#luckily for them it sort of went better than that. kind of. since the dou was a mess

[thousand-winters]

I love thinking about how frantic Darius must have been when Hunter never came back to the castle after hollow mind. How he must have messaged him repeatedly hoping for a reply and having to be stopped from going out looking for him by Eber even though they’re as worried as he is

He probably figured if he saw Hunter back at the castle, it would mean things are very, very wrong, because Hunter? In Belos' mind? That couldn't end well for him, even without the added bad context of him being a grimwalker Belos saw as more than disposable.

He would know that. He would tell himself that.

However...

That wouldn't work to calm himself down. No news are good news and all that but he would still be worried sick. Alright, he's not in Belos' clutches, that's a good thing, but his safety is not guaranteed. After getting to know Hunter through the sewing lessons, no doubt he would have noticed how deeply lonely Hunter was. Is he running toward those friends of his from Flyer Derby? Or is he completely alone, scared out of his mind? Where is he? Why hasn't he contacted Darius?

(Oh, but he knows why, his cover as a rebel was good and as much as he had to pretend to be loyal or else everything would go to hell, it doesn't feel good now that he imagines Hunter must be frightened of him too.)

He can't even tell him he's a rebel in his messages, because nothing assures him that Hunter didn't lose his scroll somewhere along the line and that someone who shouldn't have didn't pick it up. He's already risking a lot just trying to contact Hunter, but he can't help himself, even if he hates that his reassurances that he won't hurt him and that he can trust him feel so empty like this, as if he could be just trying to bait him into a trap.

But especially because Hunter has gone missing and Belos presumably made it known at least to the people at the castle so they could keep an eye out for him, now more than ever Darius can't run off to look for him, it's gonna feel too obvious. Eber has to remind him of that every time he wants to.

They have to wait until after the Day of Unity to look for him since it's only a week away, and just hope that he doesn't get captured before that. If he does? ... Well, they'll cross that bridge when it comes, if necessary.

[kapitanwingter]

Chapter 5 - Hear me roar!

Ever told you how forgetful I am?

Setting the alarm clock to wake me up at seven even though I need to wake up at eight. Even though it's Saturday sensha-dou classes are after school every day and at weekend mornings and Saturday afternoon, though we can visit the hangars and tinker with our tanks any time. They may be the possession of the school but the school's sensha-dou committe (Emese and the deputy commander) knows best how to handle them so they leave it to them. However they think the best is to let the crews customize the tanks. Well maybe not the crew of the Tas yet since we're newbies, maybe if we proove ourselves they will trust us enough for that too.

After choosing me as commander we all headed home and Cap told us to go back at nine in the morning. She said the deputy commander will walk us through the operation of the tank and she will instruct us on our first lesson. Everyone else from the club will be training on the grounds which is next to the forest so we will have the entire area for ourselves.

She told us to come in the school's sports outfit because we have some serious cleaning to do. True that, when I drove the tank the inside was...well...it had filth of unspeakable amount. We would also get our equipment and tankwomen clothing. I'm so excited.

I packed some water and sandwiches into my bag which had the union jack on and went to the hangars.

I saw Reiko and Jitsuko was already there with somebody else.

"Hey girls" I said.

"Morning Tami" they replied.

"Good morning miss Tamara" said the girl with long orange hair in twintails. She was wearing the same coverall as Emese yesterday with tanker boots and I saw her leather coat and tanker hat lying on the Panther near her - which I assumed was her tank "I'm Reizei Rin, they call me Lili. I'm Emi's second in command, I look forward to working with you"

"I look forward to working with you as well" I said.

"I heard a great deal about you already. Did you seriously cranked this piece of junk in five minutes?"

"I think it was six"

"Aren't you a modest one"

I giggled a bit.

"I hope we haven't missed the party!" yelled Eimi from the distance who was coming with the missing crew members.

They introduced themselves after.

 "So" started Lili "Shall we start?"

"Lemme guess it's dusting the tank time" said Aoi.

"Pontosan [exactly]" said Lili.

"Üssenek meg kővel ha ez nem magyar volt [Punch me with a stone if that wasn't Hungarian]" I said.

"Tanulgatom [I learn it-ish]" she replied "Okay girls, the tap is over there, get some water and the sponges on the table and let's start scratching off the rust and dirt"

  Thus we did. For an hour or two. After the tank turned into a nice deep olive colour. It had some japanese markings on it, probably from the previous users.

"So anyways" I said "Why didn't you use the tank for this long?"

"It got set on fire by itself" said Lili "The operating crew barely escaped in the middle of the match which was called off after it. The fire almost caused the ammo inside to explode which they menaged to prevent. After they repaired it and started it again but after five minutes of running smoke was coming out of her so they poured some foam in the engine, washed it out and left her in the courner"

"Hmmmm" I reacted "I guess we're lucky"

"How so?"

"Right you haven't heard. My Dad does this for a living, making vehicles safe and operable. He hasn't had a single incident with the refurbished tanks yet. I'm gonna give him a call then"

Lili nodded approovingly.

I talked to Dad for something ten minutes while I looked through the tank thoroughly as the others were starring at me working.

"Don't just stand there y'all we gotta get this engines out now" I said to them.

 "Plural?" asked Eimi.

"Yeah this stuff has two Turán engines inside"

The club is well equipped so we menaged to get the engine block out in half an hour with the jacks then I called Dad again. After close inspection from every possible angle we concluded first that the oil was leaking which was to be expected but I also noticed that fuel was leaking from the combustion chambers at three pistons. I poured some in exactly because of this and not water because it's not the same.

"Gotcha" I said "Even though we need to take apart engine two it's not the most serious problem"

"You guys are professionals" said Lili "Not even the automotive club could figure this one out. Now that I think about it they didn't want to take it apart because they feared it would do it again while taking it out of the tank"

"That was a possibility" I said

"What" asked Reiko.

"Nothing" I replied.

It was noon so we took a lunchbreak before taking apart an entire engine block. We were already exhausted except for Lili so we didn't talk much. After resting for half an hour I sent Jitsuko and Aoi to see if the automotive club members were in their clubhouse today. We got lucky so I asked Eimi and Reiko to look for the Tas's blueprint in the headquarters.

Reinforced with the automotive club's professionalism and equipment we menaged to seal the problematic places away and put it back to it's respectful place. I sat in the driver's seat - and I must admit Fusako did a number on the inside, I couldn't imagine it could be this clean - and hit the ignition button. She had a lot better voice than before. I rolled out with her on the field and hit the pedal to the metal. The Tas accelerates like a mother trucker. For a medium-heavy tank it's really fast and agile though I have a feeling the tracks might get tricky if the road is not stable enough but should perform well in snow and dust or sand. I rode her for ten minutes and nothing happened so I went back after stirring up the dust heavily.

"This should do" I said to everyone "Cheers guys, thanks for the help!"

"It was a pleasure" said the automotive club's main engineer and they went back.

"What a way to waste the day" said Reiko "It's already two PM..."

"Tired already?" said Lili  sarcastically.

"Hell no" she replied.

"Good, because the real fun begins now. As you may or may not know this is a tank. What does it mean? It means you don't operate it alone - duh. Time for a role-call, I heard you already chose Tamara as your commander. Well then commander, time to sorte out who does what"

The girls were all looking at me. They each had the place they wanted to be but were too shy to say it out loud.

"Okay" I broke the silence "First we need a driver. I vote for Eimi since she really is into cars"

"Good call" said Fusako.

"Shooter should be Reiko then because of her sport and hobby"

"Couldn't agree more" said Reiko.

"Loader should be Fusako. I saw your handy work on the inside of the tank, I see you can orientate well inside already and you seem to be very agile and tall enough to have no problem loading the cannon"

"I'll do if you want me to, Tami" she said.

"So that leaves the radio operator and the maintenance personnel..."

"Excuse me" said Aoi "I really enjoyed taking that engine apart. If you teach me everything there is to know I would really much like to be the crew's most important support" then she bowed.

"I'm glad you feel like that. I guess that makes Jitsuko our radioman"

"Seems fine to me" she said.

"Glad you could sort it out this quickly" said Lili "So what are you waiting for? Watabe! Check the loadout with Fusako and also check the engine's parameters, everyone else: battle-stations!"

I told Aoi what to look out for and what to check when inspecting the tank. Before we could jump in the tanks:

"Hold on a sec girls! I almost forgot" said Lili "Come in the HQ"

We went in and saw folded clothes on the chairs with boots in front of them and tanker hats on them.

"First let's get geared up" she said.

 We each got the 38M tank hat, a light-olive coverall with a brown belt and the respective undershits with tankmen boots. Luckily I was prepared and brought...some of my own.

My everyday clothes when the weather allows include a 65M Surranó - a Hungarian military leather boots - and a leather jacket. I also brough my grandfather's leather gloves who passed away before my birth, and a dark-brown, Hungarian version of the german M43 tanker hat..

I took them on or instead of the given equipment. Turned around and said:

"Allright girls, this is the point of no return. Is everybody ready to make history?!"

"YEAH" they yelled back.

Lili was smiling while we took positions inside the tank. "They sure look promising" she must have thought to herself.

Now that I think back things really escalated fast on my first week. It was my third day in school and I already was commander of a 44M Tas in the sensha-dou team. I never could've imagined I would make this progress so fast, not to mention that they would choose and accept me as their commander. The real trial is in front of me but this is the kind of challange I love to tackle head on.

  The hat had a built in radio. It was modern technology so it was wireless and had a long-lasting battery inside. Everyone had access to the radio which was between each other in the tank, I could use the short range radio from my neckpiece on top of the tank radio and I also had a smaller headset under my hat, and Jitsuko was the long range operator. I think these hats are upgraded from the original, made into the likes of the soviet tanker ushankas.

"All right Eimi, all yours now" I said over the radio "Előre!"

"Which means..?" she asked.

"Forwards" I said "Also take it slowly for now"

Lili was observing us from the tower next to the garages.

"So uhm...44M Tas, sorry we don't have a codename for you guys yet..." she said.

"Any ideas?" I asked the crew.

"This one's on you" said Fusako.

"Turul" I said on the short range radio.

"Allright. Turul, go forward and in the forest, follow the road which will lead you to where the others are having their training. Be careful not to go in the firing range but no don't worry they are facing towards the ocean and the range is at the edge of the ship"

"We still haven't set sails you know that, right?" I asked her.

"Uhm...yeah...of course" she said with uncertainty in her voice "But anyways just go where I told you, the short range radio has the range of about two kilometers. The range is three away so if I don't reply switch to long-range. I can see you from up here with my binaculars. Good luck girls"

"Acknowledged" I replied "Tamara temporarily out. Ei we can go a bit faster"

"Understood" she said.

At the edge of the forest it suddenly hit me. I didn't explain to her how to drive a tank. I mean it's pretty straightforward: gas, break, clutch, gears - eight of them forwards and two in reverse - and one break for the left track and one for the right. She's a natural besides her knowladge of cars.

Fusako's job was really easy she just didn't need to drop the ammo and reload fast. Maybe I should explain the breech mechanics to her later, there is a lever which is basically the safe switch in the cannon, she just needs to pull that.

Reiko will need to learn how to estimate distances but otherwise her job was rotating two wheels and the horizontal one has a hydraulic stance so the turret traverses fast.

Jitsuko's job will be an other matter. I'll have to read the manual with her. Thankfully all the manuals for this tank are naturally in Hungarian so it must have been a bit difficult to figure this tank out for the previous operators. This radio will be a tough one though but I'm sure we'll solve it.

I just told Aoi a couple of stuff to check, not even thoroughly but I think she might be an explicit observer as we were tinkering with the engine. I'll send her to the automotive club and I'll tell her everything I know as well. She'll menage very well. In the end she'll menage all the tanks and not just ours.

We did as we were told to and followed the road. Eventually ended up on the training grounds. There were the the shooting grounds which was at least a kilometer long and it really did face towards the side of the ship. To the left there were different kinds of paths which simulated different terrains. To the right I saw a couple of big tents which I assumed were for resting and strategy meetings.

"Lili this is Turul, we're here what do we do now, do you read me?" I asked through my short-range radio. I heard some buzzing so I was about to tell Jitsuko to fetch the manual for the long range.

"Not Lili but I think I'm fine as well" said somebody over the radio.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Just your superior"

"I apologize, Százados, 44M Tas "Turul", commander Ötvös Tamara reporting for duty"

"Very nice you guys made it there in on piece, Lili already told us your progress on the Tas and frankly you guys did a splendid job"

"Thank you Ma'am"

"Get your asses over here, time to meet the team"

We parked the tank in front of Emese and got out of the tank. The rest of the sensha-dou class was there with the basic team: two Tigers, two Panthers, four Turán Is, four Turán IIs, five Panzer IVs, four Zrínyi 105s and four 75s, one Toldi I and two Toldi IIs. Which made it hundred and twenty eight people in this class. No way I would ever remember that many names. Every one of them gathered around us.

"Ladies" started Emese "These girls got the Tas running again. I would like to introduce you commander Ötvös Tamara and her crew: driver Toyota Eimi, gunner Royama Reiko, loader Katsura Fusako, radio operator Ban Jitsuko and however she's not here but our new general maintenance personnel Watabo Aoi"

"Nice job on the Tas, girls!" said somebody from the crowd. Somebody else whistled one and the rest followed with a big applause.

We bowed.

"I am looking forward working with you" I said.

"Allright girls get to know the new ones after class, back to work everybody" said Emese and the rest listened to her.

She turned to us.

"You on the other hand have been working hard, park your tank there next to the other by the shooting range and go get something to eat from the tent"

"Thank you Captain" I said as I saluted.

She returned the salute and went back to training.

"Százados!" I yelled.

"Hmm?"

"What do we do now?"

"Read the manuals, teach the others and each other how to operate the tank effectively, learn the radio, how to rangefind and shoot accurately, the codes used by us and get closer to each other"

"Understood!"

She smiled and climbed up on the nearest Tiger.

"One more thing" she said.

"Yes Ma'am?" I replied.

"If you have any problems come see me, Lili will be arriving soon and she'll be your instructor until you guys menage on your own"

"Yes Ma'am!"

I climbed up the engine and looked around and I took some time to take in the environment.

"Well then" I said to myself "Let's get to work"