The first major aspect Marcel had modified of the plan was to place less faith in the “desire of the people to rise and throw off their shackles.” There had been no particular plan of what to do with the Parliament and the ever influential and even still popular Royal Family, so Marcel had given a simple solution; kill them. The Parliament had burned out almost all goodwill with the people, but the Royal Family had still had plenty of affection for it. So, snuffing out that bit of history would kick out one of the pillars of support for any against the Revolution; particularly the sniveling Aristocracy, who depended on the support of the Royal Family even before this rebellion began in order to keep what influence hadn’t been ceded to Parliament. One could say that to order the slaughter of children was barbaric, but even an infant could serve as the flagbearer for those with a bond to the babe’s ancestors. So what was truly more moral, to slay a few children, or to condemn many thousands to death for not having done so?

Emre’s politics had frowned on such beliefs. Yet, the Revolution had a sort of innocence in its fanaticism. An enthusiasm that made them eager to listen and easy to sway. Were they merely united…not to mention of particular competence, they would be unstoppable.

The Vitelian local battle commander whom had been given the mission of storming the castle and dispatching Halmeggia’s royalty appeared, escorted by his own aides. They were a naturally scruffy lot, unlike the hard edge fighters that made up Marcel’s accompaniment. While Marcel was Emrean and the commander Vitelian, Vitelian was a language with the same ancestry as that of the northern bounty, and Marcel had learned the intricacies and differences between the two, now speak it perfectly.

“Mister Sesein,” the commander said stiffly. He didn’t meet Marcel’s eyes fully, either out of not wanting to look down upon him, or perhaps out of the opposite of that sentiment. The armed forces of the Revolution held a certain unreasonable spite for the upper members of the Party. “Castle Delamil was taken, and the Royal Family disposed of.”

“Are you sure?” Marcel immediately questioned.

The commander blinked, frowned deeper. “What do you mean? Yes. I heard it from your own man. They were stabbed many times, so that their blood ran all across the floor. They are most certainly dead.”

“But did you find all of them.” Marcel motioned the commander closer. “Come. We shall walk as we talk.”

“Well.” The commander adopted the tone of excuses, as he had to wheel about in place to walk alongside, Marcel passing him. “The prince Alexander was not present, but he is likely to be with the remnants of the Royal Guard stranded in the capital. They will be dispatched in time. I heard the Crown Princess was to be considered unimportant.”

“You imbecile.” Marcel clenched a fist and crushed some of his notes. “Why would you think that?”

The commander remained defiant and defensive, the shadow of foliage lifting as he and Marcel walked on. “Well. Well. It is that, under pressure, the Princess Edelina would step down, and the monarchy would be no more.”

“Fool. Do you not realize that one such as that could be pressured into maintaining the throne as well?” Marcel’s anger was cool and well reined. He was lecturing, scolding. “It matters not what she thinks, or what she might be claimed to do. As long as any member of the Royal Family exists, the people of this country have a rotten anchor keeping them from giving their hearts to the Revolution. Find her, and kill her. I care not how evil your methods are or what you do so long as she dies.”

“Well.” Again with the wells. “Is Alexander not of higher priority? The militarists attack in force. The soldiers available to me are few…should we not prioritize the capital holdouts? That is where they are most likely to be.”

“You hope,” Marcel corrected, “Your life must be quite easy that events play out in your favor simply because you want them to be that way.” It was hardly a unique behavior to the commander Marcel spoke with; the Revolutionaries had a bad habit of seeing themselves as the plucky protagonists of a novel for youths. “Listen to me.” The Emrean tried a more diplomatic approach, instead of speaking his mind, taking his black cigarette out of his mouth and waving it to the east, tracing its glowing ember in the dim light of early autumn morning. “Brash thinking has been hindering our operations. Overzealous officers took faulty information at face value, and because of it our troops have consistently failed to appear where the enemy strikes. A general retreat is to be ordered soon, but before that, we must have as much tied up as we can. Do you understand?” He traced the smoking stick back south, “We must snap at this opportunity while it is still in easy reach. It is true that this position will become untenable; but it is not so yet. Those monarchists trapped at the Capital shall remain so, even as we retreat back to them.”

It had been accepted by Revolutionary Battle Command that a retreat was necessary, with the unexpected formation of Wolfe’s militarists. To try and resist both the Aristocracy and Wolfe’s warband would have been suicide, but since neither of said factions had any love for one another, it had been decided to draw back where possible to have them fight one another, rather than be indirectly united against Vitelia. The retreat plans had been proceeding smoothly, Marcel had heard, if not enthusiastically. The capital, Halmez, was largely under Revolutionary control and would be able to put up fantastically stubborn defense.

“Meanwhile,” Marcel went on, “should we let mice slip from our grasp over there, who can say when we shall return to catch them? Will it be too late to capture them at all?” The cigarette burned at Marcel’s fingers, and with a scoff he flicked it into the grass. “Get back out there and clean up. If we failed to completely eliminate the Royal Family because of your negligence, the Council will have your head.”

-----

“Hey, Tom, let’s get a move on.” Thomas’s team buddy, Eric, tapped him on the shoulder from behind roughly. The end of watch, for now. A wary and tense eye kept for troops of the Aristocrats…not to mention Imperial tanks from who knew where. “Bonato’s saying the group’s hoofing it back towards the capital.”

“Hoofing it?” Thomas couldn’t help but complain, “We were driven here. Where the hell’d the trucks screw off to? Playing taxi for party people instead of the actual fighters?”

Eric shrugged while walking backwards; his rifle was slung on his back, the revolutionary fighter clearly unconcerned with encountering any enemies. “Don’t whine at me, man. Don’t see me wearing a black helmet, do you?” Just a green one; much like Thomas’s own. They had both been in Halmeggia’s army, and the helmets were their own, simple repainted to an olive tone that matched their new uniforms.

Thomas didn’t see himself as a traitor like some might. He’d heard about something like this coming a couple weeks ago, and when somebody sold him on the Revolutionary movement, he looked at where the country was, where it was heading, and figured that going with these people who advocated for a great state of equals was just…better. Though he could have done without all the Vitelians running around. Being around them made him suddenly feel like he was collaborating with invaders or something; he really hoped to be able to stay away from them for a bit.

“Hey, Tommy, check this out,” Eric suddenly offered from behind. Thomas looked back lazily, and saw Eric drawing what looked like a pair of glass jars from a cloth sack. “Don’t tell anybody though, y’know? I’m not supposed to have these I think, but, y’know.”

Thomas waited while Eric stepped closer, holding the thing with one hand. It was…a pair of small, clear jars, set between bars. Inside the glasses gloated a pair of…eyes? Not any plain eyes either, but eyes so brilliantly gold that they practically glowed. In fact, they must have glowed, to be such a shocking shade in the current light.

“That’s…” even though most Halmeggians weren’t in a personal relationship with the Royal Family or anything, anybody would recognize the eyes. “Where did you get those?...You didn’t….cut them out, while we were at the castle, did you?” Though Thomas wouldn’t have known how Eric would have gotten there. Where the family had been found was a completely different place than his team had been in. To be frank, Thomas was rather thankful for that.

“What?” Eric held the eyes closer to him, defensively, “No, God no. I found these hidden away in one of the vault things.” He held them out again, turned them around, and admired them. “They’ve even got labeling on them. These guys are old as heck. Y’know how the family’s never let any doctors or scientists or anything check out their eyes to see why they’re gold like this? Imagine how much you could sell something like this for.”

“Well, there’s sure to be plenty more, right?” Thomas pointed out, “They can’t have just saved one person’s eyes.”

“Oh, no, there was a whole bunch of them for sure, but…” Eric frowned and looked about, before stashing the jars back in his cloth sack and wrapping them up tightly. “A whole buncha really weird guys showed up and said they were takin’ them…or destroying them. Dressed like Party people, so you know there was nobody askin’ questions. One guy that really gave me the fuckin’ creeps, I tell you what. Like just being around the guy made my bones want to spring out of my skin.”

Such was only to be expected from Party militants, Thomas would have opined. Eric was the sort that jumped at shadows and still feared what might be in a dark closet across from the bed. Though the sight of the golden eyes had spurred a question inside him, which he wished to share with another.

“So the Royal Family’s dead,” Thomas started off, “There was a couple of real young ones. A little girl, little boy. They were killed too. If you were told to do that, do you think you could have gone through with it?”

Eric didn’t have to think hard about that one. “Hell no. They’re kids. ‘s horrible what happened, they could have been…I dunno, kept somewhere else? Turned into normal people or something?”

“They’ll always have those golden eyes, though,” Thomas gestured towards the sack in Eric’s hand, before starting off again, Eric dumbly walking behind again. “It’s the trait of the chosen rulers of Halmeggia, after all, going back hundreds of years. Their kids would have those eyes, too. I’m still having trouble with the idea of not living under a king or queen with golden eyes, and I…I support this whole revolution thing, who knows how everybody else feels about that? How you feel about it, Eric? You heard what we all had to do before coming out for this, that this had to happen for the sake of the future.”

“Well, yeah, but, I figured there’d be an exception for kids or somethin’. If I got asked to kill a kid I’d say no, for sure. And I know you’d say no too, yeah?”

“Probably.” Thomas couldn’t give a straight answer for some reason. That confused him, and the more he thought about why, the more he… “Eric,” he said suddenly, “Do you think maybe…we fucked up?”

“It’s a bit late to be thinking about that, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Thomas’s shoulders sagged, “I guess so.” There wasn’t really any choice left to take anymore, he figured then, than to head forward into this odd, uncomfortable new future. He hoped it would be better, though he didn’t know any more if he believed that this new future would indeed be bright.

-----

This night had had the unpleasantness of a rotten odor that hung over the whole of a city and pursued you no matter where you went. There was no mistake that, no matter how much you tried to look for flowers to stick your face in, Reinhold Roth-Vogel was having a shitty night, and it was moments like you’d just suffered that highlighted it, even if normally it would be a tiny annoyance.

Only minutes before, you and your company had finally reached the objective of the whole operation, the Halmeggian royal family’s castle Delamil, where they had been holed up against besieging Revolutionaries, but you had arrived too late to save all of them. For a fleeting moment in time, you had thought you’d arrived too late to save any of them. The thought of everything that happened that night having been pointless had been…indescribable. Yet, like a miracle, you’d found the Crown Princess Edelina whilst practically wandering around in a daze. Hope restored, you’d gone on to find Prince Alexander and some of his escorts. You had been somewhat expecting this, but this time, it had been your recent rival and questionable ally Lieutenant Alterwald who had “found” him. Yet, the Aristocratic Union officer had failed to procure the Prince, whatever his plan or reason for attempting such under your nose had been.

Though when you actually found the young man, perhaps you’d wondered if you’d be better off not having done that.
The Prince had the same dark red hair as his elder sister, pale skin betraying a domestic lifestyle in spite of having wandered out to fight alongside his guards whilst donning their uniform. He could be described as a pretty man of roughly eighteen years, his already impressive appearance given a healthy support by his shining golden eyes that practically glittered behind a pair of small spectacles. Prince Alexander’s expression, though, was more severe than that of his sister’s, which should have made his reaction to your attempts to be friendly and disarming in what must have been a terrible night for him more understandable, though the way he went about it was disrespectful to all who had fought and died to save him.

“It’s about time,” Alexander had said spitefully up to you. “The elite of the Grossreich’s armies indeed, and led by an ill-mannered rake. Rank incompetence the likes of which I should find insulting to be greeted by. I thank you for your arrival, tardy as it was, but for nothing else.”

Your smile had melted off of your face. The temptation to tell the kid off had been strong, maybe not outright telling him to go fuck himself, but certainly informing him of where he could take that attitude and stick it. No, though, you thought while cooling down. It was understandable that he was angry, that he lashed out. There was no reason for you to be frustrated with his criticisms, after all. Your arrival had come as quickly as it reasonably could have. So instead, a slight smile slipped steadily back onto your face, and you nodded. Best to be accepting and diplomatic. There was plenty worse that the Prince would experience tonight, and you had no energy to spare for spiting him.

“I apologize that I am late,” you said hollowly, “We ran into multiple unexpected…difficulties. But we’re here now.”

“Here just in time to join the Revolutionaries in celebrating my entire family’s death,” Alexander snarled. Ah, shit, he knew already?... But he was wrong.

“Not your whole family, my lord,” you corrected gently, “We have found and rescued your older sister, the Crown Princess. I’d rather have saved everybody, but I can’t turn back time to make everything all right again or I’d have already done so.”

You didn’t know what you expected, but it wasn’t to see the Prince’s face smolder ever darker than before. “Feh. What sweet comfort that is, to be informed that the sole survivor besides myself is the one person whose death might have served this country.” What a horrible thing to say about one’s sister.

“Your majesty,” one o the Royal Guardsmen accompanying the Prince spoke up loudly, “We have to leave, now.” He saluted to you, “Captain, your aid was much needed and is extremely welcome. If we could have your aid in moving the Prince to safety, we as well as Halmeggia would be eternally in your debt.”

“To safety?” Alexander echoed, “Do you think me a coward? I am a Prince of Halmeggia. To flee when my heart is filled with vengeance would be to betray myself and my position! I am not my sister, who scrapes and snivels before the whims of the people who saw fit to revolt and slaughter her family, as though she is a brothel wench rather than the bearer of a crown!” The prince then tilted his chin up towards you. “Officer of the Reich, in spite of your failures tonight, as you serve the Kaiser, you surely know something of honor. You will aid me in seeking my comeuppance, will you not? The blood of kings must be repaid a thousandfold, after all, and to leave without having paid debts in full would be an insult to I and a black mark upon you and your Kaiser.”

Quite frankly, it didn’t matter what he thought. The mission was explicitly to extract whatever was left of the Halmeggian royal family to the Grossreich of Czeiss, certainly not to stay in this hole any longer than necessary. It wasn’t as though you weren’t hungry for vengeance, though…could that be excused? Part of you did want to acquiesce to that simple desire, out of sympathy both for the Prince’s loss and for what he wished to inflict upon his enemies…but a part.

>I can’t let you stay here. I’m hardly man enough to defy Kaiser Henrik, and neither are you, if you’re smart. Your time for revenge will come, but we really have to bounce.
>I was ideally not planning on fighting any more tonight, but if you feel that way, I can maybe make up being late to you. We may have to break through Revolutionary lines. If that’ll satisfy, then that’s what we’re doing anyways.
>What, here and now? Alright. I won’t have my honor insulted, that’s for sure. You’d best be ready for action like you say you are, though, because we’re striking north this instant.
>You're hilarious. Sure, let me go get killed for your sake while you sit pretty with your guards. No thank you.
>Other?

>Past Threads Archive Pastebin (Luftpanzer is at the top): https://pastebin.com/UagT0hnh
>twitter is @scheissfunker for updates and announcements.

>>3149564
>>I can’t let you stay here. I’m hardly man enough to defy Kaiser Henrik, and neither are you, if you’re smart. Your time for revenge will come, but we really have to bounce.
>>I was ideally not planning on fighting any more tonight, but if you feel that way, I can maybe make up being late to you. We may have to break through Revolutionary lines. If that’ll satisfy, then that’s what we’re doing anyways.

>>3149564
>I can’t let you stay here. I’m hardly man enough to defy Kaiser Henrik, and neither are you, if you’re smart. Your time for revenge will come, but we really have to bounce.

We will carry the prince bound and gagged back to safety if we have to. We have already failed to save the majority of the royals, we can’t let the ones left endangered for honor and revenge.

>>3149564
>>I can’t let you stay here. I’m hardly man enough to defy Kaiser Henrik, and neither are you, if you’re smart. Your time for revenge will come, but we really have to bounce.

>>3149564
>I can’t let you stay here. I’m hardly man enough to defy Kaiser Henrik, and neither are you, if you’re smart. Your time for revenge will come, but we really have to bounce.

I'm awake. Sorry about the wait.
>>3149726
>>3149840
>>3149891
>>3149921
I'm a delivery boy.

Writing.

As much as you wouldn’t have minded fighting more Revolutionaries yourself, your men had had a long night too, and the longer you spent here, the longer what remained of the royal family would be in danger. The Prince’s outrageous proposal thus fell on deaf ears. “I can’t let you stay here,” you pointed out plainly, “Maybe we’ll run into Revolutionaries on the way out, in which case we’ll definitely see to them, but otherwise I’m hardly man enough to defy Kaiser Henrik, and neither are you.” Kaiser Henrik had a similar sort of boyish, cherubic beauty as Alexander did, but you had heard that despite his normal cajoling nature, he had a fearsome, fiery temper if provoked. “At least, if you’re smart. The time to get back at these guys’ll come, but for now, we really gotta bounce.”

“Bounce?” The Prince repeated, “Do you mean to flee? I will not allow it. If you are too craven, then I certainly will not-“

“Yeah okay,” you interrupted, “Sorry, your highness, but the Kaiser told me I didn’t have to take orders from you.” A small fib. “Royal guards guys, we have to go.”

“Forgive us, my prince,” one of the guardsmen stepped up, then another, and manhandled the Prince towards your tank. He cursed and spat all the way, but the guardsmen were much larger and stronger than he, so there was no trouble whatsoever. Whether it was out of any enmity for their bothersome charge or a good sense of what way the winds were blowing you didn’t know, but the end result was that you were speeding away back to the company with 2nd platoon in no time at all, the Prince in tow.

-----

“Captain,” Alterwald’s irritating drone disturbed your trek back, “Did you encounter the group I was pursuing? Perhaps take them into custody?”

“I did,” you responded, “Although I would wonder what problem the Royal Guards and Prince Alexander would have with you, yeah?” You weren’t sure how far to take this accusation yet, but you started with things that both of you ought to have known. “I heard them shooting at you. Why is that?”

“Perhaps they mistook us for militarists,” Alterwald answered, simple as could be. “I should remind you how distant we are from the battle line of my comrades.”

He wouldn’t be the only one mistaken for a militarist, you thought bitterly as you thought back to when you’d returned Eidan Wolfe to her father earlier. There was no doubt that Alterwald had sent his attack bitch (and bed warmer) after you to thwart your plans; he could pretend nothing had happened all he liked, but Vivi had disabled your command tank and wounded your driver before you managed to put her down, so your anger was plenty righteous and fresh. The only trouble was when to act upon it.

That said, there was little opportunity like there was present to deal with the problem. The Halmeggian infantry complement that had accompanied you had sustained heavy casualties attacking the castle, and since you had had first platoon and Lieutenant Covacs come out to support you, dealing with Alterwald out here wouldn’t be too difficult, you wagered, while everybody was also far out enough that you could avoid alarming the Aristocratic Union. That, you had deemed, was still too much of a risk, though. In any case, Alterwald had been careful around you after his assassination attempt. Even though both of you were alone out here and you were wary of him, he was just as wary of you, and remained out of engagement range from you, breaking off his chase of the guardsmen as they closed onto your position. However, maybe you could pressure Alterwald more directly, with this new information…

>Pressure Alterwald on why he was keeping safely away from you. You knew already why he was doing so, but you were allies, were you not? Why so cautious?
>Demand to know why Alterwald was pursuing the Prince without telling you who he was going after. There was no reason he would try such deception unless he was up to something; accuse him of treason and demand his troops replace him.
>You had everything you wanted. Alterwald could do nothing now, so you’d do nothing back. Focus on exploiting his “aid” returning back to the Fallschirmjäger.
>Other?

>>3150244
>>You had everything you wanted. Alterwald could do nothing now, so you’d do nothing back. Focus on exploiting his “aid” returning back to the Fallschirmjäger.

>>3150244
>You had everything you wanted. Alterwald could do nothing now, so you’d do nothing back. Focus on exploiting his “aid” returning back to the Fallschirmjäger.

>>3150244
>Pressure Alterwald on why he was keeping safely away from you. You knew already why he was doing so, but you were allies, were you not? Why so cautious?

Why indeed.

Also tanq, is there any way we can use our leftover crew from the command tank to commandeer one or both of the armored cars? We can even send over the commander of a luftpanzer that we take to replace ours.

If that’s not possible are the luftpanzer crews familiar enough to work the gun or radio of the cars? It would be nice to know for certain the allegiance of the person behind those guns.

>>3150483
>Also tanq, is there any way we can use our leftover crew from the command tank to commandeer one or both of the armored cars? We can even send over the commander of a luftpanzer that we take to replace ours.

There's only two people, your driver and loader; and even then the driver's wounded and not in any state to be commanding or fighting or doing anything but his best at convalescing. Sending a commander you replace would mean you could have two commanders, but each of the ABV m7/28 type cars takes a crew of at minimum two and ideally three or four, so it's not like you could completely replace Sergeant Dohdt and his crew unless you stripped out more crew, at least, from where you are right now. Though you did find a few Royal Guardsmen who have more sympathy to you than to any rebel faction...though they likely lack the ideal amount of vehicle training.

>If that’s not possible are the luftpanzer crews familiar enough to work the gun or radio of the cars? It would be nice to know for certain the allegiance of the person behind those guns.

The ABV m7/28 is a Vitelian design, not a Reich one, unlike the lighter model of armored car encountered, so they wouldn't be very familiar with it. However, in spite of its accents and general culture blending, Halmeggia is still an Imperial speaking country, and the mix of its equipment tends to favor the Reich when it comes to details such as arms, electronics and the like, so while the shell of the vehicle would be quite unfamiliar, its innards would actually be rather recognizable, and when you get beyond that the thing is basically a truck anyways.

TL;DR "Yes, but..."

>>3150244
>>You had everything you wanted. Alterwald could do nothing now, so you’d do nothing back. Focus on exploiting his “aid” returning back to the Fallschirmjäger.

>>3149551
Hi.
Your abs are as bad as always.
Better, but still bad.

Also I want Panzer Commander back.

>>3150505
Ok, something at least, but not ideal. Thanks mate.

I am alive.

>>3150601
>bad as always.
>Better, but still bad.
I feel like this could be applied in general really but I appreciate it anyways.
>Also I want Panzer Commander back.
I'm sorry. I promise that there's not much longer to go.

>>3150269
>>3150378
>>3150519
Live and let live.

Update will be soon.

>>3151601
>I feel like this could be applied in general really
I actually think your art is really good.
Except when you're drawing abs.
It's bafflingly specific.

>I promise that there's not much longer to go.
I'll always be waiting.

A shame for Alterwald really, that in spite of all these opportunities to show him what for, you had no need to take any of them. No, you had everything you wanted. Far be it from you to forgive, but you could certainly live and let live, so long as you could focus on getting back to the Battalion.

“Company,” you addressed everybody on the radio, “We’ve managed to secure the Crown Princess Edelina and Prince Alexander. Is that everybody we can get, or am I missing any members of the family?” Both Alterwald and Sergeant Dohdt confirmed that you were not. “Great. Everybody assemble back at the castle and get ready to start moving again. It’s time to wrap everything up.”

As could be expected for swift vehicles as Luftpanzers, you were able to make it back to Castle Delamil without anybody interrupting you, save for an odd communique from back at the castle. It was Sergeant Schneider, the acting commander of 2nd platoon (when you weren’t leading it about, at least), using the radio of…what must have been one of Fischer’s tanks in 3rd platoon.

“Captain,” he addressed you, “I heard from Lieutenant Fischer that you retrieved Prince Alexander. I told the Princess this, and she reacted strangely.”

“Strangely? What do you mean?” you responded.

“She requested that you meet with her by the castle. By yourself. Without her brother. She didn’t say why, but she did seem awfully distressed about it.”

“I’ll look into it when I get back.” You thought a second. “Keep a close eye on her, alright Sergeant?”

“Yes, sir.”

You sighed, and took yourself topside again. Your leg ached as usual, but it kept you awake and alert at least; not that you wanted to be. To be frank, you weren’t sure if you wanted to sleep or drink more. A glass of something that tasted like gasoline, straight up and in a rocks glass filled to the brim, would be awfully pleasant right now. Alcohol was a steadfast friend; it could always be trusted to do what you asked of it, no matter the situation. Maybe it was a rambunctious and brash friend that lacked sense, but it was something that was never unpleasant to be with. Supposedly.

You weren’t an alcoholic, yet, but a battlefield had its ways of denying the comfort of sleep no matter how one wished for it.

-----

“We’re here,” you announced to your passengers as the tank rolled to a stop before the castle. What Aristocratic Union soldiers had survived the assault still looked unnerved, and similarly to how you’d seen at the bridge when you first met the faction, they had become undisciplined and lax. Your Luftpanzers were taking proper responsibility for security, of course, but you were quickly growing wary of getting into another fight, at least with that particular infantry platoon.

“What a sorry bunch,” one of the Royal Guardsmen commented. “Who are these people?”

“They’re with the Aristocratic Union Security Council, I think they’re called,” you explained, “A group supporting noble interests. We brokered an alliance with them for their help in rescuing the royal family.”

“The nobles, huh,” the guardsmen said, lacking confidence in his voice.

“Out of all Halmeggia, naturally only those of worth came to our aid, meager as said aid was,” Prince Alexander sad scathingly. “Perhaps they will find an ally in me in dispensing proper punishment to the common folk.”

“Ah.” You almost felt a need to comment on that concerning outburst.

“Where is my sister?” Alexander demanded quickly, dismounting and whirling on you, “Show me her. We have a terrible need to discuss the current state of affairs.”

“Captain,” Sergeant Schneider appeared, and saluted.

“Perfect timing, Sergeant,” you saluted back. “These are his majesty Prince Alexander, and his guards. If you could escort them to the truck where my driver is at, that’d be sweet of you.” Then, to the prince. “I’ll bring your sister to you. We’ve got her elsewhere for now.”

“Do not delay.” The Prince said back, with a hint of threat.

You dismounted, carefully, yet were still unable to avoid pain as you landed badly on your leg for what had to be the tenth time that night. You weren’t exactly keeping count. Sergeant Schneider pointed you subtly in the direction you could find the princess, before leading the Prince off with his guards. The Prince’s spiteful commentary continued, but thankfully further and further out of earshot.

Right then, you thought as you stretched your leg out to try and keep that limp under control, time for your date with the princess. Though damn if you weren’t tired of running around; you had to get back to Owl 3 as soon as you could and get stitched again.

-----

Princess Edelina Von Halm Auric waited for you by herself, by the corner of one of many outcroppings from the one magnificent Castle Delamil. She had taken her cloak off, and held it in her hands; it appeared wrapped around…something. With the huge, concealing cloak off of her shoulders, there were many things you could say about the Princess, many things indeed, but then you were more curious of what on earth she’d asked for a private meeting with you for, especially one requested without the presence of her brother. There was certainly bad blood between them, but you felt reason to be suspicious beyond that, especially when you guessed that the subject of the meeting would be whatever object she was hiding cocooned in the cloak.

“Captain Roth-Vogel,” she said, her light, airy voice maintaining its tone that tickled at your ears. “Thank you for coming here. This will be a strange request, especially given that I will not be able to answer any questions you may have about it, but you must understand that it is vital…” She raised the wrapped object, “I need you to take this. Take it anywhere, so long as it is away from here, away from Halmeggia. Hide it, and don’t try to do anything with it, or give it to anybody that you wouldn’t trust to lose it forever.”

“…Alright, look,” you crooked your eyebrows and smirked at the Princess, “you can’t not tell me what it is. How am I supposed to resist trying to look with you being so mysterious about it?” It was like a dirty magazine laying closed on a table, practically.

File: lpq_scene27.png (631 KB, 900x675)

631 KB PNG

“I cannot tell you,” Edelina said plainly, “And if you were to look at it, there would be no way for you to know what it was anyways, not without attempting to dismantle it. Know that trying to do so would be an extremely poor idea. Please.” Edelina’s eyes fell, her mouth twisted in concern, “This must be done.”

A show was made of scratching your chin with your pinky. “You’re awfully trusting to give whatever the hell this thing is to somebody little better than a stranger.”

“You are not a stranger.” Edelina said, “You are Captain Roth-Vogel, and you serve the Kaiser. You are strong enough to protect this object, and knowledgeable of its nature as you are able or interested to exploit it. You are the best choice that I have for this favor.” She held it out, looking down, “I realize that I am asking a strange task, and I have very little right now to give in exchange.”

“So what do I get then?” you couldn’t help rushing the question, “Though I can’t say I’ve ever been paid for losing something. Usually that’s something I have to pay for.”

“Anything.” Edelina said firmly.

“Anything?” you repeated.

“Anything you want that I can give. It is that important.” Her golden eyes flashed as she said this; she seemed to be more cautious of potential onlookers than of you, as she looked around everywhere but towards you.

How strange. It wouldn’t be a big thing to be responsible for if you treated it as some unknown thing wrapped up in a cloak, but there was no way it was something simple enough to play dumb about, was it?

>There’s no need to be so dramatic. It’s a little favor, I don’t need any sort of reward at all.
>Yeah, no. At least tell me what the thing is, or maybe the answers to a few more things. I hate going into anything blind.
>…You forget you’re wearing all that shiny stuff? One of those things would certainly be appreciated. My salary’s not as high as it could be, after all.
>Now’s not really the time for what I would have in mind. By which I mean I can’t think of anything. Course.
>Other?

>Update soon
>Three hours later
Kill me.

>>3151972
>Other?
We can keep it and her safe free of charge until we get to safety. If we are willing to take it then, we can decide on what the favor should be.

Also I don't want to be agreeing to take the only thing the princess of a besieged castle took with her, leaving her family behind possibly to keep safe.

>>3151972
>>There’s no need to be so dramatic. It’s a little favor, I don’t need any sort of reward at all.
>Can I ask you something though? What's going on between you and your brother? I think I'm going to need to know before we all get together and travel.

>>3151972
seconding
>>3152235

>>3151972
also voting for this
>>3152235

>>3151972
Jesus christ she is shiny.
We need to giver her our field jacket...oh right.
well hell any kind of disguise.

>>3152235
This works also warn her that her brother demanded to speak with her.

>>3152235
Supporting

>>3152087
I'd rather you keep it.

>>3152235
>>3152251
>>3152488
>>3152791
But if I do take it, my reward is being a gentleman. Also, sibling rivalry or something.

>>3152781
Oops, you already gave your jacket to another lady!

Gonna get one more update out tonight.

“I don’t know,” you looked at the bundle skeptically, then to the Princess. “Can’t I protect both of you? After all, that thing, whatever it is, you took with you to keep safe. That’s a pretty bulky deal, too. I don’t want to take that away.”

“I am unable to keep it safe,” Edelina said plainly, her face serious, stoic. “I didn’t take it with me because it holds particular value to myself. I took it because…it can’t stay in this country, not the way it’s going right now. It just…” Edelina thrust it towards you again, her face growing more discomforted suddenly. “Please. Just take it with you.”

With a shrug and a sigh, you reached forward and took the bundle. It was rectangular, and heavy; if you were to guess, it was either a book, or a box of solid goddamn concrete. “Oof. This your anvil collection?” Edelina didn’t laugh, but she did smile slightly. “No, I can take it. There’s no need to be dramatic. It’s a little favor, I don’t need any sort of reward at all.”

Edelina’s slight smile lessened. “…No, I must insist-“

“And I must insist back that I need nothing.”

Edelina opened her mouth slightly, sighed, and looked sideways, crossing her arms under her chest. “…Very well. Though if you change your mind…”

“Which won’t happen.”

“…Then keep what I offered in mind. It is important enough that-“

“I get it, I get it,” you cut off the Princess, “Man, just let a guy do you a favor, yeah? Come with me, I need to take this brick back to my tank, and I want to talk with you about something along the way, alright?” Edelina nodded, and walked beside you as you dragged one foot annoyingly behind. “Your brother wants to meet with you, as I’m sure you’ve been told. He’s been shooting his mouth off about you, too, and you asked specifically for me to meet you without him. So, if I can ask, what’s going on between you and the Prince? I think I’m gonna need to know before we all get together and bug out.”

Edelina paused, but spoke her answer without hesitation but for a breath. “I am the heir to the Halmeggian throne. It is not a title I want, but it is mine nevertheless. My brother Alexander…he has ever wanted the crown. In days past, it was a good thing, and were he the boy he once was I would not think twice to step down, once he matured. But the political climate as of late has changed him. His beliefs became radically reactionary, he blamed the people for the current problems of the day, and now with what has happened…I fear especially now that he has been changed for the worse forever. So while I would rather not be queen, if the alternative is allowing Alexander to become king, I believe…that would be the worst path to go down. Conversely, while I think his beliefs have become violent and unreasonable, he thinks…what he dubs cowardice and weak will is equally unreasonable. Alexander thinks me stubborn and foolish for attempting to solve peacefully what he thinks can only be done with blood and iron.”

“Blood and iron turned out to be the order of the day.” You couldn’t help but say.

“I am aware.” Edelina said gravely, “But, it has not been so long. War has come, but its cost can be limited, so long as men like my brother are not allowed to be placed in a position where their flaws can overcome their boons. My brother and I…we mourn in different ways. If you met him, you know of what I speak. I know that his rage drives him to take action without thinking, and if his fury is equal to my melancholy…then my fear is well justified.”

“We shall see about that,” you said, heaving yourself forward the last bit towards the tank you had stolen from Sergeant Schneider. “Hey, Loader, uh…Zolldom? Yeah, flatlander man. Catch!” you heaved the thing up, and saw Edelina nearly jump out of her dress as the thing soared through the air to be expertly plucked away by the loader of the Luftpanzer. “Don’t open that, you hear? Consider it an order direct from the Kaiser not to screw with whatever’s in that wrapping!”

“Yes, sir!” Came the immediate reply. Zolldom, as well as the driver, Suszter, were Dhegyars; a people from the southlands of the Grossreich of Czeiss known for being dusty, strange mannered bumpkins, as well as being damn good soldiers and loyal to a fault to the Kaisers. What they lacked in refinement they made up for in inspiring enthusiasm and discipline. By chance, there were no more trustworthy people to leave that package with. One could entrust it to their families for centuries, and if it were for the honor of the Kaiser, one would never see the thing disturbed. “Hello, Sir!” Zolldom waved off behind you, and you turned to see Sergeant Schneider approaching once more.

“Captain,” he saluted once more, “I have escorted the Prince and his associates to where you asked.”

“Ah, perfect timing, Sergeant,” you looked at his jacket; it hadn’t been too ruffled, somehow. “Her highness has lost her cloak. She’ll catch cold in this weather, don’t you think? Be a gentleman and give up your jacket.”

“Her cloak?” Schneider turned to Edelina, blinked in surprise, and you watched his eyes travel down and alight, and fix, below her collarbone. “Oh, uh, of course.”

“I am alright,” Princess Edelina said. You weren’t sure if she was ignoring the Sergeant ogling her bosom out of politeness or obliviousness; it seemed as though it could be either.

“Your highness, it’s not just for your comfort,” you elaborated, “You stick out like…well, like a princess among a bunch of greasy Fallschirmjäger in tanks. It’s dangerous for you. We gotta lower your profile somehow, if you’re gonna use that cloak as wrapping paper.” Then, harshly whispered sidelong into Schneider’s ear, “Hey, quick taking off her dress with your eyes and take off your jacket with your hands, you insensitive moron.”

“Tsk.” Schneider hissed at you and started unzipping his leather jacket, shuffling it off and passing it to Edelina. For her part, she shifted the sheer…cape? Whatever it was, off of her shoulders, and passed it to you. It was delicate, beautiful silk, and you did your best to fold it up neatly without ripping it…though your greasy hands probably smudged the thing to hell, so why did you bother.

Much as you criticized Schneider, though, you may have inadvertently become something of a hypocrite. Edelina was, for lack of more polite words to use towards a princess, a bit heavier about the chest than most, so perhaps you should have predicted Schneider’s relatively slim frame (for a paratrooper) not being as admitting to the extra mass as it could have been. Edelina did her best to pull the zipper of the jacket up after putting it over her body, but it snagged where expected. You did your best to keep your gaze in a polite place and failed utterly.

“Ah. Hm.” Edelina frowned. “I…this doesn’t seem to be working.”

“It’s fine like that,” you waved her off, “It covers what it needs to for now.” And left uncovered what needed to be left such. No, Reinhold, terrible timing. Do you pick up chicks at a funeral? Lighten up, damn. Funny coming from you.

“With respect, Sir Captain, but,” Edelina fiddled futilely with getting the jacket to close properly, “I…do not see how much this helps. It is but a jacket, any would still know who I am.”

>It’ll have to do for now. Really I was more concerned about the temperature.
>I’m afraid there’s little in the way of options, though I could probably outfit you entirely in our uniform if I can find somebody willing to give up their pants.
>You’re right. Though it’ll probably be easy enough to just find other clothes, your hair is way too distinctive. We have to change it. (How? If you plan to hack it off with a knife, specify the end result length. Also, mind that you have no clue how to mess with hair; good luck getting a good braid or bun or the like.)
>Other?

>>3152904
>>It’ll have to do for now. Really I was more concerned about the temperature.

File: 788D1ED0-742B-4C52-B522-6(...).gif (1.89 MB, 540x303)

1.89 MB GIF

>>3152904
Oh no she did the thing.

>You’re right. Though it’ll probably be easy enough to just find other clothes, your hair is way too distinctive. We have to change it. (How? If you plan to hack it off with a knife, specify the end result length. Also, mind that you have no clue how to mess with hair; good luck getting a good braid or bun or the like.)

If we are near the castle we might be able to see if there is a spare guard uniform we could hide her in. If we cut her hair to the length it could fit into a helmet and find an ok fitting uniform, she might be able to hide in the small crowd of guardsmen we have.

>>3153184
The thing is we can't exactly hide her eye colour unless we have coloured contacts or sunglasses so I'm not sure how much trying to disguise her would matter in the end.

>>3153194
Totally true, but I’m hoping the disguise at least does something from a distance. If any interested parties have some skulking snipers left in the wings, they might hesitate to take the shot a little longer. It’s something at least.

>>3152904
supporting >>3153184

Cut hair so it can fit under a helmet, maybe that's a little higher than shoulder length?

Stow the jewelry with the silk cape, if she isn't wearing comfy shoes then change those out as well.

Find a Guard Jacket for her the same size as the one she is wearing.

>>3152904
>It’ll have to do for now. Really I was more concerned about the temperature.

>>3152904
Reluctantly voting for >>3153184 and >>3153358

pls no cut best girl's hair tonq ;_; Perhaps we could find Prince Alexander a nice convincing wig to confuse any snipers, instead?

Guh. Sorry, I should have been around a lot earlier.

>>3152907
>>3153438
No further modification necessary

>>3153184
>>3153358
>>3153512
Impromptu barber shop visit needed, change of costume too. Shame as the former is.

Update soon.

“You’re right,” you said with mind to her long, luxurious hair, dark and deep red and recognizable from over the horizon to anybody even vaguely familiar with her appearance. “Probably easy enough to find other clothes, whatever ones we want, your hair is way too distinctive. We’ve got to change that.” You started to reach for your own knife, but then thought better of it. One that hadn’t been used that night would be much better. “Schneider, you got your knife? Give it here, I’m not cutting a princess’s hair with a knife that’s stuck people.”

“Cutting?” Edelina asked with a tiny amount of alarm. Distraught flashed on her face followed by resignation. “…Of course.”

With a pull on your sleeve and a small test of Schneider’s edge, you grunted in acceptance of its sharpness; sharp as a barber’s razor. Perfect considering its next task. “Yeah, trust me, I’m not really thrilled for this either. You’ve got awfully pretty locks, ‘m sure you know, but we need that to fit under a hat or a helmet so at the very least you’re not so easy to tell from anywhere but the front. Wish I could do something about those peepers, but nothing’s springing to mind.” Were it that you could finagle a way to stuff it all under something, but there just seemed to be too much of those long red strands. Maybe if Owl 3 were here she’d know some way to deal with it, but alas, there was no longer any female accompaniment with your unit to have a clue what to do here.

“Oh yeah, Sergeant, tell your people to go back in the castle, see if there’s any spare guardsmen uniforms about her size.” Something you doubted considering the seeming size of the average Royal Guard and Edelina, but there had been one they had more or less fit her brother into, and he wasn’t much taller or broader than his sister. The way it closed was different too; maybe that would help. “Here, your highness, let me have that jacket back for a minute.” After you received the piece from her, you gave it to one of the assembled crew. “Something about that big. Oh, and…don’t look around too much. And hold your nose. Get boots, too, nobody in the guard looked to be wearing flats.” Back to the Princess. “Help me undo your hair, yeah? Or no, Schneider, you help with that, we need you to take off all your jewelry.”

Soon enough, Princess Edelina Von Halm-Auric had all of her golden accoutrement off, which was stored with the sheer silk cape, and her braids and bun were both undone. Let down, her hair went down past her hips. What you had to do here would be an awful shame.

“Here, Schneider, hold her hair like this,” you demonstrated, “I don’t want this falling all over the ground and making it obvious to anybody who passes through what they ought to look for, yeah?”

“How…short are you going to cut it?” Edelina asked.

“Just above the shoulder.”

“I see.” Edelina looked a shade unhappier than before, but she certainly had that right. “Then, let us waste no time.”

>Roll up to 3 sets of 1d100, worst of, to determine how awful of a barber you are. Lower is better.

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>3154248
Most important roll.

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>3154248

…

“…Crap, hang on, I can fix that,” you said to yourself. “…Nah, it won’t show up anyways. Who’ll notice?” There was a reason most people used scissors for this, huh, you thought as you went along. And a comb, for that matter. “…God damn it.”

“Is something wrong?” Edelina asked.

“No, no, just,” you sighed heavily, “This might be a bit shorter than I said it would be.” On your second pass, you managed to even the length out from your initial go that had somehow put her hair’s ends at a tilt. Now it was a centimeter or so above where you planned it, the ends of her hair were ragged and generally looked like a torn edge of paper, but you supposed it didn’t look too bad.

…Well, it looked bad, but you doubted you could have done much better.

“Sorry.” You felt the need to say afterwards.

“I’m sure that your work was fine.” Edelina reassured you; though if she looked in a mirror you were sure she’d be mad, or even worse, even more depressed.
You only had another minute to scowl at the mess you made before Schneider’s crews came back bearing the fruits of their search. You hadn’t asked for one, but thankfully, one had remembered to find a shirt that went under the tunic. Edelina was handed all of the pieces of the uniform, and escorted to a place where she could change in peace. A few minutes later, she came out…with the tunic’s upper buttons left open, though the shirt underneath didn’t make for nearly as rude an image as there potentially could have been.

“Still not working, huh.” You made note out loud.

“No.” Edelina frowned. She made another valiant attempt to close it, but in spite of doing her best to suck in, she couldn’t get the button into the clasp before she had to gasp and lose any progress she made. “This is…embarrassing.”

“It’s the best we can do.” You said hurriedly, “Come on, we’ve got to see your brother now. I dunno how long I can blow him off for.”

-----

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>3154248
Late roll for the hell off it

“Tardy as ever I see, Captain.” Alexander nearly spat. He had been pacing outside of the truck, his mouth curled into a dour expression. “And my dear sister. Were it that you were slaughtered in place of our parents, our siblings, yet here you stand before me in a mockery of a role you disown, shorn like a goat.”

“I have never disowned the Guards,” Edelina was not intimidated, though the two siblings had likely had these sort of conversations for…who knew how long. “Did you wish to speak with me for some reason other than to wish for my death?”

Alexander advanced upon his sister; in spite of his attempts to look tough, it was easy to tell that he was shorter than his sister, who was rather tall herself. “You know damnably well what I wish to discuss. Our father is dead. The throne of Halmeggia is vacant, and I would hope that an utterly wretched and worthless creature as you would have the honor to admit the failure of their values, and not deny a way forward out of spite.”

“I will not abdicate to you, Alexander.” Edelina said firmly.

Alexander scoffed, and push his glasses up. “I wish that I could say that I was surprised. Nevertheless, I know that I don’t actually need the crown to save our country. If you wish to bear that ever so heavy burden whilst others shed all the blood and sweat, then feel free to. But you will tell me one thing.” He jabbed a finger at Edelina. “Where is it.”

“Where is what.”

“Do not play ignorant,” Alexander growled, “You might think you are the only one outside of the King who knew, but there were threads to tug upon. You should know that this is the last hope, even if it is one you lack the courage to use. The Grimoire. Where is it.”

Edelna crooked her eyebrows and slightly parted her mouth, giving a glare of offense. “This is hardly the time to chase after fairy tales.”

“Do not test me, Edelina.” Alexander jabbed a finger in the Crown Princess’s face. "Our entire family has been murdered. Our country is being raped by slavering revolutionaries from the west who seek nothing chaos and destruction. I will not hesitate to make you tell me."

“If your patience is tested by being told known myth is just that,” Edelina maintained a stern and level tone, “Then you should see why I would not give that over if it did exist, let alone the throne.”

Alexander made a “Tch.” Of irritation and stepped forward, driving his fist into Edelina’s stomach.

“Hey!” you shouted and began to move forward.

“Stop!” Edelina’s voice halted you, “Don’t…” she wheezed, holding her middle and quivering at the knees, “Don’t interfere.”

>Like hell you weren’t going to interfere. Give that ratty Prince a taste of his own medicine.
>If that was what she wanted, then so be it.
>What the hell is this Grimoire, anyways?
>Other?

>>3154423
>Other?
"He throws another punch and I will interfere. I'm not about to let my charges beat the shit out of each other.

And you, Prince. You're proving her point. You think your people would want a ruler that lashes out like a violent child when he doesn't get his way?"

>What the hell is this Grimoire, anyways?

>>3154444
Seconding these quads. They can beat the shit out of each other after we've delivered them safely to the Kaiser.

>>3154444

I second this.

Also nice.

>>3154444
Supporting
Hot Quads leading the way

>>3154444
Supporting

>>3154423

>>3154444
Quad gang

>>3154423
>Tanq quietly aknowleges Ab-anon's request for more Anya
>Actually responds with more waifu punching

Based

“He throws another punch and I will interfere,” you declared. There was little need to puff yourself up or be more than naturally intimidating; even though you were a bit wiry, Fallschirmjäger physical standards meant you probably weighed about twice what the prince did, and you were plenty taller than him in addition. Even if he decided to make something of it, you would have no trouble restraining him, and everybody knew it. “I’m not about to let my charges, that I’ve rolled across the country to protect, beat the shit out of each other right in front of me. Save that for when you’re safe with the Kaiser.”

“I will not be spoken to in such-“ Alexander starter, which signaled to you that he wanted particular attention.

“You’re really proving your sister wrong, huh, your highness?” You challenged, “Do you think your people would want a king who lashes out like a little kid when he doesn’t get his way?”

Alexander flashed you a look like he was acknowledging an annoying schoolboy. “What the people want hardly matters. They should follow the will of their betters. Disobedient and mercurial subjects precipitate disasters such as these. This would never have happened with proper treatment of those who believe they know better, though I can understand that this is difficult for a man with common blood to understand.”
So it was that the prince could hold his head higher than you, at least in his mind. More and more, combined with the ache in your leg, you were wishing you’d brought Winnifred along. The simple presence of Von in her name would have even more effect than her razor sharp wit. Alas, you’d left her behind with the support units.

Far be it from you to be annoyed with an upturned nose, no matter how deeply it sniffed its owner’s own arse. Alexander’s beliefs were certainly a far cry from the Kaiser’s, though. The two would likely not get along at all, but a mission was a mission. So you moved on to the next pressing subject.

“All this over this Grimoire thing. What the hell is that, anyways?” You demanded, perhaps against your better judgment.

“A fairy tale,” Edeline spoke first, quickly and firmly. “A fabrication from an earlier time. A part of a story that, while lovely to tell, has much untrue about it. One untrue thing being this Grimoire.”

Alexander’s face tightened, and turned in on itself in growing anger. “…Yet you leave the question utterly unanswered. Yes, the Captain has a valid concern. Will you not inform him of this matter, despite his concern over it? How uncharacteristically lacking In charity.” He looked at you before Edelina could respond, and asked, “You know of what a Grimoire is, yes?”

It was a funny word, for certain. “It’s like a book or something, yeah?”

“Of sorts, yet to merely call it a book is crude and incomplete.” Alexander became only slightly more polite towards you. “This is not just a Grimoire, it is the Grimoire, with a name lost to legend. It is an artifact of a time long passed, and in chaotic times centuries ago, when Dhegyar hordes had conquered the land we tread upon now for quite some time, the families of Von Halm, aided by the valorous Relqa Von Auric, queen mother to our line, ousted the conquerors from this land and reformed the kingdom under their name. You no doubt notice our eyes,” Alexander gestured to his own brilliant golden irises. “These show that our blood is of Auric, and they are proof that the saint of Halmeggia’s foundation is our ancestor. I will presume you know nothing of such storied lineage and history. Were it that you could be told the whole story, but we have no time to spend on such. Instead, the important matter. I am sure you wonder how Relqa Von Auric, a woman, and by all accounts a meek and soft one, could possibly lead an army as a champion. Most would say she was as much a brilliant tactical genius as she was lacking as a warrior, but in some tales, unrecorded and only known through rumor and story, she possessed a tome of incredible power. The Grimoire.”

“Which is as much a myth as sea serpents,” Edelina cut off Alexander’s dramatic retelling. “Even in stories it lacks definition. What does it even do, how could you even say it would help at all?”

“None know its powers nor location, even its existence beyond said myth, save for the monarch themselves,” Alexander continued testily, “And the heir apparent. Why play at ignorance when our land is in such a state, Edelina? You are either mad or a fool. I may not know of its nature, but I know that having it will be much better than letting the kingdom burn!”

“Insisting that a story is true will not make it so.”

“Damn you, Edelina, do not tempt me to strike you once more!” Alexander raised his voice.

“Cool it, kid,” you warned, “If anybody’s hitting anybody next, it’s gonna be me, so watch yourself.”

Alexander ignored you. “Our mother and father are slain! Alexandra, Maron, they were but children and the Revolutionaries killed them! Do you really think I would be so persistent if I knew nothing beyond folk tales as you claim I do? I know enough to see that you needlessly conceal a relic of power during Halmeggia’s darkest hours!”

Edelina looked more and more discomforted, as though speaking with a madman. “You are spouting nonsense, Alexander. Enough of this. Rather than chasing after…I don’t even know what it is you want, we must trust the Reich to help us to safety. None of our family want us to end our own lives in a haste to join them!”

You couldn’t help but set your mouth as the brother and sister argued with each other, and let what clockwork ticked in your head puzzle over what was being said. Now, you didn’t think anybody could rightfully call you sharp, but you sure as hell weren’t a dummy. Edelina was selling her brother a hot load of crap and you knew it, there was no way that whatever the Crown Princess had passed to you secretively wasn’t some manner of thing her brother would love to get his hands on. That wrapped up boxy bundle was almost certainly whatever this Grimoire was. As of current, though, you were of the mind to keep the secret just that. Edelina’s caution over it and these stories Alexander kept talking about just gave you a bad feeling about doing anything at all with it. Not that you believed in any silly fairy tales. A few ghost stories, maybe, but some book that let you blow away armies or whatever it was implied to be able to do? Completely silly. Though it could be something just as nasty, in a way that required a bit more imagination and realistic expectations…who knew?

>All hogwash, and a trail that would lead to nothing at best. You’re moving on, no matter how much the Prince may sulk over it.
>Throw a wrench into things and clear up the mystery; declare that you have the Grimoire and whatever it is or does hardly matters, because it’s going back to the Reich with the Prince and Princess without being so much as peeked at.
>Take Edelina aside and question her about this, away from Alexander. Things had developed in a direction you couldn’t just let lie.
>All this was making you awfully curious…though you wouldn’t show it to Alexander nor bother Edelina about it. You’d crack the thing open yourself. Who knew when such a thing could be useful if it was actually something, and if it turned out to be nothing, what would be the harm?
>Other?

Way too long a wait, I'm sorry. Guess not sleeping doesn't work.

>>3155097
Reinhold wouldn't hit a lady, how barbaric of Richter to do so, multiple times!

>>3157602
>All hogwash, and a trail that would lead to nothing at best. You’re moving on, no matter how much the Prince may sulk over it.
>Other?
"For what this commoner's opinion is worth to you, staying here and chasing after this artifact will play right into the Revolutionaries hands. They need to finish the job here. No sense giving them what they want. Regroup with the Kaiser and then take your country back. Afterwards you can go Grimoire hunting."

>>3157602
>>All hogwash, and a trail that would lead to nothing at best. You’re moving on, no matter how much the Prince may sulk over it.

>>3157621
Supporting, we trust only in steel, the Kaiser and 3.7cm anti-tank cannon.

>>3157602
>>All hogwash, and a trail that would lead to nothing at best. You’re moving on, no matter how much the Prince may sulk over it.

>>3157602
>All hogwash, and a trail that would lead to nothing at best. You’re moving on, no matter how much the Prince may sulk over it.

>>3157602
>>All hogwash, and a trail that would lead to nothing at best. You’re moving on, no matter how much the Prince may sulk over it.

This great power could be the ability to send commands to your subordinates regardless of distance, or the ability to see clearly at long distances. Or maybe its a hollow book that has a gun inside it that shoots lasers.

I'm giving a 50% chance that whatever it is, its something sadly benign by modern standards.

I am up now.

>>3157621
>>3157648
>>3157845
>>3158138
Fairy tales are for nerds, we're leaving.

>>3158396
And it probably sucks anyways.

Writing.

Almost as if strange old mysterious and magical sounding things ought to be left alone, huh.

Suffice it to say, you didn’t have a high opinion of whatever this Grimoire was, much less the idea of placing it on so high a pedestal. As tankers said, trust in steel, the Kaiser, and cannon; though maybe those in the panzer corps would tell the flyboy to go home in response. Even considering what the book could be…your imagination failed to come up with anything fantastically helpful on the modern battlefield considering new technology. If the storied Grimoire did anything wonderful, the wonderful things it did were from a perspective centuries old. A flushing toilet would have been considered remarkable. It was doubtful that there was anything it could do that a Luftpanzer couldn’t do just as well or better, and certainly in a simpler fashion.

No matter how the Prince might sulk over it, you were moving on. This hogwash was, at best, something that wouldn’t be worth the effort put in, the possibility of sprouting you a new tank notwithstanding.

“For what this commoner’s opinion is worth to you,” you said with a shrug, “Staying here and chasing after whatever this thing is will play right into the Revolutionaries’ hands. They want to find you and finish the job where they left you. No sense in giving them what they want. If you want your country back, come back with my people and work alongside the Kaiser. After that, you can spend as much time as you like on this silly treasure hunt.”

“The commoner’s opinion,” Alexander retorted, “Is noted, but lacking in perspective as usual. I refuse to cooperate until my sister ceases her foolishness.”

“That’s nice.” You said, before stepping forward and lifting him up by the waist.

“What are you doing?” Alexander demanded, “Unhand me this instant!”

“Okay.” You threw him into the back of the truck. “Hey, Guardsmen!” you shouted into the back, “Take care of him while I’m away, alright?” Then, to Edelina. “I trust I won’t need to throw you, though, do play nice in there. Talking about books is fun and all, but I’m only halfway through with my mission.”

Edelina nodded. “Of course, Captain. Good luck. Tell Sergeant Schneider to keep his chin at a ninety degree angle to his neck or higher when I send him over.”

-----

Sergeant Schneider may have been significantly healthier than you, but finding Alexander and Edelina had done wonders to your morale, in spite of such being a limited success; every action from now on, was a step back towards home. So when you sent him over to the truck with the guardsmen to watch over them and took over 2nd platoon, you were bursting with more than enough energy to overcome any injury or tiredness, and take back your active role at company command.

“Gentlemen,” you announced over the company network, “We’ve got what we came for. I can’t say I’m pleased that things ended up like this, but we can’t linger on what’s been lost when the sun’s rising on the next day. We’re going back to the battalion, to the Reich, and damn if we won’t make sure what we did here’s still a win that we can be proud of. Everybody that we’ve lost can smile in heaven that they fell in a victory march, you hear? Assemble to the south, it’s time we moseyed.”

Moseying was indeed the next order of business, but there were several ways to go in; normally, you would expect to go in one direction and one only; back towards AUSC lines to the east, away from the militarists and through the Revolutionaries. However, your newfound…relationship with Wolfe made you wonder…could you perhaps get a free trip south? Or, perhaps, even loop around further and ensure a relative lack of hostilities…

>Maintain the original plan and strike out east, through the Revolutionaries. Being crushed between the Militarists and Aristocrats surely made their lines feeble, and they still had plenty of blood to give up as payment for their transgressions.
>Being able to cut south through Militarist lines would expedite your trip back significantly; and there would likely be much less enemy contact, to boot. It wasn’t an unreasonable request to try and make of the Guardians of Halmeggia, was it?
>Considering the scale of personal favor you’d given Gunmetal Wolfe, it wouldn’t be too much to ask to move through his territory far to the south before going straight east towards the Santi Arrofini airfield, certainly, after you retrieved the support troops you left behind. Perhaps you’d have to hide that you found the remnants of the royal family, though…
>Other?

>>3158500
>Considering the scale of personal favor you’d given Gunmetal Wolfe, it wouldn’t be too much to ask to move through his territory far to the south before going straight east towards the Santi Arrofini airfield, certainly, after you retrieved the support troops you left behind. Perhaps you’d have to hide that you found the remnants of the royal family, though…

Worth a shot I think.

>>3158500
>>Maintain the original plan and strike out east, through the Revolutionaries. Being crushed between the Militarists and Aristocrats surely made their lines feeble, and they still had plenty of blood to give up as payment for their transgressions.

Actually having the royal family complicates things on pretty much all sides. I would find it much more comfortable being around people we are sure are enemies, rather than our ever more tenuous "allies".

>>3158500
>>Considering the scale of personal favor you’d given Gunmetal Wolfe, it wouldn’t be too much to ask to move through his territory far to the south before going straight east towards the Santi Arrofini airfield, certainly, after you retrieved the support troops you left behind. Perhaps you’d have to hide that you found the remnants of the royal family, though…

>>3158500
>>Maintain the original plan and strike out east, through the Revolutionaries. Being crushed between the Militarists and Aristocrats surely made their lines feeble, and they still had plenty of blood to give up as payment for their transgressions.

>>3158500
>Maintain the original plan and strike out east, through the Revolutionaries. Being crushed between the Militarists and Aristocrats surely made their lines feeble, and they still had plenty of blood to give up as payment for their transgressions.

>>3158500
>Considering the scale of personal favor you’d given Gunmetal Wolfe, it wouldn’t be too much to ask to move through his territory far to the south before going straight east towards the Santi Arrofini airfield, certainly, after you retrieved the support troops you left behind. Perhaps you’d have to hide that you found the remnants of the royal family, though…

>>3158500
>>Maintain the original plan and strike out east, through the Revolutionaries. Being crushed between the Militarists and Aristocrats surely made their lines feeble, and they still had plenty of blood to give up as payment for their transgressions.

>>3158500
>>Considering the scale of personal favor you’d given Gunmetal Wolfe, it wouldn’t be too much to ask to move through his territory far to the south before going straight east towards the Santi Arrofini airfield, certainly, after you retrieved the support troops you left behind. Perhaps you’d have to hide that you found the remnants of the royal family, though…

>>3158500
>Maintain the original plan and strike out east, through the Revolutionaries. Being crushed between the Militarists and Aristocrats surely made their lines feeble, and they still had plenty of blood to give up as payment for their transgressions.

Well, this was certainly close, though I've delayed on calling for long enough.

>>3158514
>>3158732
>>3158891
>>3159257
Potential peaceful trip through militarist territory?

>>3158660
>>3158845
>>3158881
>>3159105
>>3159262
But we have to kill shit. Better to be amongst certain enemies than uncertain allies.

Writing, though, still a bit foggy on particulars so expect usual lack of speed.

>>3159605
Seems like a bold move considering we know they'll be gunning for the remaining royals and we'll be one of the suspects.

Hope it goes well.

>>3159722
While I wouldn't vote for this plan, it will at least make it harder for Alterwald to betray us early in the march back, he's going to need us to survive this slog.

Unfortunately we'll probably need him for the time being.

>>3159605
tanq, who has the radio to AUSC artillery now? Is it Alterwald? Please tell me it isn't him.

>>3159806
>who has the radio to AUSC artillery now? Is it Alterwald? Please tell me it isn't him.

Well. You've been out of contact with it for some time now; once you get back in communications range, you'd have to redesignate who has the say in calling it down, since as far as they know the person calling it was Eidan Wolfe. She is now absent from your command, so it's up in the air.

As he is under your command, Alterwald would theoretically be unable to call for support without your approval. However, this would be in regards to his rank as Lieutenant, and not considering any potential favors from good graces with important persons, and he has been rumored more than a few times to be the Duke Di Vitelstadt's henchman...

In summary, for now, it's a loose end, though one reasonably tied up quickly and without much thought to it.

>>3159806
I'm just worried we are falling to the Revolutionaries hands by going directly at them in assumption that their lines are weak.

It also sees like a waste not using the favor we garnered with Gunmetal from releasing his daughter, something we didn't have to do and at risk to ourselves.

I guess maybe we can potentially coordinate an offensive with him or have him distract the Revs for the favor.

Exploiting your newfound connection with the militarists was tempting, extremely so…but risky. Being stabbed in the back by allies earlier tonight was the straw that tipped the balance, however. The Revolutionaries could at least be trusted to be consistently hostile. The idea of constantly checking behind your back for the militarists to try and gank you for transporting what was left of the royal family was unappealing. You would also be deceiving yourself, though, if part of the draw of breaking east wasn’t to give the Revolutionaries even more much deserved punishment.

The company was apprised of this plan, and its logic; that the Revolutionaries, being struck from two sides by the Aristocrats and the Militarists, would be in no state to put up a stiff defense and could even be caught in complete disarray. The potential disaster to be visited upon them was remarkable, and at little potential risk to yourself with your ability to remain mobile and pick fights. There was no objection, thusly, to the plan, though Sergeant Dohdt made an offhand comment about being happy to finally return to his own people. Lieutenant Alterwald, however, remained oddly silent, and complacent. You couldn’t help but wonder what he planned.

As for your own officers, they saw an easy fight, and an easy route. Having not been informed of Eidan’s rather personal favor of you, the other option that you’d thought hard about taking hadn’t even occurred to them, though Covacs did complain that the Militarists hadn’t given back what he saw as proper recompense for returning Gunmetal’s daughter.

“What would you request, then?” Fischer asked Covacs.

“That he’d actually do? No clue.” Covacs placed little faith in actually receiving a favor. “Though a strong attack from their people to get their particular attention would be nice. If the Revolutionaries know that they didn’t get the whole royal family, and they think we’ve got them, then we’ve been promoted to the top of their shit list. That’s one place I’d rather not be number one on.”

“What would be the harm in asking anyways?” Fischer asked, “I have heard something of Major Wolfe being an honorable man. He would surely repay one favor for another.”

“I’m thinking his idea of a favor is not kicking our asses right now.” Covacs said sorely.

That theory was an unfortunate potential truth, and you hated to say that you had to agree with it.

-----

Before anything, though, you had to return to the people you’d left behind to retrieve them. The trip back was as eerily calm as the one you’d taken from them, thankfully, though you didn’t know if it was fortune or that the Revolutionary lines were moving to your benefit as expected. They had been unmolested, you found out, though there had been one close call. What was thought to be a militarist armor unit had strayed close; but, mysteriously according to those present, they broke off and drove away when they surely could have detected both the reserved Halmeggian platoon and the Reich field workshop detachment. Was it hesitation or deliberate intervention on their leader’s part, you wondered.
The first order of business once returning was to check on Owl 3, both to update her on the situation, and to request her repairs on your opened leg wound.

“Captain.” She regarded you coolly as you limped up to her. Her eyes flicked to your leg. “…Stay there.” Within a minute, she had returned with a medical kit, and undid your belt herself.

“Woah there, honey, I need a few drinks before I’m that quick.” You joked as she yanked your trousers down.

She said nothing to that, and washed the wound with water from a canteen before dabbing it with stinging disinfectant. “As expected,” she scolded dully, “You managed to completely rip it open again in no time at all. Doing something rash, no doubt.”

“Rash is one word that could be used.” You told the long story of what had happened while the two of you were apart to Winnifred as she closed your leg again, from your dash around and through the battle lines, to your negotiation with Gunmetal Wolfe, the return of Eidan to her father, and Vivi’s attempted assassination of you. A brief stop was made here, but Winnifred, listening quietly, requested flatly for you to continue. So you did, to the brief battle at the castle, your discovery of the state of the Royal Family, and then finding Edelina, then Alexander, and your return. You did neglect to say anything about the Grimoire or the surrounding matters, but that was mostly because you thought it a waste of time, and unimportant, compared to the other things that had occurred.

“Then, I went back here, and got my leg stitched up by an odd eyed damsel.” You finished as Winnifred tied off your bandage and pulled your pants back up.

“Unfortunate that we were too late,” Winnifred said flatly, sounding like she hardly cared. Perhaps she didn’t, as long as there was something to rescue. “Barring uncharacteristic foolishness, though, we are at least certain to return to the Reich with them safe and sound.” She rose back up and adjusted her hair, keeping it nearly covering her left eye. “Similarly, so long as you do not make yourself vulnerable, Alterwald will fail to have any opportunities to deal with you.”

“I’ll be ready for him in case, if he tries.” You growled lowly, looking in the direction his unit was.

“Though because of him, it appears that you captured Eidan Wolfe’s affection,” Winnifred noted, “So what of our plans from here. I trust that you are going to exploit this unique position you find yourself in?”

“I don’t think so,” you said, “We’ll be pushing east and running over any Revolutionaries we find, right back to the AUSC.”

Owl 3 blinked. “Hm. May I ask why?”

“Why I’m doing that instead of, say, having Wolfe let me pass through his lines in exchange for saving his daughter, right?”

“Correct.”

“I guess I don’t trust the Militarists to not try something funny. Not Wolfe, but the people under him.”

“You could request his daughter escort you,” Owl 3 proposed, “None would dare attack you with her in tow, and she would certainly not turn down your request. A woman like her isn’t so ferociously physical unless she favored you.”

“A woman like her?” you asked, sounding dumb. “What do you mean?”

“As opposed to one who would try to manipulate you with such actions.”

“Ah, yeah, those ones.” You had known such sorts, and been manipulated. Sometimes gleefully. “Yeah, Eidan’s not that sort. I didn’t think of doing that.”

“You wouldn’t, to be fair.”

“That meant to be a jab, honey?”

“If you think it a jab.” Owl 3 cocked her head slightly, and her eye swayed to the side. “I think it a charming trait, if not a tactically expedient one.”

Charming. You couldn’t help but smile a little. If only Winnifred would do the same when you tried flirting with her. “I’ll take that, gladly, especially from a girl like you.”

Still that weary, blank look, with the ever present frown and heavy eyes. “So you won’t exploit her affections out of respect for her feelings, then?”

“I suppose so.”

“Hm.” Owl 3 put her index finger on her lip, eyes slightly closing in thought. “Do you fancy her, perchance?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I am curious,” Owl 3 brushed her hair aside, like she needed both eyes to get a better look at you; you noticed the blue one closed further than the brown when she was thinking. “If any of her bold feelings are reciprocated.”

“Bit of a weird question.”

“Indulge me.”

>Hey, it’s not like I haven’t had a few one night stands, but you don’t do that with her sort. Just, we’ve both got similar problems, and we can help each other. So…yeah, a bit. I guess.
>Not really. She reminds me too much of Linda. Not in a good way, either. Just like her in that she’s all gaga over me for the wrong reasons. I can’t take advantage of that, not with either of them.
>Are you jealous? No need to be, honey, I prefer a girl with some mystery to her.
>Other?

Also

>Anything else to bring up or ask Owl 3 about?

>>3160515
>Hey, it’s not like I haven’t had a few one night stands, but you don’t do that with her sort. Just, we’ve both got similar problems, and we can help each other. So…yeah, a bit. I guess.

>Anything else to bring up or ask Owl 3 about?
What's her take on the remaining royals ability to lead their country after this is all over. I wouldn't say Alexander is a lost cause, but he definitely needs some work.

>>3160515
>Not really. She reminds me too much of Linda. Not in a good way, either. Just like her in that she’s all gaga over me for the wrong reasons. I can’t take advantage of that, not with either of them.

>Anything else to bring up or ask Owl 3 about?
What >>3160570 said

>>3160515
>>Hey, it’s not like I haven’t had a few one night stands, but you don’t do that with her sort. Just, we’ve both got similar problems, and we can help each other. So…yeah, a bit. I guess.

Wolfe is okay, but I'm mostly voting for this is a way to start getting Reinhold to get the fuck over himself and maybe realize it's not all about him for once. I'm hoping to at least make some progress on this self depreciation crap by the end of this quest.

You know, before we go back to Richter and all his issues

>>3160629
Issues? What issues? I don't know what you're talking about beep boop.

>>3160515
>>Not really. She reminds me too much of Linda. Not in a good way, either. Just like her in that she’s all gaga over me for the wrong reasons. I can’t take advantage of that, not with either of them.

>>3160570
>>Are you jealous? No need to be, honey, I prefer a girl with some mystery to her.

"She's got fire though."

Yeah right, like hell we're answering her seriously here. Whether or not Reinhold actually does is up for debate.

>Anything else to bring up or ask Owl 3 about?

Updates from the Colonel?

Can we bypass AUSC entirely without our actions effecting the Paratroopers and protecting them from AUSC retaliation? If Alterwald is trying to steal the Royals then the Duke is bound to as well.

>>3160515
>>3160672

Sorta meta knowledge since I dont think Reinhold knows, but I was also hoping to break through the RAGV lines and just thread the gap between their withdrawel and the AUSC advance. That way we dont have to interact with AUSC. That is, if the paratroopers havnt already secured the airfield. I still think were going to have to evacuate through that port city.

>>3160515
>Not really. She reminds me too much of Linda. Not in a good way, either. Just like her in that she’s all gaga over me for the wrong reasons. I can’t take advantage of that, not with either of them.

>>3160515
>>Hey, it’s not like I haven’t had a few one night stands, but you don’t do that with her sort. Just, we’ve both got similar problems, and we can help each other. So…yeah, a bit. I guess.

Seconding the write ins questions

>>3160515
>>Not really. She reminds me too much of Linda. Not in a good way, either. Just like her in that she’s all gaga over me for the wrong reasons. I can’t take advantage of that, not with either of them.

>>3160515
>>Not really. She reminds me too much of Linda. Not in a good way, either. Just like her in that she’s all gaga over me for the wrong reasons. I can’t take advantage of that, not with either of them.

We'll. You guys are certainly stuck in you're ways.

Reinhold isn't going to get over his stupid self depreciation complex any time soon.

Go for Wolfe you dumb fucks

I hate you guys so much

FFUUUUUUUUU

I need a drink

>>3161267
This *is* the same playerbase as PCQ after all. Status quo and being homosexual comes naturally.

I just wish the deny option was just a flat 'Nah, I'm not into her' instead of 'She and Linda like me for the wrong reasons cause they are stupid children. I'm doing them a favor by not letting them into the life as someone as shitty as me.'

It's so damn selfish

>>3161282
Same shtick. Women have no agency so *I* must be the one to decide for them. Even if by my own standards I shouldn't decide on anything, being trash.

Just take a step at being a better person, Jesus.

>>3160515
>Yeah. I think I do fancy her.

>>3160570
>>3160515
Seconding

If this was just a waifuwar vote I wouldn't have bothered, but as people have been pointing out the choices have character development in them and it just seems foolish to continue to make the same mistakes.

Anyway I can convince some of you >Not really guys to vote the other way? You don't even need to really like Wolfe, expressing interest doesn't mean route lock or what have you, but it has to be better than continuing to be a broken person... right?

Please?

>>3161325
>it has to be better than continuing to be a broken person
But if he's not a broken person then I won't be able to relate to him anymore so he wouldn't be as compelling a character.

>>3161366
I think I understand why Richter is the way he is now.

Also I don't think stagnation is very compelling and that being able to self insert makes him more compelling. Flaws are good don't get me wrong, but dealing with them and working towards something makes for a better story.

>>3161366
You have trouble relating to a normal person?

Well anyways, I doubt voting interest would suddenly absolve him of all his issues. Tanq is a better writer than that. This is just a step in a healthier direction.

>>3161402
>>3161383
>>3161366
>>3161325
>>3161317
>>3161291
Honestly if you just cut out everything after "Not really" I'd doubt most people would mind.

>>3160515
>Hey, it’s not like I haven’t had a few one night stands, but you don’t do that with her sort. Just, we’ve both got similar problems, and we can help each other. So…yeah, a bit. I guess.

>>3161402
>You have trouble relating to a normal person?

I was going to ask you where you thought you were but then I remembered this is 4channel now so

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Didn't realise it was time to ruin the MC this early.

>>3161701
>MC getting over himself a little bit
>Ruining

?

>Quest on the home stretch
>Early

I'm confused

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Listen y'all can argue over if Reinhold should rebuild himself or continue to be broken during the worst day of his life, I'm just clarifying my vote as Edelina - waifu for laifu.

>>3161729
I mean realistically it's not like Reinhold would ever see much of any of the waifu candidates anyway after this so it's actually a moot point.

>>3160515
>>Not really. She reminds me too much of Linda. Not in a good way, either. Just like her in that she’s all gaga over me for the wrong reasons. I can’t take advantage of that, not with either of them.

>>3160515
>Not really. She reminds me too much of Linda. Not in a good way, either. Just like her in that she’s all gaga over me for the wrong reasons. I can’t take advantage of that, not with either of them.

Ayy

>>3161771
>>3161763
Didn't want to lose that badly huh? Fine I guess you guys really dislike the idea of character development.

I just hope this isn't from some PCQ trauma from fucking up so badly there.

>>3160515
>>Hey, it’s not like I haven’t had a few one night stands, but you don’t do that with her sort. Just, we’ve both got similar problems, and we can help each other. So…yeah, a bit. I guess.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Ho boy, I didn't expect this in the...morning? We'll say this is morning.

>>3160672
No need for jealousy, there's nothing going on!

>>3160570
>>3160629
>>3160751
>>3161291
>>3161317
>>3161541
"A bit."

>>3160604
>>3160657
>>3160738
>>3160892
>>3160978
The familiarity is disconcerting; not my type.

Real close. Writing, tho-

>>3161763
>>3161771
...while I was writing this post. Fine. I'll-
>>3161785
............

Okay I'm just gonna roll this off. 1 for Yea, 2 for Nay.

Write in questions, as well.

>>3161520
>>3161282
I agree, I probably should have had that as a clear option. One could say that's what the Other option covers, or just a mod of the original (which is always welcome), but I can understand preferring to go for the options already laid out.

>>3161780
Anon, I just got here. Wolfe just had someone she cared about deeply killed. Us replacing him isn't nurturing healing, and neither is her attraction to us simply to fill a hole in what was once a peaceful life. I understand the points you make, I just don't agree.

>>3161803
I think you're looking at the worst of things. As long as Reinhold is aware of the things you're thinking of (and he is) he can handle a relationship with the tact it needs (assuming there even is one since different countries and all, this was a vote to express interest nothing more on that front. The main contention point was all the bullshit after Not Really.)

>>3161790
Yeah to me the issue is IMO that most people voting for the other option are just saying
"Nah, Wolfe's not my type" rather than it actually being about Reinhold.

>>3161707
1 (You) has been deposited into your account
>MC getting over himself a little bit
Roth-Vogel lightening up? Honestly, I'm not fussed either way, I like him fine as he is. That's not my gripe anyway, this is: If you've played the main quest, can you not percieve any negative consequences for a quest like this (unconventional harem, hamfistedly biased account of warfare, body horror, etc.) that might come from enabling the likes of fictional woman defenders 1 >>3161282 and 2 >>3161291, and >>3161780 this crybaby, by throwing your weight behind them? The damage these kinds of people inflict on the atmosphere of an otherwise healthily progressing story out of their spite for other players is awful and they should not be tolerated. If all you're really after is having Reinhold getting over himself, Could you have not just said so in the first place? We do have an Other? option where you could vote for exactly that, if you show enough creativity.

>Quest on the home stretch
Here we can argue. Yes, the first half of the journey arc is about to pass, but we now have the route the Grimoire just opened that'll be coming immediately after the second part does. In my opinion, our self-admitted side character protagonist does not need to suddenly heelturn and start taking lessons on being a nice guy™ in the middle of a warzone. It's forced and doesn't suit the character we've been building at this very moment in time. That's the kind of character-breaking decision that ought to have been made sooner, if not at the very begining of the quest, not 4 months into the story with potentially another 4 to go (wink wink, QuestMaster infamous for heinously abusing the passage of time in-universe, nudge nudge). I don't know if I'd call out the ending just yet. Let the Captain be for now. We'll have time to make him nice once he's done killing people.

>25 new posts.
I was expecting to see new quest posts.

>>3162052
Oh I see. You're projecting your own fuck ups in PCQ onto everyone else. You may have strung along a bunch of women and got them fucked up but don't put that evil on me.

>If all you're really after is having Reinhold getting over himself, Could you have not just said so in the first place?

I personally didn't, but >>3160629 literally did in the third vote.

Also I don't really know where you get off saying everyone that voted in a different direction did it in spite instead of just wanting the character to develop (or they just like Wolfe which is fine).

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>>3162052
>fictional woman defender
lol

>>3162141
Reread my post a little slower. Firstly, my reply wasn't to >3160629, it was to >>3161707. Second, I never said "everyone" that voted in a different direction did it in spite, just you, you whining butthurt faggot. Third and finally,
>Oh I see. You're projecting your own fuck ups in PCQ onto everyone else. You may have strung along a bunch of women and got them fucked up but don't put that evil on me.
>I'm the one projecting though
That's a yikes! from me.

>>3162070
So did I anon. So did I.

>>3162169
It's true though ain't it? You're so traumatized from messing up in PCQ that you want nothing to do with the opposite sex in any kind of romantic light in this side story. Reinhold's hang ups must be perfect for you.

Well suck it up bitch, we'll agree on a lot of the combat and tactical stuff but when it comes Reinhold developing a little (seriously it's just a step) or stagnating I'm going to go for the former every time. If we disagree on that, fine, but I'm going to keep arguing for it.

>>3162181
It's time to stop posting

You know, admist all this horrible autism there is a neat study on different types of players.

Development at risk of shaking things up vs staying true 100% of the time at risk of stagnation.

Those who let past experiences in other quests influence the current quest and MC vs people that go in with fresh slate

People who like tomboys and those that don't.

Interesting stuff

>>3162252
>People who like tomboys and disgusting subhuman animals with no taste*
FTFY

Sorry for the colossal wait, though I'm sure you're used to hearing it. Not getting enough sleep, same old song and dance. Update real soon, though.

Pls no fight, banter and debate I have no trouble with and would even encourage but I'd rather not people get really angry over this.


>>3162167 Careful there

This was a question you honestly had to think about far harder than you liked. You shifted pose here to there over the course of a minute, humming to yourself and knitting your brow so fiercely your eyes hurt. “Can I say it later?” you asked. Owl 3 shook her head. “Bah. Uhh…”

“What is so difficult about the answer?” Winnifred put her hands in her jacket pockets and leaned on one foot, “This seems rather unusual for a person who engages in as many frivolous trysts as you.”

“Well, no,” you scratched your head, “that’s different. It’s not that I don’t like her, she’s cute and all, but…I don’t think I’m any good for her.”

“She certainly doesn’t seem to agree.” Where had you heard this before, you thought spitefully.

“Yeah, well,” you intoned irritably, “That’s not something I haven’t seen before. Linda, back at home, remember I told you about her? She’s been into me for years, and it’s just as nonsense that she’d be as Eidan would be. I’m just not the right sort of guy for them, they ought to know better.”

“So you think them fools?” Owl 3 accused coolly. “A possibility. Consider that they know what they want. That they see a different person than you see yourself.”

“Yeah. Well.” You coughed and frowned deeply, scowling. “That person ain’t really me.”

Winnifred breathed in deeply, then sighed. She took her hand and brushed her hair to the other side; her blue eye was now concealed, and her chocolate hued eye now peered at you. “Am I a different person now?”

“…No.” you said, stupidly.

“Captain. I’ve worn plenty of false faces in my life.” Somehow, this other eye gave a more penetrating glare than her other. “I know what they look like. I know when a person is acting a fiction, or if their performance comes from a scrap of truth. I’ve met many people who are devious, manipulative, and cunning, who never reveal a single truth about themselves.” She raised a hand lazily and cocked a finger towards you. “It isn’t difficult at all to tell that you’re not that at all. I can read you. From a personal standpoint, you are simple, trusting, and honest, with the deceptive capacity of a puppy. Consider that when you believe those interested in you to not know what they are thinking,” she stepped up steadily, and tapped her finger on your chest, “That they might know better than you. That what you think is a mask isn’t one at all.”

You blinked at her, and stayed silent for a few moments. “I’d like to think I know myself well enough. You saying I’m stupid?”

“Not quite stupid. Lacking in perspective, perhaps. But, if you’ll never come up from inside your armored box,” Owl 3 flicked her wrist and brushed something off of your shoulders, “Then you won’t be seeing very far beyond it. So, let me ask again. Do you harbor any affection for Eidan Wolfe?”

Your arms crossed over one another without you willing it, and you hunched over, mouth set in a frown. “…Well, look. I’ve had a few one night stands, sure, but her sort, you don’t do that with. Though, far as I see it…we’ve got the same sort of problems. We can help each other cause of that. So…yeah. I guess I do, a little.”

“Yes or no.”

“Fine.” You resigned, sulking. “Yes, I fancy her, alright? Don’t be too jealous of that, yeah? So what if I do? It’s not like I have to be sure I want to act on it, right?”

Owl 3’s expression loosened somewhat, an ever so slight show of relief, and she said smoothly, “So long as you’re clear on your feelings being present. Doubt and uncertainty clouding your mind during the operation is no good for your comrades.” You remembered Dolcherr saying something similar before even going on this…Owl 3 and Dolcherr were different as apples from oranges, but there was still a nostalgic…sweetness, from that familiar telling out. That scolding you never felt sorry to hear from you old friend.

Your mind felt oddly quiet for but a moment.

“That, and to return to our task at hand,” Owl 3 returned her hair to its original styling, “Your honesty allows me opportunity to meddle while not having to lie. You said Major Wolfe had a special channel to speak with his daughter in case of emergency. Maybe you do not trust the Guardians of Halmeggia, but we do not need to be friends with the whole lot in order for them to help us.”

Oh, damn. Right. “The mission, yeah, actually, about that,” you said quickly, “You haven’t happened to have heard any updates from the Colonel, have you?”

“I have. AUSC lines have moved up enough that we can hear reports…though with difficulty. Very recently, we were informed that your Battalion, with the aid of the Aristocratic Union, managed to capture the Santi Arrofini airfield. Revolutionary lines to the east have buckled, and the AUSC lines are advancing quickly all over, though their southern progress has not gone far.”

You couldn’t help but let out a slight, barely audible, ”Yes!” from under your breath. “That’s absolutely excellent news.” Though if the AUSC helped the assault, there was no doubt that they were sticking around the airfield. Whether that was a good or bad thing…ugh. You came to the conclusion on the way here that if Alterwald, the Duke Di Vitelstadt’s supposed personal crony, was trying to potentially seize what he could of the Royal Family, that his master might try and snatch them up as well. Though you couldn’t think of a way now to bypass them or foil such a plan without provoking them and thus affecting the rest of your unit. You shared this concern with Winnifred, and asked her opinion on it.

“Hardly anything can be done now,” Owl 3 pointed out, “The fate of the Royal Family and what survives of it has spread far enough that anybody with sense will be keeping a keen eye out for them. When you return, they’ll ask after them. If you purposely avoid them, they’ll suspect something and potentially exploit their position near your allies, as well as the planned method of exfiltration, to keep your people from leaving unless the commander has made the decision to go along with what they want. Considering that the paratroopers are mainly a foot unit, as far as I know, they lack the speed to simply go where they please, unlike yourself. As far as I can see, you have the option of parleying with the Aristocrats eventually…rather, letting the colonel do it, or you will likely have to strike out, potentially alone, so that the colonel can safely call you a rogue element and protect the rest of your unit, though your chances of successfully extracting the prince and princess then would be low.”

“Gee,” you muttered darkly, “How about the option where everything just works out? What you’re assuming is gonna happen doesn’t seem fantastic for us.”

Winnifred’s expression did not change, and neither did her tone. “Do you think fighting them is an option?”

“Well, no,” you said, “We could probably give them a good pounding but if they can get artillery coming down on that airfield then nothing’s landing on it and people aren’t getting out.” Especially those who were too wounded to fight, like your friend Bartholomeu. “Maybe if we had Wolfe’s help…ah, no matter what, it looks set to turn into a shit show, doesn’t it.”

“I admittedly have not had much time to think of a plan,” Winnifred said, “Besides intolerably unsafe ones that would be more likely to do nothing but be a show of defiance followed by humiliating failure. Thus far, the safest option is to try and make a deal with the Aristocratic Union.”

“Man, I’m not liking these options.”

“Perhaps you or I will think of something in time, before having to take any as is.” Winnifred said simply.

“A deal though, huh. Like we keep one Royal and they keep the other?”

“Perhaps.”

“On that subject,” you went on, “What do you think of Edelina and Alexander’s ability to rule the country after this is all over? Is it even possible? You’ve been here a while, surely you know of both of them and what they’re like…though maybe not from personal experience, but still. One doesn’t want to be monarch, while the other shouldn’t rule at all, at least, not the way he is right now.”

“The monarchy was only one half the ruler, anyways.” Winnifred explained to you. “Before this war, the Parliament formed a representative second half, much like in the Reich. Before the parliament, the nobility formed the lesser half. The AUSC presumably wishes for things to return to that state of affairs, though presumably with more protections for themselves in a new constitution. I would say though, without the protection of a faction or an outside authority, whoever becomes the new king or queen has a great chance of simply being a puppet for whatever structure raises itself after the destruction of Parliament and the fleeing of the Royal Family. Time will tell. However, as to whom would make a better monarch…their policy can be extrapolated from what they have said, and their personalities as well. Edelina is gentle, peaceful, liberal. Meanwhile her brother holds reactionary and pragmatic views. The former, with no interest in ruling or consolidating nor preserving power, would hand over more political power to establishments such as the Parliament and nobility. Her brother would likely favor the opposite. All in all, it would depend upon which you think is better for the royal family itself. I have no personal stake in whether the family gains or loses power. The Reich’s interest is the country, after all, not simply in saving the Von Zeissenburg’s old friends.”

“If you say so,” you accepted, “Though I can’t imagine the Kaiser being anybody like Alexander. Alexander Von Halm-Auric, not…you know. The big one.” The big one being Alexander Von Zeissenburg, who founded the Grossreich; presumably the Halmeggian prince’s namesake, with the bond between families.

“Indeed. Alexander Von Halm-Auric is much more favorable of the nobility than Kaiser Henrik.” Winnifred half closed her eye, and her frown had deepened. She had good reason to not love the Kaiser…though she would be in a minority in the Reich.

“Well, I guess. But that’s neither here nor there.”

“Yes.” Owl 3 agreed. “So, how do you intend to proceed. Straight east, towards the advancing Aristocrats? South, directly to the airfield where your comrades wait, or…perhaps back the way you came?”

“Pardon?”

“In case you changed your mind. You had good enough reasons not to decide to head there first.”

Well. Going directly east would mean the least amount of fighting, relatively. With the AUSC advancing and the Revolutionary Army of Greater Vitelia on the back foot, there was no doubt that you could smash through and make it to friendly (sort of) lines in great time, but that would mean going through Aristocratic Union territory- that it was only theoretically safe made you wary. Meanwhile, going south would mean simply retracing the steps you took to get here, and not having to make a dash through AUSC territory, but who knew what might have moved in or changed in your absence. The possibility of going back to the militarists was open, certainly, but…

>Go straight east; fastest, simplest, plenty of allied support. To AUSC lines.
>Retrace your steps south, and go right back to the Battalion.
>Head back west, to the militarists. Perhaps, risky as such was, it was safer than the other options?
>Other plan or concerns?

>>3162455
>>Go straight east; fastest, simplest, plenty of allied support. To AUSC lines.
I'd say making a deal with the AUSC is pretty much on the cards at this point; honestly we should just foist Alexander on them (they deserve each other frankly) and take Edelina back.

>>3162455
>>Retrace your steps south, and go right back to the Battalion.

We have nearly untouched Reich units and plenty of opportunity to send Alterwald into an unfortunate firefight along the way.

Plus reforming with the Battalion puts us in a stronger negotiating position.

>>3162455
>Retrace your steps south, and go right back to the Battalion.

>>3162455
>Retrace your steps south, and go right back to the Battalion.

>>3162455
>>Retrace your steps south, and go right back to the Battalion.

If we do end up in the position of having to make a deal with the AUSC I don't think leaving Alexander here is an option. Leaving one royal family member here and bringing the other back to the Reich so they can oppose each other and dispute the throne is probably the last thing the Kaiser wants and would essentially defeat the point of our mission. If there's one thing we need to do it's get both of them back to the Kaiser. The AUSC can go fuck itself anyway, if we can't use the airfield then worst case scenario we'll just go on a cruise.

>>3162455

Cant we just move in the general direction of the airfield? We have it now, so our CAP/CAS should be, ideally, rebasing there to better cover us. We also still might have our medium bombers, if they havnt bugged out due to fuel. We should also send a coded message back to have our observer planes mark the AUSC artillery positions incase we need them levelled.

>>3162715
>Cant we just move in the general direction of the airfield?

That would be what going south entails.

>>3162455
>>Retrace your steps south, and go right back to the Battalion.

>>3162455
>>Retrace your steps south, and go right back to the Battalion.

Update won't come until real late today; sorry fellas. I'll post again when I'm about done.

>>3164419
That said things are solidly in going south and have been for a while, so just taking the formality of calling that now.

>real late today
>not one, but two days later

Sometimes I even impress myself. Anyways, there'll be a big update later, in a few hours, I swear. Sorry for the delay.

Unfortunately, a chain of errands has made me unable to post reliably. I do have the update, but no time to post it. I'll have it when I get home in probably a couple hours. Sorry!

“We’re heading south,” you said to Owl 3, also deciding with finality then and there what you’d do next. “I don’t trust the AUSC as far as I could throw them, and for every person with the militarists who wants to mack on me, there’s a couple thousand more who either want to conscript me or have my head, especially that if they could say for sure we’re ferrying the Royal Family to safety.” Gunmetal Wolfe himself, who was popular head of the Militarists, had declared no special hostility to the Royal Family, but had openly acknowledged when speaking to you that they were a threat to his faction’s power, and thus your objective wouldn’t generally be held in high regard, as plenty of his people holding ill feelings towards the monarchy for their role in the previous power structure. It wouldn’t have been a great risk to go through his lines, say, if it were just you, but you also had Aristocratic Union soldiers with you. All told, the Militarists were still no more able to be trusted with your safety than the AUSC allies you’d laid down beside, even if admittedly they had tried to kill you one time less. “You got a take on that?”

“A take?” Owl 3 repeated, “Not particularly. It’s the most sensible action, given the actions of our allies of convenience. It’s unlikely to have a high concentration of Revolutionary forces, either, given the pressure to either of their flanks, and the lack of it to their south. Such is simply rational given their current disposition. However, the current situation of chaos is a boon to independents.”

“And that’s good or bad for us?”

“There is no way to know for certain.” Owl 3 said flatly. In her eyes you could see she was just as dissatisfied with that as you. “Masses of communities, lost and rogue troops, and wandering militia will not take long to coalesce, whether that means forming their own unions or joining a larger one. It will depend on what they face, the information they have, and the strength of their will. However, it should be noted that the general populace outside of Aristocratic owned territory do not like said class very much, whilst Major Wolfe was quite a popular figure in spite of the general contempt of the military. The bias should be clear then, if they go for one side or the other.”

“And if they support the Revolutionaries?” you asked. “How much support do they have, again?”

“The amount is uncertain, but there is definitely sentiment. Moreover, any supporting the Revolutionary Army of Greater Vitelia will likely be drawing back alongside them. It’s unlikely we’ll see any of their supporters doing anything more than delays.”

“We should be able to go around any villages, though,” you noted, “So hopefully none of that will be a problem.”

“Captain,” You heard Sergeant Schneider come from the side. “We gotta get moving. Fischer’s saying that we got a group to our north bearing down on us. I dunno how, but we must have seriously pissed somebody off.”

“Why do you say that? What’re their numbers?”

“Least a company of tanks, probably more. Vanguard of armored cars, about half as many. All their stuff looked decent, too. No Emrean War chaff among them.”

“Did they have special markings of any sort? Coloration?” Winnifred asked.

“Huh?” Schneider was surprised that she had asked him a question, it seemed. “Yeah, Fischer was saying how they were all grey and black or something. Could only say they’re Revs because they have the yellow and red bands.”

“Hrm.” Owl 3 bit her lip. “Congratulations, Reinhold. You have found yourself on the list of priorities of one of the higher members of the Revolutionary Party.”

“What the hell does that mean?” you asked, “How far away were they?”

“Just in visual. They’ll hit us pretty quick if they head right for us, but since we stopped moving I don’t think they know exactly where we are.”

“We have to move.” Winnifred said, matching your own thoughts.

“Yeah,” you nodded, “Whoever these jokers are, we’re not planning on entertaining them today. Get the word out that we’re moving within five minutes. Anybody who complains gets slapped, anybody not ready is being left behind.”

Schneider saluted, “Yes sir!” And he sprinted forth to inform the nearby Field Workshop of the new orders, while you began to limp back towards your Luftpanzer.

Winnifred caught you under the shoulder. “You’re moving too slow.” She explained, “Come. I will explain further as we go.”

It felt rather silly to lean on such a slim woman for support, but her tone and pace was forceful enough that you could hardly object.
“So these people are the personal attack dogs for the Party or whatever?” you asked, “Seems like a lot of guys, and tanks, just for some politicians. It almost sounded like they had a whole armor battalion coming.”

“The Party, specifically the higher members, or perhaps the inner circle, depending upon whom you ask, hold much sway in the army.” Winnifred huffed; in spite of her effort, it seemed her physique was still unsuited to supporting a man with the build of a paratrooper. “Anybody recognized for particular merit, those with a history of talent, experienced units…they are combed out and placed in the Party’s own force.”

“So elite troops, basically.”

“Of a sort. They also include the products of nepotism and similar favor handing that dilutes their ability as fighters, evidently. That said, they most certainly have access to the best equipment because of their status.”

Winnifred almost stumbled, but caught herself, and you. “Hff. It’s telling that they are here. Intelligence only suggested that the Party only had two of these such units…we did know of this one’s presence, but they were supposed to be further north.”

“I suppose they came down in response to Wolfe’s offensive?” you guessed.

“Very likely. But remember that Wolfe is back to the west, yet they are coming over here. Aiding retreat is beneath such a political group. They have a target in mind.”

“Well, hopefully they’re not dumb enough to want to keep after us once we’re inside our lines.”

“They will not be. With how valuable a symbol they are and the quality of their equipment, it’s certain that those holding their leash will not allow them to wander too far forward when the lines are collapsing and in retreat.” Winnifred sounded plenty confident of such.

“I hope you’re right.”

-----

When you got back to your (Sergeant Schnider’s, really, but you had stolen it) Luftpanzer, the crew was dutifully checking the track pin fastenings; a bark to attention from you sent them immediately back into the tank to get ready for action as you raised yourself from Winnifred’s shoulder for the last steps.

“Hff…kfffgh.” Owl 3 coughed as she let you go and put a hand against the Luftpanzer. Maybe you’d leaned on her too heavily…

“You alright?” you asked.

“I’m fine. We have to move. I presume you need help coming up?”

“Sure. Just be careful I don’t crush you under my impressive bulk.”

In spite of that warning, you didn’t actually need that much help. Though there’d be no complaints at all if you could avoid getting in and out of a tank any more this night, you’d figured out decently a good way of entry and egress at this point that the discomfort was minimalized. Winnifred followed you up, and sat on the edge of the hatch, her usual chosen place.

“You sure you want to be up there right now?” you asked, “We won’t be going at a comfortable speed. You’ll need to lean in some.”

“There will undoubtedly be further questions asked of me.” Winnifred shrugged.

“I suppose so.” You couldn’t help but admit. Your attention was turned to the radio. “Alright people, if you’re not on your way out of here in…two and a half minutes, you’re gonna have problems quick. Order of march is the same as the way here. We’re going to do our best to avoid contact, but if we run into anything we can’t go around, we won’t hold back. This is the home stretch, after all!

-----

As small pockets of resistance were spotted and moved around, the company plus weaving through hostile territory like an earthworm through soil (though exceptionally speedier), you did your best to regain contact with headquarters. Having moved out of reliable radio range of them earlier in the bound to Castle Delamil, you were eager to report back; to present news both terrible and relieving. In between listening to reports from the front for encounters in your path and from the rear in regards to your (perturbingly motivated) closing pursuers, you checked in on the Battalion network to see if you could send or receive anything that wasn’t mangled inteference. In most tank formations, with the loss of your primary command tank, this would not be an option, but these were Luftpanzers with as much money sunk into their gear as possible. Platoon command and Company Command tanks had identical sets, and identically powerful range. Most tanks couldn’t communicate more than a few kilometers when transmitting voice, but the extra expense would do you well here.

“…er….orthbou…haste….force…”

Snippets- things were improving. Rather than wait for voice transmission to improve, you began transmitting in tedious, but reliable, naval code.

Bird Dog, Griffon Actual. You reported, in dashes and dots. Do you read me, over?

We read you, Griffon. Report status.

Objective secured, partial success. Code R.

Damn. Current location, unit integrity?

North of S-A-P, maybe twenty klicks.

Affirmative. Sending Gull to help report route. A “Gull” was a Reichsmarine long range observation plane. Hopefully, you would get updates on the worst to come in time.

-----

“Captain, we’ve got a problem…” Sergeant Dohdt, who hadn’t been nearly as talkative as he used to be after Alterwald’s assassination attempt on you, reported over the radio of news of contact. “Looks like a lot of Revolutionaries on either side of that town right there, and the town looks like…well, it’s pretty tough, I guess, since those Revs look like they’re not friendly with it, but even with how many there are, they ain’t attackin’…”

“Keep talking,” you said, looking cautiously rearward; in spite of your Luftpanzers’ speed, the Revolutionary Party battalion, or whatever they were called (Party Crashers, perhaps?) had been gaining on you. It wasn’t that much further to your lines, but this massive obstruction had appeared unexpectedly. Normally, it wouldn’t be any trouble at all to go around, but being forced to go laterally would likely let your pursuers catch up with you, and in this situation, that could prove fatal if they caught you between two formations, especially with your quite inferior numbers. “What sort of numbers are there, what sort of positions? They can’t be that tough if they’re on the run.”

“They look like they’ve dug in…” Dohdt’s voice was shakey, “Let me…look again…” A minute, every second of which you counted your pulse; you didn’t have time for a second opinion. “Sorry. I looked again, and, there’s one group in some shallow foothills, and another in what looks like woods. Everything seems hastily dug, but there’s a lot of guns. It’d be pretty nasty to attack. We’re back in range where we can get in touch with our artillery support, tho’…”

As well as that of Battalion HQ and air support. A Reichsmarine observation plane circled overhead, though; they’d certainly be able to inform you further, especially since the morning was getting brighter with the sun rising. If there was any time to call in everything you
could it was probably now (potentially to include "allied" aristocratic artillery- more on that to come.), if you didn’t mind collateral damage, as well as potentially having to wait. Level bombers hadn’t been known for their responsiveness in exercises, after all.

“Why do you think this town’s so tough?” You asked Owl 3 after describing the situation. “Figured these independent towns were…well, little and couldn’t stand up to as many Revs as there are apparently sittin’ around it.”

“Hm. There would certainly have to be a greater proportion of fighters than would normally be produced by the population, yes?” Owl 3 put forward, “We are not so far away from the other town we passed by that had fended off Revolutionary attacks. It could be that they sent their people over to this town, and established a relatively formidable position, amateur as it may be.”

An opportunity, then. Even if they had not raised the flag of a faction, if they were against the Revolutionaries, perhaps you had common ground. Maybe you could negotiate passage, and place a wall between you and your pursuers in your final sprint south. As much as you expected to have to fight your way out, and in spite of said fight closing on the horizon, perhaps you wouldn’t have to fight at all, if you merely presented yourself well enough?

>Move to break through the entrenched enemy; they might be dug in and heavily armed, but they’re a static target for your support elements, and certainly less potentially fearsome than the Party coming from the north.
>To hell with your pursuers, you’d turn around and crush them. Then you could go as far around as you pleased.
>See if you can find a way to arrange a meeting with the town militia; their north end was open, and you could potentially pass through, or at least find a haven from attack.
>How frightening could these townspeople really be? You were in a hurry, and you’d be damned if you needed their permission to save their country by trespassing on their property.
>Attempt to thread the needle; go laterally and attempt to go around the dug in enemy, you could fend off the attackers from the north and south as you went, so long as you didn’t get stuck.
>Other?

Visual aid will come with some time, I wanted to get this up first though.

>>3169011
>Attempt to thread the needle; go laterally and attempt to go around the dug in enemy, you could fend off the attackers from the north and south as you went, so long as you didn’t get stuck.

>>3169011
>>See if you can find a way to arrange a meeting with the town militia; their north end was open, and you could potentially pass through, or at least find a haven from attack.
Send Dohdt straight in waiving a white flag, no time to fuck around. Have him inform them that we're passing through their town. If they cooperate and allow us through we have artillery support on standby which we can have fire on the revolutionary forces outside their town to help them out as thanks. If they don't allow us through, though, that artillery will be leveling their town instead.

>>3169011
>See if you can find a way to arrange a meeting with the town militia; their north end was open, and you could potentially pass through, or at least find a haven from attack.

There is a whole lot of hurt coming this way, if we can pass through the town by bartering some of our off map support we might even be able to put some more distance between us as our pursuers have to go around.

>>3169224
Supporting, get him to rush his ass in there and get a quick yes or no. If they shoot at him, delay him or bring this up to a council or some shit, then this becomes the same thing as saying no. We are giving them an opportunity to either break out or break up their enemy.

In fact we can tell them that the units chasing us are *reinforcements* for the dug in Revs if that helps convince them that their situation is precarious and we are the only help nearby.

One way or another we are passing through and some part of Halmeggia is getting the ever living shit blown out of it.

>Other?
Confirm available artillery/ bomber support, if we get a positive answer from the town they we should target either the forest or the hills enemy and break through there. If we trust AUSC, (we probably don't) we could also use their artillery to fire behind us at our pursuers as we make our attack.

>>3169301
To add onto this, I'm hesitant to try to thread the needle or just push through the dug in Revs, if the Pursuers radio contact their friends then we are well and truly fucked, this town gives us a bulwark to work around or attack from.

>>3169306
We could ask Dohdt for a more accurate estimate of the enemies' relative strength but my impression was that the town would be a harder target than either group of Revs to punch through, since if it were weak enough for us to attack easily the Revs probably would have attacked them by now. Even if the town calls our bluff and refuses entry we might be better off just calling the supporting fire down on one of the groups of Revs anyway and then pushing through them before their reinforcements can arrive.

>>3169429
True that I don't think any of us actually want to bomb the town been there, done that but as long as we can gauge the townsfolk willingness quickly it couldn't hurt, and then as a back up plan just go in with everything we have.

>>3169224
Supporting.

“Alright, Sergeant Dohdt, here’s what I need you to do,” you said, mindful of the enemy closing from behind. “I want you to drive right up to the town through this big northern gap between these two enemy forces waving a truce flag, and talk with their people if you can, and ask them to let us through their town. If they just shoot at you or try to delay or blow you off with some negotiation that forces everybody to wait outside, tell them we’ve got artillery and air support that we can help them with, but if they don’t want to help us in return then we’re wiping that town off the map and driving through the ruins.”

“…We wouldn’t do that, would we, Captain?” Fischer asked warily. “The last village, after all, that…”

“That was a mistake that won’t happen again,” you explained to your upright officer, “But they don’t know that, anyways. If anything’s coming down, it’ll be on one of the Revolutionary’s fortification lines, which we’ll blow through. I’d rather secure some nice lodgings in that town if we could, though. Maybe if we make ourselves tough enough, the Revolutionaries will just piss off.”

“And trying to attack that town without the benefit of complete surprise and total force would be the worst call of all for us anyways,” Covacs added. “If we were to try and bomb them out and push through I wouldn’t think that we would warn them first.”

“That would be unsporting,” you joked.

“Er, Captain, what if we…don’t…have…a truce flag?” Dohdt asked slowly.

“You don’t have something white and billowy to wave around?” you asked. A quick look to Owl 3’s back, her white blouse peeking from under the jacket you lent her, riding up. A shame her blouse was tucked into her trousers. “Figure something out. Wave your hands around, do something.”

“Well,” Dohdt sniffed, “…couldn’t you do it?”

…

“Excuse me?” you choked. I mean, you could, but that really wasn’t the point of anything.

“I mean, they’re surely going to want to talk with the leader, and all, and that’s you, right?” Dohdt quickly rattled on a short breathed addendum. “And they’re going to listen a lot better to a commander of a Reich force than…well, me.”

File: generallocalarea.jpg (97 KB, 922x1000)

97 KB JPG

There was the fact that Dohdt was a timid man, certainly, but he could also be referring to his allegiance. Owl 3 had certainly made much of the fact that the Aristocrats didn’t have much popularity outside their territory, but with how close their lines had come, surely self-preservation would elevate any independents’ view of them, especially ones that already had hostile relations with the Revolutionaries?

Then again, you were just as suspicious as Dohdt for said allegiance, especially after what his technical superior had done. Was this a reasoned proposal, you thought cautiously, or a rebellion? The latter would normally be too paranoid to consider, but an attempted murder had made you much more considerate of such a possibility.

>There’s nothing to worry about. Just go right along, have I steered you wrong before?
>Fine, I’ll take the first meeting. Probably better that way anyways.
>Why the sudden concern? Has something happened to hurt your confidence in me?
>Other?

Map is a general overlook; the distances aren't important (at present) and so this is more meant to present a general idea.

I must just be completely out of it this week. This update rate is silly.

>>3170955
Sorry where exactly are we trying to breakthrough? Through the town directly in between those RAGV formations?

>>3170993
Not break through; negotiate passage, really. And yes, there.
The map is vague so territorial control isn't seen, nor general unit composition or anything like that. That might come later.

>>3170955
>>Other
Send Owl 3 to help us negotiate. We need someone we can trust but like hell we're going ourselves.

>>3170955
>>Why the sudden concern? Has something happened to hurt your confidence in me? Just go right along, have I steered you wrong before?

The message/ultimatum Doht has to convey is pretty simple and there isn't any real room for negotiation, so I don't see any reason for us to risk getting shot at/backstabbed by going up ourselves. I think our hitpoints are too low to risk getting shot again anyway.

>>3170955
>Fine, I’ll take the first meeting. Probably better that way anyways.

I will admit that they might see his cars colors and just open fire.
>Other?
But if he isn't willing to go first then we are sending him behind to see where our pursuers are.

>>3170955
>Why the sudden concern? Has something happened to hurt your confidence in me?

>>3170955
>There’s nothing to worry about. Just go right along, have I steered you wrong before?

I live, barely.

>>3171363
>>3171913
>>3172691
Is there anything wrong? If not, then why not go?

>>3171670
I'll take it. Though you're not just going to sit around.

>>3171019
This requires a lady's touch.

I am writing. Update should be out soon, unless I fall over and die for the fiftieth time this week. Maybe it's because I didn't get coffee today.

“Why the sudden concern?” you asked, feigning confusion, not having to fake innocence, though. “Has something happened to hurt your confidence in me? Have I steered you wrong before?”

“Er,” Dohdt was uncertain. “I suppose not, but…”

“So why not just go right along?”

“Well, uh…” the Sergeant cleared his throat, “I mean, it was just uh…nothing.”

Nothing, huh, you thought as you breathed out slowly through your nose. Perhaps it was expected for the timid scout NCO to fold easily, but he hadn’t actually said what his theoretical concern was. You remained frustratingly ignorant of the why, but was that Dohdt’s design or were you overestimating any hint of conspiracy? You waved the thought away for now, and asked, “Would you rather be the eyes facing rearwards for the folks coming up our tailpipes?”

“Oh, no, of course not,” Dohdt hastily replied, “I’ll be on my way, sir…”

“If you’re not confident in talking, that’s fine,” you said, though really the message Dohdt had to convey was incredibly simple. “I’ll send you somebody really good at diplomacy.”

“It’s me, isn’t it.” Winnifred said drily by your side.

You nodded at her. It was for purposes of having somebody you could trust doing some talking, as well. If Alterwald was throwing doubt upon you, you needed somebody from the Reich on this table coming up. It helped that she was more forceful and clever seeming than Dohdt, but that was hardly a difference one needed to be remarkable in order to exhibit.

“That’s…that’d be appreciated.” Dohdt sighed, defeated. He just wasn’t a competitive or decisive sort; you pitied that such a person had been made to fight a war, but that wouldn’t earn him any exemptions from duty while you were in this current situation.

Truthfully, you wouldn’t have minded going forth yourself, but you’d been shot up and beaten quite enough that night, and you required at least a little rest.

-----

In nearly no time at all, you got your response from the town. It was refreshingly quick, considering how often Dohdt seemed to take just a bit too long to report, or do many things in general. Perhaps that was Owl 3’s doing; when you had dropped her off with Dohdt, she had managed to intimidate the nervous man terribly without even trying. Naturally, when you got the update back, she had wrested control of communications from the NCO and was speaking with you directly over the radio.

“It’s done,” she said, “No coercion was even required. We’ve been invited to enter the town of Rotigard.”

“Perhaps because the messenger was so charming?” you couldn’t help but smirk to yourself. “…No coercion, though? Really? Maybe our reputation precedes us. What do people in Halmeggia think of the Reich?”

“What do you think of Halmeggia?” Owl 3 said back.

“That simple?” Winnifred answered in the affirmative. “I see.” Whether it was desperation for allies or if news of who you were had spread, in any case, you were being allowed inside. “Is there a catch?”

“Of course there is.” Winnifred said matter of factly, “This group’s leadership wants to hold a meeting with our own commander. Though I stressed upon them that you would be much more willing to meet if we were guaranteed shelter against the coming storm, first.”

“I see.”

“They want to meet with you at the town hall.”

“Say if I want to meet with them somewhere else?”

“I was told they would insist upon that.

>Alright then, I’ll go. What’s the harm? (Take anybody/anything?)
>I didn’t make any promises to meet with anybody. Let’s just drive on through. If we’re quick, how could they possibly stop us?
>I’ll just tell them to put it off until later. We have defenses to take up, don’t we? Hardly any time for a meeting. And my position’ll be stronger after we’ve shown our worth.
>Other?

>>3174974
>I’ll just tell them to put it off until later. We have defenses to take up, don’t we? Hardly any time for a meeting. And my position’ll be stronger after we’ve shown our worth.

>>3174974
>I’ll just tell them to put it off until later. We have defenses to take up, don’t we? Hardly any time for a meeting. And my position’ll be stronger after we’ve shown our worth.

>>3174974
I thought the game plan was to secure passage through the town in exchange for some fire support so we can keep moving.

We instead defending against an enemy from three sides now?

>>3175054
>We instead defending against an enemy from three sides now?

Not unless you want to. Nobody has yet said that you need to fight anybody at all yet; all that was requested was a meeting. One of the options is using the pressure of focusing on their defense to blow off having a meeting.

>>3174974
>>I’ll just tell them to put it off until later. We have defenses to take up, don’t we? Hardly any time for a meeting. And my position’ll be stronger after we’ve shown our worth.

We are quite actually about to be attacked, pow wows can wait. If they insist, tell them we are setting up our artillery/bomber targets as well as defensive positions.

>>3174974
>>Alright then, I’ll go. What’s the harm? (Take anybody/anything?)
A few soldiers with us.

I don't know guys, I feel we should expedite this as fast as we can. We get bogged down here suddenly we'll be under assault from three fronts, one of which will be the Revs elite troops.

>>3175087
Seconding. Also have the rest of the company keep moving through the town while we have the meeting. It's not like we agreed to stay in the town until after we finished talking.

>>3175087
Alright I'm changing to this, we really just gotta get the fuck outta dodge.

>>3175087
Supporting.

>>3175087
This will work.

I will try to make a good amount of progress today. Depending on how things go we may be very near the end. Perhaps not this thread, but the next thread, depending on how things go.

>>3175087
>>3175113
>>3175332
>>3175584
>>3175645
Go have a talk, but keep everybody moving. Nobody said we had to stop, yeah?

Writing.

“Alright then, I’ll go. What’s the harm, after all?” you decided. “I’ll take a few toughs with me just in case, but it should be fine. Everybody should keep on moving while this is happening, though. I don’t want us to be bogged down in a party we don’t need to attend. I’ll catch up later.”

“Who are said toughs?”

“Eh, me and another tank from 2nd platoon,” you decided. “Some for me and enough to keep the tanks healthy. That and a lot of them are Dhegyars. No Halmeggian who knows anything about ‘em’ll screw with one of them.” Dhegyars were well known in the Reich at least for being nasty if they were motivated; you didn’t know much about Halmeggia’s history, but apparently the place had been conquered by a Dhegyar Nagyember in the past; a warlord or something, as you’d heard in Prince Alexander’s rambling about the kingdom’s origins. You wondered if there would be any residual spite, and if it would work in your favor.

“Halmeggians don’t like Dhegyars.” Winnifred pointed out, just as you had been thinking about this.

“Maybe they like Vitelians less?” you proposed.

“Perhaps now. But many in Halmeggia have Vitelian blood, else the Revolution would not have its support. Dhegyars have not been an enemy to Halmeggia for centuries but its people yet have no love for them. Were I you I would be sure of what sort of dress I wear to this meeting, as it were.”

“I can’t put those sort of moves on these fellas, honey. Least, I don’t think so.”

“Just don’t be an idiot.” Winnifred said tonelessly, as though out of hope. “One last thing to be wary of. Your scout sergeant was conversing with one of the patrols we met with out of my hearing. He was evasive when I demanded what he spoke of, but I doubt the rumors were as innocent as he thought. Be aware of this.”

“I’ll do my best.”

-----

As your company was readily accepted into the town of Rotigard, you took the opportunity to observe what sort of militia you were dealing with. There was quite a few dark blue police tunics, though the headgear was as mixed and varied as the Aristocratic Union’s Levy had had. More than a few appeared to be armed with Vitelian weapons, perhaps captured from their enemies. You noted the presence of what must have been formerly a Revolutionary Army tank (you didn’t recognize this one; it appeared to be the twin turreted variant, but with a single larger turret armed with a cannon), judging from its paint pattern, but it had been partially painted over with dull green and a slogan; Back to the Iceforth with You! Not exactly the punchiest taunt.

“Hey!” a cluster of children suddenly burst from a house as you passed near it, and they ran alongside your tank. “Are you from the Reich? You’re here to beat up the bad guys, aren’t you?” It was a good thing that their guardians took off after them and pulled them back inside; you didn’t know if you had the heart to be the one to tell them that Saint Nikolas wasn’t coming this year.

At the very least, the Rotigard militiamen you spotted seemed in high spirits, and confident, in spite of the storm coming for them. Victory would do that, you knew, as would the current situation of having joined up with more allies. They likely thought themselves indestructible; time would tell if that would be the case. As you split away from the rest of your company and towards the town hall, whose pointed roof raised it above the other stout buildings, you saw just how heavily equipped this militia had become. A mortar battery with uniformed Halmeggian soldiers was one notable example, as was a group of trucks that passed you going the other way, trailing several anti-aircraft cannons. Had these people been near an armory to clean out to have so much stuff? They certainly would be a troublesome opponent for most, so long as they had the fighting ability and leadership to exploit these tools.

The town hall lacked heavy guard, or any sort of guard, unless you counted a few men at the steps who seemed more engaged with conversation than with any defensive duty.

“I dunno about the rest of you, but that speech on the radio got me pumped, you know?” They didn’t even look up as your Luftpanzer slid to a stop. “Like, this used to be just about living, then I heard Wolfe talking about winning. Coming out of all this proud that we didn’t let this place fall to such and such.”

“Hear, hear,” another agreed.

“Sure, but,” another seemed less certain, “Just, my girlfriend’s pregnant, and all. Everybody having to do their part…see, I woulda gotten that fine a few months ago, but you know how many guys there are outside? And I hear the Aristocrats’ve got even more.”

“Wolfe’s a war hero. He can stomp them all.” The second man said confidently.

“Yeah, but are you Wolfe?” the cynical militiamen pointed to his other, then to the one beside him. “Is he? You know, even in the stories about Relqa smacking shit about, plenty of her allies still died. I just don’t want to be one of those, leaving a family behind.”

“It’d be worse if your kid was made fun of because his father didn’t fight when his country needed it, though, wouldn’t it?” the first man said darkly. There was an awkward silence, and then the group finally noticed you. The same man called out. “Oh. Hullo. You’re the Reich people? We heard you’s was comin’.”

“To talk with your leaders, sure.” You shimmeyed down the Luftpanzer to try and keep from popping your leg open again. “Oof.” You landed, but not hard enough to feel anything; a relief. “So, do I just go on in, or do I need a pat down?”

“A pat down?” the men looked at each other, then at you. “Don’t see why.”

“So I can bring my guns in?”

“Don’t rightly know why you’d need them.”

“I have trust issues?” you smiled broadly; you didn’t actually want to put these people on guard, but you did want to be prepared for the worst eventuality. “I’m not intent on causing any trouble. If I get to keep my guns I know you trust me not to, right?”

The men blinked, whispered to each other, then looked back. “You don’t need that big gun, right? A pistol’ll be fine.”

“Oh, this?” you’d taken the submachinegun with you. “You’re worried about this and not the tanks?”

The pressuring militiaman screwed up his face. “…Yeah, I guess you’re right. I guess it’s okay if you take the gun.”

“Great. Can I take my friends, too?”

“Uhhhh…” They seemed much less acquiescing towards that request.

>They’re Dhegyars. I wouldn’t treat them less kindly than any other guest, they take offense to that.
>If not, that’s fine. I’m not too concerned, they can wait outside.
>One of them’s a nice lady. I can introduce you all; she’s a bachelorette. (Will drag Winnifred over here)
>My friends include the royal family. Well, what’s left of it. You wouldn’t deny them entry, would you? (See above but for Edelina and/or Alexander)
>Wolfe’s daughter is my girlfriend. You seem to like him plenty. You should like me.
>Other?

If you'd like to sneak anything in you can pre-emptively decide such.

>>3176613
>One of them’s a nice lady. I can introduce you all; she’s a bachelorette. (Will drag Winnifred over here)

...she told us not to be an idiot. Sorry Winnie.

Hey tanq, how far are the closest Militarist forces in the area as far as we know?

>>3176613
>>One of them’s a nice lady. I can introduce you all; she’s a bachelorette. (Will drag Winnifred over here)

>>3176908
>Hey tanq, how far are the closest Militarist forces in the area as far as we know?

Roughly fifteen to twenty kilometers west. You haven't had any opportunity to really check on their advance as of most recently, but there wasn't any indication that they were pushing straight east. They most likely are making a beeline for the capital.

In short, they don't seem like they'll be coming here anytime soon.

>>3176946
If they are in the west heading east then they'll be around here eventually right?

>>3177074
Eventually, yes, but probably not soon. The Capital is north from where they were, and they were moving northeast to be enveloping perhaps- they're not looking to be actively expanding towards where you are now.

>>3176613
>They’re Dhegyars. I wouldn’t treat them less kindly than any other guest, they take offense to that.

We're happy to help anyone fighting the Revs, but we don't know jack diddly about you folks, it'd make me much happier if my friends could come in too. Otherwise whenever you all want to talk, your leader can come find me setting up defenses with my men.

>>3177092
Hmm. We don't plan on staying here for as long as we can help it. Would it be possible to give the commander here, in addition to the fire support, Gunmetal's frequency for support?

We can't stay to fight their battles with them, but we can get them in touch with someone who can.

>>3177116
>Would it be possible to give the commander here, in addition to the fire support, Gunmetal's frequency for support?

That would be quite possible, yes.

>>3176613
>>Other?
>Surely it's common courtesy to let just one or two bodyguards come in with me? I am a company commander after all, and I've already been shot once. I try to make a point of not being alone if I can help it.

>>3176613
>They’re Dhegyars. I wouldn’t treat them less kindly than any other guest, they take offense to that.

>>3176613
>>One of them’s a nice lady. I can introduce you all; she’s a bachelorette. (Will drag Winnifred over here)

“Surely it’s just good manners to let just one or two bodyguards come with?” you presented with a smile, “I am a company commander, after all, and I’ve already been shot once. I try to make a point of not being alone if I can help it.”

“What’s a company commander?”

Welp. “Let me tell you about my companions,” you tried a different tack, “My guards are…just normal guys. Perfectly friendly.” There was little reaction, as planned. You thought about telling them that they were Dhegyars, but then thought about trying to catch flies with honey rather than…Dhegyars. “My other friend, though, is a nice lady.” You added coyly, “I can introduce you all; she’s from around here, and a bacheloree-eette…”

That drew a bit more interest from the unintimidated parties. Good enough justification to call Winnifred back, though she might be annoyed from this unplanned use of her…skills? All she had to do was sit around and look pretty (or at least interested), but you had the feeling she could toy with these men better than one could hope.

Though perhaps she didn’t have to go so far as grind on them. You’d selfishly keep such to yourself.

-----

You received a report while calling for Owl 3; apparently, a barrage you’d called down earlier, offhandedly, with little expectation for it to do more than delay the people behind you, had come down. No words on whether it splashed on the enemy. You hadn’t stuck around to watch. Hopefully, you thought to yourself, it had come down right on their heads. Even if it was a miss it should still make them wary.

Owl 3 was not happy to be dragged to the Town Hall; she didn’t show it, but there was something about the way she glared that hinted at a deeper irritation. She did grow any more pleased when you explained what you wanted her to attempt, either.

“Flirting with random militia fighters is frivolous. I am unsure of just what you were planning, let alone what the necessity of the plan was.” She said scathingly.
“I’m sure you’ll find some way to fix things,” you tried to offer, “And you’ll be close by in case anything weird happens.”

“Hmph.” Owl 3’s usual face wasn’t a particularly alluring one; she looked tired and dour most of the time, but when she turned an eye towards the curious men on the steps, her transformation was subtle yet unquestionably effective, with the first step being of course to return your jacket, and to unclasp a few buttons (though not as many as you would have were you in her place, though maybe you lacked subtlety). It was remarkable how much a change in gait and expression did for her appeal, as her heavy eyed sleeplessness turned to a playful drowsy slant of the eye, and the perpetual frown parted into a soft and vulnerable pout with but a slight parting of the lip. “Excuse me…” she said softly to the trio of militia; even the reticent one who already had arrangements perked his ears in response. “I’ve heard of what you all are doing…” She sidled up next to one and leaned against the wall, her hair messily thrown over her darker eye and leaving the blue one lazily half open. “You must be exhausted…just feel your arms, your neck…” Owl 3 ran her hands all over the man she was close to, and he opened his mouth to object, let it hand open, then shut it, confused. “Tensed up all over. Why don’t you all just let me hang out with you…I want to know your stories.”

Owl 3 wasn’t really an attractive woman but this mask appeared to be a well-practiced one nevertheless. Maybe she saw something in them that she could exploit, or these small town folk had never encountered a predatory bar floozy, but she had them playing her game at her table in no time.

“Let’s go,” you said lowly to your temporary crew as you watched Winnifred capture the attention of the doormen. When you came up and told them you were going in, they hardly cared. You simple went in followed by your people as though you owned the place. You took your crew with you, leaving the crew of the other tank to stand watch.

“Think she’s going a bit far?” one of your Dhegyar companions; the driver, Suszter, thought aloud.

“Compensating, rather.” You muttered, “Let’s not force her to be around the less charming for too long, yeah? We have our meeting with these bosses, short and sweet, and we book it.”

“And if we have to shoot?” the loader followed on that quietly.

“Then make damn sure you do it while running.”

-----

The inside of the town hall had been turned into a command post, albeit a hasty and sloppy one. Assistants who had surely been freshly designated such struggled to sort documents that cascaded over desks, while desperate coordinators rushed to and fro babbling confused commands to those who were unknowingly working at the wrong task. The mess was easily navigated through for all of its woes to those who formed it, and you found an official, likely a police chief from his style of dress, speaking with an army officer who had his arm bound in a sling. The latter noticed you with a start; apparently they hadn’t been planning for exactly when you would fit into their schedule, as aside from the stray aide that ran through the place, they had no escort.

“Who’re you?” the (likely former) army officer demanded.

“He must be from the Reich tank group I had the northern guys let through.” The police chief explained.

“Let through?” the army officer echoed. He was young; probably younger than you, and thus undoubtedly low ranking. That you were a captain in your years was quite remarkable, after all, even if that appointment was largely based off of your connections.

His counterpart, meanwhile, was older, but young and fit enough that he couldn’t have been older than forty. His age and experience cooled any protest from the young officer; perhaps that he was taller and broader helped too, as he was nearly as much so as you. “Yes, I had them let through. Why not? Haven’t you heard what the prisoners we’ve taken have said? That the Kaiser’s chosen to send his forces to destroy the Revolutionaries? That we have at least some good graces with them is obvious. I invited their commander here for some discussion of our situations.”

“Hmm.” The officer was still wary; he had a slight slowness to his actions that showed he had been given morphine for whatever his arm wound was. “So he’s here to talk, huh? Do we got time for that? The Revs’ve been sitting outside for a fair bit. They’ll either hit us real soon, or not at all, then we’ve got the nobles to worry about. If he’s here for why you think then I’d want a yes or no right away.”

“Yes or no on what?” you refused to be left behind, “I’m in a hurry myself but I’m not agreeing to whatever you like. I need a few more drinks for that.”

The officer squinted at you like he wasn’t sure you were real. “What are you even talking about?” Some people just didn’t have good humor, you supposed. “What sort of uniform is that?” he gestured towards you and your crew that you stole from Schneider, “That doesn’t look like a Reich uniform at all, not even a tanker one. I don’t know what you’re supposed to be.”

“We’d be here forever if we lingered on every detail,” you said to that, “Let’s get to the point. You let me into your town, and you wanted to meet with me. What do you want from me?”

“Of course,” the Police Chief said, ducking to the side as a pair of men hauled a long, heavy crate from the adjacent room, noisily bumping against the walls the whole way. “You see, the Revolutionaries very much want our weapons and supplies. We cleaned out the store where we came from, and brokered an agreement with the Lieutenant and his band here. We’d share our weapons and ammunitions, and they’d work with us. That’s how we got this impressive host here.” Subjective term, but you supposed it was true if they’d fought of the Revolutionary Army so far. “They are free to try and come take them again. We believe that we can hold them once, twice, thrice more. We are not so confident of the so-called Aristocratic Union, however.”

“How so?” you asked the near prompted question.

“They have sent messages to us. Indicating that we should join them,” the chief said as though speaking of an irritating door to door salesman. “We disagree, and would much rather join with Major Wolfe. One of his folks broadcasted a speech which…well, it set a fire under our hearts. The trouble is, I doubt the Aristocrats will take kindly, and after we are weakened by the enemy assaults on the way…including one from the north our scouts have spoken of.” The police chief touched his fingers together one by one, as though weighing what he was going to say. “Your help in defending, or at least dissuading the enemy from attacking, would be much appreciated. Alternatively, if you could direct the Guardians of Halmeggia…Wolfe’s men, to perhaps sway over here…”

You could already tell you weren’t going to like what was coming next.

“You have a whole lot of tanks.” The young officer spelled it out clearly. “Surely you could spare a few? We’re letting you pass right through without a fight, after all. Not all of them, not even half, but enough that we’re more formidable.”

“Or…” the police chief’s expression grew darker as well, “We have heard of…other companions you have. A rumor passed, that you have the Crown Princess, Edelina Von Halm-Auric?”

“The militarists need what’s left of the Royal Family to keep the Aristocrats from having a legit claim on the country, see?” the officer added excitedly, “Hear there’s two. You can part with one of them, right? To help us by getting Wolfe to steer his guys this way, instead of pushing on the capital?”

>I don’t like that tone you’re taking, like something might happen if I say no. What happens if I refuse?
>I’m afraid you’re getting nothing and liking it. I can help in giving some of my indirect support, artillery and air strikes, for example, but I won’t fight your battles nor will I give up my charges.
>Materiel, huh? Sure, I can spare some…[What do you give?]
>You’re right, I do only need one royal family member, don’t I. So long as you keep them safe, you hear? [Which one? As if there’s much a competition.]
>Other?

>>3179016
Talk about a rock and a hard place with these choices.
>Other?
Tell them that when we leave the town, we are gonna call a lot of Firepower on one of the two Rev lines and then attack that side as a favor to them for letting us in. That will more than likely at least convince the Revs this isn't worth the trouble, especially if they support our attack while we go fight.
((Whether we actually do this or not is up for debate.))

In the highly likely event they don't think that's enough then offer a direct line to Major Wolfe himself as >>3177116 suggested.

And when they ask about the third Rev group coming from the North tell them that they don't care about the town but are chasing us. In fact if they do try and keep us here, they will now have to deal with a three way attack instead of two. Do they really want to deal with all that trouble coming their way?
---
Also it's time to shed some dead weight, Dohdt and the AUSC have to meet with an accident sooner rather than later. The Townsfolk wouldn't even know about the Prince and Princess (or that they are the last ones left) without someone ratting out on us and frankly we know who did it.

>>3179016
>I’m afraid you’re getting nothing and liking it. I can help in giving some of my indirect support, artillery and air strikes, for example, but I won’t fight your battles nor will I give up my charges.
>I can however see if I can get Wolfe to swing by here on his way to the capital. Gunmetal and I are on good terms so it shouldn't be a tough sell.

Their options are A. Attack us or try to keep us here in which we'll try to break through and have artillery shells hit the town to cover our escape, in which the Revs will take advantage.

Or B. Let us go through and we pound the Rev formations, delaying their assault and giving time for Gunmetal to relieve them.

>>3179016
>Also it's time to shed some dead weight, Dohdt and the AUSC have to meet with an accident sooner rather than later.

Actually good point

>>3179016
Instead of the 'Getting nothing' part in my vote here add
>Materiel, huh? Sure, I can spare some…[What do you give?]
Dohdt.

>>3179087
>I’m afraid you’re getting nothing and liking it. I can help in giving some of my indirect support, artillery and air strikes, for example, but I won’t fight your battles nor will I give up my charges.
>I can however see if I can get Wolfe to swing by here on his way to the capital. Gunmetal and I are on good terms so it shouldn't be a tough sell.
Maybe at most we try to break through one of their formations on the way out but no way are we staying to fight.If they want to detain us threaten to call in our air support on the town. If we're going down we're dragging them along with us.
>>3179110
The issue is Alterwald might just decide to tell Dohdt to ignore our orders; I'm pretty sure he knows we the situation both of us are in right now.

>>3179139
And also offer them that frequency to Wolfe so they can coordinate directly.

>>3179016
Voting for this >>3179077

Alright, so a lot of planning to unpack:

>>3179077
Pound one group of Revolutionaries with everything you have from far away, then charge in and break them; or at least propose to do that; likely the decision point being on whether or not to follow up the barrage.
Point out all the support can be called in on their town.
Add a cherry on top of sharing the communications line with Major Wolfe, since they like him so much. Doesn't he have a sweet daughter? Surely you can drag him over here by giving your personal approval.
Tell them about how the oncoming group from the north is after you and not them. Perhaps they'll be gone the sooner you leave?

And your friends need to go away. How? Yet to be seen/discussed, but proposed here >>3179110 is a simple donation...

>>3179139
...If Alterwald agrees with it, unlikely as that may be. That said Alterwald's opinion stopped meaning anything when you shot his bedwarmer to death.

I'll get to writing this.

Turns out I died.
Anyways since any update won't be coming until late today because of planned game, and we're so far down on the board, I'll just take what we had here and apply it to next thread's OP. I'll post it up tomorrow; no need to delay a whole nother week, methinks.