The Krieger hummed, examining the gun motor carriages used by the Ooarai girls. His mind had settled on the fact that, to them, this was a game. A sport of some kind. Truth be told, War was a sport to most people who knew how to fight it. It depended entirely on fate if it was a fair sport or one of the worst to those in the 'teams'. He knelt beside the assault gun-type combat vehicle that Erwin and her team utilized.
Called the StuG III, Sturm Geschutz Drei, or the Assault Gun type Three, depending on whom you'd ask, the vehicle was a low-profile hunter, painted in the dark-grey colors of the army that once drove it, with only the Ooarai symbol on the side as any form of color. It was casemate, similar to their own Hunter tank destroyers, but way smaller and with a lower-caliber 75mm cannon.
He appreciated a light tank like this, since it could easily be utilized in ambushes. Anything to thin the enemy's numbers out before the main force meets them in combat was a perfectly suitable machine of war, even if, in his world, this thing would've been mulched by the way-heavier weaponry they bore. He stood up, crossing his arms to his chest while Erwin sat behind him, a smile on her face.
"(So. Good vehicle, is it not?)" She asked rather proudly.
"(It is... Suitable. Provided you utilize it in its intended role...)" The Krieger hummed, garnering a raised brow from the girl. He nodded to her, then switched over to the next tank. The PzKpfW(PanzerKampfWagen, or armored combat car) Type IV. This one bore the short 75, if he read the manual well enough. Meaning it was, probably, a type D. He gave the vehicle a once-over, noting a few key differences including the thinner armor. This was a breakthrough vehicle, meant for outflanking and rapid assault at close range, hampering any higher-velocity gun's combat capability unless the barrel was pointed dead onto the vehicle itself at the incredibly-short distance.
Following up was the Panzer 38(t). By the name, it was in the range of 38 tons of weight. It bore an even weaker gun, a short-barrel 37mm cannon meant, again, for infantry support and breakthrough. Although the Germans, he presumed, had characterized it as a medium tank, he'd see it more as a light combat vehicle himself. The bolt-on armor design reminded him of home.
it was... Lackluster... To say the least, however.
Following it, the man caught sight of a two-weapon vehicle with angled, sloped and bolted-on armor painted in a deep olive-drab color. The American M3 Lee. It bore a 75mm with a muzzle break in the hull, as well as a 37mm cannon in the rounded, ugly cast turret. He let out a sigh that fogged up his mask. These 'tanks', as he continuously struggled to call them, seemed 'decent'. If he had any idea what any enemy school would be using, he would be able to help these girls formulate plans, tactics, ideas on how to combat the enemy. Then, there was the Type-89... God-Emperor, that thing.
"(Something the matter, sir?)" She asked again.
"(I pray to the Emperor your teams learn how to utilize these tanks quickly.)" He replied, sighing. Night began to set over their little speck of land. Unwrapping his sleeping bag out of the backpack he carried, he set it on the floor and readied his own cot in the workshop. Erwin stared at him with disbelief as he turned to face her. She shrugged. He asked "(Something the matter, miss Erwin?)"
"(You're going to sleep in this place?)" She asked, crossing her arms to her chest. He nodded, then rolled her eyes and murmured, "Oh, goodness gracious..." before stating, "(I have been given a bigger dormitory than I need, hence I have a spare room.)" as she approached him and leaned to lift the sleeping bag off the floor, much to the man's surprise.
"(So?)"
"(... So you may stay at my place. These vehicles will not leave their hangars, nor the workshop, just yet. And I am not allowing one of the two people who seem clearly focused on training us to sleep in here...) So I may as well set you up in my house." She smirked, switching between the languages. The boy hummed and Erwin winked playfully "A history nerd insists. That being me."
After a moment of pause, Erwin had decided for him, dragging him along after packing his sleeping bag back up. In the distance, the sun cast an orange light across the sky and onto scarce clouds as it settled behind the horizon. By the halfway point of travelling down the road, the boy was walking in-step with the young woman, his Lasgun slung on his back and eyes scanning the small town's alleys in case of ambush. Erwin noticed. She found it quite funny, actually. Then she remembered this guy must've been some form of actual veteran and... Yeah.
The habitation blocks here were far smaller than the ones in a normal hive city. Restricted to two or three floors, but built and dispersed across a wider area, they lacked electrically-powered elevators or any other kind of fast mode of transportation between the floors. That reduced them to travelling up and down the stairs. They walked up to the third floor, the third door from the stairs to the left.
Erwin fumbled with her uniform coat's pockets, drawing the key out of them finally. The young man saw the little iron cross pendant dangling off the keychain as she opened the door to the rather spacious apartment. The girl flicked a light switch on, revealing the rather narrow main hall. Setting aside her boots after wiping them off at the welcome mat, she turned and said "No boots, no armor or overcoat. You can relax here."
Still tense, the boy did as asked, removing the items and setting them aside, his combat boots right next to Erwin's and his coat hung beside hers. He sighed, stepping inside and feeling the ability to freely move his toes. They'd gone numb in those boots after so long. Erwin took her cap off and set it onto the table in the middle of the room, flicking the lights on to reveal walls lined with posters and banners from ancient empires, as well as shelves stacked with historical books, films and games.
She really leaned into the whole history nerd thing, she realized. And now that a guy was in her house-waitaminute. Erwin grew burning red as she realized she had so nonchalantly invited a dude into her home. She narrowed her lips, eyes wide, before quickly excusing herself to the bathroom so she could get her mind together. What had even gotten into her to so nonchalantly call a guy into her place?
She hadn't even properly cleaned it, she was sure. Eh, not like boys figured this kind of stuff out. Plus, he seemed at ease for now. If anything, he hopefully wouldn't try to murder her in her sleep, right?
She poked her head out from the bathroom, watching as the man set aside his Laser rifle and took out what she assumed was the weapon's power pack, to examine it. She dipped back into the bathroom and shrugged to herself. Eh, he wouldn't. He barely just got here and he seemed nice enough. For a soldier wearing what amounted to a death-mask with an air filter. She sighed deeply.
Johann set the weapon's charge cell back into place, setting the safety on before sliding it onto his backpack. He heard bare feet hit wooden flooring and turned to see the girl, wearing her trademark smirk. She quipped, "Not going to take the mask and respirator off as well? I don't really think it's required in the middle of an apartment complex." sitting herself down at the table next to him.
He hummed, setting his backpack off to the side. She noticed he still wore parts of his tanker uniform, including the Jacket. Sighing, the girl said "(Throw me a bone here, sir.)"
"(It is tradition to never remove one's mask.)" He stated simply, "(For the people of Krieg, it is our face.)"
"(Any particular reason why?)" She inquired, leaning forward. He had just now noticed the girl was clad in sleeping clothes. A camouflage tank top and shorts barely reaching the middle of her thigh. A strange attire for sleeping, if the soldier had ever seen one. Though, to be fair to the girl, he had always slept in his uniform and kit, so, to him, every kind of sleepwear was strange. If this was, indeed, Holy Terra before even the Age of Strife, he worried for his kin's place here. Even his own.
"(So it has been for the five centuries since the Civil War... That is all I shall answer for now.)" He stated rather bluntly.
Erwin sighed, then nodded. She went to the small kitchenette she had and started preparing herself a meal. And the man. She didn't want to be a bad host, even if she hadn't really thought this idiotic lil' move through. Seriously, bringing a guy into one's house like that. What'd gotten into her, honestly? Her mind kept wandering back to that question, not like she could answer it herself. It was courtesy to offer a man who would've slept in the middle of a cold, damp building a normal place to stay.
She made some omelette for the both of them. Easy to cook and quick, since they needed to get any sort of sleep one could. She set the plates down, then set the food between them and sat herself down, taking her silverware and starting to dig in. She noticed something in the time it took them to eat. She never caught him taking off his mask, but every time she peeked up from her own food, a bit more of his omelette was gone. Either he was very quick, or he actually sucked up chunks through the respirator.
She chuckled at the thought, turning back to her food. They'd finished not too long after, with the girl noting that the man was setting up his sleeping bag on the floor again. She rolled her eyes, then said "There's an extra room back that way," jabbing a thumb back through and down the hall, "I figure you'd not want to be woken up by my milling about."
He bowed his head, standing up and once again packing his sleeping bag. He entered the room and Erwin said "Good night." before closing hers. He closed the door behind him, flicking on a light switch to reveal the side room was small, but easily defensible. The curtains were drawn over the window that peered out into what he assumed would be an avenue or a road. The bed was a single-occupant one, barely big enough to fit him and allow some range of movement. He pushed down on it. Too soft.
Sighing, he set aside his backpack and lasrifle, before readying himself. Tomorrow would be a busy day of training these youngsters in the utility of armored warfare. He'd also have to take the liberty of acquiring the blueprints of the tanks they were to wield in this little Blood Sport of theirs. With a sigh, he sat himself down onto his bed, finally able to sit and parse through things, Emperor forgive him. He removed his hat, a gloved finger running over the Krieg Iron Cross.
Just how much of this world could have really been Holy Terra Herself? He couldn't believe that he was here, settled and waiting to assist a youthful group of women train in the art of armored warfare. To him, it was second nature, ingrained by birth. To them? They treated it as a fun game, a sport, until something really would go wrong for them. He'd promised his assistance to their instructor, however. Krieg do not renege on promises.
Setting himself up, he went to sleep, a wretched, uneasy night of half-asleep shuffling and mumbles of prayers to the God-Emperor. The very next day, the Soldier had, to the surprise of Erwin, awoken early, donning his battle dress and backpack and awaiting for her near the door. She'd quickly dashed to get dressed, unsure of what the man wanted with them today, but still.
The march to the School's tank training grounds was silent. He'd called ahead, clearly, since most of the others were already gathered, excused from classes or club activities to come talk to them. Anzou stood, arms crossed and a smile on her face as she gave a mock salute to the man, who nodded. He turned, then announced to the gathered crwod "It seems that your Student Council has elected a rather... Drastic... Approach. Come a day from now, you will be fighting one of the enemy schools."
A bout of surprise, call-outs and yelling began. With one swipe of his hand to the right and making use of his commanding presence, he quieted down the posse. He hummed, then stated "I want you all to be ready for battle... If only for this little test to tell me how you would perform in a true setting. This is going to be a Skirmish."
"A friendly match, really." Anzou smirked, "With a bit of a bet in the middle."
Ah, yes, Anzou had told him of the 'Anglerfish Dance' part of the discussion with Saint Gloriana's. What kind of Saint was this Gloriana, he had no idea. Still, he would inquire with their commander about it, perhaps. The moment Anzou did announce it to the rest of them, yet again, yelps, crying and surprise permeated the group. He sighed, slamming his foot down onto the concrete to shut them all up.
"To that extent..." He sighed, "I will be providing some extra training. I understand that a part of this agreement is that you get to customize your vehicles and get acclimatized to them." And afterward, he dismissed them with a nod, to get to it, then took Anzou, Momo and Yuzu aside. He turned to them, then stated rather bluntly, "I do not know how you expect to win this battle. From what you told me over your communication system, these 'Saint Gloriana' girls are some of the best in Tankery. I also have to ask how you knew where to find me."
"Eh, we'll be fine. We got Miho as team lead and you training us." Anzou shrugged, then continued "Also, I got Yuzu to follow you out to Erwin's place. Seriously, didn't think a girl would get to you already."
"She merely offered accommodation." He stated simply, to the chuckles of the little twintailed redhead, before stating "Let us begin..."
The next few hours were spent by the Commander in training the girls on utilizing Krieg-style tactics. Fast assaults, hard-hitting and surprising. Always focused, directed and ready to strike the moment they or the enemy opened any sort of breach in their defenses. He wasn't sure it would be enough to defeat Saint Gloriana's, but at least he had offered the girls some tactically sound advice.
Miho Nishizumi seemed to have been taking to her role relatively well. He, with unanimous agreement from the rest of the girls, elected Miho and their tank, the Panzer IV, as the command vehicle of the team. That meant Miho would be the head of every operation, every action and every assault. Johann had to make sure the young woman was prepared for any sort of eventuality and taught how to best exploit everything. She seemed to have some of this in her mind already, proving capable in overwhelming the enemy team formed of the Student Council and the Type-89's crew, the Volleyball team, in a one-on-one with her own team.
Erwin's crew, the StuG's staffers, seemed to be learning really well how to best utilize the low silhouette of their casemate tank hunter to great effect. They even rapidly learned how to set up camouflage around and on the tank itself, so much so that the tenth time the man went scouting for them as part of training, he barely noticed the muzzle of the barrel before he pointed his Lasgun at it. Of course, the weapon was on safe. He'd hate to have to deal with the repercussions of killing anyone here, especially since these young women seemed ready.
The M3 Lee's crew seemed to have the most problems. One of the girls always stared off into space, with no idea what to do to assist her team except for, he thought, either the ability to load the 37mm of the tank or just... Point things out. She seemed focused whenever he went to her. He understood more from her posture and body language than she even needed to say. He left her alone. She was a decently important part of the team as the loader.
The biggest problem was the commander of the Lee. Johann had had to pit them against the StuG-III before long, forcing the girl to gain more spatial awareness. The StuG had taken them out sixteen separate times before their commander had figured out how to best spot the thing and deal with it. The Lee could easily have been as good as the StuG if it had a lower profile and lacked the secondary turret, but alas.
The Panzer IV and the 38(t), Miho's team and Anzou's, specifically, he had elected for speed assault tests, meaning operating the vehicles at their maximum possible speed and engine RPM, as they were close-in breakthrough tanks, meant to blast apart the enemy's lines under the support of the Type-89, Lee and the StuG, with the former-most of these three acting as a sort of armored wall against any sort of enemy gun weaker than a 75.
As the sun once again began to set, the man stared with approval from behind his gas mask at the girls. Foot by foot, mile by mile, they were earning their right to be called tankers. The Drivers had learned their place and took commands very well. Somehow, they'd also managed to get these vehicles to 'drift', a motion of moving to the sides on their tracks, for enough time as not to break the track links. The 38(t)'s crew was also good.
"That's enough." He ordered, watching as every girl clambered out of their respective spot in the tanks and collapsed, sweat covering them from head to toe. He nodded approvingly, then walked up to Miho and her crew as she lay, leaning against the tank, before stating "It seems that training is becoming reflex to your crews. Trust them with your life, for they will be the difference between your life and an untimely death, miss Nishizumi."
Miho smiled weakly, nodding, "Thanks for the training, sir..." and wiping the sweat off her brow, "Not sure how much a day is gonna change, though."
"True." He nodded, "We will just have to see how many you kill before you fall."
He looked to Yukari, who was grinning, despite the tiredness in her eyes, then said "You seemed to have sped up your loading, miss Akiyama."
"Thanks, Johann-dono..." The girl panted, smirking, "A few more days like this and I think I'll be lobbing shells in half the time."
"Very good..." He nodded again, then turned to Anzou, seeing her stand to her feet with a cocky grin on her face. If they thought they'd win with a team of newbies against a team of elite tankers, they were wrong. But the objective here was to see how they would do under pressure, not to win. And Anzou herself knew they couldn't possibly win so easily. He hoped, at most, that they would take out many of the enemy's tanks before their own were destroyed.
Tomorrow would be another day, he felt...
AN:Sorry it took so long to update this, folks, but I figured I may as well, considering I'm getting back into writing GuP fix with My Armor is Contempt!
Enjoy! And until next time! Panzer Vor!