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"Man, this sucks."
"You agreed to this in the first place, Claudia."
The two girls made their way through the hiking trail, scanning the environment as they went. Their goal was simple, really: to find a new tank. In any other universe, two high school girls looking for a tank in a forest would be ridiculous, but this is Girls und Panzer after all, and it didn't take long.
"Hey Sam!"
"Found anything?"
"Look, down the slope."
The two girls peered over the slope. Sure enough, there was a hunk of metal that looked suspiciously like a tank. A large hull, a bump that looks like a turret, and a gun. It was indeed a tank. The years had not been nice to it. It was covered in vegetation and mold, and what looked like a bird's nest lay on top of the engine cover. It was perched at an odd angle, precariously balanced on a part of the slope that jutted outwards, acting as a platform barely larger than its wheelbase. A number was just visible on the side of the turret, covered by mold and leaves; the girls had to squint to read it.
"2471. And there's some words underneath. Hmm... Big Shot... nice name."
"What tank is this anyways?"
"It's a Sherman, isn't it? Looks like... the A3 variant, and... a 105mm."
"Isn't that the short-barrel 75mm?"
"No, look closely, the barrel's thicker than a 75mm."
"Right you are."
A pair of heterochromatic eyes twinkled in admiration at the steel beast that lay before them. The eyes belonged to an average-looking Chinese girl with her hair tied in a single ponytail, while her companion was at least half a head taller, with blue eyes and blonde hair, obviously of foreign descent.
"Say, Claudia... could we somehow get a look inside the tank?"
"We will once it gets moved to the school hangar."
"No, I mean if we can climb inside now."
"Samantha Cromwell, you are not climbing over the railing and that is final."
"Watch me."
The blondie ignored her commander's yell and leaped over the railing, landing on the other side like a cat. From there, all it took was one large-ish step and she was standing atop the Sherman's hull.
"Come on, it's fine. Don't be a pussy."
"I am never going to hear the end of this from you, am I?"
With an exasperated sigh, the other girl slowly made her way over the railing before cautiously stepping on top of the Sherman. Her companion was already on her knees, prying open the commander's cupola; as she did so, a raccoon darted out of the tank, startling them both.
"Okay... here goes."
With a metallic groan the very dirty hatch was opened, revealing an interior that was kept relatively safe from the elements. The ammunition was long gone, but all the crew positions were preserved well; even the gun breech could be opened without much difficulty.
"How long has this been sitting here?"
"Probably quite a while."
"No shit, Sherlock."
Sam giggled a bit and popped her head out of the driver's hatch, while Claudia looked around the insides of the tank for any clues that revealed its past owners. It didn't take long before she noticed something glinting against her phone's flashlight, and she bent down to pick it up. It was a poker chip fashioned out of bare metal, devoid of any paint. One side was engraved with an image of a Sherman, while the other face was completely blank.
"Looks like you got yourself a little souvenir."
"Let's get outta this tank."
"What? Already?"
Claudia didn't wait for a response, clambering out of the commander's hatch and over the railing. A few seconds later Sam followed suit.
"Okay, now what?"
"We call Roxy and tell her. And then we leave a GPS tracker here and leave."
"How long does the battery last on these things?"
"If I remember correctly, about 10 days, so we gucci."
Sam returned back to the tank to tape the GPS tracker onto the hull of the Sherman while Gin made a phone call. As the phone rang out, she played with the poker chip she'd stored in her pocket.
The bare metal feels cool to the touch, she thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~