fauna began, speaking towards Emma, "But I simply want to know if the Tankery Club will continue to run. And not just because of your orders, but because everyone, including the angry Finn, agrees. If there is any way we can somehow repay for our teammates' mistake, I believe that all parties can agree on something..."

[Minroz]

Principal's Office

Only Tatiana, Aliya and Umida have finally come to the principal’s office with others from the Tankery Club. To say the Prussian girls were surprised is an understatement. They couldn’t believed this blonde young girl, Emma, is the school’s principal who is within their age group. To begin with, the trio were expected to meet an old man in a suit. Now they know it’s not a case. It is evident with their eyes and mouths wide open. They began uttering up one word in their ethnic tongues.

“Chto?” Tatiana blurted.

“Ne?” Aliya blurted as well.

“Nima?” Umida does the same. It is clear that the three were quite shocked upon first reaction to Emma as a principal.

“Oh sorry.” The black-haired Kazakh apologised. “We didn’t expect meet someone so…young.”

“Oh Allah, this will take a while to wrapped our minds onto it.” The Uzbek grumbled, massaging her head.

Listening to others’ speaking, they’re having trouble following the conversations due to the confusing circumstances. But they do understand it’s about the expanses in addition to certain accidents happened in the last Tankery match. Certainly, there’re lots of questions to be asked in regards to Emma and Tankery as a whole.

"IS THIS BECAUSE OF THAT NAZI OUTFIT YOU ALL WORE THAT OTHER DAY?!" Hermione shouted, slightly blowing Adelia's hair back, "I SWEAR TO GOD, I LEAVE YOU ALL TO YOURSELVES TO STUDY, AND YOU DECIDE TO DRESS UP AS FASCISTS AND A COMMUNIST! OR MAYBE BECAUSE OF SOME OTHER CRAZY SCHEME YOU MANAGED TO PERFO-"

Adelia was desperately pointing to the right, and the bespectacled girl turned her head for a moment to finally take notice of the other members of the Tankery Club. Going silent, her anger was replaced by absolute embarrassment, her face going red.

"Oh, err... Sorry... It looks like I'm bothering..."

Sulking and not wanting to look anyone in the eye, Hermione scooted over to the corner. The one furthest from Buxtehide, no less.

Komodo team sighed in unison, but Fauna was simply surprised at how close they were. Apparently they knew of each other way too well, and how they were willing to show all of their emotion to express something to one another. Well, except for Odetta, though the Brit had yet to see anything of the sort.

"Uhm... *cough*... In any case, I don't know about your relationship with Iveta," Fauna began, speaking towards Emma, "But I simply want to know if the Tankery Club will continue to run. And not just because of your orders, but because everyone, including the angry Finn, agrees. If there is any way we can somehow repay for our teammates' mistake, I believe that all parties can agree on something..."

Startled by Adelia’s outburst, the three Prussian girls looked into her direction with shock on their faces. They’re surprised, definitely. As if they enough surprises as it is.

“Eerm…it’s okay, you’re not a both. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Hehe.” Tatiana tries to make reassurance with a smile, although she herself isn’t sure what to make of the situation at hand.

“Cheer up, how about we some good treat after this?” Umida tried to do the same.

Later, the trio started listened to Fauna’s words. Tatiana, Aliya and Umida altogether nodded their heads in agreement.

“Yes, we are.” replied the blonde Russian, stepping up. “I…no…we’re pretty much aware there’ll be consequences because of the incident. But thank god, no one got harm severely. I do not know anything else to say in defence. But I can safely say on everyone’s behalf, we all do not wish the Tankery Club to be abolished like this.”

[Wolfenium]

Observing the stares zeroing on her, Emma could not help but feel a bit unnerved. For all her joking and forwardness, she felt discomforted at answering their most pressing query. Bowing her head, she could not blame them for being excited. Just a year ago, she was part of Sadik's winning team. Anything she knew would be of great value to any rival club, let alone Rauschen.

"Oh, err... Sorry... It looks like I'm bothering..."

-snip-

"Uhm... *cough*... In any case, I don't know about your relationship with Iveta," Fauna began, speaking towards Emma, "But I simply want to know if the Tankery Club will continue to run. And not just because of your orders, but because everyone, including the angry Finn, agrees. If there is any way we can somehow repay for our teammates' mistake, I believe that all parties can agree on something..."

“Yes, we are.” replied the blonde Russian, stepping up. “I…no…we’re pretty much aware there’ll be consequences because of the incident. But thank god, no one got harm severely. I do not know anything else to say in defence. But I can safely say on everyone’s behalf, we all do not wish the Tankery Club to be abolished like this.”

"Who're you calling angry," Henna barked angrily, quite outraged by the words, "I'm just concerned after what happened? And mind you, your captain got knocked out first. What if she was the flag!? What kind of captain tries to pit a KV-1 with a long range gun against a Pershing at point blank!? You make me sick."

"Maybe if you shared your infinite wisdom, they'd do better, Henna," Emma teased, feeling a little more at ease after Hermione's distraction, "I know you want to~."

"Don't be silly," denied the student president, pouting at the words, "I can't help, even if I wanted..."

"Mh..." mumbled Emma as she observed the Finn, smiling at her chilling reaction. Facing the others, she assured Hermonie, "in any case, no need to worry. We were just discussing about the club. To be honest, I was planning to tell you a little later, once I have a team, but I guess I'll have to spill it."

"Yes," she confirmed in a more reminiscent tone, "I spent my second year in St. Elisabeth before returning here. It was there I saw for myself Aylin's rise as Tankery captain. She was just a freshman then, but she dared to challenge the old captain head on in a duel. With just a H35 Hotchkiss, she knocked out her King Tiger through sheer guile. After that, she took out Vernost's well-equipped greenhorns in the nationals, with just a trio of Puma armoured cars alongside the club's heavy armour. It was difficult, and the school wasn't even behind the club. But Aylin won them over one club at a time, and she would force them through every opponent that got in their way, no matter how strong. That's what makes her dangerous. She drew out the talent of every tank crew she poked into service."

"Ooooh," Iveta blurted, quite intrigued by her tale, "sounds like a lot. What vehicle did you drive then, Emma!?"

"Me," Emma mused, "mine was a Panzer III, pieced together from spare parts I salvaged in St Elisabeth. I wanted to buy a tank myself, but Aylin is, if anything, miserly. She refuses to get into debt with any of the rich girls in the club. On hindsight, it was probably a good thing. It pressed her to make full use of her mind with whatever little we had. Of course, if you girls hoped to hear more, I'm afraid I can't do more to help. After all, some of the girls I knew would have graduated by now, and my tank is probably being used by freshmen. I can't see her sticking to the same weapons she had last year on the off-chance rival teams would research on her school for weaknesses, like us, for instance."

"A-Ah..." Avelina murmured, "I guess. But are we even going to get that far? You heard Henna. I'm assuming you're not going to close the club."

"Of course not," confirmed the girl with a tease, "but only if you girls are willing. As for punishment, I have to agree with our angry Finn on this one. We need to repay the damages to the park somehow. If we can't, we'll just have to shutter the club and sell the tanks, and we don't want to resort to that, do we?"

"EHHHHHH," Iveta screamed in horror, "sell the tanks!? But we only just got them! Is there anything else we can do!?"

"Well," Emma wondered, "I suppose there is one thing... The tournament promises a prize money for the championship winner, given directly to the club. It should be enough to pay off the damages and more~. As for the remainder and budget for tank maintenance and supplies, I think we can figure out something."

"You're not serious, are you," Henna questioned, grimacing at the idea, "what chance do they have? They've only just formed!"

Smirking at Henna's pessimism, Emma simply responded, "St Elisabeth went from a scrub tankery club to the European Tankery champions in a single tournament. I can't see why we can't do the same."

Paying back the damages with prize money... It was hard for Iveta and her friends to think that was a good idea. Despite Emma's optimism, getting to the finals was hardly going to be easy, even with an ex-champion from St. Elisabeth in their school. If they really were going to lose, then it was almost guaranteed they would have to shutter the club. It was dangerous, high risk and utterly insane. And yet, nobody wanted to give up, even with a fleeting chance of success.

"Henna," Iveta pleaded, "please, I know what happened was serious. I'm prepared to take responsibility for it. I should have kept a closer eye, and waited for the instructor. Still, I have a responsibility to the club as well. I can't just shut down the club! Where will the others go? If Emma says we can work the debt back, why not?"

"You don't understand, do you," Henna insisted, "tankery isn't just a sport. The strategy and tactics involved are used in real life battles - battles that are occurring somewhere in this world right now. Do you think you have what it takes to take on the top schools in Europe? Mind you, Aylin Sadik wasn't the only ace in last year's tournament. She had to fight her way through the likes of Yeliza von Lyuneberg-Pommern and Aileen Arbuthnott to win the championship. Many were just as crafty as her, if not more. And you think you can take on them with absolute zero experience?..."

"Uhh..." Iveta stammered, "who and who?..."

Iveta's lack of knowledge made Henna's stomach churn. It was as if her ignorance was an offence to tankery itself. Squinting, Henna looked close to snapping at her. Looking on at the student president, however, Emma appeared to be relishing the bickering. She appeared to have known about Henna's oddly in-depth knowledge of tankery.

[Sonitusia]

"Who're you calling angry," Henna barked angrily, quite outraged by the words, "I'm just concerned after what happened? And mind you, your captain got knocked out first. What if she was the flag!? What kind of captain tries to pit a KV-1 with a long range gun against a Pershing at point blank!? You make me sick."

...

"A-Ah..." Avelina murmured, "I guess. But are we even going to get that far? You heard Henna. I'm assuming you're not going to close the club."

"Of course not," confirmed the girl with a tease, "but only if you girls are willing. As for punishment, I have to agree with our angry Finn on this one. We need to repay the damages to the park somehow. If we can't, we'll just have to shutter the club and sell the tanks, and we don't want to resort to that, do we?"

"EHHHHHH," Iveta screamed in horror, "sell the tanks!? But we only just got them! Is there anything else we can do!?"

"Well," Emma wondered, "I suppose there is one thing... The tournament promises a prize money for the championship winner, given directly to the club. It should be enough to pay off the damages and more~. As for the remainder and budget for tank maintenance and supplies, I think we can figure out something."

....

"You don't understand, do you," Henna insisted, "tankery isn't just a sport. The strategy and tactics involved are used in real life battles - battles that are occurring somewhere in this world right now. Do you think you have what it takes to take on the top schools in Europe? Mind you, Aylin Sadik wasn't the only ace in last year's tournament. She had to fight her way through the likes of Yeliza von Lyuneberg-Pommern and Aileen Arbuthnott to win the championship. Many were just as crafty as her, if not more. And you think you can take on them with absolute zero experience?..."

"Well I wouldn't say absolute zero," Adelia mentioned, finally smoothing out her uniform after being manhandled by Hermione, "I didn't get to Europe on grades alone after all, though it is rather sad that this club was only established during my second year."

She put up a finger, wagging it from side to side.

"And I'm sure you would know, Henna, a proper flag tank wouldn't be the Kliment in the first place," she added, "It's either our most heavily armored, one of our quickest, or a vehicle with the lowest silhouette. None of which the Russian vehicle possesses."

Putting her hands at her hips, she then grinned widely and looked towards Emma.

"We have a winner right before us, if I may be so bold, those who can deploy strategies used to this day, and those who are actually trained for modern warfare. Am I correct, Private Pool?"

Fauna's body straightened, as if being brought to attention. She was dumbfounded by all the things being argued between the principal, school president, and club founder that she was surprised to suddenly be mentioned by the Indonesian girl, who even used her rank despite Fauna not having told her yet. She had only heard the rank with her name being used back at training.

"U-Uh, yes, that's true, but I'm trained in airborne insertion and have no combat experience-," she replied, only to be cut off by Adelia once more.

"Nonsense, you showed an exemplary show during practice, mechanized parainfantrywoman," the Indonesian continued, "And just by judging from your knowledge on European tankery and those who play it, Henna, I can presume we have at the minimal four individuals who can bring this club to victory. Not including the budding potential I see in every single person in this room and, to an extent, the entire team. If Aylin can do it, then Iveta, and I, can too. We'll obtain that money and fix our beloved park once more. Guaranteed."

Hermione huffed inaudibly, but was smirking nonetheless. If there was anything she learned from her year with Adelia, it was that she intimidated not only her opponents, but her own teammates as well. She may not know it, she not only earned her right to become the ace of an entire nation by her skill on the board, but also in how she played with people's hopes. And of course, dreams.

"What say you, school president?" Adelia concluded, "Continue to be the 'angry Finn' Fauna said earlier, or become the de facto leader of Europe's Tankery Champion, Rauschen Girls' High School?"

[Wolfenium]

"Who're you calling angry," Henna barked angrily, quite outraged by the words, "I'm just concerned after what happened? And mind you, your captain got knocked out first. What if she was the flag!? What kind of captain tries to pit a KV-1 with a long range gun against a Pershing at point blank!? You make me sick."

...

"A-Ah..." Avelina murmured, "I guess. But are we even going to get that far? You heard Henna. I'm assuming you're not going to close the club."

"Of course not," confirmed the girl with a tease, "but only if you girls are willing. As for punishment, I have to agree with our angry Finn on this one. We need to repay the damages to the park somehow. If we can't, we'll just have to shutter the club and sell the tanks, and we don't want to resort to that, do we?"

"EHHHHHH," Iveta screamed in horror, "sell the tanks!? But we only just got them! Is there anything else we can do!?"

"Well," Emma wondered, "I suppose there is one thing... The tournament promises a prize money for the championship winner, given directly to the club. It should be enough to pay off the damages and more~. As for the remainder and budget for tank maintenance and supplies, I think we can figure out something."

....

"You don't understand, do you," Henna insisted, "tankery isn't just a sport. The strategy and tactics involved are used in real life battles - battles that are occurring somewhere in this world right now. Do you think you have what it takes to take on the top schools in Europe? Mind you, Aylin Sadik wasn't the only ace in last year's tournament. She had to fight her way through the likes of Yeliza von Lyuneberg-Pommern and Aileen Arbuthnott to win the championship. Many were just as crafty as her, if not more. And you think you can take on them with absolute zero experience?..."

"Well I wouldn't say absolute zero," Adelia mentioned, finally smoothing out her uniform after being manhandled by Hermione, "I didn't get to Europe on grades alone after all, though it is rather sad that this club was only established during my second year."

She put up a finger, wagging it from side to side.

"And I'm sure you would know, Henna, a proper flag tank wouldn't be the Kliment in the first place," she added, "It's either our most heavily armored, one of our quickest, or a vehicle with the lowest silhouette. None of which the Russian vehicle possesses."

Putting her hands at her hips, she then grinned widely and looked towards Emma.

"We have a winner right before us, if I may be so bold, those who can deploy strategies used to this day, and those who are actually trained for modern warfare. Am I correct, Private Pool?"

Fauna's body straightened, as if being brought to attention. She was dumbfounded by all the things being argued between the principal, school president, and club founder that she was surprised to suddenly be mentioned by the Indonesian girl, who even used her rank despite Fauna not having told her yet. She had only heard the rank with her name being used back at training.

"U-Uh, yes, that's true, but I'm trained in airborne insertion and have no combat experience-," she replied, only to be cut off by Adelia once more.

"Nonsense, you showed an exemplary show during practice, mechanized parainfantrywoman," the Indonesian continued, "And just by judging from your knowledge on European tankery and those who play it, Henna, I can presume we have at the minimal four individuals who can bring this club to victory. Not including the budding potential I see in every single person in this room and, to an extent, the entire team. If Aylin can do it, then Iveta, and I, can too. We'll obtain that money and fix our beloved park once more. Guaranteed."

Hermione huffed inaudibly, but was smirking nonetheless. If there was anything she learned from her year with Adelia, it was that she intimidated not only her opponents, but her own teammates as well. She may not know it, she not only earned her right to become the ace of an entire nation by her skill on the board, but also in how she played with people's hopes. And of course, dreams.

"What say you, school president?" Adelia concluded, "Continue to be the 'angry Finn' Fauna said earlier, or become the de facto leader of Europe's Tankery Champion, Rauschen Girls' High School?"

Glaring at Adelia's audacious proposal, Henna did not appear the least amused. As expected of her position, fame and glory did not seem to have tempted her, though Adelia's confidence irked her quite a bit. Gripping her arms, the student president tried hard not to be cowed. If all the people to show the nerve...

"I can understand if you don't feel the pressure, Nasution," Henna stated, her eyes shifting at Iveta and her friends, "I don't exactly expect the former champion of a middle school East Asian tournament to feel the heat to a great extent. But a team is as strong as its weakest link, and safe to say, this club has a lot. Who do you people think you are, Oarai?."

"Yes," Emma interjected cheekily, her eyes shifting at the crewmen as she spun around with her arms wide with embrace, "we will be the Oarai of Europe! We will take the continent and world by storm! We even have the tank mixture and mystery prodigies to match! Isn't that right, everyone!?"

Henna was outnumbered, and her posture showed. It was hard to deny that what they were attempting was possible, even as a remote chance. Never mind Aylin Sadik. The club was far closer to Oarai than St Elisabeth could ever be. The underdog school that scraped up their age old tanks to beat not only the best schools in Japan, but a university, the legend of Miho Nishizumi was, arguably, far greater than any European tank ace. But it was still a hard act to follow, and Henna's lack of confidence was feeding her ire for the upstart tankery club members. In the end, however, it was the principal's word against her own. Henna never had a real chance of protesting.

"You already made your decision," she admitted grudgingly, "who am I to refuse. However, if you really want to become the next Oarai, you're going to need to do more than commit reckless arson. Your captain is a hopeless newbie. How do you intend to shape her up?"

"I'm right here, you know," Iveta blurted indignantly, locking eyes with the student president as Henna closed in on her face. Unnerving the young captain, Henna questioned, "so what? A captain has to be the best of the club, or this club is dead. You claim to like tankery but I don't see an iota of actual fiber. Tell me, your friends claim they could become the next Oarai, but do you know how? In the match against Oarai and Anzio, what was Anzio's deception strategy, and how did Oarai see through their plans? Rest of you, shut up."

"Eh... Anzio?..." Iveta blurted, "is that some Italian school-"

"Wrong," snapped the student president suddenly, stepping forward to confront her as she fell back on the girl behind, "Anzio deployed wooden plywood dummies to try to funnel Oarai into a killzone and surround them, but Oarai discovered the plan when Anzio deployed one dummy too many, exceeding the regulation number of tanks and exposing them as fakes. Also, what are the favourite flowers of Oarai's Rabbit Team?"

"Eh? Ehhhhhhhhh!?" the captain screamed, clearly unable to answer such trivia.

"Wrong a-gain," Henna countered, "Baby's Breath, Marguerite, Apricot, Marigold, Lily of the Valley and Pansy, are all the favourite flowers of Azusa, Ayumi, Saki, Karina, Yuuki and Aya respectively. And you call yourself a tankery fan. How dare you!?"

"That's useless trivia," yelled the panicking captain, much to the nervousness of her friends, "how the hell am I supposed to know!?"

"If you're that good, why don't you help," Avelina questioned, a bit ticked off, "don't tell me..."

Almost instantly, the once-prideful facade of the student council president began to fall apart precipitously. The more she argued, the more the club began to realize her true nature. Apprehension slowly turned to mischief as Avelina and Iveta began grin. Emma herself needed no explanation. She appeared to have known Henna's tankery-centric fanaticism already.

"You guys..." Kirke went, clearly worried about the duo. She did not particularly enjoy the idea of harassing Henna. Sadly, she might be the only one who thought so, given the Finn's attitude throughout...

[Sonitusia]

Glaring at Adelia's audacious proposal, Henna did not appear the least amused. As expected of her position, fame and glory did not seem to have tempted her, though Adelia's confidence irked her quite a bit. Gripping her arms, the student president tried hard not to be cowed. If all the people to show the nerve...

"I can understand if you don't feel the pressure, Nasution," Henna stated, her eyes shifting at Iveta and her friends, "I don't exactly expect the former champion of a middle school East Asian tournament to feel the heat to a great extent. But a team is as strong as its weakest link, and safe to say, this club has a lot. Who do you people think you are, Oarai?."

"Yes," Emma interjected cheekily, her eyes shifting at the crewmen as she spun around with her arms wide with embrace, "we will be the Oarai of Europe! We will take the continent and world by storm! We even have the tank mixture and mystery prodigies to match! Isn't that right, everyone!?"

Henna was outnumbered, and her posture showed. It was hard to deny that what they were attempting was possible, even as a remote chance. Never mind Aylin Sadik. The club was far closer to Oarai than St Elisabeth could ever be. The underdog school that scraped up their age old tanks to beat not only the best schools in Japan, but a university, the legend of Miho Nishizumi was, arguably, far greater than any European tank ace. But it was still a hard act to follow, and Henna's lack of confidence was feeding her ire for the upstart tankery club members. In the end, however, it was the principal's word against her own. Henna never had a real chance of protesting.

"You already made your decision," she admitted grudgingly, "who am I to refuse. However, if you really want to become the next Oarai, you're going to need to do more than commit reckless arson. Your captain is a hopeless newbie. How do you intend to shape her up?"

"I'm right here, you know," Iveta blurted indignantly, locking eyes with the student president as Henna closed in on her face. Unnerving the young captain, Henna questioned, "so what? A captain has to be the best of the club, or this club is dead. You claim to like tankery but I don't see an iota of actual fiber. Tell me, your friends claim they could become the next Oarai, but do you know how? In the match against Oarai and Anzio, what was Anzio's deception strategy, and how did Oarai see through their plans? Rest of you, shut up."

"Eh... Anzio?..." Iveta blurted, "is that some Italian school-"

"Wrong," snapped the student president suddenly, stepping forward to confront her as she fell back on the girl behind, "Anzio deployed wooden plywood dummies to try to funnel Oarai into a killzone and surround them, but Oarai discovered the plan when Anzio deployed one dummy too many, exceeding the regulation number of tanks and exposing them as fakes. Also, what are the favourite flowers of Oarai's Rabbit Team?"

"Eh? Ehhhhhhhhh!?" the captain screamed, clearly unable to answer such trivia.

"Wrong a-gain," Henna countered, "Baby's Breath, Marguerite, Apricot, Marigold, Lily of the Valley and Pansy, are all the favourite flowers of Azusa, Ayumi, Saki, Karina, Yuuki and Aya respectively. And you call yourself a tankery fan. How dare you!?"

"That's useless trivia," yelled the panicking captain, much to the nervousness of her friends, "how the hell am I supposed to know!?"

"If you're that good, why don't you help," Avelina questioned, a bit ticked off, "don't tell me..."

Almost instantly, the once-prideful facade of the student council president began to fall apart precipitously. The more she argued, the more the club began to realize her true nature. Apprehension slowly turned to mischief as Avelina and Iveta began grin. Emma herself needed no explanation. She appeared to have known Henna's tankery-centric fanaticism already.

"You guys..." Kirke went, clearly worried about the duo. She did not particularly enjoy the idea of harassing Henna. Sadly, she might be the only one who thought so, given the Finn's attitude throughout...

"She loves tankery more than anyone in the room," Odetta grumbled out loud, her first full sentence to be made throughout the day, "Loves it enough to lecture us on things that won't help us in any way, unless we need to bribe a Japanese team's em-three Lee crew."

Adelia was clearly feeling more an more convinced that the tankery club was going to be in full order. Not only was the spirit there, but it would've seemed that Henna was already breaking down in just how much she would support the idea of a tankery club. But not just any, unnamed sports group. She wanted it to succeed. And there was no way she'd be willing if the thought of a single loss was at stake. Sure there were things that Adelia had to dig deeper into, but for now, it would seem that Henna was one of Rauschen's best in tankery. Or at least, tankery knowledge.

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles," the commander said, her hands on her hips, "And to be honest, I really do have the right to say what I say. Rauschen's line-up isn't like back at home. Your 'weakest link' is either in control of a heavy tank with a formidable gun, or a crew of new friends in a well armed armored car. I'd say those odds are better than almost an entire team of cheap, American export-only vehicles."

She shuddered slightly at the thought, but was completely honest in her words. There were things that shouldn't be discussed, and the maintenance problems of Marmon-Herrington tanks was one of them.

"Anyways, are we done here?" Hermione spoke up, "Time is money you know, and we need a lot of it."

[Minroz]

From the sidelines, Aliya, Umida and Tatiana altogether have observed the odd exchanges with confusion spread on their faces. However, when Henna began mentioned about the famed Oarai academy and then subjects related to tankery, the three Prussians have started to become suspicious of the school council president herself. They knew something was amiss because the Finn’s attitude about tankery is likened to a fangirl.

“Oh my…this is a surprise.” Tatiana remarked.

“Pardon, if you don’t mind me asking, Madame President, you seemed to be very knowledgeable about tankery, let alone Oarai?” Aliya asked innocuously. More like she’s interrogating Henna.

“Oh my god, we didn’t know you like tankery. Why didn’t you mention so earlier? Who could’ve thought the student council president is into tankery~?” Umida making her tease.

Anyone in the room could’ve sworn their eyes were gleaming evilly. And somewhat innocent smiles of the three Prussians didn’t helped it.

[Republic of Hasgriu]

"Bunny chow, a rather unique form of South African-Indian cuisine," Adelia noted, "Curry kept in a loaf of bread, perhaps one could develop a delicious alternative to field rations with it, considering that it balances carbohydrates, protein, and fibers in one. Though fat would be an issue..."

The three members of Komodo currently gathered, along with Fauna, did not know how to react to the principal, who was very well within their age group, and had admitted to still being a student. Truly it was quite interesting to know that a school ship had almost every student operating it, whether it be in a functional or administrative use. Any port city that owned a school ship must be rather proud of the girls on board, having put their trust in young adults who weren't even legally allowed to drive a car yet.

They let Iveta's group and Emma bash it out, until some rather sensitive information spilled out of Henna's mouth. Adelia quickly went into action, walking up with a wide, rather sinister grin spread across her face. In her eyes were clear intent; there were things they must talk about.

"Saint Elizabeth?" she chuckled, a wild fire in her eyes, "Now that's a very interesting bit of info. You wouldn't mind sharing more would you, dear-"

Unfortunately, Adelia's moment of glory was hogged by the door being burst open. Heads were turned, only to find themselves looking at a very angry looking student. Pushing her glasses up, the the lenses seemed to reflect a bit before clearly showing off her enraged pupils. Adelia looked to Odetta for explanation as the girl walked forwards, each step a very violent tap.

"I told her we were called to the principal's office," the Sundanese girl said blankly.

Suddenly speeding up upon reaching two meters, she had somehow managed to cross the distance in seemingly half a second. Adelia found herself being lifted by the collar, forced to look down to face Hermione.

"Herm, it's not what you-"

"IS THIS BECAUSE OF THAT NAZI OUTFIT YOU ALL WORE THAT OTHER DAY?!" Hermione shouted, slightly blowing Adelia's hair back, "I SWEAR TO GOD, I LEAVE YOU ALL TO YOURSELVES TO STUDY, AND YOU DECIDE TO DRESS UP AS FASCISTS AND A COMMUNIST! OR MAYBE BECAUSE OF SOME OTHER CRAZY SCHEME YOU MANAGED TO PERFO-"

Adelia was desperately pointing to the right, and the bespectacled girl turned her head for a moment to finally take notice of the other members of the Tankery Club. Going silent, her anger was replaced by absolute embarrassment, her face going red.

"Oh, err... Sorry... It looks like I'm bothering..."

Sulking and not wanting to look anyone in the eye, Hermione scooted over to the corner. The one furthest from Buxtehude, no less.

Komodo team sighed in unison, but Fauna was simply surprised at how close they were. Apparently they knew of each other way too well, and how they were willing to show all of their emotion to express something to one another. Well, except for Odetta, though the Brit had yet to see anything of the sort.

"Nazi outfit? Bloody hell, more immigrants from St Elizabeth?" remarked Maya, observing the ruckus, "We want talent, not cosplayers."

"Please don't try to joke around now..." Hanna, less comfortable about the atmosphere, quietly pleaded.

"Mm!" Yekaterina agreed, "Cosplay's a talent too! But more importantly, that's," she gestured towards Hermione, who was evidently attempting to commit homicide in the principal and student council president's presence, "Mionya!"

However, before any of them could speak up, the bespectacled girl finally took notice of her surroundings and promptly skedaddled as far away as possible. Perhaps it was not yet the time to sort out the matter, as the tide of conversation swiftly swept the room's attention to Emma.

"Uhm... *cough*... In any case, I don't know about your relationship with Iveta," Fauna began, speaking towards Emma, "But I simply want to know if the Tankery Club will continue to run. And not just because of your orders, but because everyone, including the angry Finn, agrees. If there is any way we can somehow repay for our teammates' mistake, I believe that all parties can agree on something..."

"Repay for us?" Hanna echoed, seemingly uncomfortable about the proposition.

"Yeah, we're not North Korea, we shouldn't execute everyone else for our problems!" Yekaterina was similarly unhappy.

"Well, we've all got a collective stake in this sensha-dō club now. It's in everyone's interests to keep the club afloat," remarked Maya, somewhat cynical. "This just means we'll have to redeem ourselves through more effort."

"Redemption arc, huh?" mused Yekaterina. "Got it!"

Preferably one not ending in death, Liliya inwardly remarked. Fortunately, there was now a goal for Yekaterina to strive for, so she would hopefully remain committed. Maya would definitely play the redemption card whenever possible to keep Yekaterina on track.

"Yes," she confirmed in a more reminiscent tone, "I spent my second year in St. Elisabeth before returning here. It was there I saw for myself Aylin's rise as Tankery captain. She was just a freshman then, but she dared to challenge the old captain head on in a duel. With just a H35 Hotchkiss, she knocked out her King Tiger through sheer guile."

"Hawa, in a one-on-one duel?" Yekaterina was just as amazed and enthralled by Emma's story as her counterpart in Aquarius. "How? Is there a video of it anywhere?"

"I'll bet a dollar that the old captain knocked herself out." Maya began genuinely fishing her wallet out of her pockets.

"You mean a euro?" Yekaterina split her ears' focus between Emma and Maya, though her eyes remained glued to the former.

"No, a dollar." Still no success for Maya, as she tried to yank her wallet free.

Hanna now joined in, saying, "Oh, the one that looks like a one euro coin?"

"That's the new series. Haven't got any of those." At last, she was able to liberate her coins from the maw of her zipper coin pouch, and took an old-looking one out. "Here, this is what I'm talking about."

"1990? It's from the Cold War!" Yekaterina turned her head, Emma having finished about her time in St Elizabeth. "It's got a sad face too!"

"Mm, okay." Maya idly nodded, returning her coins and wallet to her pocket. One of the names that Henna mentioned rung a bell, and she was searching her memories for it. For some reason, the latter surname reminded her of Hong Kong, her hometown.

"She had to fight her way through the likes of Yeliza von Lyuneberg-Pommern and Aileen Arbuthnott to win the championship."

Suddenly, Maya snapped her fingers. "Arbuthnot. That was the first time I got lost."

"Is that the only part you heard...?" Hanna quietly commented, confounded by how the atmosphere had become so relaxed all of a sudden.

"In a person's surname?" Yekaterina replied with a slight hint of snark, wishing for some clarification.

"It's a little road back in Hong Kong. I ended up walking into a hotel for directions."

"Eh? I would've just used Google Maps." Upon noticing the stare Maya was giving her, Yekaterina added, "That was a thing in 2005."

"Anyway, we'll have to look out for a Jerry, a Tommy, and of course... ‘the Turk’." Maya paused before voicing the nickname, as if uncertain about something.

"Yup!" exclaimed Yekaterina.

Though initially hesitant, Maya eventually asked, "Why's she called the Turk?"

"Because she is one!" Yekaterina replied helpfully.

"What, a fraudulent chess master?"

"Um," Hanna began, not fully understanding how the board game was relevant, "while we can't rule that out, Katya meant that she's Turkish."

"Haven't we got an Armenian?"

"Yeah," Yekaterina nodded, if surprised by the inexplicable change of topic, "I'm pretty sure Astlik from Aquarius is! Why'd you ask, Mayunya?"

"Maya, please don't go there." This time, Hanna was aware of what Maya was talking about, a far more serious topic.

"Ararat, I'll drop it," relented Maya, but not before sneaking in another reference.

"Eh, don't leave me out of this! What am I missing?" Yekaterina pouted.

"And I'm sure you would know, Henna, a proper flag tank wouldn't be the Kliment in the first place," she added, "It's either our most heavily armored, one of our quickest, or a vehicle with the lowest silhouette."

"Did you two hear what Adelia just said?" Hanna interjected, seeking to change the subject.

"Yup! Our flag should be heavily armoured, one of our quickest, or a vehicle with the lowest silhouette!" quoted Yekaterina, falling for the bait.

"Lowest silhouette..." Maya muttered, furrowing her eyebrows. She had been ensnared as well. "I've got a bad idea."

"What is it, Mayunya?" Yekaterina's interest was piqued by whatever mad scheme had been concocted.

"Ah, feel free not to say anything, Maya," called Hanna, before softly adding, "I'd actually like it better that way."

"Get the smallest vehicle possible, choose it as flag, and bury it with one trained volunteer a week of supplies," elaborated Maya.

"Eh? Trained for what? And why so long?" Yekaterina peered at Maya, squinting.

"Trained to keep sane in such an environment, and if needed, to scavenge," Maya stated flatly, completely serious.

"Keep sane?!" Hanna yelped incredulously. "This is sounding worse by the second..."

"But the other team isn't going to knock itself out! What's one buried person to do?" Yekaterina was wholly unfazed.

"How much fuel have they? Food? Water? Time?" Maya faced her conversation partner. "Ever heard of cricket?"

Yekaterina tilted her head. "Isn't that English for some kind of insect?"

Hanna took the opportunity to pipe up, "In this case, it's a team sport popular in British Commonwealth countries that can last for as long as five or twelve days. It's good that you knew it was En—"

"Twelve days!?" Yekaterina blanched. "Who'd want to watch that? How would you even survive that long?"

"That's why we pack supplies. We could even try this with the whole team, though maybe to a lesser extreme. Everything could possibly go wrong!" It was becoming increasingly difficult to tell if Maya believed that her own idea was plausible.

"Let's put that aside for now, Maya. Alright?" The more Maya spoke, the more Hanna was dissuaded from the idea.

"I think we shouldn't ever bring this up again," Yekaterina said, still shaken by the length of a cricket test.

"Then we have reached an agreement," concluded Maya, finally revealing her complete lack of faith in her half-hearted proposal.

"We have a winner right before us, if I may be so bold, those who can deploy strategies used to this day, and those who are actually trained for modern warfare. Am I correct, Private Pool?"

"U-Uh, yes, that's true, but I'm trained in airborne insertion and have no combat experience-," she replied, only to be cut off by Adelia once more.

"Nonsense, you showed an exemplary show during practice, mechanized parainfantrywoman," the Indonesian continued, "And just by judging from your knowledge on European tankery and those who play it, Henna, I can presume we have at the minimal four individuals who can bring this club to victory. Not including the budding potential I see in every single person in this room and, to an extent, the entire team. If Aylin can do it, then Iveta, and I, can too. We'll obtain that money and fix our beloved park once more. Guaranteed."

"Eh? Privet?" Yekaterina demonstrated her command, or lack thereof, of the English language.

"Private, Katya. The lowest rank in the army," Hanna again corrected. "It's surprising, though. So young, yet already a soldier?"

"I'm frankly sceptical," whispered Maya, "Frau Pool herself seems doubtful."

"But she's a soldier, Mayunya! A paratrooper, even, like the VDV! She's probably just being humble. Not many other schools have real soldiers with them, right?"

"We managed to find a Starshina to instruct us, so I don't doubt that other schools can find soldiers to help if need be," noted Hanna.

"Frau Pool's certainly more fit than most, if not all of us, and has learnt a whole lot of techniques and skills, but how applicable is the ability to disassemble a rifle blindfolded behind your back in thirty seconds to sensha-dō?" Maya continued.

"For maintenance?" suggested Hanna.

"We won't have to do maintenance if we get knocked out in the first round. A private hasn't got an awful lot of leadership experience," Maya rambled. "We could put that parachuting skill to use, but not in a battle. Maybe in pre-match recon."

All of a sudden, however, Maya interrupted herself, distracted by a particular phrase that she had heard the black-haired Kärkkäinen speak.

"I can understand if you don't feel the pressure, Nasution," Henna stated, her eyes shifting at Iveta and her friends, "I don't exactly expect the former champion of a middle school East Asian tournament to feel the heat to a great extent. But a team is as strong as its weakest link, and safe to say, this club has a lot. Who do you people think you are, Oarai?"

"Hah?" Maya frowned. "East Asian? What happened to the 'S' in ASEAN? Kena Brexit lagi? Ahok defected to the PRC? Next you'll tell me that Hainan isn't the southernmost province of China anymore," she commented.

"Of everything said, you choose to scrutinise that tiny part..." Hanna sighed. "I thought you were the sane one, Maya."

"If you actually thought that, then you aren't quite sane either," Maya jokingly responded, having overheard Hanna.

"Sane or not, what's Oarai? Mayunya, look it up, please!" Yekaterina cut in. "I wanna know!"

"You want to know all sorts of stuff, but never actually study." Despite her remarks, Maya did pull her phone out and search for the school, hiding the device inconspicuously behind her back for Yekaterina to look at.

"Eh... They stepped up from zero to number one in just months! It's like with St Liz!" Yekaterina was audibly impressed by their feat.

"And hopefully us," added Hanna, "though it would be a bit sad if the underdog champions lost their title so quickly."

"Wrong," snapped the student president suddenly, stepping forward to confront her as she fell back on the girl behind, "Anzio deployed wooden plywood dummies to try to funnel Oarai into a killzone and surround them, but Oarai discovered the plan when Anzio deployed one dummy too many, exceeding the regulation number of tanks and exposing them as fakes."

"Dummies? That sounds interesting. If we could build on the idea, extend the deception to even before the match..." Maya let herself trail off, confining her thoughts to her mind.

"Ooh, I know that you can do stuff pre-match! We could do spies, or maybe even saboteurs? I should read a Tom Clancy novel..." Yekaterina then recalled what a novel is. "Actually, I'll stick to the movies."

"Yekaterina, I'm assigning you some homework." Maya slid her phone up her sleeve, and then back into her pocket. "I'll send you a few Yank manuals. You have a week."

"Eh?! On whose authority?!" Yekaterina exclaimed.

"Mine, as your tutor." An almost professional aura began to surround Maya.

"I never asked for this!" quoted Yekaterina, hoping to reduce her sentence.

"No Deus Ex will save you now." Maya's heart was not softened by the reference, however. "You're a commander, no? Recite your oath."

"What oath?" Hanna was unable to follow Maya's shenanigans.

"Eh, uh, I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of humanity?"

"Not the Hippocratic—" Maya started, only to be interrupted.

"Physician's," Hanna corrected. Her father was a doctor, after all.

"Not the Physician's, the commander's!" Maya took the amendment in stride.

"Which is?!" Yekaterina was flustered, at a loss for what to do.

"Remember comrades, we are tank! They take out tracks, we are artillery!"

"I thought we were already artillery?" wondered Yekaterina.

"They take out main gun, we are pillbox!" Maya continued on. "They take out machine gun, we are bunker! They take out armour—!"

"We are martyrs!" Yekaterina triumphantly finished the sentence.

"Heroes, actually, but that works too," replied Maya, with a blink and a shrug.

"And if they hit ammo, we are fireworks, raise morale, distract enemy!"

"If they'll let us use fireworks," Maya said, with strong emphasis on the 'if', "then we could definitely do that without being shot."

"Wrong a-gain," Henna countered, "Baby's Breath, Marguerite, Apricot, Marigold, Lily of the Valley and Pansy, are all the favourite flowers of Azusa, Ayumi, Saki, Karina, Yuuki and Aya respectively. And you call yourself a tankery fan. How dare you!?"

"That's useless trivia," yelled the panicking captain, much to the nervousness of her friends, "how the hell am I supposed to know!?"

Iveta's shouting reminded Yekaterina of the other simultaneously ongoing conversation. "Eh... They're talking about random stuff now... It almost feels like they've all but forgotten..."

"Well... we do have to learn and move on some day..." Hanna replied, a bit more glum now that attention had been called back to their incident. "I have no clue what any of those flowers are, though..."

"Stop with all the audible (and frankly melancholic-sounding) ellipses, you two," muttered Maya, recalling past experiences with the overuse of the punctuation mark.

"Hermione's still rightfully upset, though." Hesitantly, Hanna tacked on, "I think."

"Acceptance is the fifth stage of the Kübler-Ross model, after all," remarked Maya, avoiding the Slavicised pronunciation of the name.

"Eh? Wha?" Unfamiliar with the Germanic name, Yekaterina proceeded to make a royal mess out of it. "Кюбэй-Русс?"

One of Liliya's eyebrows began twitching slightly, Yekaterina's butchering of the Swiss psychiatrist's surname having evoked a less than positive memory of a particular highly-recommended show she had watched some years ago.

"Kübler-Ross. She's known for the five stages of grief." Hanna once more came to the rescue.

Liliya's allergy-esque reaction intensified, though the movements still went unnoticed, with Hanna further stating, "They don't all have to happen in order, though, or even at all. The whole thing is controversial too."

"If you're that good, why don't you help," Avelina questioned, a bit ticked off, "don't tell me..."

Almost instantly, the once-prideful facade of the student council president began to fall apart precipitously. The more she argued, the more the club began to realize her true nature. Apprehension slowly turned to mischief as Avelina and Iveta began to grin. Emma herself needed no explanation. She appeared to have known Henna's tankery-centric fanaticism already.

"You guys..." Kirke went, clearly worried about the duo. She did not particularly enjoy the idea of harassing Henna. Sadly, she might be the only one who thought so, given the Finn's attitude throughout...

From the sidelines, Aliya, Umida and Tatiana altogether have observed the odd exchanges with confusion spread on their faces. However, when Henna began mentioned about the famed Oarai academy and then subjects related to tankery, the three Prussians have started to become suspicious of the school council president herself. They knew something was amiss because the Finn’s attitude about tankery is likened to a fangirl.

“Oh my…this is a surprise.” Tatiana remarked.

“Pardon, if you don’t mind me asking, Madame President, you seemed to be very knowledgeable about tankery, let alone Oarai?” Aliya asked innocuously. More like she’s interrogating Henna.

“Oh my god, we didn’t know you like tankery. Why didn’t you mention so earlier? Who could’ve thought the student council president is into tankery~?” Umida making her tease.

Anyone in the room could’ve sworn their eyes were gleaming evilly. And somewhat innocent smiles of the three Prussians didn’t helped it.

"Hmm, if we keep on pestering and harassing her, do you guys think she'll join?" pondered Yekaterina, concurrently seeking out her friends' opinions.

"Please don't actually harass her. I don't think that's going to happen." Notwithstanding her restrained, uncertain choice of words, Hanna made her stance obvious. Liliya, meanwhile, opted for a tacit shake of the head.

"She'll sue," stated Maya in a matter-of-fact tone. "Have you seen that video of a reporter chasing a little blonde girl?"

"Was the 'blonde' part necessary?" Hanna twirled her short golden hair uneasily.

"Or the one where two teenage girls argue until a jeep rolls in?"

"Then the jeep harasses both of them?" Yekaterina was a bit too eager.

"No, the video ends abruptly," Maya answered, with a deadpan expression.

"Boo. Anticlimactic." It was apparent that Yekaterina had hoped for a more explosive, dramatic conclusion.

“龙頭蛇尾,” concurred Maya.

"I think I like the шэвэй better." Dealing with both of them whenever Maya joined in on Katya's silliness was too much for Hanna to handle.

"So! Moving on," Maya suddenly regained her composure, "Frau President's a massive sensha-dō fan, it seems. Especially Ōarai."

"Mm," Yekaterina responded in the affirmative, "if only she'd join. I wonder what's holding her back?" She began spinning around.

"Embarrassment, maybe?" Hanna gave a half-baked answer.

After a few revolutions, Yekaterina replied, in a hushed voice, "Then we could spread the word. Things probably won't go wrong." It was difficult to tell if the last statement was sarcasm or not.

"If it's not that, then I'll be making another one dollar bet." Maya made an insincere attempt to reach for her pockets again.

Yekaterina had a faint sly look as she pointed out, "You're underage, Mayunya."

"So now you make a fuss?" Maya shot a glare back. "Anyhow, what do you think are the odds she's got some sort of sensha-dō-related PTSD?"

"Wha– it can't be that, surely? That's serious..." Counseling, behavioural therapies, Hanna was at least somewhat aware of the measures needed to manage the condition.

"Ah, that might have been hyperbole. It was hyperbole, my fault." Maya raised a hand as a peace offering, which Hanna accepted with a nod. "I meant bad experiences in general."

Maya then let her volume fall drastically, afraid to let the others hear and possibly get demoralised. "Quite a few people would quit after something like this." Especially if they had caused it.

Hanna's voice matched Maya's in loudness. "Hopefully that's not the case, then."

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles," the commander said, her hands on her hips, "And to be honest, I really do have the right to say what I say. Rauschen's line-up isn't like back at home. Your 'weakest link' is either in control of a heavy tank with a formidable gun, or a crew of new friends in a well armed armored car. I'd say those odds are better than almost an entire team of cheap, American export-only vehicles."

"Hey, that's Sun Tzu's Art of War!" Yekaterina's eyes shined with recognition.

"Yes, yes. Now, what's the original version?" Dismissive as always, Maya was far less impressed than Hanna, who rebuked, "Maya, that's too much to expect!"

"Eh? What Hanna said." Yekaterina could only shrug, lacking the proficiency of the two in mastering tongues of all families.

Before Maya could utter anything, Hanna quoted, "Чжи би чжи цзи, бай чжань бу дай."

To her (admittedly rather mild) surprise, as well as that of Yekaterina, Maya continued, “不知彼而知己, 一胜一負; 不知彼不知己, 每战必殆.”

Yekaterina did not seem negatively affected, instead grinning and clapping. "Хаорошо!"

The bilingual pun did not go unnoticed, as the two polyglots stared stonily at Yekaterina for an awkwardly long time, until she ashamedly averted her eyes, and stuttered out, "A-anyways, Delsha wasn't talking about us, right? So we aren't the weakest link?"

Maya gave less than optimistic response. "Maybe. Someone's got to be, though, so I wouldn't say that just yet."

"Anyways, are we done here?" Hermione spoke up, "Time is money you know, and we need a lot of it."

Moving to another subject once more like some sort of nomad upon hearing 'Mionya' speak, Yekaterina, with a sparkle in her irises, requested, "Time is money...? Mayunya, say that other idiom thing again!"

Puzzled, Maya's dark eyes began to bore into Yekaterina's. "Which one?"

"Oh!" Hanna joined the other two in obscuring her vision, her eyes lighting up. "И цунь гуанинь и цунь цзинь, цунь цзинь нань май цунь гуанинь?"

"Eh, you said it so fast that everything sounded the same! But yeah, that's the one!" Yekaterina high-fived the proverb-spurting blonde.

“Oh my…this is a surprise.” Tatiana remarked.

“Pardon, if you don’t mind me asking, Madame President, you seemed to be very knowledgeable about tankery, let alone Oarai?” Aliya asked innocuously. More like she’s interrogating Henna.

“Oh my god, we didn’t know you like tankery. Why didn’t you mention so earlier? Who could’ve thought the student council president is into tankery~?” Umida making her tease.

Anyone in the room could’ve sworn their eyes were gleaming evilly. And somewhat innocent smiles of the three Prussians didn’t helped it.

"Eh, why didn't I think of this earlier? Mayunya, I need your help." Yekaterina subtly patted her friend's back, requesting, "Move back, and sneakily record Henna's answer."

Face devoid of emotion, Maya stepped back, and without betraying anything, whispered, "Why? You trying to blackmail her? I'll tell you, that's not going to work."

"Ah, no." With a hushed voice, Yekaterina nonchalantly replied, "Just want to save it in case it's funny, y'know."

With a sigh, Maya got to work, placing another private bet at the same time.

It's going to be underwhelming.

[Sonitusia]

"Nazi outfit? Bloody hell, more immigrants from St Elizabeth?" remarked Maya, observing the ruckus, "We want talent, not cosplayers."

"Please don't try to joke around now..." Hanna, less comfortable about the atmosphere, quietly pleaded.

"Mm!" Yekaterina agreed, "Cosplay's a talent too! But more importantly, that's," she gestured towards Hermione, who was evidently attempting to commit homicide in the principal and student council president's presence, "Mionya!"

However, before any of them could speak up, the bespectacled girl finally took notice of her surroundings and promptly skedaddled as far away as possible. Perhaps it was not yet the time to sort out the matter, as the tide of conversation swiftly swept the room's attention to Emma.

Fatimah awkwardly laughed at the ridicule from Buxtehude's loader. She was in no position to really justify why they had been wearing SS uniforms in broad daylight, but felt that Adelia would be a bit too busy to handle answering on her own.

"Well you see, Adelia has a... Unique way of instilling things into us," she began, scratching the back of her head, "Which includes dressing up as certain figures to get into the mood of thinking like them." She hoped that the explanation would be enough, and she didn't exactly feel complimented when they called her a cosplayer rather than talent.

I only wear those uniforms when Adelia tells me to... They're a hassle to wash, why must you dishonor me...

"Repay for us?" Hanna echoed, seemingly uncomfortable about the proposition.

"Yeah, we're not North Korea, we shouldn't execute everyone else for our problems!" Yekaterina was similarly unhappy.

"Well, we've all got a collective stake in this sensha-dō club now. It's in everyone's interests to keep the club afloat," remarked Maya, somewhat cynical. "This just means we'll have to redeem ourselves through more effort."

"Redemption arc, huh?" mused Yekaterina. "Got it!"

Preferably one not ending in death, Liliya inwardly remarked. Fortunately, there was now a goal for Yekaterina to strive for, so she would hopefully remain committed. Maya would definitely play the redemption card whenever possible to keep Yekaterina on track.

Fauna nodded, glad that they got her message.

"Yes, it's in my, and my team's best interest, that the club continue to stand," she sighed in relief, "You all look so close to each other ever since you joined this club, and I just want my mates to be able to share the same feeling with me and one another."

"Did you two hear what Adelia just said?" Hanna interjected, seeking to change the subject.

"Yup! Our flag should be heavily armoured, one of our quickest, or a vehicle with the lowest silhouette!" quoted Yekaterina, falling for the bait.

"Lowest silhouette..." Maya muttered, furrowing her eyebrows. She had been ensnared as well. "I've got a bad idea."

"What is it, Mayunya?" Yekaterina's interest was piqued by whatever mad scheme had been concocted.

"Ah, feel free not to say anything, Maya," called Hanna, before softly adding, "I'd actually like it better that way."

"Get the smallest vehicle possible, choose it as flag, and bury it with one trained volunteer a week of supplies," elaborated Maya.

"Eh? Trained for what? And why so long?" Yekaterina peered at Maya, squinting.

"Trained to keep sane in such an environment, and if needed, to scavenge," Maya stated flatly, completely serious.

"Keep sane?!" Hanna yelped incredulously. "This is sounding worse by the second..."

"But the other team isn't going to knock itself out! What's one buried person to do?" Yekaterina was wholly unfazed.

"How much fuel have they? Food? Water? Time?" Maya faced her conversation partner. "Ever heard of cricket?"

Yekaterina tilted her head. "Isn't that English for some kind of insect?"

Hanna took the opportunity to pipe up, "In this case, it's a team sport popular in British Commonwealth countries that can last for as long as five or twelve days. It's good that you knew it was En—"

"Twelve days!?" Yekaterina blanched. "Who'd want to watch that? How would you even survive that long?"

"That's why we pack supplies. We could even try this with the whole team, though maybe to a lesser extreme. Everything could possibly go wrong!" It was becoming increasingly difficult to tell if Maya believed that her own idea was plausible.

"Let's put that aside for now, Maya. Alright?" The more Maya spoke, the more Hanna was dissuaded from the idea.

"I think we shouldn't ever bring this up again," Yekaterina said, still shaken by the length of a cricket test.

"Then we have reached an agreement," concluded Maya, finally revealing her complete lack of faith in her half-hearted proposal.

"It's too bad your Bishop doesn't fall in any of the categories," Odetta lazily said, yawning, "No armor, it's one of the tallest vehicles, and laughable top spee-"

Fatimah had jumped forwards to cover the girl's mouth before she could continue, but it was already too late. There wasn't much she could do now that almost every single cold truth had left her mouth, so she just smiled once more and faked a laugh towards Buxtehude.

"Packing supplies is a great idea! I've heard Adelia's stories, her match with one of Japan's teams was so prolonged that camp was often set up since they used an entire island as a battleground!"

"Eh? Privet?" Yekaterina demonstrated her command, or lack thereof, of the English language.

"Private, Katya. The lowest rank in the army," Hanna again corrected. "It's surprising, though. So young, yet already a soldier?"

"I'm frankly sceptical," whispered Maya, "Frau Pool herself seems doubtful."

"But she's a soldier, Mayunya! A paratrooper, even, like the VDV! She's probably just being humble. Not many other schools have real soldiers with them, right?"

"We managed to find a Starshina to instruct us, so I don't doubt that other schools can find soldiers to help if need be," noted Hanna.

"Frau Pool's certainly more fit than most, if not all of us, and has learnt a whole lot of techniques and skills, but how applicable is the ability to disassemble a rifle blindfolded behind your back in thirty seconds to sensha-dō?" Maya continued.

"For maintenance?" suggested Hanna.

"We won't have to do maintenance if we get knocked out in the first round. A private hasn't got an awful lot of leadership experience," Maya rambled. "We could put that parachuting skill to use, but not in a battle. Maybe in pre-match recon."

All of a sudden, however, Maya interrupted herself, distracted by a particular phrase that she had heard the black-haired Kärkkäinen speak.

Fauna was feeling extra nervous about how everyone was beginning to know about her previous life before entering Rauschen. She had only reserved that information to close friends and the club leadership, but now that Adelia seemed to have figured it out, everyone else was starting to catch on. Though it was rather disturbing what Buxtehude's plans for deploying her sounded like, which were rather unorthodox if not crazy.

Not that I couldn't do recon before getting into the fight, but I don't think we have the proper aircraft to do just that. And who does she think she is anyways, trying to choose just what I'm supposed to be doing.

"I'd like to see you lead a team of people grouped by drawing sticks," she finally said, her emotions returning from anxious friend to a stoic military woman, "I have no doubts about my ability on the field, and will follow any order to the dot. Trust in higher powers is what I learned in basic, and I intend to drill that same line of thought into anyone who cannot stand in line, do I make myself clear?"

Bollocks, they're going to kill me.

"Hermione's still rightfully upset, though." Hesitantly, Hanna tacked on, "I think."

"Acceptance is the fifth stage of the Kübler-Ross model, after all," remarked Maya, avoiding the Slavicised pronunciation of the name.

"Eh? Wha?" Unfamiliar with the Germanic name, Yekaterina proceeded to make a royal mess out of it. "Кюбэй-Русс?"

One of Liliya's eyebrows began twitching slightly, Yekaterina's butchering of the Swiss psychiatrist's surname having evoked a less than positive memory of a particular highly-recommended show she had watched some years ago.

"Kübler-Ross. She's known for the five stages of grief." Hanna once more came to the rescue.

Liliya's allergy-esque reaction intensified, though the movements still went unnoticed, with Hanna further stating, "They don't all have to happen in order, though, or even at all. The whole thing is controversial too."

'Do they think I can't hear them?' Hermione thought, clenching her fists, 'They think I'm in grief?! Where does their logic come from anyways?!'

All that it looked like though was the girl shaking in anger with fumes coming out of her head. It didn't help that the increased breathing of hot air made her glasses foggy.

"Oi oi, that doesn't look to good," Fatimah muttered, followed by Odetta's faint humming and nod of head.

[Wolfenium]

Henna was reaching boiling point. Her face turning red from the blood rush, the president seemed ready to rail. For the girls to start poking at her for her secret obsession... it proved more grating than they realized. Slamming the table, she finally cracked under pressure.

"Do what you want," she snapped, "just make the money back! If you don't get the money to pay the damages, I'm shutting it down. Three months!"

"Three months," blurted Iveta in panic, "that's too soon. We'll barely be halfway through the tournament-"

*SLAM*

Watching the door slam, the hapless girls could only watch as the president stormed away. As much as they wanted to believe she had given her consent, the deadline she threw in the heat of argument meant that even if they won the European championships, they would be two or three months too late to meet her demands. It seemed ridiculous, and clearly aimed to get back at them for their teasing. Sighing, Iveta was not sure if they could make it this time. They would need another means of making their money back.

"What should we do..." Iveta asked the girls, as Emma stared on with her usual cheery look, "we're not going to win back the money on time now. And if we can't win back the money, we'd have to shut down the club."

"She's not one to hold back, is she," Avelina went, "what now?"

Sighing at the growing despondence, Emma quipped, "I'm disappointed. Is this the kind of willpower you girls have? If you care about this club so badly, you should fight to keep it alive. She's testing your resolve."

"Resolve," Iveta went, "how so?"

Smirking, the Afrikaner declared, "simple! There's more than one way to earn money, you know! We just need to do it the old fashioned way for the time being~!"

"Old fashioned?..." Iveta said, pausing a moment before it finally hit her, "you mean!?"

Prize money, it seemed, was out of the question. This left just one other alternative...

Jadwiga Wisłoujście Girls School, docked in Westerplatte Terminal, Gdansk, Poland
Afternoon, 7th September, 2016 C.E.

Late afternoon in the port city of Gdansk. Known more infamously by its German name, Danzig, the Polish port was home to some of the most pivotal moments in history. A point of contention between Slavic Poland and Germanic Prussia, the port has traded between the kings of Poland and the German Teutonic and Prussian colonists. Its final iteration saw the total expulsion of its German inhabitants from the city, its communist Polish overlords unwilling to risk another 'Danzig or War' scenario. Its reconstruction based on Polish revisionist intentions, however, did little to quell the inhabitants' disdain for Soviet domination. Giving birth to the independent Solidarity trade union, Gdansk lent strength to the movement to restore democracy to Poland, deposing the communist puppets as the Soviet Union ended its use of lethal force to support its collaborationist regimes.

However, sightseeing was far from the minds of the port's newest visitors, as a massive Swedish school ship (based on the Gotland seaplane cruiser) dwarfed its Polish counterpart at Westerplatte Terminal. The news the visiting got was hardly welcoming, if not totally distressing.

“I'm sorry,” one of the Jadwiga schoolgirls apologized as a quintet of Hansson schoolgirls greeted them outside the school infirmary, “I don't think we'll be able to have that match.”

“You're kidding me, right,” a brunette Hansson schoolgirl with a ponytail grunted in displeasure, her accent matching the Pole's word for word, “we had a deal, Kołodziejska. We didn't come halfway across the Baltic just for you to back out now. Our girls haven't had a practice match scheduled beside this one. Are you chickening out on us!?”

“We didn't want to resort to this, but...” blurted the nervous Pole, as the angry brunette leered over her. Peering back at the infirmary, she muttered, “I don't think our club has time to recover...”

“From what,” dogged the agitated gunner, as the Swedes looked over inside the room. True enough, the infirmary looked frighteningly like a frontline triage, as lines after lines of beds were occupied by ailing schoolgirls, moaning in agony as they held on to their stomachs.

“For fuck's sake,” the gunner grunted in exasperation, “what is this, a plague?”

“Food poisoning,” the blonde twintail admitted, as they made way for a panicking patient racing out of the sick bay, “something must be in the barszcz we ate at lunch.”

“Barshhzzzhh,” a hapless, first-year Swede with long, strawberry blonde hair tried to pronounce the word, unable to understand the Pole.

“Borscht,” the brunette corrected, “soup.”

“Chłodnik, to be exact,” the Jadwiga girl elaborated, “cold beet soup made from soured milk... I suspect it might have... expired...”

“That explains the long line to the washroom...” griped an elder Swede, similar in appearance to the to the first year, “and the smell. Thank you for the information. It's sad, but like you said, your club clearly isn't fit enough for the match tomorrow.”

“Come to think of it,” a senior, mature-looking blonde Swede questioned, “why aren't you affected?”

“I... ate out...” the hapless Jadwiga schoolgirl admitted, feeling a bit awkward about telling the Hansson girls, “school food isn't exactly good.”

---

Pacing out into the autumn wind, the Hansson schoolgirls had reason to be nervous. While a friendly match cancellaton did not seem that major, the lack of proper training for their greenhorns was starting to become a serious concern. Far worse was the prospect of the captaincy, with most of the captain's crew due to graduate next summer. That fact did not sit well with the current team, who had reason to dread the school club's future without them.

“This is bad,” the brunette admitted, “just when finally we got a friendly going. Where're we going to find another school in such short notice? Every school along the Baltic coast is either occupied or out of our league.”

“We're going to stop by in Prussia for Rauschen's Death's Head Metal Festival,” the senior strawberry blonde suggested, “perhaps we can contact Vernost or St. Elisabeth. See if they have any openings.”

“You're kidding, right,” the brunette griped, “you seen last weekend's friendly, didn't you, Signy? That Turk pasted Vernost as if she was up against a middle school. Hell, they beat them back at the semis hard enough for Lyuneberg-Pommern to resign. I hardly think Sadik would even entertain us. We can say what we want about our performance, but three full losses in the group stages is evidence enough for everyone else.”

“No need to be so down, Tekla,” the junior of the team responded, “there's still Vernost.”

“Not in this state, they're not, Svea,” Tekla refused, “they have an amateur at the helm now. I was certain I'd see that blue-blooded bitch again. I feel pissed not being able to repay the favour...”

“There's nothing wrong with challenging them, however,” the mature blonde advised, “we could use the experience. Problem is, they have a friendly scheduled this week with another school. They're not going to squeeze in another for us.”


"We could always supply some random school with our tanks and tell them to fight us!" a revved up first year boasted before them, "We have plenty of tanks to spare!"

Stopping in front of the gathered tankery club members, the senior Panter team found their discussion interrupted by the girl's squealing. Exchanging some uneasy smiles, the girls were not sure how to break the news to their club. For all their usual bravado, Hansson's Panter Team, head of the school tankery club, was strangely muted, if confused. Their gunner, Tekla, was frustrated as always.

"Oh, Andrea,” blurted Signy, “ guessed you overheard us. I suppose it makes things easier for us to break the news."

"Everything alright,” Andrea queried, looking relatively confused as she observed the bummed out appearances of her seniors, “you look like Jadwiga was telling you that they were going to field a team of monster cats."

"Well, they're currently fielding a can of worms inside their guts at the moment, that's for certain,"a short-haired blonde with a ponytail remarked, her blouse partially unbuttoned with an exposed cleavage. Rubbing her neck in discomfort as she stepped forward, she explained, “I'm afraid Jadwiga cancelled the match. Their team got hit badly by a case of food poisoning by sour milk soup."

"In any case, it's not that we don't appreciate your suggestion, Andrea,” her platinum blonde teammate explained, “it's just that we can't just get a group of inexperienced folks to challenge us. It's hardly something we could learn from."

"They WHA- That's just bloody fantastic..." Andrea grumbled, flipping over an imaginary table, "great, now what're we going to do? Sure it's more time to practice for the concert, but this just ruins the fun of it..."

"We're thinking,” snapped the Pole, agitated by the freshman's word, “no need to rub it in!"

"Tekla... be nice," interjected Signy, giving a glare at Tekla as she muttered a 'sorry'. Giving a reassuring smile, the bob-cut blonde tried to explain, "don't worry, though, we'll think of something! We'll just make the best of it. Our ship will be heading out to Noykuhren (RL Pionersky) tomorrow, perhaps earlier than scheduled. After that, we'll settle in at a hotel for the Death's Head Festival this weekend. Any questions?"

"Uhhh, the festival's in Rusten, right?" Andrea asked, "Do they have a tankery club?"

"Uhh... Rusten,” blurting Tekla, "I think you mean 'Rauschen'"

"Yeah, Rosschen,” Andrea said, “think they have their own club that we can beat?"

"There? I don't know...” Tekla admitted, scratching her head at the thought, “I don't recall them having a tankery club. I thought there were only two."

"Well, there's three now,” Svea remarked, “it's all over the news."

As Svea flashed the article on her phone, scenes of a burning park and fire engines clustering around the blaze emblazoned the site in English. Despite the lack of fatalities, save for a single patient hospitalized, the article cast a grim light on the prospects of the new club. In all honesty, none of them had even heard of 'Rauschen Girls High School' before. Now, none of them were sure the new school was up for the task. It seemed a bit pointless to fight newbies.

"'School ship park burnt down by rogue practice match'," recited Signy with a grim look, “you're kidding me.”

"Duuuuude, that sounds EPIC," Andrea grinned, chuckling rather noticably, "How much HE did they use, holy shit. Do they have a flamethrower tank? Never fought a Croc before!"

"That's not funny, Andrea,” reprimanded Signy, before their captain gave her viewpoint. Stepping in, the bob-cut blonde admitted, “"I don't know... kind of rad for a pack of arsonists, but they're greenhorns. Seems kind of unfair to take on them."

"Oh come ON, look at the rest of the article!" Andrea said, snatching the phone and scrolling down, "They have a really rare heavy tank, and it even notes that their school's strategy team on board! The ones that won last year's tourney! They've gotta be fun!"

"Andrea, that's tabletop strategy,” Signy corrected, “this is different to a great extent."

"Yeah, well, well..." Andrea stammered, staring at the pictures of the burnt out scenery and the medical evacuation. Pointing out a photograph, she questioned, “anyone know who those Asians are? They seem really out of place."

“Hell if I know,” Tekla grunted with a shrug, “Prussia has a substantial Central Asian diaspora from the Soviet era. Not too surprising. Unlike most other groups, they didn't exactly want to go back to impoverished third world backwaters."

"Yeah, but I feel like I've seen one of 'em while on tour in Australia," she said, tapping the screen with her nail a few times, "That one, carrying the fainted girl. Thought you guys might know, since you're older and stuff, she looks like the type that was in tankery for quite awhile."

Shaking her head at the freshman's persistence, Tekla stated, “you're imagining things..."

"I hate to say this,” Signy concurred, “but there's no point challenging a team with zero experience, even if we're close to that."

"Wait, sister," Svea cut in, holding up the phone to her eyes, “look!"

Among the crowd in the picture in front of the dying blaze, a young blonde with a stylized hair loop and yellow eyes stood out in the crowd. Pointing out for the seniors, Andrea called out, “heeeeeey, I've seen her! She was on St. Elizabeth's team last year! What's she doing there?"

"Emma van Hoek, St Elisabeth's light panser division commander,” the platinum blonde recalled, combing her long, wavy fringe, “think they called the unit 'ulhans'. Did she transfer or something?"

"I'm surprised,” Signy mused, “I didn't think she would leave the school. I wonder what happened."

"Maybe she hated it at Liz, who knows," Andrea said, "But hey, looks like they have the experience, now let's fight 'em!"

Rubbing her chin, Tekla erred, “ehh... I don't know. Are we that desperate to seal club?"

“It's an option, I suppose,” her mature teammate replied, “and it's not too bad a prospect, honestly."

Waving off the speculation with a lackadaisical attitude, the captain chimed, "we'll think about it when we get there, ok~? All this stress is bad for my songwriting.”

“We'll show 'em how to fight in a real battle!" Andrea exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air, "And make an even BIGGER fire than 'em!"

"Alright, alright, let's not make a Gävle Goat out of this. We don't want to get into trouble... But we'll keep them in mind. Who knows, maybe they'll call us instead."

Stepping forth in front of the rest of the club, the captain finally announced, “alright team, you got your instructions! From now till 8pm is sightseeing time. Be sure to come back by then, because this ship isn't waiting for hungover bitches, you hear!? Dismissed!"

As cries of 'fuck yeah!' rang the air over Gdansk, Hansson may yet get their pre-tournament fight.

Amber Sea Paradise Aquarium, Rauschen, Prussia
Afternoon, 8th September, 2016

Amber Sea Paradise, Thursday.

Opened in 2004, Amber Sea Paradise was the third aquarium to be built in Prussia, after the Northern Seas Aquarium in Kyonigsberg and the Vistula Aquarium in Tsimerbuda (RL Svetly). With visitor numbers peaking in the summer months, the aquarium had since started winding down for the autumn season. However, with a special weekend event at the nearby promenade approaching, the staff of the aquarium were expected to prepare for the influx of visitors. That meant extra staff, press-ganged by the school to help out at the town for a certain nasty incident.

"Where's Avelina," she whined, as the girls were due to clean the pens as the aquarium closed for maintenance, "she's late."

"Let's just clean for the moment," Kirke advised, "she did say she was held up on the phone."

"Well, I'm sure she'll get here just fine," grumbled Selene, "besides which, why am I doing here?"

"Well, Emma did say you're part of the club," Astlik remarked, "and we need all the help we can get."

"Eheheh..." chuckled the hapless Terhikki, "well, let's hope the other crews are taking it well."

"Oh ya," blurted Iveta, holding up a rolled up poster from a stack from the staff office, "we were supposed to put them up around the place. What'd you think it's for?"

"Well, just open it up," Kirke said, "we're going to need to have it shown around the aquarium anyway."

Unfurling the poster, however, the girls soon got their answer in kind, a ghoulish skull and crossbone-like guitars floating above an outdoor concert stage emblazoned with all sorts of garish, demonic symbols. The words 'Death's Head Festival' looked painted in violent strokes like a slasher's knife strikes, all while the skull is opening up its jaws, ready to devour all who gaze upon it. Had it not been for the guitars behind the skull, the poster might have looked straight out of a horror movie promotion. The description, unfortunately, indicated something worse, as the girls crowded around Iveta and squinted in unison.

"Death's Head Festival," grunted Iveta, "it is some rock music event or something?"

"Creepy too," Kirke uttered nervously, "it's like listening to a curse being chanted for a demon summoning."

"I think that's the point of death metal, Kirke," Selene said, "I do listen to it from time to time, but the lyrics are pretty much the same for every song. Pretty unoriginal."

"What're the lyrics like," Terhikki queried awkwardly, a bit frightened by the images. Peering back at the naive girl, all Selene was willing to answer was, "violent and sexual things. You don't want to know."

Cleaning, decorations, feeding the aquatic life... It was probably the only other means the girls could make the deficit for the moment. Anything else would have to come later. For now, all they could do was focus on getting the aquarium back into shape for tomorrow and the weekend, while focusing on their practice in the meantime. Little did they expect that their temp job in the aquarium was not just for show.

[Sonitusia]

"Oh, they have Paedocypris progenetica too!"

Komodo team was tasked with the the tropical section of the aquarium, where the majority of visitors enjoyed themselves with nurse shark petting. There wasn't much to say about their days of taking care of the area, though it was rather enjoyable the first hour when they arrived as a German maintenance crew. Sadly, they were scolded after an hour of using the uniforms, and were left wearing the standard striped clothing with apron each staff member of Amber Sea Paradise wore.

"Careful with that aquarium," Hermione pointed out, holding onto a mop, "It looks filthy, but that's because they live in acidic water... Though I suppose if you know the name by heart, you should know tha-"

As if she were a pure idiot, Fatimah was reaching into the tank. Half her hand already inside, the fish slightly scared off. It seemed she was bothered by the look of the green-tainted glass. The two stared at each other blankly for a few seconds, their movements frozen in place. Hermione thought about how stupid Fatimah was. Fatimah thought how stupid Fatimah was. It didn't take long for the driver to pull her hand out and fall over backwards.

"ANJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING," she shouted in agony, rashes appearing on her fingertips. Hermione quickly ran over, also cursing, albeit in Dutch, pulling a small kit out of of her apron to help and beginning first aid.

Adelia looked from the sidelines, and couldn't help but stifle some laughs as she wiped a fish tank's glass. This wasn't exactly how she planned on spending her off time, but it certainly was a breath of fresh air into knowing how sanitary duties were performed. Odetta was off somewhere else, most likely taking part in the shark petting when no one was looking.

'Isn't this fun?~' the girl thought, pausing to take one of the posters she carried, taping it to an empty column.

---

Over at the outdoor exhibit, an Australian was visibly growling at a dolphin.

"Why the fuck are we working here?!" she shouted, slamming her sponge onto the ground for the umpteenth time today, "We didn't even do anything wrong for christ's sake!" There was no definite reply from the other four members, but there was a silent agreement that they generally did not enjoy the part-time work.

For Mentari, she was annoyed with less practice time in tankery. Luisa was gloomy because barely any of the money earned would reach her pockets. Albert was wary of how much laundry had to be done now, and Fauna generally was not a fan of cleaning. And of course, Theodora wanted the SPG team to take the entire job up their asses for burning down a goddamn forest.

"Calm down, Dora," Fauna grumbled, putting up a poster, trying to figure out something to say but going mute for a full ten seconds, "We're doing this to keep Geist running."

"Like hell we are!" Theodora shouted back, "We can keep the fucking car running by ourselves! Hell we don't even need to be in the club to do so because of how cheap the bloody thing is!"

They glared at each other, and before anyone knew, they had begun arguing. Luckily for them, the aquatic gymnastics show hadn't started yet.

[Republic of Hasgriu]

'Do they think I can't hear them?' Hermione thought, clenching her fists, 'They think I'm in grief?! Where does their logic come from anyways?!'

All that it looked like though was the girl shaking in anger with fumes coming out of her head. It didn't help that the increased breathing of hot air made her glasses foggy.

"Oi oi, that doesn't look to good," Fatimah muttered, followed by Odetta's faint humming and nod of head.

"Eh?! I think Mionya's having a seizure!"

After a quick glance, Liliya only expressed dismissal, with Maya following suit soon after, saying, "Hah? Simi taiji, what seizure? She's just in the second stage."

"Are you sure, Maya?" Doubtful as usual, perhaps even bordering on paranoid, Hanna's gaze repeatedly jumped from the steaming, almost feverish girl to her friends.

"Of course." Maya waved her free hand about in the air, keeping her phone steady with the other. "I have the SCDF First Aid app."

Soon after, however, the mood did cease to accommodate small talk. Temporarily.

Henna was reaching boiling point. Her face turning red from the blood rush, the president seemed ready to rail. For the girls to start poking at her for her secret obsession... it proved more grating than they realized. Slamming the table, she finally cracked under pressure.

"Do what you want," she snapped, "just make the money back! If you don't get the money to pay the damages, I'm shutting it down. Three months!"

"Three months," blurted Iveta in panic, "that's too soon. We'll barely be halfway through the tournament-"

*SLAM*

A tap, and the recording concluded. "Looks like Hermione's not the only one," tactlessly muttered Maya, forgetting all about her numerous bets, and swiftly tucking her phone away into a pocket. "Satisfied, Yekaterina?"

Maya would not get a response, as another issue dawned on them.

Watching the door slam, the hapless girls could only watch as the president stormed away. As much as they wanted to believe she had given her consent, the deadline she threw in the heat of argument meant that even if they won the European championships, they would be two or three months too late to meet her demands. It seemed ridiculous, and clearly aimed to get back at them for their teasing. Sighing, Iveta was not sure if they could make it this time. They would need another means of making their money back.

"What should we do..." Iveta asked the girls, as Emma stared on with her usual cheery look, "we're not going to win back the money on time now. And if we can't win back the money, we'd have to shut down the club."

"She's not one to hold back, is she," Avelina went, "what now?"

Sighing at the growing despondence, Emma quipped, "I'm disappointed. Is this the kind of willpower you girls have? If you care about this club so badly, you should fight to keep it alive. She's testing your resolve."

"Resolve," Iveta went, "how so?"

Smirking, the Afrikaner declared, "simple! There's more than one way to earn money, you know! We just need to do it the old fashioned way for the time being~!"

"Old fashioned?..." Iveta said, pausing a moment before it finally hit her, "you mean!?"

Prize money, it seemed, was out of the question. This left just one other alternative...

"Eh, eh? What does she mean?" Yekaterina turned to Hanna and Maya for answers, but the latter was oddly preoccupied with the floor tiling. The mild clean freak did occasionally have gripes regarding hygiene and cleanliness, especially that of streets, something that Katya had long suspected was a product of too much time spent in a sterile city with clinic corridors for paths and roads, but surely the little specks of dust in the office were too minuscule to fuss over? "And what're you doing, Mayunya?"

"Ah, she means that we're going to work." Hanna graciously accepted the task that Maya, inadvertently or otherwise, had bestowed upon her. Her answer to Katya's second question, however, was less direct. "It's terrifying how influential Madam Tell can be without being present."

"Oh!" To her own surprise, Yekaterina managed to infer what Hanka meant. "Mayunya, you're having a BSOD because of your schedule?" Prodding elicited no reply. "Your mum's probably in Kyonigsberg or something. You can be a little flexible!"

Unfortunately, Maya would remain unresponsive for a good while hence, culminating in her eventually being dragged, with much effort, out of the office and back home. While some of them were rather unenthusiastic about the arrangement, there was nothing that could be done. None of the four had ever taken a part-time job, however, so the new experience was a silver lining that Yekaterina opted to focus on. Perhaps Mayunya would be happier the next day.

Amber Sea Paradise Aquarium, Rauschen, Prussia
Afternoon, 8th September, 2016

(Image)

Amber Sea Paradise, Thursday.

Opened in 2004, Amber Sea Paradise was the third aquarium to be built in Prussia, after the Northern Seas Aquarium in Kyonigsberg and the Vistula Aquarium in Tsimerbuda (RL Svetly). With visitor numbers peaking in the summer months, the aquarium had since started winding down for the autumn season. However, with a special weekend event at the nearby promenade approaching, the staff of the aquarium were expected to prepare for the influx of visitors. That meant extra staff, press-ganged by the school to help out at the town for a certain nasty incident.

Cleaning, decorations, feeding the aquatic life... It was probably the only other means the girls could make the deficit for the moment. Anything else would have to come later. For now, all they could do was focus on getting the aquarium back into shape for tomorrow and the weekend, while focusing on their practice in the meantime. Little did they expect that their temp job in the aquarium was not just for show.

Amber Sea Paradise
Afternoon, 8^th September 2016

Through what sort of coping mechanism or half-baked logic, they were uncertain, but Maya seemed to have significantly recovered compared to the day before. However, as the quartet made their way over to the first of the facilities to clean, mops, brushes, cloths, and other equipment in tow, the prolific phone-user had quite a distressed expression.

Before anyone else could request clarification, Maya despairingly moaned, "Help. I just saw it. We've made the news overseas. There are articles in English! We're now internationally infamous as arsonists!"

There was no longer any movement. Liliya stopped pulling her cart along. Hanna and Yekaterina ceased chattering.

Maya tried covering her face with her free hand, as if the gesture would protect her from shame. "They've published pictures of the whole club! Who even took these‽ The blonde one, what's her—"

"The principal? Emma!" Yekaterina was the least clearly affected of them all. Liliya, meanwhile, did not carry her usual smile any more, and Hanna was quite panicked.

"Emma, or the paparazzi? Did they do it?" Maya was beginning to sound like a raving conspiracy theorist. "Do we have a news club? I swear, they're mosquitoes!" At this point, her train of thought thankfully rapidly lost steam before it could go careening off the rails and on a one-way trip to the loon colony.

"Maya? You're not fine, are you?" Hanna preempted any sort of denial on Maya's part.

"Hah... Hah..." Maya proceeded to turn her phone for the rest to see, revealing an article full of Poynter-font English, with a bold headline at the very top. "Just look at this. We've made it to the papers! Maybe even TV. What if they make memes?"

"Масс фоод поисонинг он Полиш—" Yekaterina's hesitation could have been taken as yet more stilted reading, had she not followed up with, "Hey Hanka, Poland!"

Forming a separate identity is an arduous process, one that Hanna did not wish to interfere with. "I'm Prussian, Katya, and so are you and Lilya."

"I know, just thought it was interesting!" With her perky demeanour, it was difficult to tell if Yekaterina was covering her tracks or not. "Now what does it mean?"

Maya's eyebrow twitched, while Liliya had already finished reading the onscreen part of the report. "Not that bit, look further down!" Muttering, she added, "I hope they're fine, though. A Cat High student died of food poisoning once." Her thoughts flew. "Hm, we could sabo— no, what is wrong with you? Morals, you escaped serial killer. Legal issues, too."

At the tacit urging of Liliya, who went forwards without the rest, the group headed to their destination whilst making a rather panicked fuss over the consequences of the incident, and the reputation the school had earned as a result.

Before too much discussion—or more precisely, hyperventilation—had occurred, the three who were crowded around Maya's phone were reminded of their arrival at the first dirty toilet for the day by Liliya's poking.

Promptly, Liliya removed a stack of large posters and wordlessly began plastering them on every wall in the vicinity. In a handful of swift motions, the washroom's entrance was more tightly packed than a train during rush hour with advertisements. Ad density and overcrowding aside, the contents of the large notice caught the attention of the three who were still idling.

"Death's Head? The bloody SS-Totenkopfverbände‽ Is this a front for the local Nazi party!?" It took mere moments for Maya to raise her voice. Without direction, she yelled, "Damnit Komodo!"

"Eh? That's a pretty big leap of logic, Mayunya!" Even the name of arguably the most notorious organisation of the Third Reich did not ring any bells for Yekaterina, whose head was likely just filled with cuckoos where there wasn't air.

"Do they know that Frau Kaufmann's an Ashkenazi? I looked her name up yesterday. I hope those uniforms weren't what I think they were, but considering how they want to 'get into the mood of thinking like them' of all people, I have no hope for them." Exasperation was audible, and Maya made no effort to hide it. She often wished that her maternal grandfather had just stayed in the Alps instead of running off to the Nazis, and then running off with some buxom wench when the Reds came. Having the surname Lee was much more to her liking, even if it wasn't really strongly associated with a national hero like Tell, being very common and all. Strength in numbers.

Yekaterina no longer concentrated after hearing a certain familiar word. "Eh? She's a Nazi?"

"It's 'nazi', not 'natsi'. Ashkenazi Jew. Be careful, Katya," corrected Hanka. Someday, that girl would, one way or another, manage to unintentionally end up cursing someone's family for a dozen generations, with... negative results.

"Mmkay! I'll remember." Yekaterina smiled. "Anyways, looks like it's a heavy metal concert! Those things always sound like Satan's gonna show up! Weird."

"I don't think you've seen any such thing before..." Hanka struggled to recall, mind drawing only a blank.

"So, like..." Maya began to chant, "Utupe leo chakula chetu tunachohitaji utusame—"

"Mm! It's all deep, and flat, and nonsense!" For emphasis, Yekaterina pumped her fist. Liliya wandered off further away, having liberally slathered posters on virtually every vertical (and a few horizontal) surface in sight.

"Maya, isn't that the Lord's Prayer?" Hanna's head had the slightest of tilts.

"Baba Yetu, Civ, yup." A dainty nod. "A little whispered rap and percussion can make a song about eating food and drinking Coca-Cola sound intense."

Unperturbed about being mislead, Yekaterina replied, "I like Pepsi more!"

"I like NEWater more," retorted Maya. A drink is a drink; why have a war?

"ANJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING," she shouted in agony.

The sudden sound jolted Maya. "你先安靜^[1]!" she hollered back.

"I don't think that was what she said..." Hanna uneasily mumbled.

"Hey," a flicker of recognition in Yekaterina's eyes, "that sounded like Timya!"

"Timah? Bukit Timah?" Was Maya feigning having misheard, or was she genuinely thinking about a place several thousand kilometres away? Too much of the "Quiet Night Thought", perhaps.

The tables turned. "Nyet, Fatimah!" Now Yekaterina was the one making corrections.

"Then even better. Got Timah at the end." Maya's dialect briefly came to the fore, influencing even her Russian speech, only to be slapped back down. "Anyway! Let's get to work. I know it's hypocritical, coming from the resident 'complain king', but don't complain, Yekaterina. At last, she began delegating duties and assigning tasks, noticeably giving Hanna the easier, less icky jobs, and got to work.

---

^[1] Nǐ xiān ānjìng; You quiet first! The 'ānjìng' (quiet) isn't pronounced quite the same as 'anjing' (dog), though.

[Fascist Republic Of Bermuda]

Морской рай Янтарный
8 сентябрь 2016

"Eto pizdets, da?" Nat said as the comrades of Rogatka Team literally swabbed the deck. The rest of the crew nodded in agreement. "Another team made a mistake, and we end up doing community service!" Nat continued on rather loudly. "Nyet, Comrade!" Valentina interjected, leaping atop a bench, "This is not community service! Comrades, we are being used!" "What exactly are you on about?" Nat raised an eyebrow. Zoya sighed. Valentina continued. "Comrades, our labor, the people's labor, is being used by the foul capitalist pig-dogs in charge of this aquarium! They hold the funds necessary for our glorious endeavors above our heads, extorting the working class to squeeze every ounce they can out of us for the least cost on their part! The bourgeoisie remains in their high towers, sipping their tea, while we work to give them a clean place to go see fish! Comrades, this is what we must unite against! For the Revolution! URA!"

Valentina's speech received only blank stares from the rest of Rogatka. "Valechka," Zoya broke the news gently, "Nobody cares about the Revolution besides you. Remember what happened to your proposed People's Revolutionary Committee?" "So that wasn't a rumor?" Nat broke out laughing. The Revolutionary Committee had been an attempt by Valentina to make a club to introduce Marxism-Leninism to the "working classes" (i.e. the student body) of the school, with an ultimate stated goal of "A glorious people's revolution, the likes of which would not have been seen since the October Revolution!" Valentina's idea had been denied quickly. Very, very quickly. Ever since Valentina had been convinced that the student government had bourgeoisie connections, and was being paid off by corporations to stop the people's revolution. No one shared her belief.

"Are you girls from Rauschen Girls' High School?" A gruff voice filled with annoyance asked. A security guard, looking done with the world, was addressing them, holding a twitching Tonya. The girl was bleeding from one nostril, her usual frown unchanged. "Is this one yours? I found her trying to snort fish food by the trash cans." The other five girls of Rogatka stared at the Omsk girl. "I was desperate." She explained simply. "Here, take her, I sure don't want her. Now... keep her out of trouble, and I won't report this, okay?" Valentina nodded. "Great." The guard hurried away perhaps a little faster than normal. "If I was home in Omsk, I would have stabbed him." Tonya said plainly. "Wait, you carried a knife around?" Sasha asked. "Da. Four. Still do. What, do you think I go through life unarmed? I grew up in Omsk." The other Russian girls shrugged nervously at the question. "Fish food?" Nat blurted, "Seriously, you tried to snort fish food?" "It is not the strangest thing I have ingested." Tonya said simply. Valentina cleared her throat. "Moving on... Comrade Vasilevskya, go to the bathroom, treat your nose. The rest of us, and you when you return, will keep working in this task, so then we may later bond as a group by watching old Great Patriotic War movies. Moving, they are! Truly there was not a more glorious time to be alive! Ura!" Zoya was the only one who returned the cry.

[Kuragaristan]

8th of September, 2016
Park, Rauschen High School Ship

It truly was a mess, the school park. Charred remains of trees were being cleared out, soil was being tilled to begin regrowing the plants no longer lived. Luckily, the agricultural club was able to make good use of the situation, with many of their members milling about along with the social service workers, hopefully lowering the overall cost that would need to be paid for by the ones responsible. Though it wasn't going to be by much, according to the costs listed in the news articles posted all around Prussia and her neighbors.

'школьный корабль парк сожжен снизился на изгоев игровой практики'

*Slurp*

'School Ship Park Burnt Down by a Rogue Practice Match'

The girl shut her phone with an audible *pak*, finishing off the rest of the soda left in her can. Eventually coming up with empty air, she shook it a few times, trying to get the few last drips of carbonated sugary goodness before eyeing the interior. Shrugging, she tossed it towards a nearby trash bin. It bounced on the rim, and fell onto the grass nearby. Staring at it for a few moments with pure hatred, the girl grumbled, sulking towards the can, thinking about how bad her luck was, and tossed it into the bin again.

Taking one last look at the park, she walked away from the scene. It had nothing to do with her, save that she would be temporarily without the place she had always managed to ease her mind. Not even the same bench she sat on was left. Of all the things that the new tankery club could have managed to do, it was to destroy the one thing she had adored from such a large amount of serene nature.

Yawning, it was obvious this girl was older than the students working at the park. Currently living through her last semester aboard the Rauschen school ship, all she could do was suffer a little longer before the real depressing moments of life would arrive. This was her last year as a teenager after all; next was adulthood, and god knew just how terrible that was.

Better go back to school and look for a club...

"Sigh..."

Agriculture doesn't seem to be my thing anyways...

---

"Four days and we haven't even reported ourselves!"

Three girls were walking out of a coffee shop, cups of latte warming them up on such a windy, autumn day. They were just coming home from school, satchels or backpacks tugged on by their hands.

"Well if you were content with a three man team, maybe we'd already be in, Alsa," the brown haired girl pointed out, "I mean a lot of tanks only have three people operating them. What're they called... Bee Tees? Soviet stuff, y'know?"

The girl named Alsa notably squeaked, as if not content with the choice. "But they're smaaaall, Maryia," she said, gesturing with her fingers as if she could fit the Russian light tank between her fingers, "Didn't you ever watch the news? All the pros use big tanks, like uh... The Tiger! And Panther! Those need at least four people to work well!"

The other two nodded in agreement. It was apparent that their small squad wouldn't be enough for larger vehicles. Alsa had already tried every crew combination after all, and none of them sounded good. Having one person overworked with two extra jobs, or two people with two jobs, they would lower the performance of a tank. They began to think in silence, only broken when someone began to sip on their coffee. Suddenly, the sip turned into a cough, and the one girl who had yet to speak turned around, who wore a fiddler cap over seemingly dyed, pink hair, who then broke into a run.

"I forgot my notebook!" she shouted back, her cup of coffee set down on the sidewalk she had stopped on. The other two watched as she ran off, sighing in unison.

"Adelyte really is forgetful," Alsa muttered, smiling under her breath as she set down her cup, running after the girl.

"Yeah," Maryia agreed, also setting down her coffee, chasing after her friends.

It was looking to be a good year of first year, and it surely seemed that at least three people were going to enjoy it.

[Wolfenium]

-snip-

Cycling through the streets towards the aquarium, Avelina seemed a bit in a hurry. On classroom duty, she spent the time cleaning in school while her friends headed for the aquarium first. In all honesty, she was feeling a bit tired, preferring to head back home. But she felt guilty abandoning Iveta, even if the latter demanded her to head back.

"Going to be a long day," she muttered to herself, waiting at an intersection as the traffic lights flashed red. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a group of Rauschen freshmen walking out of a coffee shop, their conversation littered with tankery comments. Looking around, she felt curious over their words. Biting her lips, she quietly got off her bike as she got on the pavement.

"Sorry to budge in," Avelina interjected, "but I can't help but overhear your discussion. You wouldn't be talking about the tankery club, would you?"

[Kuragaristan]

-snip-

"Sorry to budge in," Avelina interjected, "but I can't help but overhear your discussion. You wouldn't be talking about the tankery club, would you?"

The trio were stopped in their tracks, now face to face with who appeared to be their senior. Maryia, being the last, almost knocked them over as she bumped into Alsa and Adelyte. Luckily the athletic girl managed to pull them back to make sure they didn't look like a group of klutzy students who can't even manage to stop correctly.

"Y-Yes we were!" Alsa stuttered, putting on a straight face, "We're planning to join, but can't find another person to join us..."

"She won't be happy without a fourth person," Maryia continued.

"And I thought they say that 'three's a crowd', amiright?" Adelyte chimed in.

The two other freshmen groaned, and then Alsa perked up to greet the student in front of them.

"A-Are you on the tankery club?" she asked, "I'm Alsa, and this is Maryia and Adelyte. Are the tanks cool? Are there any for us? Has anyone else signed up yet but can't find a team and is all by themselves and we can help by having them *deep breath* fill in a spot?"

[Wolfenium]

"Sorry to budge in," Avelina interjected, "but I can't help but overhear your discussion. You wouldn't be talking about the tankery club, would you?"

The trio were stopped in their tracks, now face to face with who appeared to be their senior. Maryia, being the last, almost knocked them over as she bumped into Alsa and Adelyte. Luckily the athletic girl managed to pull them back to make sure they didn't look like a group of klutzy students who can't even manage to stop correctly.

"Y-Yes we were!" Alsa stuttered, putting on a straight face, "We're planning to join, but can't find another person to join us..."

"She won't be happy without a fourth person," Maryia continued.

"And I thought they say that 'three's a crowd', amiright?" Adelyte chimed in.

The two other freshmen groaned, and then Alsa perked up to greet the student in front of them.

"A-Are you on the tankery club?" she asked, "I'm Alsa, and this is Maryia and Adelyte. Are the tanks cool? Are there any for us? Has anyone else signed up yet but can't find a team and is all by themselves and we can help by having them *deep breath* fill in a spot?"

"You want to join," Avelina responded, genuinely surprised as she made a bemused salue, "of course, you're welcome to join! My name is Avelina Grebennikova, at your call! Uhh... I don't think I qualify as a 2IC, but my friend, Iveta, is the club leader. If you're looking for an extra crewman, we could always check. Though... I think everyone has a full team already, and tanks. Maybe we'll find one for you later on! We're at the aquarium at the moment, paying off our... debt... You want to come speak with us? We can probably figure something out."