42S/58W - Evening
Dear Diary, today I met the new tank. It was awesome! We got along really well right away! I was really worried at first that we wouldn't. After all, the Matchmakers told me that all tanks try to kill each other, didn't they? Well, this one said she won't. But I should probably tell things in the order they happened...
It turned out in the morning that the new tank got the garage right next to mine. When I got up and looked outside, I saw her being picked up by one of the Matchmakers for the tour around the factory grounds.
I knew that the last stop of the tour would be Tzako's workshop, so I went there and waited for the new tank to arrive.
While I was waiting, I talked to Tzako a bit too. I asked him if eventually, I'll have to leave the factory. This has been worrying me since I learned that I can leave. And it seems like my worries were justified! Tzako confirmed that once there's "enough" of us new tanks, we'll just get kicked out. He didn't say what exactly "enough" means. He said it depends on many things that I wouldn't understand just yet. I had to accept that answer.
Then, the new tank showed up. Tzako didn't mind me staying while he did the checkup, and I finally had a chance to introduce myself! It went really great. The new tank is so nice! And she seems to have a lot of things figured out already, even if it's just her second day. She said her name is "Wren", and that she's an "SPG". I had no idea what that was, but Tzako explained to me that it's short for "self-propelled gun",... which still confused me. Aren't we all self-propelled guns in a way? That seemed to confuse Tzako as well, and he just shook his hull and said it's an old-timey way of saying "artillery" - a tank that shoots not directly at the enemy, but in a high arc and without really seeing what it shoots at.
I didn't really understand what the point of that was. It sounded like a more complicated way of achieving a simple task to me. Why shoot indirectly at something you can't see, if you can just shoot directly at something in front of you?
Tzako shook his hull again with a "Tsk" when I said that. I felt a bit stupid when he explained that if you are not in front of your enemy, it can't see you either and can't shoot back. It seemed like an obvious advantage all of a sudden. I have to admit, I even started feeling a bit jealous of Wren in that moment. Even more so when Tzako went on to explain that to make up for not seeing the enemy directly, SPGs can 'see' their environment in a different way. He said it's complicated how it works, but they hear everything around them and their mind turns it into an image they can almost see.
Wren also said something then. She said that this is why SPGs are the superior "class" and why they must be leaders.
She didn't sound arrogant or like she was joking when she said it. And Tzako didn't contradict her. So I assume it must be a fact.
The last thing I asked before the checkup was done was, what am I, if not an SPG. Apparently, I am a "medium tank". That means I have to do almost everything in a battle. Every tank class has a role in battle, except the medium tank, in a way... the medium tank has to fit all the roles and do them well enough to support the other tanks. I'm not sure if I fully understand it yet, but Tzako reassured me that it will make sense once I actually get into a fight.
So, today, I also learned another important thing: Not all tanks must be enemies of each other. With some tanks you might get along, and you might decide to fight together. That's called a "team".
As we were on the way back to our garages, I asked Wren if she wants to make a team with me. She said she'd love to! So, I guess we're a team now! She's going to be the leader, of course, because she said a team needs a leader, after all.
I also made sure to take a photo of us to commemorate the founding of our team!
Unfortunately, that was the last photo on the film of my camera... I will have to get a new one as soon as possible so I can take more pictures.
