N/A: Honestly, it's been almost a year since the last update. I swear I didn't have the intention of abandoning this, I just kinda forgot about this translation's existence after a busy period of college.

A thanks to user Charlie Meiou for his help on this chapter many years ago, that also let me get back on track with this crossover after the poorly written (in the Spanish version) chapter 3 (seriously though, who thought that chapter could improve so much in the rewriting?) That's mostly the reason why the first part of this chapter may feel different compared to the usual writing style.

Disclaimer: I don't own either GATE or Girls und Panzer, all credit to their respective authors. This is simply a fan-made product and I get no monetary compensation from this.

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Chapter 4

Italica

Alnus Base airfield

"Come on, come one! Move it!"

The limited ground staff in the base shouted among themselves, attempting some semblance of order, as the two fighter pilots ran with their flight suits ready towards their machines. Ammunition and fuel recharging was finished as they climbed to their cabins and, a few minutes later, both were in the air and on their route towards the city of Italica.

"Royalty 1, Phoenix 1, this is general Meller from Falmart Command." The general's voice came in clear from the radio, surely transmitted from the war room of the base to the control tower of the improvised airfield. "According to hauptmann Schmidt from the Reconnaissance Teams, the bandits who besieged the city have been either killed or routed, but the situation has taken a sudden turn and that's why we're sending you in..."

.

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Italica
D-Day +22
One day earlier...

The students who entered Italica were left a bit shocked at the state of the city, as the houses closest to the entrance of the walls had obvious signs from combat not too long ago. Roth, Miho, and Hana noticed that there were still many bodies scattered on the esplanade, at first glance a mixture of soldiers, militia and civilians, mostly in the space between the main wall and a secondary, and pretty crudely made, secondary wall, barely a thin palisade with several defenders resting on their positions. After the door behind them was closed they were greeted by an older soldier of middle age, dark complexion, and grey hair, who looked with interest, albeit a bit warily, at these "visitors" no older than children.

"Welcome to the city of Italica, though I'm afraid this is a bad time. How can I help you? Are you looking for something specific?" He received them, with Roth frowning at the condescending tone used.

"We come from afar. We come from... Alnus," Miho answered with a bit of difficulty, looking at her translator book just in case. But, upon hearing her, the soldier recoiled in surprise.

"Alnus?" He looked closely at the teenagers, who wouldn't be past their twenties, noticing their clothes before turning to the closest militiamen. "Call the princess immediately! Tell her to head towards the meetings room of the mansion! Tell her is that scenario!"

"R-right away, sir!" The subordinate replied immediately, leaving for the structure rising in the middle of the city. The grey-haired soldier looked at his guests bewildered, vaguely pointing to the road in an invitation to follow him before starting to walk.

'They most likely come from the people who slaughtered thousands of imperial troops, and worst of all... they are just children!' He thought as he searched for another defender, soon finding one on the side of the road. "Man the defences, no one in or out unless reinforcements from the Order of the Rose. Keep overwatch of the vehicles outside while the princess and I deal with this."

"Y-yes sir!"

"Downfall 7-2, this is Roth." The german spoke to his portable radio in a low voice, hailing to the officer outside the walls. "Be advised; we're moving in towards a mansion, probably the one at the centre of the city. Local garrison is alerted but non-hostile yet. Please relay to Downfall 0, over."

"Copy that, Roth. Try to not get your ass killed inside, please? The IS-2 is not a luxury car and most of us would like to nap some more."

"Why am I not surprised...?"

"Roth?" Miho turned her head slightly towards the german, confused as to what he was speaking, but a warning from Hana made her fix her gaze on the road. It wouldn't do any good to lose focus, and surely the trained Europeans had their reasons to do the things they did. Meanwhile, outside the wall, Petrakov's radio operator relayed the message to the command team. Soon, an answer was provided.

"Roth, this is Mikhail. Downfall 0 copies all and has deployed two teams on overwatch duty near the east and west city entrances ready to go in if shit hits the fan. If combat breaks, they're under Nishizumi's command, over."

"What about the rest?, over."

"Reserve team is still as you left it. The rest are still on stand-by, light teams are currently scouting that large formation on the outskirts we were alerted of. Apparently it's some kind of camp, over."

"It may be related to the stuff we found here. Do me a favour and load a HE projectile, then aim for some flashy hill nearby. We may need it for something. Roth out."

XXXXXXXXXX

Formal Mansion

Piña left her assigned room as quickly as possible, with one of the maidens still adjusting the final parts of her clothes. She questioned herself again and again for ideas, her step quick and nervous as she made her way towards the meeting room where the visitors were waiting for her. But, as hard as she ran her thoughts, she just couldn't get any idea.

"Princess?" An older man was waiting for her by the still-closed door, an eyebrow raised but his face showing the worry in his thoughts.

"Grey." She greeted him. Piña looked up, searching for help, but seeing the tense knight's semblance was not the best for her state of mind. Piña just gulped and fixed herself before going in, finally giving time to the hurried maid to give her the best possible appearance. "How is the situation inside? Never mind, tell me about the visitors."

"Three people, one man, two women. One of the women appears to be in charge, albeit not by much. Their uniforms appear to be military, with the man wearing a different one than the women, and they're all noticeably young."

"How young are we speaking?"

"They don't appear older than you do, your highness, and that's worrying. Why is the enemy of Alnus sending children towards us? Are they simply a scouting party, or were they who fought us?"

"W-what kind of country would send children to fight their wars? It's ridiculous!"

"There are cultures that foment the fighting in children, raise them to be warriors or strategists. My bet is that they're trained yet novice troops, sent to scout the city while the main army is behind, waiting."

"And we were caught in the middle of a brutal siege... what a rotten luck, huh?"

"Such is life, I'm afraid."

"Prepared to go in, Grey?"

"Ready when you are, your highness. Hamilton is inside, waiting to announce your arrival. Countess Myui is likewise waiting inside, already on her seat and presented to the foreigners."

"Well then... let's go."

Both knights nodded to each other, with the maiden politely bowing and retreating, before Grey grabbed the handle on the door and opened it, allowing his commander to step inside. At that moment another girl inside, Hamilton, shouted:

"Her Majesty the third princess of the Empire, Piña co Lada, has entered the room!" She announced, to which some bowed their heads. Piña headed towards one of the two chairs at the head of the room, of simple design yet elegant in nature, a representation of the philosophy of the local ruler clan. Sitting on the second chair was a young girl in expensive clothes of similar philosophy, countess Myui Formal, who, like Piña, appeared anything but calm at the current moment. However, to the surprise of the locals and the fear of his companions, a sudden laugh from Roth broke all seriousness and protocol, drawing worried looks from the japanese girls and a mix of disbelief and fury from the locals.

"Roth!" Hana whispered, struggling to make the german hear her. "Silence! Please!"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't! I-I mean, did you hear her name?!" The german's expression was full of amusement, with tears appearing on the corner of his eyes, to which Miho gestured to her classmate to silence him while she took matters into her own hands. Planting herself between her underlings and the local nobility, she bowed her head and shouted an apology in an attempt of drowning the laughs from the unterfeldwebel.

"Please excuse the rudeness from my soldier, but the name of the princess in our world has a very particular meaning than what you may believe!" She announced, somewhat quelling the reactions of the locals. At the same time, and taking advantage of the commotion, Hana gave a quick smack on the back that shut him up, though the smirk was still present.

"A-alright," Piña answered surreptitiously while she took deep breaths, calming down enough to speak without her voice trembling. "I have already been informed where you come from, but I must ask: what are your intentions with the city of Italica?

"We simply want to reach an agreement with the city, in addition to establishing a formal cooperation between us." Hana replied calmly with a relaxing tone and maintaining her composure, which raised some tension in the environment, while Miho checked on Roth who, for some reason unbeknownst to her, was sobbing his now-red ear while giving the other Japanese a betrayed face.

"Is that really all you're looking for?" Grey, who entered behind Piña, intervened, surprised. Was that really all they wanted, coming from an enemy that did little more than annihilating a good portion of the Imperial Army in little more than a month, or were they just camouflaging their intentions with pretty words? A brief glance at Piña showed that her brain was mirroring his thoughts, albeit her face was somewhat more expressive of them. It was now the woman who appeared to be the leader who took a step forward.

"We know that the city is a valuable economic enclave, so laying it to waste with superior forces is nothing more than a cruel and uncalled fate. Both parties can avoid unnecessary bloodshed, and while we understand that interacting with a current enemy can be frowned upon by your country, we hope that this can also open a channel of diplomatic dialogue with the rest of the Empire, so we can finally reach an end to..." Miho ceased her speech when Roth approached and whispered something to the ear. Her reaction (a frown on her face) was a sign that immediately worried both Grey and Piña, prompting the former to step closer to his liege.

"If you want, I can say it myself."

"I don't think you shou-"

Without waiting for any sort of approval or confirmation, Roth took two steps ahead of his commander and stood in front of the locals.

"To be frank, ladies and gentlemen, the nations at the other side of the GATE want to be paid and compensated for the murders, rapes and other crimes committed by your troops, yes, YOUR troops, in our world, part of which is surrendering this city so we can speed up the war against the Empire. And if we don't come to an agreement, well... well, WE CAN TAKE THIS CITY AND MAKE IT DISAPPEAR FROM THE MAP!"

Roth followed with a cruel laugh, which, combined with his grey uniform and height compared to most people present, made him seem incredibly menacing towards the locals. Hana, on the other hand, only looked at him with pity and confusion from the broken manner in which he tried to articulate his message, a product of his poor performance on the language and exited demeanour. For her part, Miho looked terrified at the german NCO, immediately taking matters into her own hands when it became clear, thanks to the confused glances of the other party, that Roth's attempt of a threat was not understood due to the poor phrasing and word-choosing.

"Roth, this is enough. We are trying to make them surrender peacefully, not making them fight us," she whispered. But the german refused to concede.

"I'm sorry, frau commandant, but this is what must be done. This is a high member of the imperial nobility, and as such I can assure you that they are not surrendering with just pretty words." As he spoke, Roth took his personal radio and brought it closer to his mouth. "A show of force is necessary, since we all came here basically just to intimidate them into yielding the city, and a show of force we'll provide. 7-2 how copy? This is Roth."

"Roth, this is Petrakov. You were taking your sweet time in there. What's up?"

"Is the HE shell still pointed towards a hill visible from here?"

"I think so, why?"

"Fire it on my command. I'm going to scare these motherfuckers."

"I don't think that idea will fly with command-"

"Command is not here. Just fire it, will you?"

"Well, you act as Nishizumi's representative or something if anyone asks. Your call."

"Hold steady." Roth cleared his throat, getting back the attention of the locals. "To make my previous point clear, I would like all of you to come closer to the window, if possible. I hope you don't mind the little spectacle I set up for you." With curious glances, the group of Grey, Piña and the knight who announced her arrival, Hamilton, approached the spot signalled by Roth, which overlooked a nearby hill. Miho was starting to connect the dots and tried to grab the radio from him, with Hana coming close to help her, but the unterfeldwebel took advantage of his height and kept the radio to himself.

"Roth, don't do anything that you might regret lat-"

"7-2, fire!"

At first, nothing happened, attracting a couple of annoyed glances at the german. Then, a few seconds later, the top of a nearby hill, perfectly visible from the meeting room, erupted in a huge explosion, Piña and her knights opening their eyes wide at the sudden and unexpected event. The sound and shock wave came in soon after, completing the display of destructive power.

Roth smiled, with Miho and Hana looking worriedly at each other.

"We have about forty cars, and they all have a similar destructive power. In addition, each can perform it several times. You saw it act with my word, and I'm not even there. I would like to bring to your attention, princess, that, with a mere word from any of us, this whole city will perish unless you surrender it to us."

Piña led her gaze from the smoke in the hill towards the german, her face stoic but her fists trembling. It should be impossible, right? Nobody in the entire world had this power, bar some of the apostles of the gods. But, if what they were saying is true, then the whole situation changed. They were threatening her, but also wanted to avoid blooshed. If... if she, somehow, managed to convince them of fighting her other enemy...

"Roth? You still alive?"

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?"

"Well, lemme see how to put this nicely..."

"WHO THE FUCK GAVE THE ORDER?!"

Roth gulped, a cold sweat bead dropping down his neck. He recognized that voice and did not like what it entailed coming from the other side of the radio.

"I-is... is that..."

"Ah yes, that's hauptmann Schmidt for you. Turns out he was around inspecting the city, heard the tank shot, came here to know why there was a single shell fired and is very, very pissed about what he saw. Could you happen to come down here and explain your reasons for ordering that shot without Nishizumi's explicit orders before he loses his patience and storms the fucking city, or worse, puts the blame on me of all people?"

"..."

"..."

"... I'm so fucked."

"Yes, you are, now move your fat, strict, scared german ass down here before I give the slightest hint of you lot suffering an attack from hostiles so we storm the fucking place."

"R-r-right away!"

"Roth...?" Miho's confused mention of the german's name was met with a terrified gaze, the NCO quickly looking at the door of the room while quickly muttering phrases in german in a way that Miho couldn't understand.

"I'm so fucked I'm so fucked I'msofucked I'msofuckedI'msofucked-"

"Unterfeldwebel Roth!" Miho raised her voice for the second time in the meeting, attracting the attention of the locals but, most importantly, also Roth's, who stood firm at the sudden mention of his name and rank. "Calm down and explain what happened. Now."

Miho's face was strangely severe, metaphorically giving Roth no room to manoeuvre as his superior officer walked up to his face. He could still avoid her gaze if he looked straight (he was a head taller than she was, after all) but doing so meant trapping his eyes with the princess' group, something his brain told him was way worse than his current situation already.

"W-well... to sum it up nicely..." he gulped, absentmindedly scratching the back of his head. "Herr hauptmann was near our team when I ordered Petrakov to fire his cannon, and now he might want my head in a silver plate..."

"So, paying for your actions?"

"That's a way to put it, yes... e-either way, I will be making my way downwards towards the tanks..."

"Are you going to leave us here?" Hana's question came from his side, making the student-soldier jump on his place and take two steps back immediately.

"I-I mean, you aren't exactly alone as we're all still outside, but... that's right! We still need to conclude this negotiation, so you girls stay here while I try to convince the hauptmann not to tear me a new one, huh sounds fine?" Neither of the girls had any time to answer as Roth took off his submachine gun and radio, giving them both to Miho, as he turned to the group of the princess. "Excuse me, but I need to go back towards our vehicles. Could you give me a guide towards the city's entrance? I don't want to get killed by your soldiers after all."

"Huh?" The petition came from out of nowhere, taking by surprise both Piña, her knights and the locals. With an eyebrow still raised, the redhead princess nodded and pointed towards one of her knights, the one who announced her entrance. "Sure. Hamilton will escort you to the south entrance. Hamilton, if you could..."

"N-no problem, princess! I will guide him safe and sound!" The girl shouted a bit too loudly, but Roth barely registered the fact. He made way to the door with the night in tow, both disappearing in a flash, leaving the rest to awkwardly stare at each other.

That, until Piña intervened.

"Miss..."

"Nishizumi, princess. Nishiz- I mean, Miho Nishizumi."

"Miss Nishizumi, if you could be so kind as to give us a few minutes to ponder about our options we would be immensely grateful."

"Take your time, princess. We also have to... sort some disasters on our side, apparently..." Miho's eyes wandered to the window, where she managed to see Roth trotting towards the south gate with the knight, Hamilton, in tow. The princess also saw it, an opportunity Miho took to give Hana her handgun and cross the MP40's sling over her shoulder.

"That's good. Then, meanwhile, please let's sit down around the table. I also wish to tell you about something."

"Really? About what?" Miho approached the table's seat with Hana in tow, raising an eyebrow.

"About the current state of affairs in Italica... and why we might need your help to deal with it."

Both japanese stared at each other, questioning faces, finally turning towards the princess.

"Tell us."

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XXXXXXXXXX

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South Gate

Roth stopped his trotting when he reached the inner side of the wall, stopping for a few seconds to catch his breath and clean the sweat product of the adrenaline rush and the dread rotting his head. Taking big breaths, he approached the small door on the side of the main gate and nodded to the female knight, who ordered the guards to let him through. Outside he met the rest of his team, most inside their vehicles, Petrakov, who was sitting on top of his own tank, and...

Roth gulped. Schmidt was staring at him with a face full of cold fury, a pocket-watch on his hand, as he stopped walking around his kübelwagen. The NCO approached slowly under the hawkish gaze of the two captains, stopping a couple metres from the german officer and moving his right hand to his temple.

"Unterfeldwebel Roth reporting in, herr hauptmann!"

Schmidt gave no immediate reply, limiting himself to stare up-and-down at his underling, before finally nodding in a silent permission for him to drop his hand while he stored his watch. Petrakov, meanwhile, took advantage of the fact that both were next to his vehicle, accommodating himself to spectate the "show" of Roth being berated to death by his german peer.

"Unterfeldwebel Roth," the german officer muttered dangerously, taking a few slow, methodical steps forward. "Imagine my surprise when I'm making a short patrol around the area and suddenly heard a shot from a large cannon, one which wasn't even aimed at the enemy, when we are supposed to take the city using diplomacy and while some of our troops, you included, are still inside. Imagine then my surprise when I learned, after noticing the distinctive lack of any sign of combat, that you weren't even attacked by the enemy, giving no apparent reason to order such a thing when YOU lack any authorization to do so." The captain walked around the terrified NCO as he spoke, who remained stuck to the ground with eyes fixed on the horizon. "Would you happen to have any excuse as to why you ordered such an action, taking advantage of your position as Nishizumi's radioman, putting at risk the life of a superior officer? Blood has been shed for much less."

Roth looked around in an attempt to evade the hawkish gaze of the other german. This made his eyes land on the form of captain Khoakin Petrakov, who amusedly looked from the hatch of his tank sipping a...

"Is... is that vodka in a juice box?"

"Unterfeldwebel?"

"Y-yessir?!"

"I'm waiting."

Roth gulped and nodded, visibly shaken, missing the smirk on the russian's face as he continued sipping his alcoholic beverage with a straw.

"Sir, I-I was just making a show of force to impress the enemy nobles present, sir!" He shouted, standing still on his spot as the hauptmann stopped circling around him.

"Yes? And who might be those nobles if I may ask?"

"Countess Myui, head of Italica, and princess Piña Co Lada of the Empire!"

There was a moment of silence as the words sank in for the officers, but the damage was already done. Karl raised an eyebrow, Khoakin bursted into laughter, some members of the crews appeared on their hatches to see what was going on, and Roth felt his face heat up a fair amount. The hauptmann opened his mouth after a while, but before he could say something-

"Oi, Khoakin." Sasha Petrakov's voice was heard from inside the tank, stopping the german from speaking. "They're calling from inside the city. Is the Nishizumi junior." Schmidt wasted no time.

"Fucking finally." In a matter of seconds, he jumped onto the IS-2 chassis and grabbed the radio the girl was offering her brother, looking at the city as he spoke. "This is hauptmann Schmidt. Nishizumi, is that you? What the hell is going on?"

"Captain, good to hear from you. We might... have a problem here."

"Did they try to capture you or something? Please tell me that's it, so we can storm this place and finish this once and for all instead of beating around the bush waiting for fucking diplomacy of all things."

"No, no, that's not it. The problem is that Italica was being besieged before we arrived by bandits. Ex-soldier bandits, to be precise, in the low thousands. Their camp must be what we saw in the aerial photographs."

"Right, that makes sense. Scouts reported something similar a while ago to the south-west. So, your point is...?"

"The princess and the countess here present have asked us to postpone any negotiations until the threat of the bandits is dealt with. Princess Piña says that they will likely return during the night and would like to join forces with us."

"She wants us to fight the bandits for her...?"

"Something like that... she wants to make a truce until the issue is solved."

"You have to be joking..." the officer sighed, taking off his cap and scratching his head for a few seconds. "Tell this princess that I'll go to the castle in a few minutes, get someone on the door to let me pass without problems. I must take care of a certain matter first. Schmidt out."

Schmidt sighed again as he gave back the radio to Sasha, meeting the questioning face with an eyebrow raised of Petrakov.

"What?"

"Dunno, what happened?"

"Politics, most likely."

"I hate politics."

"Make that two." The german stretched his arms into the sky, then cracked his neck and released a grunt. "Petrakov, take command of Seventh Team until Nishizumi comes back. Teams four and five are on stand-by on the east and west gates, use them as well if command starts."

"What about if you die or aren't heard of again?"

"Boomfield takes overall command if something happens. He's with Downfall 0."

"That yankee? Welp, works good enough for me." Schmidt slipped to the ground as Petrakov crushed the now-empty box of vodka on his hand, a sudden thought passing through his mind. "Oi, german cunt."

"What, russian cunt?"

"What about the fucker of Roth?"

Both captains turned their gazes to the german NCO, who still held himself into the firm position where his captain left him. He kept his posture, but beads of sweat were already starting to form on his forehead. Schmidt turned to Petrakov and shrugged.

"What about him?"

Petrakov returned the gesture.

"Nothing much, honestly." He slipped to the ground as well, whispering to his peer in rank. "How much time like that?"

"Until he passes out, I come back, combat starts or half an hour passes. Whatever happens first. The rest of the punishment I'll decide on later."

"Works for me. See ya."

XXXXXXXXXX

Meetings Room

"Guten Morgen, schweine." Schmidt spoke as he walked into the room after the maid before him opened the door, followed closely by a soldier as escort. Several knights tensed at his entrance, mostly due to the unknown language, but he didn't let that slow him down. "Princess Piña Co Lada, I assume?" He inquired of the redhead surrounded by two of the knights, who nodded as an answer.

"That would be correct," she replied. "And you are...?"

"Hauptmann Karl Schmidt. Hauptmann is the rank." The officer spoke calmly, walking to the front of the duo made of Miho and Hana and signalling the former to act as a translator. His escort, meanwhile, positioned himself at the back, weapon in hand in case the situation took a turn for the worst.

"Princess Piña, he is the commander of all our troops here in Italica. Herr hauptmann, she is the third princess of the Empire, Piña Co Lada," Miho formally introduced both leaders, who nodded at each other. The room remained silent for a few seconds, both analysing each other, until Miho, awkward at the stillness in the room, spoke again. "Princess Piña requested our help to deal with the issue of the bandits, who, as I informed earlier, number themselves in the low thousands and have been besieging the city for the last three days," she informed in german, though followed immediately by a short warning to the imperials.

"Can you ask for more details of the current situation?" Karl asked in german.

"Yes." Miho nodded, turning to Piña. "Princess, herr hauptmann would like to know more details about the situation in the city."

"Sure. Italica has about 600 militiamen left of an original 800, along with a dozen knights from my personal cavalry troop who were escorting me when we arrived shortly before the siege. The enemies number just under 3,000 according to our observations, most of them former soldiers of the Allied Army or the Imperial Army." Piña rubbed the bridge of her nose, sighing. "The problem is that the militia has little to no experience or discipline, and morale drops with each assault. Only 500 militia can fight properly, yet we lack enough proper weapons for all. That's why we wanted to ask you for help." Miho translated everything to the german officer, who listened with a steeled gaze and a hand covering his chin.

"Princess Piña," he began, waiting for Miho to translate as he spoke. "Unfortunately, the orders I received from my superiors were to take Italica by any means necessary. I could ask for an authorization to make a truce with you and make an alliance against the bandits, but that would take days, which I assume you don't have at your disposal." Miho raised an eyebrow as she spoke the words in the imperial language, doubtful of his intentions. "That said, my orders are both to take and protect Italica, so I will make an offer to you: if you surrender the city to me, I can –and will– mobilise all my troops as I see fit to eliminate any threats to the city, and of course you, your knights, and all the militia in this city will be treated with fairness and respect. We promise not to sack the city, burnt it to the ground, or do anything that entitles some form of destruction towards it or its residents. I can't guarantee the same if we must take it by assault after the bandits had their way with it." He shrugged. "The decision is yours."

Of course, what he said was not entirely true. While his orders were indeed to take Italica, there was nothing to prevent him from taking care of the bandits besieging it. Plus, communications with command in Alnus would only take a few minutes at most. Schmidt simply took advantage of the ignorance of the natives to put himself in a better position, Miho realised. If they accepted, they could take Italica without firing a single shot (except for Roth's earlier recklessness, of course). If they didn't accept... well, Schmidt had said it in the planning session back in Alnus: taking a mediaeval city with tanks and firearms wouldn't be much of a problem if they advanced with caution, especially if one added the unexpected factor that it would be against bandits who were most probably already traumatised by the fighting back in Alnus in the first place.

However, much to the officer's displeasure, the princess seemed reticent to actually surrender the place. Maybe he was a little to upfront about it. She was a high member of the nobility (she had a personal cavalry order, of all things!) and surely the thought of surrendering without a fight to an enemy was contrary to her entire upbringing. Then again, the alternative was fighting a losing battle against a group of bandits who would have little care of her status, besides for a hefty rescue. Maybe if he made the offer a little more tempting...

"Of course, if you surrender the city, I will not take you prisoner, nor any of your knights or the countess." Miho took a couple seconds to start translating, surprised by his sudden talk. "After all, we are after the city itself, not against you. You may go if you so wish, and we will not put any blame on you for it."

This gained the attention of several members of the locals, including the countess (Karl was just starting to realise that the countess was that small child in a seat too big for her) and several knights. But the princess herself was still doubtful, exchanging worried gazes with some of the people closest to her.

"Could you..." she started, deviating her gaze towards the map spread over the table in the middle of the room. "Could you give us a bit of time to think about it?" Miho translated for the officer, who gave her a nod before pointing to the south gate through the window.

"When you reach your decision, talk to the soldiers in the south gate. Ask for captain Petrakov or commander Nishizumi. If that's all, I think this is where we say our goodbyes." Wasting little to no time, the german-japanese group withdrew from the castle at a high pace, with both japanese girls giving a small bow to the nobles before closing the door. The group of Piña stayed silent for a while after that, all of its members in deep thought.

"Why didn't you tell them no?" Asked Norma, a blonde knight from Piña's escort.

"Because I'm not sure we can fight the bandits on our own."

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XXXXXXXXXX

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Day D+28. 4:30 AM

Princess Piña surrendered Italica shortly before nightfall, with the Reconnaissance Teams taking fortified positions in the three walled gates by the end of the day. Confident in their armoured vehicles and firearms, most military students aside from those in watch duty went to sleep with little care in the world, oblivious to any danger. Though, unfortunately for them...

"So, this is how it ends, huh..."

"Do they ever run out of manpower? We've killed like seven million of them!"

"Incoming barrageee! Take coveeeeer!"

"Shut up and lower your head! Everybody down now!"

The german infantry of the Reserve Team ducked in their positions, waiting nervously for the arrow barrage to pass, before peeping out of their prepared covers and raining lead on the assailants, who fell as if mowed down by a scythe from their firearms. Above, in the surrounding roofs and windows, a makeshift group of welsh riflemen "borrowed" from other teams made short work of any bandit who climbed the walls, with most of them lured to the bait that was the small gate left open after the first fire exchanges. Despite the effectiveness of the defence, it was clear that the attackers' numbers would overwhelm them eventually.

A loud noise was heard, and a chunk of the bandits exploded, blood and limbs left dispersed through the esplanade between the door and the barricade where the young soldiers fired their weapons. A short look confirmed that the help came from an IS-2 positioned several streets back, whose commander and one of his crew arrived on foot at the position armed with submachine guns.

"Hi ladies! Did I miss something?" The Russian asked ironically as he fired his weapon on the charging bandits, dropping to a knee to hide from another volley of arrows. Another explosion, smaller in scale, made them know that another tank –of the japanese students this time– had fired in their support.

"Not much, besides recreating fucking Finland for all I care!" Came Roth's answer, firing his MP40 after the arrow volley subsided.

"You would know about that time in Finland, wouldn't ya?! It's like fighting Vasily's team all over again!"

"Don't remind me of it!" Roth ducked his head just in time to avoid a flying knife, soon gunning down the man that threw it. "They never seem to ducking end! Are we sure they were only three thousand?!"

"Like I care enough to count!" Khoakin took the radio he carried with him, relaying instructions to his tank. Shortly after, another shell landed on the middle of the esplanade, showering them with hot metal chunks of armour, skin and blood. After said explosion, however, the number of enemies started to decrease, something emotionally noted by all the defenders. At that moment both Miho and Yukari arrived, both armed with handguns, though they didn't fire at the figures retreating into the night outside the walls. The shouting continued, though, and light was seen coming from the other side.

"What is that?" Did they get some fireworks or some shit?" Asked Roth, confused, looking around. Miho shook her head, confused as well, but Khoakin simply stretched his arms and started walking cautiously towards the top of the wall. "The hell are you doing, ruskie?"

"Command ordered an unrestricted armoured assault against the enemies, taking advantage of a partial withdrawal on the western gate a while ago." Roth's face became pale, while Miho elaborated for him to continue. "Since I highly doubt these bandits have any heavy equipment that can damage tanks, they simply run them over again and again while firing their machine guns and canons. Some flamethrowers in half-tracks too, for good measure."

"Huh... isn't that illegal?"

"Maybe, maybe not. At this point, scaring them into retreat is more of a priority than caring about some stupid Genera Suggestion." With those words, Khoakin left for the opposite side of the walls, ending the conversation. Miho then turned to Roth, who had slipped to the floor with his back supported by the barricade.

"It basically means freedom of action," he answered the unasked question. "They'll do whatever they need to kill the enemy. Laws matter little at this point, honestly." He took off his helmet and wiped the sweat off his forehead, sighing. Miho did not miss the troubled eyes of his underling, nor the tired tone of his voice as he spoke. It was not physical exhaustion that was troubling him. "It'll be a massacre."

The two japanese teenagers had little wish to see the carnage. After checking that the defences were still in order and that Khoakin's crew member accompanied him to prevent the captain from being ambushed, both returned to their tank to wait for the night to pass. If the screams and light coming from afar indicated something, a long night was still ahead for them...

XXXXXXXXXX

Italica's surrounding fields were not much different than scorched earth after the full assault took place. The assault engineers, armed with flamethrowers, laid waste to everything that crossed their path. The tanks shattered formations with their explosive ammunition, and large groups were decimated by machine guns. Approximately four thousand bandits in total fought against the Reconnaissance Teams, with the latter emerging victorious with some members moderately wounded, currently being transported to an improvised medical post in the mansion. The attackers were killed for the most part, despite pleas for mercy being common during the latter part of the ordeal. Barely two hundred managed to save their lives, several of them wounded or unconscious, and were currently being locked into the cells of the Formal mansion in the middle of the city.

"I think with this we can call it mission accomplished." Karl Schmidt announced to himself as he surveyed the scene from the top of a nearby hill. Currently the last batch of prisoners was being taken into the city, but the fighting had ceased for an hour already.

"You think so?" Asked Boomfield, his executive officer, with an eyebrow raised next to him. The different units were mostly resting in the same places where they fought, some eating a meagre breakfast as they waited for the 1st Japanese Tank Brigade to arrive and take over the city guard.

"I mean, what could turn this thing to worse? I highly doubt imperial forces appear now out of nowhere, right?" Karl replied while drinking a canned coffee. The sunlight was partially blocked by a cloud, leaving the pair in a nice, cool shade to fend off the heat from the burnt ground. But, as the shadow of the cloud stayed in place too long, both turned to see what was causing said anomaly.

"... you gotta be kidding me..." he heard Boomfield mutter next to him. He was inclined to agree. Adjusting his cap and throwing aside his can, the officer sighed heavily.

"Scheiße," he managed to mutter before dashing out towards his vehicle, blaming himself for jinxing the whole ordeal. "Me and my mouth."

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Present
D-Day +23

"Royalty 1, Phoenix 1. Confirm that you are seeing the same as me." Rick spoke to the radio, barely formulating the words.

"Phoenix 1, Royalty 1. Affirmative, target confirmed. Prepare for combat." Mary's voice came through the system as she readied her plane to manoeuvre in the incoming fight.

"Yes, but... but what the hell is this?!" The American yelled before preparing his own plane for the upcoming combat.

In front of them, standing in their way to Italica, a large red dragon over 75 metres tall stood defiant against them.

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Well, this chapter didn't change that much from the Spanish version, although it is made more coherent. The biggest change (and with difference) is Roth's behaviour during the meeting and how he got Khoakin to actually fire a HE shell to a nearby hill. I also took the chance to include more of the Karl & Khoakin and Roth & Khoakin shenanigans.

Not much else to say, I invite you to comment and see you soon,
RedSS.