Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Chapter 12

Monday, February 11th, 2013

Redwood and Buchanan were at the garage in the early morning hours. Before them was a collection of crates, some of which were huge. Buchanan handed Redwood a crowbar.

"Bust 'em open. Please."

Redwood went to the nearest crate which happened to be the longest. Using considerable force he opened it. They both looked inside and put on smiles. Within was a brand new 100mm LB-1 main cannon.

"Well Martin, it looks like you won't be spaced armor."

The pair set to work and opened the rest of the crates. The gun, the new turret to accommodate the cannon, spaced armor and associated parts, and a 12.7mm machine gun which would be mounted on the top of the new turret. Everything was nice, organized, and ready for installation for that day's tankery meeting. It'll be a laborious one for Valarie's crew. As Buchanan was looking at the new gear, Redwood was reading the manual that came with the delivery.

"Thanks for your purchase...tools not included...for ages 13 and up. Ah, interesting little tidbit. This manual says to expect the fighting compartment for commander, gunner, and loader to less spacious on the account of the gun."

"The girls will manage no problem." Buchanan said.

"Sure. They'll do fine. To go on a related tangent...will that machine-gun really be useful? To use it one of the girls will have to be out of the hatch."

Buchanan looked at the heavy machine gun. It was intimidating in appearance and most definitely sounded fearsome when it fired.

"Maybe...well..." she started but stopped

"Okay, it won't be all that useful. In all situations where a machine gun would be useful, the coaxial will do the job all the same. Anywho, it'll be Valarie's call to mount the thing or not. She could surprise us and find a use for it after all."

"Or just mount it for looks."

"...yeah that's more likely."

Later on in the school day, Emma was in the courtyard during the lunch hour. She was waiting for Valarie. The minutes went by and she still hasn't arrived. Right before she stood up to go look for her, there was Ashley walking about. She went toward her.

"Ashley! Where's Valarie?"

"Still in chemistry to finish a lab."

"I see. Is she doing alright?"

"Dude, like, you won't believe this. You gotta combine these two solutions while mixing them to get the right color but if you add just even a little too much it all goes to hell. When I left she was on her tenth try."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Oh. Um. She seems okay to me."

Emma sighed.

"Guess we'll see during the meeting. See you then."

Ashley left and Emma sat back down on the grass. She now started to eat her lunch when the sound of someone running grabbed her attention. It was Marielle, out of breath.

"I was...looking for you...all lunch." she said between gulps of air.

"Okay, Okay. What's up?"

Marielle just stood there trying to find the best words to convey the news but couldn't. She said it flat out.

"Valarie is...homeless."

All the emotion drained from Emma's face. She didn't hear that..right? No. She couldn't have. Her hearing must be going bad.