Girls Und Panzer: Fellow English From Abroad

VIII

With great difficulty, Anthony stood up. Adjacent to his room had been a shower, which he has been sitting in, thinking, for close to an hour. Now he was navigating, with not an insignificant amount of difficulty, the pathways of St Gloriana's Girls Academy.

Passing a classroom, Anthony glimpsed the backs of heads, all female. On the board was a projection of the periodic table, however his gaze was on the back of a row of heads, sitting at desks, presumably, as he had no way of viewing them.

A shorter girl, with a head of ginger hair, tied up in braids. A tall girl, with her blonde hair in a pony tail. An average height girl, with almost pink hair, sitting loosely.

And a head of dark blonde hair tied around her head in a duo of braids.

Darjeeling and her lieutenants.

Anthony continued walking, his view obstructed by the frosted glass. He was acutely aware of how out of place he looked, wearing the green forest fatigues he was previously wearing for the tankery match against Saunders.

He paused, met with a crossroads, leading in 4 directions, including the one from which he had come. One lead down another row of classrooms, which Anthony decided to avoid traversing unless required, the second appeared to lead to a sporting ground, Anthony could make out a tennis court, which lead to this assumption. The final one lead to what looked like a large warehouse, which Anthony decided to investigate, knowing it was his best chance to find what he sought.

Fortune favoured him, as he was met with what appeared to be a large garage and workshop, with rigid doors that would likely raise up, with glass windows on part of them. Standing on tippy toes, Anthony looked through the window, spotting the formidable sight of a 75 High Velocity cannon staring back at him.

"Churchill Mk. 7.. So where would she be.." Anthony pondered aloud, continuing down the row. About 3 doors from the end, Anthony spotted a familiar sight through a window. The barrel of a Royal Ordinance 77 mm High Velocity cannon staring him in the face.

His Comet.

A smile graced his lips, as he looked around for an entry. Moving to the end of the building, Anthony found a standard sized door, which he immediately tried the handle for. Said handle moved without a hitch, opening the door and presenting him access to the workshop. As he entered, he felt for a light switch, finding one and flicking it on.

Lights snapped on and presented him with the sight of the fanciest workshop Anthony had ever seen. Everything was spotless.

His heart sank when he saw what was left of Rose Bay's tanks. His Comet sat, proudly closest to the tanks of Gloriana, next to that, their Centurion...

With a gaping hole in the side of its turret. Anthony stopped his evaluation, running over to the pride of British tank design, gasping slightly as his muscles stretched themselves.

The turret interior was a wreck. The breech was bent, clearly struck by something. Either way it was unsafe for use. The radio had been covered in molten slag, and half the controls were untouchable. There, dangerously, was 7 rounds of ammunition still in the tank, which had not been removed.

Taking a breath, Anthony steeled himself, and climbed in, taking a seat on the gunners chair and looking through the optics.

They were misaligned. Fuck.

He crawled down to the drivers seat, sparking the ignition, listening to the engine purr alive, bringing an irrepressible grin to his lips. As he powered the hydraulics, he sighed again. Hydraulic pressure was consistent.

As he climbed back into the turret, he gently attempted to turn it. The turret started to turn, then abruptly stopped. The turret ring was jammed at a maximum of 23* left. Anthony reset the turret and tried turning it right. Going right, he made it 70* before he stopped, lest he hit the tank next to him.

Anthony powered down the tank's hydraulics and engine, climbing out through the gaping hole in the turret, the only exit, given that the commanders hatch was jammed. As he did so, he made carefully sure that he unloaded the 7 rounds, stacking them behind the tank, next to a work bench

Anthony dropped to the ground, the metal floor clanking beneath his boots. Looking at his tanks, had a final count of:

1 A34 Comet I - Medium Tank
1 Centurion I - Main Battle Tank - Inoperable
5 A27M Cruiser Mk VIII Cromwell - Medium Tanks
2 M4A2 Sherman Firefly - Medium Tank

Anthony walks back to his beloved Comet, resting a hand on its side. She had been repaired first, so she was entirely capable of movement. Walking over to the door controls, Anthony guessed his way into opening the large door, climbing into his tank's drivers position, glancing at the fuel gauge.

Empty. Fuck.

Climbing back our of the drivers position, then off the side of the tank, Anthony found what he had been looking for. A trio of Jerry cans, sitting in a neat row. Well.. there was a lot more than 3 cans, all lined up against the back wall, behind the work benches, but he only took 3.

As he poured the fuel from the cans to the tank's fuel tank, Anthony sat on his engine deck and thought. He thought about a fair amount. His thoughts went to his family, instantly he faltered, pouring fuel onto his pants, cursing softly.

Anthony focused on his task, dropping the final jerry can off the side of the tank and starting the engine again, sitting in the drivers seat and slowly taking her out of the garage.

Anthony kept his head out of the hatch, having raised the seat enough to do so. Following the clear path to the training area, anthony is presented with hills, moving targets and concealment.

Brining the tank to a stop, he shifted position to that of the gunner, loading a shell into the breech of the Comet, locking it and disabling the safety, planting his eye against the sighs and taking the shell drop into account.

The 77mm roars, the noise echoing though out the grounds of the school, Anthony cursing himself in his head. After a few shots, Anthony drives the tank up a hill, into the undergrowth and waits, turning off the engine and running the hydraulics, waiting for the Gloriana tanks that will soon come.