Girls und Panzer and the Wundermotor

The Photo Album:

Miho walked around the Zuikaku, a salty breeze picking up her hair. Sure is nice to get a break from all the battles...When she tripped over something on the ground and nearly face-planted if she hadn't stuck out her arms last second. "What the..." Miho found herself staring at a dirty book made of black leather, and bound together by rough string. She picked it up gingerly, and when she saw the words written on it her heart jumped. Stahlratts, 1945-Present.

"So, Miporin, you're saying you found a photo album that belongs to Faber and his crew?" Saori looked at the book. It was quite decrepit looking, it's cover was stained in multiple ways, the leather was rough, and it even looked burnt by what Saori could only guess were bombs and other weapons. On the front of the book underneath the title was an emblem that depicted a rat with chains crossing over it in an x shape. "Should we give it back?"

"Well..."

"Hey Nishizumi-dono! Saori~! What's that?" Yukari suddenly jumped up to the two from behind. They were in the Ooarai tank hanger, sitting at a table with the photo album in the center. When Yukari saw the book and it's title her eyes glowed. "Ooh, we should look into it! We could see all sorts of good info in there!"

"But, Yukari-san it's private isn't it? We should-"

Suddenly Otto walked into the hanger, looking around. "Oh, you three, have you seen a black photo album anywhere? I forgot it was in my satchel and I ended up going for a walk. I must've dropped it..."

Saori grabbed the photo album and hid it behind her back. "Nope, haven't seen it!"

"Alright then, tell me if you see it right? There's some really messed up photos in there, heheh." Otto walked off scratching his head, and the three girls sighed in relief.

"Well, I guess there's no harm done if we take a look then..." Miho sighed, taking the book from Saori's hands and opening its cover. The first page was blank, but on the back of that one and on the next page were photos, two large ones per page. All of them were in black and white but the resolution was good, surprisingly. The first photo depicted Faber and all of his men, lined up. Faber himself was at the front of the group, in his signature outfit. Miho recognized Ralph, Clemmons, Otto, Eric, Konrad, Carl, Peter, who looked nervous, and Lennard, stoic looking as ever. The second photo below the first had a picture of Peter, who was standing with his left leg on top of an ammo box. He was wearing an odd looking stahlhelm with an MP40 strapped across his chest. "I thought Otto said there were some messed up photos in here though..."

"Maybe they're in the back?" Yukari took the photo album and quickly flipped through it, taking a stop every now and then to see the photos. Most of them were just of Faber and his men, lined up, although one photo in particular caught Yukari's eye. It was Faber, but he wasn't wearing his gloves, and his hand looked...odd. Yukari shrugged it off, and flipped through until she came to the end, which was completely blank. "There's nothing here."

"Really?" Sasori took the book and when she reached the back of the book, the leather cover, she saw something. "Wait, look, there's some photos taped here!" On the rough leather were a number of photos taped backwards, so no one could see them. Saori carefully peeled them off, and the very first photo she saw made her heart stop for a moment. The very first photo was of Faber and all his men, standing in front of something very large. The picture was taken at an angle, so Saori could see all their faces, and they were all doing the Nazi Salute, to the man who created it, Adolf Hitler. "Jesus..." Saori looked at the next photo. It was of Faber having the Grand Cross pinned to his uniform by HItler, but what was the most odd was his eyes. He didn't seem proud or joyous at receiving the award. Rather, he seemed to look at Hitler with loathing.

Yukari gulped, remembering what Faber said to her about how he felt about Hitler and Nazis. "Mister Eisenherz said...he said to me that he hates Nazis. So I guess he's forced to pretend to be one." The next photo depicted a shorter person standing over a field that was filled with Shermans and Churchill tanks, all of which looked utterly destroyed. Next to that person was a Panther, and the three girls realized it must've been Peter. Peter really wasn't tall after all. At Peter's feet was a dead soldier, and based on the casings in the grass, he had shot the man himself.

Miho winced, took the photos and taped them back in place. "We have to return this, we can't look." Just as Miho stood up with the album, Otto returned, this time flanked by Peter and Hans.

"So, you did have it?" Otto raised an eyebrow.

"S-sorry! We got curious and-"

Otto just waved it off. "It's alright, people like to see things...You saw the photos taped to the back?" It was more of a statement, based on the faces the three Anglerfish girls were making.

Peter tried to smile. "We're...not proud of those photos, to say the least. Most of them were taken for propaganda."

Hans took back the photo album, and flipped it open. "Yeah, they did. Like little Peter said,"

"D-don't call me that!"

"We're not very proud of them. Well, except for a few. Like this one." Hans handed them a photo. It was of him sitting in a wheelchair, saluting Erwin Rommel. In the background was the Eiffel Tower. "I guess you could say...that we may use the Nazi symbols and salute, but we're not into the entire anti-semitism thing. By the way, did you know that Green Day has a similar photo album? They lost it."

"Eh?" Miho tipped her head.