A/N: It's safe to say Weimar Projekt is not starting this December, so second date of March will probably have it see the light.

Disclaimer: "GATE: thus, the JSDF fought there!" and "Girls und Panzer" do not belong to me, all credit to their respective authors/owners. This is merely a fan-made project that seeks no monetary gain or compensation.

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Chapter 9

Hunting the Red Crow

Schwarz Forest north edge, 100km south of Alnus.
D-Day +45
09:24 hours

The river gently ran its course next to the forest edge, fish and plants travelling through it in nature's typical fashion for the land. However, not everything in the area was as nature intended: in the northern bank of the river, specifically, there was a concentration of otherworldly self-propelled "carts", ranging from American half-tracks, passing through German medium tanks, over to Soviet heavy armour.

The people were different too: uniforms from a bygone era filled the sight, with its users going back and forth the stopped column, killing time while its leaders decided on what to do next. Said leadership was currently standing around a table near the front of the group, leaning over a rough map of the area.

The "leaders" were also heterogeneous to a large degree: first was Japanese Sensha-do student Miho Nishizumi, a Charakter Major of the German Panzer Akademie von München and regular student of the Ooarai Girls High School, and also commander of the group; next came Khoakin Petrakov, a Kapitán of the Russian Tovarishcheskaya Akademiya who led the armour of the group and doubles as 2iC of Nishizumi; third person on the table was Feldwebel Peter Roth, a German NCO of the Panzer Akademie's panzergrenadier who led half the infantry and doubled as an unofficial second in command to Nishizumi; and finally, closing the group was Dean Huxley, a Staff Sergeant of the American academy The No-Number who led the other half of the infantry. The group also acted as the advisors of the first and were currently in a meeting to decide their route from their position.

"Hans and I checked the area. We're currently... here, roughly speaking." He pointed at a spot in the edge of the forest in the map, it being the closest to Alnus of the entire forest. "All the locals so far have convened in that we're getting into dark elves' territory once we cross the river into the Schwarz Forest."

"Are they hostile?" Questioned Huxley, one eyebrow raised and supporting himself with both hands on the table.

"Territorial at the very least. They-"

"Very territorial, I might add," Petrakov interrupted Roth, taking a swing of his flask. "Grabbed a couple fellas from this area back in Alnus. From what I got from them, dark elves are not really the kindest of races, at least pertaining their home territory. Once we go deep into the forest, we're likely a threat for them."

"Adding to that," Roth reclaimed the discussion. "They're organized in tribes and clans, which makes negotiating with them, if not difficult, taxing in time. Our passage will last weeks if we have to negotiate with every tribal leader in our way. Command gave us some cheap stuff the natives have likened so far to use as bargaining chips, and the priestess we have with us does seem to have some sort of moral authority over them."

"So that's the gist of it." Petrakov took the chance to eye his three companions while taking another swing from his flask. The alcohol's stench reached the other three's nostrils without issue. "Any ideas aside from strapping the priest girl to the front of our column?"

"You mean aside from covering the half-tracks top to prevent arrows?" Huxley crossed his arms, looking at the sky while thinking. "Perhaps... well, have grenades prepared to fend off attackers and teams ready to clean off vegetation in the road might be a good start."

"That should work if you ask me. Don't dismiss the effect of firearms in natives' morale as well: if they act hostile, shoot at them. Worst case scenario they'll start running away."

Miho nodded at Jack's addition, tapping the table two times to gather the group's attention.

"Roth, Huxley, can you take care of preparing the column to enter the forest? Specially protecting the vehicles. We don't want any wounded that we can prevent. Also, speak with the priestess regarding anything she might need. She should be sleeping to the end of the column." The two NCOs nodded, taking their hand to their temples before leaving the area. Miho relaxed her shoulders from their stiff position, sighing and leaning back against her tank, enjoying the shade it threw over her body.

"Oi, Nishizumi."

"Huh?" Miho's face turned to the Russian officer, who was closing his flask with a serious face. "Yes, Petrakov?"

"Do you really think we'll go over to negotiate to the forest?"

"What do you mean?" Suddenly, the warm sun wasn't enough to fight off the effect of a chilling gust of wind.

"I'll be honest here." Petrakov straightened a bit on his seat, before reaccommodating himself leaning over his arms on the table. "It's more than likely that someone of our group –sorry, "company"– doesn't make it out of the forest. Those civilians I mentioned from Alnus? Got them drunk and spilling the beans on everything. Even details that I don't care of, like their marriage issues. No shit their spouses cheated on them, that's some kinky shit."

"Petrakov, get to the point please."

"Aight, my bad." The Russian dismissed the worry with a wave of his hand, eyes falling to the map on the table. "So, the thing is, these elves are... how do I put it... quite territorial, for lack of a better word."

"Yeah, you said it before-"

"No, no, not like that. I mean territorial. They will engage us in fighting most of the time. They aren't interested in negotiations; they want foreigners out of their forest and are willing to throw punches with people they've never seen for it. Our best chance is to go unnoticed, but failing that, shooting our way across is the next best thing. You know, bullet first, questions later."

"Do we really need to be so... violent?" Miho's concern was carved on her face, her eyes tracing the ideal path for her column. "We would behave as brutes and savages. Aren't we supposed to not be like that?"

"Your choice, but I'm not really against shooting elves in the face to get across a forest and get my job done. Just a nugget of advice: get some fire grenades ready in case shit hits the Roman fan. Fire is always a great thing to get enemies to break contact with you, especially in a forest."

"F-fire?!"

"Yeah. Remember we're only coming through; we don't really care what happens to the forest. It's not like we're setting a colony or something."

"What about our way back?"

"There's surely another way out of here. Probably to the west, towards Elbe."

"That's a bet. We're moving with heavy vehicles, we can't bet on roads through the mountains that may not exist!"

Khoakin sighed.

"Fine, I'll try not to set the forest on fire. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and get some sleep before we get moving." He got up from his seat, folding it to carry it to his tank. "Something tells me we won't have much chance for a rest inside that forest."

Khoakin left for his IS-2 grumbling about something Miho couldn't make anything of. She refrained from sighing, instead asking one of Petrakov's men to help her with the table and remaining chairs (the Sevchenko siblings offered to do everything, allowing her to go back to her own tank). She was climbing the medium tank when Saori peeked her head over her hatch.

"Miporin! Good timing."

"What is it, Saori?"

"Call from Alnus. They are redirecting the call of someone... I didn't catch the surname, but it sounded a bit like a cow's moo?"

"Like a cow's moo..." Miho frowned. "You mean colonel Woods?"

"Yeah, that's the one!" Saori's smile did little to make Miho understand how the certificated radio operator messed up the simple name. "Anyway, he wants to speak with you."

"Ok..." the redhead handed over her gear, escaping the tank to make her way over to the American half-track behind them. Shaking her head, Miho turned over to the radio. "Major Nishizumi here."

"Nishizumi, good to hear from you. This is colonel Woods."

"Colonel... to what do I own the pleasure?" Despite her few past encounters with some of the generals running the coalition in Alnus, a full bird colonel was still far out of Miho's typical range regarding ranks.

"I heard you were about to enter the Schwarz Forest. My column will move parallel to the river marking the forest's east edge, so if you are in the area and in need of assistance, feel free to hail us in open radio. Not like these brutes have anything to hear it anyway."

Miho had half a mind to tell him her radio operator confused his surname with a cow's moo but decided against it. She chose instead another approach.

"You are headed for... Elbe, right?"

"Sure am. Need something to keep the press distracted, and securing the Roma River is an easy thing to do. Also aids in defending Alnus by taking over the Geller Corridor."

"Understood. My company will move into the forest in a few hours. We will message you if anything bad happens."

"Good luck, Nishizumi."

"Same to you, colonel."

The call ended soon after. Miho checked the time: still slightly less than two hours until they went into the dense forest. She observed it again: the leaves were so thick that barely any light made it to the ground outside the main road, and even then, said road was mostly cast in shadows.

She gulped. This was not going to be easy.

"You should decide a sign and countersign, should radios fail and we get lost," commented Roth, appearing out of nowhere. Miho nearly fell off her tank from the surprise. "Between the large trees, dense vegetation, the rocky valley on the other side and the mountains, it's better to be safe than sorry."

"You are right." She thought quickly over a combination to use. Something short, easy to remember, world relating to each other. "We shall use... 'Victory', followed by 'Victors', then by 'Victorious'. Flows nice off the tongue... r-right?"

"Eh, I like it." Roth shrugged. "Easy to remember as well. I'll pass the word around, you can rest meanwhile."

"Thanks Roth."

"Don't mind it."

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Alnus Military Base

"How would you describe the treatment of the European academies and students towards you and the girls? Have you had any relevant issue so far?"

The student in front of her, Erika Itsumi, was notoriously confused trying to answer. Perhaps the direct style was only suited for her in Sensha-do matches after all.

"I wouldn't say they have treated us badly, nor have we lacked anything for our daily life... they even prepared lessons so we didn't miss too many classes, though differences in curriculum and language barriers affect how effective they can be. European education is fairly different to the Japanese, and the fact they're pseudo-military doesn't help."

"How about regarding military duties, then?"

"I..." Itsumi took herself a few seconds to answer, likely balancing truth with political correctness. "If I had to summarized it in a single phrase, it would be that they have us for exhibitions and the press."

"How so?"

"You know of Italica, right? The city up north? The one where they fought the dragon?" She nodded. "Many of our girls were there, yet they didn't really do anything. I've been told most were left uneasy after hearing the battle between Europeans and Imperials for the whole morning, which is a good summary of our capabilities compared to them. One of our brigades was left there to conduct peacekeeping operations, the rest returned here to Alnus. There's already large pressure from MEXT and parents to return to Japan and leave this whole issue behind, but, well... I think it's not a transversal thing, from what I've heard."

A way to get around criticizing any specific ministry. She already knew it was the ministries of defence and foreign affairs the ones preventing any kind of withdrawal from the Japanese students in Falmart.

"It is of my understanding that Katyusha, commander of Pravda, is at Italica at the moment."

"She is. She leads the 2nd Brigade over there. From what I've heard, the girls are relieved at not having to do combat missions. They mostly limit themselves to patrol the city and surrounding area in their tanks while German infantry keeps the locals at check, though I'm not privy of the details myself."

"Do you think our girls could perform combat duties shall the necessity arise?"

"Well..." she observed Itsumi doubt for several seconds, likely scrambling for an answer. "I honestly doubt we're cut for that. Most of us are do Sensha-do because we thought of it like the sport it is back in Japan. Here, however? This is a war. Most have never even thought of taking a life, nor I think they want to. Anzio aside, all I see when the rooster of operations for the week comes is relief at us not being deployed to frontline duty. I think the academic command knows of the doubt in our troops and prefers to be safer than sorry assigning us to quiet areas."

"What is that about Anzio?"

"They have this paratrooper unit, I think... they came with a different mentality altogether. I don't know the details, but there's a reason command kept them apart from our Japanese tank brigades..."

Risa Tsukamoto ended the interview soon after, departing from the Japanese dorms in Alnus. She somewhat loosened her ponytail, allowing her brown hair some room to breathe. To the distance, the second half of colonel Wood's Task Force E was departing towards Elbe. The task force was primarily British, yet included a Latin American column to boost numbers.

It was also suspicious.

The column was almost entirely made of recently arrived troops, be them from three of the Latin American academies (Academia Militar Francisco de Paula y Segura, Academia Militar General Cáceres, and Gloriosa Escuela Militar Porfírio Díaz) or the British ones, with the recently arrived Irish infantry of the Royal Guards Academy and an artillery battalion from the Royal Artillery Academy. The only unit already in Falmart was the battalion-sized 2nd Reconnaissance Detachment from the Udarnykh Voysk Akademiya, which was the spearhead of the column.

Why not use units already acclimatized to Falmart? It sent all kinds of red flags through the mind of the "reporter". She knew the Vanguard Regiment was going through a reorganization since a few days ago, with only two units splintering from it (the company under Miho Nishizumi's command and Major Antonov's recon detachment). As far as she knew, the regiment was sent towards Italica, while other units in Alnus were currently being assigned to task forces similar to Wood's, for reasons still unknown to her.

It was all weird. Risa was not an unknown to the military way of thinking, but not for being former military; she was, in fact, a member of the PSIA, Japan's domestic intelligence agency. She had seen the military's inner workings before, both working with and against them, yet it didn't help her in this situation.

As she had been warned previously in Japan, Europe's militaries were vastly different to her own country, including the freedoms they could enjoy. Add to that the fact they were in a different dimension, and the autonomy of these military students was at a level no Japanese commander could dream of since the end of the Second World War. Interviews with Japanese students revealed little, as, predictably, the Europeans made special care to not strain the limited capabilities of what were otherwise high schoolers driving tanks as sport.

She had little success trying to get words out of the academic high command; they had locked themselves in the war room and only doing prepared press conferences, and Risa was fairly sure most intelligence agencies of the main countries involved, of which many reporters were part of, already had the most vital information coming directly from their own national academies.

Tsukamoto sighed as she got something to drink from a small dispenser in the base. Cracking open her can, she observed a convoy go past her, getting lost towards the north of the continent.

This made raise an eyebrow. There were no major operations going on to the north, and that convoy didn't seem like a supply run. Asking around, she got word that the Vanguard Regiment, which was finishing its reorganization, had been transferred to Italica a few days ago, where its command had been quartered.

With nothing better to do until Anzio Academy arrived in force, it took her a simple phone call to secure a seat in a Bell UH-1 Iroquois of Saunders High School to get to Italica the following day, determined to get anything the students may be hiding from her and the Japanese government. Far away from the public attention in Alnus, students in Italica were bound to be less alert in caring about stuff.

And she was going to discover it.

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Schwarz Forest
D-Day +46
22:01 hours

Night had fallen upon the forest, and most members of Miho's company were long asleep, aside from a few tired sentinels who kept a loose vigilance over the surrounding trees. Much to the chagrin of the students, the sleeping quarters were limited to their own vehicles, often in uncomfortable positions, due to the phantom threat that was a night attack on the convoy, with its vehicles parked in a circle around a fire in a clearing, as if a caravan in the American wild west.

One of said sentinels was Miho, who supressed a yawn as she rubbed her eyes, absently peering at the bushes and trees around. The single bonfire at the centre of the iron perimeter was the only light source to give her some frame of reference, yet she was finding that the flickering long shadows of the "steel chariots", as some locals had dubbed their vehicles, were far from a comfortable sight when surrounded by silence and darkness.

She was praying on the possibility of a night attack being low, even if only so she could sleep after her shift was over.

Khoakin had been clear on his warning for the previous night, the first one inside the forest: "Night assaults are often done in the middle of the night, when most are dead asleep. With tribal groups, however, you must also consider short after nightfall and around daybreak, as they must depart or arrive back to their villages in time."

By how the night had been developing (so far a quiet affair), Miho had already discarded the nightfall scenario. The other two were outside her shift, yet he hoped with all her might they were peaceful. They never had an appropriate number for the dark elf's population, yet the fighting in the previous day had already thrown expectations of peaceful negotiations out of the window.

Miho's quiet status was broken when her mind registered movement on the edge of the clearing. She crispened her senses, grabbing her MP40. After what seemed like a minute, she heard it clearly: a branch being shaken off by something, and leaves falling to the floor. She didn't know what caused it, but she knew where: it had been on the edge of the clearing, with her tank being the closest. It was a soft sound, she honestly doubted anyone else had heard it. Or were awake, for that matter. She poked her head over her hatch, trying to get a better view. However, the night was as impenetrable as ever, and with no light source outside of the bonfire, she was better off trying to find a needle in a haystack.

She debated over waking up Saori. On one hand, she was the one in charge of the radio, and Miho couldn't really access it without waking her up anyway. On the other hand, was it really worth it to wake up her crewmate, make her activate the radio, and then wake up half the company only for what may've been a simple wild animal?

She slipped off her tank, quietly. Her boots made a soft sound as she landed on the grass, her heartbeat increasing as she took slow steps towards the bushes on the edge of the clearing. A light breeze passed by as she made her way past the plants and she ventured through the first trees.

"Victory," she muttered. There was no response.

"Victory," she said again, slightly louder. Still no answer.

Miho pursed her lips as she made her way through the vegetation, never loosing sight of the bonfire and the silhouettes of the tanks. There was nothing out of the ordinary. She was about to head back when she heard a branch snap-

-behind her!

"Victory!" She yelled, turning around in a second and pointing her gun.

"Victors!" A familiar voice sounded back. Miho blinked several times: Roth was there, both hands up and a slightly terrified face, one that was quickly changing to amusement.

"Victorious," she finished the countersign, lowering her submachine gun. "Roth... you really scared me, you know?" She let out a huge sight, letting her gun fall in place thanks to the strap. Roth shrugged as an answer.

"Not my fault, you know? Saw you move around quietly and got curious, but tried to not make noise so whatever you were stalking didn't take off running."

"Oh, thanks for... stalking?" She shook her head, breaking the march back towards the convoy. "I wasn't stalking anything."

"You weren't?" Roth raised an eyebrow, following her. "Then what were you doing over the edge of the clearing? It's not like you to take a dangerous walk on you own in a dark forest. As far as I know, at least."

He shrugged. Miho cleared her throat.

"W-well, I heard this sound over the edge and tried to discover what it was," she explained, messing up her words. Why did she feel like a kid caught escaping home to do mischief? "But I'm sure it was some wild animal or so..."

"Right... still, this is kinda like the wild west, ok? Dangerous territory, and full of fanatics if yesterday and today are anything to go by." Roth explained, glad to finally be near the bonfire. "Is not like the priestess is with you, is she? She went away to do who knows what, same as last night. So be sure to tell others the next time you go off to..."

Roth freeze. Miho shift her eyes from him to ahead of them. A dark figure stood in their way, arms raised, and shinning eyes fixated on them.

Her reaction was instantaneous: she fainted on the spot. It was enough for Roth to recover his wits and train his gun on the mysterious figure.

"Hands fucking up or I'll shoot you in the fucking face!" He shouted, loud enough to gather attention from the rest of the company in their armoured shelters.

"W-wait, I'm not here for..."

"I-I said hands fucking up! NOW!"

The figure glanced behind it: soldiers were appearing from the vehicles, guns trained on them and silhouettes contrasting with the fire, which seemed larger than before.

"Halt!"

"Hands up damnit!"

"If I don't see hands raised on three, I'm shooting!"

"W-wait..."

"One!"

The figure gulped. Slowly, it raised its hands up to the height of its face, not resisting the approaching soldiers. Roth eyed them as well, noting they were mostly infantry. He also noted the dark figure was pretty slim, perhaps female or a malnourished male.

"Push her towards the fire!" Roth ordered in German. One of the grenadiers nodded, grabbing a shoulder of the figure and pushing it towards the fire, always under the attentive watch of his peers. The prisoner tripped over twice yet managed to stand on its own feet next to the light source.

The Earthlings could for the first time get a good glance at their prisoner. It was indeed a woman, one who looked fairly young as far as adults were concerned. Her skin was dark and her hair of silver, and two large ears protruded from the sides of her face.

A dark elf.

"Fucking damnit," Roth muttered, training his weapon on the elf once more. "Take aim!"

"W-wait a minute-!"

"Halt, ihr dämlichen Idioten!" A shout came from across the encampment, speaking in a fluent German with a heavy accent. The German soldiers froze in their tracks, confused, while the Americans were even more at a loss. Wasn't Roth the seniormost German in the company?

From the other side of the bonfire appeared the half-lit figure of Khoakin Petrakov, sporting a death glare that made all present take an instinctive step back. His crew was beside him, arms at the ready.

"...captain Petrakov?" Muttered one of the Americans, confusion evident in his voice. The gaze of the group from the other side of the Atlantic shifted from Roth to Petrakov and vice versa, trying to understand who to obey.

"... I didn't know you knew fluent German, Petrakov," Roth finally spoke, staring at his superior yet keeping his gun trained on the dark elf.

"Only on what is useful," he replied, circling around the firepit. He took a swing from the bottle on his hand, grunting as the liquor burn his throat. "Fucking hell, it's not even midnight."

"..."

"...what?"

"Where did you get that bottle?" Hans asked, coming to the side of Roth. "We're literally in another world with shipments coming through an EU commission."

"Does it matter?" A final swing of the bottle, and Petrakov threw it to the pit. The fire increased significantly, shining significantly brighter over the group. The trained eyes of the Russian swept over the prisoner as her, and did most soldiers, covered their faces from the sudden intensity increase of the light beacon. "Uh-hu, a dark elf indeed... but not the same as before. And Dietrich, keep you gun on her. I don't want any surprises."

"What do you mean..." Roth was stopped by Petrakov's raised hand.

"Look at her clothes." The light was dwindling back to its initial level yet allowed a brief glance at the prisoner's clothes. "They're different compared to the elves that attacked us so far."

"...so?"

"Add to that that she's been trying to tell you guys something for the last few minutes and surely even you idiots can figure out there's something else going on." Some of the Japanese crews arrived at that moment. Khoakin gave himself a moment to register the arrival before resuming his talking. "Nishizumi senior, Akiyama, orange head, go for Nishizumi junior. She's that knocked out body over there. Ivan, cover them." He loosely aimed at Miho's direction, prompting the group to depart towards the company commander. He then turned over to the prisoner. "Now, regarding you..."

The figure was now slightly trembling, which Khoakin supposed was not that weird considering the situation she was in. He decided to be somewhat diplomatic for this one, but still reminding her of who was in control here.

"Roth, get over here. Dietrich, make sure everyone returns to their vehicles, then mount a perimeter with the infantry. Fuck knows I don't want a night ambush."

"...jawohl." Hans made a short gesture and started to organize said perimeter. Roth rolled his eyes, yet approached the Russian officer who was still flanked by two from his crew. The Sevchenko brothers if his memory didn't fail him.

"What do you want, kapitán?"

"Get info out of her. Yuri, Mikhail, keep a guard around us. Nobody gets close, not even that priestess if she dares appear again. Also, go fetch me some vodka." The brothers nodded, disappearing from the scene. Petrakov turned before Roth had a chance to reply, instead speaking to the prisoner. "Start talking, girl. I have very little patience, my partner here has even less, and not even we can keep you eternally from being killed by angry sleep-deprived soldiers. Start speaking now."

Roth noticed the prisoner gulp, yet no word came out of her mouth. He applied himself to the role and cooked his gun's bolt, raising the canon slightly to have it aim at the elf's torso. This seemed to do the trick, as she started to stutter her words until finally something coherent came out.

"A-are you t-the so-called men in iron chariots?"

"The fuck..."

"Is that how they've been calling us?"

"Well, there's little else to describe us from a native's point of view. Not like the priestess was any better," reasoned Petrakov, scratching the side of his head. "Wished I hadn't thrown the vodka bottle to the fire."

"Why'd you do that then?"

"Seemed flashier. Scares the prisoner."

"Is that why you said you had a reputation for making prisoners talk?"

"Not my fault it works, ok?" Petrakov coughed on his fist, regaining his focus. "So we are. Why?"

"I... I came on behalf of the chiefs of the dark elves to ask for your help."

Roth didn't bother listening and raised his MP40, stopped only by Khoakin grabbing it from the cannon.

"Why'd you stop me?"

"Let her finish."

"I'm not listening to fake crying and bullshit."

"I see your people skills haven't improved that much since our time back in Finland."

"You will keep reminding me of that time, are you not?"

"Only as long as you act the same. Now shut up and let me do my work."

Roth mumbled some complaints, however backed off a step to allow the Russian officer some room to manoeuvre. Satisfied, Khoakin nodded to the elf, beckoning her to continue talking.

"W-well... allow me to explain, please. A powerful dragon, a flame dragon, has arrived at our valley by the last new moon. It has devastated our forest, killed our fellow clansmen, and laid waste to our villages. To our hears have reached the stories of how you, oh mighty warriors, fended off the creature from a large city up north, with a power great enough to even match the apostles. As such, as soon as we heard of the news of you coming to our forest, the chiefs of the dark elves sent me to ask for your aid in pushing out this great menace. You will be properly rewarded, of course."

"Hold the fuck off." Roth stepped up once again, though this time he didn't aim his weapon at the now-kneeling elf. "You said the chiefs want our aid? Then explain who the fuck were we fighting for the last two days!"

"That..."

"You better explain soon," Khoakin added, hand reaching for his pistol. "I don't have a thing for liars, you see."

"W-wait a minute! This is all a misunderstanding!"

"Explain. Quickly."

"T-they're not with us!"

"Hm?"

"You believe her?" Roth's question came after he saw Khoakin's eyebrow raise, the Russian crossing his arms. "Sounds fishy as fuck."

"I'm more surprised that you know that expression to be honest." Petrakov shrugged. "It's not uncommon for people who live based on clans, family, tribes, or anything of the sort that doesn't involve a central government. She mentions 'chiefs', which implies a decentralized structure, probably tribal. I wouldn't discard a splinter group that wants us out that won't change their attitude even in the face of the dragon."

"That sounds stupid."

"Says you." Khoakin raised a hand to stop Roth's angry retort. "This forest looks really good to be the nest of a dragon with pyromaniac tendencies. I can believe whatever elves are living here think the dragon is way less of a threat than it is."

"I can't even fathom how that's a realistic course of action."

"I've seen way worse in politics. Don't get me started." The Russian stretched his muscles, releasing a tired sight. "Are the elves that attacked us from a rival clan or something?"

"Y-yes! They're from a group that splintered from the wide community a long time ago! The forest clan... or so they called themselves a few decades ago. T-they should have some sort of badge with them, often yellow with a tree engraved."

"We haven't checked for anything of the sort, have we?" Roth was answered by a shake of Petrakov's head.

"We didn't even bother to check the bodies after we realized they lacked anything that amounted to useful intel. We'll have to wait for the next ambush."

"I hate that."

"I hate war."

"That's rich from you." The German had to suppress a cheeky giggle at the Russian's expense. "So, what now?"

"Listen, elf." The prisoner looked up to the Russian, who abused of his height and her kneeling position to tower over her to a frightening point. "We will wait until morning. You scared our commander with your appearance, and we cannot do anything without her permission. Now be a good prisoner and stay here, ok? If you move from here, you are dead. Don't try any tricks or you'll regret it. Now, get rid of our bags and prepare your better arguments for sunrise. Are we clear?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Good. Wouldn't want the apostle of death paying you an early visit."

"T-t-the apostle of...?"

"Didn't I tell you? She's with us, has half my men horny and the other half scared. See ya."

Petrakov turned around and walked away. Roth was soon to follow, impressed a how scared the dark elf seemed at the mention of their absent companion.

"So, you are leaving her to be just like that? She could do anything during the night. We're still far from midnight, let's not talk about sunrise. Also, what was that about half the men being horny about the girl that looks fourteen?"

"She's not staying alone. Tell the infantry that they will take over as sentinels, instruct them to also keep an eye on her." The Russian's eyes travelled through the camp, falling on the Sevchenko brothers who got closer after the interrogation ended, handing him a small bottle of the liquor he asked for earlier.

"Here you go, sir."

"Thanks." Petrakov opened the bottle, taking a swing from the liquid. "Aaahhh, that hits the spot."

"...really?"

"Not my fault you are a bunch of insufferable idiots." He dismissed the complaint with a wave of his hand. "Yuri, Mikhail, keep guard of our prisoner. If she tries to escape, shot her."

"Understood."

"No problem."

"Roth, I'll leave to you the camp's overwatch organization. I'm off to sleep."

"...sure, whatever."

The captain left the scene at a steady pace, waving them off. The siblings stared at the retreating figure, with Yuri leaving immediately towards the prisoner, PPS-43 in hand.

"Hey, huh... Roth, right?"

"Feldwebel Roth, yes." The German turned to the Russian, nodding. "Mikhail Sevchenko, I think?"

"The one and only." He shook the NCO's hand, although a worried expression was plastered on his face. "Pardon me the lack of discretion, but haven't you noticed Khoakin a bit... how to put this..."

"Crazy?"

"I was going to say unhinged."

"That works, I guess." Roth shrugged. "I can't really say for sure, but I had an inkling that was the case. He was pretty composed, but that act of throwing the alcohol to the fire..."

"I think he was way more forward than usual, but well, I wasn't sure. I'll ask Ivan to keep an eye on him after he finds Rory."

"I don't really know if there's someone named Ivan in your team, or you use it as a placeholder for a name."

"Could be both." Mikhail left with a chuckle, waving Roth off. The German rolled his eyes, yet also left soon after. He had a camp guard to organize.

The following morning, after explaining the situation to a still shaky Miho under care of her sister and crew, she decided to trust the elf. Petrakov took the extra precaution to make her spot in the convoy especially vulnerable, should any ambush occur, and the group resumed their path towards the Roldom Valley and the mountains around the Tybe Mountain to the south.

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XXXXXXXXXX

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Italica
D-Day +47
07:56 hours

Risa Tsukamoto stared from her spot at the sidelines of the field outside Italica how the members of the Vanguard Regiment were being organized into their units. The soldiers and vehicles coming from Alnus poured into the base next to the city day by day, and despite the size of the settlement, it was increasingly hard to ignore the increasing amount of military personnel moving through its streets. Major Schmidt stood in front of the officers under his command, finishing issuing instructions before sending them off to the troops. Other senior officers, such as Majors Hausser, Davis, and Novikov, were doing the same.

It was clear to Risa that this wasn't the entire regiment, even if a large portion of it. Despite the two missing groups (Major Antonov was in Elbe and Nishizumi in the Schwarz Forest), it was still a powerful combat group, with plenty organic artillery and support units. Spirits were vibrant for the most part, and little remained of the atmosphere surrounding the bled teams from the earlier Italica campaign.

However, there was something bothering the PSIA agent.

Falmart command had been clear with the press on their objectives: pursue the war, put the imperial army out of action, reach the imperial capital, and sue for peace. A minor mention was done regarding nearby vassal states, should they become a threat again, as a justification for colonel Wood's task force headed towards the Elbe border. But what this did was to make clear to everyone listening that the priority laid in the imperial capital –that is, Sadera– and the defeat of the imperial army, while defending themselves from any other threat that may come their way.

But there was an issue. There was no target that furthered said objective in Italica.

Sure, there was the Lancia Mountain Pass towards the east, the shortest route from Italica to the imperial capital. However, it was already decided that one battalion of the regiment would head there to scout enemy opposition and asses its strength. It was also true that there was also the Falmart Volunteer Legion training nearby, but she doubted command had assigned all that's left of the regiment on instructor duty. Heck, she had barely seen a platoon dedicated to the task, despite there being a thousand members in the legion. Then, what was the rest of the regiment preparing for?

She retraced her steps back towards the regiment's HQ inside the walled city, where she'd been previously for a small presentation on its capabilities. A bored teenager kept guard, face sleepy yet weapon at hand. Risa had no doubt, looking at his posture, that he was a "green" replacement, likely straight out of initial training. A sign of overstretching of military resources to some, but not her focus at the current moment.

This was child's play to her. Part of her shirt unbuttoned, a slight swing to her hips, and an alluring tone of voice were all that's needed for her to leave the teenager with raging hormones behind. Poor soldier barely noticed anything aside from her sweet touch on his body, probably thinking he had a pretty vivid imagination these days. With that obstacle cleared, she made her way into the building after fixing her clothes, eyes peeled to catch anything of value that could shed some light on the true motives of the regiment.

'Well, that was easy. They're pretty confident around here.' She thought as she checked room by room. It wasn't that weird for security at these barracks be that loose: it was inside a military "district", which already made it impossible for locals to get closer, and there wasn't any danger of press members getting there without a lot of fanfare. If it wasn't for her, she doubted anyone would've gotten inside anytime soon, bar some local thieves with way too much time in their hands searching for otherworldly marvels to sell to the highest bidder.

However, and unfortunately for her, all rooms she visited were devoid of any special information she could've gathered through more legal means. Local maps, photographs, patrol reports, and sentries' rotations were the norm regarding what papers she found. At most she found a couple reports on orders of battle, yet still not something that aided in her objective.

After checking most rooms in the building, Risa was most certain of the lack of anything of value there at the moment. As such, she turned on her heels and walked towards the exit. However, as she was reaching the main hallway...

"Who the fuck let her in?!" Came a shout from the main entrance, making her stop dead in her tracks. "Sweep the entire building and lock the exits, then mount a perimeter around it! I want her alive, you heard me?! A single civilian dead here and half the press is over us!"

"Jawohl!"

A chorus of boots hitting the floor ran through the hallways, while Risa held her breath on the other side of the door she flung herself through not a few seconds earlier. She managed to spot and recognized the one behind the shouting: Hauptmann Meyer from the Vanguard Regiment, and also a student from the Panzer Akademie if her memory worked correctly. She waited until the boots disappeared down the hallway before breathing again, standing up from her spot behind the door.

'This was already complicated enough,' she thought to herself, fixing her clothes again. 'I really didn't need an arrest warrant on me to make it more exciting.'

Risa inspected the room's name: Officer's Room 3. A quick glance returned nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the three cups of coffee on the table: loose papers, a couple minor reports from patrols, a whiteboard with random notes, a map of the region nailed on the left wall, and...

Risa stepped closer. On the far side of the table laid a stack of papers significantly larger than others she had seen in the building, neatly encased in a khaki folder as they often were. Since she had plenty of time left, or at least until the soldiers calmed down enough for her to attempt an escape, she sat down and opened it.

The first thing that gathered her attention was the words "High Command Only" in bold red in the first page. That was clearly not standard procedure for a run of the mill document. Risa looked around one more time before passing to the next page.

The first pages were not what she expected, namely, not the title page of a full report. Rather, the first twenty or so pages were copies of maps, photographs, and some lists, things that would often be at the end of any report as addendums instead of initial content. Was this just a gathering folder for any stuff pending classification? The maps seemed of areas not around Italica or Alnus, yet they also didn't look like the imperial capital or its surrounding areas.

Suspicious.

The photographs didn't help either. A narrow valley, large cities, a bridge with a town over a wide river... most pictures had notes on the sidelines made in several languages, although German and English were the primary ones.

The next section was even more worrying: personnel profiles, but not of academic personnel. The people depicted were all locals, and aside basic from information such as height and hair and eye colour, there were some unsettling notes as well. For example...

'Reported magic affinity? Magic specialty? Last visit at Rondel?'

Those were not regular questions by any metric she knew about. She also heavily doubted the European students had enough free time to conduct extensive magic research. The profiles were accompanied by a few pages worth of reports on magic, mages capabilities, main locations for its study, current applications aside from research, etc. A certainly vague and crude research, that's for sure, but still research of sorts. But she couldn't pinpoint the reason for it at this moment, with all efforts supposedly turned to the mission of ending the war against the Empire.

The last pages confirmed her suspicions. On a plain white sheet near the end, it simply read in bold letters:

[Operation Ars Goetia]

There was a brief list on the following page:

Location
Rondel, Romalia District
Date
To be determined
Forces
Vanguard RegimentItalica Command*
*if deemed necessary
Support
Falmart Air Wing (subject to change)
Additional ground units (subject to change)
Objective
Neutralization of Mages in central Falmart
Destruction of Rondel
Flanking of imperial defences through the Romalia Mountain Range

Risa left the report on the table, blinked a few times, massaged the bridge of her nose, then read the papers again, trying to make sense of what she had just seen. She wanted to think she read wrong, however, the words in front of her refused to change even a little from her initial understanding.

It didn't make any sense. Were they planning the destruction of magic? Who was behind it? Why would they do it? If properly studied, it could bring so many benefits to humanity that it was a ridiculous idea to even think about erasing the possibility even just because of paranoia. Even more, Rondel, the city-state home to most notable magicians, was a neutral being. Why attack them? There had to be something else behind it.

Even so, why did this plan even exist? This was clearly not something done by a disgruntled soldier in its free time. This was the headquarters of the Vanguard Regiment, was it not? Would it be one of them? Was it a group of officers? Would the regiment's entire chain of command be involved in the plan? What was the chance of even the higher-ups in Alnus being involved in this? Too many questions, little to no answers.

Risa composed herself and hid the folder under her jacket, heading straight towards the door. Even is only partially, if she could make it reach other agents in Alnus...

...but she didn't get her chance to.

The door was violently kicked in, the surprise startling her enough for a body to tackle her into the floor. The impact made her react, but a quick smack with the butt of a rifle stopped any attempt from her part from even ocurring. She was then held down by her arms by two boys, clad in German uniforms she just noticed, their knees on her shoulders preventing any sudden move.

She spotted another figure get on top of her. A blonde girl, she realized, also clad in feldgrau. After a quick glance around the room, she sat next to her collapsed body and patted her up and down until she found the folder, quickly taking it from Risa and securing it on her arms. The eyes of the blonde girl were pure anger, Risa noted, although it seemed as if it was directed at something else other than her.

It all happened so quickly that just now Risa noticed the three figures by the door. She recognized the Majors easily despite the lighting not playing in her favour: Schmidt, Hausser, and Weiss. All from the Vanguard Regiment and the Panzer Akademie. A quick glance at the rest proved they carried the uniform of the same institution.

Just perfect.

"Funny thing how there's always someone listening," muttered Schmidt, crossing his arms. "At least this one is not relaying information to the enemy."

"Ah, Geissler." Weiss raised an eyebrow, which didn't make him forfeit the cold glance he was throwing in Risa's direction. "He had way more power than this lady here has, though. We're safe."

"Not like anyone could pass the information here anyway," Hausser scoffed, holstering her gun at her hip. "There's no signal here to transfer data, nor anyone getting past the guard."

"Really? Then how did she get in?" Weiss inquired; arms also crossed as he stared at his peer in rank.

"Not by my men." Hausser rolled her eyes, turning in her step and leaving. Schmidt and Weiss followed suit, the later briefly issuing orders to the rest:

"Oberleutnant Fehring, lock this spy in the cells of the mansion and have two guards from the Vanguard Regiment permanently posted with her. Then you can put away the document on a safe spot. We'll speak with colonel Laundraff to assess the situation meanwhile."

"Understood, Herr Major."

The three senior officers left through the hallway. Risa, now handcuffed and carried away by the soldiers and the blonde lieutenant, could only wonder what awaited her.

.

.

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A/N: Changes compared to the Spanish version? Well, first relevant change is how Laundraff's part was erased. We lost the segment on the volunteer legion, but they were still mentioned later. Risa Tsukamoto's parts were remade almost from scratch as well, and while Rory didn't appear, she's still way more present here than in the Spanish version. We also got to see new sides of Khoakin and Roth, which become relevant later.

Work on chapter 10 already begun, though I'm kinda dragged down by the whole issue of Rory. To be honest, I was never the great writing said type of characters, specially in an already made story. Well, whatever. I have more time starting next week, I should be able to start pumping out chapters of this soon. The new goal to finish the remake in March.

Anyway, read ya later,
RedSS.