Girls und Panzer and the Wundermotor

The Ghost:

"Alright, here's the Wundermotor." Otto, with Faber's aid, placed down the aforementioned machine on the grass in the woods. Upon seeing the faces of the Leopon Team, Otto added on, "We also call it [Der Kessel] because it looks like a boiler. It does doesn't it?"

Satoko nodded. "Huh, your right. It does look like a boiler when you look at it enough." The Wundermotor was a tall, cylindrical machine, with a piece of cylindrical glass in the center that according to the Germans, would emit a purple glow, but all that came was a dull grey. It had various pipes sticking from it that created an odd pattern at the top and bottom, and in the center surrounding the whole machine was a circle of circular and square piston heads pointed downwards into the machine at an angle. Oddly, there were no bolts or signs of welding or anything on the central body. It was all just one large smooth cylinder, the only sign of bolting or welding were where the pipes went in and out of the Wundermotor. "So...is this thing dangerous?" Satoko and the rest of the Leopon team stepped back slightly when the Wundermotor's glass glowed grey.

Faber turned to Otto, and realizing he would have to explain everything for Faber, Otto sighed. "It should be safe as long as you don't shoot it. Besides, it's lost energy, so it can't possibly do anything right now." he said reassuringly. "Anyways, let's get the [Der Kessel] loaded up, we did agree to move it to your tank hanger. Do you have a truck or anything? [Der Kessel] is quite heavy." When Otto was only given silence, he signed again. "[Faber, can you call Hans to tow the Wundermotor? It seems they haven't brought any sort of vehicles to transport the Wundermotor.]"

Turning to Hans, who had begun to walk away in boredom, Faber said in a clear and loud voice, "[Hans, Achtung!]"

Instantly, Hans turned around and clicked his boots together. "[Ja, Kommandant?]"

"[Get your Panzer II and help these girls tow the Wundermotor back to their base. They'll guide you, and as long as you keep your head inside, no one should think anything out of the ordinary.]"

"[Jawohl.]" Hans walked off into the forest, disappearing into the underbrush. Several minutes later, the low rumble of a gasoline engine appeared and a dark steel blue Panzer II came into view, towing behind it a wagon large enough to carry the Wundermotor, along with a tarp to cover it. The Panzer II's hatch opened and popped out his head, Hans said an abrupt, "Let's go."

About a half-hour later of putting the Wundermotor into the wagon, covering it with the tarp, and then checking that no one was watching, the Panzer II with the rest of the Ooarai girls was travelling down the roads to the Ooarai hanger. Yukari excitedly examined the Panzer II, spouting off it's aspects, such as it's speed, armor, and other things. "The gun's different though." Yukari said with curiosity.

One of the Panzer II's hatches flipped open and Hans' voice flowed out, informing Yukari about the gun. "Otto modified the guns to be more powerful. The 4 barrels are good."

"Is it more cramped inside the Panzer or anything?" said Yukari.

"[Nein.] Otto did a number of modifications on this Panzer without sacrificing ergonomics." Hans went silent before asking for the 3rd time, "Are we getting closer?"

"Yeah, we're just about there to our Hanger." Anzu informed Hans. Just as she said that, Hans turned into the large, empty lot where the Ooarai Sensha-do Team would drive their tanks, which was right in front of the large Tank Hanger. Hans stopped the engine and hopped out of his tank from the hatch, and as the Ooarai girls went about opening the garage, Hans unhooked the wagon and began to trail it towards the hanger before he stopped.

"What's wrong Hans?" Miho looked around, concerned.

"I hear someone coming!" he abruptly stated before he suddenly leapt back into the Panzer, and at that exact moment he closed the hatch a girl with short brown hair worn in ponytails wearing under rimmed glasses turned the corner.

"Oh, hey you guys are here! I'm Taiga Ou of the Broadcasting Club, can I interview you guys about the upcoming Sensha-do Festival?" the girl said eagerly.

"S-sure!" Miho rubbed her head slightly. Thank goodness, Hans jumped into his Panzer before she appeared.

"Hooray! Alright so..." and soon Taiga flew into an excited state, spitting out questions quite quickly.

All the while, Hans left one of the Panzer's hatches open listening to the reporter. What's Sensha-do? He thought to himself. He made a note to tell the others and ask the girls.

Taiga, after writing down one of the answers Miho and the Student Council gave her, pointed to the Panzer II with her pen. "What's up with the tank? Are you gonna add it to your line up?"

Momo feigned rubbing her chin in thought. "Oh, that, right...Uhhh..." Taiga leaned forward, making Momo even more nervous. "We um, we're considering it! Yeah, that, besides, right now it's just borrowed."

"I see. What's in that wagon?" Taiga pointed to the wagon next, with the Wundermotor still covered by the tarp.

Suzuki piped up, "It's spare parts! We just had to tow them a bit."

"I see. Last question! What will you say to all the other schools who will challenge you during the festival?"

Miho gave her answer a good thought. "We'll be waiting." Doing a bit of a cheesy jump, she added on, "Panzer vor!"

"Thank you guys! I'll see you later!" Taiga ran off, answers in hand. As soon as she was out of earshot, everyone breathed in relief, with Hans jumping back out of the Panzer II.

"Phew, we dodged that tank shell. Alright, now help me get the Wundermotor inside." With that, they managed to bring the wagon into the hanger and unload the Wundermotor placing it in the corner, covered by the tarp. That way no one would think it was something odd. Checking the sun, Hans told them all, "I should get back to the forest. I'll see you next time." As he began to climb into his Panzer, Yukari had two questions of her own. "What?"

"I've got two questions: 1, are you from the Ghost Division? I saw the patch on your arm."

"[Ja], I am."

With even more excitement, Yukari stated her final question: "Is the tank that you and the other soldiers currently crew a P.1000 Ratte?"

"Well I'm afraid I'm not one to tell secrets. [Tschüss.]" Without another word, Hans started the engine and at surprising speed, drove off down the path.

"The 7th Panzer Division...I didn't spot that before, Guderian." Erwin said in wonder. "You've got keen eyes."

"Eheheh, thanks Erwin." Yukari scratched her fluffy hair whilst pleased by Erwin's compliment.

"Also, what's the P.1000 Ratte? I've never heard of that tank before..."

Yukari perked up immediately. "The P.1000 Ratte was a Wunderwaffe proposed by the director of Krupp, Edward Grotte. It was planned to be a tank of colossal proportions, weighing over a 1000 tons-"

"A thousand tons?!" Erwin gawked for a moment. "That's not a tank, that's a battleship."

Yukari grinned. "Exactly. Because of this, it was called the Landkreuzer. It also would've had an equally powerful armament, it's main cannon was to be a 280mm battleship gun from the Scharnhorst class battleships and it's armor would've made most tank guns useless against it. Hitler was enamoured by the idea but Albert Speer cancelled it in 1943 before a prototype could be made. Heinz Guderian himself summed it up as saying, 'Hitler's fantasies sometimes shifted into the gigantic.'"

"Wow...So wait, you're saying the Germans crew one?" Erwin was beginning to feel disbelief, along with the others who were assembled after Yukari had given her lecture.

"Well, when we, the Anglerfish Team first met Faber, he muttered the word, '[Ratte]', but when I asked, he said he couldn't confirm or deny that they used a Ratte. And just now, I asked Hans, but he said no too..."

Momo fixed her monocle. "H-hold on, if the Ratte is so big, then how come we haven't seen it?" Anzu and Yuzu nodded, the former just eating sweet potatoes.

"That's the thing. I have a hunch it's the P.1000 Ratte, the Germans crew, but they must've hidden it very well...Anyways, I wonder what tanks the Allied soldiers use?"