Girls Und Panzer: Euro-League

Chapter 1: Maidens of the Charente

(Charles De Gaulle School of Armored Combat, Angoulême, France)

Do you know what separates the victorious from the rest of the pack? They are the ones who get back on the horse after getting kicked in the teeth. Time and time again, my teammate and I have been kicked around, and still we get back up to fight. In these fights, we do not fight with fists made of flesh. Instead, our fists are made of steel.

My best friend and I operate a tank for use in armored sporting. My name is Noemi Filion. I am the Gunner-Commandant of Team Allouette. Today, we are going through our daily exercises out on the flatlands. The tank we use for field exercises, and competition is the ELC-AMX Bis, "Alright, right in the sweet spot!" I cheered at our accuracy.

The tanks we operate are very special, and ruffle many feathers outside of Europe. The ELC-AMX Bis that we operate has a 90mm gun, and top speed of 80 km/h. It is our little angel, "I am closing in on the target at 500 meters," said Gabrielle Rouchet. She is the driver of our crew. Her family came to France from Canada when she was little.

"I've got our shot loaded, and at the ready," I stated, looking out at the periscope after I loaded the gun, and I aimed the gun since we do not have much of a turret.

When the shot was fired, it hit the target, but the shell went where I did not intend it to go thanks to a bump in the trail, "The shell went a little to the right, the shell hit the gun pivot, that might put that tank out of action," said our tank driver. Gabrielle is the blond of the crew. I have never met anyone that can handle a tank better than her.

Gabrielle stopped the tank at the end of the target range, and we sat down outside the tank for a break, "Did you receive the email, Gabby?" I asked her, she nodded 'yes' to me, "oh good, good, so it looks we have been selected to compete in an armored sporting competition in Japan," I announced to my teammate. This is very big news for us.

"Something feels strange though," I said sitting down and leaning against the tracks of our tank, "you would think that other teams, let alone a governing body of competition would have something to say about this? After all, the tanks we use were built after World War II, I suppose they have some other reason for letting us compete in Japan,"

"Cannon fodder," Gabrielle joked, I lightly chuckled at her sense of humor, "well, our tanks still sport World War II-grade technology,"

"True, but it still does not bode well for the teams we may have to face, they will accuse us of cheating," I pointed out to the team, "then again, the rules differ here in Europe over what tanks can compete in armored competition," In Europe, the rules of armored sport state that tanks build between 1939 and 1960 are allowed to compete.

"You should not base your judgment on other people's opinions," Gabrielle said putting a hand on my shoulder. I turned, and looked into her brown eyes, "and someone else's opinion of our tank will not stop us from entering the competition, the Japanese have to abide by the European rules of armored combat, remember?" She asked me.

I am more than proud to call her a friend for her support, "Yes, and we will show Japan what we can do," I said to her, and we got back in our tank to head back to the building. When we went inside to socialize with the other crews in the mess hall, we were approached by two other teams, "Can we help you with something?" I asked them.

"Well yes, the dean of the school has asked for you and your driver, she told us that she has something planned for us," said the driver of Team Faucon, Clarisse Lebeau.

Her name is Cherie Rousseau. She is the commandant for Team Aigel. She is said to be one of the best gunners in the school, "I am thinking you received the email too, Filion? I think the dean is planning something big for the competition in Japan," said her team's driver, a French-Algerian named Sabaya Masawi, "this is really exciting too,"

"I know, we are going to face some of Japan's best, this is quite an opportunity," said the gunner and commandant for the third team to be chosen to compete Anne-Marie Joffre of Team Faucon. Anne-Marie looks just like me except I cut my hair short and boyish while hers is tied in a bun in the back. Her skin is clean like mine, but a bit paler.

We entered the office, and saluted our dean while standing at attention, "At ease," she said from her desk, and we followed. Our dean is General Josephine Petain. She is a blond like Gabrielle, but her hair is short and slicked back with gel, "now then, as you all know, your three teams have been selected to compete in a competition in Japan,"

"It has come to my attention that a German school wants to send their teams for a crack at the Japanese, my question to you lot is are any of you against my decision?" She stated, "Thus I have been in contact with the German school for a few weeks, and I have come to an agreement that if we send four teams, they will also send four teams,"

"Permission to speak?" I asked, the dean nodded to say 'granted', "this will be the first time we send our tanks overseas, won't this rub the Japanese the wrong way?"

"Permission to speak, Mon General?" asked Cherie, the General nodded, "you said we are bringing four to the competition, but there are only our three teams present,"

"Oh yes, I figured someone would speak up about that, I have arranged for each team to bring a tank destroyer unit for added support, a little gift suggestion courtesy of the Germans," the General explained, "Team Sainte-Martha from the Leclerc Girls Academy is bringing their AMX-50 Foch for the competition, you will meet them tomorrow,"

"There is a first time for everything, yes?" General Petain asked. I lightly smiled, and nodded 'yes' to her, "now I have arranged for you all to meet the German teams at Loos-en-Gohelle, I expect you all to play well with the Germans, you cannot fight in a match if you fight among yourselves, you leave in two weeks, dismissed," She said.

"No, not you, Filion, I need to have a word with you in private," said the General as everyone else was leaving. She got up from her desk, and closed the door, "you are not in trouble so don't worry about that, in fact I am happy to say I am giving you and your driver the honor of being the lead tank of our representing team," She stated to me.

"Umm...mon general, I don't know what to say," I stammered.

"Don't let it go to your head, Filion, which means you are in charge of the four teams, anything that goes wrong with our team will be on your head, it is your responsibility to make sure the teams don't act out against our German neighbors, do you understand?" She asked, I saluted and snapped to attention, "Very good, I know I can trust you,"

She dismissed me, and I left the room. I saw Gabrielle waiting at the door, "So what did the dean have to say to you?" She asked as we headed to our dorm to start packing our things for the trip. I looked at her and smiled, "come on, you can tell me, I am sure it is nothing that bad," she urged, it is hard not to look at Gabrielle's brown eyes.

"Well, Gabby, the General selected us as our section's lead tank," Upon hearing those words, she leaped into my arms, and sent us to the floor. I got up, and gave Gabrielle a hand up, "come on, let us go to the mess hall, it is Steak Frites Friday," With such an honor given to us, I look forward to meeting our tank destroyer unit and the Germans.