"Tanks?!" Washington stood up immediately. "Hell yeah! Tanks are the shit!"

"Language Washington, don't make me slap you silly."

She sat down just as quickly, calming herself at Kurfürst's threat. Kurfürst cleared her throat and pet the Meowfficer still in her lap, taking a sip of water before getting ready.

"Now, the term 'Tank' is synonymous with the massive war machines today, but back then, we had no such terms for the vehicles. The universal term was originally Landships, as they were armored transports with large weaponry, exactly like a Warship."
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We never knew what they were until they came upon us that day, as we believed them to be water tanks designed for Troops to gather water while deep in the Trenches, a notorious issue.

The day was September 15th, and the infamous "Battle of the Somme" was well underway, with many casualties having already been accrued on both sides.

Following the failure of Verdun, Kurfürst elected to stick on the frontlines with her troops more often, her mere presence helping to boost morale after the horrific losses at that battle. Today was seemingly no different than any other day here, as gunfire still rained down on everyone, and the artillery caked everything in mud and soil.

Kurfürst was in a bunker at the moment, speaking with other officers about their next plans for the coming nightfall. Charges at night were much more common than the day, as the cover of night can assist in getting as close as possible before being spotted in No Man's Land.

We weren't far into the discussion before a young man burst into the room, somewhat panicked and out of breath.

All eyes turned to the door as the young soldier burst through. He held a letter in his hand, which he slowly held up.

"A letter...General..."

Kurfürst took the letter from his hand, gently helping him stand straight. "Get some rest, you look winded."

He saluted as best he could, before leaving the room and the Officers alone once again. All eyes were on Kurfürst's letter, which she opened to read and figure out what was so important.

The contents slowly made her eyebrows raise, all the way to the final line, where she hummed and set the paper down. "It seems there's a new weapon on the British side. A 'Tank' as they heard them shout."

"A Tank?"

"Yes, and it seems to be an armored weapon, a Landship of sorts."

The chatters came up, all questioning what this could have been about, considering that a ship on land sounded impractical. Whatever the case may have been, for the man who delivered the message to be so panicked and breathless meant that these were a bigger deal than she originally thought.

Oh, how right I was...

Some time had passed, and now, in late November of 1917, Kurfürst was well on her way traveling towards Cambrai, where transmissions have been sent by many that a large number of British Tanks have rolled through in the middle of the night, flattening their defensive lines and forcing many back while losing much of their own tank divisions.

The trench wasn't much farther ahead, and she fully expected to be caught in a battle with full Tank groups all firing on both her lines, and soon herself once she appears. This will be her first time seeing a Tank in action, but photographs and reports have helped her get an idea on what has to be done.

'Avoid the front gun, disable the tracks, and peel open the vehicle to get at the crew inside.'

A simple plan that can end in death of anyone...anyone that wasn't her.

She dismounted the horse she had used to get there quickly, and with a snack given to the horse, she turned it's attention back towards where she came from and slapped it's rear hard, sending it running away and towards the back lines.

She continued on towards the trench lines, and she already heard colossal guns firing from where she was. She knew she'd be the primary target as soon as she got on field, so she prepped herself to fight.

"Right...it's time." She cracked her neck and hopped over the raised ground, No Man's Land now surrounding her on all ends.

There they were, Tanks, all around.

She quickly took note of the Tanks that were her own, and charged into the fight as quick as she could, already seeing some Tanks stopping and readying themselves for action. The one she was charging towards was facing another direction, a Landship variant as the British would call it.

By now, her presence would be known all around, but that wouldn't save this Tank in front of her.

She reared back, her hand winding into a fist before she punched the Tank's side gun, forcing her arm clear through before tearing a chunk of it out with her. The hole was just barely too small to fit her, and as she heard the panicked screaming of the men inside, she decided to deal with this a different way.

She reached to her waist, unclipping a grenade and pulling the pin before tossing it in. She already began sprinting away from the Tank towards another, but the explosion was easy to hear, so she knew it worked.

The next Tank fired at her, and with barely the time to act, she narrowly avoided getting hit by the shell before getting close enough to it. She hopped onto the front hood and raised her foot, stomping the gun's visible barrel and preventing anymore successful fire.

I thought it would be more effective to put the Tanks out of commission then to destroy them. It's one thing to destroy an enemy Tank, it's another to take it for yourself.

She hopped on top of the tank this time, again stomping down on the top of the left tracks and damaging the steering to leave the Tank dead in the mud. She was planning on doing the same to the other one, but something had hit her chest, and it hit hard.

She slid back across the frame of the Tank, feeling slightly winded before she checked herself for any harm. Besides a small mark and the shortness of breath, she was fine, but that was something she hadn't felt for a while.

She was actually moved.

She looked to the Tank that fired at her, the gun still trained on her as the crew finally finished loading the next shell. The muzzle flash was all the indication she needed, and she leaned to the right, letting the shell fly past her and hit the ground some hundred meters away.

Scratch the original thought, she scrapping every single one of these things.

She hopped off behind the Tank, readying herself as she bent down and grabbed the Tank. It was...not that heavy actually, rather light now that she thought about it.

'Just how strong even am I?'

She shook her head of the thought, and continued to lift more and more, soon enough, to the astonishment of all on the battlefield, a Tank was lifted right off the ground by the Black Hound of Germany. With a yell, she brought her legs back and leaned all into it, throwing the Tank into the air, bits of it falling off from the strange moment of being airborne.

Of course, falling right onto another Tank.

The crushing force killed the men within the lower Tank near instantly, while the top remained relatively fine, but there was no doubt severe injuries due to the impact. With that done, Kurfürst turned her eyes to the rest of the Tanks, and even from there, she could see into the dark and see the eyes of the men within the Tanks.

They were afraid
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"That skirmish was a win for us, at the major loss of some of our own Tank Divisons across the entire battlefield. I went towards the most active portion only after all, and I can only do so much alone."

"I'm...more caught in how you threw a Tank..." Washington was somewhat slack jawed, the act both not surprising and ridiculous all in one.

Kurfürst only gave her a smile, leaning back in her chair once again as Bishamaru cuddled up closer to her. "Yes, that was definitely a strange battle, but it was an overall loss for us. At that point in the war, it would only grow worse and worse...and here is mostly likely the main deviation of the Great War from your own."

That brought everyone into it instantly. This entire war already seemed ridiculous and horrifying with her going through it, but something was different in this world compared to the one their memories pulled from?

"But...what's different?"

Kurfürst looked to the voice, her closest relative so to speak being the one to talk. "Bismarck...it's a terrible thing, so I will say this to all of you."

She stood from the chair, holding the Meowfficer so she wouldn't fall. Her eyes went dark once again, a clear sign that she was returning to memo again.

Whatever was coming, it wasn't pretty at all.

"There is video footage of what I am going to show you all, there is no audio, but it has been colorized and...well, it's not the friendliest video out there. You will all see me at my absolute lowest, when the moniker of "Germany's Black Hound" was a burning and horrid reality for me."

...

After a few moments, no one stood to leave, nor did anyone make a noise to deter what they were going to see. Kurfürst took a deep breath and slowly let it out, Bishamaru feeling her hands start to tremble with small quakes as something shook her composure.

"That...that day is the worst day I've ever had on this Earth. I can't say much more without...remembering...so I will end my words with all you need to know before watching."

She re-met their gazes, her eyes trembling a little as well, but she was clearly holding it in as best she could. "The day Germany truly lost the war...the day I was taken down in combat."

Gasps came from the crowd at the mere thought of that, especially during those times. How could anyone, let alone the Humans they know as frail and even weak, defeat their powerful predecessor?

"I know you all have questions, but please, don't ask them. I...I've seen this video several times already, and it's well enough for me to watch. I don't want to be forced to remember everything that day...so please hold your tongues."

No one spoke up, and she was ever thankful for that. She put Bishamaru down and reached into a small satchel she had brought earlier, and in it was a roll of film, the footage taken of the fight that "ended the War".

"This is Operation: Sling of David...the plan to defeat me."