"SHERMAN! 9'O CLOCK!" barked the driver of the StuG III nervously as he saw the 30 tons of American steel from his side port.
"Turn the tank 30 degrees to the left then retreat" the commander said calmly to the driver via his headset and the driver promptly carried on with the order. Only a few seconds had passed before the 76mm gun of the Sherman tried to cut in through the lone StuG's armour. The result was a deafening ting as the shell ricocheted off the StuG's frontal plate and the driver murmured swearwords at how loud the sound was.
"FACE HIM!" the commander shouted to the driver "AND YOU, RELOAD!" he continued as he turned his head to the loader. He then looked through the optic of the gun, waiting for the shell to be loaded. "READY!" yelled the loader and not even a split second passed before the thunderous roar of the StuK L/43 sent a shell hurling towards the American tank; a direct hit and a guaranteed knock out.
As the white flag rapidly emerged from the commander's cupola, the atmosphere inside the StuG was almost festive.
"Great shot, commander!" shouted the loader
"That yankee never knew what hit him!" spoke the radio operator
"That was a close call…" sighed the driver
"Snap out of it, crew! We might be able to pull this o-"
The commander's words were interrupted by the ringing sound of a hit. The shell hit the side of the tank flush and, while it thankfully missed the crew members, the shrapnel of what used to be the side armor didn't.
"Is everyone alright?" asked the commander. Three positive replies returned.
"Commander? That's blood! Are you alright?!" said the driver anxiously.
At this time, a warm feeling on the left hand of the commander started to kick in, when he looked he saw blood dripping from where there used to be his lower arm and the bone extruding. As he looked around him again, he started to slowly black out
"Commander! Commander?!"
"COMMANDER!"
Xeno jolted and dropped near the bed, letting an audible grunt. He then curled up in pain before sitting on the bed. He looked at the clock: 5:30 AM. Very early. Xeno, then sighed as he got up and entered the bathroom after opening the lights. He opened the sink and threw some water on his face, all with his right hand.
He was a tall man, around 6'3 and well-built. His hair was jet black and his strong-looking face had minor scars on the right side of his face along with a noticeable deep scar spanning across his left cheek with the stitches still on. The most striking part of his appearance was his left arm or, rather, the lack of one below the elbow. In its place, a prosthetic grafted onto what was left of the arm.
After he exited the bathroom he headed towards the kitchen and grabbed a bowl from the fridge and sat on one of the chairs. After munching on the chicken and rice inside the bowl for over an hour, he looked at his prosthetic. "Will get used to it eventually, why not from now?" he thought to himself as he started experimenting all kinds of movements with it. After feeling confident enough, he clumsily picked up the remote and opened the TV, zapping the channels until he reached something that caught his eye.
"As the school year begins, the influx of students in Academy ships is on the rise and it seems that most of them are here for Tankery! After last year's thrilling Sensha-Do Tournament, tankery as a sport is becoming more and more popular. With us this afternoon we will have Shiho Nishizumi to discuss this sudden surge in popularity
Xeno chuckled. "I'm not missing out on this" he said to himself. "The Nishizumi mother will definitely meet my expectations of conservatism."
Then two knocks were heard on the door. "Who is it?" Xeno asked as he walked up to the door, waiting for a reply. "Maho Nishizumi" spoke a muffled voice from behind the door. Xeno promptly opened the door. "The Nishizumi part was unnecessary. Come in." he said as he walked back to the couch. Maho closed the door behind her and asked "How's your hand doing?" Xeno sighed. "It's numb, it hurts and if I didn't know better I'd say it's still there somehow." Maho sat on the other side of the couch in a reserved manner and spoke again.
"Did you take any painkillers?"
"No, I can take the pain." Xeno promptly replied. "How's the progress?"
"I sent your resume to a school" Maho responded "It has quite the reputation"
"Would you mind telling me the name?" Xeno asked as he went back to the kitchen and filled two glasses of water, bringing them back to the couch and giving one to Maho while taking a gulp of the other.
Maho grabbed the glass and reluctantly, somewhat quietly, answered "Kuromorimine"
Xeno spit the water and started coughing "W-what?! How?!"
"I have ways…" she responded and patted him firmly on the back
"It's a women's college! I'm not allowed there. And then there's the Headmaster…" Xeno tried to continue but he was interrupted
"I talked with mother and she told me to bring you to the school for her to meet you."
Xeno managed to pull himself together and calm down. "Ok, when?" he asked in a much calmer tone of voice.
"As soon as possible. Prepare yourself." Maho told Xeno who swiftly got up and went back into the bedroom to change. Five minutes later, he came back out wearing a dark grey uniform with no insignia on it along with a cap and a pair of black leather gloves to conceal his artificial arm. " Apologies, I'm still not used to the new arm"
Maho looked at him with a small smile on her face. "It's understandable. Shall we go now?"
Xeno only nodded and opened the door as both of them exited the apartment, closing the door behind him. After going down the flight of stairs, they reached the entrance where a car was waiting. "We'll use this one" said Maho shaking her head towards the car. She then opened the co-driver's door and sat inside with Xeno sitting behind. The driver took off, heading for the college.
"How's your sister doing?" asked Xeno. "It's been a while."
"She has found her own different way in tankery" Maho sternly replied.
"She will appreciate what you're doing one day, believe me" Xeno reassured Maho.
"Well, we're already here" Maho said, seemingly ignoring what Xeno had just said. "You should go to the office. It's on the top floor" she continued while both her and Xeno stepped out of the vehicle.
Xeno then felt nervous. "Uh, why don't you come with me?".
"I have business to attend to but rest assured I will find you again in a few minutes. Good luck!" Maho replied.
"Alright..." Xeno murmured as he started walking towards the school's main hall with both his hands in pockets. "This is not gonna go well..." he thought to himself. All around him, the girls were staring at him. His height didn't help a lot either as he was like a lighthouse; he could be seen from any place. "Top floor..." he murmured to himself as he reached the elevator. He went inside and pressed the button for the top floor. When the elevator doors opened again, he was facing a desk and a secretary behind it.
"Oh, you must be the applicant for a place in our school." said the secretary in a semi-excited tone.
Xeno wasn't really surprised by her deduction. "Indeed" he said quietly "Where's the headmaster's office?"
"It's just around the corner" the secretary responded and pointed at the hallway. "You will be told when to come in, until then have a seat"
"Alright..." Xeno murmured again as he walked the hallway.
Waiting along was a girl, reading a book titled "The Rommel Papers". The only thing Xeno could see other than the book was her silver hair. He sat on the chair opposite of her. The sound of him sitting prompted her to lower the book and look around straight into his eyes. Both of their expressions changed from indifferent to a gasp
"What in the blazes are you doing here, Tragos?!" Erika exclaimed.
"What are you doing here, Itsumi?" asked Xeno with a puzzled look on his face.
A/N: Feedback. I appreciate it. Both negative and positive. More to come after I get first impressions.