Tanks and armoured vehicles rumbled by as men moved to fulfil their tasks. Crates containing ammunition were unloaded from trucks and delivered to guns that had been firing on their target without break for a week now.
A red eye youth looked at the distant explosions and the sea of flames and smoke that they were responsible for. A scowl was set on his face as he tapped his foot. With an irritated hiss the man turned around and walked to a camp table, covered with maps and icons surrounded by others in uniform. The helmet slammed into the table, knocking over the counters and the men at the table looked up in mild irritation.
- 'Yes Gilbert?'
Ludwig asked in a calm tone that served as a warning to all who knew him, a warning his half brother always ignored.
- 'Why are we moving so slowly!'
The red eye snarled and accented his anger by slamming his helmet into the table again.
- 'That fucking nonhuman piece of shit over there has challenged us, CHALLENGED US! AND WE ARE SIMPLY SITTING HERE!'
Gilberts half brothers listened to the tirade with patience and in the pause a smooth, oily voice sounded.
- 'It is precisely because we are dealing with this "fucking non-human piece of shit" that we are not rushing in. He's not like that faggot Francis who'll bend over if you glare at him.'
Gilbert did not reply to Roderichs' statement, he merely clicked his tongue and turned around to glare at the offending city. Ludwig sighed in irritation as he fixed the mess that was now on the strategic table. Half way through he looked up as a soldier whispered something to him and his frown deepened.
- 'Your best behaviour you two, we have a guest.'
The "two" looked up and their eyes narrowed in unison at the sight of who their guest was, Ivan on the other hand smiled broadly as if he was seeing a long lost relative.
- 'Hello Comrades! Hello! How are you? Fine?'
Despite the previous warning Gilbert moved forward with an unpleasant look on his face and was stopped by Ludwig' hand and a glare. If Ivan had noticed he made no mention instead focusing his attention on the third sibling.
- 'Ivan, we agreed to meet so please say what you are here to say and leave.'
The smile did not leave his face as he answered.
- 'My, what aggression. One would think we were at war or something.'
He paused and looked at the map before shifting a red counter and throwing away a black one. He looked up with a shrug.
- 'You'll probably find out in an hour or so that that division no longer exists and that my men are now here. But anyway I'm here to talk about that.'
At "that" the man waved an arm in the direction of the burning city.
- 'Quite sad when such individuals rebel against the natural order of things, against their betters. So I am here to say that perhaps I would, perhaps mind you, stop my armies and let you concentrate on exterminating this problem? Why, I'll even be nice enough to call off my pilots, it's been so long since I last saw one of your aircraft; I hope your pilots still remember how to fly.'
- 'And why would you do such a thing?'
The question made Ivans eyes open wide and he spoke in feigned shock.
- 'Why as an act of goodwill of course! No matter. Do as you will. Good day.'
With that he gave a sloppy salute and walked away followed by the collective glare of the Germanic brothers.
- 'Son of a bitch.'
- 'Bastard wants to solve the problem without getting his hands dirty.'
- 'Who gives a fuck.'
With that statement Ludwig ended the conversation and turned his attention to the map and looked at the markers and the corresponding numbers, he stopped at one and reread it to be certain he saw correctly.
- 'Who brought Erzsebet's men?'
- 'You said to bring any available units.'
- 'True, but given the circumstances I don't know if we can trust her.'
Before Roderich could reply Gilbert chimed in with a wide grin.
- 'Trust her? Of course we can't trust her!'
The red eye walked close to Roderich and leaned on his brothrs shoulder before continuing.
- 'You know better than any of us though, don't you? Even without taking into account all those occasions when she jumped at the chance to leave you, you spent a hell lot of nights all alone knowing fully well with whom she spent those hours.'
Roderich turned around sharply, clutching a fistful of Gilberts uniform as he snarled.
- 'Shut up Gilbert!'
The grin did not leave the red eyes mouth as he lifted his hands in mock surrender.
- 'My, what aggression! You really should watch that temper of yours brother.'
- 'Both of you shut up!'
Ludwig snarled and his brothers fell silent, immediately. Any further words from the biggest of the siblings were cut off as the field phone rang. The blonde lifted the receiver and listened, occasionally uttering a "Jawohl". Slowly a grin appeared on his face and with a final confirmation put the receiver down. He turned his gaze back to his siblings, who had untangled themselves and were looking at him expectantly.
- 'Orders. The same orders that we got when we started this war.'
Predatory grins appeared on both Gilbert and Roderichs faces.
- 'You mean...'
Ludwig nodded and confirmed it.
- 'Kill without mercy regardless of gender, age or creed everyone of the Polish nation. Take no prisoners.'
*******************************
- 'Sorry it's so little.'
- 'Don't be. It's more than I expected.'
Erzsebet did not reply, merely slung another box along towards the blonde who grabbed it and slung the box into the back of a waiting truck. The girl grabbed another box and slid it towards the man, as he leaned down to pick it up she regarded him; time had not been kind to the man. He was much thinner than before, the camouflaged coat hanging loosely on his frame, his skin had taken an unhealthy grey shade and the steel helmet on his head looked heavy enough to fall to the ground with the body part attached.
- 'Wait a moment Feliks. I'll sling the last boxes down and give you hand.'
Feliks did not look up, nor did he stop lifting and sliding the boxes along as he replied.
- 'No time.'
He stated simply and Erzsebet did not press him, knowing fully well that it would achieve nothing. They continued the task in silence, accompanied only by the sounds of distant artillery and the, closer, dull thuds of detonations. With the last box out Erzsebet jumped down and helped the blonde lift them onto his transport, when the job was done and the two stood in silence, neither side speaking, knowing they should part quickly but unwilling to move without any final words.
Surprisingly it was Feliks who acted first, a small step forward and he wrapped his arms around the girl. Erzsebet, though not expecting the act, replied in kind.
- 'Dzieki.'
- 'Semmiseg.'
Slowly they stepped back from each other till their arms slid off of each other to their sides. With a last nod they turned around and walked in their respective directions.
- 'Feliks!'
The blonde turned around with an eyebrow raised and was met with a glare. Before any thought as to why he should be on the receiving end of the "Magyar glare" she placed one hand on her hip and extended the other towards him.
- 'Cheer up! How to expect to kick Ludwig in the teeth if you look like misery incarnate!'
Feliks stared at the girl for a second before he couldn't stop himself and a grin appeared.
- 'Fine, but only for you.'
Erzsesebet placed both hands on her hips with a satisfied expression on her face before the grin was replaced with a serious look, her hands sliding to her sides.
- 'We'll see each other again, once the world regains some of its sanity.'
- 'It's a promise.'
The man replied. With that the two gave a final farewell and returned to their respective sides of the war.
Historical Note: Ah, World War 2 a clear-cut case of good guys fighting and beating the bad guys… yeah right. Despite the clear Axis-Allied divide the relations between individual countries and nations was much more complicated. After all most of Germanys allies condemned the attack on Poland, with Hungary and Romania outright refusing to join the attack and both countries maintained a "friendly neutrality" towards Poland, allowing soldiers to make their way to France or French Syria where they rebuilt their army while Japan officially declared its alliance with Germany null and void. As it's enemies were the same it wasn't that obvious but frequent German requests for the Japanese to attack the USSR were ignored. The USSR meanwhile was an ally of Germany's for 1939-40, attacking Poland when concerns grew over the possibility of the country holding off German armies long enough for the October rains forced the German army to a halt and gleefully annexed a part of Romania and Finland as well as the three Baltic Republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). At the same time it sent millions of Polish citizens to concentration camps as well as murdering tens of thousands in mass executions, the exact same actions as Germany was conducting.
1944 saw the USSR driving close to Polands Pre-war borders with the goal of establishing bridgeheads across the Vistula before resting for the next assault that would take them into Germany. Polish resistance, numbering about 400 000 members, launched "Operation Tempest" The goal of which was to occupy Polish territory before the Red Army entered as well as forcing the Western Allies to take a strong stance regarding Polands independence and boundaries. In the city of Wilno (Vilnius) Polish soldiers and Soviet scouts succeeded in forcing the German garrison to surrender whereas Lwow (Lviv) was liberated by Polish forces before the Soviet advance parties arrived.
In both cases Large Soviet forces arrived and attacked the Poles (theoretically their allies since 1941), sending most to the Gulags. Polish command ordered most units to go into hiding but still decided to launch an uprising in Warsaw if only to prove the USSR's foul intentions regarding Poland as action in an Allied countries capital could not be ignored by either Great Britain or the United States. On the 1st of August the uprising was launched and the Soviet army reacted by stopping its march dead in their tracks baely 15 km from the city limits, despite the idiocy of halting an attack without securing crossings across what was a major obstacle in the form of the Vistula river. The claim of be a lie when elements of the Polish Peoples Army (created from Polish POW who had survived Russian captivity) rushed to and suceeded in fording the river in an attempt to help their co-patriots.
The Red Army refused to either move to assist the rising or allow Western planes to use soviet airfields to land after supply drops, the West decided not to annoy Moscow with demands that help be granted and sentenced the Polish capital to die.
In the vicinity of Warsaw was a unit of Hungarians, officially a member of the Axis these men not only refused to take part in any actions against the Poles but also gave their medical supplies and some weapons to them. Sergeant Vonyik and six of his men even joined the Poles and died fighting alongside them.
A small act but compared to the indifference of Polands allies such acts speak volumes about the two nations relationship.