Chapter 1

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"Uh Capt, where are we?"

"I have no idea Mike. Jake, you know where the hell we are?" Mason asked before turning to Jake. "I have no idea. Map doesn't even match the terrain we see here. I don't even know if were still near Bastogne anymore." The sergeant replied.

"*sigh* Alright then. Before we move and recon the area, check your weapons and gear. I don't want the Krauts to catch us with our pants down." Mason ordered checking his ammo. All were complete and moved out of the area.

The place they were in seemed to be countryside. The place was full of fields and forests as far as the eye can see. It gave that countryside feeling, the smell of nature all over the area and the warm winds blowing through it. This was a welcome pace for the four paratroopers, seeing that they were stuck in a war zone for so long and they were freezing their asses out there, but nevertheless never put their guard down fully. The only time they can truly put their guard down is when the war is truly over for them.

It has been an hour since they started and have found at least directions to a town called 'Bruhl' just up north. They soon stopped though when they found something they never expected.

The women have found themselves in the middle of a pathway with forests on both sides of the path. "Nika, do you know where we are?" "Can't say I do Tanya, either the Stavka gave us a defective map, if they did I would gladly shove this down their throats, or that were not even near Memel anymore." Tanya replied putting down the map they have. "How much fuel do we have?" "Weirdly enough we still have a full tank of gas on us." "At least we're not stuck here at least." "Contact!" Anna screamed and the crew went full alert and peered through their respective sights.

Instead of the enemy, what they did see though is four troops with uniforms and guns unfamiliar to them with one of them waving at them. "Lieutenant, do you think they're friendly?" "I can't say, but they're not Nazis for sure." The tank started to move closer to the group, but it still kept its guard up in case these people are 'unfriendly'.

They saw the tank driving towards them. "I swear Don if they started shooting us…"

"Relax Sarge, I am pretty sure these guys are friendly."

"And how are you supposed to know that Don?"

"It's simple really. That tank over there belongs to the Russians" Don explained.

"Russians? What are the Russians doing here?" Mike asked turning to Don.

"How the hell should I know? Maybe they got lost just as we did?" Don replied.

The tank soon reached the 4 and stopped in front of them. A woman with blonde hair and a tanker's cap popped up from the tank. The men were surprised to see a woman instead of a man. "Hey, do you men mind us telling where we are and what you guys are? You're not wearing gray so you're obviously not one of them." The woman questioned, looking at the 4 men. While Tanya was seeing them out of her hatch, the rest of the crew saw them through their respective sights.

"To answer your questions ma'am, we have no idea where we are, and that were not one of them Kraut bastards, were Americans. The Captain answered. The crew was surprised at this and the same thought came to mind, 'What are Americans doing all the way here?'. Tanya pondered

"My name is Lt. Tanya Volkov. My crew and I are part of the 5th Guards Tank Army" She said holding out her hand. "Capt. Mason Hendricks. I and the boys here are of the 101st Airborne Division." Mason replied shaking her hand. The patrol and the crew introduced themselves to each other with pleasantries exchanged and with their origins explained to each other. Both groups were surprised at the similarities of their situations. Both were out of their respective bases when a fog trapped them and placed them here.

"So you guys are like us huh. I swear the next time I see fog, I'll just turn tail and run." Mike said scratching his head. "You can say that again." Dina replied chuckling a little bit. 'So cute.' Mike thought and turned his head in an effort to hide his blush. Dina didn't notice, but his friends did, and a plan to tease him about this later was made.

"So do you guys know where we can go?" Anna asked the group.

"We do have the directions to a town called 'Bruhl' just up north of here. We were going there until we found you gals here." Don answered pointing north to where the town would supposedly be.

The patrol and the crew decided to go together to the town with the girls giving them a lift and the guys giving them directions to the town.

The ride was smooth and a conversation was struck between the patrol and crew. From how the crew got into a tank and what does a paratrooper do, topics of all sorts were discussed among the group with the chat being lively. From their homes to politics, any topic seemed to be welcome and it went on for a long time. The chat ended abruptly when sounds of gunshots were heard inside the town. The group went into gear with Don scoping out the area with his binoculars.

"Captain, the town is being attacked by guys with red uniforms. There seems to be resistance in the town, but I highly doubt they'll last long. The red guys seem to have armor support ready to roll in. They're also opening fire on the civilians in the town, bastards." Don said putting down his binoculars. Mason and Tanya thought about this for a moment and looked at each other until they have come to the same conclusion; protect the town and its people.

"Alright then, we'll head into the town and see if we can help those defenders. Jake, Mike, you're with me. Don, I need you to head into one of the rooftops and provide cover for us as we move. Lieutenant, think you can back as up here?" "No need to ask, girls button up and load AP. Let's show them not to mess with a T34." Tanya replied while going down the hatch. The group moved into the town, ready to engage the invaders.

Bruhl

The defenders were now hard pressed to defend the town. They're outnumbered and with the Imperial armor now heading towards their way, their hastily built defences will fall soon enough.

Welkin Gunther got up from his cover and fired at the advancing Imperial troops getting into the town. The Imperials fired back with their tank firing at the town watchmen. One man tried to sprint across the street, but the tank's MG ripped through his legs disabling him. The troops ran past the man while the man was crushed underneath the tank's threads, while screaming for help. Unlike Welkin though, a woman beside him was shocked and enraged at the brutal kill. "You monsters!" She shouted while firing at the advancing troops. Welkin got her immediately under cover as bullets whizzed past them. She was about to pop up until, Welkin stopped her. "Alicia don't, it's not going to bring him back." He said. However, what came next shocked both of them and the remaining defenders.

The tanks soon exploded one by one in mere moments, none of them knowing who fired at them. Imperial troops fired at the direction opposite of them, but were then cut down by a tank unknown to them. 3 men with uniforms also unknown to them also joined the fight and fought on the streets. A lancer came to aim at the tank, but was stopped when a bullet passed through his head. Imperials firing from one of the buildings suppressed the three men, but got an untimely end when the tank's turret turned to them and fired a HE round, completely turning them into mincemeat. The unknown help made short work of the Imperials later on and turned the tide towards the defenders. With help, the town was able to drive out the Imperials into retreat with them kicking and screaming, but a few of them getting a bullet to the back of their heads.

The battle was over and the watchmen came to tend to their wounded and thanked their saviors. Welkin and Alicia went towards 3 men and greeted them with a wave.

"Hello there and welcome to Bruhl. My name is Welkin Gunther and the people here with me are part of the town watch" He said with a smile.

"We're thankful for the help you gave us against the Imperials. Without you guys, this town would surely have fall to them." Welkin said giving out his hand.

One of the men approached him and shook his hand. "You're welcome, but can you tell me where the hell are we?" Mason asked.

"I see that you're not from here then."