The child translates, and Irma replies

‘She says she recognizes you. And she mentioned Elephants’
“Of course she did. What does she want from me?”

Hugo asks a short question and the woman babbles on in german for quite a bit

‘The Lady says she was very reluctant to speak with you. But it was necessary. But she wants to know what you think first’
“I think she left me for dead in a car park”

A moment later, and the child speaks again

‘Irma claims the girl you call Lily was the one that put the knife in you’

The child was visibly nervous, standing between two armed adults who were clearly not happy with each other

“And Irma was completely uninvolved in that?”

After a short discussion with the tall German, the child speaks again

‘P-please mister, these are her words, not mine’
“Yeah, yeah, hit me”
‘She claims… both you and her knows Lily would have killed you if she wanted’

As irritating as it was, they were right. Lily could be exceptionally dangerous. And the fact the knife went so far in without actually harming anything vital was probably very well calculated

“She wanted to gain your trust?”
‘Not hers. She suggested the knife over a… g-gun because she knew Lily would make sure you would live’
“Quite a gamble, with someone else's life”
“She claims she is unhappy about having to make that call”
“No wait, I'm sorry, did my chest hurt your knife?”
‘She says there is little time for wit’
“Yeah, get to the point. I'm getting pissed and cold”

The woman sighs heavily and utters a short sentence. It had an uneasy weight to it. The first word was “Lily”, even if it sounded much more like “Lili” when she said it. The last word was troubling. You didn't know what “Zusammenbruch” meant, but it just felt… bad.

The child looked down in the ground, he must have known, or guessed that there was some strong feelings flying about

‘Lily is about to…’
“Spit it out”
‘Collapse’
Funny how that worked. It was one thing listening to the news from somewhere else. You could shrug of many thousands of people that died somewhere else. They had no faces, no names. It could be numbers on a screen

But hearing something like this about Lily hit you like an express train.

You weren't supposed to love her anymore, for fuck’s sake.

Irma saw you standing a few meters out, stark as a pine tree defying the howling winter winds. She saw you eyes rise up from the little child and turn to her. She reacted immediately, raising her hands a little and stuttering out “Bitte, bitte, bitte”.

She saw how she just completely antagonised herself

Her speech pattern changed, sped up. You must have looked rather intimidating, even enough to affect her a little bit

‘Irma would like to remind you that she was very reluctant to see come and see you, but it is for the best’
“You're walking a thin fucking line. I have a lot of trust issues, and you are made out of red flags. Why would I trust you? She know I'm alive? What do you want me to do? Why would I?”

The little kid chatters like mad, becoming more and more scared as you spoke

‘B-because you have to, and uhm n-no and s-she wants no needs help and-’

Little Hugo had been pushed to his limit, but he was at this point so scared he ran behind Irma, sat down and started weeping. So no more of that. Irma nods and points to a big Mercedes. A clear implication she wants you to follow her.

You shake your head

“Don’t trust you”

Irma growls a little, raising her hands, suggesting you to wait

‘Halt, bitte’

She retreats back to the large sedan, digs around a little and then finding pen and paper. The tall woman furiously writes away almost a whole A4 page before returning to you. It was all in german, not that you understood any of it. But there was a series of numbers at the end of it, probably a phone number.
With a very angry face she turns around, dragging Hugo behind her. She throws him into the back seat, gets in the front herself and speeds off on a wave of tire screeching and twin turbocharged V8 thunder.

You're left with way more emotions than you can deal with, and an unreadable slip of paper.

Later that evening, you sit with a bowl of “soup” and a cup of coffee. You have the trusty old laptop and the note Irma gave you. Sadly, while her handwriting was exceedingly elegant, it was a touch hard to read. Sentence by sentence the letter is fed into the computer, and the results tell a rather depressing story

Lily was apparently in a very bad state, much like she was when the war drew to a close. Hints to slowly losing it. She couldn't let anyone else help with the Jagdtiger. No maintenance apart from what she could do herself. Anything wearing on the tank she turned into herself. She could prevent the heavy machine breaking down, but the price she was paying was too high.

But to her, that was preferable to a dent in her pride, to letting anyone see that she was starting to fall apart.

That was however, if even half of what she was saying was true. Problem was she painted herself out to be manipulative, meaning that if she told the truth, she was not to be believed.

Which was a little paradox in and of itself.

In a normal case, trusting someone like Irma would be beyond stupid. But you had to consider what she wants. You're still alive meaning you're useful to her alive.

So why you? What did you have that some other guy who have played around with tanks for a year?

A relationship with Lily.

There wasn't much else. Connection to Natalya? Not really. She was an opportunist and loved the war more than anything else. And only reason she helped people was for them to help her kill things. To win the war
It really did seem as she had good intentions. And if she didn't, it did appear as if she did. If it was just a game, it was well played.

If this entire show was to be taken any further, at all, you had to speak to Lily face to face. Then see her reaction.

The note also stated a phone number, when you make your mind up

Would asking for advice help the situation?

Sure Natalya would help if she think it had benefit to the war. Which is in no way a guarantee.

Evening turned into night, night to midnight, and then morning. Single digits on the clock. You had to send out a reply, had to get to Lily. Sadly, phones had become more and more scarce, harder to get hold of. And the ones that still worked had gotten more and more expensive

The sleep you get is unruly, dreams are restless. The room is cold and way too cramped.

Morning after didn’t go very well either. The one man who was willing to sell a phone wanted your AK for it. It was an early 50s one, milled receiver. It would probably have been worth quite some money when all of this was over. Well, the barrel was shot to shit, but the rest was good.

With the reluctant feeling of handing over an old friend, the AK has to go. Right now, Lily was more important. You had memorized the words that went in the message.

A date, a time and a place. And “allein” at the end

It was time to meet the hunter

Two days later you stand atop a little hill in the road. The earth was scorched black from that had raged maybe a year or two ago. It was a location picked out by someone who may or may not have been Lily. Whoever had the other phone wouldn’t say. This place made you extremely uneasy. There was miles of more on less burnt up forest edges around, and a thousand places to hide someone wanting to take a shot at you. There were even a few places to hide a massive tank destroyer
It was midday, and you were looking pretty much straight south. the sun hung low and was shining pretty much right into your eyes. You would have very little chance of seeing anything that would try and harm you.

Someone who wanted to hurt you would have figured this out as well, which made hearing engine noises coming from straight behind you very surprising

But it was all the wrong engine sounds. This wasn’t the thundering diesel V12. This was more like… well muffled petrol V8s

Of course it had to be Tahoe’s. Six of them. Black painted and with tinted windows. There wasn’t much point in running. Sure, the little Honda would outrun these things, easily even, on any sort of road with corners on it. But the poor little thing probably didn’t have 150 horsepower. And the big Chevrolets weighed more than twice as much. And since the AK was gone…

If these guys wanted trouble, you could neither run nor fight

But of course they wanted trouble. That’s what people in Black Tahoes want. They all stopped conveniently about 30 yards out. Men in suits exit the vehicles. They all had that obvious “I am armed but i have to look professional” look. Sunglasses, a whirly cord to an earpiece.

You didn’t acknowledge them much, there wasn’t really any point. You looked at them, saw them coming, and they saw you looking at them. Feigning disinterest, you looked away, now desperate to see the Jagdtiger somewhere in the treeline

Not that that was likely

‘Good day, sir’

For one reason or another you have a massive urge to toss “sup faggot” back to him, but that would be unprofessional. But instead you turn towards the men that were now standing next to you, doing your very best to look as uninterested as possible

“Hullo?”
‘Your name is Anon-’
“God no, that’s not even a proper name” you sigh “My name is Florian Geyer”
The man looks rather confused, but you figure they’re not in a joking mood. You sigh heavily and try to look even more tired

“I’m just being an ass. Pleased to meet you. And you guessed my name”
‘You have a last name?’
“Can’t prove i do. What about you guys? Are you all called Agent Lynch?”

You let out a slight giggle and they seem to be even more irritated than they were earlier. One of them shifts his hand up to his earpiece

‘It’s him’

Another one of the Tahoe's crawl a little closer. Two man step out. One suit and one…

“Oh look at that! The last living proof that dinosaurs still exist!”

‘The humor is that last thing that is lost’

Jake walked over, very very slowly

‘We had a deal, boy’
“Actually, i think you made a deal with Lily”
‘Bonnie and Clyde’
“Yeah yeah, how did you find me anyway?
‘It appears this phone isn’t as good as your old one. Who are you meeting anyway?’
“Oh, just a friend”
‘Who speaks German?’
“Of course not. My friend only speaks Bulgarian, what were you thinking?”

The old man looks extremely unhappy with you

“Sorry, I had Sass-flavored cereal this morning. Of course it's German, considering, you know, I wrote in German”
‘I think you should come with us’
“Shit… uhm… can any of you guys bring my car along?”

Benson looks to the man on his right, sho shakes his head side to side just a tiny bit

‘No’
“Augh… mind if I just leave a note then?”

The man in a suit repeats his movements

‘No notes’
“Just let me get my bag”
‘You don't ne-’
“No, I don't need it, but it has my clothes, and something that hold much value to me”
‘...’
“Augh. Yes, there is a gun in the car, but it's in the glove box. My bag is in the trunk. Think you can have these guys not shoot me when I get it?”
‘Just shut your mouth and hurry up’
You did feel a little uneasy as they rummaged through your bag, and placed it in the trunk of the vehicle where you got shoved in between to suit clad men. The convoy headed away, and true to your spiteful nature, you wanted to piss them off as much as possible for ruining your day. The best option now was appearing overly friendly, leaning on one of the men and pretend to sleep.

Two days later, Natalya sat on top of the IS-3 and looked at the rising sun. The train had stopped in the middle of absolutely nowhere because of a faulty oil pump, causing a loss of hydraulic pressure. New parts had to be flown in by helicopter.

She was disturbed by the low thud of a small figure falling of the engine deck and down on the train car

¤ Miranda, you should sleep
+ N-no. i Haven’t slept a-and-
¤ Sleep
+ No!

Natalya looks back at the somewhat upset little woman. Woman? Could she even be called that?

+ It’s important!
¤ So tell me
+ Y-yeah, but…

Miranda was visible getting more and more nervous

+ But this information is very critical! I H-had to work super hard!
¤ And you want something for it? Other than putting our army at an advantage?

Miranda was anxious at the best of times, and was even weaker under pressure. Guilt tripping her is not only easy

+ Yes!

Miranda started was like an aspen leaf in the wind. And to Natalya’s great surprise, Miranda actually brought up a little slip of paper. She had not been able to have eye contact even, once and now she was looking at the paper

¤ What are you doing?

Miranda was stepping in her place in utter frustration
¤ Are you-
+ WAIT!
¤ Uhm...
+ No, wait, sorry…. uhhh… wait
¤ God above, little one, calm down. It’s like you’re being fired at. Now let’s just take this slow and easy. What do you want for this information

No less than three times, Miranda tries to open her mouth and say something. Her face gets an increasingly deep shade of red and her breathing speeds up. She manages nothing, and throws the folded up paper into the ground and screams

+ YOU HAVE TO BE NICE TO ME !!

Natalya is left bewildered as the little woman turns and runs away as fast as her legs carry her

However, Natalya stood true to her nature, and though less about that and the note left behind

It was quite a bit of information. Miranda had done a fair bit of looking, asking and snooping around, especially using just a phone and a computer

It also meant the plans to get closer to the german forces, and thus forcing the russians to follow along was severely hampered

Natalya got her phone up, clattered away for a minute and sent a message. Since Miranda could, for some reason, not have a straight conversation with Natalya, someone else had to. The little one was instrumental in gathering information

This left Natalya alone with a cigarette in the cold morning air, wondering why Miranda had started acting so strangely the last month

She claimed she wanted to be treated nicely. Natalya didn’t feel she had been harsh on the little one
‘So, Anon how come no one ever has seen your last name?’

Jake Benson sat in front of you, very pleased with himself. You were currently situated in a room… somewhere. It all probably counted as an interrogation. Because that always happened after getting a ride in a black Tahoe

“Looks like you have lacking information”
‘I am. This is where you fill me in’
“And i will do that because?”
‘You look tough. Your sweetheart, on the other hand…’
“You're right, she's much softer than I am. I also VERY much doubt you have her here, so no point trying to bullshit me”

This prompts Benson to slam his fist into the table

‘I gave you the warheads you little shit, and i was promised a new caretaker program’
“Sorry mate, I don't know how that works”
‘You are going to speak some goddamn sense into the Nibelung, or I will-’
“Whoa whoa whoa, easy there big boy”

You were so tired and sick of this room and these people you decided to stop giving a shit and mess with him instead

“You want me to threaten her? You want me to threaten an emotionally unstable, highly skilled and possible jealous woman, armed not only with small arms, but a gigantic tank destroyer as well? Cause in that case a damn firing squad seems safe. Fuck off”

Benson leans back and sighs angrily

‘This will take some time’
“Sure thing, Grampy. I got the rest of my life”
‘Perhaps that is what we will have to do…’
~~~

¤ I understand. Thank you

Natalya snaps her phone closed and look at the small crowd in front of her

¤ We’re going to do this without Anon
+ Why?
¤ He’s stuck. We can simply not waste the time to get him out
‘It’s just one guy, we can manage without him’ Helen added in
¤ Maybe so. But it means we have to change our approach. Were going to have to plead instead of what was planned earlier
+ Plead?
¤ Yes.
‘I'm not sure I like where this is going’ Helen sighs
¤ We have to get in harms way. That means the closest town, or city and then plead for help. From everyone. Which included the two european groups
‘Time to share with the class where that is, miss enigma?’
¤ Yes. You're all Americans, so I guess you are familiar with the Utah salt flats?
‘Bonneville salt flats? I thought that was a race track’ a voice peeped up from the rear of the room
¤ Yes. But it's quite a large place, a hundred square kilometers. They know we need cover because up until the last few months, armor has been irrelevant, so they chose to land somewhere open.

Miranda had her phone up in seconds and started looking for information

+ The closest city is Wendover, and it's more like a town. Didn't even have two thousand inhabitants before the war started, I can bet it's abandoned now
¤ How far away is it, from the flats?
+ Uhm… less than ten miles. And it's situated by the north western corner.

The room went quiet after that. The whole plan didn't feel very comforting. Get in harms way and wait there until someone hopefully helps. But the amount of questions floating around all of this was uncomfortable even for those who didn’t understand much. How would the enemy force be like? How many? What classes? And about their own forces. How much help would arrive? How much was needed? What about fuel? food? Ammunition? Other supplies?

Natalya was no fool and she saw how this didn’t play very well
‘Since when are you in charge?!’ Another voice shouted from somewhere in the room
¤ I’m not, but i am-
‘I don’t wanna die ‘cause a commie has a deathwish!’
¤ It’s n-
‘Yeah, fuck off with that. Let the army do this one!”

Suddenly the soviet found herself in a quite heated discussion. Many of the caretakers, and most of the rest were very unhappy with that decision. She stood on the receiving end for a lot of words until Helen calmed the situation slightly by shouting and asking everyone to leave in a less than polite manner

Natalya walked away at a very brisk place. Away from people and tanks. The train had managed to limp to the next minuscule settlement. Proper repairs was still a few days out. She headed up to a little hill overlooking some other hills and big field. WIth that, she had learned a few things about her allies. The right thing would be going to Wendover. But it would be risky.

The realization that Natalya was surrounded by people who were happier about sitting back and not doing what should be done made her irritated. Sure, this was a big step up from what kind of operations this group had done before.

So, if she couldn’t do it… Opsec went out the window. So did pride. Spite and the will of doing what had to be done forced Natalya’s hand. She had her phone up and started typing. It took its little time. Both because of the amount of information that had to be in there, and because she was still not very good with phones.

The message had been sent, which was the easy part. Next came the difficult one. Her russian might not be even half as rusty as the IS-3 was. She dialed in a number given to her by Miranda in exchange for something… that had no actual value. But it was the right number. Now to see if anyone still remembered her
People would probably been unhappy with her giving this information without asking anything in return. But this had to happen. And there wasn't much time left. Estimations to impact varied from 15 to 20 days

Days that could be very difficult to count, in your case. After Benson left, you haven't left the room once. Same four walls, maybe 15 by 20 feet, no windows, just one door, a tiny toilet, two chairs and a table for… how many hours?

The light was always on, and after the first time you fell asleep you lost all idea on time. How long did you sleep? Ten minutes? An hour? Twelve?

This was the old bastard playing games with you. Isolation can be terrifying to some. Some other can deal with it reasonably well. Benson knew he left you alone with a cold Lily-shaped hole in your mind.

There wasn't really anything else to do but think. The door wasn't negotiable, so getting out wasn't an option.

Since you had the time, thinking about what you would do when you met Lily again would be a good idea. She would claim her innocence, or doing it for a cause or something. You were not going to be taken for granted. Something she could return to after her little adventures. You had to.

Not that you actually wanted to do that. You didn't want to to be harsh to her. You wanted her warmth back. You wanted her to fall asleep in your lap after a long day, share a meal with her, or having those half hour run on conversations while looking at whatever happened to be in front of you.

Once again, you catch yourself thinking about Lily in a much too friendly way. She was still someone who had hurt you, badly. Those things can't be forgiven easily. You had to be very stern with her, see that she did regret what she did, and come with a VERY good apology. Then you could be together. And hopefully share a bed.
That train of thought set the tone for many hours to come. Changing between a craving for her soft body and almost hatred for what she did. But the consensus was that you needed to see her, for good or bad. You didn't know it, but Benson’s isolation ideas were working tremendously.

When he came back in, a completely unknown amount of time later, you had try try your very hardest to try and act aloof

‘have you calmed down now?’
“Tried to, but the neighbours keep playing this godawful music all night”
‘Sit up. Little shit’
“Sure. Grampy”

You got up from the floor, probably looking rather ragged. But you did walk over to the table and tried to sit down and nonchalantly as possible. With him, standing a little behind is a familiar figure, Wendy. Caretaker for the MBT-70, whom you helped with a gearbox linkage a few months ago. You nod to her a little, to acknowledge her presence.

“So?”
‘Do you want to see Lily again?’

He heavily emphasised the word “want” in that sentence. And you really did want to see her. But he would poke some sharp object in your back to get his will through.

“Terms and conditions may apply”

You imitated the TV voice on various commercials

‘We are just helping each other’
“I'm risking my life and you are unlocking a door”
’A door you cannot open on your own’
“Yep. I really can't get out on my own”

The room went silent after that. Firstly, he tried to see if you were sarcastic or not. And this time you really weren't. You couldn't get out. Sure, Benson was a frail old man, and you probably could deal with him in a fight. But Wendy had a 9mm on her… left hip. She must be left handed. As long as she stood in the corner and was generally menacing, you had to play their game.
‘I can get you out’
“I figured even you are capable of opening a door’

Benson was boiling with anger

‘Maybe we should leave you to consider the offer for some more time’

You lean over and look at Wendy

“Senile Seth didn't even give me an offer, did he?”

You had helped Wendy earlier, and she was grateful for that (And terrified of Lily). But it seemed her loyalty lay with Benson, as she remain stone-faced and quiet. He stood up, opened the door and left with Wendy in tow. When the door clicked shut, you were once again alone with your thoughts. Within a minute, they went to a certain someone

Lily herself had spent two full days in her bed. It was by far the biggest bed she had ever slept it, wider than she was tall and twice as long. It was laid with white velvet sheets, about as soft as anything could be. She had food brought in three times a day. She was bathing in more luxury than many head of states. Not that she would have acted any different if she just had an old mattress and in a shed. She was rather out of it all. Not really in a fighting condition. Her crystal sharp mind had been dulled down. The Jagdtiger was acting up, the drive system finally starting to feel the strain of the heavy machine. And while she could make sure no further damage was done to it, she just didn’t want to as of late. Instead, she remained in her room and the Jagdtiger remained in a garage, next to something bigger and much heavier

She rolled around in bed, kicked the sheets around and made sure the G36 she was given was close by. Many people had annoyed her very much by pestering her with stupid questions. If she was okay? None of their damn concern
She crawled over to one of the two bedside tables and found her glass of something or another alcoholic was empty. She pushed it of the table out of spite and sighed when it didn’t break. Once again, her back hit the soft, smooth sheets with a thud. She lay there for a few minutes, feeling nothing but hatred for the glass that had the audacity to not break by the hand of Larissa Nibelung. A sly grin emergen on her face and she shuffled back to the G36, and set the sights on the small glass. It was actually harder for her to aim a rifle she had to hold in her hands than adjusting the sight on the Jagdtiger. She giggled a little as the life of the offending glass was nearing its end

The door handle moved. Lily reacted like a rattlesnake on crack and had the assault rifle in condition zero and pointed at the door in a second. Irma entered the room and didn’t see the devious Lily that played around in bed a minute ago. It was more a machine than anyone else. When faced with the risk of having 30 rounds of 5.56 poured her way, Irma immediately raised her hands a little, showing Lily her palms

-[Easy, easy]

Lily sighed, and turned the safety all the way from “auto” to “safe” and lowered the gun. When Irma was no longer in immediate danger of being shot, she could slow down enough to notice things other than the G36

-[god damnit, get dressed, you mess]

Lily realises she isn’t actually wearing anything but a pair of shorts and lowers the weapon to cover herself up a little bit

-[What is happening Erika?!]

Everyone called her that here. Her pet name, Lily wasn’t really anything she wanted these people to call her. And since that technically was her second name, with a bit of weight behind it, Erika stuck
    >[What is it?]
    -[it is what i am asking you!]
    >[nothing you should be concerned about]
    -[Yes! The fight in you is gone, you stroll around like a whore or lie in bed all day! What if one of the men saw you like that!]
    >[Why do you think i have the rifle? You saw what was written on the door. And you knew i wasn’t joking. Hence the “easy, easy!”]

    Lily drops the assault rifle on her bed and throws her arms way up in the air, exaggerating a surrendering gesture, making fun of Irma in the process

    Irma rolls her eyes, but doesn’t look away

    -[Stop drinking, put the gun away and come with me, we’ve received a message]
    >[So? You have seen the amount of messages to me. Hundreds! What makes this one special?]
    -[because it isn’t blatant flattering, admiration or trying to get between your legs. This is information]

    Irma picks up Lily’s uniform jacket from the floor, shakes it to get rid of the dust and straighten it out a little. But when she offers it to Lily, she rolls around in bed,pulls on a thick hoodie and heads for the door.

    -[Unbelievable] Irma mutters to herself. [Unbelievable]

    She sighs and drags the younger Austrian with her into a briefing room. There is a few people waiting there already. A projector flashed a message on a white wall. It told about a new attack wave, landing in a warm and flat place, an urge to arms, a plea even. Sadly, it stated very little about who was going to be there or the opposing force

    -[Well, this was fun and all, but i am in no position to take this seriously. Dismissed]
    >[You stay then. I’m going]

    A whole room turns to Lily as if she was mad. They all were silent, but implied “explain yourself”. Lily sighed heavily, walking up to the wall with the message projected and looked upon the shocked group of people in front of her

    >[I usually don’t like to do this, but perhaps it is time to prove a point. I call this lecture “Why Larissa Erika Nibelung drives a Jagdtiger and you don’t” or simply “Why i am better than you”]
She grabbed a whiteboard pen from a desk beside her drew three circles on the wall, all circling a word, the same word

>Which

She said that in english, very well knowing that wasn’t the prefered language in here.

>[Always, always make sure you understand the local tongue, and preferably the language of your enemies]

She groaned heavily when they looked surprised anyone would speak anything that wasn’t german. She decided to push it a little, further proving her superiority over them

>Je parle aussi le francais
-[You’re testing my patience. Get to the point]
>[You should have learned Russian]
-[The only language those brutes speak is violence. A language i am fluent in]
>[Bad choice of Words. Back to the point. If any of you would have studied, you would have known that this word is spelled W-H-I-C-H and not W-I-C-H, as it is written here. Three times]
‘[A typo…?]’ A man in the back remains unconvinced
>Exactly!

Lily shouted that in English, rather loudly, to deter anyone else for daring to interrupt her

>[It is spelled incorrectly three times in a row, without being written correctly once, leading me to believe this person actually can’t spell “which”. Now, i just happen to have someone who is… of foreign background, which might not be aware of how to spell this properly. And, combining that with her nature of gathering intelligence from places and people few know exist, i can with 95% certainty say who sent that]
-[And who might that be]

Irma seemed genuinely angry at this point. Lily had gotten a little high on herself during the rant, and decided to push it further

>[A beautiful, deadly spider in the center of a very large net. Her name is Natalya Chelyabinsk, a friend of mine]

The was an audible gasp, surging through the room. Maybe it was just her mind, but it felt as if the temperature dropped several degrees by just the mention of that name