Somewhere in the deep blue void ocean, a little artificial island is sallying forth towards the Far East. A little speck of man's creation compared to the vast watery plane of the Pacific Ocean. Yet this speck of 'man's creation' carries the concept of "maritime exploration", a theory of education that predates even the Romans, it tackles the continuity of education through the seven seas.
Carrying this ancient education theory to the modern age are the gigantic metal islands, putting small states and islands to shame with their uniqueness and sheer size, they call themselves "School-Ships", the Queens of the blue water, and one of humanity's pinnacle achievement through unity and homogeneous intention of peace.
Housing thousands or even tens of thousands of inhabitants while being self-reliant, incorporating not only the culture but also the identity of their origin. And this School-Ship in particular carries the identity of the German people, the Deutsch pride, complete with its architecture and culture.
Driving through the empty road with a loud revving engine of a Zündapp KS 750, the gray-colored motorcycle treks through the path until it enters one the building's facade. As the metal gate begins to close behind it, the motorcycle starts slowing itself down until it makes a complete stop right in front of the building's front entrance.
Turning off the engine before sitting straight-up on his KS 750, the motorcyclist takes out his Stahlhelm-esque helmet, along with it his goggles before finally revealing his face to the open breezy air. Greeting the breeze is his wooden brown hair that only reaches his shoulder, it can describe to be both clean and messy at the same time, though the latter only applies to the antennae-like cowlick on the top of his hair. His pair of utter darkened brown eyes that imitates the color of total darkness looks engagedly at the baroque-style building in front of him.
The white marble adorns the walls with beautiful handicraft, myriad plates of crimson and tangerine embellish the roof's foundation, with its center part a tower standing - inside it a carillon that is porcelain-made. Though as the building itself shows the exemplar image of Germany's finest architecture, it isn't the only building that shows the reminiscence of the Duetsch's landscape.
"Let's see what the Führer wants this time…" He mutters to himself, fixing his necktie through his striking blazer before proceeding to walk towards the closed double door.
Wearing an ordinary light gray glaring blazer, it is single-breasted, tailored according to his average height, and a polished pin on his right lapel. A vivid dark gray trouser that compliments its aforementioned companion, with black leather shoes and fitted dark-coated necktie above the bluish undershirt completes the attire of his uniform. The symbol on the pin of his lapel meanwhile shows an inverted golden Y with a red hexagon with its front emblazoning the mon of the Chrysanthemum, the seal of the Japanese Government.
Entering the building as the doors open themselves up for him to enter. There he sees the long carpeted hallway welcoming him with an attendant beside him upon going inside to the spacious lobby.
""Herr Wittmann... The Führer wants to see you now." The attendant announces with a hint of anxiety in his words once he finally meets him.
Swinging around in one motion without falter, the attendant confidently tries to lead the Wittmann towards the Fuhrer's office, going through the hallway as they pass through the other attendants and students in the building; they look at the figure with an obtrusive aura behind the attendant, feeling perturbed as chatter starts filling up the quiet atmosphere. Breaking the quietness as the chatter begins to take its place, the nonchalant subject in the hallway continues to follow the attendant.
Feeling this anxiety-inducing and uneasiness, the attendant just starts looking to his left and right to ease him; even if it's just a little bit. On the left shows the grand view of their school landscape, with buildings imitating different architectural approaches and the sea of students littering the vicinity of their school, meanwhile on the right side are all the decorations to ornament the expressionless wall with colorful paintings and photogenic images.
"Only a few meters away…"
Eventually reaching the end of the hallway, the attendant simply swivels his body to the side and confronts the closed double-door, knocking it the next before informing loudly to the occupant inside the mysterious room.
"Führer, your guest has arrived."
After a beat of dead silence for a couple of seconds, a response from the room then replies to the attendant.
"Let the Ace in."
"Jawohl, Herr Führer!"
Putting his hand on the golden handle to comply with the Führer's order, the informer then slowly opens the double door for the Wittmann to enter the Führer Chancellery, a nickname for the Führer's office room.
Wittmann in return, being stoic and all, just enters the room without thanking the attendant beside and soon behind him, an unusual trait for someone who holds the title of a "Panzer Ace", a title indicate from the Führer's reply before.
Hearing the sound of the door shutting itself from the inside, the attendant heaves a sigh of relief while holding his chest tightly, slouching his back a bit as he takes a second to process it.
"Intimidating…"
Inside the atmospheric room and on the center of it, behind the ligneous desk and a couple of aligned seats, the charcoal-gray chair starts to swivel around in a complete revolution, and on it, the Führer of the school finally shows himself up to the Wittmann who's across the room.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate you for all of your duties to the VSG. Even though you encountered some unfortunate difficulties, you still completed the task." The Führer congratulates him with a sincere yet ominous smile.
What greets Wittmann is a young man in a similar age to him. He has jet-black messy hair and a pair of reddish-brown eyes, like a mixture between crimson and auburn, the fair complexion of his skin gently compliments to his uniform, similar to the person in front of him wearing the dominant gray and black.
"I'm just doing my duty, that's all to it, Führer." Wittmann flatly replies.
"Even if that's the case, you deserve the compliment, Herr Wittmann." The Führer insists, "From the Panzership with the Kaiserin to the excellent handling of the Unaccepted. You did well, not only for us but also the entire Country as well."
Wittmann just looks at him straightly bewildered before he retorts finally after a sigh, "Flattery won't get you anywhere in this situation, Führer…"
The Führer retains his smile and replies, "Of course! Just easing the mood, after all, you seemed to be a bit too serious, but then again, you don't like using your other side of yourself."
"It's just unnecessary."
"But that will be necessary for your next assignment."
"For my next assignment?"
"Jawohl, Wittmann... Take a seat since this will be a long briefing." He then gestures the seat to the front of his desk, which Wittmann complies obediently as he takes the seat across the Führer's wooden desk.
"Apart from your successful and blazing career as a Panzer Commander back in our Country, we found some potential in you as a skilled person in regards to certain events. Useful skills that would be invaluable to your next mission." The Führer informs, taking a momentary break before he continues, "Depiction, infiltration, and influence is what I need from this and nothing fits the description other than you, Black Baron."
"What about the Agents of our Espionage Service then? Don't you think it's their duty to do an 'Over-Vessel' operation such as this?" Wittmann retorts in a stern manner, finding this thing outrageous in the first place as he explains it the next, "I have acted before, yes. But I'm not the suitable person for this assignment."
"It is true that you lack the skills, but we're basing this on your performance, and since you exceeded our expectations during your attempt to help that girlfriend of yours from Osaka's run-down Academy, it's in our best interest to assign you on this mission." The Führer firmly clarifies, leaning his back on the chair, feeling comfy throughout the whole duration of the briefing with the already annoyed Ace. "Isn't it befitting for someone like you if our target is just a girl from Kumamoto?"
"Rommel... enough with the jokes, she's not my girlfriend. And also, why a girl from the countryside to begin with?" Displeased as he may be, Wittmann still continues to ask about the briefing with the mischievous Führer whose sobriquet is a reference to a certain famous Field Marshal from Germany.
"Because, our prestigious Academy's adversary is located there, and it's our own companion school herself, Kuromorimine Girls' Academy."
"The Black Forest Peak Academy?" Wittman raises his eyebrow in utter confusion. "But that's under the Nishizumi Family… Wait-"
"Bingo. Our adversary is the Nishizumi Family, primarily Nishizumi Shiho, and her heir, Nishizumi Maho."
"I thought we were in an alliance with them?"
"We did. But given the fact that Mistress Shiho is true and firm to her words and beliefs, it's impossible for her to disregard our attempts to modernize their nation's Recrelympics." Rommel's annoyance continues, "a respectable person yet a traditionalist aligned towards their Sports' Sakoku, and that belief must be crushed."
Slamming his desk with the intensity for emphasis, Wittmann can easily notice the Führer's frustration, though he remains silent as he listens closely to him.
"And it's our goal to awaken these clouded traditionalists. No longer their country is in the shadows of others; it's our responsibility to bring them the true meaning of Recrelympics, the true meaning of the movement, and the true meaning of unity..."
"That sounds like a declaration for war." Wittmann flatly replies; not even Rommel can distinguish that as either a sarcasm or not, though he chooses the former as he knows the Ace personally and this calms him down.
"Well, maybe so?" Rommel shrugs, returning to his usual self altogether on that single move. "But we couldn't really disregard the orders of the higher brass, after all, without their support we couldn't be even here in the first place."
"So we're just being the pawns again?" Wittmann summarizes.
"If the board is about the Bet and the pieces are us, then yes. We're the pawns of this game, though you're the knight of this play, Arian, or should I say, Eirian…"
Wittmann tilts his head to the side; he anticipates this to happen yet it happens so suddenly that it even surprises the stoical Ace, putting him in a state of bewilderment. "Why mention my other name?"
Rommel shakes the swiveling chair for a bit and reaches the corner of his ligneous desk, taking out a file on one of its hidden compartments and places it on his desk the next. "Like I said, from your recent performance with this lovely mechanic, I am certain that you can handle this person with ease." He smirks enthusiastically while Eirian takes the file and opens it up.
Seeing the name of his operation, the location he's heading to, and the instruction he needs to follow; but what catches his eyes the most is the picture of a young girl wearing a black tanker jacket with an embroidery of red and a jet-black side cap, giving this feeling of intimidation and doubt to the girl with short auburn hair and a pair of cool brown eyes.
"Your target is none other than the recently disowned daughter of Mistress Shiho, 2nd year student of Ōarai Co-Educational Academy, Nishizumi Miho."
Eirian takes a second to process all of this.
"You… gave me an assignment and that's just to babysit a disowned child?"
"Don't let her looks fool you, she's still a Nishizumi, Ja? And since we don't know her motives, it's best to be safe and sure that someone attentive like you can watch her every movement there." Rommel retorts.
"Shouldn't we just hire a student there and let that person do the mission?"
"If we do that, the mission will fail easily since it's a Nishizumi we're talking about, but we can't exactly bring an agent at it since it's too predictable, thus we go to the middleground; and you're that person suitable for it."
Rommel then raises his finger and points it towards him as he continues his explanation, eagerly trying to persuade the Ace to take the important assignment. "You're our perfect subject, Eirian. You proved to be very liable in adapting certain things, it's a perfect opportunity for you, and the perfect mission to someone like you."
Eirian takes a second to decide on this, another task for him to accept that can take weeks or even months away to finish. But as their school-year is about to start, it seems like he'll be joining this school in Ibaraki instead. "What's my mission here?"
"Your mission is quite simple and that is; infiltrate the school of Ōarai Co-Educational Academy, there you will need to find the Nishizumi and befriend her, once you did that you need to improve your relationship with her, and once you both are comfortable enough, find her motives and exploit it, if all is done, return back here at once.
"And you're certain that I can befriend my target, she's a Nishizumi after all." Eirian points out, worried about his reputation as an associate of their school to the Nishizumi.
"We assured you that your identity is well-secured. And besides, they only knew your name as the Black Baron and not Arian Wittmann." Rommel assures. "And this Nishizumi is particularly different compared to her sister, it's something you can easily exploit."
"And what's that exactly?"
"Her meek and pessimistic personality. After that incident, she became reserved and lonely, a trait that you can use as an opportunity to befriend her. Like you actually."
"I'm not amused by that last part, Rommel…"
"Oh?" Rommel's comment is spot-on, "Did I hit a nerve from the stoical Ace?"
"No, you didn't hit anything. It's just that you don't have to compare me to her." Eirian firmly states. "We're different."
"Fine, if you say so…" Rommel smirks and shrugs as he feels it otherwise. "If you have no questions then you're dismissed for this briefing. Good luck."
"Affirmative…" Eirian takes a second as he pauses for the moment, hesitating to say it until he finds the will to continue it now, "and also, may I request a favor from you?"
"Sure, what is it then?"
"This mission's success will depend on my anonymity. So, I want no one, not even the Unaccepted knows the true intention of my mission here, especially that brat of a person…"
Hearing this unusual request from an out-of-character moment of the Ace in front of him, the Führer just smirks playfully to him, feeling certain to himself that he can tease the embarrassed Ace. "Am I actually talking to the famous Haiiro-Dere of Eirian Buruan Haiiro?"
Rommel just starts to chuckle smugly, evoking a sense of annoyance to Eirian, albeit it changes the atmosphere from a serious to a totally relaxed room with a breathing space between the intimidating Ace and the nonchalantly Führer in the office.
"Couldn't even change that face for a little bit?"
"That's unnecessary, but I expect you will do that favor to me, Rommel."
"Fine… you really are a no-fun person to be with, Eirian. But don't you worry, I'll keep it in mind here."
"Danke."
With a nod for affirmation, the stoical Ace just walks out of the Chancellery, only the distinct noise of the long creaking sound as an aftermath of their rather lengthy discussion. As the doors are now closed, Rommel begins to lean back on his chair, enthusiastically swiveling it around until he sees the window that offers the entire landscape of their school, the beautiful diversity of the Lunenburg Academy, and as he admires the scenic view, he starts to utter something that causes him to smile in an ominous way again.
"Operation Das Ace und der Panzers... heh, Lass das Spiel beginnen."
Author M's notes:
Congratulations for reaching this far! I'm happy to announce that this is a republication of the original PaA with new turns and knots! I'm fortunate that I can write again and I'll do my best to provide you guys an amazing experience!
Panzer Vor!