In 1937, the LMS broke 114 mph, breaking the rival LNER's Previous record of 112 mph. But, after breaking the record, the engine 6220 'Coronation' and its rake of coaches was still doing 110 mph about a mile and a half before a sharp reverse curve at Crewe Station, it stayed on the rails but the near accident was a haunting reminder of the dangers that came with record breaking.

As a result, the various Railway Companies looked for a way to continue their efforts to push beyond 110 mph thus Rail Wars was born. What started as a simple race between various Express Engines to push beyond 114 mph turned into a Multinational Super Sport with 4 divisions of competition covering more than just the high speeds of Express Locomotives. There was now the addition of the beautifully crafted engines, the heavy hitting engines with enough oomph to move full mountains with their combined horsepower, and the nimble but powerful little shunting engines. This is the story of one of those Shunters.

Brighton

0400 hours

Current Conditions: Cloudy

It was a quiet morning in Brighton. The sun hadn't risen yet and many businesses weren't going to open for another few hours but that didn't stop the wheel of time from turning as an alarm pierced the quiet morning air in a small dormitory. A male voice groans in annoyance as he silences the alarm. This was Andy, he was a Filipino boy, about 17 years old with tan skin, brown eyes, and black hair. He was about 5'7" tall and was reacting the same way any teenager would to his alarm at an ungodly hour of the morning.

Andy: "Shut up." he groaned, slamming his hand down on the 'Stop' button.

Andy sat up in bed and stretched a little before walking to the bathroom, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes. He went about his daily routine, getting dressed in the school's uniform, having canned tuna and crackers for breakfast, and walking to school. Occasionally watching as sports cars and a few Class 04 shunters rumbled past on the street and the tramway. The uniform he was wearing was a grey blazer under a grey suit with a red tie, a white under shirt, grey dress pants, leather shoes, black socks, and (for his case alone) a pair of glasses.

Class 04 Driver: "Morning Andy!" she called.

Andy: "Morning Mavis." he greeted, "How're you?"

Mavis: "Busy as usual." she replied, "You?"

Andy: "Can't complain," he shrugged, meekly.

Mavis: "You sure you wanna stay as plain old Ordinary You?" she asked, "Don't you miss the thrill you get out in the shunting yards?"

Andy: "...sometimes, yeah." he replied, "But.....well......I can't go back."

Mavis: "That's just how Westside Charter views the sport." she said, "I'm sure Eastwood has a better logic for it."

Andy: ".....so uh...how's the husband?" he asked, changing the subject.

Mavis: "He's fine." she sighed, "The cancer's almost gone and he's on the road to recovery as we speak."

Andy: "Nice to know, tell him I said hi." he said.

Mavis: "Will do." she smiled, driving off.

Andy walked into school, pausing as he saw the rotting, rusty rails leading into the back of the school. He remembered his time on the Junior Rail Wars scene as part of Westside Charter's team, back in his old school he was a rising star, he remembered the crowds cheering as they watched his Black Class 08 dart around the yards at full speed shunting train after train for another team to tackle in the strength competition afterwards, he remembered how he felt alive, on top of the world behind the controls of an engine like nothing could make him happier and off track he was humble, honest, and genuinely a good person; the Press adored him and many speculated he'd one day climb to the top and compete against the International Community on behalf of Great Britain.....but one day, something had happened, as the team was arriving for another competition, Andy broke off from his team and raced off down the mainline, recklessly endangering dozens of civilians....but, for the life of him, he couldn't remember what exactly he was rushing down the line for.....probably because of how hard his parents hit him after they found out what he'd done.

No matter what the cause, the incident made his parents disown him and the school expel him......he was 15 at the time and only now was he resuming High School, and it was a miracle that anyone accepted him into their hallways. It was his first day here and he didn't know what to expect, judging by how rusty and rotten the rails were, he had no need to go anywhere near that sport......even though he really wanted to relive his days of glory.

Andy: 'No time to be thinking of the past.' he thought, reaching his locker, 'Just get through the day and don't attract any attention to yourself.'

As Andy opened his locker and began grabbing his things, he suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around and found himself face to face with a fellow Freshman. Though, unlike Andy, the kid was actually 15.

???: "Sup, you must be the new exchange student, Andy Yan right?" he asked.

Andy: "Yeah, that's me." he replied.

Peter: "Sick." he said, "Oh, where are my manners? Peter Haynes, at your service, though my friends call me Pete. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Andy: "Pleasure's all mine Pete." he chuckled.

Peter: "So...is it true? You're Westside Charter's former shunter?" he asked.

Andy: "Yeah, I was." he replied, his mood taking a dip.

Peter, sensing the dip in his mood, immediately backtracked.

Peter: "Oh! Gods, I am so sorry for bringing up any bad memories in your time there." he said, quickly.

Andy: "It's fine Pete....just......don't mention it.........I don't wanna talk about that time......" he trailed off.

Peter: "R-right..." he trailed off, "So uh...what's your first class?"

Andy: "Biology by the looks of it." he replied.

Peter: "Oh, you're gonna love the teacher. He's a good one. And one of my friends should be there for first period." he said.

Andy: "Really? What's their name?" he asked.

Emerald: "Name's Emerald Pritcher!" she replied, popping in out of nowhere.

Her sudden appearance caused Andy to yelp and fall on his back.

Emerald: "Oops, sorry." she apologised.

Andy: "It's fine." he said, getting up and dusting himself off.

Peter: "Esme, right on time." he said, "This is Andy, he's the new transfer student."

Emerald: "Ooh!~ Nice to meet ya Andy." she said, darting around and looking him up and down, "Wow! You're old!"

Andy: "Wha-? Oi!" he pouted.

Peter: "Emerald!" he scolded.

Emerald: "What? It's true." she said.

Peter: "Yeah, but there's no need to announce it to everyone in the hallway!" he whisper-shouted.

Andy chuckled at his newfound friends before looking at the clock and gasping.

Andy: "Oh God! Look at the time!" he shouted.

Peter and Emerald looked up at the clock and saw that it was.....6:45, their classes started at 7.

Emerald: "Oh crap! It's already 6:55!" she cursed.

Andy: "Wait, THAT THING IS LATE?!" he shrieked.

Peter: "Oh shit! I gotta go! Welcome to Eastwood!" he called, beginning to run.

Andy: "Thanks! See you at Lunch!" he called back.

Both Andy and Emerald rushed through the crowd to their first subject.

Eastwood High Cafeteria

1220 hours

Current Conditions: Drizzling

Andy breezed through most subjects with ease, being a few years older than everyone else he was more knowledgeable than some of his classmates. At Lunch, he was in line to get some food with his newfound friends.

Andy: "Any suggestions on what to eat?" he asked.

Peter: "The Meatloaf's pretty good." he replied.

Emerald: "So is the Spaghetti." she added.

Peter: "Stay away from the burgers though, they're bad." he said.

Andy: "I'll take your words for it." he shrugged.

As soon as their trays were full they headed to a seat by the windows. As they sat down they engaged in small talk.

Peter: "So, Westside Charter huh? How was that place for a school?" he asked.

Andy: "Terrible." he replied, "From what I remember it was so uptight and I remember everyone else had a stick up their ass. I also remember having so many fake friends it was hard to count."

Emerald: "Yeesh! Sounds bad! Why is it so bad?" she asked.

Andy: "They wanted to get cosy with the top dogs. The boys manning the shiny diesels at Rail Wars competitions." he replied, "I was one of those top dogs, and because I was the shunter, I was lower in the pecking order and thus way more accessible."

Peter: "Yikes. I can imagine all the bastards lining up to be your friend just to get closer to the bigger dogs." he winced.

Andy: "Yeah, it was in no way fun." he said, "Though the Rail Wars team didn't make it any easier. They were completely full of themselves and their abilities, they usually left me to do everything that wasn't driving or competing."

Emerald: "What a terrible school." she said.

Peter: "And a terrible team." he added, "Are they all like this?"

Andy: "Nah, I've met some good apples." he replied.

As soon as he said that, he remembered a sight from his early Rail Wars career, him driving past the burning hulk of an engine in the middle of a shunting competition before snapping out of it and gripping his fork tightly.

Andy: "Though......they didn't tend to stay very long..." he trailed off.

Peter and Emerald look at Andy sympathetically as he takes another bite of his food. As he was about to twirl some more noodles onto his fork, some other student suddenly noticed something outside and stood up before calling it out.

Student 1: "Everyone! Look outside!" he yelled.

The confused students in the cafeteria look at the boy confused before getting up and pressing their faces against the windows curiously. Outside a few men in hazard vests and helmets were seen inspecting the old railyard that was used as the School's training grounds. Nowadays it was a place where kids waited for their rides home.

Student 2: "What are they doing?" one asked.

Student 5: "I dunno, probably ripping up the rails." another replied.

Student 1: "No, they're taking too much care to be ripping rails up." the original voice piped up.

Student 10: "Those are mechanics...." a voice noted.

Student 6: "Are they planning to restore the yards for trains?" a voice asked.

Student 7: "Don't be ridiculous! The engines this school used to use were scrap worthy the last time they were seen." a shrill voice protested.

Peter: "What do you think Andy?" he asked, curious, ".....Andy?"

Andy was staring out the window in thinly veiled shock and curiosity, watching the inspectors testing the ground, testing the sleepers, checking which areas needed to be flattened and which switches still worked.

Andy: 'They're trying to repair the track....why?' he thought.

Emerald began poking Andy with the handle of her fork.

Emerald: "Yo, Earth to Andy, you still there man?" she asked.

Andy: "Hm? Oh! Uh...yeah, I'm still here." he replied, "Just......thinking...."

Peter and Emerald share a look before turning back to Andy.

Peter: "Ya sure?" he asked.

Andy: "Positive Pete." he replied, "I'll be fine."

Peter: "Alright, but if ya need someone to talk to me and Esme have your back." he offered.

Emerald: "Yeah! C'mon! Turn that frown upside down!" she shouted, enthusiastically.

Andy: "Thanks." he smiled.

Before Andy could say another word or go back to eating another person stole his meatloaf and began eating it while he surveyed the scene outside.

Andy: "Wha-!? Oi!" he shouted.

The boy in question turned to Andy with a taunting smirk. He had a pale complexion, dark green eyes, and blonde hair, now looking at him, he looked like he belonged better in the Westside Charter Uniform, which was the Eastwood Uniform but swapping the greys and reds for blacks and greens.

???: "Oh? What's the matter fossil?" he taunted, waving the piece of meat loaf in front of Andy's face, "This yours?"

Peter: "Ugh, you seriously can't leave a poor bastard alone for a few minutes Asher?" he questioned.

Asher: "What can I say? It's always fun to break in the fresh meat." he grinned, taking a massive bite of Andy's meatloaf before throwing it to the ground and leaving with his pair of henchmen.

Andy grumbled unamused at the loss of his meatloaf as the other students returned to their tables.

Emerald: "Ugh, sorry about him." she said, "He gives us all a terrible name."

Andy: "Yeah, I can tell." he groaned, "I'm sure he'll be a pain in the ass if my defiled meatloaf has anything to say about it."

Peter: "Nevermind that Andy." he chuckled, "Anyway, looks like we have a General Assembly after Lunch."

Emerald: "Ooh~ What's that about?" she asked.

Peter: "No idea, probably clubs though." he replied.

Andy: "No, that's in a week's time. This is different." he piped up.

Peter: "Then what can it possibly be?" he asked with a chuckle.

Emerald: "A welcome to school party?" she asked, optimistically.

Andy: "Maybe not Esme." he chuckled, "But, I think it might have to do with what's going n outside."

Peter and Emerald gave thoughtful hums before they focused on another topic with each other. As they did, Andy looked out the window, watching them make progress in restoring the tracks to a workable condition.

Eastwood High Amphitheater

1320 hours

Current Conditions: Light Rain

All the students in the school were soon gathered in the Amphitheater, the Headmaster and the entire teaching staff alongside some Rail Wars instructors and officials joining them on stage. The students murmured to themselves, wondering what the officials were doing at a school with no active Rail Wars team present.

Deputy Headmistress Phebe Martin: "May I have everyone's attention please?" she called.

The school quieted down and perked up. The Deputy Headmistress was a 50 year old woman with raven black hair tied in a bun, she wore a blue suit with a white undershirt and a red scarf, she wore high heels and at the moment had some teacher's robes on.

D.H. Phebe: "Thank you all for coming to the Amphitheater on such short notice." she said, "The Headmaster wants to announce something."

The Deputy Headmistress walks back to her seat as the Headmaster stands up and makes his way to the microphone. He was a similarly aged man at about 52, he stood tall, the grey streaks in his hair on proud display under his trencher. He wore a black suit with a white undershirt and red tie but he also wore teacher's robes.

Headmaster Samson Edwards: "Good afternoon students." he greeted.

Students: "Good afternoon headmaster." they said in unison.

H. Samson: "Now, as you are all aware, there has been some activity around the old Rail Yards and as you can see behind me, Rail Wars officials are on our school grounds." he said, "Some rumours have been circulating as to why all this is....well, I shall tell you, but first, I need Francis Andre Buencamino Yan to come to the front."

Andy perked up at his full name as a spotlight focused on him specifically.

Peter: "Oh damn, singled out by the Headmaster." he winced.

Andy gulped and got up, walking to the stage awkwardly. As he got on stage he was guided right beside the headmaster.

H. Samson: "Now, onto the announcement. Our school is losing money, it has been for years. We are barely keeping our doors open due to low press and a lack of any proper reason to come to our school." he said, "Our sports teams are nonexistent and our rates are being undercut by much more capable universities."

A murmur goes through the crowd at this.

H. Samson: "Yes yes, very sad, if any of you are old students you'll remember that I had a heart condition about 3 years back, a donor heart was needed and I had been hospitalised, thus the first time many of you met me I was on a screen." he continued, "In fact, I was close to not making it, but one day, a heart was sourced. The only problem was, it was in Doncaster, I was in London. There were no flights due out in the next 2 hours, there were no trains coming through Doncaster within 2 hours...and no car could hope to make that distance within 2 hours without being pulled over......that is, until this young man and his former team rolled into Doncaster for a practice competition."

The students gasped, Andy froze, he remembered that the incident that isolated him from the Rail Wars community started at Doncaster.

H. Samson: "Yes, the articles published on Mr Yan's escapades that day were all part of a campaign to discredit this young man's heroic achievement which I am forever grateful for." he said, "So, I wanted to give him something as a thank you, as such, I shall give him the chance to reclaim his livelihood, help us back into the limelight, and take his former school down for their treachery."

The students murmured to each other, clearly the speech was having an effect on them.

H. Samson: "Now, should you help us in this endeavour, you shall be granted automatic A's to all subjects, you shall be given 300 attendance credits, and over 200 free passes for anything in the cafeteria." he added.

The students immediately jumped up, clamouring over each other to volunteer themselves. But the sound of someone clearing their throat broke through the silence as one of the Rail Wars officials walked up to the front.

RW Official: "Very good speech Headmaster." he said, "But, I must issue a fair warning to all who join. This school will be the underdog of the season. You shall be going up against some of the best colleges and high schools in Britain, all of whom have much more experience in the field. On top of that, we do not have the funds to buy or create any new engines. Thus, we must use what we have in the stocks."

Student 10: "Um, sir, why is that a problem?" he asked.

RW Official: "Because your school hasn't had Rail Wars in its blood since the 1960's." he replied.

The students all gasped, wondering how the hell they were going to manage running such out of date engines.

H. Samson: "These engines are all in sorry states, but they can be rebuilt and upgraded to match the current competition in speed and hauling power." he added, his voice booming over the mic.

RW Official: "There is no shame in not joining this crusade. But if you do, expect heavy man hours to repair, upgrade, and restore these engines to full working order and not to mention running them at full capacity!" he boomed, "To all who do decide to join. Welcome to Rail Wars."

The official and the Headmaster walk back to their seats as the students murmur to themselves on whether they would join the team or not. Andy was about to go back to his seat to process it all but the Deputy Headmistress ushers Andy to the side.

D.H. Phebe: "Mr Yan, proceed to the abandoned sheds, the Headmaster shall meet you there shortly." she said.

Andy nodded and without a word, moved off towards the yards. When he arrived in the yards he entered the now open shed, bringing out his phone to get a light source. It was a 4 row shed, all rows were occupied with various engines but Andy couldn't focus on any of them without sneezing his lungs out first. It was so dusty, there were cobwebs in the corners of the roof, memorabilia and trophies sat rusting away unmaintained while some reminders of the successful past slowly disintegrated.

Andy then focused on the engines, as stated, they were 60's era engines but Andy had expected diesels like Class 40's and old Class 08's, instead Andy was hit by 4 steam engines. The furthest to the right was a fancy looking Stirling Single which looked the most pristine, no doubt it was the best looking engine which was an engine who barely did anything other than pose for the camera and look good. Next to it sat a BR 9F, it looked ok but its left side was mangled, its coupling rods were in shattered, broken pieces in the back alongside parts of the running board, definitely the heavy hauler, it'd probably strained itself with a load and slipped violently to a halt. Next to the 9F was an LNER A4, its nameplates read 'Bert Spencer' and Andy didn't know what was wrong with it yet. Finally, on the left most side, was a little tank engine, it had suffered the worst fate as it had suffered a massive boiler explosion. Andy knew this because of the mangled boiler off to the side but because the engine was in pieces, he had no idea what class of tank engine it was but he did know it was an 0-6-0.

H. Samson: "They're sorry sights, eh Mr. Yan?" he said.

Andy: "Yeah..." he sighed, "What happened to them?"

H. Samson: "Well, the first to go was the A4, Bert Spencer." he started, "Its crew tried to keep up with the Intercity 125's and surpass them but they pushed theier engine too hard. The Center Cylinder burst and the inside motion crumbled in on itself, losing itself the race...since this was the 60's there were no manufacturers still making replacement parts and we had to abandon our fastest engine. Pity, it still had lots of life left in it."

The headmaster then turned to the 9F.

H. Samson: "The next year, our shunter managed to edge out the 08's and 09's at the cost of dooming our Heavy Freight engine." he continued, "The train was too heavy and after a colossal effort, it lost traction and slipped violently. The speed the wheels and coupling rods were moving shattered the connections and obliterated its motion. Of course, there were no replacement parts but with the age of preservation, restoring these engines to former glory will be easy."

Andy ignored that though and focused on the shunter in the corner of the shed.

Andy: "What happened to it?" he asked.

H. Samson: "Our shunter?" he questioned, "Well, believe it or not, she was our school's pride and joy. Our little mascot of sorts. Back in the glory days she always outperformed anyone and everyone on the field...but when the diesels came, she began to falter as we couldn't afford the maintenance costs anymore. Then, on the final year, as she was about to score another very close victory against the other schools, its crew seemed to push it just a little too hard and its boiler burst from the strain. That was the last straw and after our star of the show was taken out of service we decided to drop out permanently."

Andy: "....so, when we go back to Rail Wars, our stock is going to need some major upgrades to keep up....is that what you're saying sir?" he asked.

H. Samson: "That and a very good team." he said, "So, are you in?"

Andy looked back at the shunter, running a hand along its water tanks and running board.

Andy: "...ah, what the hell? I've been itching for another chance behind the controls." he grinned, "What's the first step?"

The headmaster grinned and the screen faded to black.

A/N

Andy: Thanks for reading the chapter. More chapters will start being pumped out over the course of next week. As I told dieHero before, I want to base this story off of story beats from HIGHSPEED Etoile and Girls Und Panzer....mainly Girls Und Panzer. Yes Girls Und Panzer technically classified Senshado as a Martial Art but let's be real this is closer to a Motorsport. Anyway, expect more to come next week.