Tuesday, Thursday and Today are days we rest! [Germany]

Most people would assume that Germany would be very angry at this point. But he isn't. When he got the report that prompted this visit, instead he felt... tired. Just because he's good at war doesn't mean that he enjoys it. Yes, he may enjoy parts of it, sometimes, but on the grand scale of things he'd rather never be in another war again. Instead he finds himself in this global conflict that has lasted for far too long - so many years of constant management to keep himself and his allies safe. It's exhausting just to think about it and there is no sign of it ending any time soon.

But one of the things that he needs to manage is his fellow nations who... well, they're not him. Put him in a battlefield, give him men and supplies, and he'll manage them well and accomplish things with them. A few of the other nations in Europe will also do so as well. But then there are the others... Now, Germany didn't want to accuse his friend of mismanaging his resources, so he took the time to have his military examine the situation. After all, he's well aware that just because you give someone what should be enough men and resources to move forward doesn't mean that they actually can - he's been in situations himself where he was well supplied, but due to other factors in the situation he couldn't move forward. However, he wasn't surprised when the report came back that it wasn't the situation here.

In fact, he partly blames himself for the situation. He's known Feliciano for a very long time - he knows that he needs to keep an eye on him. He ought to have checked on him before now, but on the other hand he's been extremely busy. With so many different demands on his attention, the fact that this front has been a bit too quiet is something easy to miss. But not forever.

Of course, just because he isn't angry that doesn't mean that he doesn't look angry. As he exits the plane, he immediately scans the crowd of people for the one in particular he is here to talk to. Seeing the wave, he alters course immediately to walk toward him. He doesn't wave back, smile, or make any sign of being happy to see his old friend - instead his mouth is set in a flat line. And rather than stopping at the proper distance to say hello, instead he walks past the other nation and toward the center of the camp, saying, "Come with me - we have a lot of work to do."

Not stopping even when addressed, Germany continues to walk toward the camp, forcing Italy to match his quick steps if he wants to keep up and continue to talk to him. He listens with surprising patience as Italy rambles out several so assumptive questions. When they end, he chooses to address them in order.

"I am doing vell. The trip vas long and tiresome, but I got some rest. And no, I vasn't paying any attention - I vas mentally revieving my plans for vhen I arrived here," he says first, "And no, I'm not hungry - ve have a lot of vork to do, and I'm here prepared to vork. But perhaps ve can have some pasta later. And it's good to see you too, Italy! I vish ve had some more time to socialize than ve do. Because nein, I am not here to drink. Like I said, ve have a lot of vork to do."

He abruptly stops, and wraps an arm around Italy, pointing at the camp. "Ve are going to move all of this, and put it all over there," he says, slowly moving his finger from the camp and shifting it to point out into the desert, just a little over the horizon as if to indicate that the position that he actually means is well out of sight.

Which will be quite an undertaking, not just logistically from the standpoint of moving so many men and assets but also because that would most certainly put them into direct conflict with their enemies. In other words, this will shift this front from being a fairly peaceful standoff into a much more active front in the war. It will be a logistical nightmare, but that's why Germany is here. He's seen the numbers - of soldiers and supplies and everything else they would need to advance this front, and he knows that they can pull it off. He just needs to convince Italy to work with him. Which is probably the other reason why he's come here instead of sending anyone else - he can probably get Italy to cooperate better than anyone.

Given how long the two of them have been friends, Germany has had the opportunity to learn a thing or two about Italy and how he thinks. He knew that his friend would balk at the very idea of doing the thing that he's here to do. And he's not going to let a bit of playing dumb dissuade him from it either. It's very important for this front to move, and so it will be moved. Even if he has to drag Italy along kicking and screaming about it, it will be done - he's a very stubborn person when he sets his mind to do something, and he's set his mind to doing this.

"Vhat part of vhat ve're doing are you unclear about?" he asks, sounding patient even as he further underlines the fact that it's going to happen. He is happy to explain until Italy can no longer pretend that he doesn't understand.

And he's also not about to delay in getting started. "Ja - as I said, the trip vas boring. I vas able to rest on the plane - nov I am ready to vork. But if you need a siesta, I can get started vithout you and you can join me in a couple of hours," he says, giving his friend an offer that is no doubt a bit of a catch-22. On the one hand, Italy has just been given permission to go do nothing for a couple of hours. On the other hand, Italy should know by now just how much someone with Germany's level of efficiency is able to accomplish if allowed to work uninterrupted for a couple of hours - they'll be packed up and ready to go by tomorrow if he isn't careful.

Of course, there's a difference between explaining things and answering questions that are simply too irrelevant to merit a response - that is something that Germany does not do. So rather than answering the question about a restaurant, he simply acts as if the question hadn't been asked in the first place - because it shouldn't have been. Instead he answers the question that Italy should have asked but didn't, as that's a much better use of his time.

"I am giving the men I brought vith me a half hour break. After that ve vill take an hour and a half to conduct a basic inspection of the camp - just to make sure that our records of the camp's assets are accurate. But after that, ve vill be having a vorking lunch - I vill be treating you and your generals to a special meal fresh from Europe vhile I explain to all of you vhy ve need to move the camp. And I vould suggest that you arrive on time - I am confident that the best food vill disappear very quickly," he states.

And, having said that, he then turns and begins to walk again. He's told Italy everything that the man absolutely has to know at this point, so if he doesn't follow that's fine. But if his friend has any further questions, comments, complaints, or attempts to distract him from his purpose then he can attempt to keep up with him while he goes to the middle of the camp.

Actually, Germany had used his knowledge of his friend's tastes to put together a lovely meal that Italy was sure to enjoy (in fact he brought a Kuchen he baked himself). The man had written a song about how delicious his food was, in fact. Or at least the food was mentioned, anyways.

However, it seems like only moments after his friend leaves his side that an alarm is raised over the camp. Now, Germany has been painstakingly analyzing this front for quite some time. Is it possible that they're actually being nuked? Yes. But it's also extremely unlikely. This is an important front, but there are much better targets for a nuclear attack if their enemies wanted to escalate the war in such a fashion. And seeing as he just told Italy about the meeting... Yes, he can guess what's really going on here.

Which is why he doesn't panic. But he does have a choice: what is more important for him to do right now? Confront Italy about this or calm down the camp? On the one hand, the camp will calm down without him eventually - they'll discover that the warning was false eventually. And with that being the case, perhaps he's free to pursue his friend? He can guess that the man would try to leave camp now, probably by going for one of the jeeps because they're not too far away...

On the other hand, how long will it take for the camp to calm down? This is a very important front of the war, and if their enemies catch wind of this panic and try to use it to their advantage...

He heads for the communications area, heading straight for the unfortunate Italian who made the announcement in the first place. Yes, he knows that when someone's very own nation speaks to them they're very convincing and difficult to argue with, at least if they're a reasonably patriotic person, but Germany doesn't need to be Italy in order to get an Italian to do what he wants. "VHO MADE THAT ANNOUNCEMENT?!? VHO ORDERED THE RETREAT?!? DID YOU VERIFY THE INFORMATION BEFORE YOU BROADCAST IT TO THE ENTIRE CAMP? VHAT KIND OF A RADIO OPERATOR ANNOUNCES SUCH A THING VITHOUT VERIFICATION? YOU HAVE THE ENTIRE CAMP IN A PANIC ABOUT A NUCLEAR ATTACK THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOV EXISTS!" he yells at him as he advances upon him. Some may call him a hothead, which is true sometimes, but in this case the correct tactic really is yelling. In fact, he means to so intimidate the man that he won't try to stop him from doing what he does next - which is to push him aside and take over.

"Attention everyone, the previous announcement vas a false alarm. To repeat: The previous announcement vas a false alarm - there is no incoming nuclear attack. I believe that ve vere the victims of a practical joke. All units stand down and return to normal operations," he says, his voice surprisingly calm after his outburst. This too is a tactic - if he sounds anything less than completely confident and completely calm then there are some who might not believe him. Having made that announcement, he turns back to the radio operator and says, "Nov, you vill return to your post and you vill do your job properly, or I vill see to it that you are relieved of it. Am I understood?"

Without really waiting for an answer, he leaves the communications area, his main focus at the moment being to make sure that the camp calms down. He can trust that his own men are likely to keep cooler heads, and it doesn't actually matter very much if a few people run off in a panic - as long as the camp as a whole gets back into order then everything should be fine.

And then he will track down Italy and they can have a little talk...

With his primary goal being to calm down the camp, Germany deems the results of his announcement to be satisfactory. Yes, there are still pockets of unease, but for the most part everyone took his word for it and have begun to restore the camp to business as usual. So he first locates a couple of his best men, and he consults with them quickly - encouraging them to focus their attention on dealing with any little problems the false alarm has caused, and also encouraging them to go ahead with the review of the camp without him. He'd have liked to do it personally, but his men are capable and he's not strictly needed.

And that then frees him up to look for Italy. Suspecting that his friend would have gone for a jeep, he first checks the jeep depot for missing vehicles, only to find that they're all there. But after asking a few questions, he discovers that one had ended up being taken for only a short drive. So Italy hasn't left the camp entirely? That's more than he expected of him... A few more questions and he finds out where the jeep had been abandoned, and a few more questions after that and he's discovered that his friend's quarters are near where the jeep was.

When he reaches the location, he doesn't bother to knock - instead he walks right in. Glancing at the furnishings, he doesn't pay them very much attention - instead he spots Italy on the bed and simply says, "Italy, ve need to talk." He doesn't sound angry, but he does sound tired. Which is a much better mood than angry, but on the other hand his friend would know from experience that the German can go from tiredness to anger very easily if you say the wrong thing.

Germany seems deceptively calm as he sits on the edge of the bed. True, by now Italy knows the truth - Germany looks calm because he's forcing himself to be calm, and all he has to do to suddenly explode is to decide that he doesn't want to be calm any more. But for now he simply sits, not looking directly at Italy as he sighs heavily and comments, "Hov many years have I attempted to teach basic strategy to you, and the best you could come up vith vas a fake nuclear attack? It's very disappointing - perhaps I'm not a very good teacher." Or perhaps Italy is a very bad student, but still the German is sitting there looking disappointed in himself. A good teacher should be able to teach even a difficult student, after all.

Moving on from that thought, he adds, "Suppose that ve sit here and talk about vhy I think that moving this front is a good idea, and you can tell me all about vhy it's a bad idea. That vould probably be a lot more pleasant for both of us than the alternative." Which would involve him having to chase Italy down and literally dragging him into it, kicking and screaming. Something that he would have simply just done to get it over with in the past, but that was the old Germany before his defeat by the Allies in World War 2. The new Germany isn't so quick to go straight to the harshest methods to get what he wants just because it's probably the fastest - he'd rather talk people into doing what he wants instead of forcing them.

Not that he won't force Italy to move this front if he has to - it's for the greater good of the United Allegiance. But hopefully he doesn't have to.