Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Chapter 3

Monday October 29th, 2012

At the crack of dawn, a convoy of heavy-duty trucks rumbled down the empty roads of Barstow. Their cargo; armored vehicles. Their destination; Mojave Rose High School. The convoy's lead truck then turned onto a side road, with the rest of the trucks following, kicking up dust and all sorts of desert debris. They made their presence known as their thunderous engine echoed throughout the area. This side road led them to the high school's rear, to a garage long derelict, where vice-principal Martin Redwood was within.

Redwood has been in the garage for half an hour already. He was early to meet the delivery, but also to reminisce. It was twenty years since tanks last called this place home, since the local tankery teams shut down, and Mojave Rose was no exception. Him standing in the large empty area brought back a slew of memories, not all very good as he recalled scenes of tanks being sold en masse, with their distraught former operators watching helplessly as their machines left them forever to places unknown.

He then chuckled to himself as a somewhat humorous memory cropped up when he used to be deadset of tearing the place down.

"It's an accident waiting to happen!" he said long ago.

What prevented its demolition was that the process was too expensive, as Mojave Rose was not the most affluent school. So there it lay, at the mercy of the elements. Oh, how things turn out.

When Redwood first entered, he was surprised to find out that the fluorescent lights still functioned when he turned them on. This place looks more robust than it seems, which suits him just fine as it meant less time was needed to get the garage into shape, time that can be used on the tanks. He was sweeping for a bit but stopped when he heard the approaching sounds of trucks. He headed outside to meet them, finding the first truck was parked in front of the garage. The driver hopped out with clipboard in hand.

"Redwood..right? We got some tanks 'ere for that guy," he said

"Yeah. You're right on schedule."

"Sweet. Sign here," Redwood was handed the clipboard and signed for the delivery. "Just have that there garage open, and we'll take care of the rest."

The garage's main doors were opened, the machinery that operated them, too, still miraculously worked, though they gave off an awful squeak, and the delivery-men got right to work. One by one, each of the vehicles was driven off the trailers and parked neatly within the garage. Redwood watched and listened, hearing for any quirks in the engines but found nothing too alarming. The engines sounded old, that was a given, but other than that, they were in decent condition. He was surprised, considering they were from a junkyard out in the harsh sun. Soon, the last vehicle, the Puma, was parked in place. The tanks of the Mojave Rose tankery team were all parked in a single line, their turrets, those that had them, pointed directly forward. After the delivery-men admired their handiwork for a moment, they departed, and their trucks soon disappeared from view and earshot. Redwood was now alone in the garage, now a sight to behold. He peaked at his watch.

6:07 A.M

By the end of the hour, the dormant campus will soon come to life with the hustle and bustle of the student body. As he continued to look at the vehicles, a group of people entered the garage. It was the school's maintenance staff.

"Mornin' Redwood," greeted one of them.

"Morning fellas, got all the stuff I requested?"

"We sure did."

Each of the maintenance staff was pulling a heavy toolbox bigger than them, filled to the brim with all the needed tools and accessories fit for a mechanics shop—the exact things necessary to maintain a battalion of armored vehicles.