Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Chapter 85

Tuesday, October 1st 2013

Catalina's School Carrier

Port of Iquique, Chile

Today proved to be the most challenging school day Valarie had ever had to slog through. As today, the team would be finally arriving from their hard-fought match in Bolivia back to the carrier. All the lectures from all her classes couldn't even hope to penetrate her head as her mind was entirely elsewhere. Totally focused on what the team would report when they returned. Now, she could have always called the team's commanders and ask them for their report on all that transpired on that day, but she didn't. Valarie determined that it was best that she hear everything from everyone in person.

Instead of taking notes during her classes, she prepared her playbook with a few dozen blank pages, fully anticipating that they would all get used up as she planned to write down every little thing the team had done and witnessed in the match. In lieu of working on her assigned worksheets, her train of thought has already wandered to the logistics of resupply of the spent munitions and burned fuel. To her, more important matters demanded her attention. Besides, who isn't excited when dear friends are returning after a couple of days away?

When the final bell of the day rang, it felt like a godsend. Without spending another moment, Valarie quickly gathered all her things and went straight to her apartment. Upon arriving there, she set aside her bag on the floor and then simply stood in the middle of her living room, pondering. What to do? Madison had informed her earlier in the day that the team would arrive back on the ship at around four in the afternoon, which was about two hours from now. In these intervening hours, how would she spend them? It is a simple question on the surface, but it proves to be surprisingly tricky to answer when thought about for longer than a few seconds.

She wasn't hungry, so fixing up a meal wasn't an option. Her apartment was in good shape, so doing any kind of cleaning was unnecessary. Hanging out with Madison would be something for Valarie to do, though her sister was busy with something related to the theater, so that was another option struck out. All this thinking and thinking when then, it hit her. A wardrobe change.

From the living room to her bedroom, her clothes were swapped for attire that she had sorely missed──her tankery uniform. It has been several days since she had last worn it, her uniform as clean and proper as ever as it had been ironed in preparation for a match that was never meant to be. It was sad, in a way. No tankery uniform was meant to be this clean for this long.

The clothes felt otherworldly good when she finished putting them on. Her shirt and pants fit snugly with no crease in sight. Her boots were laced up and finely polished. On her head was her precious gift from Grafenwoehr, that CVC tanker helmet that she adored to the moon and back. She gazed into a mirror to check herself out. No matter how many times she wore the uniform, the feeling of pride and awe was still as potent as the very first time she put it on.

Changing into her uniform wasn't just something for her own personal satisfaction. There was a purpose behind it. The team returning today wasn't the only thing she looked forward to today. There was also going to be a commander's meeting, and for that, she wanted to dress for the occasion.

A soft ding from her phone nearby grabbed her attention. Going over to check it, she found that it was a text from Emma, which made excitement go up a notch. Reading what it said caused it to skyrocket. "We're less than a minute out from the apartments."

It was the news she had been waiting for all day. With a huge grin, she gave a final check of herself in the mirror and raced out her door to go meet the team.