I was at my desk working on the plans for the upcoming battle when the door on my tent was thrown open. I sighed, immediately knowing who it was.

"What's up, bitches?!" Rachel yelled out at the top of her loud, American lungs. Rachel Marshall was my American Lieutenant. 

"Rachel, please don't yell," my English lieutenant, Evie Montgomery said. "Even Natalia can restrain herself when it's required."

"Whatever. The point is, do you have the battle plans, General?"

"I'm trying to finish them," I said in the calmest voice I could manage.

"General," Natalia Vasilevsky said in her Soviet accent, marching into the tent and standing at attention. She's my Russian Lieutenant.

"Yes, Natalia?" I dared to ask, looking up.

"We have finished with the battle against the latest Corruption Crystal we've discovered in Khorat."

"Very good, Natalia." I reward her with some of my signature head pats.

"G-General..." she stuttered softly, blushing.

"Relax. Go help yourself to some oil and get your platoons repaired."

"Y-yes sir," she responded, her usually hard face soft with redness as she exited my tent.

"General, I'm concerned about the way you treat your subordinates," Evie noted.

"What, equally?" I ask her wryly, giving her some head pats as well, causing her to blush vividly.

"O-oh my... Sir..." She did nothing to resist which clearly meant that she enjoyed it, although she has never admitted it.

"Ooh, ooh, me too!" Rachel yelled, jumping under my hand and rubbing it with her forehead, giggling to herself.

"Rachel one at a time," Evie scolded. I just laughed to myself. "Why don't you go train the new recruits or something?"

"She has a point," I noted. "Do it, Rachel."

"Yes Sir," Rachel said, saluting before she ran out of the tent. "Light recruits! Attention!" The Light-class recruits lined up in the sparring field. "Who do we have joining us today?"

"Amy, Ma'am," an M2 said.

"Pansy, Ma'am!" a Panzer I said.

"Annie, Ma'am," a Panzer II said.

"Arina, Ma'am. BT-7." Arina saluted.

"Crisa, Madam. Crusader III," Crisa saluted.

"Good," Rachel said. "Now join up with your fellow Light-class tanks in the L-barrack."

"Yes Ma'am," the new recruits saluted and marched off to the barracks, entering the one marked with a big, light-blue L.

"So you're the newbies?" a Cruiser MKII asked.

"Yes," Pansy answered. "Are you the squad leader here?"

"No, that would be Renee," she gestured to the Renault FT, who was going over some written strategies.

"I'm a tad busy at the moment," Renee said, having overheard, not looking up from the notepad. "I'll check in with you at 18:40."

"She's always so serious when she really works hard," a Leichttraktor said with a warm smile. "I'm Trixy. You four must be Pansy, Annie, Crisa, and Arina."

"Yep!" Annie asserted.

"Well go ahead and choose a bunk and locker."

"Get things settled, Trixy," Renee said. "I need to talk to the General."

"Ooh," the other tanks cooed.

"Oh zip it," Renee scolded, blushing slightly and marching out of the barrack. Camp life was a hard one, but not entirely challenging as the base was set up far from the actual front lines with the Corrupted, tanks, and armies turned evil by some strange, evil force. They looked like death and wreaked with countless evil auras. I was always sending out tanks, pushing the front lines farther and farther through the land, to hopefully find the source of the Corruption. Occasionally, I would send out 15 tanks, only for four or five to come back without needing repairs.

"Repairs and training equal modification," I always say to my tanks and soldiers. Well, I say that to my soldiers before running off to flirt with the lieutenants. Why do you ask? Well, can you really blame the only guy in a literal army of girls?

2: Life as a Light-Class

Revelry sounded at 05:30 the following morning. The Light-class tanks stood at the ready as Renee marched through the bunk room.

"Alright tanks, before we head to the mess hall for our breakfast, let's make sure the barracks are clean and flush. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am," the rest of the tanks responded.

"For the new recruits, I have an announcement. As a Light-class tank, we are at the bottom of the hierarchy. We do some pretty interesting chores around the base, but that's mainly because we're small and nimble. Otherwise, those Heavy-class tanks do the heavy lifting. But that's all. Like I said, clean and flush before breakfast at 06:00." Everyone made their beds while one gave the floors a quick swab with a brush and bucket. It's good that the land of Factoria has a well-disciplined army saving it. The L-class tanks marched into the mess hall at precisely 06:00. Lined up at the buffet, they were given a plate of hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and a choice of fruit. Oil was, of course, the preferred beverage of the tanks.

"So how was your first night?" Amy, an M2 asked Pansy and Annie.

"It was alright," Pansy said.

"I dreamt of home," Annie said.

"I'm not surprised," Trixy said. "Nearly everyone does their first week."

"Can we keep the talking to a minimum, please?" Renee asked, having just finished her food. "You new recruits should be looking up to Caitlyn, or Anastasia. They're the perfect L-class role-models." Anastasia, a T-36, smirked and Caitlyn, a Cruiser MKII, nodded in affirmation. Amy and Annie looked at her, eyes wide in awe.

"Yes Ma'am," they said, finishing their breakfast.

"Alright," Renee announced when breakfast was finished and the mess hall cleaned, ready for the next group, the medium tanks, or the M-class. "I want the new recruits to stay with a seasoned tank for the day. Amy, you're with Tanya. Crisa, you're with Caitlyn, Annie with Anastasia, Arina with Trixy, and Pansy, you're with me. Am I understood?"

"Yes Ma'am," the tanks saluted.

"Good. Now since we're not going to the front lines, go to the chore board to find something to do."

"What ho," an M-class tank said, trundling over.

"What is it, Martha?" Renee asked.

"Since Tanya's scuffle with Shelly last evening left some scratches on our barrack wall, she can fix it." Amy saw Tanya cringe out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, you heard her Tanya. Go fix your screw-up. Amy, you too, since you're assigned to her." Amy followed Tanya to the M-class barrack, seeing a bucket of water, a cleaning cloth and several dents and scratches on the wall. While Amy was swearing in her thoughts, she sighed aloud and picked up the cloth and began scrubbing the tread marks on the wall.

"How'd you get track marks on the wall?" She dared to ask.

"Shut up!" Tanya snapped, glaring at the spot she was working on while she scrubbed profusely. They continued working in silence until Tanya sighed when the wall was free of marks, but not the dents. "I'm sorry you were dragged into this, M2."

"It's fine," Amy said with a small smile. "Really. Somebody had to anyway." Tanya gave Amy a smirk and continued working.

"You know, that kind of sensitivity could get you killed out there," she muttered.

"Hm?" Amy asked, having not entirely heard.

"Nothing." They didn't even know I was walking behind them. "Oh, good day, General," Tanya said, standing at attention. Amy gasped and stood up as well, saluting.

"How are my favorite L-class tanks?" I ask, petting their heads. I smile as they blush.

"Sir, we're cleaning up my mess," Tanya answered.

"And why'd you drag her into it?"

"Captain Renee's orders, Sir."

"I see. Well, I'll be having a wonderful conversation with her later. Anyway, M2..."

"Uh, the name's Amy, Sir," Amy said.

"Yes, Amy. You can take a break for some oil if you'd like."

"O-oh. Thank you, sir." I smiled and walked away, keeping an eye out for Renee.

3: Midday with the Medium-Class

Around lunchtime, I was still searching for Renee, but I couldn't find her anywhere. I wonder if she's causing trouble for the M-class tanks. I know for a fact that she likes to do that. I walk over to the M-class barrack, with the big, green M on it. I walk inside for my ears to be blasted with DeadMau5 music.

"PRIVYET, GENERAL!" a tank shouts over the music. I look up and see Yana, the mouse-eared T-34/76 herself. She's playing music with her computer connected to the biggest speakers she could get on base. I sigh.

"YANA! SHUT THIS OFF!" I have to yell back and I see her face turn into a sad expression as the music suddenly stops.

"Aw, why you gotta be a party pooper, General?!" she whines.

"You can play it again, only after I leave after you help me out."

"Fine," she drags out. "What is it, Sir?"

"I'm looking for Renee."

"The Captain of the L-class? I haven't seen her. Not in here anyway."

"Do you know anyone who has?"

"Sir," an M4 Sherman interjects.

"What is it, Sherman?"

"Actually Sir, it's Shelly. And I saw her about 20 minutes ago at the mess hall."

"Thanks." I nod to Yana as I shut the door behind me, the music starting at the last second. I know it seems strange to have a rave in the barracks, but I want my tanks to be comfortable, especially on base when they aren't training. War is tough. Trust me on that. Anyway, I need to head to the mess hall. By the time I get there and ask some of the H-class tanks, the heavies, Renee is apparently on the other side of the base at the factory, checking up on tanks being repaired.

"How are you all feeling?" Renee asked in the factory, where repairs were being done.

"I'm fine," Lin said, having her armor replaced and repainted.

"Lin, you have to be more careful. There aren't very many of you Type 64's."

"I know, but since we use parts from other mass-produced tanks, parts can be replaced in a heartbeat."

"The Chinese and their problems..." A Type 5 Chi-Ri muttered.

"Oh can it, Asami."

"Please don't talk to our captain like that," a couple of Panzer variations said simultaneously. It was Emilia, the Panzer IV Ausf H, and Elisa, a standard Panzer III.

"Well, I'm finished with my repairs," Asami said, standing up and leaving the repair bay. "M-Class units move out."

"Yes Ma'am," Elisa and Emilia saluted, following her. And that is when I made it in.

"Renee," I said.

"Yes, General?" she asked, turning to face me.

"I need to talk to you. Privately."

"With all due respect General, protocol states that I must remain here while my class tanks are being repaired."

"Not anymore. Your overall productivity and leadership have dropped based on a poll of your class tanks. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I must demote you." She gasped in shock.

"B-But General, please! You can-"

"Renee enough. I am promoting Lin to Captain of the L-class."

"Ha! Sucks for you," an A7V said.

"Alda!" A  B1 scolded, slapping Alda on the back of her head, so hard she knocked her helmet off.

"Beth!" Alda cried out, holding the back of her head.

"Don't disparage those who are lower than you, especially since you know that you are lower than others as well." With her warning, Beth trundled off, having her own repairs finished just beforehand.

"Can't you tanks do something other than fighting each other?" I asked aloud, making sure everyone heard, including Beth. "Save the arguments for the Corrupted. Renee, back to your barrack. Lin, when your repairs are finished you head there too, to make sure everything is under control."

In the M-class barrack, Asami was going over some papers.

"Ohayo, Nee-sama," Setsuko, a Type 97 Chi-Ha said.

"Setsuko, I'm busy," Asami responded. "And it's 13:15."

"C'mon. Ever since you made me enlist in this war, we never get to play together anymore."

"Maybe after the war is over, okay?" Asami looked at her with a smile.

"Hai!"

4: Hello, Heavy-Class

After I had to relieve Renee of her duties, I decided to stop by the largest barrack on base. The one marked with a big, yellow H for the Heavy-class. I was already on my way to the large door when it opened to reveal Charlotte, a Churchill.

"Oh, Good afternoon, General," she said with her English accent with a perfect salute.

"At ease, soldier," I said with a smile. "I'm just dropping by to see how things are."

"Charlotte!" a Russian tank called from inside the barrack. "Is that the General?"

"Aye!" she turned to answer. "I think Katya needs you."

"It would seem so," I said. Charlotte smiled and stepped aside as I strode through the massive doors. The tanks were standing around in a circle as there was a tank laying on the floor. I walked over. "What is it?"

"A unit we rescued," Tabby, the Captain of the H-class said. She was a Tiger I.

"Good job, Tabby," I said, reaching up to scratch behind her cat ears. She smiled and purred happily. Katya removed the cover over the unit on the floor. You could tell she was corrupted due to her purple hues and black hair, but those bad colors were fading. "Impressive. She's multi-gun."

"Yes," Katya explained. "She was the only one from our battle who seemed to have the Corruption beaten out of her."

"Yeah, that's been going on a lot." After a couple of minutes, the unit was free of all Corruption. Her face twitched and her eyes slowly opened.

"Where... where am I?" she asked softly.

"You're in the Heavy-class barrack on the Allied base," I explained. "You were rescued as you were able to reject the Corruption. How do you feel?"

"A little fine," she said. "But I could use some oil." Dawn, an M6A1 helped the new tank to a sitting position and gave her a barrel of oil, which she drank in a few seconds.

"She certainly drinks like an H-class tank," Hana said with a giggle.

"You sound Germanic," Charlotte noted and the new tank nodded, carefully standing up.

"Thank you all for saving me," she said. "My name is Betty, and I am a prototype Neubaufahrzeug."

"A prototype what?" we all thought with estranged faces.

"It'll be an honor to help fight by your side in the hopes of saving my fallen sisters."

"And so we shall," Tabby said, shaking Betty's hand. "Get some rest and tomorrow we'll start your Allied Training."

"Thanks for stopping by, General," Katya said, pulling me aside while the other tanks introduced themselves to Betty.

"Sure. I'm checking up on everyone before we head out for our next big battle." Then she frowned slightly.

"Go ahead if you must, but once our fellow tanks and neko soldiers fall... they fall." This is clearly why Katya hasn't made any friends, to save herself from the emotional pain when a fellow tank dies. But even so, that barely ever happens. 99.9% of our tanks are completely repairable when they come back from the field. Except under... certain circumstances. Even so, the way Katya looks at me, confirms that she may have a friend in me. "Spasibo, General." I smile and walk toward the door.

"Dosvedonya, Katya," I say before I walk out of the doors. I think to myself for a little while as I walk toward my next destination, the Artillery-class. Those girls aren't too strong when it comes to physical strength, but they are excellent at long-range strikes. Of course, they need to be pretty high-level to be any good, but I digress.

"Good afternoon, General," A T-35 says as I walk by.

"Aline," I say. "Good afternoon."

"I was just heading back to the barrack."

"You may want to hurry then. You have a new comrade you need to meet."

"Oh. Did she finally wake up?"

"Aye, she did. Get going."

"Yes sir. Have a good day." She nods and salutes before continuing on her way to the H-class barrack.

5: Afternoon, Artillery-Class

I make my way over to the Artillery-class barrack, the one with a large, purple letter A above the door. It's the same size barrack as the L and M-class barracks, but it's mainly empty as there aren't as many artillery tanks and vehicles on base at the moment. We need to rescue more. We only have 7 A-class girls right now and when I walk in they are playing a card game at the table.

"Oh, good afternoon, General," one of them says.

"Good afternoon Elysia," I say. Elysia's an SU-5 and current captain of the A-class. "What's going on?"

"We're just playing some card games," Ellinah said with a smile. She's an M7 Priest. The others are Mila, the M8 Scott, Selma, the Sexton I, Aubri the Wespe, Silke, the Sturmpanzer I Bison, and finally, the most recent addition fresh from the factory, was Darya, the SU-14-1.

"We're playing Go-fish," Mila said with a smile, having already won the current game.

"And she's been winning all day," Aubri said with a yawn. "I'm getting bored."

"How's Mila been winning all day?" I asked, leaning on a stack of crates, as other tanks used this barrack as a storage area.

"We've been letting her," Darya said.

"Way to ruin the fun for her," Ellinah said.

"Yay!" Mila giggled. 

"I guess I owe Mila my chips at dinner."

"She's such a hoser," Selma, the Canadian Sexton I, said in her Canadian accent.

"Speaking of dinner, do you know what we're having, General?" Elysia asked.

"The Destroyer-class is having a barbeque," I answered. I heard a few groans.

"Great," Selma muttered. "They'll blow up all the meat and serve us shells and rounds."

"It'll be fine. I was stopping on my way to their barrack to make sure they do this properly."

"Really?" Mila asked, coming over to me.

"That's right," I said, picking her up and sitting her on my shoulder since she was so small. "I'll have them make you your favorite cheeseburgers."

"But I want hot dogs."

"Then I'll personally see to it. Mila, I can promise that you will have your hot dogs."

"Yay!"

"Mila, you're 18, why do you sound like a child?" Silke asked.

"I am a child. On the inside and outside."

"Wow," she forced a chuckle. "Well, I'm getting some more oil. You gals want any?"

"Sure," Elysia said. Selma nodding in agreement. Aubri was already sound asleep, her head down on the table.

"Three quarts then."

"Actually, I'll take two," Selma said.

"Alright," Silke said. "Four quarts it is." She stood up and walked out of the door. I smiled and put Mila back down.

"Well, I must be on my way. I'll see you ladies tonight at the big barbeque."

"Good day, General," Elysia said, saluting with the other girls following suit. I walk out of the dusty barrack and then succumb to a fit of intense coughing.

"Jesus Christ," I mutter after my fit is finished and I've coughed up my lungs, stomach, and intestines after a whole minute and a half. "That place needs to be cleaned out." I get up and see the purple A above the door. The lights behind it flicker and short out. "That'll need to be fixed as well." I sigh and make sure I can still walk with whatever strength I have left.

"General?" there's a voice, but I can't really see who it is due to my blurry vision. "General! General!"

"What?" I ask, forcing my vision to focus, almost falling over.

"General are you alright? You don't look okay."

"I-I'm fine." I sit down on a munitions box and take a few deep breaths. "Sorry. I was in the A-class barrack."

"Why?"

"Just checking things out. That barrack needs to be cleaned and their entrance sign needs maintenance."

"Okay. I'll send some units out on that later tonight." I let out another sigh and look up as my vision is finally clear. It's Marian, an M3 GMC. A tank destroyer from the D-class. Of course, she might as well be called the double-D class, knowing the size of her ammo rack, and I right?

6: Dinnertime, Destroyer-Class

Later that evening, as the dinner bell rang at 19:00, all the tanks on base meandered toward the mess hall for tonight's BBQ sponsored by the D-class. Archie, the Archer 17pdr, and Maria the Semovente da 75/18 was in charge of grilling the food. In the kitchen, however, may God have mercy on our souls, was Svetlana, the SU-152. She was tenderizing the meat by using controlled explosions while placing them on Archie's grill with a massive sickle, all with an insane expression on her face.

"W-why is Svetlana making that face?" Ilona, a Hetzer, and possibly the youngest D-class tank so far, asked.

"It's okay, Sweetie," Merla said, trying to comfort her much younger colleague. Merla was a Marder I.

"Da, everything is fine!" Svetlana declared as she moved slabs of ribs onto the grill.

"Can I get a raw steak?" A Sherman Crocodile asked.

"Why?" Maria asked.

"It's Tinda," Archie said, flipping some burgers. "She's equipped with flamethrowers."

"Sounds dangerous, but have fun," Maria replied as she reluctantly gave Tinda a big, raw steak.

"Ooh, this is gonna be good!" she said, skipping off with her plate and sitting down with the rest of the Sherman variations.

"Wow, look at Tinda..." Shelly muttered.

"What's got you so worked up?" Bella asked. She was a Sherman Firefly.

"Yeah?" Tinda asked.

"Just shut it, Croc," Felicia, a Sherman Easy 8 said. Tinda growled with anger.

"You do not call me Croc dammit!"

"Better watch it, or we'll send you to the reject table," Shelly said.

"That's not a thing!"

"Yes, it is," one tank called from the so-called "reject table". It was Cana, an AMX-40. She lay her head down next to her dinner, which she didn't eat.

"Shut up, Duck-face," the four Shermans said.

"Aw..." Cana began to cry, knowing they were right. Everyone compared her to a duck, even the Lieutenants.

"Don't cry, Cana," Kiwi, the Bob Semple said. Yes, you heard me right. Bob Semple. She was New Zealand's idea of a tank. When I say tank, I should really say a tractor covered up with sheet metal. "I'm here with you at the Loser table. That and we have Private Neko with us."

"Yes Ma'am!" the small anthropomorphic cat said with a salute.

"First reject, now loser?" Cana sunk even lower in her seat with a sigh.

"Chin up, my duckling," Lidiya, a T-70 said to Cana, patting her on the back of the head and walking by. "We'll see some action soon."

"Say's the weirdo wearing a freaking fur coat over her armor," Sabine, a StuG III Ausf G, wow that's a mouthful, said.

"I'll have you know it's comfy," Lidiya said, crossing her arms. "Hmph."

"Sabine, be nice," Evelynn said. She was Sabine's older sister and was a StuG IV.

"Whatever," Sabine said as she bit into her hamburger. Meanwhile, at another table, Asami had sat down with some other M-class tanks and her older sister Kyoko to discuss some battle plans and she made Setsuko sit at the kiddie table. Mila, Ilona, Pansy, Annie, Flora, and Aubri were also sitting at the kiddie table. Setsuko ate with an expression of childishness.

"Is your sis being a meanie?" Mila asked her.

"Hai," Setsuko said.

"She's so scary," Flora said.

"It's gotta suck being the youngest," Pansy said. Aubri agreed with a yawn.

"Ja," Annie also agreed. You're probably wondering by now where I am in all of this wonderful fun. Well, let me tell you since I was practically the only guy on base, and I wasn't a tank or any form of artillery like my lieutenants, I was at the reject table, with Kiwi, Cana, and Private Neko. Notice how I didn't call her a duck-face? That's because I'm nice. Get over it. While I was at the reject table, I was talking to Kiwi about how she could increase her stats by training in a way that was suited for her and I was enjoying a really nice steak. I finished it after a while and it was so good, I had to see if there was another one.

"Seconds, General?" the captain of the D-class asked.

"Yes, Odette," I replied. "It was quite delicious." Odette was a Jagdtiger.

7: Vox Populi

The next day, all of the tanks prepared themselves as my select squad of 15 units were ready to go out fighting the Corrupted. The way I had my team of tank laid out in formation was pretty genius if I do say so myself. I sent out destroyers first, then had Olivia speed through the gap and attack them directly. Of course, if she held out long enough, the destroyers would catch up and provide back up. Huh... to think I just blatantly announced to the world my super-secret strategy. Oh well. I had 7 destroyers, 5 heavies, 2 mediums, Olivia and Tinda, and the only L-class was Lin as she had some pretty strong rounds she could fire pretty quickly. As Odette led, she went over some final strategies with Asami, as she was one of the smartest tanks on base.

"-and that's our last tactic idea. Got it?" Asami asked as everyone else was clearing the gate area as the formation fired up their engines.

"Ja!" Odette roared over the rumble. "We'll be back only after the last woman falls!"

"We'll be sending out damage control behind you! Good Luck!" She stepped out of the way and the tanks roared out of the base and through the gate, which was shut with loud clinks behind them.

"Off again, huh?" Veronika, a KV-2 asked.

"Yep," Asami answered.

"Did the General really send out Emiko?" Emiko was a Type 95 H-class tank.

"Yeah."

"This is her first time since she joined us."

"It is, but as an M-class, I'll leave any concerns to you." Asami turned and walked toward her barrack, waving a hand up as a good-bye to Veronika.

"What in the name of Stalin is wrong with her? Mudak." With her final word said, Veronika continued with her daily chores, which was to move the larger crates out of the A-class barrack, so it was no longer a storage warehouse. While the H-class was taking out the trash, the D-class was hosing down the floors and cleaning up, granted, it was only Archie, Marian, and Merla doing it, as the rest of the destroyers were out fighting. The rest of the A-class tanks were working on rebuilding their living area in the A-class barrack.

"So how should the couches be arranged?" Jill, the newest A-class tank, an M40, asked.

"Around the TV," Elysia said, gesturing with her arms. Jill just stared at Elysia with a dirty expression.

"I don't know what this means," she groaned, making the exact same gestures as well.

"She means like this," Silke said, making different gestures.

"No, it's this!" Mila said, making even different motions.

"That's way off," Darya said. "Besides, it's like this." Darya made her own gestures and dabbed at the end. Elysia groaned while Ellinah marked the spots for the couches with some black and yellow caution tape.

"How's that?" She asked Elysia.

"Perfect," Elysia responded.

"Kiss ass," the other tanks muttered. Veronika walked over and moved the couches over to where Ellinah had marked them.

"Just like that?" she asked Elysia.

"Perfect," she responded, sitting down. "Thanks, Veronika."

"Da. Anytime." Veronika and Betty continued to move the extra crates around while the A-class girls took a quick break to hook the television back up and check the local listings. Of course, there wasn't much on as it wasn't prime time. The rest of the renovations came to a close later that evening. Veronika and Betty were chatting outside the H-class barrack when Elysia walked over to them, carrying a couple jerrycans of oil.

"Off for a refill?" Betty asked with a smile.

"Payment actually," Elysia answered, handing the girls the oil. "Thanks for helping us out with the renovations."

"Da, it was no problem," Veronika said.

"Ja," Betty agreed.

8: On Base

    While the brigade of 15 was off fighting, the other tanks were either keeping the base neat and flush or drilling. The L-class were running maneuver drills while the D-class was at target practice. Some H-class tanks were strength testing their armor. Katya was holding her shield out while Dawn was firing rounds at it.

    "How's it holding up?" Dawn asked her.

    "It is going well," Katya said with a smirk. "Nekos! I'll take a few more of these." She tossed it to some neko soldiers who took it back to the factory to make some more shields of her. During those training sessions, Emilia and Elisa were marching in formation.

    "Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein," they were singing as they marched. "Und das heißt... Erika!"

    "What's that they're spouting on about?" Alexa, the M18 Hellcat, asked as she noticed.

    "They're singing about me," Erika said with a laugh. She had a cannon that was so large that she was known as the 'elefant' which was also her native German way of spelling it.

    "Oh please, I know that's bullshit."

    "Ladies!" Evonna, the Jagdpanzer, said loudly, to get their attention. "Focus on the drilling, not the M-class!" With her command, the tanks went back to drilling. "And if you must know, it's one of our proud German marches. Look it up later if you want."

    "Yes Ma'am," Alexa sarcastically huffed as she targeted the targets and fired her shots with perfect accuracy as she smirked to herself. Meanwhile, on the other side of the base, the A-class was practicing their long-range shots.

    "I still don't understand why he has us do these drills," Ivonne, a new A-class member, a GW Tiger, muttered. "We can shoot for kilometers..."

    "Quit whining, Ivonne," Elysia said. "I've been talking with the General, and we're working out a plan for a shooting area somewhere off-base."

    "That sounds amazing."

    "It will be." While I was going through some more battle tactics with Kyoko and Asami, Caitlyn stopped by my office.

    "Caitlyn, what is it?" I asked her with a mild huff of annoyance.

    "Sir," she said after a flawless salute. "Renee is refusing to leave her barrack."

    "Let me guess, she's still bitching about the fact I demoted her?" I try not to swear, but news about Renee again is getting on my nerves.

    "Um, I would assume so." I let out a sigh.

    "Goddammit." I lean back in my chair and rub the bridge of my nose. "Then have Lin-"

    "Sir, Lin's out fighting."

    "Then who's the next one in charge?"

    "That would be Lidiya."

    "Then have her do something. We're busy at the moment." And if I'm honest, I wish that had a different definition of busy, as I would totally love to see the Chi sisters naked. Don't judge me on that. Caitlyn salutes perfectly then marches off with a nod.

    "What's the General's verdict?" Lidiya asked her.

    "Well, since Lin's away fighting and you're Second Captain of the L-class, it's your job."

    "I figured it was," she sighed and walked inside and over to Renee's bunk. "Renee. Get up."

    "No," she groaned under her fortified tent made out of bedsheets. It wreaked of cheap wine in the area. Lidiya huffed angrily and threw back her hood, meaning she was serious.

    "Renee," she growled. Renee raised a middle finger through the walls of her tent causing Lidiya's eyes to twitch as she snapped. "Chert voz'mi! You French monkey! I said get up!" Lidiya pulled down the sheets and a drunk Renee aimed her gun at her with half a smirk

    "Call me that again," she slurred. "I dare you."

    "And I dare you to shoot," Lidiya said with an expression of utter rage. "You're already being court-martialed for not doing your duties." Renee's smile disappeared. 

    "Va te faire foutre," Renee muttered. Lidiya's eye twitched as she snapped again and punched Renee in the face, knocking her onto the hardwood floor.

    "Ty, chertovski suka! Ya dolzhen ubit' tebya!" Caitlyn gasped and grabbed Lidiya and tried to hold her back, as Tanya and Trixy ran in to help.

    "Lidiya no!" Trixy begged.

    "You'll get your own ass court-martialed at this rate!" Tanya said.

    "What the hell is going on in here?!" Cerys, the FV214 Conquerer, demanded, having just returned from the frontlines. She looked around the small bunkroom to see two tanks fighting and three tanks holding them back.

    "They're fighting!" Caitlyn said and Trixy said.

    "Who's being court-martialed?"

    "It's Renee!" Lydia screamed.

    "Calm the hell down." Cerys grabbed Renee and with some quick movements had some rope tied around her. "I'll take her to the General. The rest of you need to get this place cleaned up."

    "Yes Ma'am," the L-class girls saluted, as H-class was superior when there was no senior officer present.

9: The Replacement

    Later that afternoon, when the tanks had arrived back from the battlefield and I had told them to rest for a couple days before heading back out after some roster changes, I was told that I would have to host an execution. At least that what it seemed like, since the tanks are girls, but try to think about it as more of a tank's decommissioning. Renee had gone into a drunken, downward spiral since her demotion and was now court-martialed due to on-base desertion. And guess who had to decommission her? As the sun was setting and all the tanks and soldiers were gathered at the center of the base, a lone Renee was kneeling and bound as I aimed my gun right above the knot in her blindfold. I squeezed the trigger the moment the clock struck six.

    At the very same moment in the factory, life was breathed into a new Renault FT that had been built. She sat up with a gasp and a cough as the factory workers handed her some oil. Curious as to what was going on, she got up and out of the factory and into the crowd to find a dead body of someone who looked just like her. She gasped and looked at the body, then me, as her mind began to make the proper connections, then she nodded in understanding and saluted. I gave her a small smile and saluted back. The tank then left to begin their evening duties and training as Caitlyn took care of the new Renee and the decommissioned one was dragged into the factory to be recycled. I watched the rest of the sunset, seeing a figure moving toward the gate. Odette and Olivia noticed too and readied themselves at my sides.

    "'Oo is it?" Olivia asked in her cockney accent.

    "I don't know," I said. "Keep your guard up."

    "General, you should get behind us," Odette said.

    "Wait." I looked through my binoculars and saw that this woman who not only had the armor of a samurai, only better looking than Asami's, but also the turrets of an O-I super-heavy tank.

    "An O-I?" Natalia asked, seeing her too.

    "It would appear so."

    "She doesn't seem to be corrupted."

    "Let her in."

    "But, S-Sir," Olivia stammered.

    "I said let her in." By now, the O-I had reached the gate and was looking at me quizzically. She was let in, then she removed her helmet and kneeled in front of me.

    "Kon'nichiwa ippan," she said in her solid Japanese voice.

    "Kon'nichiwa," I responded. "English?"

    "Ie."

    "Asami!" I called out and she came marching right over.

    "Hai?" she asked, and the O-I looked up at her with a silent reaction of surprise. "Translations?"

    "Yes."

    "Watashi wa ippan no tame ni hanasu," she said. The O-I stood and nodded.

    "Who are you?" I asked her and Asami translated.

    "Mayumi, O - I cho omo sensha," she responded.

    "Her name's Mayumi and she is indeed the O-I superheavy tank," Asami told me.

    "Mayumi. Interesting. Why are you here?" I asked her and Asami translated.

    "Watashi wa anata ga watashi no shinrai o eta to kanjimasu," Mayumi responded. "Watashi wa teki o mita. Anata wa watashi no tasuke ga hitsuyodesu!" Her last statement sounded a bit desperate.

    "She trusts you," Asami tells me. "She has seen the enemy and insists you need her help."

    "If that's the case then I'll leave her in the hands of you and your sisters."

    "Hai," Asami nodded, turning toward Mayumi. "Anata wa watashitachi to issho ni imasu."

    "Hai," Mayumi nodded and Asami showed her around as they conversed in Japanese. Setsuko joined them and when it came time to bunk down for the night, Kyoko offered a bottle of sake that Sakura had ordered in. They had some nice conversations and Asami told Mayumi that she'd begin her training with the H-class after Kyoko had given her some English lessons which she had agreed to.

10: Firing the First Round

The following day, around mid-morning, Setsuko walked into Asami's office in the M-class barrack.

"Come on, Nee-sama!" Setsuko said to Asami. "Let's go play for a bit!"

"Setsuko..." Asami stated with a huff of mild annoyance.

"Please?!" she begged. Asami groaned, sighed, and somewhat forced a smile.

"Alright, for a few minutes."

"Yay!" Setsuko giggled, scurrying off to the gate which led outside the base. The neko guard let them out and Setsuko and her sister went off base.

"Just for a bit, okay, and don't go too far!"

"Come on, let's play some tag!"

"Fine."

"Yay!" Setsuko ran off, her arms out like the wings of an airplane. Asami jogged after her, then noticed something off toward the trees. A glint of sunlight, reflecting off something metallic. By the time she saw it was the barrel of a corrupted destroyer, it was far too late.

"Setsuko!"

"Huh?" Setsuko turned to look back and saw her sister's fearful expression only to hear the sound of gunfire and her armor exploding as she was brought down in a pile of metal and blood, having the round go right through her chest. Asami watched with her eyes as wide as humanly possible as her younger sister fell into a bloody heap, only to be shot several more times before finally hitting the ground, dead and completely destroyed. Asami fell, shielded from more incoming fire, and could barely breathe, having watched the entire scene. She couldn't breathe right, and she vomited from complete shock and disgust, her entire face pale.

"N... No," she coughed. "SETSUKO!"

The gate of the base was flung open as an army of tanks flooded the hillside, Sakura and Kyoko went into the ditch to aid the petrified Asami.

"We need to get her out of here!" Sakura yelled over the firefight as the corrupted destroyers in the trees were flushed out by the A-class and then brought down by some D-class and M-class units.

"Report!" Natalia demanded.

"All Corrupted have been destroyed," Kristina said, hugging her cannon closely with a smirk. Someone had placed a blanket over the body of Setsuko, which had absorbed quite a bit of the blood and oil, changing to a dark red hue. While Asami was led back inside the base, Mandy was brought out to inspect the damage.

"Well shit," she muttered, removing the blanket.

"'Ow is it?" Olivia asked, looking away from the carnage. "Fixable?"

"I'll try my best... but no guarantees."

"From 'ow close they were... even if Asami 'ad spotted 'em three seconds sooner... she would have taken the 'it."

"I know. Asami knows the risks of this war, but why did it have to be Setsuko?" Mandy sighed and put all of Setsuko's parts in the blanket and tossed it over her shoulder with a squishing and metallic clanking sound.

"Hey!" Shelly interjected. "Isn't that a little disrespectful?!"

"You're tanks, Sweetheart. You're machines. Somewhat."

"Well yeah, but so're you," Olivia said. Mandy took the bag of Setsuko parts back to the factory and laid them all out on the floor surrounded by construction curtains, as neko workers dug out Setsuko's blueprints from the large filing cabinet. "You think you can handle this?" she asked the head worker.

"Not without your help, Ma'am. It'll take a while, and we're going to need to recycle some corrupted units for parts."

"But it is possible?"

"Yes."

"Then let's get to it." Meanwhile, Sakura and Mayumi were trying to comfort the still petrified Asami while Kyoko excused herself to weep privately. I had found her behind the munitions sheds.

"General, please leave me be," she said softly.

"Kyoko, please don't cry," I told her, giving her a hug. She gasped in surprise, but she buried her face into my chest anyway. "Mandy's working non-stop in the factory to try to rebuild her."

"It's all my fault."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is! I should have done a better job watching my younger sisters."

"Kyoko..."

"I'm not... I'm not worthy to call myself an older sister."

"Kyoko, don't talk like this please?" I had to grab her arm when she pulled out a knife to stop her from committing seppuku or something.

"Let go of me!" she cried, her rage starting to consume her.

"Kyoko!" I said, quite literally slapping some sense into her. She gasped and dropped her knife, and looked up at me, still confused. "You're far better than this! Please give Mandy some time and go rest. You're relieved of your daily duties." With that I left, taking her knife with me. The current platoon had begun their mandatory strategy briefing and I walked in. "At ease," I said after they stood and saluted. "Whatever your plans are for the day after tomorrow, I just have one thing to add."

"And that is?" Odette inquired.

"I need you to gather as many Type 97 Chi-ha parts you can."

"Is this for Setsuko-chan?" Lin asked.

"Yes. Just add that into your plan, okay?"

"Yes Sir," Odette saluted, being in charge of Platoon 1. I smiled and left them to their briefing.

11: Platoon 2

While there was still time left in the day, I decided to check on Platoon 2's building. I'm hoping to get 5 platoons in total as more tanks roll out from the factory, but for now, we only have enough resources for 2. The captain of the second platoon was a rather new unit, it was Irina, a Soviet KV-8, who was equipped with flamethrowers. Sadly, it took her a few moments to realize I was standing behind her couch.

"O-Oh. Privyet, General!" she saluted.

"Irina," I said, keeping my irritated voice level. "It took you 4.6 seconds to realize I was here."

"I-I'm sorry Sir!" she bowed and I sighed.

"Irina, if you want to hold your position as leader of this second platoon, then you'll need to really improve yourself."

"D-Da, General!"

"Good. I suggest you keep up with your drills."

"NYAH!" Leo, the Leopard VK 1602 shouted out as she pounced for me. Good thing she wasn't wearing her armor. Only her pajamas. However, I saw her coming up from behind the couch so as she was in the air I grabbed her then tossed her over onto the ground with a smirk. She let out a yelping groan of pain. "Th-That hurt General!"

"Leo, you should know this by now, you're not as stealthy as you think. You're almost there. Just don't yell out when you're attacking."

"Oh... okay." Suddenly, I heard someone walking toward the main room.

"Hey, Nika I-" It was Cana, and she had just stepped out of the showers and had not yet wrapped the towel around her. When we met eyes we both gasped and blushed and I looked away as Cana wrapped the towel around her with a scream and ran back down the hall.

"Oh shit."

"Watch the language," I said as I stood up to apologize to Cana. I knocked on the shower room door.

"Go away, General!" Cana yelled.

"Look-"

"Vous pervers!"

"Cana, I'm sorry. I didn't see anything." It went quiet for a bit.

"You sure?"

"Yes. Really, I saw nothing, but I'm sorry anyway. I'll uh, I'll be going now." I myself was beginning to feel uncomfortable with this whole thing so I leave the doorway only to slip on something that quacked when I stepped on it. Of course, the only thing I know now is that I am in some bad pain as my back hits the hard floor. I hear some running footsteps.

"General, are you okay?" It's Nika, the T34/85. She has a worried expression as she and Stella, the M5 Stuart, help me to my feet.

"Augh, my back," I say with a groan.

"He slipped on Cana's rubber duck." They sit me down on one of the couches. Catherine, the Centurion Mk 1 fetched an ice pack from the icebox and gave it to Nika as she held it to my back, and it's a tank-sized ice pack, so it's about the size of a 12-inch wheel. At least my entire back gets some pain relief. "We should take him to the medics to look at him."

"I'll do it since I'm the fastest here," Stella said. The smaller tank somehow carried me to the infirmary outside my office where Dawn was filing through papers.

"What happened?" she asked when Stella brought me in.

"He slipped on a rubber duck and hit his back." Dawn was so lucky I couldn't hear her muffled snickering.

"Well, lay him down and I'll get Cerys." Dawn ran out and grabbed Cerys and brought her back.

"So he landed on his back?" Cerys asked.

"Yeah," Stella nodded.

"But his spine isn't broken?"

"No, I can still move," I said, raising my arm and still fully aware of what was going on.

"Sir just rest. You should take these strong painkillers."

"Are they addictive?"

"No sir, just strong. They'll knock you right out." And with that, I took one right away. "Sir-!" But I was already sound asleep. Stella sighed.

"Well my job is done," she said with a sigh of relief followed with a smile. "Take care of him."

"Of course."

"Yep," Dawn nodded. Stella nodded and went back to the P2 building before everyone checked in for the night at their class barracks.

12: Auto Blindate d'Italia

While I was busy resting up from my accident, there were three, and only three particular tanks who were not caring about their class, but their nationality. They were marching in formation to their barracks. The only Italian tanks on base. Maria led while Flora and Pepper, A Fiat M13/40, marched behind her.

"Vicino a un albero vicino al fiume, c'è un buco nel terreno," they sang in their proud Italian. Olivia watched as they marched to their barracks and shook her head in utter discomfort.

"Bloody 'ell they're so stupid," she muttered. They sang while Pepper whistled the tune as they had an Italian neko soldier marching with his drum. "God that song is annoyin'." She then trundled off for a pint of hard oil somewhere.

"Olivia!" Maria called out, causing Olivia to gasp and moan with despair, as she marched over to her with Flora and Pepper following, whistling the tune.

"What the bloody 'ell you want?"

"Off for a pint are you?"

"Aye. And I don't want ya' followin' whistlin' that annoyin' tune of yours."

"Ever tried Campari?"

"No. Why the bloody 'ell would I want that?"

"Beats some hard oil, especially on a mild night like this."

"Nah," Olivia scowled and left at her fast pace. Maria was sad, but she kept her smile.

"Li mortacci tua," she teased behind Olivia's back. Once Olivia was long gone, the Italian trio marched to their barracks and clocked out for the night.

The next morning, I had awoken to see Dawn's smiling yet somehow menacing face.

"Good morning, General," she said.

"Ever considered a glass eye?" She backed off and gasped as she was accused of committing a murder.

"General..."

"Please abide by my personal space." I sat up and was thankful to not be feeling any more pain. I left the room only to see several neko civilians rushed by in stretchers, as they were either victim of the corruption, or just caught in the crossfire. It was a grim reminder that I was still at war. I continued on to the mess hall to find the H-class already knocking down their breakfast.

"Ohayogozaimasu, Ippan," Mayumi said with a salute.

"English, Mayumi," Cerys reminded her and Mayumi nodded.

"Good morning, General," she said in her solid accent. I smiled and nodded and she smiled back.

"You'll be going out again, Cerys," I said.

"Yes sir," Cerys saluted. I nodded once more and went up to my office in the center of the base to make the official announcement of the tannoy system. "Alright. It's time to deploy again," as my voice flowed through the speakers, all the tanks stood at attention, giving their usual reactions when their names were read. "Lieutenant Evie will be directing platoon leader Odette and the following: Evelynn, Ilona, Lin, Olivia, Tabby, Claudia, Ivonne, Felicia, Cerys, Rena, Chie, Angela, Verena, and Tessa. Be ready to deploy at 10:00." I was writing down some notes when my office door was flung open, coming off one of its hinges, Maria marching in with Flora and Pepper whistling a familiar tune.

"General why don't you ever deploy me anymore?!" Maria demanded.

"First of all, Flora, Pepper. Attention!" The two of them stopped and saluted. "Secondly, Maria... you're strength lacks in comparison to Evelynn and Chie."

"Ah! Those axis cessos!"

"Maria, attention!"

"Yes, sir!" She saluted as well.

"I'm going to ask you to stop this unruly behavior before I have you court-martialed."

"Yes, sir."

"Now go back outside and find something to do."

"Yes sir," the three of them said, leaving my office. I looked out the door and happened to catch Mandy walking by.

"Mandy!"

"Yes sir?" she asked, coming back and looking in, seeing the fact my door was knocked off of one of its hinges. "Oh, would you like me to fix that for you?"

"If you could try, thanks."

"Sure thing." She moved the door back into its hinge. "Hm... the bolt broke." She pulled one of the bottom bolts out. "You just need another one of these. I'll send someone to town for another one."

"Thanks." I smiled and headed outside to see the platoon off. Back in the factory, Mandy was glancing around.

"Hey Viktor," she called the Neko soldier over.

"Da, Mandy?" he asked his small, yet thick Russian accent.

"If Natalia hasn't deployed you anywhere could you run back to Maunis for another one of these bolts?" Mandy gave him the bolt from my door.

"Only if I can ride Veronika," he said taking it with his cat-like smirk.

"That's up to Natalia, not me. Just please get me another one."

"Da, Ma'am."

13: On the Frontlines

Back by the base's main gate, the platoon was ready to deploy out. It was time we finally took over Devonis. We were stationed just inside the city, but at its heart, there was a corrupt Gustav waiting for us. She was the biggest gun ever built.

"Remember to have someone flank her but make sure you take out those corruption crystals," Asami said to Odette.

"That's the plan," Odette said. "Alright, we're heading out!" Everyone fired up their engines and rolled out the gate and deep into the city center. Evelynn spotted a corrupted M5 Stuart first.

"M5!" She shouted, already firing her gun.

"I'll cover you!" Verena yelled only to get slammed down by the sniper fire of two corrupt Jagdpanthers. She tried to get away but she had been shot in the knees and one of her legs was on the verge of falling off. "Augh! God this hurts!" She managed to crawl to a safe spot before passing out and the lower half of her legs had fallen off.

"I'll help!" Ilona said, speeding in but she too, met her end by the Jagdpanthers, taking a shot to the arm and opposite leg, seeing a corrupt Maus appear just before blacking out. Olivia growled and charged ahead but was stopped by a monstrous Scarab, a being created by the corruption crystals made for destroying tanks. Claudia ran forward as fast as she could to absorb some of the damage to allow the others through.

"Remind the General to thicken my armor!" She shouted as she fell to her knees having most of her armor shot away and she was nearly nude, bleeding and leaking oil. Odette ran into the fray only to meet another corrupt Maus.

"There's two?!" She fired her high-power shells but nothing would work on the heavily-armored Maus. "Oh, fick mich." The Maus shoved her sword through Odette's stomach and picked her up. Odette gasped and coughed blood, and clutching at the sword, as the Maus brought her to its face and Odette could feel the evil aura.

"Sterben," the Maus said in a deep, corrupted voice before tossing Odette across the battlefield. She went through the broken window of some storefront and landed on some shelves with a cough, blood pouring from her wound and seeping from her mouth.

"Ver... verdammt," Odette coughed. Ivonne gasped and managed to take out a few corrupted units, but some corrupted IS-3's sped through and shot her in the chest, taking her out and sending her flying back from the impact. Tabby was taking so many hits, but she too eventually fell victim to the scarab and the bolters, which were machines build by the corrupted. Tabby lay crying and bleeding as she held onto her dead sister's hand.

"I... I'm sorry Rena," she cried softly, her body weak and torn, her hair burning away slowly from the tracer fire. "We weren't ready for this yet." Felicia and Angela were working together but the Maus and Jagdpanthers took them out as well. Lin's body was nearly shot to pieces, being the only L-class tank in the platoon. Chie tried her best was was far too inexperienced for a battle like this one and she lost an arm to the corrupted Churchills.

"Ts-tsudzuke rarenai," she muttered before passing out.

"Tessa, we can't get through the scarabs and the bolters," Cerys said, breathing heavily, having been stabbed in the shoulder by the Maus already.

"Tessa! Cerys! Retreat!" Evie called from her position.

"Grab everyone you can, we're getting out," Tessa said. Cerys grabbed the lighter units while, with a fierce battle cry, Tessa somehow managed to get everyone else who had fallen and walked them back to base. Maybe it was due to the fact she was a T95 GMC and could handle the weight of everyone else. Mandy was brought out for repairs as were the other neko mechanics. Ivonne was the first one with repairs done as she was the only A-class in the platoon, but I let her rest before debriefing her on what happened. But before that, I was debriefing Evie as she made it out with only a few bullet wounds.

"So-" I began but Evie smacked me.

"General you complete imbecile!" She yelled, tears in her eyes. "Why would you send them out there into that shit?!"

"Evie-"

"You knew damn well they weren't ready! Claudia and Olivia almost died out there!" I sighed as she continued her tirade. "They need more training." I know for a fact that she's right. Rachel checked on Angela and Felicia. Evie went to comfort Claudia and Olivia. Natalia took care of the rest, leaving me in my office with a bottle of rum.

14: You Are Already Dead

The next day, as the first platoon was recovering from yesterday's slaughter, I sent Mayumi out scouting with a few neko soldiers, with Private Neko leading, sitting on her shoulder.

"Alright, Mayumi we're out scouting so you never know what you might run into, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded, only understanding most of his statement.

"There are some coins here," a soldier said, stopping to pick up the few gold coins that were strewn about on the road.

"Mayumi when we scout, we always take with us any and all coins, scrap metal, oil, and any items that may be important to our cause," Private Neko said.

"Okay," Mayumi nodded again. She trundled along the path, stopping for every coin and piece of metal they could find. Neko civilians from liberated villages they happened to meet gave them some oil for the trip. They then eventually made it to a village between Maunis and Laperm.

"Who goes there?" the village elder demanded with a meager spear.

"We mean you no harm," Private Neko said, hopping off Mayumi's shoulder. "We're with the Factorian military."

"Are you the ones who saved our village several weeks ago from that evil being?" He was referring to a corrupted Void leader who was terrorizing the village and harming the children.

"Yes sir," Neko saluted.

"Ah then welcome, welcome!" The elder laughed, setting his spear down. "You are welcome to rest here for as long as you need." Mayumi sat and drank some given oil while some of the kittens were playing around her and laughing. She watched them with curious eyes, mainly unsure with what they were saying. A couple of the kids ran off into the nearby forest to collect some berries.

"Hurry back," their mother had told them. One of them came back screaming in terror after a few minutes.

"What happened?" the elder asked,

"Something scary's headed this way!" the kid yelled. "It took my sister!" Mayumi looked at Neko and he nodded. She put her helmet back on and they went to investigate. A corrupted O-I came walking out of the forest, Mayumi gasped in shock, seeing the mirror image of her, only much more sinister.

"K-Ki-sama?!" Mayumi asked it.

"Hai," it answered in a corrupted voice, as it laughed evilly, holding up a scared neko child.

"Let me go!" the little kitten cried.

"Ie," the corrupt Mayumi teased it as she tossed her onto the ground and kicked her into a nearby tree. The elder gasped in horror. Private Neko and his fellow soldiers opened fire on the corrupt unit and the village began to take shelter. Their tiny rifles did nothing against the super-heavy tank until Mayumi readied her weapons. She pulled out her specially made naginata and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Kowai no ka?" the corrupt teased with a smirk.

"Ie," Mayumi replied, opening her eyes and charging forward quickly, swinging her naginata at the corrupt and stopping right behind her enemy. The corrupted turned to face her and laughed.

"Moshiwakearimasenga, anata no mokuteki wa hidoidesu ka?"

"Omae wa mou shindeiru," Mayumi said calmly.

"Nani?!" The corrupted O-I then stopped and fell in half, black blood and oil everywhere. Her eyes were wide with shock and they glazed over as she died the moment her upper half hit the ground with a loud rumble. Private Neko stared at the corrupted corpse.

"Damn, remind me to never piss you off." He checked on the neko child and found her alive. The poor girl was knocked unconscious, but alive. He picked her up carefully and brought her back to the village. "It's alright everyone!" The villagers came back out, and the worried mother took care of her daughter. While Mayumi walked back into the village, the villagers cheered and applauded. The elder gave them a gift of 2000 gold currency as thanks, much to the soldier's dismay as they had to carry it all. Then, Mayumi got an internal radio transmission.

"Mayumi, the General is calling you back to base," Asami told her through the radio.

"Rodger," Mayumi responded. "Nekos, we are going back."

"Yes Ma'am," Private Neko saluted. The elder saluted the soldiers and Mayumi as they left the village.

15: The Sunk'n Norwegian

The following evening, while some of the tanks were still recovering, Vanissa, the SU-76M, left the base to go out for a drink. She made her way toward the seaport and found a sailor's tavern called 'The Sunk'n Norwegian' and she walked inside. It seemed like a den of debauchery, violence, and sin. The barmaid was the first one to look at her before all the neko sailors looked at her.

"'Oo the 'ell are you?" the older neko asked in a ragged voice.

"Name's Vanissa, lass," she replied with her pirated, Russian accent. "Who might ye be?"

"Name's Nancy. I run the place." She eyed Vanissa up and down. "You military or you steal that armor?"

"Factorian military, lass," she said with a proper salute.

"Alright, just sit down. What can I get ya?"

"I'll take some mead," Vanissa said sitting on a barstool.

"You drink like a pirate too," Nancy muttered to herself, filling a tankard.

"What?"

"Nothin'. 'Ere." Nancy gave her the big tankard of mead. Vanissa was used to this honey wine as she had drunken it many times before, often before deployment. While Vanissa drank, she had some time to think about her recent drilling and how she could improve herself, when she heard the door open. "Usual?" Nancy asked.

"Aye," a familiar voice said. Vanissa turned and saw Olivia trundle in as she sat next to her. "Oi, what's this D-class doin' 'ere?" she asked with a smug expression.

"Lass, I'm having a drink," Vanissa answered.

"Same military?" Nancy asked.

"Da," Vanissa nodded.

"But not the same class," Olivia said, taking her drink of whiskey and oil and drinking half of it.

"Class?" Nancy asked, raising a bushy eyebrow.

"She's a destroyer, so that's D-class. I'm a medium-weight tank, so I'm M-class. That also means I can hold more of this whiskey!"

"As if," Vanissa retorted drinking the rest of her mead. Olivia glared at Vanissa and before Nancy knew it, she had a drinking contest on her hands. "10," Vanissa slurred as she set down her tenth empty tankard.

"That's... bullshit," Olivia hiccupped.

"What's wrong, you only hold nine drinks, lassie?" Vanissa teased. Olivia growled.

"Oi, if you're gonna fight, do it outside!" Nancy warned. Olivia looked at Vanissa and smirked, getting up and walking out, Vanissa behind her. They faced each other outside in the cold, harbor wind and dropped their guns, pulling up their fists.

"Come at me, pirate," Olivia teased and Vanissa punched her first. Some sailors gathered at the windows to watch the two women fight.

"I'm stronger than ye!" Vanissa yelled.

"Whatever!" Olivia swung her foot around to kick her in the ankles but missed as Vanissa jumped over her leg and grabbed it, swinging her around. Olivia caught herself before she could fall over and she sped up for a punch, as did Vanissa and they punched each other.

"Augh!" Olivia grunted.

"Chert!" Vanissa coughed. Nancy then walked to the open doorway to see the finishing move as the two tanks fell onto their backs simultaneously. The two of them were lying on the cold ground, looking at each other through their swollen faces and they started to drunkenly laugh for a good three minutes. Nancy smiled and some sailors cheered. They helped each other up and Nancy offered them more drinks inside where they brought their mugs together with a bar-wide cheer.

"So come take a drink and drown your sorrows..." the two of them sang with the tavern band as they drunk their drinks. After they had had enough and the song had finished, Olivia left some payment and the two of them stumbled back to the base.

"Y-You know... this... this was very, very fun," Olivia said as she wobbled around from tread to tread.

"Da, I agree," Vanissa smirked, suppressing a heave. "We should... we should totally do this again sometime."

"Aye aye, of course, love," Olivia giggled and gave Vanissa a noogie.

"Ay, stop it!" she laughed.

"Holy shit we're completely trashed."

"K-Konechno."

"Well, we better see to bed, love." Olivia let go of Vanissa, wobbling all the way back to the M-class barrack. Vanissa made her way back to the D-class barrack in a similar fashion, only falling over twice and vomiting once.

16: Karaoke Night

With the recent beating our platoon took, I decided to bring the tanks back to Laperm for a brief respite and to find a way to increase some morale. I was given a few ideas, all of which I saw through to. We had Chie's traditional Japanese festival and after the fireworks, Felicia would put on a concert, to help realize her dream of being a pop idol. A rather odd dream for a Sherman Easy 8, but I digress. Anyway, after her wonderful concert, Natalia came up to me.

"General, I have a suggestion," she said, with a mild fluster in her face.

"Oh, and what would that be?" I asked her.

"Um... seeing Felicia perform in such a way gave me the idea of going to a traditional Japanese karaoke place."

"That sounds like fun. I know a place across town, but I'll leave it optional so if you want to go then feel free, however, you must provide your own funding."

"But... General," she says, almost looking sad. Oh God, what have I done this time?

"What is it?" I bring myself to ask.

"I was... hoping... that you would come with us."

"Who's us?" At that moment, Katya and Veronika peeked in. "I see. Is there... anyone else?" I got up to look and was half-expecting to see my entire army waiting in the hallway and out each door, but Natalia stopped me.

"Please General?"

"Well, I guess they would appreciate it if someone was there to overlook things. Alright." I could see Natalia smile to herself out of the corner of my eye.

So with that, those who wanted to go to the karaoke place, which was the entire army, in Cymric, loaded up on oil and we all marched out. As we marched, I could hear some excited murmuring about who would sing what.

"What are you gonna sing?" Rachel asked Stella.

"I'm not quite sure yet," she answered with a laugh.

"This is nice," I heard Mary, our newest A-class unit, an FV3805, say to herself.

"That may be true, but you haven't seen combat yet," Evie was telling her.

"Yes, that's true. What's it like?"

"Depending on what level you are against the enemy, it'll be a piece of cake or absolute hell."

"Well, that put a damper on my mood..."

"Why not just hum to yourself?"

"Jolly idea," Mary said with a smile and she began to hum Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" to herself. Evie groaned on the inside and facepalmed. We arrived back in Cymric a few minutes later and headed into the Karaoke place.

"Privyet, General," the woman working said as I walked in first.

"Do I know you?" I asked her.

"Not really, but I know you. You have IS-2 in your army, da?"

"Who are you?"

"Privyet, Vitaliya!" Tatyana said as she came inside.

"Ah, sister. How are you?" This Vitaliya might be that IS-7 I was hearing rumors about.

"I see," I said, regaining control of the conversation. "You must be that legendary IS-7 I've heard so much about."

"Da, General," Vitaliya said.

"The Factorian Army could use your skills."

"And leave my business? Nyet, I couldn't do that. Not yet anyway."

"Well, then I guess I'll be having some rooms then." I gave her about 50,000 currency for those who wanted to sing.

"Spasibo, General." Those who wanted to sing went in to sing while everyone else went shopping or up to the onsens to relax. The girls distributed themselves by country and Vitaliya went with the Russian units to show how the Karaoke machine worked. "You select a song from the computer here and then it'll load itself up. Please let me demonstrate." In her case, she queued up the Soviet national anthem. The march music started and when the lyrics appeared on the screen she began to sing. "Soiuz nerushimyj respublik svobodnykh Splotila naveki Velikaia Rus..." Natalia and the other girls in the room all saluted as Vitaliya sang.

Meanwhile, I saw Evie standing outside the room that the English tanks had chosen.

"Evie, why are you out here?"

"Mary's singing," she replied, sipping her tea.

"What's so wrong about that?" I gently opened the door.

"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you!" Mary was singing. I gently closed the door.

"See?" Evie asked me.

"Yeah." With that, I walked away.

17: Ausruhen und Entspannen

I had double checked on the rest of the groups before leaving and heading up to the hot springs and bathhouses. I walked inside and prepared myself for some relaxing time in the hot waters of the spring. Once I was stripped with a towel I walked into the nice hot spring water, setting the towel nearby.

"I really needed this," I said to myself, giving myself plenty of space in the water as I was the only male there. I sighed and let myself completely relax as I was unaware of the trouble that was beyond the fence to my left.

"Is he in?" Alice, the TOG II, asked.

"Yeah," Samantha, the M26 Pershing, said, looking through an un-corked hole in the fence. "He looks really relaxed."

"Alice since you're the biggest, lemme get up on your shoulders," Petra, the Panther I said.

"D-Did you just call me fat?"

"Oh nein. Just thick," Petra said as she hopped onto Alice's shoulders and peeped over the fence.

"General, mind if I join you?" Private Neko asked, walking in and setting his towel down. Petra gasped and tried to duck down below the fence only she slipped off of Alice's shoulders and the two of them fell into a heap with a yelp. "What was that?" Neko asked, looking up at the fence. I came back from my relaxed stupor at the sound of his voice.

"What was what?" I asked him.

"I thought I heard something. Oh well. Mind if I join?"

"Oh, not at all. The springs here are great."

"Yep," he agreed, sliding into the hot water himself. "When I was a kitten, the family stopped here during vacations."

"Oh really?"

"Yep." He stretched out and sighed as I heard someone else walking in.

"Privyet." It was Private Viktor. He sat down in the spring water across from Neko and I. "Nothing beats a nice hot spring."

"What happened?!" Alice demanded, pulling herself up. Samantha peeped back through the hole.

"It looks like Privates Neko and Viktor have joined him.

"Well I don't wanna see them, I wanna see the General!" She huffed and pouted rashly and moved Samantha out of the way as she tried to look through the small hole in the fence. I glanced back toward the wall, having heard a bit of a faff.

"What do you think they're doing over there?" I asked aloud.

"Well, knowing how I see the tanks around you General," Viktor was saying, "they're probably trying to get a peek at you."

"Ew," Neko said.

"Really?" I asked Viktor, having never noticed before. "They want me to get into their pants?"

"Nyet, nyet, I mean... well... possibly," he said, slicking his fur back on top of his head. I sighed and remembered the real reason as to why I was here. Back when I was alive, I had always said that I really loved tanks. Now, here in Valhalla, my own version of Heaven, the tanks were apparently trying to come crawling into my metaphorically open arms. But now it all made sense. I always said and believed that I loved tanks. I guess my final thought on the battlefield was that tanks loved me... and now they're practically begging for me and my... well... you know.

"Holy shit, Viktor. I think you might be right." I try to calm the swirling thoughts in my head before I have an existential crisis. I sigh and get out, wrapping my towel around me as I head to the showers to quickly rinse off and once that was done, I put on a robe and walked back toward my rented room for the night.

"Hello General," I hear a voice and turn around and see Mayumi in her shrine maiden dress.

"Ah, hello Mayumi. I see you're dressed up in your finest."

"General, please," she said glancing away shyly, blushing a bit. "I attend to a lot of the shrines around here."

"I see."

"Um... would you like to go to one?"

"Not now," I answer with a sigh. "Maybe next time. I need to take care of some things."

"Um, okay. I'll see you... later?" She's still getting the hang of English.

"Yeah. Maybe tomorrow morning." I sighed and walked to my room, closing the door behind me.

18: Year of the Dog

While I was in my room relaxing for the evening and trying to recover from my sudden train of existential thoughts, my lieutenants were on their way over from the karaoke place, the other tanks ahead of them.

"I think I did pretty well," Evie was saying.

"You really think so?" Natalia asked.

"Well, Mary could have chosen better songs I admit."

"Did you at least have fun?" Rachel asked with an odd grin and Evie knew why.

"Rachel, if you were twerking, I swear to God-"

"Yep!" she said with a confident smirk. Her expression changed as they had walked by a destroyed building. "What the hell happened here?"

"Corrupted artillery most likely," Natalia said, rubbing her fingertip on some of the soot.

"Judging by the looks of things... I think it was a pet store."

"Really?" Evie asked. "In a town full of neko and rabbit-folk?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Quiet!" Natalia said, walking into the rubble with a hand up. Evie and Rachel followed her silently, while Tatyana and Mary glanced back, having been a few yards in front of them. Rachel and Evie looked at each other while Natalia was scanning the area. Suddenly, there was some knocking on a trapdoor beneath some of the rubble. "Something's there!" Evie aimed her gun while Rachel and Natalia pushed the beams off of it. The door popped open with a girl peeking out.

"D-D-Don't sh-shoot!" she stammered, holding her worn hands up.

"Who are you?" Natalia asked her.

"U-Um... I c-call myself Wa-Wanwan!"

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked.

"Y-Yeah, Wanwan," she replied.

"What kind of name is that?" Evie asked. Wanwan then growled, sounding just like a dog.

"It's mine!"

"Okay," she said, backing up a few feet. Natalia pulled the girl out of the hole while Rachel went down into the hole, holding a small flashlight.

"Yo Natalia, I got something for ya," she said up the small ladder. Natalia got down and peered inside and Rachel pointed the flashlight as what appeared to be tank armor.

"Is that-?" she began to ask.

"I'd say so," Rachel said, getting closer to it. "Yep. M41 Walker Bulldog."

"Well... Wanwan," Natalia asked the girl, feeling strange saying such a strange name, "are you the one who owns that armor down there?"

"N-N-No," she answered. "I-It was M-Mother's."

"And I take it you're the only one left," Natalia said to herself. "Well, with your help, we can get back at the evil who did this to you and your family.

"B-But I don't think it'll f-fit me!"

"Sure it will," Rachel said, bringing up the pieces of the tank armor. "Evie help me with the turret." Evie sighed and reached down to help get all of it up.

"I-Is that all of it?"

"Yep," Rachel climbed up and shut the trap door. "Now let's see it on you."

"N-No!" Wanwan cried as Rachel then forced her to the ground.

"C'mon Doggy, I wanna see you in that tank armor!"

"Rachel, have some dignity!" Evie cried.

"Klyanus' Yupiterom!" Natalia interjected. Tatyana could only see Rachel making these strange movements from behind some of the rubble.

"What is it?" Mary asked, but when she turned to look, Tatyana covered Mary's eyes.

"Kak ochen' neprilichno," Tatyana muttered.

"Do I even want to know?" Mary asked.

"Nyet."

"Let's uh... let's just go back to the hotel."

"Da." Tatyana led Mary well away from whatever the hell was going on and they walked back to the hotel and they left a note under my door. Needless to say, I had a lot of questions for Rachel the next day. But before that, I let myself lay back on my nice bed with a comforting sigh. By then, Rachel had forced Wanwan to wear her dead mother's armor.

"Perfect," Rachel said.

"You didn't need to be so forceful about it!" Evie said. Natalia put her hand on Wanwan's shoulder as the young one cried from being forced to wear the heavy armor.

"It'll be alright. I'm sure you'll get used to it," she said. "With proper training, you could be a very good asset to our cause."

"Thank y-you," Wanwan said.

"You can off the armor for now if you'd like."

"I thought I needed to train?"

"You can walk back to our hotel then. I'll stay behind you."

"O-Okay." Wanwan walked carefully if a bit wobbly all the way to the hotel. I was surprised to see her at my door, but the lieutenants insisted she stay the night with me as I tell her all about our cause and our fight against the corruption.

19: Katze Und Maus

After the army's brief vacation in Laperm, we went back to Devonis as the front lines were on the shore leading south toward Ocicia. We all arrived late and went straight to bed, some of the girls were so tired they didn't even take off their armor. But the next morning, I was woken up by the early northern sun. So I got up and put on my straightened up uniform and headed for the mess hall but there was a commotion by the gate so I went to investigate.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Sir," Private Neko said, having been on guard in the early hours, "the people are saying something about a tank girl in town." I sigh and know they want us to do something about it.

"Alright, gather as many troops as you can Neko." We marched into town and saw this large girl who was sitting on the ground by a store that generalized in selling cheeses. "A Maus?" It looked like one that was in the battles that we faced. Maybe she lost all of her corruption? She was staring at the cheese through the windows. "You there, Maus!" I said to it, while armed cats surrounded her. She looked down at me from her sitting position. "Can you speak?" She nodded silently. "Right. Why are you here?" Her response was pointing toward the window. I sighed and went inside the store to be followed by the quivering store owner. "I'll take the feta wheel please."

"Just get her away from my store!" the older rabbit said, handing me four.

"Don't worry sir, we'll take care of it." I left some coins on the counter and walked outside with the cheese wheels. "Alright Maus, you heard him, let's go." She shook her head once and pointed at the cheese in my arms. "I thought you said you could speak."

"Give me some cheese you incompetent man," she said slowly in a deep, Germanic voice. "Ich habe hunger, verdammt!" I tossed her one of the cheese wheels and she used her sword to cut it into triangular pieces. I sighed and handed the other wheels to Private Neko while everyone waited for her finish eating the cheese. "Feta? You could have gotten the brie."

"Quiet soldier. Look, I don't know where you came from, but with your ultimate defensive capabilities, you could be a great asset to our cause."

"Tell that to your ficken tiger who shot me in the eye!" She stood up in a fit of rage causing all the people who had gathered around to cower in fear.

"I don't expect you and Odette to get along, but I digress, you're coming with us either way." She glared at me. "I'll offer you cheese."

"In that case, I'll fight for you..."

"Just call me General."

"I'll fight for you General."

"Let's go, you're scaring everyone." The neko soldiers and I walked back to the base with the Maus in tow. As we went through the gate, barely, the tanks all stopped and stared as I  walked in with the large German behind me. I stopped and turned to face her. "Alright, Maus."

"General... just call me Isabel."

"Whatever. Look, your barrack with the other heavy tanks is over there with the yellow 'H' on it-"

"Is it made of cheese?"

"Wh- no."

"Then why is it yellow?" She glanced at the large building. "It's cheddar shaded."

"The big letter is yellow because that's how it's printed on your ID card," I explained, handing Isabel her own. "Soldier, there's more to life than cheese."

"No there isn't."

"Just do your assigned chores," I said, walking away, not wanting to argue. Isabel walked around looking for something to do when she noticed her name on the board outside of the P1 building so she walked in.

"Was ist los, Schlampe?" Odette asked with a smug expression.

"Katze," Isabel muttered, looking down from behind her tall collar. "Was willst du?"

"Wie ist dein auge?" Odette smirked and Isabel glared at her.

"Willst du sterben?"

"Probieren sie es aus und ich werde ihr anderes auge nehmen!"

"Halt deine fresse!" Evelynn yelled, stepping between them. "Verdammt... Look, we have a common enemy and it is not each other. Turn your rage toward the corrupted and then we can sort out our differences, ja?" Odette looked back up at Isabel and walked away. Isabel clenched her fists and with a yell of rage, she grabbed Evelynn's gun and snapped it in two over her knee. "Du blöde fotze!"

"Sich verpissen!" Isabel roared before storming out of the building and off base.

20: Swordswomanship

The next day, after everything had settled a bit, Cerys was in the training fields, practicing her swordswomanship. Focusing her mind, she practiced the movements from the basic left and right slices to thrusts and more artistic strokes.

"Cerys," Isabel said to her. Cerys looked over and frowned.

"What is it, Isabel? I'm busy."

"I see that," the new Maus said, stepping into the square that was marked on the ground, drawing her massive blade. "Draw. We'll duel."

"What?"

"Wir werden uns duellieren, dreckfresser!" Isabel muttered behind her collar and Cerys's eye twitched in anger at the insult.

"Oh, you bloody kraut!" she yelled out and swung first. Isabel brought her blade up to block the attack. While they fought, Martha happened to be trundling by.

"What ho?" she asked herself intrigued, seeing them duel with their swords. She drove her tracked and turreted chair over toward the edge of the marked zone. "What ho, Darlings."

"Martha not now!"

"It isn't proper to fight."

"We are dueling!" Isabel roared.

"Let them duel," Alice said, stepping over to watch.

"Oh, What ho, Alice," Martha said, glancing over her shoulder, crossing one leg over the other.

"Why are they fighting?" Asami asked, walking by with Kyoko and Mayumi.

"Swordswomanship practice," Martha told them. "Maybe you ought to train with your katanas as well."

"I'm sure they're just fighting because they pissed each other off," Kyoko said.

"If Setsuko was here, I'd let her," Asami said.

"What?" Kyoko asked.

"You know more than anyone that once the factory finishes her we need to get her back into training." Martha and Alice were surprised to hear Asami talking about her younger sister for the first time since she was nearly killed by that corrupt invasion. Kyoko sighed.

"Anyway... any news on her recovery?"

"They're still several parts short." Alice and Martha turned toward each other to avoid entering such an awkward conversation.

"I had a tea maker installed," Martha said, gesturing over her shoulder.

"Oh, jolly good," Alice said, turning on the machine and helping herself to a cup. "Would you like some Darling?"

"Yes." Alice nodded and prepped Martha a cup. Once it was ready, she handed her the cup and Martha helped herself to a good sip of warm tea on a sunny day with a nice, refreshing breeze. "It's a very nice day today."

"Aye yes."

"What's going on here?" an unfamiliar voice rang out. Everyone, even Isabel, and Cerys looked over to see a new M-class unit walking toward them.

"Who are you?" Cerys asked, sheathing her sword,

"My name is Aria and I've just been promoted to Captain of the M-class," the MBT-70 said, drawing a tuck of her own. "If it's swordswomanship we're practicing, then I would like to join if it alright with the two of you?"

"C-Captain?" Martha asked.

"Yes," Aria said, stepping over to her. "Martha, correct?"

"Yes Madam," Martha said. The nearby tanks watched with wide eyes as Martha stood up and out of her tracked throne and saluted Aria. "I shall follow your orders to my dying breath."

"Good. Now draw as we shall duel." Cerys looked at Isabel who was watching Aria with leering eyes.

"What is it?" Cerys asked her quietly.

"Hmm," Isabel responded. "Ich habe ein schlechtes Gefühl bei ihr."

"What?"

"I have a bad feeling about her."

"What you think she's some sort of Corrupted spy?"

"Not exactly. But I intend to figure this out soon."

"Well, I wouldn't try to interrogate her or something. She's a Yankee, so I wouldn't piss her off."

"I don't know what you two are talking about over there, but shut up and practice," Aria commanded, having already finished and won her duel with Martha.

"Was?!" Isabel roared, shoving Cerys aside and marching right over to Aria, grabbing her by the collar and holding her up to her eye level. "Wage es nicht, mit mir so mittelschwer zu reden!" As Isabel stared into Aria's eyes, they completely darkened.

"Do not address me as such," Aria threatened in a low tone, quickly leaning back and kicking her way out of Isabel's grasp and drew her tuck, shoving it through a thin crease opening in Isabel's armor. "You iron-crossed Nazi pig." Isabel's eyes widened and she dropped Aria, staggering back, clutching at her armor as a mix of blood and oil seeped from the crease.

"D-Du dämliche fotze," she coughed, falling to her knees.

"Isabel!" Cerys said, coming to the aid of her fellow H-class.

"Know your place, dumbass," Aria said, forcing her foot on Isabel's head. "Now bow down and apologize to me."

"Nie," Isabel coughed, drawing in harsh breaths.

"Captain, stop it!" Martha cried out, getting up and grabbing her arm.

"Zip it!" Aria shoved her away. "This sour kraut needs to know her place." She brought her tuck back up and pointed toward the back of Isabel's neck. Good thing Alice had sped off to get me.

"Aria!" I yelled. She gasped and her eyes brightened as she turned to face me.

"G-General?"

"Stop it now and return to your quarters immediately!"

"B-But General-!"

"Shut it and do as I say or I'll decommission you right here and now!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" Aria scrambled away crying her eyes out. I let out a sigh as I calm myself down. It's been a long day. Cerys was able to get Isabel to somewhat stand. "Look, I know you ladies like to keep your sword skills up, but I do not want to see this get out of hand again, am I understood?"

"Yes sir," they all responded.

"I'll handle Aria's discipline myself. Cerys, get Isabel to the infirmary. The rest of you are relieved of your duties today."

21: A Soviet's Story

Later that mild night, after I punished Aria for her unruly behavior and the lights had gone out and everyone was asleep, one particular unit, a younger woman was lying awake. She laid back on her bunk, staring at the bottom of the bunk belonging to someone else. Her mind wandered too much to the point where sleep was impossible so she silently got up and put on her armor for protection, leaving her barrack without anyone noticing. With her trusty hammer strapped to her back, she went for a walk to the nearby cliffs, overlooking the ocean. However, when she got there, someone else had been using the same spot to sit and watch the distant, dark ocean waves. It was me.

"Good evening, Sofia," I said, turning to see her standing there, staring down at me blankly.

"Privyet, General," she said, walking over to sit down next to me. "Why are you up so late?"

"Well, I suppose I could ask you the same thing." Sofia blushed slightly and sighed.

"I can't sleep, Sir."

"I figured. Neither can I." I sighed and lit a cigarette.

"Smoking is bad for your lungs General."

"Yeah well, I'm already dead so what harm can this be?"

"What?"

"Nothing," I said, closing off my lighter. Sofia sighed and wafted some of the smoke away with her hand as the breeze blew it in her direction.

"General... can I tell you what's on my mind?"

"Of course."

"It's about before I joined the military. Before I knew you." I glanced over in her direction. "It started back when I was 12 and was living with my parents, we were... farmers in a village."

"Humble," I noted.

"Yes. Well, we were all doing our best, when I saw the corrupted meteor fly over and land in the far-off mountains. Shortly after, the corrupted came to our village and demanded that we pay them extra taxes and food."

"Did you?"

"We had to. They ravaged us for a few years until one day, someone refused to pay and in their rage, they just started to kill everyone off during the night. My parents told me to hide in the cabinets and even though I was 16, I was crying in fear. As I hid, they came into our house and demanded a reimbursement. But before my parents could do anything, I watched as the void leader killed my mother, then my father when he grabbed his hammer to fight back. They never saw me in the cabinets but I was blinded by rage. I yelled out as I came out of the cabinet and grabbed Father's hammer, and with one swing, I took off the void leader's head. After that, everything was a blur and I remember Lieutenant Natalia finding me alone in the village, crying. She offered me consolations as well as the position as a soldier in the Factorian military force to fight against the Corruption. She said I had a lot of potential. And when she offered me her hand, I could only take it, as I had nothing left." I took a few moments to memorize her entire story, realizing that even though I came from a rough past, even here in Valhalla, these girls have had troubled pasts too.

"So she found you alone?"

"Da. I was alone... only because I had lost control and killed every single corrupted person in the village before my adrenaline burst calmed, and I realized what I had done." She sighed and wiped a tear from her eye. "I... I had so much blood on my hands. It was all such a blur yet... I still remember their faces as I killed them." I sighed and let her lean on me.

"So do I, Sofia. So do I." The both of us stared out into the ocean and after a while, I heard the sound of Sofia snoring softly. I smiled to myself as I held her close, letting the young woman rest. After a few minutes, I heard some footsteps behind me.

"I'll take her off your hands General," it was Natalia.

"Thanks," I said and she picked Sofia up, walking her back to base.

"Did she tell you her story?"

"Da," I said with a smile. "Did you have anything to add?"

"Nyet. It's all true. I found her crying in the center of her gore-spattered village. She really did get all of them with her hammer."

"I know. It's tragic what war does to the innocent."

"Would you say that for you, General?" Natalia asked me. I had to think for a good long while until after Natalia had brought Sofia back to the H-class barrack. "Would you think that for yourself, Sir?"

"No," I said with a smile that hurt. "No, I wouldn't."

22: Anzac Day

The next night, Olivia went to the pub in the recently liberated Devonis. She sat at the bar and ordered her usual hard oil. Matilda, the Matilda I came in and sat next to her.

"Sup love," she said, ordering the same.

"'Ello Mati," Olivia said with half a smirk. "Long day, eh?"

"Bit."

"Two hard oils," the barkeep said. They looked at the woman and saw she was Russian.

"Thanks." They had their drinks and a couple more. "What day was it today?"

"Oh it's... the Aussie's Anzac I think," Olivia slurred.

"Mm."

"Careful," the barkeep said.

"Why?" Olivia asked.

"We have some good Australian and New Zealanders here today. They've seen some real shit."

"Who are you anyway?" Matilda demanded.

"Alyona," the Russian barkeep said. "IS-3 in my spare time." The three of them looked into the corner as the lights dimmed from the sun setting. There was someone humming as these three woman gathered by a candle. It was Kiwi who was holding the candle as two tanks stood next to her. It was Chloe, the AC4 Sentinel, and Sonya, the newest A-class member, a Matilda Hedgehog. Olivia and Matilda could see the pains of their pasts as they looked into the Australian and New Zealand tanks. Even the young Kiwi, usually so full of energy and enthusiasm, had a somber and sullen expression. Sonya was the first one to speak, reciting some famous written words. 

"Those heroes that shed their blood, and lost their lives. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies, and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side, here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom, and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well," she said. "To the fallen Aussies and Kiwis, I raise this pint. Cheers."

"Cheers," Chloe and Kiwi said.

"Cheers," Olivia and Matilda added. Everyone else in the bar heard their nice words and raised their drinks as well. The house raised their glass to their fallen. Afterward, Olivia and Matilda wobbled back to the base.

"That was... so nice," Matilda hiccuped.

"Aye of-" Olivia belched, "-course." Matilda laughed as they staggered back into the M-class barrack. Meanwhile, Chloe, Sonya, and Kiwi were taking a boat to Memorial Island, just off the north-west coast of Factoria. After an hour or so, they arrived at the candle and wreath-strewn island with obelisks and headstones as far as their eyes could see. Not only did they leave a badge of honor on each Australian and New Zealand gravestone, but Kiwi, being the youngest of them, cried at the base of the obelisk, under the waving Union Jack canton with southern crux. Sonya put a heartfelt hand on her shoulder while Chloe kneeled down and patted her head. Despite all the somber and sad feelings, they kept this island visit between them as they returned to base later that night.

[Note: Anzac Day was the 25th of April this year (2018) so for anyone reading in Australia and New Zealand I wish you all the best.]

23: Small Brigade

I had told the tanks to take this time off before heading back out to the frontlines next week. Aubri was napping in the A-class barrack and Ilona was walking around looking for her.

"Aubri?" Ilona asked, walking into the barrack behind the furniture and to the straightened out boxes. She looked around the corner and saw Aubri laying on a big stack of boxes. "Aubri!" Aubri cried out having been woken up and she fell back into the boxes and after Ilona was done laughing at her, she stood up with a huff and yawn.

"Ilona, what the hell are you doing?"

"I was looking for you, verrücktes Mädchen!"

"I'm sorry, are you addressing me?"

"What?"

"Because your authority is not recognized in Fort Kickass."

"Huh?"

"Ihre autorität wird in Fort Kickass nicht anerkannt!"

"Whatever," Ilona shrugged, walking away, leaving Aubri to her nap. She moseyed around, looking for something to do when she heard a yell from above. She quickly dodged as a falling Leo hit the ground. "L-Leo?!"

"Fick dich," she mumbled, said mumble being muffled by the fact she left her face in the dirt.

"Now isn't the time for that! I need to come up with a way to get the General to notice small tanks like us."

"Was?" Pansy asked, having overheard.

"You heard me," Ilona huffed. "Now what should I do?"

"Maybe since we're all small we should work together on this?"

"I guess," Pansy said after thinking for a minute. "Good idea, Pansy."

"Ja."

"Wait a minute, Ilona, aren't you in Platoon 1 with all the strong girls?" Leo asked, pulling her head up from the ground.

"Well, I do have the most battle experience," Ilona said with a shrug. "I've helped the General since the beginning."

"Lucky," Annie huffed.

"We shouldn't be fighting like this. We need to do something."

"What's going on?" Caitlyn asked, having been walking by.

"I'm- I mean, we're... gonna form a team to get the General to notice the small tanks like us."

"Well, I was gonna get him something... okay. I'm in."

"Yay!" Just then the door was flung open and our newest L-class unit marched in, her companions at her side.

"Hold it!" It was Daisy, the T92 LT. "What are you girls planning?"

"Oh shit, it's the Fuzz!" Ilona said, holding up her hands.

"We're trying to impress the General," Caitlyn said. Aubri agreed with a nod and yawn.

"What do you mean, by 'impress the General'?" Daisy asked.

"We want to come up with a plan to make the General notice the small tanks like us," Ilona said. "And I'm the leader of this small brigade!"

"I see, well then you best be careful." With her final warning, Daisy marched off, her small companions with her. Ilona shrugged to herself and the other girls spent the rest of the afternoon trying to come up with a plan. Later that evening, Ilona was walking by my office as I was having a conference with the lieutenants.

"What do you mean she just vanished?" I asked Rachel.

"That's just it sir," she replied. "Everyone just stopped seeing her since she left for town."

"So then she's either gone AWOL, or she was taken by the corrupted." By then, Ilona had had her ears on my door and she sped off toward her fellow small tanks to tell them what she had heard.

"She disappeared?" Caitlyn asked with wide eyes.

"No one's heard from her for hours!" Ilona said.

"Then let's go look for her!" Pansy suggested.

"What?" Annie asked.

"If we save her, then the General will surely notice us."

"I'm not too sure," Leo said, squeezing a toy ball in her hands. "He'll be mad."

"Well no one's gone out yet," Ilona said. "But we'll have to sneak out."

"Fine," Caitlyn said. Later after night fell, the five tanks snuck off base and into the forests. Leo led as she could remember the scent of Daisy.

"Why is Leo leading?" Caitlyn asked Ilona.

"She can smell the detergent used in Daisy's uniform," Ilona answered quietly.

"That's weird," Annie muttered.

"But useful," Pansy chimed in.

"This way," Leo said, sneaking left into a thicker part of the forest. The others followed until they came across what looked like a temporary settlement. There were tents set up and corrupted guards at various points around the three campfires they had built.

"Look," Leo whispered. "There's a cage behind the big tent."

24: Camp Corruption

Earlier that afternoon, Daisy had left the base to return to Maunis for something, although she didn't tell anyone she was leaving so no one knew of her trouble when she was ambushed and knocked out by some Corrupted forces. She awoke to a pounding headache on some cold earth later. After struggling to open her eyes, she could feel that she was bound with some heavy wire and had a foul-tasting piece of fabric gagging her mouth. She managed to pull herself up to a sitting position and she heard some movement behind her.

"Oh look, the little tick is awake." It was a Void Commander. "Looks like we struck lucky with you."

"What are we gonna do to her?" A Corrupted rabbit soldier asked.

"We're gonna turn her into one of us," Void declared, and the soldiers laughed. Daisy whimpered in fear as Void walked away, laughing to herself, leaving Daisy alone with tears in her eyes. She cried a bit and struggled to get out of the wire, only for it to get tighter as some soldiers laughed at her muffled crying and struggling. After a couple minutes, she gave up and laid on the ground crying, praying for a rescue. Later that evening, the snap of a nearby branch awoken Daisy and she sat up and looked around. She gasped and saw Leo sneaking in toward the cage, Leo bringing a finger to her lips as a sign to stay quiet, but Daisy glared at her as she didn't have a choice. Leo was just reaching for the lock when the ground lit up with light as the tent was opened.

"Oh look, another tick!" Void said as some soldiers got up and ran over. Leo gasped and Void picked her up by the back of her armor. "What the hell is this little kitty doing here?" Void demanded with an evil smirk.

"Distracting you, that's what," Leo said with a smirk as Pansy, Annie and Ilona charged into the camp, shooting away at the soldiers and Void Commander.

"You little shits! Soldiers, get them!" The girls fought their hardest but the soldiers began to overwhelm them. Soon, the void commander had all of the little girls tied up around a pole.

"Let us go!" Ilona shouted.

"Shut up!" Void said. "You little rats thoughts you could get away with this but you were all dead wrong. Now I get to have a whole plethora of cute little girls," Void almost squeed. "I'm going to make you all cosplay in the cutest outfits my soldiers simply can't pull off. And your first friend did you all a favor by bringing her little police outfit!" The girls whimpered until some gunfire sounded in the distance. "What?" The soldiers ran off in the direction only to be shot down by some sniper fire. Void ran over toward the edge of camp, only to have a round fly through her chest. She gasped and coughed up black blood before falling back, dead before she hit the ground. The girls screamed as some footsteps came into camp after all the Corruption was defeated.

"Girls," the new person was saying. "Flickor! Lugna ner dig!" she yelled with a more commanding tone and the little girls quit screaming, looking up to see a friendly face. "You're okay now. I'm Clara, I was on my way to the base, when I noticed this camp and when I saw you all in trouble I came in to help." She smiled and set all the girls free. "Now tell me how you ended up in this situation."

"U-Um," Ilona hesitated, "D-Daisy left the base and was taken so we c-came in to rescue her, b-but they... w-we weren't s-strong enough to beat her."

"So you left the base without the General's orders?" Clara asked. Ilona whimpered and nodded. "You fool!" Clara gave Ilona and the other four girls a stern bonk on the head. "You shouldn't have snuck out like that! You were so lucky I happened to be coming by or else the Corrupted would have killed you all!" Clara's stern lecturing left the girls crying. "But I'm glad you're all safe." She brought them all into a group hug. "Come on, we need to go back now." Since Daisy was quite numb and scratched from being bound for so long and the other girls were dead tired, Clara made a sled from some materials around the camp and pulled them all back toward the base. She glanced back occasionally to see the little girls leaning on each other as they were all on the sled fast asleep and she giggled to herself, as even though they had put themselves in serious danger, she couldn't be mad by the fact that they were still pretty much children.

25: It's "T" Time, Loves.

Soon after the so-called "Small Brigade" was rescued and Clara blended in with the rest of the army, it was July 4th, Rachel's birthday. So the whole base celebrated with fireworks, hats, and any other average American, Michal Bay-style party. During the festivities, a new unit from United HQ, wherever that is, came on base, and it was her idea to hold the big party for Rachel in the first place.

"Thanks for the party Verilyn!" Rachel said to our new T29.

"Of course," Verilyn said with determination. "I've always looked up to you, Lieutenant. So I wanted to pay you back for all your glory and your beautiful ass."

"What?" Rachel asked, having been preoccupied with getting herself another hamburger.

"Nothing," Varilyn said quickly. "Uh, hey, let's go get some hot dogs or something."

"But I already have a burger."

"O-Oh. I see."

"Enjoy this fun day while it lasts," I was telling the lieutenants. "They say that the better days are the shorter ones."

"What was that?" A stern voice broke the sound of festivities behind me. I turned around and was greeted by the sight of what looked like a girl in a mech suit, but she had the armor and armaments of a T30. "Did you just call me short?"

"Oh shut it, Nira," Varilyn said.

"No! I wanna know who called me short, dammit!"

"For the love of God, I was referring to the days," I explained to her.

"O-Oh. I'm sorry General."

"It's alright. Just help yourself to a hamburger or something..." Well, that was a bit of an inconvenience but the rest of the celebration went off without too much of a problem and by the next morning, even after revelry, all of the American tanks we're sleeping in. Rachel didn't show up until Evie, Natalia and I were nearly finished with our meeting. Rachel walked in with sunglasses on and put her head down on the table, knocking over some of our map indicators. Natalia blinked slightly in confusion and Evie snickered.

"Too much beer?" she pried with a smirk.

"Shut the fuck up," Rachel said slowly, her words muffled by the table.

"What's the matter?" Natalia brought herself to ask.

"She's hungover, Darling," Evie said.

"H-Hungover?"

"Yes. She has a hangover." Natalia gave her a blank if slightly confused stare. "What? Oh, fu- have you ever gotten drunk before?!"

"Never."

"Good Lord."

"Ladies please, can we focus on the task at hand?" I asked, bringing them in. Rachel groaned in response. "We're making decent headway through Ocicia and approaching Death's Crag. From there we can make our way up to Abyssinia."

"Progress has slowed due to some platoon changes," Evie noted. "But all in due time, with more training we should be able to start pushing through the corrupted."

"We've had a few new units, so we need to focus on training them," Natalia said. "I've actually gotten a note in a strange language." She handed it to me.

"Interesting. It's... Norse?" I wondered aloud. "It looks like Norse anyway."

"Hm," Evie took the note and examined it. "I can give this to Aria for further examination."

"Please do," I said standing up. "Ladies, we can end this meeting here." I smiled and gave Rachel a few pats on her back before I left the conference room. I was walking by a broom closet when I heard some bumps inside. I opened the door and my eyes fell upon Nira and Verilyn kissing each other. "Uh..."

"Eek! General you pervert!" Nira blushed and ran out.

"G-General please don't tell Rachel I was cheating on her!" Varilyn begged. I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"Look, I don't care what you girls do sexually with each other. Just make sure I'm there to see it."

"WHAT?!"

"Look, I was kidding," I sigh. "If you feel for Rachel that way, you might want to check the conference room because she's very hung over."

"Fuck!" Varilyn pulled herself out of the tiny closet, although I have no idea how two heavy girls, as they're H-class tanks, fit into such a small closet. Oh well. I'll leave the girls to their... sexy... desires.

26: Karl-Gerät

I had Aria work on that note that Natalia gave me so I stopped by her quarters. I knocked on her door.

"Aria?" I asked. I waited for about a minute before knocking again. I know she's in there as it's past curfew. "Aria?" I opened her door and saw her slumped over her desk. I carefully walked in and reached for her shoulder, but as I got closer I saw she was asleep. I sigh and smile, putting a blanket over her and I see she finished the note translations so I carefully took it from under her crossed arms.

"Mm... oh General," she muttered softly in her sleep. "No General... you're so big..." My face flushed and I quickly left as it's obvious she's dreaming about having sex with me. I left her room and shut the door quietly. I read the note.

'General, you do not know me, but I know you. I need you to meet me by your main office at midnight of the middle night of the third week of the seventh month of this year.'

"That's tonight," I mutter, heading to my office right away. I check my office to find it deserted so I go outside and check my tent, seeing some lantern light coming out from the open flaps. I head inside and meet the face of a tall woman whose eyepatch hides under some long grey hair.

"Kveðja, formaðr," she said slowly and she gave me a deep bow. "Iak em Odin." I gave her an equally deep bow.

"Odin, do you speak English?"

"I also speak German," she replied in a thick, deep accent. She is probably one of the most serious women I have ever met in this army.

"Well, this Anglo-Germanic mix you're doing should work."

"Ja then. I come to help bring an end to the Ragnarok that has befallen us and this world of Valhalla. I search for my kinswomen, Thor, Loki, Wotan, and the others."

"We'll find them, Odin, don't worry." She shook her head and sighed.

"Herrführer, sorge ist die geringste meiner sorgen..." she muttered.

"Vas?" I had to ask.

"Worry is the least of my worries, Herrführer." Now it was my turn to sigh.

"Odin... well, what else can I say aside from don't worry. We'll bring an end to Ragnarok and find your sisters."

"You really mean it?"

"Ja." She smiled and wiped a very small tear from her eye.

"Then I shall shoot the first flaming arrow to your longship should you die in battle."

"The old Viking way... and I shall cast yours, Odin."

"Danke Herrführer," she said with a warmer smile. We left the tent after dimming the lantern and we left the base grounds for some dinner, my treat of course, but Odin insisted we hunt down some livestock. My dinner ended up being some steak... from the nearby bar and grill whereas Odin settled for the chicken stew with some strong beer. We had some nice conversations and after some reassurance, I had to help the Norse Goddess back to base. I brought her to her new bed in the A-class barrack.

"General?" Mila asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"It's okay Mila. Help Odin in bed okay?" I gave the not-so-little girl some head pats.

"Hm fine," she pouted having been woken up so late. We managed to get Odin onto one of the couches as no bed was yet available. I put Mila back to bed once Odin was comfortable and I left barrack. The next morning, Odin was introduced to the rest of the A-class artillery units and during practice, we discovered that she had very special Gungnir shells that not only travelled the farthest of any other A-class unit but also did an exceptional amount of frontal damage.

"Ty ochen' khorosh v etom, Odin," Darya noted. "Neimovernyy."

"Ja," Odin replied as she managed to hit a target that was more than 10 kilometers away. Yes, I had to really cut off a large area for the A-class to practice with their long-range weapons. But it took her so long to reload as her ammunition was massive.

"So she has the range, but not the speed," Ellinah noted. "That should be fine, as practice always makes perfect. And of course, praying to the Holy Gods of course."

"Hey, you don't need your false gods as I'm literally right here!"

27: Ohayo, Nee-sama

The next morning, Asami awoke to the sunlight before Revelry. She was in her usual hard, yet soft emotionless state since the loss of Setsuko. Since she wasn't assigned to any platoons due to her PTSD, she did chores on base but trained enough to keep in shape, whereas her sister Kyoko was able to process everything a lot faster, as she was never as close as Asami was to Setsuko. After all of Asami's morning chores were finished, the M-class went to the mess hall for lunch, consisting of oil-baked potatoes and salted trail mix with a side of an apple.

"Asami," Kyoko said. "You've barely eaten since... well... you need to eat!"

"Why should I?" Asami muttered.

"You're going to have to snap out of it sometime, Darlin'," Felicia said, taking ahold of Asami's hand.

"Aye, things'll work out," Olivia agreed. "Ya just gotta know when yer time's right."

"Ladies," Kyoko interjected. "I appreciate all of the help you've offered, but I know that you've been slowly giving up on her, and I understand."

"Who said we were giving up?" Lila, the Panther/M10 said.

"Yeah," Valerie, the Valentine mark ten, agreed. "Asami-san, we're here for you." Asami dropped her fork on her plate and stood.

"I know you're all trying to help... and do your fucking best... but I don't want to hear any more of it!" Asami yelled, the whole hall quieting down. "You all think you know what's best for me, but you all don't fucking know me, so you all don't know what's best for me."

"Asami!" Kyoko stood up and slapped her sister. "You fool! You have friends who are trying to help you and you are pushing all of us away!" Now Kyoko was beginning to cry. "We just want to fucking help you and you are doing nothing but pushing us away!"

"Kyoko o fakku, anata wa nani mo shiranai!" Asami brushed her off and walked toward the doors but Mandy stopped her as Kyoko looked down, wiping her eyes.

"Now's not the time for fighting," Mandy said softly, reaching behind her for her wrench.

"Mandy... get out of my way," Asami commanded in a threatening tone, raising her katana. Unbeknownst to most of them, a neko worker walked into the hall from the other end.

"Oh, what is it, soldier?" Samantha, the M26 Pershing asked the factory worker.

"Fresh unit from the factory ma'am," she saluted. Kyoko looked up and gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth. Asami stared at Mandy, who slightly gestured over her shoulder.

"Ohayo, Nee-sama," a small voice said from the other side of the room. Asami gasped, going wide-eyed, as she turned around, seeing a fresh and shiny Setsuko, standing at the other end of the hall.

"S... S..." Asami could barely speak out of shock and surprise. "S... Setsuko... chan?" 

"Hai," she said with a giggle. Asami nearly choked on air as she quickly ran over to her, and fell to her knees, bring Setsuko into an embrace.

"Setsuko?" Asami's voice began to crack. "Sore wa hontoni anata, watashi no imotodesu ka?"

"Hai," Setsuko answered. Asami looked at her for a full second before she melted in a flurry of tears and cries of pure joy. She cried like that for so long, Setsuko needed a new uniform and I must say, that as I watched from the front doorway, I could tell that this was the softest, most vulnerable state, I have ever seen Asami in. As the entire M-class came together in the largest group hug known to tank-kind, I stood next to Mandy.

"You did good," I told her.

"That's too cliche," Mandy said with a snort. "But hey man, whatever you say."

"Oh please, you don't need to act like that."

"Look, Honey, just because you've been seeing me naked, doesn't mean you can tell me when I can and can't be myself." She smiled and gave me a kiss. "See ya round, General," she purred before walking away sensually. Boy howdy that dark-skinned, big-breasted half-track of a GMC is quite the character. But this bit is about Setsuko, not my squeeze. Kyoko later told me that as everyone was bunking down for the night, Asami had Setsuko with her the entire time and I know they're Chi sisters, but I didn't think they were really that close.

28: Recovery

With our basecamp now in Ocicia, we slowly made progress up Death's Crag. I sent out my refurbished five-star platoon and we managed to make a little bit of headway. Even though some of the most corrupted or enemies, Wraiths, Reavers, and Lost Ones, we managed to pull through. However, the victory was very hollow, it wasn't so much a victory at all. Only Isabel and Odin made it out, as they were able to push their way through as Isabel shielded Odin as she fired from her good distance.

"Bist du in ordnung?" Isabel asked.

"Ja, mir geht es gut Isabel," Odin replied, clearing the surrounding area and the neko soldiers took down all the barbed wire as our frontline pushed forward. I walked down to the factory where aside from the two Germans, the rest of the platoon were laying down in the med bay as their wounds were treated and their armor was being repaired. As this was Valhalla, it was also hell. Even though the girls' bodies fully healed, there was still pain and aching. I glanced around, seeing only the top half of Chie, Angela was missing an arm and leg... and an eye. I heard some scuffle as some neko doctors were trying to calm down a crying Verena, who could only make gross noises as her lower jaw was shot off. As much as all the blood and guts wanted to make me sick, I was the one who made these girls go out into the hellfire.

"G-General," I heard a struggled voice as I walked by a cot.

"What is it, Odette?"

"Please, come here." I sighed and looked down at her. Although I didn't show it, she could tell I was shocked as I gazed down at her armless body. "Don't act so surprised. As a carrier for my cannon, I was asking to lose my arms."

"At least your limbs can be reformed."

"True," she sighed and stared at the ceiling. She coughed and winced. I helped her sit up and take some painkillers. Once she swallowed the pills, I laid her back down with a sigh. 

"I know we need to win this fight, but you need to know that after each battle whether it's one loss or all of you," my voice broke as I tried to hold back my welling sadness. "I hate seeing your beautiful young bodies being torn apart in such a distasteful way."

"General," Odette blushed, with surprise in her eyes. I heard Tessa speak up before I thought I would cry.

"It's fine," she said with a big smile, as that was the only part of her face I could see as she had shrapnel in her eyes. Cerys and Aria started laughing despite missing limbs. Mayumi gave me a thumbs-up.

"It isn't your fault Sir," Clara said.

"Yeah," Lin said sitting up, holding her broken arm and rubbing some itch cream on her broken leg. She gave me the all-to-familiar smile filled with teeth gaps.

"Hey," Nira said after she too sat up and pulled some wrapped gauze off her badly beaten face. "You don't need to feel like a dumbass, General. I haven't even fought too much so I wasn't going to make it through anyway."

"I lost my ammunition," Ulyana waved her hand around, forgetting her arm was broken and not fully reattached so it fell to the floor. "Srat..."

"See General?" Lila looked up at me from her entirely limbless body. "It's not your fault. We're still training so we have nothing to do but get stronger from here." Her smile really brightened my mood, but with what they said... aw, it's just... so heartwarming.

"Aw don't you go and cry," Odette said, as I was already wiping my eyes. I heard a scraping noise and looked down to see the top half of Chie walking with her arms as she reached up and handed me a tissue box. I smiled and wiped my eyes with a tissue and picked her up, bringing her torso in for a hug.

29: Armor Penetration

While all of the girls were healing, I had a talk with Tessa.

"I'm taking you out of Platoon 1," I told her.

"But General," she begged, looking toward me, as her eyes were still blinded by shrapnel in her head. I had yet to see tears from under the bandages on the top of her face. "Please, you need my strength and firepower!"

"Tessa, you've been blind for too long. Even Verena's jaw has reformed, yet your eyes haven't because you refuse the surgery."

"General you know how much I hate the thought of dying under anaesthetic."

"Well, I'm tired of hearing about it. Tessa, you're relieved from Platoon One."

"G-General," this time the tears did fall. "Please don't do this..." Her shoulders began to shake as she sank down to her knees.

"Do you remember when we met at United HQ?" My mind flashed back to when I first met Tessa, long before our reunion on Fowl Island.

"So this little shit will be our General?" Tessa had asked, looking down at me, as this was shortly after I myself appeared in Valhalla. "He's not even as tall as I am!" She then grabbed my shoulders and brought a swift and large knee to my gut. "Man up, you perverted pussy." All I remember is her big knee, and her walking away to become a hermit on Fowl Island where we later met up again on our expedition out west during the late autumn.

"You kneed me in the gut."

"I... I'm sorry," she cried.

"Well, now it's your turn, Tessa."

"Huh?"

"Woman up." Instead of a knee to the gut, I gave her flick to the forehead. With a smirk, I walk out of the room. I walked back to my office where our newest tank was waiting.

"General," she said in her soft English accent. "I'm out of tea."

"Alright Seren." I smiled and prepped the machine to make another brew for her. She was an FV4005 Stage II. Her shots had the best damage when she stands completely still. I sat down and reviewed her enlisting papers. "Well, we have had a platoon change, and you can go right into Platoon 1, with 5-star clearance. Is this acceptable?"

"I'll need to really beef up on my training in order to keep up with the rest of these far more experienced girls." I handed her some of the profile pages of the other girls in Platoon 1. "Hey, I remember Odette and Aria from the academy."

"Oh do you?" My tea maker beeped and I stood up to pour us both another cup.

"Yes Sir," she smiles. "We were such good friends as I knew that Odette would be a powerful shot."

"And she is."

"I know. I'm glad to see she hasn't changed since our days from the Academy. So, why don't you show me around the encampment?"

"Sure." We stood up and I showered her around, the barracks, the platoon buildings, and the practice fields. Some of the Soviet tanks were marching in formation with Darya leading.

"Through the gates of Hell, as we make our way to Valhalla, through the Corrupted lines, primo victoria!" Darya was singing.

"She seems... enthusiastic," Seren noted.

"She always is. That's Darya for ya."

"I see. Oh, General, please note that even though it's been a long while since you've updated your roster, you might have a lot of new units waiting to join the encampment."

"Oh, I'm well aware," I sigh. "Too much damn paperwork."

"I could help," she said with a hopeful tone.

"No, you need to train. Besides, I already have an assistant."

"Oh. Alright. Well, I'll be off then." Seren left with a forced smile and a nod. I headed back to my office to go through the stacks of new papers.

"Let's see... Loki showed up, There's Larissa, Privates Hans, Otto, and... oh, Oliver and Rascal. We have Eliza, the only one who can swim, well, swim well." I sigh and drink some of my hidden whiskey, sitting down with a sigh. "There's Julie, oh, she's perfect. She can carry soldiers into battle. Awesome, she might come in useful." I continued to file the paperwork and sent back requests for all of our new and joining units.

30: A Wretched Wraith's Wrath

We finally pushed through another tough boss, all thanks to Chie. I gave her a Medal of Bravery for her valiance. She was left with Odin and Isabel after the other girls had fallen, but Odin was close to falling and Isabel couldn't move quick enough to help out, but she understood. Although I did reward her with some under the table cheese. I always reward the girls after a well-fought battle, but then other platoons get jealous. Well, I guess since it's in season, I'll throw a Christmas celebration. While everyone was celebrating, a soldier came in with an emergency report. A fearsome wraith was wreaking some wrath in Ocicia. Even though some of the girls were in their cute festive outfits, everyone grabbed their turrets and guns and headed out to the streets toward the sounds of rampage and hate.

"What the fuck?!" Rachel yelled out, seeing the monster shooting civilians and buildings, roaring loudly. "General we gotta take this thing down right now!"

"All 4-ranking and higher units charge in to attack at will! 3 and below need to focus on evacuating civilians!" I yelled out.

"Yes, sir!" came well over 100 voices. After that, there were the sounds of gunfire and explosions followed by intense, hateful roaring and many, many engines running around helping others and providing cover fire. By the time all the noise stopped, I stood up from behind my Leuitenants. We didn't come close to making it out without casualties. Of course, I'm not surprised, since hardly any of the girls had time to put on their armor. Girls were strewn about, missing limbs and bleeding. I immediately set to work with the toolbox Nika gave to me as a gift to help get some of the girls back on their feet. Of many of them were some of our new faces. I had to apologize to each of those girls in the infirmary while the infantry soldiers conferred with each other in their barrack.

"It's nice to meet you, General!" Eliza, the PT-76 said with a smile. "Sorry I can't salute you for the moment."

"It's fine," I said to her, handing her a piece of peppermint candy. "You just arrived and weren't fully prepared. Your pain is my fault."

"Don't say that," Larissa, a T-44 said from her bedridden state. "We're new here and made our own decisions."

"Well, let me take some of the burdens off of your fair shoulders, please."

"If you say so."

"Well Larissa, I look forward to seeing you in training. Now, Julie, do the thing!"

"Aye aye!" Julie, our new M3 Halftrack, said as she pulled out a whistle. She blew the whistle and several nearby soldiers came and stood at attention. "Infantry, attention!"

"Yes Ma'am!" they stood and saluted.

"Wow," Larissa said. "Nice whistle."

"Thanks," Julie said. "The General gave it to me as a holiday gift."

"And I'm glad I trained all the infantry to respond to it," I noted. "Now, hopefully, we can all heal up in time to continue with our holiday celebrations." Speaking of the holidays though, this season went by and quite quickly. We got a few more tanks too, especially around the ever-so-interesting Valentine's day. Roza, the ISU-152, was always watching me closely from afar. But she then kept her distance once, and this was just a rumor, she kept her distance after Mandy gave her a talking to... of some sort. I'm not sure, but I'm not surprised, given Mandy is just waiting for me to ask for her hand in marriage. Anyway, I talk to a couple of our new Chinese units, Hong, the Type 62, and ShanHe, the WZ-122.

"So I'm glad you two are now part of our army," I told them.

"Thank you, Sir," ShanHe saluted and Hong smiled with a cute giggle.

"Report to your class Captains for further orders, understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" they saluted.

31: Cockney Characters

Olivia walked into her barrack later that night alone, as it was long before bed. Her daily exercises had really taken its toll on her today, or in her own words, they did a number on her.

"Bloody 'ell this is gonna kill me soon," she muttered with a sigh as she took off her armor and weapons, but not her clothes, before falling facedown onto her only slightly sprung cot. "Ow."

"Gettin' a wee bit tired, are ya, love?" a new cockney voice asked. Olivia grumbled and brought herself up to look into the sunken eyes of a taller woman, one of the newest M-class units.

"Oo, are you?"

"Catriona, you wee slag," the taller and dark-eyed Centurion Mk 5 said without the slightest smirk. Olivia growled and laid back on her bed as Catriona stripped her armor and laid down in the cot to the left of Olivia.

"What the 'ell do you want?"

"I 'eard there was a cockney tart 'ere. I know I ain't the most... well..." Catriona glanced the other way as she trailed off, as this whole situation felt awkward.

"Look 'ere you cheeky tart, are you wantin' be friends or some shit?"

"I mean, only if you want. I mainly wanted to come in 'ere and see what was goin' on with the tarts in this bloody place." Olivia thought to herself before getting up and looking down at Catriona. "What?" Olivia leaned toward her and Catriona tried to back up. "Oi!"

"The bloody 'ell's up with your eyes?"

"What?"

"Your eyes look like they've seen some shit, aye?"

"Well shite. It's mainly been stress, aye?"

"Well, that's bloody obvious."

"Hmph," Catriona huffed, sitting up as Olivia backed away. "But that's why I always pack my favourites."

"Favourite what?" Olivia asked, sitting back down on her cot.

"The mother's ruin," she answered as she pulled her trunk from under her cot and opened it. Olivia's eyes lit up.

"You don't mean-?"

"Aye," she said with a neutral expression as she pulled out two bottles of hard oil and offered one to Olivia.

"You know Catriona, you keep these up and I just might be your best friend."

"Don't give me that shite," she muttered as she opened her bottle with a bottle opener.

"Peh, bitch," Olivia smirked as she opened her bottle with her teeth, spitting out the cap and drinking the bottle in a few seconds. The two cockney tanks continued to chat and drink until it was 21:45 and all tanks had to report in for the night. Catriona slid her trunk back under her cot to keep her stash hidden from any of the other drinkers, but she figured the only other drinkers would be the Soviet girls, but they prefered vodka and oil. The captain of the M-class came by.

"You two are in bed already?" Aria asked as she changed into her pyjamas. "Did you clock out early?"

"So what if we did?" Olivia responded.

"Well, I'm not gonna tattle to the general," she muttered. "Lucky Brits."

"Oi, you best watch that tongue, Slag," Olivia smirked. Aria growled and clenched her fists.

"Now now, children, play nicely," Sarah, our new Super Pershing said, as she put on her booty shorts. She and Aria had already developed a rivalry for my affection. I know, stupid right? Anyway, the other M-class girls were getting ready for bed while Aria and Sarah just stared at each other with hatred. But they both knew that if they fought I'd punish them... by making them clean the latrines. However, technically unbeknownst to me, I was in my office, getting ready for bed, drinking my own glass of wine provided to me by the French tanks Lorraine, a Lorraine 155 mle, yes, that is her full artillery name. Also, Louise, an H-class AMX-50 provided me with a little snack of munchable delights to go along with it. They may surrender quickly when sparring but Goddamnit, they can make a good snack. With my snack finished I can finally sleep.