Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Chapter 46

Monday, July 1st 2013

At Sea

Emma was sound asleep. Resting on a bed as soft as the puffiest cloud in the sky. It was nice and cool, made better as Valarie was just right next to her. Though, in contrast, Valarie was wide awake. Her laptop was on her lap, reading some news. As it was the early morning, her computer screen emanated this glow, that eventually roused Emma from her sleep.

"Morning," Emma said, a bit groggy. She looked at the computer. "So, what's new in the world?"

"It's kicked off." Valarie replied.

"Huh?" Emma asked. She was confused by this rather cryptic statement.

"The world tournament has started."

"But isn't our match not till near the end of the month?"

"Yes, for us. But there are other countries at play. Today, France and Romania are going to face off."

"Oh wow," Emma remarked. "Hmm, didn't Molly Pitcher's captain told us that countries like France tend to win the internationals?"

"Yeah..." Valarie said hesitantly. "Well, let's not think about that too much. It doesn't help. Now, today we're having a commander's meeting. Further details about our first match."

"Oh, give me a sneak preview, pretty please?" Emma asked all cute like. Valarie couldn't resist.

"Oh, alright. Since you asked so adorably. We're fighting Italy."

"Fight them where?"

"Oh, sorry. That's all you're getting for now." Valarie said with a smirk.

Emma playfully pouted and rose from the bed. "Fine. Guess I'll just get ready in the meantime."

She was soon joined by Valarie and the two girls got dressed in their uniforms, had a quick breakfast, and left for the garage. The rest of the team soon arrived piecemeal and by nine in the morning, all were at attendance. Most of them set to their routine tasks as the commanders of the team went upstairs. The garage they were in had an upper story where some rooms were for all sorts of purposes. One was where Redwood and Buchanan use to take care of the administrative and logistics of the team. And another was one that Valarie was especially fond of. A conference room. Within was a large wood oval table surrounded by office chairs. At the far end wall, opposite the door, was a large screen for a projector mounted on the table. Windows let in nice natural light and the air conditioning was sublime. All the commanders got into their seats. Valarie had brought her laptop and plugged it into the projector. As it warmed it, she started speaking.

"Wednesday, July 24th, is when our match against Italy is. Our first match of the internationals," The projector warmed up and displayed a map. "The location, Spain." The screen showed the map of the battlefield. In the middle was a large swath of green vegetation, something like a forest. But from its appearance, it was either only the remnant of once a great sea of trees or was artificially created. Surrounding this greenery was arid-looking land sectioned in geometric shapes. It was clear that it was farmland of a sort, though abandoned and uncultivated. "The name of the Italian school, which I translated to English because I will surely butcher the pronunciation, is Palatine Academy for Girls. Yet, before we can think too much about this match, we need to have a firm understanding of how international tankery is performed. For that, we're going to Ireland where a school there will make us learn the ropes. We'll spend some time with them, learning, and maybe doing other fun stuff. Afterward, we depart for Spain."

She let the commanders in the room have time to exchange eager glances and chatter about the news. The greatest perk about being in an international competition is the opportunity to travel to the world. Already were they to visit Ireland and Spain. Who knows where else they could go. The options literally were endless. Once the talk died down, Valarie continued.