The Preliminaries Part II
Before somebody could officially enter the European Youth Martial Tournament, they had to pass their school's preliminaries. Only a certain number of students per school could compete in each competition, so each school held preliminaries for the events to decide the roster. Usually they were pretty simple.
The first preliminary event to be held was for the sniper contest. Competing for the two available spots were five students, among them being Celine and Shawn. The preliminary contest was simple, each student would aim a rifle standing up and fire five rounds each at three differently distanced targets. Whichever two had the highest scores would be admitted into the Tournament.
The first three were very skilled sharpshooters; however, the best out of the batch was the first one, a student named Ivan Sokolov. He edged out the other two by a decent margin.
The fourth to go up was Shawn Whipped. While a respectable sharpshooter in his own right, he was hardly the best, but his talents in other fields were more lacking, but today his performance was a step above his average. This was due to a combination of a lot of things. He was in a good mood, the weather was fair, but most importantly, he was being watched by Celine, and his desire to prove himself to both her and the school motivated him.
Shawn aimed his rifle, and with a clear, but focused mind, he lined up his shots and fired. He nailed the first target easily, but struggled on the second and third ones as they got farther away. After he was done, his score was just a hair below Ivan's.
"Damn it…!" Shawn cursed to himself. Of course, he was technically in second place, but he knew that it was guaranteed for him to end up in third since next up was the final contestant of the day, Celine Lavinge.
"Aw, don't worry. You did a good job, Shawn," Celine said as she passed Shawn while casually walking up to the range. As she prepared her rifle, it was as if she didn't have a care in the world, behaving like a housewife baking an apple pie. However, once she aimed her rifle and stared down the sights, her entire demeanor changed. In an instant, she became like an executioner ready to deliver a poor soul's fate. She fired a shot at the closest target and hit it dead center. She then proceeded to fire the next four shots, nailing the center each time.
Celine had a very unique Rune known as perception magic which enabled her to see things from far away as if she was looking through a pair of binoculars in addition to amplifying her other senses. This ability had many uses, but it particularly gave her inhumane aim with a firearm. She had actually participated in the sniper contest last year, winning by a large margin, and thus sparked a debate on whether or not Runes such as hers should be permissible, but ultimately it was decided that her perception magic, being an innate ability, was not against the spirit of the competition.
Celine finished faster than anybody else with a perfect score. Even the targets farthest away posed no challenge to her, and as soon as she was done, she reverted back to her old Persona. "Phew, that was hard." It wasn't.
"Well, congratulations, Celine…" Shawn said, dejected. In his heart, he figured he wouldn't make it, but he still wanted to.
Ivan walked up to Celine. "You are Celine, yes? I am glad to be your teammate."
"Oh, Ivan, right? That was some good shooting!"
He laughed. "Not as good as yours, miss."
"Oh, you're too nice!"
The two started talking, and as Shawn had been forgotten, his dejectedness was overtaken with burning jealousy.
***
"Congratulations on making it into the Tournament, Celine!" Beatrice had given her a standing ovation at the next student council meeting.
Of course, nobody there was surprised. Jack didn't care and everyone else already knew about her extraordinary ability. However, Beatrice liked making a big deal out of these kinds of things.
It seemed like it was going to be another boring student council meeting, but thankfully Jack actually had an excuse to not stay the entire time. "By the way," he asked Beatrice, "is it all right if me and Yuki leave a bit early today?"
"Hm? Why?"
"She's competing in the tank contest and I'm helping her."
"Yes, we're competing together," Yuki chimed in.
Beatrice smirked. "Oh, of course, that's fine." She was happy to see his shell finally crack, even if it was by somebody else.
Jack did not like how Beatrice looked at him like a pet project, but he wasn't about to speak out over it.
***
Jack and Yuki seriously had their work cut out for them. They only had a few days until the tank competition preliminaries, and while there was only one other team competing for a spot, they weren't exactly slouches. Yuki was serving as the pilot while Jack was the gunner, and while Yuki was adept at piloting the Tadasu Mk. II, Jack was still a novice at operating the tank's weaponry.
Most of their practice was done on a makeshift training course prepared by Yuki. It was little more than just some targets in a field, though. Yuki would drive the tank through the course while Jack would fire at the targets. They had done this countless times but were still hitting snags. Particularly, it was getting late and their last attempt had been their worst one yet on account of the loading mechanism jamming twice and Jack missing most shots. Jack normally helped Yuki reset the course, but this time she offered to do it all herself, so Jack sat on the tank and watched as the sun began to set.
"I'm done. Are you ready to go again?"
Jack looked down and saw Yuki. "All right…" He climbed up onto the turret, preparing to enter the tank.
"Wait, Jack!" Yuki called out to him and climbed up onto the tank too.
"What is it?"
"I know it must be tough… We've been practicing for so long without anything to show for it, but I want you to know that I'm thankful for everything you've done. Even if we don't make it to the Tournament, I'm happy we at least tried."
Jack was taken aback. He looked away, embarrassed. "How do you say stuff like that with a straight face?"
Yuki giggled nervously. "Sorry…"
"It's fine…" It had been a long time since somebody had thanked him for just trying his best. "Anyway, let's hurry up and run through it one more time before it gets dark."
"Yes, let's go!"
Jack and Yuki both climbed into the tank.
The Tadasu Mk. II was classified as a medium tank, but it was actually fairly quick. Yuki hit the gas and started tearing through the course.
"First target on your left!"
"Got it!" Jack lined up the turret and fired the shot, nailing the target, an old box.
"Next target, straight ahead!"
The Tadasu's most useful feature was its automatic loading mechanism which had already loaded another round, and with the target dead ahead, all Jack had to do was aim and fire.
"A direct hit!" Yuki exclaimed as the bin in front of them was blown to smithereens. "Now get ready for the small targets as we turn!"
The Tadasu also came equipped with a machine gun for use against unarmored or lightly armored foes, so as they approached the turn, Jack prepared to fire on the lined up bags of flour.
Yuki turned the Tadasu around the bend as the machine gun rang out, tearing apart the bags of flour.
The last three targets were aligned in quick succession. Jack aimed the first shot and fired the first round, nailing the first target. He lined up his next shot as the next round was loaded in, firing as soon as the reloading was finished, the second target was hit straight on. However, as Jack lined up the shot and the final target, he heard an all too familiar clunk. He looked over and saw that the loading mechanism had jammed again!
"God damn it!" They were so close to a perfect run, but it had to jam now! In frustration, he kicked the mechanism. It vibrated violently before clunking the round into place. A bit amazed that that worked, Jack immediately snapped his attention back to aiming, adjusting his shot and firing at the target.
Jack and Yuki both watched as the wooden crate was torn asunder. Both were ecstatic, but Yuki turned away, focussing on bringing the tank to a stop at the end of the course.
As the tank came to a stop, Jack could still hardly believe it. After spending so many hours on such a simple course, he and Yuki had actually managed to clear it. It really was satisfying, but his reverie was interrupted by Yuki.
"Jack, we did it!" She said to him excitedly.
"Yeah, we did, didn't we?"
It really was a tiny victory and only the first step, but it felt monumental to them.
***
It was already time for the preliminary match. Jack and Yuki needed more practice, but unfortunately didn't have the time. The preliminary tank match was fairly simple, though. They were to be placed in an arena filled with targets with another team, and whichever team managed to hit the most targets within the time limit would be admitted into the Tournament.
Jack and Yuki were on their way to the tank garages so they could grab the Tadasu Mk. II before heading to the event.
As the two approached the garage, Jack innocuously said, "You know, I've been meaning to ask, but do you know who we're facing?"
"Oh, yes, about that…" Yuki looked away awkwardly. "They're a bit, uh…"
But before Yuki could respond, they heard a shrill voice from behind.
"If it isn't Ms. Yuki Tadasu."
"Indeed, and it looks like she found some poor soul to help operate that tin can of hers."
Jack curiously turned around to see who these pompous fools were. There was a young man and a young woman stood side by side. They looked almost identical, though, the only thing differentiating them being their uniforms and their hair with the boy having short hair and the girl having long hair.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves." The boy bowed. "My name is Bleu Jumeau. Heir of the Jumeau Group."
The girl curtsied. "And my name is Rouge Jumeau. Heiress of the Jumeau Group."
Jack looked over at Yuki, but she was clearly exhausted by their presence. Looking back over at them, Jack asked, "So you two are our opponents today?"
"Well, only technically speaking." Rouge put her hand under her mouth. "The battle, in truth, has already been decided."
"Yes, indeed, sister. I cannot even imagine their hubris. How could one even fathom that their tin can could stand up to the Jumeau B2?" Bleu opened up the garage door, showing off their tank. "This is the pride of the Jumeau Group, the pinnacle of French engineering!"
The Jumeau B2 was the latest model of the Jumeau line of tanks. Jack was quite familiar with the Jumeau tanks. They were known to be practical and cost effective, but they also lacked any exceptional capabilities. In response to this, the Jumeau B1 was created, attempting to be faster and more powerful than the standard Jumeaus; however, as a side effect, it was costly and difficult to maintain. The Jumeau B2 has since entered development, seeking to fix the issues of its predecessors, and it looks like the heir and heiress of the Jumeau group have their hands on one of the prototypes.
Bleu cuddled up right next to the tank and started stroking it sensually. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"
"Ohohoho, brother, don't be so naughty…" Rouge had pulled out a fan and covered her face.
"Naughty? There is nothing naughty about appreciating beauty! Her 8.8cm gun of 40 calibers length, her co-axially mounted 12.7mm heavy machine gun, her 800 horsepower engine, her leaf spring double-bogie suspension. Why, it's as if every millimeter of her has been handcrafted by angelic hands!"
Rouge started breathing heavily. "Ah, ah…! Ah…! Brother, don't say such things so frivolously!"
Jack had seen a lot of freaks in his day, but it would be too kind to even call these two "freaks." A part of him wanted to let them win so that Oleander would be represented by such total nutjobs, but he had made a promise to Yuki, and he also wanted to beat them to a pulp. He looked over at Yuki, but she looked drained. "Do you know these two?"
Yuki sighed. "Yes… People call them the tank twins. They're always bragging about their tank."
Looking back over at the twins, they were still gushing over it, but Bleu, noticing Jack's gaze, walked over. "I don't believe you have introduced yourself."
"Yes, please, we must know the name of the poor sap Ms. Yuki Tadasu convinced to get in her steel coffin."
"Jack Richter."
"Jack Richter? Oh, you're that American who joined the student council!" It seemed that Jack was more well known than he'd like to be.
Rouge chuckled. "I should've known. You Yanks have no concept of human decency."
There were several reasons why getting called a "Yank" annoyed Jack, but he moved on. "Anyway, I think it's time we get going."
"Oh, yes, run along now," Rouge said.
"Indeed, be sure to prepare that tin can well. My sister and I want to have at least some fun."
The two laughed in unison as they went back to fawning over the Jumeau B2.
As Jack and Yuki walked over to their own garage, Jack leaned over and said, "Real pieces of work, aren't they?"
Yuki looked nervous. "Yes, but they're very skilled, and the Jumeau B2 is a highly advanced tank. I don't know if we'll be able to beat them…"
Jack laughed. "Trust me, Yuki. Anybody that cocky leaves a thousand blind spots open."