June 9th, 2019 - Hamburg Dockyards, Germany

Itsumi paced back and forth between the various German tanks what were lined up at the firing range. The cry of the gulls overhead on this bright, warm summer's day was suddenly drowned out with the concussive blast from Tiger I's 88mm gun, being followed up by a few seconds worth of MG-34 fire from the machineguns of several tanks. Most of them were just here for tests, to make sure their guns all worked properly.

Even though it had been nothing but training, drills and target practice, the stress was getting to her. Being the only senior officer that was sent to teach the Germans, she knew a great deal of the task ahead fell directly on her shoulders. Sure her crew was here, along with a few others from Kuromorimine, but so what? None of them were particularly influential except for her. Worse still, no word from Maho. She wasn't going to come. She tried to accept it, but doing so just dug her further into the pit of self-doubt and only served to increase the density of the weight she felt. This all came to show in about the same manner that all her anxiety and stress ever did.

"ARRGH!" she screamed, kicking the tread of a Panzer II she was passing, hoping to relieve some of her pent up frustration. She then repeated her last, screaming in pain and hoping on her foot as she heard her toe crack. "FFffffuck!" she reached down and groped at her foot, grimacing. Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did she do that?! Once the pain had passed she hesitantly flexed her toes and ankle. Had it worked? No. Now she was just even more angry and frustrated, the pain only served to exacerbate this and she knew without a shadow of a doubt her face was going red with rage. Thankfully for her, she hadn't actually broken anything, probably just cracked or popped a knuckle.

As if lack of support from Kuromorimine wasn't enough, Itsumi kept finding herself asking just how the hell the Germans were supposed to win anything with the lineup they'd chosen. Sure, it was big, but most of it lacked any real firepower.

Assembled at the range were a wide host of German World War Two tanks, however they were mostly early war models; Panzer Is, Panzer IIs, Panzer IIIs and the like. There were several Panzer IVs and a few Stugs, while less than a handful of late war models; only four Panthers, two Tiger Is and a single Tiger II to their dozens of light tanks. She wasn't the only one to share this sentiment it seemed. In the distance she could hear someone venting their disdain in very angry German. She limped past a few more Panzer IIs, one of which unleashed a barrage from its 20mm autocannon downrange as she passed behind, almost blowing her eardrums and causing her to flinch. Dammit, she was real messed up if she jumped at that little thing. For the love of; she'd pay for Maho to come out here personally - out of her own pocket - if she could.

She peered down towards where the outburst had originated, it seemed to be coming from next to the lone King Tiger. Standing behind the tank, looking up towards the top of the turret was a short brown haired Austrian with attitude, bellowing something about the lack of heavy armor. Poking their heads out of the turret were the blonde haired and blue eyed commander - and overall team commander - Rommel and her second, the similarly blonde and blue eyed Henrietta. The only difference between the two at a distance being the dark purple streaks that ran through Henrietta's short blonde hair, while Rommel's was tied up into a tight ponytail.

"I'm not usually one for agreeing with you, but I see your point." Rommel stated as Itsumi entered earshot. Istumi crossed her arms as she approached, looking up at the turret as she came to a stop next to Allia. Rommel gave a quick nod to Itsumi before returning to her previous assessment. "Heavy armor will be most effective when not doing full sized war games. Domination, Headquarters, Annihilation, whatever; that's when we're going to be hurting for the big boys." she reasoned, both arms rested atop the turret and her commanding visage at rest with no particular expression across it. She'd raise a hand to lift her officer's peaked cap - complimented with a pair of rimless shades between the visor and peak - off her head, before wiping her brow with her sleeve, setting her forearm back down on the turret, cap still in hand. "Though I'm confident that no matter what match we're in, so long as they use war game rules, we'll come out on top. Combined arms works well with the light tanks, combine that with radio support options if we control a radio tower and we're golden." Rommel's gaze lingered for a while down at Allia before slowly rising to look past her, all the while remaining relatively neutral. "Besides, depending on the match, we're not even going to be able to use… all… our… Paaaaannnn-... zeeerrss…" she grinded to a halt, her neutral resting expression slowly taking on a new form. Her brow and corner of her mouth ticked as she looked past Itsumi and Allia. Itsumi bit; she looked over her shoulder to see one of the four Panthers stalling out in the middle of the concrete dockyard; between them and the range and the large hangars where they were storing the tanks. Thankfully, it didn't come to a full stop atop the railway that ran the length of the yard for the dock crane.

But as the Panther came to a halt, the commander of the tank sprung out of the top of the turret with spectacular fanfare. "AAHHH!" she screamed, looking back at the rear of her tank, smoke rising from the engine. Then a phrase that Erika had become all too familiar with was uttered, a meme that pretty much summed up her experiences with her Tiger II on a bad to average day; "Hanz, ze transmission broke!" though that was the least of her worries. A sudden, small detonation signaled to everyone in the yard that the engine just caught fire. "HANZ! ZE ENGINE IS ON FIRE!" the commander yelped, scrambling out of the turret in a panic, followed by the rest of her crew, crawling out of their hatches.

"NEIN!" shouted Rommel, ducking back into her turret for a moment and emerging with a small hand held fire-extinguisher, something all Sensha-do approved tanks were required to have, before leaping out of her turret, nearly catching her skirt on her cupola. Istumi slid out of the way as Rommel rushed halfway across the yard, all the while screaming; "Nein! Nein! Nein! There's a damn fire-extinguisher in your turret! What are you doing?!"

Rommel jumped up onto the tank, fearless of the fire before directing the extinguisher towards the inferno and letting it rip, dousing the flame. Once the fire was out, she tossed the spent fire extinguisher to the ground with a clatter that echoed across the yard, at a point when no tanks were firing, making it heard to all. The fire and explosion had already garnered most everyone's attention; tank commanders at the range, passing male infantry, sea cadets dressed in their sailor's uniforms - everyone - had their eyes turned towards Rommel. She jumped down from the damaged Panther as the commander of the tank slowly returned. There was no raised hands, there was no screaming into her face, just the disappointed tone of Erika Rommel. "I expected better from you Paulus."

The brown haired commander nodded meekly. "Ja Kommandant. I just- I-"

Rommel put a hand on the young lieutenant's shoulder. "Just don't let it happen again. I managed to pull things together, but I will not always be there nor capable of doing so all the time." Her voice lacked any true anger, but it dripped with disappointment, the same one might expect of a disillusioned mother. That tone seemed to cut further than any tongue lashing she could have given. The lieutenant snapped a quick salute.

"I will not let it happen again Kommandant!" she proclaimed, standing firm and rigid until Rommel waved her down with one hand.

"Good." she simply stated, taking a quick look around the dockyard at those who had halted their current tasks, their attention diverted to her. She climbed back up on the disabled Panther, taking a commanding stance atop the tank with her footing spread and hands on her hips. "I expect the best from all of you! I know how you all feel right now, you're tired, you're bored and you're raring to get going. Now I know this delay we're dealing with was none of our faults and we're all reeling from it. But if we can bare through these coming days, we will come out stronger - but only if we set our minds to it! We are all brothers and sisters here, even if we don't agree with one another-" she took a brief pause during her speech to shoot a glance down towards Allia who inched behind Itsumi to hide from her commander's gaze. "-but we're in this together now, if one of us fails, we let down the group as a whole. Let us use this time we have to hone and refine our skills, let us work together towards bettering ourselves for the coming trials ahead of us! And once our glorious ship arrives, we may finally, officially begin our trek towards glory, casting all our anxiety and doubt to the winds behind us! I ask only of you to grin and bear it for a while longer. To show me that you are the right person for the job! That you belong in that uniform!" Rommel took another pause, scanning to determine who was still paying attention. Once smiled slightly, it was almost impossible to see from where Itsumi stood, trying to nudge Allia back out into the open. "Now who here belongs in that uniform?!" Rommel exclaimed, thrusting a fist into the air, her sleeve being jerked down her forearm.

The yard erupted with cheers of; "Me!" and "I do!" from both the boys and girls. Even the tankers below Rommel who had abandoned their tank.

With a grin of approval and a quick nod, Rommel slid back off the tank, hopping back onto the concrete yard. She took a quick glance at Paulus before looking down the yard rails towards the dock crane, releasing a long draw out sigh. She raised a hand, motioning down towards the end of the dock, "Get the crane over here and get this tank back to shop." she turned around, both hands on her hips, looking over the Panther - both Erikas saw the problem. The Panther in question was an early model, rife with transmission and engine problems. It would need to be retrofitted. Rommel cast a glance over her shoulder back towards her Tiger II, pivoting on her heels and marching back over. Allia still stood next to Itsumi, watching the conundrum unfold while both Henrietta and Mikaela stood half out of the turret, with Mikaela - Rommel's gunner - poking out of the commander's hatch. On approach, Rommel shooed Allia to the side; the shorter girl took a big step left. Rommel's expression softened, if only slightly as she looked towards Itsumi. "So, what's your assessment?" she asked, one hand still lingering at her hip while the other hung freely by her side.

Itsumi crossed her arms, cocking her hips. She raised a hand to her lips and dipped her head, brow furrowed, thinking. When she looked back up she conveyed what she'd seen thus far. "You're split down the middle in terms of capability. Aside from that little mess I just witnessed, I've seen nothing to suggest that you or your girls are pushovers. Victory will certainly be within your grasp with you commanding them." she then quickly eyed over Rommel, fully taking her in. She was taller than Itsumi by at least a few inches and her hair had a more yellow-golden hue to it than her own while her eyes were a deeper, darker azure blue when compared to Itsumi's grey-blue. Her face was peculiar blend of sharp angles and soft surfaces; noricably her cheek and jawbones, which contrasted her chin, cheeks and nose. Powerful where it would convey authority, but elegant enough to portray class. Of the two, Rommel was also the more developed, filling out her uniform better than Itsumi by a noticeable margin. If it wasn't for the difference in hair and eyes, Itsumi could also see a resemblance between her and Maho, at least in regards to their attitudes, personalities and physical builds - though again, Rommel was the taller one. "You'd do your great grandfather proud I think."

Rommel blew hot air out her nose and shook her head, faintly grinning. "I don't know about that. I don't think he ever saw us using panzers for sport - for entertainment. Really, I can only hope I'm not causing him to roll in his grave."

Itsumi smirked and waved the German officer down, "I'm sure he'd at least be intrigued." she reaffirmed. Sensha-do was a lot of things, but shameful wasn't one of them, given the shameless displays of raw power that came nicely packaged into these neat, sleek metal monsters.

"Eeeerika!" someone called out, though the tone was hollow and digital, followed by three heavy drum beats before going quiet again. It came from one of the two girls. Rommel groped at her chest pockets, brow furrowed while Itsumi did the same, patting her own pockets down. Both of them pulled their phones out at the same time, whipping them out from their chest pockets.

"Wasn't me." Rommel muttered, looking up from her phone and across at Itsumi.

Itsumi glanced at her phone screen, the sound of her text notification going off had gotten her hopes up and she wasn't paying much attention to Rommel right now. There was something else, far more important that demanded her attention. Itsumi fumbled with her phone as she shakily keyed in a response;

"We're in Hamburg! Will you be joining us?" she hit send and it was a tense few moments before any response was hinted at, then appearing at the bottom of her chat; Maho Nishizumi is typing…

"It won't be in an officially sponsored capacity, since I'm not going to be with Kuromorimine anymore, but I'll drop by. Don't know for how long though."

Erika bit her tongue, containing her relief - and perhaps a bit of excitement. Even if was for a little bit, she just needed a moment of Maho's support. Teaching Sensha-do was a daunting task and while Itsumi would never outright state this openly, she wasn't sure she was the best choice for this task. Maho was on another level, she had the know how, the composure and the attitude for such an undertaking. Erika - Itsumi - on the other hand was horribly self-aware of her flaws and every moment she wasn't actively showing cadets how to care for their tanks, or sight in a target, or shift while on the move was a moment spend in self-doubt. She felt like bursting into tears of joy with Maho returning. But not here, maybe tonight, not in front of the cadets and most definitely not in front of who might be perhaps Maho's German peer. She lowered her phone and looked up at Erika - Rommel - who regarded her with a raised brow. Was there something on her face? Oh shoot maybe she was letting it slip a little! She recollected herself and shook her head lightly.

"Something the matter?" Rommel asked, her eyes doing a quick once-over of Itsumi.

Itsumi shook her head, "No, nothing at all." she replied, but eager to change the subject carried on; "Have you selected a battle theme that your team will march to?" she asked.

Rommel cocked her hips and pursed her lips, crossing her arms. "Hmm, now that you mention it, the infantry band was trying to come to that conclusion last night. Said they narrowed their choice down, buuut…" she trailed off, looking just a little nervous, a look that wasn't common for her. She reached a hand behind her head, grasping the back of her neck. "Mind joining me? I could use a second opinion while the others continue practice."

Itsumi glanced to her left, at the line of tanks - some of which had gone back to target practice. She could faintly hear some of the closer commanders calling out targets through the canonfire. She looked back to Rommel, probably with a similar look about her. "Sure." she replied, raising a hand and motioning to the side for her to show her the way.

Walking across the dockyard, the two had to pick up the pace as the giant crane at the far end of the docks began to move up the yard, moving up to carry the disabled Panther closer to the shop. The two scurried across the tracks far before it even got close, headed towards a hangar at the far end of the yard. In the distance, Itsumi could see the makeshift course they'd built for running the infantry through - an obstacle course built from tires, two-by-fours, thick wooden dowels and of course, plenty of rope. Most of the infantry was made up of boys - though a few of them were girls, just not nearly as many - and many of the girls had been placed in officer positions. It was like boot camp how they were running this course, climbing up rope nets, crawling under wooden ladders that had been laid out atop tires and then running through even more tires before tackling a dummy at the end of all that. Not since arriving here had she seen Sensha-do training quite so… intense. But her attention was drawn from the assault course as Rommel opened a small side door on the hangar the course was set up in front of. Rommel looked over her shoulder and with a nod, whilst holding the door open, ushered Itsumi inside. Rommel then entered after her, shutting the paneled door behind her with a clatter one might expect from a dropped trashlid.

The interior of the hangar was… rudimentary at best. There were makeshift walls set up with littlemore than plywood and nails, making up some kind of minimalistic, ad hoc, interior. None of them were painted or colored, the leaving the ugly wood exposed while within the frame of wood - not even an inch thick - were the bunks and facilities used to house players. From the exterior of this interior-exterior there were already signs of customization - sort of - with drawings marked onto the wood paneling, some expressing a… distaste for the duration that they were being housed here. One extreme example of graffiti compared the conditions to concentration camps, but this was scribbled out with various other colors of paint and marker - indicating this was likely not a very popular sentiment. True to her guess, there was another tag next to it that simply read; "Crybaby".

There was still plenty of open room outside of the roofless wooden lodgings, though there was little in the ways of objects of interest aside from plenty of foldable plastic chairs and a large white screen at the far end of the hangar - used for projecting instructional videos and the likes.

"Guys! Where are you?!" Rommel called out, cupping a hand next to her mouth, then reaching up to remove her cap, tucking it under her shoulder. Then as loudly as if they were right next to them, some one, male, shouted back.

"Other side of the lodge!" they shouted, their voice echoing and reverberating off the exposed metal panels of the hangar walls. With nothing to absorb the sound, every sound made within the structure could be heard from across it. It was a wonder that anyone was able to get even a wink of sleep in these conditions. Itsumi hoped things would prove better on the Rommel than here. Even their footfalls echoed loudly through the hangar as their shoes boots clacked against the concrete floor.

On the other side of the housing lodge, on some of the plastic chairs, sat a group of about two dozen boys. Scattered around them, in their carry-gear and standing upright on stands or just being laid out flat were various musical instruments ranging from drums, flutes, triangles, trumpets and trombones and virtually every other bell and whistle that one might expect from a marching band. "You boys decided on a marching song yet?" Rommel asked, resting a hand on her hip, at the top of her almost knee length pleated skirt.

Some of the guys looked at one another, then finally, they all looked towards their officer, one of the boys that Itsumi had been keeping an eye on since arriving. Klaus Dietrich smirked and stood. He donned a similar officer's uniform to that which Rommel wore, both heavy in black and silver, though with Klaus donning trousers instead of a skirt. Both of their uniforms sported red outlines along their pockets and sleeves, though only Rommel wore a cap. Rommel never really seemed fully comfortable in the uniform, but the way Klaus moved and presented himself, he almost appeared to revel in it. If that wasn't enough, he'd even gone out of the way to wrap a red scarf around his bicep, he seemed like someone Allia might like… but for both Erikas, he just came off as scummy which was putting it mildly.

"Of course mein Kommandant." he remarked, extending both arms in a sort of here I am fashion, his shit-eating grin never leaving his face. Even his tone sent ripples of disgust down Itsumi's throat, it was all she could do to resist making a revolted expression. Rommel simply rolled her eyes, motioning for him to continue, seeming to not want to dignify his attitude with a verbal response. Klaus then scooped up a few sheets of paper from an empty chair, turning back around and approaching Rommel with a haughty step. "There are two that we thought you may like. The choice is yours Kommandant." he said, an utter lack of subtlety in his tone. Upon closer inspection the papers he handed her were music sheets. He extended an arm, offering the papers to Rommel, who looked down at them for a moment, then shot a sideways glare back up at him, shifting her eyes up to the top of her sockets to stare him down before aggressively snatching the papers out of his hand. Itsumi peered over her shoulder as she flipped through the music pages. He said they'd found two songs, or rather pieces, that would be appropriate, but the stack seemed a little thick for just two musical pieces. The first; Panzerlied was eyed over with nervous hesitation. It was good, but given the divisive atmosphere that German Sensha-do was causing, perhaps it wasn't the best choice. That wasn't to say it was a bad song, it just… probably would end up inflaming things. Rommel flipped the page over and Itsumi tore her eyes from the page, shooting daggers at a smug looking Klaus, he knew what he'd done. Rommel seemed to have the same opinion as she shot thin knives up at Klaus as well, casting Erika to the side without so much as pausing to consider it. Itsumi had bore through the song a few times, though she saw it a little differently than Rommel. To Itsumi, that was her song. It was special to her and no one else could claim it in the manner that they were using it for and she knew exactly that Klaus had intended it to be directed at Rommel. Perhaps as some form of buttering up, or something equally as fuck-boyish.

Klaus didn't seem too pleased by the discarding of the song, his expression turning from smug arrogance, to annoyed judgement. Then he seemed to notice for the first time, the very thing Itsumi had noticed earlier, the stack had been far too thick for just two pieces. He slotted both hands into his trouser pockets and cocked his jaw as Rommel moved onto the last page. "Hmm," she mused, holding it to the side for Itsumi to get a better look at it. Itsumi nodded, it was an older piece, but she could see where Rommel was coming from; nothing to do with Nazis. "Who put this one forward?" she asked, holding up the page for Preußens Gloria.

The two looked around, scanning for anyone that dared put their hand up. Not a soul. Itsumi glanced stealthily at Klaus, who had his head cocked back, looking over his shoulder, scanning his own troops. It seemed none of them wanted to claim responsibility for fear of their officer what with the sudden nervous tension that permeated through the hall. Then a light cough got her attention. She - and several others for that matter - turned their attention towards the plywood housing frame in the middle of the hangar, immediately next to them really, to see a blonde, blue eyed boy of average height with cute swept and flipped hair. He wore his grey heer uniform well, though his insignia was that of the an NCO, a Sergeant. Itsumi cocked a brow, her gaze snapping right back to Rommel who looked mildly surprised to see him standing there; she seemed to be familiar with him.

"Peter?" she asked, though the German pronunciation of the name was initially more drawn out with the first syllable being held longer and the second one shortened. "This your doing? I didn't take you for one with a musical ear."

Itsumi squinted back towards the boy, eyeing him over again as she shrugged. He seemed to be caught between a regal arrogance that Klaus held, and awkward, nervous goof as he leaned against the plywood panels. His posture said one thing while his expression, one that conveyed perhaps a little bit of timidity and social awkwardness said the complete opposite. "Err, no, I'm not. But I thought that perhaps, something from an older time might be more suitable." he replied, then shot a quick glance at Klaus before muttering under his breath - though Itsumi was unable to make out what that was from her current distance. Regardless, Rommel seemed to approve of the sheets that Peter had snuck in, she turned to face the band, holding up them up.

"This is what our standard theme will be, at least for formal occasions, what you play in your own time to get pumped up is whatever you want it to be, but when we enter a match, this is what we will be marching to." she ordered, holding the sheets out to Klaus, who seemed none-to-happy to be one upped by the prissy kid to his right. He scoffed, but took the papers back without so much as another word.

The two stared at one another for a moment, the glare that Rommel shot at Klaus bore into him, its intent was crystal clear; I'm in charge. Itsumi could have added a few piece words to that if it had been her place, but even if it hadn't been, she herself knew when one had to be put in their place. Itsumi quickly scanned Klaus' uniform before putting thought to words; "Consider showing your commanding officer a little respect in the future, Lieutenant." if she'd made any attempt to hide the venom in her tone, she most definitely failed. Good thing she hadn't, intent on making her own tone just as clear as Rommel's.

"What was that you little runt?" Klaus hissed at her, "You're not even part of this team, what gives you any right to speak to a guy like me in that manner?" Itsumi bit her tongue, oh she could think of a few things.

"Stand down Klaus." Rommel ordered. "If you cannot respect authority, then perhaps you shouldn't have any." she threatened, which promptly got him to shut up as his gaze shifted from Itsumi to Rommel, nervous at first. He took a step back from Itsumi, a blank look upon his face as he gave Rommal a stiff nod.

"Ja Kommandant." he replied, no emotion in his voice.

Then mirroring his tone, Rommel nodded stiffly. "Then, as you were. You have your orders." she turned about, beckoning Itsumi to follow. She followed after, marching about a pace behind her. Itsumi looked over her shoulder just in time to see a pissed off looking Klaus turn his aggravated gaze towards Peter, who nervously shot a glance towards the band. "Feldwebel Hindenburg, come as well." Rommel then ordered, extracting the sergeant from this treacherous situation as he jogged after the two to catch up.

Once the three were out of line-of-sight, Rommel emitted a snirk, half-raising a fist towards Peter, who did the same, the two bumping their fists together as they left the hangar. The three stepped back out into the sun - now out of ear shot as well, Peter spoke freely. "Someone needed to take him down a notch. Arrogant bastard."

Itsumi nodded, Klaus was someone she'd been keeping an eye on, not so much out of interest, rather to make sure he didn't get into trouble. "How'd he even get to Lieutenant if you've the say on officers?" she asked, with Rommel turning her attention from Peter to Itsumi. She shook her head and gave her an exasperated look. Rommel shrugged slightly, throwing a hand up above her shoulder as she did. "Before I officially was given overall command of the team, our local instructors were the only ones in charge of rank. Once I became Kommandant, then I became the one with overall authority to promote or demote based on how I saw fit. I've not yet found the resolve to demote Klaus - he's good, but that's not an excuse. Honestly, I wanted to slug him right there in front of his boys." Rommel shook her head with a scoff through closed teeth. "If he pipes off again, he's getting busted though."

Itsumi nodded, "Good. A guy like him…" she trailed off, really, in her experience, boys just didn't have a place in Sensha-do, but in the west that rule of thumb seemed to have gone out the window.

"Eh, while I won't vouch for him, Rommel, I have to tell you." Peter started, getting the two girls attention. "A lot of the guys around here are getting annoyed that that they have such little influence around here. The way a lot of them have been seeing it, you girls get all the glory through the tanks you operate, after all, the sport is called Panzerkraft, for a reason." he explained, using the German term for Sensha-do. "They feel we're going to be stuck relegated to dirty grunt work while the girls all get the fame and reputation while we're just remembered as back-benchers, if that."

Rommel nodded slowly. "I see." she replied, sounding neither upset, though not particularly joyed to hear this.

"Look, some of them, are being a bit louder than others, more… radical. And, while I can't support them, I also find myself not entirely disagreeing with some of them. In the end, are we just paint shields and manual labor to you? That kind of thing." Peter finished, taking on a tone that demanded some degree of empathy. Even Itsumi had to reason that if she'd been stuck in such a situation - after the prospect of operating a tank in one of the greatest sports to mankind had been extended to her and then not getting to operate a tank - she'd be a little pissed off too.

Rommel seemed to display some degree of sympathy as well. She extended a hand from behind her back, clasping it down on Peter's shoulder and letting her other hang freely by her side, casually. "For that it's worth I'm sorry, but as far as I know I can't assign male tank crews. It's just… not something I've ever heard of." she quickly glanced over her shoulders both ways. "If it were entirely up to me, I'd say go for it. But… I'll talk to the DPKL wigs and see if it's even possible. Till then, I need to ask - beg you - to keep this all contained for just a little longer." she wasn't angry, but she almost sounded pleading, leaning into him a bit. It seemed the two were at least friends, the way they conversed, they held an almost casual air among them despite the situation.

Peter nodded, waving Rommel down as he tried to get a bit of space between him and her. "I'll try, but…" he trailed off, then jabbed his head in the direction of the hangar door behind him.

"Don't mind Klaus, not for much longer anyways. I've a pair of papers to fill out as well, I'll do that when I go talk to the DPKL." Rommel replied. Itsumi raised a brow, turning her gaze towards Rommel. What was she thinking?

Peter sighed lightly, glancing back towards the hangar. "Until then… Peter, come. We've plenty of unmanned light tanks… if I can get you into one, how would you react?"

Peter suddenly went wide eyed as he snapped his gaze back to Rommel, his mouth slacking open a little bit. He quickly shook his head and knocked the befuddled visage off his face. "Uhhh… I'd say, hell yeah." even Itsumi was a little shocked by this.

Rommel chuckled warmly, "C'mon then, also, Erika!" her stern persona of authority seemed to melt away as she jabbed finger guns towards Itsumi; the difference in how she came off was astounding. One moment she was stone faced, sharp and perhaps even a little scary with the way her gaze bored into you, but once she lightened up, smiled and laughed, those sharp edges seemed less likely to cut you and she didn't feel like such a hardass - like she would headbutt you and possibly shatter your skull. "Come with us as well. A Panzer II needs a crew of three."

Itsumi cocked her head, for a moment, still trying to figure out what just happened. "Uhhh…" but really, what else was there to think about? "Sure!" even her own stern demeanor softened slightly - though not quite to the extent that Rommel's had. Officers just had that effect on their subordinantes she guessed. The demeanor and attitude of their officers could reflect on those they commanded. The three took off on a brisk jog towards the makeshift motor pool they'd set up in one of the hangars, there they'd find the tank they were looking for. They might just take it for a spin, buuuut, Itsumi wouldn't mind getting a few shots in herself - it had been a few weeks since she'd gotten to personally feel the kick of a tank firing their guns off. And that just simply wouldn't do.

Meanwhile… Paris, France.

Jess twiddled her thumbs as she lay atop the rear of her Easy Eight, her tank at rest just to the side of the train that had lugged it from Le Havre to Paris. The trainyard was utterly bustling with activity. The yard was large, but even so you could hardly go a couple feet without bumping into someone. But she could handle crowds, something else had been eating at her since yesterday morning. It had been eating at her the entire train ride and that metaphorical crunching had also caused her to have something of a troubled sleep. As if that wasn't bad enough, a heat wave was passing through the city, raising the temperature up to nearly ninety degrees - roughly thirty celsius. While waiting for the parade to start, Jess had removed everything that wasn't necessary for basic decency, which unfortunately, wasn't much. Due to a formal dress code for the parade, she only had an underlayer consisting of a white t-shirt. This left her in a tight green pencil skirt - which looked rather strange without her jacket, which she'd cast her tank jacket down atop the back of her tank and lay down across it to keep from burning herself from the searing hot green metal below her. Her chocolate bangs provided her with some optical shade from the sun above as she shut her eyes and blindly groped for her water bottle somewhere next to her; she was sure it was around here somewhere. Once she'd found it she popped the cap and just stuck the spout into her mouth, holding the bottle between her teeth, straight up vertical. She wouldn't mind drowning this way. No, that would actually kinda suck - she used her tongue to block the flow of water every now and then and breathed through her nose, repeating this until she bottle was empty. She was very disappointed once she was out, sitting up and brushing her brown bangs out of her eyes. "Aww…" she mumbled, then tensed up as someone lay a hand on the back of the tank behind her. She looked over her shoulders as Audrey pulled herself up onto the tank, all the while her hand was on the tank, her eyes wide as she repeatedly, rapidly, yelped;

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" before hoisting herself up onto the tank and squatting next to Jess, giving her hand a shake, blowing on them. "Heeey, Commander." Audrey whined out, her hand still burning, though her other was hidden behind her back.

Jess groaned and spun around, still seated, though she needed to adjust herself once she'd turned to face Audrey, to keep her skirt and jacket from bunching up or ripping. "Hey Audrey," Jess yawned out. "We good to go?"

"Almost." Audrey replied, pausing for a moment before tentatively exposing her free hand and slapping an American flag to the back of the tank, duct taping the dowel to the turret while the flag hung freely about two feet above the turret. Jess narrowed her eyes at Audrey. "Oh c'mon we're doing a parade! Let me have this!" Audrey wheezed out, pleadingly.

Jess passively panned around the trainyard where the tanks were being held, the British and Canadian teams were busy getting their own tanks and troops ready for the parade. Even the Canadians were throwing subtlety out the window, with their command tank, Jennifer's Cromwell, having two Canadian maple leaf flags lashed to the rear sides of the tank. The British on the other hand had painted a pair of huge Union Jacks on the side of their own command tank - Jacklyn's special Churchill tank, a Black Prince with its Firefly level QF 17 pounder and a larger turret to accommodate the bigger gun. Jess looked back to Audrey with a sigh. "Fine." she stated sleepily. "So, we know the parade plans yet?"

Audrey nodded, "Yeah, once we exit the yard, just follow the signs, It's going to be short, we're just passing the Arc de Triomphe before heading out to Verdun. Once the crowds start showing up, you'll have the right place." she replied. Jess shook her head;

"No, no, I mean the order of events, like… who is doing what?"

"Oh!" Audrey chirped, "Uh, yeah… so we're actually going first - we decided on Stars and Stripes Forever as our song for this, right?"

Jess nodded, it was either that or the Battle Hymn of the Republic, but they could use that another time. The former had been the American national march since 1987, so it just seemed more appropriate. "Alright, then it will be the British to - of course - The British Grenadiers-" something that Jess knew that the Scots weren't terribly happy about, with some, but not all, actually voicing a desire to march with the Canadians instead of the English. "-then the Canadians, to The Great Little Army, with lastly the French, who elected to go last mind you, to thankfully not the Onion Song - rather, Marche Royale de France, which… I think is a Napoleonic era song? Anyways, they chose to go last because their marching band wanted to play a separate piece while hanging around the Arc de Triomphe - something about the French army marching band playing Daft Punk in 2017…"

Jess chuckled quietly, she remembered seeing that on YouTube. Though she wondered what the frenchies were up to. Then from the other side of the tank; "Hey gir- YEOWCH!" someone shrilly screamed, followed by the clattering of plastic to the ground. Jess knew who it was, jumping slightly as she turned her gaze to see Kay recoiling from the tank, having just dropped an array of plastic water bottles to the ground and was now frantically shaking her left hand. "Holy crap! How the hell are we getting into these things?!" she exclaimed, squatting down to pick up one of the bottles, feebly opening it up with her seared hand and dumping a little bit of water onto it. Jess tore her gaze away from Kay, her face was already red enough from the heat, how much redder could it get anyways. She shook her head, rising and picking her jacket up from the rear of the tank, throwing it over her shoulders. As she buttoned it up she forced out a single chuckle.

"Painfully." she remarked, half-joking as a smirk played across her lips, she shook her head yet again. "Try using your jacket sleeve, it's not perfect but at least it gives you a few seconds." She found it hard to look Kay in the eye now, since yesterday morning when she'd walked past Kay and Naomi talking along the pier. That look that Naomi had given her, urging her to move on, but she'd heard enough.

"God, we're going to boil alive inside this thing!" Kay whined, picking the water bottles back up and setting them atop the rear of the tank. Both hatches of the turret and hull had been left open to provide as much ventilation as possible - the extra hatch on the turret was something that Jess herself was very grateful for over the regular M4. Though that wasn't the only solution that they'd come up with. Whitney soon popped her head out of the turret through the commander's hatch.

"Oh it's bad in here, but trust me when I say, it could be worse, at least you weren't in here an hour ago, trying to install a fan array." she remarked, her brow, neck, exposed arms all glistening with sweat, her jacket non-present and her white t-shirt sleeves having been folded over up to her shoulders. "And even worse, I'm a fucking ginger!" she added. "Heat and I… do not get along nicely!" her eyes then darted past Kay, who was in the process of painfully hoisting herself up onto the back of the Sherman. She reached a hand out towards the water bottles behind her. "Now. Gib me… gib, gib." she whined, flailing her arm - far out of reach of the delicious, probably already warm water. Jess grabbed a pair of bottles, handing one to Whitney as she gingerly climbed up onto the turrets and ducked inside - Whitney had done a pretty good job setting the fans up, each of them at an angle appropriate for providing some degree of a cooling breeze for each of the occupants. Then, interrupting Whitney's greedy gulping next to her as she downed her water in record time, Jess's radio crackled. She reached down and picked her headset up off the floor of the turret and slid it over her head. She hit the receiver;

"Hello?" she paused for a moment, waiting for a reply.

"Ah, Jessie, we're all set up here." came her mother through her headset. "As commander of the American team, you will lead them through the route. Now, we'll be starting shortly, so get your team ready."

After her mother's reply, Jess hit the receiver; "Alright, rounding them up now, is there a specific marching order or…?" she asked.

"Well you first obviously, then your tanks, followed by the foot units." the boys, she meant the boys and any of the girls who had opted into playing infantry - though the American team was also presenting a compliment of their sea cadets, those who were learning to operate the USS Eisenhower alongside official naval personnel. Thinking on this made Jess wonder if there would be any Germans present, German sea cadets perhaps that were learning the workings of The Rommel, though she hadn't seen any on land. "At least that would be optimal, we don't want you running over anyone."

Jess snirked quietly without holding in the receiver. No, that would be bad, it's just that she didn't think there was much of a possibility of anyone with any semblance of spacial awareness getting run over by an imposing metal giant moving at a walk's pace. "Alright. I'll gather everyone up." she replied, "Out." before switching to her team's channel. She reached over and lightly tickled the back of Whitney's knee, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"Whaaaaat?" she whined, ducking back down into the turret.

Jess placed a hand over one of her headphones, turning to look at Whitney on the other side of the gun. "Make a call for everyone to form up by the gates behind us, I'm relaying orders to other commanders, we're going to get this underway." she said, half-assedly attempting to button her jacket up with her free hand and doing a piss-poor job of it. Fumbling with the buttons and their slits with one hand was a pain in the ass, she'd leave it for later.

"Oh, right." Whitney replied, wiping a streak of sweat off her cheek before unfolding her sleeves and pulling her jacket off the back of the gun, tossing it over her shoulders and standing back out of the turret while trying to button it up blind. As she started bellowing Jess's orders, demanding people move out of the way - tanks were about to get moving. Jess herself began to relay the same through her headset.

"All units, marshal at the main gate behind my tank, I want the heavier tanks at the front, lighter tanks towards the back. Infantry will line up behind those, sea cadets you will form up behind them." she didn't bother waiting for a reply, rather, her mind was torn elsewhere as Whitney climbed out of the turret - her footsteps echoing over the hull as she slid down the front of the turret with a noticeable yelp before ducking into the driver's back into the turret and made way for the gunner and loader. Audrey then slid in through the very same hatch, with Kay entering after her, the two orienting to get into position.

"Alright, you good to go?" Kay asked, turning to face Jess once she'd taken position. She was in a similar state as the others, face glistening with sweat and a bit red in the face. Even so, she had that usual confident and go-get-em smile on. Jess was glad that it was so hot in here, at least then she had an excuse as to why she was so red.

Jess nodded, "Yeah." she replied, quick and to the point, standing back out of the commander's hatch. She adjusted her headset before opening the tank's internal communications; "Alright, back it up P.D." she said, looking over her shoulder at the asphalt behind them, finding it clear.

The tank's engine roared to life and there was a few moments where it just sat there. Then the tank lurched into action, slowly creeping back several meters as Jess made sure nobody got into the way. Though once Whitney was able to see where she was going, she took over navigation, shifting forward and turning the tank around to face the fence. "Yeah, yeah." Whitney mused, still adamantly refusing her nickname.

The tank rolled forward to the gates of the trainyard, stopping just before rolling out onto the road. Jess turned about, looking behind her to see the other American tanks begin to line up in twos. The road they'd be following was - right out of the gate - cordoned off, so they could roll down either lane two-by-two. Jumping on the radio, Jess relayed orders to the other tanks. "Alright, so line it up two-by-two, heavier tanks in front, lighter in back. Err, with one exception, Mary, put your Jumbo in the back by itself. Miho, I know it's not your tank persay, I know you're bummed, but put the M5 next to the M3. And Ramirez, put the Chaffee next to the Crusader. Yeah… looks a little weird, I know, but we'll make do." it took a while, but eventually everything was sorted out with the majority of the Shermans towards the front and the rear being made up of the light tanks - the Stuarts, Chaffee and Crusader. Miho's team had sort of been split up, rather her team and a few other Japanese girls were relegated to manning the Stuarts in the rear, while the Chaffee and Crusader were immediately in front of them. Then the M4, M4A1s and M4A3, all in all giving them a nice round dozen tanks for the parade. This was to be followed by the company of roughly a hundred and sixty infantry players and then the company of about two-hundred sea cadets. Their formation went back a fair ways, long enough to make this whole parade worthwhile, but not so much that it seemed like they were overcompensating. Because as Audrey would have said; "Overcompensating? We have no need." or something to that effect.

"All units, move out!" Jess ordered and her tank began to roll onto the road with her team following behind. They rolled through the streets, which initially were empty, only a few patrolling police officers making sure that no civilian cars got in the way, but eventually, once the crowds along the road were encountered, then it was time to start things off right. It was also here that the American band started their tune; playing The Stars and Stripes Forever. The crowds that had gathered were at least good sports, some applauding and cheering, but Jess was willing to bet that this would pale in comparison to their home French team's reception. She'd yet to even meet any of the French players - though the Canadian commander Jennifer Snow had returned from an outing in Paris saying she'd met with the French commander Marcelle Francois. Their song ended as they approached the Arc de Triomphe, though they didn't actually march through it. They rolled around the Arc, as marching through the actual arch was considered to be a sign of great disrespect for the Unknown Soldier. A tradition started in 1919, after the French laid down a tomb for an anonymous French soldier who'd given his life for France in World War One. As their piece ended, Jess could hear The British Grenadiers playing in the distance behind them as the Brits followed them, getting louder as the American team slowed down after passing the Arc.

The hatch next to her opened up and Kay emerged from the tank, letting her hair down as she exhaustedly panted out a groan… taking a moment to breath before quietly muttering. "Hey…" Jess almost didn't hear it. For a moment Jess pretended not to hear it. She sighed in her head, no, that would just make her a bitch. She turned her gaze to Kay.

"Y-yeah?" she stammered out. Hesitant to look Kay in the eye. "You doing alright?"

"No, no not really…" Kay uttered, splaying her top half out across the top of the turret - which was fine, since they were passed the point of being formal - most of the crowd was back towards the Arc. She pushed up off the turret with a sigh. "But… I gotta ask you something." here it came, Jess was sure of it. "What's-..." she trailed off. Jess hesitantly shifted her eyes to the side, trying to covertly observe Kay's emotions. She saw Kay shake her head. "Nevermind." she then shifted her gaze away from Jess.

Jess bit her lower lip. She was pretty sure - positive - she knew what Kay was going to ask. Damn it, there was no way this tension was going anywhere without being addressed. This wasn't something she needed before a major match. "Kay." Jess started. "I heard what you said the other day." she didn't even have to look to feel Kay's gaze shift back to her, didn't need to even look at her to see the shocked, embarrassed expression on her face.

"O-ooohhh shit. I uh… can explain." Kay offered, trying desperately to cover her ass, only to make her sound more the fool.

"No, no it's fine. I'm flattered. But… I don't want this awkward tension tying us down through the match ahead. So… ask your question Kay." Jess stated, putting her cards out on the table. She was an open book, ready to take whatever Kay threw at her.

"Well, I wanted to say this earlier, but… well…" there was another brief pause, Kay loudly inhaling through her nose before exhaling just as deep and loud. "After our match, well, would you care to, perhaps, uh… do something?" she asked, shutting her eyes as she forced the words out, only opening them to furrow her brow. "That sounded a lot less dumb in my head."

Jess chuckled in response, not as dumb as she was being. While she had started to come to terms with the possibility, she hadn't fully reached a one-hundred percent conclusion yet. But… what the hell? Why not take that leap? "Sure. Kay. I wouldn't mind hanging out after our match, getting to know my uh, loader one-on-one?"

Kay's face blushed red and she stared forward, her eyes dipping down towards the asphalt. "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a lot less stupid." Kay then emitted her own chuckle, shaking her head as she burst out giggling. She rubbed a hand behind her head as a shit-eating grin grew across her lips. "Oh, god… was that it?"

Jess glanced to the side, checking the pedestrian density. It was nowhere near as thick as it had been closer to the Arc. Her attention could safely be directed Kay's way. "I… think it was." she replied, giggling back in kind. "We don't even need to think of it like… y'know like that. For now, it's just two friends, getting to spend some quality time with one another." she reasoned, causing Kay's blush to lessen as she seemed to rationalize the situation. She nodded back.

"Yeah. I can deal with that for now. Easy going." she replied. "Nothing special."

Of course, they were downplaying it, but whatever made the situation more palatable and easier to digest. The two shared another chuckle at one another's expense. They'd played up this moment so much when really, Naomi was right, it was nothing special. It was just a part of life. "Let's focus on kicking ass in our upcoming match first shall we?" Jess offered, getting a single, grin-bearing chuckle from Kay. She jabbed a fist towards Jess, giving her a solid thumb up.

"Oh, I can do that. And while we're at it, let's make sure that we don't get too caught up in the atmosphere, alright?" Kay replied, though that last part was sort of lost on Jess. Whatever did she mean by that? She almost facepalmed. Right, they would be playing on a Verdun style course. Jess nodded back in response, smiling back.

Then, a haunting sound flowed across the wind from the Arc behind them in the distance. The British and Canadians were almost on their heels, well, sort of, given there were a bunch of foot units in the way. But they'd all finished their rounds - the only ones missing were the French. In the distance she swore she heard violins and various wind instruments playing. The tune was unfamiliar to her. Then the beat dropped and she heard the all female vocals echo through the trees that lined the street.

"As the drum roll started on that day - Heard a hundred miles away. A million shells were fired - and the green fields turned to grey. The bombardment lasted all day long - Yet the forts were standing strong. Heavily defended, now the trap's been sprung and the battle's begun!" They were doing an orchestral version of a recent Sabaton song, it was both beautiful and epic. "Descend into darkness… Three-hundred-three days below the sun - Fields of Verdun! And the battle has begun, nowhere to run, father and son, fall one-by-one, under the gun, thy will be done and the judgement's begun - Nowhere to run, father and son, fall one-by-one, Fields of Verdun!"

And to think, that was where they were headed. Jess looked forward, spotting to her left the assembly area they were to congregate once passing the Arc. Heavy duty transport trucks lined up along the road, ready to load up with their heavy machinery. It wasn't much further now. The first major tankery action in the West in thirty years. To be held on those very fields where the French had stood and defiantly proclaimed they shall not pass. She wasn't sure how she felt. Honored. Worried. Disturbed. Conflicted.

Jess shook her head. No matter what conditions they ran into, whoever they were teamed up with and whoever they faced, she'd lead her team to victory. She had to. Afterward, she could look forward to her reward. She exchanged coy glances with Kay, quietly giggling to herself. She just knew, Kay felt the same.

Hopefully.

07/06/2019, Bulletin: Seeing as I stupidly started another fic while this one was in progress, I've been thinking. The reason I came back to Fanfiction was a desire to get a name for myself again after a long absence as well as a curiosity; that is I wanted to know if my new style is any good (or if it's shit), with a desire to improve regardless. I want to do this professionally (writing that is), so while I don't want to be that kinda creator, constructive reviews (good or bad), follows, favorites and a general display of interest means more chapters. It may sound like bullshit, but if I'm not getting feedback, then half the reason for me coming back to Fanfiction is moot. I hope you understand. With that said, I am working on the next chapter, so that will come out regardless of activity. But some feedback would be nice guys, is 100k+ words not enough? (I'm not salty... okay maybe a little.)