Melati Girls High School

The insignia of Melati

Melati's tank roundel

"*After Kuromorimine's defeat in the hand of a new team a week ago, new Sensha-Do teams are springing up like mushroom in the rainy days. But we will beat them all, won't we, Vice-commander Tatsuo?*"
―Dini Nishijima
"*SEMUA TANK! MAJU JALAN!*"
―Rika Tatsuo, starting the match.**Sekolah Menengah Atas Puteri Melati** or **Melati Girls High School** or **Melati** is a high school based in Naha, Okinawa. They operate WWII Japanese and American tanks such as the M4 Sherman, M3 Stuart, M5 Stuart, Type 97 Te-Ke and Type 97 Chi-Ha.

## Overview

### Behavior and Policy

Melati is a proud but poor school known for its fishery and botany studies department whose specialty is tropical fish cultivation and spice plantation. Due to the school's budget condition, The school ship is almost always in tropical or subtropical region to minimalize cost of maintaining their fishes and plants. The already low school's budget is prioritized for their famous fisheries and botany department, making the other departments suffer from under-allocation of resources.

The Melati students are hot-blooded, hot-headed, and very defensively proud and patriotic of their school to a point when a small negative comments would make them furious and a small acknowledgement would make them overjoyed. Some of them are so patriotic even willing to literally do anything for their school. They are very superstitious fellow, believing even most outlandish of myths and rumors.

Until recently, Melati was part of Chi-Ha-Tan Academy.  Melati was acknowledged as an independet school  after the Chi-Ha-Tan poor performance in 62nd Nationals. Just before the 63rd Nationals, Dini Yoshizumi and her friend, Harumi formed a brand new Senshado club.

### The School Ship

The students of Melati pride themselves as having the sister ship of Pravda's Kiev as their school ship, rechristened as KRI Nusantara. The main deck is divided in two sections: The town section, which consists of the most populated area; and the green area, which is vast expanse of spice plantation, dense forest and hills. Underneath, almost the entirety of lower decks is regarded as Melati's fisheries department's workplace, filled with numerous pools and aquaria.

Almost all external building in Melati's school ship is styled in Dutch East Indies colonial architecture, with many replicas of the Indonesian colonial building such as Fatahillah Museum, which is used as main school building, and slightly altered Fort Rotterdam, which was formerly used as cultural venue event, now it is used as Senshado Club headquarters and hangar.

### Uniform

#### **Regular Uniform**

Although being a school based on Revolutionary Indonesia, Melati's regular uniform is based on modern high school uniform in Indonesia. Melati's regular uniform consists of a white collared shirt with the school emblem sewn on the left chest, cadet grey medium or short pleated skirt, white short or long socks, black and white sneakers, and optional cadet grey cap.

#### **Uniform of the Sensha-Do**

"*Modifying existing uniform is much more cheaper than designing and making our own, since we can just buy it from Chi-Ha-Tan Academy, who already agreed on all this.*"
―Harumi Yoshizumi    Due to its recent formation, the Sensha-Do club temporarily uses modified Chi-Ha-Tan Sensha-Do uniform. Their uniform consists of a long brown tunic, high boots and an optional side cap. The tunic is worn with a cadet gray skirt taken from their school uniform. The lapels of the tunic are blackened. representing black beret of Indonesian Cavalry Batallion. The triangular club badges are pinned on left breast pocket and sewn on right arm of the tunic. The overall commander and vice commanders wear a circular silver pin depicting the school emblem on their left collar lapel. These pins and badges were taken from the uniform of the leaders of the now defunct old horseriding club.

### Materiels and Vehicles

"*...and what's with these pieces of...tanks?*"
―Rika TatsuoTheir Senshado club operates very limited but varied tank, namely a M4A3(105) HVSS, a M4A3E8, M3A3 Stuart and M5A1 Stuart bought with a discount from Saunders, a type 97 Chi-ha donated from Chi-Ha-Tan and two Type 94 TK and two CTLSs found in the lower decks. They also have five other unoperational Chi-Has in storage. The CTLSs and Type 94s are also used as the team's main tanks in Tankathlon matches.

Since the school ship rarely travels north due to climate reason, the school invested in smaller transports like aircrafts or ships to transport students and staffs to the mainland. Their aircrafts includes an Antonov An-12, and two IPTN N250s. One of their transport ships is a Teluk Bintuni-class tank landing craft lent from Indonesian Navy to the Senshado club.

### Tactics

Their five tactics consist of hit and run, scorched earth, mobility, flexibility, unpredictability and using the terrain as advantage. They also inherited Chi-Ha-Tan's charging tendencies, although they would charge only if the battle is already beyond saving, just to prove a point that they're not a weak school.

Despite having good doctrine to hold to, experienced commanders to lead them and passion to push them, Nusantara is hampered by their lack of experience, materiel and discipline, often losing from disorganisation and panicking crews.

## Background

Melati is a relatively young school, initially formed by Indonesian fishery and botany scholars who lived in Japan in the 70s. Using a purchased school ship from Pravda, the scholars founded Melati Girls High School in order to promote Indonesian culture and serve as a place for students of Indonesian descent in Jalan to study. The school got their funding by numerous Indonesian education foundation. For most of its time, the school didn't participate in Senshado due to its cost. But the recently found CTLSs and Type 94 in their lower decks implies that an effort to create a senshado club might be existed at some point in the past.

During the Asian Financial Crisis of the 1997, funding from the foundations in Indonesia stopped. Chi-Ha-Tan offered helps in form of total dependency and resource-sharing with them. During this period, Melati is treated as part of Chi-Ha-Tan academy.

Due to Chi-Ha-Tan's lack of resources and poor performance during the 62nd Nationals, Melati proclaimed their independence.  This proclamation birthed a new crisis, as Chi-Ha-Tan, St. Gloriana, Saunders Red Tulip and Pravda started to creeping in to the new school, trying to pull the newly independent school towards their sway. After short conference in Gloriana's Ark Royal, it was decided that Melati will keep its independence.

"*Hey, let's make a Senshado club with me, you're bored, aren't you?*"
―Dini to Harumi
Before the 63rd Nationals, Dini Nishijima, a graduate from St. Gloriana middle school, asked her classmate, Harumi Yoshizumi to form a Sensha-Do club together with her. Nishijima needed Yoshizumi's skill of negotiation to convince the students council to approve and fund the new club. Yoshizumi, a graduate from Saunders middle school, agreed with the proposal because she was bored. After days of convincing the council, the student council finally approved the dynamic duo's endeavour, even giving them Fort Rotterdam as the club HQ. However the inital budget allocated for them is really small, only enough for maintaining five or six tanks at best and 20 members at most. Even though Harumi thought the budget wasn't enough to create a decent team, Dini was of the opinion that the budget was enough for a start.

The next step for the two commanders is to find the members and tanks. Just like before, Harumi's oration skill played a big part during the member recruitment. Eighteen girls became a member in one day. Of all the new members, a first year student named Rika Tatsuo, a graduate of Kuromorimine middle school was chosen as second vice commander due to she being the only one has experience as a tank commander other than Dini.

After much bargaining, with Saunders and Chi-Ha-Tan. The new club bought two Shermans and two Stuarts from Saunders, also six inoperable Chi-Has and Chi-Ha-Tan's Sensha-Do uniforms from Chi-Ha-Tan. They also claimed and used a pair of CTLSs and Type 94s from the lower deck for training and recon.

### Ooarai's Commemorative Cup

Melati debuted their team in Ooarai's Commemorative Cup. But they've got beaten Maginot in the first round and by St. Gloriana in the consolation match.

### Dini Nishijima

Main article: Dini Nishijima
She's the Overall Commander or the Komandan of the club. Small, silent and deadly, she would show first and tell later. She command an M4A3E8 (76)W Sherman

### Harumi Yoshizuumi

Main article: Harumi Yoshizumi
She's the vice commander of the club. She's also the main orator of the club. She has a knack for negotiation and speech. Polar opposite of Dini She commands The team's M4A3(105) HVSS Sherman

### Rika Tatsuo

Main article: Rika Tatsuo
She is the first first year student to become Vice-commander. An excited but brooding member. She commands the team M5 Stuart.

### Minor Characters

#### **Team Illustrious II -** *Tank: M4A3E8 (76)W Sherman*

* Misaki Imamura (Gunner)
* Juwita Takagi (Driver)
* Sakura Harada (Loader)
* Ayu Morine (Hull Gunner)

#### **Team Atlanta** - *Tank: M4A3(105) HVSS Sherman*

* Cintami Kawaguchi (Gunner)
* Misako Ozawa (Driver)
* Yutsuko Kondo (Loader)

#### **Team Jan Cox -** *Tank: M5A1 Stuart*

* Mina Hessels (Gunner)
* Karin Terauchi (Driver)

#### **Team Klees** - *Tank: M3A3 Stuart*

* Widuri Hanzou (Commander)
* Miyako Sato (Gunner)
* Ayano Ono (Driver)

#### **Team Srikandi** - *Tank: Type 97 Chi-ha*

* Naoko Maeda (Commander)
* Camellia Yamashita (Gunner)
* Angel Malaika (Driver)

#### **Team Pattimura** - *Tank: Type 94 Tankette*

* Martha Kawilarang (Commander)
* Christina Kawilarang (Driver)

## Vehicles Operated

### Tanks

* M4A3E8(76)w Sherman
* M4A3(105)HVSS Sherman
* M3a3 Stuart
* M5a1 Stuart
* Type 97 Chi Ha Shinhotto
* Marmon-Herrington CTLS
* Type 94 Tankette

### Non-Fighting Vehicles

* Pindad Komodo
* Hagglunds Bv206

### Aircrafts

* Antonov AN-12
* IPTN N-250
* Teluk Bintuni-class LCT

## Story

* https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13742651/1/The-Jasmine-and-The-Rose-Saga-of-Melati-Girls-High-School

## Trivia

* Melati means Jasmine in Indonesian.
* The emblem of the Senshado club color scheme, red and yellow, is the color of all of Indonesian Cavalry Batallions.
* The school emblem is inspired by the logo of Indonesian student councils.
* All of their members named after Japanese who sympathetic to Indonesian Revolution, Japanese Commanders during their invasion and occupation of East Indies, Indonesian National Heroes, or just famous Japanese & Dutch who lived in Indonesia/East Indies
	+ Dini Nishijima
		- Shigetada Nishijima, member of staff of Admiral Maeda and one of the witnesses of the drafting and the preparation of Indonesian Proclamation of Independence.
	+ Harumi Yoshizumi
		- Haroemi Wanasita, wife of an Indonesian National Hero, Ernest Douwes Dekker.
		- Tomegoro Yoshizumi, an Imperial Japanese spy defected to Indonesian cause.
	+ Rika Tatsuo
		- Rika Meelhuysen, first girlfriend of Sukarno.
		- Ichiki Tatsuo, Japanese journalist who defected to Indonesian cause.
	+ Naoko Maeda
		- Naoko Nemoto, Sukarno's fifth wife.
		- Tadashi Maeda, an IJN officer who famously lent his house for the drafting of Indonesian Proclamation of Independence.