An hour later, you sat at the breakfast table opposite to her, a little steam coming up from the first proper cup of coffee you’ve had for a long time. You didn’t even much like milk or sugar or whatever in it, but you did. Just because you could. She was actually excited about things. Which was worrying

¤ This is… such an problem. It’s so contradictory, and somehow just like it was back in the war. It truly is amazing
“The war…?”
¤ Yes. The war. The last, truly great war. I was there, but i sadly never saw any fighting. Wasn’t fast enough. I’m gonna buy a fast car when i get out of all this by the way. Nevermind that now, let’s get you up to date. So, do you kno-
“Wait”
¤ Ehem, yes?
“You are showing trust, come here and i’ll return the favor”

Natalya looks at you in a slightly weirded out way but follows you to the car anyway. After a little digging the Civic reveals its secrets

¤ Looks like big rounds. 155mm?
“152. But… i don’t think you understand what these are”
¤ No?
“Natalya, these are nukes”

She stops. Doesn’t talk, doesn’t move, doesn’t change her facial expression. Maybe she verified that you were in fact not joking at first, and when she understood that, it took a little while for her to process everything

¤ Nuclear…
“Yeah”
¤ Who knows you have these?
“Jake, you and Lily”
¤ Wait, so Lily left these behind after she left you, knowing what the were?
“Yes”
¤ That is very strange. Very strange indeed. Anyway, how do they work?
“Made for the M162 gun, mounted on the Starship”

Natalya cringes a little

¤ This is… suboptimal
“Yeah, she isn’t the one i’d chose to have her finger on such a button, but she is the only one that can right now. Do we give her these right away?”

She mumbles something in russian, brings up her phone and sends away a text
“What did that mean?”
¤ Hard to translate directly, but something along… What breaks my bone will break your soul. But in a figurative way
“Uhm…”
¤ These are either great offensive weapons, or that single bullet you keep in your gun so you don’t get captured.
“...”
¤ Oh come on, don’t look at me like that, i was red army after all

You are not left time enough to answer before you hear Miranda shouting

+ A-anon? You’re not dead?
“I thought so to for a little while, but no. Where is the starship?”
+ Just a few blocks away, but where is Lily and the-
“Not here”
+ Anon, what has happened…?
“Starship first, storytime later, alright?”
+ Okay…

The both jump into the little car, drive over to the M60A2 and stealthily loaded the two presents into it. Well, as stealthily as anyone can shove two nukes into a tank anyway. And then back to the house where you and Natalya spent the night, with Miranda in tow.

¤ I suppose we started with what happened to you, Anon
“Right, long story short… Went west with Lily, trying to find another Nibelung for a blessing. Which we did… I think. And then i’m pretty sure she stabbed me and left”
+ Lily… stabbed you?
“Yeah…”
+ B-but she loves you… why?
“I’m sort of working on that as well”

¤ Aaaaaaanyway. I might have some answers for you. No, really. First off, do you know what “Kubinka” is?
“No clue”
+ No. I can look it up though
¤ Don’t have to. It’s a place a little bit outside Moscow. Used to be a tank test facility in soviet times, but it’s a museum nowadays. Now when the staff found out about steel tanks and how their armor was so effective… what do you think they did?
“Started working on the ones they could fix?”
¤ Exactly. The old T-34s were easy to get working. As were the T-55s and the T-62s. But these didn’t fare too well against the Class 4s
“Yeah, those things caused a lot of issues”
¤ So, the decided to get two halo tanks out
+ Isn’t that a video game?
¤ What?
“Miranda, what she means is you have something that is bigger or stronger or faster than what you usually have. And in Kubinka’s case…”
¤ One IS-4 and the IS-7 prototype they have there. And if that not amazing in itself… how do i put this… To be able to afford the work on these things, the museum had to sell some other tanks. Now, what would you sell in a situation like this?

Miranda raised her hand, looking a little excited. She got a funny look from Natalya before realising that it wasn’t quite necessary

+ Something that has no combat value or they are unable to fix?
¤ Points for emerald-eye!

Miranda did have very green eyes, but didn’t seem at all happy with it

¤ So something that is useless, and you call sell for big money… so it has to be iconic, but useless. One of these was nothing less than the Maus
“Wait, is-”
¤ Come on, can’t i tell you without being interrupted?
“Sorry, go on”
¤ Right, the Maus was bought by a private company, which have been described as everything from right wing extremists and neo nazis to brave mechanics and students wanting to protect our home, depending on who you ask
“Sounds a little concerning”
¤ Couldn’t care more if the shoot at the same things i shoot at. But nevermind that now, this is where the reports get fun. Just under a month ago the still not completed Maus was actually flown into the US from Russia.
“Why?”
¤ Yeah… this is unfortunately where my stream of facts stop and i’ve had to go on more unconfirmed reports and guessing. But…i can see two reasons. First, money. If they actually plan on getting it working, they are going to need a lot. All the cameras are here, and people who would want to spend money on it

The room fell silent a few moments
“Wait, are they restoring it?”
¤ That is half of the second reason. The other half is you
“Me?!”
¤ You did restore a Jagdtiger. But most importantly, the main gun, which is very similar to the one in the Maus
“Not like i did that on my own”
¤ But you proved it could be done. And because of the experience with the 128mm…

“Wait. calm down now. Are you suggesting Lily did this to fix another tank?”
¤ I’m not saying it’s impossible
“It’s just another tank…”
¤ Yes. but you have to consider… us as well
“You?”
¤ Caretakers, i think the word is. Now, the Maus was suppose to be the be all end all tank for the german army…
“So, say the Maus has a caretaker, Lily would… feel as a subordinate to her?”
¤ Possible. I mean, status wise, i was in a very good place in the Red army. Stalin’s daughter and all that. And Miranda, before you ask, that is figurative
+ T-thanks for clearing that out
¤ At any rate, the Maus is missing an engine and a working gun right now

And then you remember something Lily asked you just before she took you outside

“Natalya, what does the Maus weigh?”
¤ A little bit under 200 tons
“Fuck…”
¤ ...is there anything you want to say Anon?
“I probably helped them get the engine. Before she took me outside, and the knife thing out. I just gave her the idea of a diesel powered turbo compound engine. It has dual output shafts, so could help with the generators or something”
¤ Great… That actually explains the rest of the reports, then
“It does?”
¤ Yeah. explains the competition. Kubinka sent their IS tanks here, in what i now understand is a damn show off
+ So the museum people want to show all cameras their IS tanks are better than the german one?
¤ Not one German. We have to assume Lily, her Jagdtiger and the Elefant will join up
+ What about crews?
¤ You think it is going to be difficult to find someone to drive the biggest tank in history?

Your eyes narrow a little bit. This is what envy feels like
¤ Note that this doesn’t necessarily make them hostile. The Wehrmacht still relies on money from outside sources, meaning they have to look good in the eyes of the public
“We’re calling them the wehrmacht now?”

Natalya doesn’t respond. She’s genuinely excited about all this

¤ So this is now, a three versus one battle. Plus! the personal goals, involved and then with atomic flavor!
+ Personal goals?
¤ Simple dear. I want my hands on that IS-7 and Anon wants his love back. And i’m guessing you’d like to end up in a situation where those warheads come in handy

And things fell silent again. She was right. This was deliciously complicated. But there was still one thing you missed

“When you say you want your hands on the IS-7, what does that mean?”
¤ Mine is falling apart. Even the welds…
“But… can you just climb over to that one?”
¤ This IS-7 never had a caretaker, so it is still… available so to say. And it’s not that much harder than just welding the tanks together with each other. I think
“Uhm… as much as i’d like to that is something i really can’t help you with”

And that marked the end of Natalya’s briefing. Miranda returned to another house, for the sole reason it had her pile of blankets and a working Playstation there. This left you and Natalya in the house. There was a hint of tension between you. Not horrible, but awkward enough not for anyone to start speaking. You mindlessly flicked through some silly game on your phone and she was looking for things to eat
¤ Anon…
“Yes?”
¤ What do you plan to do here?
“I Figured a mechanic is always useful. Probably gonna follow you guys around and help out best i can”
¤ Please don’t
“Why?”
¤ Michel is horrible under stress. He has managed to do pretty much every fuck up possible. And my place is not in the commander’s seat
“You want me there?”
¤ Yes, but i can’t just have that without some… demands
“Demands?”
¤ Anon, if you sit in that seat i want to be treated with the same respect you treated Lily with
“Wait now…”
¤ Please! I said respect! Not closeness, or love or anything like that

“Respect is something you earn. You have earned yours, trust me. Hell, right now i probably respect you more than Lily”
¤ ...very well. Good. So-
“Not yet”
¤ Fine! Just tell me when, alright?
“Yeah, will do. But for now, the less people know i live the better”
¤ Sounds okay

Without too much to do at the little town apart from the endless track tensioning, you did some nice and easy reconnaissance. It was pretty much the only thing, apart from liaison duties the Honda was actually capable off. But then again, so was a Vespa. You got yourself a map, and spent almost all day scooting around in the surrounding area, looking at all sorts of places. The little lake, how soft was the ground surrounding it? How dense was the forrest? What was a good place for an ambush? Likely enemy approaches? Worst case approaches?

It was a good thing to do. Someone else had probably done it already, but it never hurt to familiarize yourself with the area. Especially if the only other option was staying at the house with Natalya. What were you going to do with this situation?
Natalya was undeniably beautiful… But was she there as a substitute for Lily? Probably. It was strange the whole of it. Like you were both comforting each other, very well knowing this wasn’t exactly right. You wanted a place in your heart reserved for. You did well and truly love her, and you wanted to still. But… right now you couldn’t. If nothing else, those feelings were on hold until you knew what was going on.

Of course it was a silly thought thinking you could put feeling on hold. Feelings don’t work like that, especially not the strong, burning ones, which you had. You didn’t have to spend long worrying about that since the rain rolled in, effectively ending any further scouting. BAck at the house, Natalya had made her best efforts to get the IS-3 into the little garage the house had, but being a heavy tank, a lot of the engine deck was out in the rain. And it had a bad tendency to rust which would make the engine bay into a swimming pool, meaning Natalya was soaking wet before she had managed to fix some cover for it

She was cursing under a blanket when you returned. Her clothes were hanging in front of the DIY fireplace she made with an oil drum and terrifyingly good skills with an oscillating saw and a welder. She didn’t actually hear you enter, so she kept mumbling something. It was probably in russian, since you didn’t understand any of it. It sounded angry at first, but the speech pattern changed, got lower, slower and… sadder?

In just a few minutes, Natalya was crying for herself. You were absolutely stunned by this. You had seen Lily cry, but she was more like someone who would allow herself to do that. Natalya on the other hand was ice cold, very rarely let any emotions, especially sad ones slip out. She wore some kind of armor, which wasn’t the tank. These were emotional barriers

And you had smashed your way through those with all the grace of a bright red Corvette doing donuts in a parking lot. At a funeral
And she didn’t know. You slowly, SLOWLY back outside in the rain, leaving the door just a little bit open, to make sure it doesn’t make any sounds. Back to the car, carefully open the car door, and then slamming it shut to make sure she heard you. You walked with bold steps, make a conscious effort to make as much noise from the door handle as possible

“Hey Nat!”
¤ Hi

Her reply was short, and not enough to betray any deviation in her voice. Something had to be done to lighten the mood

“Know if we have any milk?”
¤ Milk…?
“Yeah, i found choco powder or whatever, but it mixed best with milk”
¤ We got nothing. There is milk powder. Maybe mix
“Alright, i’ll get a cup for you as well”
¤ Don’t need it

You walk off to kitchen. Of course, there was no electricity so neither the fridge or the stove worked. Not that it was much of a problem in late December, anything stored outside will remain cold. You get outside, and use Natalya’s DIY tank shelter to collect some rainwater before running in and guesstimating the ratio of choca to milk powder, stirring it up and heating it with the stove.

“There we go… probably not as good as normal ones, but consider the circumstances and i’m happy with it”
¤ So enjoy it
“Uh huh…”

You poured up two cups while speaking, taking one for for yourself and handing one over.

¤ I don’t need it
“No, you don’t need a bed either, but it’s still nice to have. Drink up, it will warm you”

Natalya wants to appears as if she reluctantly accepts the cup, but she was still somewhat new to western food. Especially sweet things, like soda and candy. And no matter how much they want to hide it, most girls have a sweet tooth in one way or the other. Natalya was no different.
You still weren’t much good at killing awkwardness, and stool next to the sofa where Natalya was curled up and hidden underneath a blanket. But this time, you were too deep in thought to even notice anything awkward, and after several minutes of just staring into the flames and holding your cup, you let out a very short statement

“It doesn’t make sense”
¤ What doesn’t?
“Say Lily needed to fix that tank… First off, i am a good mechanic, and i can do some engineering bullshit. I could have helped a lot. But not only did she feel she had to get away, she had to kill me as well”
¤ She didn’t
“She tried to”
¤ Did she?
“Look, it was a chance in a hundred for me to survive that. The blade went between my lungs, and-”
¤ The lungs are not that close together, and yes it missed the heart
“Augh… i just don’t get it”
¤ You are going to have to speak with her
“It’s not like i can send a damn text and asking what’s up after like a month”
¤ You’ll have to wait then. I have a feeling this is going to be a rather close fight, now that there are three parties fighting. Especially since the russian and the germans want to beat each other
“You’re not russian?”
¤ Soviet
“Oh, right”

The relentless rain kept falling from blackened sky. As time went on it became less rain and more a slushy, rainy snow mixture. At least that didn’t make as much noise as the heavy droplets did when they hit the windows. Again you fall asleep sharing a bed with Natalya. Heat loss was a concern, and you both decided that it was important to keep warm. Or that is what you said at least. If you meant it, on the other hand, was another question entirely
========================================================================================================================================
The eternal workhorse, the M4 Sherman served once again when it needed to. And just like in all previous wars, more and less serious modifications depending on what was needed of them. From simple things like fixing up the interior, getting new seats in to engine and drive train changes and complete conversions. The most popular of these was modifying the turret to fit the ubiquitous M68 gun, since ammunition was plentiful. This usually resulted in a very cramped turret unless it too was enlarged, resulting in a rather lengthy progress.

Another somewhat popular alternative was turning into a casemate Tank destroyer, similar to what was popular in Germany and the soviet union. Getting rid of the turret and extending the hull upwards, leaving room enough for the M68, or sometimes even the 120mm M256 gun in the Abrams. Because there were a lot of destroyed Abrams tank around.

One of the more… simpler modifications done to these vehicles was to an M4 that took a very bad hit to the side of the turret, that completely mangled and damaged it beyond repair. So, everything above the turret drive was removed, leaving only the bottom few inches that still could rotate. On top of this a thin sheet metal “turret” was welded, and fitted with a 6 barrel, 20mm M61 cannon taken from a crashed F15

And as to no surprise to anyone who has been working with 20mm guns, gatling guns or tanks, people around you will notice of you fire it up at 6 AM in the morning. A short burst, maybe just a second, followed by to longer ones, about 3 seconds each. The incredible thing with the M61 was it had more than 700 rounds of 20mm downrange in that time.
You and Natalya few up from the bed startled by the sudden road from the gatling gun. You both flew up from the bed, you running for the AK, and Natalya for her clothes. She was not even half done with her shirt when the IS-3’s big diesel engine roared to life.

She certainly had control of the machine, but no where near what Lily could do. Natalya could play with lights, most of the electrical system and simpler engine control. It was more than most could, but still a far cry from Lily, who could control things like boost pressure, fuel mixture, very precise aiming of the main gun and even minute adjustments of radio frequency.

Soon her crew had rushed into place and were scrambling to get into the old tank. Sadly there wasn’t a seat in the IS-3 going spare, meaning you had to dash out in the snow with an AK. Or even better, the M240 in the car

And just a few seconds later, seeing a few hundred tons worth of steel dashing to the north of the little village, you decide that running around among these machines would be fatal rather quickly. Staying away from the stampede, and keeping along the houses not to get squashed.

Due to your scouting you had a fairly good idea of where the enemy would approach from, the north. It was wide, open ground, but more importantly, not soggy and soft. It turned out that even the legged sky creatures had issues when the ground got too soft, much like their tracked contemporaries. Ground pressure and all that.
Just as you had gotten into one of the northernmost houses, the gigantic T95 super heavy tank rolled past, spewing out black diesel smoke behind it, just behind it was a few of the heavy tanks, acting as shield for the squishier medium and light ones. In defense of the little town, the tanks fanned out, each heavy having a few lighter vehicles behind it for support. The more you saw how well organised this whole thing was, the more redundant you felt. Instead, you sat a couple of hundred feet behind with two 7.62 guns. A little like an armed fishing boat at the battle of Jutland.

But the 240 had a belt loaded with many, many tracers. And if nothing else, maybe they could attract some attention. They didn’t. Among all the at least 30 tank guns going live and all the machine guns, no one noticed the one guy sitting in a window, M240 or not. You could let the gun sing a few times. All in all, a full 100 round belt and two magazines from the AK in about 20 minutes. Another little while and about 2/3 of the tanks started moving away, checking other parts of the town. You hurried back to the HQ.

After a battle, an equally important job was making sure everything was dead. These creatures had a nasty habit of starting to move a few days after they have been shot at. Their bodies slowly recovering, brain being inactive. As soon as it had recovered enough it could start moving.

Standard operating procedure therefor said that a small explosive device was to be placed near or inside the mouth, and this task fell on those who didn’t do much in the battle itself. Normally it was people who took great pleasure in this who lobbed hand grenades at dead or dying creatures but the freezing cold meant that people returned to their houses and gathered around fires

But you went to the DIY headquarters and received a large box of explosives. A few months ago this would be M67 hand grenades, but do to the tide of the war this was now empty cans that one contained food, now filled with explosives, and a little detonator on top. Very cheap, crude looking, but effective nevertheless.

Now, fortunately , you didn’t have to carry the 3 50lb boxes of grenades, instead that attached neatly to the side of motorcycles that made the job a whole lot easier. One of those large adventure bikes that went around the world on that late night TV shows. It was heavy, as adventure bikes usually are but it was powerful. Not that any sane person would drive a bike within two weeks of new year's eve

Over two hours it took on that bike in the depressingly cold weather and light snowfall for you to get all the cleaning up finished. Darkness fell and you still had to be outside listening to the sound of the boxer twin clattering endlessly. Finally done with everything, cold to the bone, soaking wet and generally pissed at everything you head back to the house. You freeze in the door frame, and immediately realize your mistake

Eight or so women, probably caretakers, including Natalya stood around a map on a table, and now all looking at you

“Sorry, wrong house”

You turn around in the door, and get almost to the lowest step on the little staircase before someone shouts from inside

‘Wait a minute!’

One is never, twice is one time too much. You pretend not to hear and keep walking towards the car. You get as far as the door handle when the voice shouts again

‘Stop it!’


This is the time and place to look as tired and confused as humanly possible

“What?”
‘Knew i recognized you, Anon. Where have you been for the last month?’
It was Helen, and she recognized you. No point in playing stupid anymore

“Oh. Hi there”
‘Good afternoon. Could you-
“Sorry for disturbing. Houses looks the same in the dark. I’ll be on my way”
‘No, come in. I insist’
“Isn’t there some girl thing going on there? I mean, i don’t wanna get-”
‘I believe we have things to discuss’

That last line was spoken with an incredibly cold tone. Not only that, but her hand was much closer to the holster of her pistol

“Let’s not use guns”
‘Then come in and speak’
“Augh… fine”

You followed Helen inside and where they all are. And the looks you are getting are concerning to say the last. You thought you would face some sort of appreciation, but what you are getting back is almost… Disdain? And these were people you had fought with. Specifically the so called heavy section of the group. They all have seen what you could achieve together with Lily and her heavy machine. You were someone they wanted to like, but…

‘Everyone, i’m sure you remember Anon, who commanded the Jagdtiger, correct?’

A low murmur broke out from the group. It felt more than trial than anything else

‘He if anyone can explain the disappearance of the machine. Can you not, Anon?’

There were two things you could do right now. The first was to explain what happened in detail to them. They would see Lily as a traitor and her her shot on sight. Because at the end of the day, many never really considered her an ally, but more like an enemy they had to work with. The chance that they would actually help you find her for an explanation was therefore rather poor. This would also probably make them trust you
Another choice was to protect the one who had stabbed you, lose trust from the heavy section, and not get any help at all getting to talk with Lily, and making an utter fool of yourself in the process

Easy choice.

Right?

“I think Lily is kinda pissed off with me actually”

This time the reaction was way different. Confusion.

“I got shitfaced, and started to fight this guy and i ended up in hospital after being stabbed. I was there for like two weeks and then sorta drifted along for a little while before i found that car and got back here. And she isn’t answering my calls”

‘Do you know if she is alive?’

That was Miranda. Your first thought was her trying to play along. But then again, you didn’t know if Lily was alive or not

“I got out of a damn war zone with a handgun and a Honda, i think she’s fine. Has she made any attempts to contact with any of you?”

‘No’

Helen responded coldly

‘Which means she is dead or have deserted. Not surprising’
“Not?”
‘Tssk. Read a book’

It was a little hard to tell if they were disappointed or something else as they left the house

“Uhm…”
¤ That is very impressive actually, i’ve never seen anyone lose that much respect as quickly as you just did. Not only that, if the bridge between you and her truly is burnt, your tanking career is as good as done
“Figured that”

You say that with an heavy exhalation, with a hand rubbing the back of your head

¤ You’re putting an awful lot of faith in someone who has-
“Yeah yeah, i know stabby stabby. But i’ve given it all some though. And give me a few more hours and i think i have an answer”

Natalya didn’t look very happy about that information. Nor sad or intrigued. She has a very light rosy tint on her cheeks and a slightly curled upper lip

She was ashamed of something

“Natalya… do you know something i don’t?”

Her faced returned to her normal, somewhat cold stare

¤ Probably. Why so?
“About Lily”
¤ Not more than you have told me, no
“And, one more thing. Helen told me to read a book, that mean anything in particular?”
¤ Yes
“Care to explain?”
¤ You deserve that much. Now, i don’t know how much Lily has told you. But there is quite a process before you are bound to a vehicle. Or well, it was supposed to be, wartime speed things up a little. Anyway, the requirements and the trials to get to care for Stalin's own tank was… tough. But it seems like the Wehrmacht took this to an entirely new level. I doubt she will tell you, but i guess she was drawn into training even before the war
“So that is 5 years, minimum”
¤ Probably, yes. And i wouldn’t guess this is easy going either. They didn’t even made a hundred of those, and they were the biggest and the baddest vehicles that took part in the whole war. So saying Lily is part of the elite wouldn’t take anything away from her
“Yeah, i had figured some of that out myself”
¤ You’re probably thinking about some ulterior move here, aren’t you?
“Have a guess”
¤ That’s really all i do. I listen, gather information and try draw conclusions. But as far as Lily goes… she is loyal, as strange as that may sound right now. I am almost positive the whole Elefant and Maus business is behind all this
“Yeah, sure but why didn’t she bring me along?”
¤ It is strange. You are a mechanic first and a tank commander second. And i can see them needing both for what is about to happen. I’m guessing-

Natalya took a deep breath

¤ I’m guessing that we have either overlooked something big, or Lily wasn’t involved in that decision
“Right. Well, gives me a little more to think about. Good night”

As you headed up to your bed Natalya remained in the kitchen and lit a cigarette. Natalya was very good with gathering information and would never do anything as crude or vulgar as guessing. Instead, she acquired all the information necessary to make a decision.

The fun began afterwards, when deciding what information to share