Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Mojave Rose v. Oceanside

Not a speck of land way dry. The downpour hasn't stopped and shown no indication of it doing so. In fact, the rainclouds were growing darker as the storm was strengthening. In any other sport that was played outdoors, such rough weather would warrant the match being postponed or even being canceled and rescheduled. Not for tankery.

"If the crews of these machines had to endure this weather, so will the participants of Tankery." an ATA official reported to the media.

For how Americans viewed Tankery, as long as the participants weren't in extreme danger matches were permitted to continue. Weather can introduce a bunch of unknown variables into a match but the ATA has never viewed such phenomena to be dangerous enough. Even tornados, infamously common in the United States, are not enough to cancel a match. If one were to form on a battlefield, teams would simply be told to 'play around the weather'. The ATA would face regular criticism for its 'total disregard for the weather' though in over 70 years of existence, not one tanker has been injured as a result of weather. Today's match was business as usual.

The drive was a slog. The roads have become hellish mudholes. Machines had to fight to move and occasionally one would get bogged down, needing the assistance of other vehicles to be pulled free. This made progress slow and Valarie nervous.

"If this stop-and-go stuff keeps happening, that would throw a wrench in our plans."

Mojave Rose was on their way to a position that all the commanders agreed was the best place to execute what they concocted. The destination was a dense area of the forest that made for ideal concealment. Though they had no intel on the exact position of Oceanside, they did know that they were in their general direction as teams were deployed on opposite ends of the battlefield. Among this dense area of woodland was a road, the only one in the area. Mojave Rose was betting that Oceanside will take the road. However, they need to get there first and currently, they might as well be crawling. The mud was an incredible hassle. If they slowed down too much, they would risk missing their opportunity. Worse, Oceanside may find them like this in the mud and annihilate them. They needed to pick up the pace.

"Juniper, take point. Everyone attach tow cables to each other. We need to get out of this mud" ordered Valarie.

The IS-3 positioned itself in front of the team and every team took their steel tow cables and attached them to the vehicles in front and behind them. In tandem, the team drove forward with the IS-3 acting sort of like a train engine. The speed they were now traveling in were not the fastest but it was consistent and no one was getting stuck anymore. 20 minutes of driving and they finally got off the mud and arrived at their destination. They halted just 500 meters beyond the road. All the commanders, with binoculars in hand, scrutinized the road ahead of them. To their delight, it was untouched. Oceanside has not yet used it, if that was their intention in the first place. An order was given out and the team spread out along one side of the road, maintaining a 500-meter distance. They had formed a firing line. Once done, Valarie took a look at the environment that they were in.

"There sure are a lot of bushes and leaves...just lying around here." she said.

She grabbed the radio.

"Attention all. I want two members of each tank to go outside and cover your vehicles with foliage. Conceal your tanks the best you can."

Valarie tapped Emma on the shoulder.

"Let's get to it."

The pair hopped out their tank and forage for anything that could hide the T-44. Bushes were uprooted off the ground and branches were torn off trees. Everything was wet and the ground was slippery. Some people have lost their footing and fell. The team, being a sympathetic bunch, laughed at them. Those that took a tumble were covered with mud, with leaves and grass stuck to them. It was something that they did not appreciate. Back at the T-44, Valarie and Emma were putting the finishing touches on their disguise. As the last bush was placed, they both took a step back to admire their handiwork.