(TRIGGER) WARNING: This story may contain one (or all) of the following things: Dark humor, memes, stolen quotes, badly translated German quotes.

If you get easily offended by one (or all) of the things, listed above, DO NOT READ THIS STORY

You have been warned

PS: I do not own Infinite Stratos


She was awoken by the gunfire.

Still sleepy, the little girl hopped out of her bed and rubbed her eyes.

When she realized what was going on she pushed out of her small room and ran through the hallways, a certain destination in her head.

The Sarashiki Estate was a gigantic building, where people could easily get lost but she had been living here for her whole life.

She ignored the confused stares of the guards who obviously had never seen a girl in pajamas running through a house.

When she arrived at her destination, the gunfights had already spread throughout the ground floor of the northern foyer.

She knocked against the door several times while a group of guards ran past her into the direction of the gunfire.

"Katana? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in bed."

"Isn't it obvious? I want to see my parents." She cried out.

"Alright." Steven sighed. "I´ll take you to them."

"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked him while he closed the door behind her. "You're supposed to guard my room."

"I was called to guard the ops instead. Your parents are very confident that you can defend yourself, should it come to the worst."

"Steven, what's going on? Who are you talking to?" A woman called out from the guard´s communicator.

"It's your daughter, Sensei. She said she wanted to see you and your husband."

"Which one?"

"Katana."

"Alright, bring her in and go back to your post."

Steven stepped in front of the ops door and typed a code into the device next to it.

With a creak the door opened and Katana quickly slipped through while Steven closed the door behind her.

Upon entering the command central she was met with a strict stare from her mother.

The chestnut-haired woman sighed before smiling and saying:" You´ll never learn when is the right time to stay in bed, will you?"

Instead of saying anything she just clung to her leg and held on as firm as she could.

"I see." Her mother said while gently stroking her hair. "I´m afraid too but I´m sure we´ll make it."

"Don´t be so sure, Tatenashi. The attack may have begun weak but who knows what other tricks these guys got up their sleeve."

The light blue-haired-man that had been looking at the screen until now turned around and took a closer look at his daughter.

"Hey, there little one. Are you okay?" He asked with the concern in his voice clearly audible.

She just nodded, still clinging to her mother´s leg.

Her father nodded and her mother took the word:" Do you have any information on our attackers?"

"Phantom Task. Without any doubts its them. Although some of these people appear to be mercs."

"Well observed." Someone said from behind.

Katana and the rooms occupants turned to the source of the voice and spotted a young man in white soldier garniture.

Although his face was covered by a white balaclava she could clearly hear that it was a rather young man, probably in his thirties.

"If you´ll allow me to introduce myself." The man said and bowed down. "My name is Anatoly Yedurovich."

"We´ll see if you´re telling the truth. See if you can get anything about him."

Her father sat down at one of the screens and began sweeping the databanks of the Sarashiki Family.

After a few minutes he got up and said:" The name is right. Anatoly Yedurovich. Born 1940 in the Soviet Union. Former KGB-agent and mercenary for god-knows-how-many PMC´s. He´s been fighting on battlefields all around the world. Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans, Angola, you name it. Experienced combatant both behind and at the front lines."

"Yet you always forget one of the most important points… Family. My parents are both dead and I have a twin-brother named Boris Yedurovich whom is currently working for the Russian Spetsnaz and he´s on my heels right now."

"Why that?"

"He thinks I betrayed him."

"The hell you did, Cyka!"

The man turned, seemingly shocked, to the source of the voice; another man clad in a Russian uniform and wearing a gunner helmet with open visor.

"B-Boris, what are you doing here?" Anatoly stuttered.

"That´s a stupid question. I´ve been following you since you left Vladivostok and now I´m finally able to make you pay." Boris said and approached his brother.

Anatoly stumbled back a few steps before Boris reached him and…

Put his arms around him him.

"Uhm, what are you doing?" Anatoly asked his brother

"Saying hello to the brother I haven´t been able to see in two years. Do you really think a family reunion would be complete without proper greeting?" Boris replied.

He let go of his brother and asked:" So, how´s it been going since you left me and Galen?"

The two of them sat down and began talking about what they had experienced since they had last seen each other, all the while Katana´s mother stood there and muttered:" Russians are strange people."

"Pasmatritje, kto gavarit, Yapanski!" Both of them replied simultaneously.

"Okay, Okay I´ll wait ´till you´re done."

After some time both of them got up and Boris asked his brother:" Say, did you lose any thoughts on me and Galen while you were with Phantom Task?"

"Not many but when I did it was... painful."

"That´s touching, indeed but you still need to die." Boris said and drew a gun, pointing it directly at Anatoly´s forehead.

However, before he could pull the trigger a person jumped into the air from behind Anatoly and landed behind Boris, with a knife pointed at his back.

"Put away the gun or I´ll slice up your back and pull out your guts from behind."

They rooms occupants weren´t terrified of what the boy said. It was rather the combination of that and the high pitch of his voice. Judging from the pitch of his voice he wasn´t much older than thirteen years.

Boris couldn´t do anything other than put away his gun and raise his arms.

"Good. Now step away from him and remain where I tell you to."

"Is this who I think he is?" Boris asked while slowly backing off.

"Depends on who you think it is. Everyone, meet my protégé, Shimo."

The boy in question put away his knife and stood still like during an inspection.

"No doubt. That´s the psychopath who attacked my men a week ago." Boris exclaimed.

"So you recognize me? How comes that?" The boy asked, with all the harshness gone from his voice.

"It was easy. After all what Mikhail told me the attacker seemed to be small, ferocious and a real psychopath."

"I don´t know what would make me psychopath, old man."

"Do I have to tell everyone in this room what you did to Alexey after you killed him?"

"Well, what exactly did my protégé do?" Anatoly interjected.

"You call him a protégé but he could have easily snuck into this room and killed everyone without breaking a sweat. But to answer your question: He sliced up Alexey until the only thing I could recognize of him was his face and then he wrote a symbol on the ground. With Blood! I´m starting to wonder where you get your recruits from."

"Oh, yeah, that. He´s kind of difficult sometimes. Don´t know why. It´s probably something with his past. I´d like to ask him, but Commander Rayashi´s the only he´s talking to about that stuff."

"Commander Rayashi? I think I´ve heard of her. She´s Japanese in origin but prefers to spend as much time as possible in Germany."

"Well, yes, That´s her. I´ll tell you a little story: She brought this boy to me eight weeks ago. Said he needed to be prepared for a mission as fast as possible. So, I did my best, teaching him all the stuff I learned at the KGB. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I prepared him for the exact same mission I was going to be sent on."

"Honestly." The boy suddenly began. "Stop talking and concentrate on the mission. We didn´t come here to tell campfire stories. We´re here to erase the tumor that calls itself Sarashiki Family."

"Let´s see if that´ll remain your goal once you notice what´s going on with your other men." Boris said as he began smiling evily.

In fact, Anatoly´s communicator began to ring and after a brief period of static the screams and gunfire could be heard.

He first looked at the communicator and then at his cousin who stood there with a triumphant smile in his face.

"You won´t get me that easy!" He said and pulled a remote trigger out of his pocket.

When he pushed the button, the wall behind him blew up and smoke began to fill the room.

When the dust had settled Anatoly got up and said:" Shimo, take care of the Sarashikis. I´ll deal with Boris." He jumped out of the hole and Boris followed right after him while shouting:" You won´t get away, mudak!"

The boy named Shimo looked after him for a while before turning around and saying:" Alright, Gentlemen. You have the choice to either hand over all Sarashikis that are present in this room or you can die alongside them. What will it be?"

The guards answered that question with taking their battle poses and pointing their weapons at him.

The boy sighed and drew his gun. The guards began firing at him but he jumped up and clung to the ceiling. As he did so he swung his legs and let go of the ceiling, effectively flying over the mass of guards while taking out one after another with his gun.

Her mother grabbed Katana and put her into a small, shady corner.

"Stay here until this is over. I swear, I will put this maniac down, for your sake." She said filled with determination.

Katana just nodded and cowered in the corner while her mother searched for a weapon.

The boy had meanwhile done a good job as he pierced the last guard with his knife.

He laughed in a murderous way and said:" So much for the guards. Now I´ll take care of you." While pointing his gun at Katana´s father.

Said person had been hit by a loose shot and was now leaning against the holodesk with his back while trying to hold his bleeding leg.

"Please, I´m just a informatician. Killing me won´t make it easier for you to fight."

"You have the ability to get information. That´s enough to label you a threat."

He was about to pull the trigger when a sword entered his field of sight over his shoulder.

"Put. Away. The. Gun." Her mother said.

He slowly turned around and raised his hands.

"As you wish."

He threw the gun in her face and pulled a small pipe out of his pocket. It took her way too long to realize the danger. By the time she had shifted into a defensive pose the taser had already touched her skin and now the electricity was flowing through her body.

She fell to the ground while flinching uncontrollably and the boy kicked her hip. When the flinching stopped she didn´t move. The boy cautiously tapped her with his foot to make sure that she was unconscious. When he was sure he turned back to her father and said:" Now, where did I left off? Ah, yes. I remember something about you being able to get information. Now, let´s see how much I can get out of you."

He knelt down in front of him and pierced his leg with his knife.

Shimo said something in language Katana didn´t understand and began twisting the knife in the wound.

For minutes he tortured him, with methods that were too brutal for Katana to understand. All she could mentally grasp were the screams racked with pain. She wanted to cry but she knew if she did that it would mean her certain death.

Finally, after one last dying groan her father silenced and died.

The boy chuckled and stood up, looking around in the room and searching for Katana´s mother.

When he turned his back to the holodesk, her mother jumped up from behind it, a sword in her hands and determined to end the life of this scumbag.

When her blade first hit his helmet it looked like it was going to slide off but the blade eventually cut into the helmet on the side.

Screaming, the boy fell off to the side and held his right ear.

When he took his hand off the ear it revealed a bleeding stump. Katana also noticed that the helmet at this side was completely cut off.

The next thing he did could be considered suicidal. He charged headfirst at her mother. She prepared to strike him but only seconds before the sword reached his throat, the boy fell onto his butt and continued sliding over the ground.

When he came to hold right between her legs he took out his knife and carved it into her leg.

The chestnut-haired woman gasped while the boy quickly got up behind her and climbed on the holodesk.

Turning around, she tried to strike him with the sword but he made a small jump backwards and the sword got stuck in the holodesk.

The boy rushed forward and placed his foot right into her face while she was still trying to pull the sword out of the desk.

She lost her grip on the sword and flew back a few steps before hitting the ground with her back.

The boy jumped forward and landed with his boots on her chest. He knelt down and tried to carve his knife into her face but she grabbed his wrists and thereby prevented him from doing so.

Her mother was several decades ahead of the boy in terms of body development, but she clearly had difficulties to hold off the knife.

Finally, she was able push his hands aside and grabbed one of the many parts of the wall that had been scattered throughout the room when Anatoly blew it up. She used it to block incoming attacks from the boy and while he was aimlessly striking the debris in front of him she moved her legs out of the danger zone and got up.

The next time the boy tried to stab her, she struck him right into the face. The boy tumbled back a few steps and stood there, trying to recover from the strike. Enough time for her to rush forward, grab his wrist and twist it so that he had to drop his knife.

As soon as he dropped his knife she threw away her shield and kicked him effectively sending him flying against a nearby wall.

Despite the force which he hit the wall with, the boy was able to get up to his feet again in next to no time.

It wasn´t of much use to him as she had already approached him and put her hands around his throat and began squeezing.

The boy tried to pull his gun out of his holster but as soon as he had drawn it, she knocked it out of his hand and it landed near Katana.

"What is Phantom Task trying to achieve by destroying the Sarashiki Family? We weren´t the ones that started this conflict. So answer me. NOW!"

"We… did only what… what was justified. You… you attacked Meusel first… when she … when she was seeking… refuge." The boy choked out.

"Meusel was a traitor. She violated our code and it was our right to take her into custody."

"You cannot… punish a human being for… for yearning for freedom… She did only what she thought… was right."

"Pretty big words for someone who is about to get killed."

"Trust me… I have … experience with such things."

With that a blue lightning lit up the room and ran through the body of Katana´s mother. Twitching uncontrollably, she let go of the boy and fell to the ground.

The boy fell to his knees and began coughing.

The electrical shock had been much weaker this time and as a consequence her mother was already back on her legs a few moments after the initial shock.

She tried to kick the boy into his face but the boy grabbed her leg and pulled on it. She landed on her back and the boy immediately jumped on her chest and pulled another knife out of a sheath on his arm.

This time he didn´t try to stab her in the face but rather one of her palms to prevent her from holding off his knife again.

She screamed in pain as the knife tore through her skin and pinned her hand to the floor.

"You know, the funny thing is that I can do this with your other hand too." He said and pulled the knife out of her hand only to ram it into her other hand.

Katana couldn´t bare what she saw anymore. She reached out and grabbed the gun lying in front of her.

She pointed it at the boy and pulled the trigger.

Click

The boy looked up and flinched when he saw the gun pointed at him but once he realized what was going he laughed and pulled the knife out of her mother´s other hand.

"That´s your daughter, Katana Sarashiki, right? What a cute girl. It´s a shame what she´s about to witness."

He raised his knife and pushed it down with all his force.

Suddenly everything went mute and her vision blurred out. Katana´s mouth was wide open and here vocal chords were vibrating as if they could jump out her throat anytime, yet her ears receiving anything and she could just stand there, not able to move her legs.

"Katana? Katana!"

A familiar voice awakened the young girl from her trance.

The knife had missed her head only by centimeters and now the boy was busy trying to pull it out if the floor.

"Switch off the security lock!" Her mother shouted.

Katana took a hasty look at the side of the gun and spotted the small lock. With a small click the lock shifted and Katana aimed the gun at the boy once again.

She pressed the trigger and in the same moment, closed her eyes. All she felt was how the kickback knocked the gun out of her hands.

A few moments after the deafening bang, she finally dared to open her eyes again.

"Mother. I did it." She whispered.

No reply.

When she took a closer look at her mother she found something that made her burst into tears.

Her mother´s right eye had been pierced by a knife and the blood was pouring out of her eye bags.

Crying, she sat down beside her mother and laid her head into her lap. Her tears stained her mother´s clothing when she felt someone gently stroking her hair.

"My daughter. You are so much stronger thank you think. Do not cry for me. Instead of lingering in the past you have to search for the future. The fate of the Sarashiki Family rests in your hands now, Tatenashi."

"But I don´t want to lose you…Mother? MOTHER! NO!"

She shook her mother but the body stayed silent and should remain like that forever from now on.

She remained in her position unable and unwillingly to move until she heard two voices approach.

"Yeah, Anatoly got away, Sir. We have already send all available men after him but the majority of our forces is busy with patching up the wounded in this area."

"Tell me if you find anything. I´m going to talk to Miss Sarashiki meanwhile. Maybe she can help us track him down."

"Alright Sir. I´ll be outside if you need me."

Boris entered the room and froze when he saw the mess that one boy had caused.

"So much for my plans." He muttered. When he spotted Katana sitting beside her mother´s corpse and crying, he began considering his options.

"Is everything alright?" He hesitantly asked.

She looked up with tears in her eyes and cried:" How can you ask such a question?"

"Y-Yeah, I get it. What about that corpse over there?" He asked while stepping into the direction of Shimo.

"He killed my mother. I hope he´s dead." She said in a rather emotionless voice.

"That he sure is." Boris said while inspecting the corpse. "It looks like a bullet has entered his body on the right flank and left it on the left flank. Even if he was alive, he probably wouldn´t be able to walk ever again. Now, If you are done, come talk to me. I have an offer for you."

He was about to turn around and leave the room but Katana stopped him.

"I want to hear it now."

"As you know Russia is already in possession of an IS-core and the matching first-gen-suit. The only thing missing right now is a representative. If you´d agree on becoming Russia´s first representative we would be able to place you and your family under government protection and prevent any further attacks by Phantom Task. We also could combine our efforts to bring them down. So, what do you think?"

"Let´s do it." She said and took the hand he offered her.

"It's a deal. It'll take a week or two, but then you'll officially be Russia's representative. I'll contact you as soon as that happens."

He saluted and turned around leaving the room.

Alone again, Katana turned around, looking at the bloody corpse of the boy that had just killed both of her parents.

On his shoulder she could see a patch with a 霜 on it.

She kicked him for a final time before turning around and leaving the room, determined to find someone she could assign for cleanup.

IS Academy, 8 years later

Tatenashi opened her eyes and sat up.

She knew that memory: A killer to young to be real, men that were almost a century old but acted like they were forty and that moment where she committed her life to the destruction of Phantom Task. It had been almost nine years and it all only felt like the fading memory of a bad dream.

"Glad to see you´re awake." A familiar voice ripped her from her thoughts. Hoseok was sitting right beside her with one hand covering his eyes.

"It´s good to see you too. But say, why are you covering your eyes?"

"Because you´re not wearing a shirt and I don´t want to be branded as siscon or something like that but you´ll just call me pervert anyway so I might as well enjoy the view." He said and laughed while the hand remained on his face.

"Try that and I´ll kick your ass." She replied laughingly while looking around for something to cover her chest with. She found a white shirt on the bedside table and put it on.

"You can look now, pervert." She said and Hoseok took his hand off his face.

"It´s always fun to tease your older sister, especially if she has a habit of getting herself in trouble. You got gassed, seriously? You know, you could have just activated your IS. It would have created a small air reservoir in its shield bubble that would have allowed you to escape."

"I didn´t have enough time. I mean, he pulled the pin and suddenly the gas was everywhere."

At that, Hoseok raised one of his eyebrows. "That´s interesting. Looks like he was using an aerosol grenade."

"A what?"

"An aerosol grenade is a gas grenade which´s content is pressurized and will spread with an unmatched velocity upon release. Due to the pressure the grenade can fit much more gas inside and cover a larger area than conventional gas grenades. At this point only a few prototypes exist in the most advanced countries although the first one was invented in the late 2020´s. Most countries abandoned their research on this asset in favor if IS-research. The White Star has probably been researching this grenade for a decade now and it´s safe to say that their grenades are far more advanced than ours. However, I do not fear the White Star using it. I rather fear their counterpart using it."

"Counterpart?"

"Yesterday, at Lisbon at around 12PM local time a heavily damaged US warship entered the military harbor in the bay of Lisbon and docked there. Around one hour later a series of explosions destroyed the coast guard building in the harbor and the US warship destroyed the other Portuguese ships. A few minutes later this message was broadcasted throughout all of Lisbon."

He took out a holoprojector and activated it. The screen showed three dark-blue waves and a red, four-pointed star sitting enthroned on top of them. The symbol disappeared and a young man wearing a white soldier´s uniform and an admiral´s hat with a red, four-pointed star on it. The man had dark-blue hair just like Ichika and seemed to be in his mid-twenties.

"Citizens of this earth." He began to speak. "Upon hearing this message for the first time you might be afraid. You might fear for your life or that of your loved ones. I can assure you that, as long as you don´t live in the imperialist countries that are pushing their IS-research to the limit, you are completely out of danger. For eleven years now a weapon of unimaginable power has held the world in its grip. Those that control these weapon have used it to bring their nations great wealth and prosperity but many of them have never considered the price. Hundreds of already died at the costs of IS research and development, thousands were ruined their lives and hundreds of thousands more might follow if this doesn´t stop. We watched for nearly a decade now and as there is no government that acts we have decided to take matters into our own hands. We will crush the countries that threaten the lives of their people and here, in Lisbon, our crusade shall begin. Who are we? We are the Red Star and we are sick of watching."

The screen shimmered out of existence and Hoseok didn´t leave her any time to think about what she just saw.

"A few minutes after that a massive bomber attack was launched that devastated the greatest part of northern Lisbon. Although the local law enforcement was able to push the bombers back, they were surprised by an even larger fighter-jet force that took them out in next to no time. When the military, including Portugal´s only IS with core, arrived and began pushing the fighter jets back a second attack was launched. This time it was a landing maneuver that brought roughly one million weaponized troops and a number of tanks that varies depending on who you ask to the city´s shores. And you know what the crazy thing is?"

"Don´t keep me waiting. Just tell me." She said annoyed.

"The crazy thing is that this happened within less than an hour. Now this is where it gets really crazy. They took eastern Lisbon within the next hour and even managed to disable Portugal´s only IS with core within that time. There are only theories about how they managed it, but some self-proclaimed witnesses say that the IS was struck by lightning."

"Well, was it?"

"I don´t think so. The weather was nice back then and I'm pretty sure that it was more of a concentrated EMP-beam. When the Portuguese realized that their only chance of survival was gone, they began retreating to the Bridge of the 25. April and intended to regroup there in order to keep the attackers from reaching Southern Lisbon."

"I take it they didn´t succeed?"

"Not really. Most of the survivors were wiped out by a hidden attack force of around a thousand men and now they are pushed back to the township of Fernão Ferro, which isn´t even a part of Lisbon anymore. With Portuguese reinforcements arriving the fighting has mostly come to a stalemate, but the attackers are slowly advancing through the northern and northeastern part of the Setúbal District. However, I have reports of current fighting in the town of Vala do Carregado, the town next to the northernmost bridge over the Tagus. They are probably trying to secure bridgeheads that are vital to the continuation of their plan."

"Is there anything else?"

"Yup, we haven´t heard anything from the Portuguese Government, so they are most likely dead. The fact that the Red Star is able to track and eliminate the heads of state with such precision is utmost concerning."

"Looks like we got a big problem here. Are the Sarashikis in Europe informed?"

"I don´t know why they shouldn´t. All of Europe is in a state of lockdown and an emergency NATO-meeting has been called. Meanwhile the eyes of the press have been trained on the event and there are TV-channels reporting about this as we speak. Also, I found out something about the White Star that my interest you. They are actually fighting against the forces of the Red Star. If we know who to talk to we can make them into an ally."

Tatenashi raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? No offense, but I remember being infiltrated a company of the White Star."

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, always so doubtful." He teased her in return. "What seems like a getaway after stealing the money and trying to kill the students was in reality all conducted by Shimo. His superiors didn´t even know that he took the money and when they got news of Operation LV they were called off by their superiors."

"Operation LV?"

"The codename used for the ongoing assault by the Red Star. If my intel´s right then the White Star learned of its existence only hours before it began. That would explain the hasty withdrawal of their troops no matter if they were bound by contract or not."

"Yeah, that would make sense. But I still wonder, is it really that important for the White Star to defeat the Red Star?"

"Probably yes. You see, that conflict between them hasn´t erupted overnight. It´s a shadow war that has been going on for more than a century and it´s becoming more fierce with every passing day. The White Star was officially founded in 1937 but records indicate that they have been existing for much longer, as well as the Red Star. The reason that such a conflict has been going undetected for such a long time is that they didn´t start a war of their own but waited until another conflict erupted somewhere to bring in their men. The Cold War is a wonderful example. In every proxy war at least one of the organizations was involved but while the Red Star was allied with the Soviet Union the White Star had its contract made with the US and their allies. At this point in history the Red and the White Star weren´t even that hostile towards each other and there are even records of them working together if it was necessary to achieve the best results. When the Soviet Union collapsed, both of them disappeared from the stage for some time until the Antarctica-Crisis came around. After that the shadow war intensified to what we have today. For some reason the relationship between the two organizations has worsened and now they are trying to destroy each other completely. If my calculations are right then this conflict has already claimed the lives of well over a million people, excluding the victims of official armed conflicts and Lisbon."

"That is terrible and impressive at the same time. If it´s a conflict that large, then why has no one ever noticed it?"

"That I don´t know. What I can tell for sure is that the conflict is going to become more intense. Now that the White Star has revealed its true intentions they will certainly begin searching for allies against the Red Star and vice versa."

"Well, we can´t do anything about for now. But there are still so many other inconsistencies. Why did they reveal themselves now? They could have kept going like this. Why was Shimo working for Phantom Task back then? It´s really hard to get out of Phantom Task alive."

"Questions over questions, I know. I can´t answer them all and it´s of no use to rack our brains over this right now. All we can do is wait until you get better."

After that both fell silent. For a few moments they just stared at each other before Hoseok decided to break the silence.

"There´s something I wanted to tell you." He said slowly and a bit insecure.

"I´m all ears." She replied.

"When I left for Korea, I didn´t think of the possibility that we may become more than associates ever again and that thought didn´t cross my mind ever since. However, the recent events have shown that we have to band together and become a family again if we want to defeat Shimo. I hope you can forgive me for being such a selfish person."

"Oh, you´re flattering me." Tatenashi responded chuckling. "You have no reason to ask for my forgiveness. All you have to do is become my family again and make sure that it stays that way."

At that his eyes widened. "Really? That´s great."

"What is that?" A voice, very-well-known to Tatenashi and yet in such an unfamiliar tone exclaimed.

However, when Hoseok turned around the voice lost all its sharpness and the person it belonged to looked like she was about to cry.

"Hey Kan-chan." Hoseok greeted Kanzashi and smiled only to be wrapped in a tight embrace by her.

"I see you still remember that stupid nickname." Kanzashi said, half laughing, half crying. "It´s been so long." She continued. "I´ve been missing you."

"Same here." Hoseok replied. "It´s good to see you again."

"Wait a moment." Tatenashi interrupted the two. "A few seconds ago this was all about MY reunion with Hoseok."

"Well, you can´t always have everything, Onee-chan." Kanzashi said and both she and Hoseok began to laugh.

Suddenly, Hoseok fell silent and began sniffing around.

"I know that smell from somewhere." He muttered. "For some reasons I begin to feel happy whenever I smell it. I know that there´s something about whatever´s emitting that smell."

"Are you talking of those?" Kanzashi asked while opening one of the pouches attached to her belt and pulling out a pack of cookies.

"Yes, exactly those." Hoseok exclaimed in joy.

"I´m sure you´re going to love them as my cooking skills have improved since the last time." Kanzashi said and smiled.

"Was she always so extroverted when talking to you?" Tatenashi asked Hoseok.

"I don´t know what you mean." He said and shrugged. "Wwas she ever different? I mean, I remember her being that sort of kid and I don´t know what happened after I left for Korea. If you perceived her any different than me, I can´t blame her."

"Trust me, you don´t want to know." Kanzashi said while handing him one of the cookies she had brought with her.

"You´re probably right. Sometimes it´s just better not to know." He admitted while chewing on his cookie.

While the reunited Sarashikis enjoyed their time together, Laura Bodewig woke up inside an airplane headed directly to the Federal Republic of Germany.

"Commander. You´re awake." A familiar voice said.

When she sat up a sudden pain in her chest made her cough.

"Take it easy. There is still some gas remaining inside your lungs." Emily said.

"Bullshit. I feel as good as ever." Laura replied and stood up. However, as soon as she hit the ground her legs went numb and Emily picked her and carried her to the next table.

"Try to get your mind together while I make you a coffee."

A few minutes later Emily came back with two cups of coffee in her hands. She sat down at the other side of the small table and asked:" So, what´s the last thing you remember?"

"Well, the last thing I remember is being gassed by a homicidal maniac."

Emilie´s eyes widened at that but she didn´t look like she was about to say anything so Laura just continued:" Tatenashi and I were fighting against that mercenary lieutenant when he set off a gas grenade and suddenly there was chlorine gas everywhere."

"I see. Looks like it was a aerosol grenade. So the Red Star does have equipment that´s capable of matching ours. How that stands in contrast with what we´ve seen in Lisbon."

The last part was only a mutter and Laura decided that it was best not to ask about that, so she decided to go with the first option instead.

"Red Star?"

"I´ll spare you the details. The Red Star is a underground organization with a strict anti-IS alignment. This night they attacked the Portuguese capital and killed more than four million people within five hours. Reports are beginning to arrive right now and the BND still has difficulties to determine the real scale of the attack. The attack has drawn massive attention on itself and we are already working on unraveling their next targets. However, we have another problem as Lieutenant Harfouch will explain."

Clarissa's face appeared on a holographic screen right in front of her and she began to speak:" It's good to see you made it, Sir. I'll get to the point without circumlocution. When Lisbon was attacked, a smaller armed group of Red Star forces entered the city Wernigerode. We tried to take the city back, but they had reinforcements arrive at the same time as we were advancing. More than half of our forces were wiped out and the remaining are scrambling for survival either in the city or the surrounding woods. The situation has become more critical as some of their men captured Rappbode Dam and are now preparing to blow it up. We managed to cut their supply lines but it's only a question of time until they conquer it back. We have called you here because we think you can defuse the situation peacefully."

"Excuse me? I think my ears are deceiving me. I´m a soldier, not a diplomat."

"That you are indeed but the mercenaries have offered us a peaceful solution through negotiation. The only problem is that the only person they want to negotiate with is you."

"Why would anyone want to negotiate with a soldier?"

"We asked that question too, but the only answer we got is that they are only following orders."

"I can imagine who is behind this." She said suddenly.

"Who do you think is it?"

"Remember that Lieutenant? The last time I saw him at the Academy he talked to a German person on the phone."

"About that Lieutenant… uhm." Clarissa fell silent mid-sentence.

"What is it?"

"He… uhm… We think we who he is, but we are not sure. Therefore, it would be nice if you could find out anything about him. And there also is some bad news."

"Can my day get any worse after this?" She asked ironically.

"Well, uhm… yes." Clarissa admitted hesitantly. "The occupation of Wernigerode is not the first operation the Red Star conducted in Germany. Two weeks ago, the Schwarzer Hase-HQ in Berlin was attacked and all members except for you, me, Emily, Maia, Ronya, Olivia and Mia were injured. The injured are here at Harz Military Base right now and undergo medical treatment but that´s not really what I´m concerned about. I´m rather concerned about the possibility of Germany being pulled into a shadow war."

"Explain." Laura demanded.

"The Red Star and the White Star are opposing sides in a shadow war that has been going on for more than a century. Since World War 2 both of them found themselves on opposing sides whenever a major historical event occurred and since the Antarctica-Crisis they´ve actively fighting against each other. We don´t know how they managed to keep it a secret for so long but we are determined to put an end to it now. After we were imprisoned by members of the Red Star we were rescued by a White Star task force and brought to Harz Military Base. We managed to recover information about the Red Star´s next steps and believe it or not, we were the ones that discovered the existence of Operation LV and therefore caused that sudden mobilization of their troops."

"That means we weren´t infiltrated by the White Star and the Lieutenant is just good at improvising."

"Yeah, probably. And now that we have helped the Red Star´s arch enemy, they´ll probably try to avenge themselves. What happened in Lisbon proofs that they are a dangerous enemy."

"I see. Has the Oberkommando already released a statement or orders concerning this matter?"

"We don´t know. We aren´t receiving any transmissions due to a storm at the location of the Oberkommando. We´ll be informed as soon as possible. That would conclude the meeting. Any questions so far?"

"No, Lieutenant."

"I´m looking forward to seeing you again, Captain." Clarissa said and the screen shimmered out of existence.

"I should go back to the cockpit. The plane´s been running in autopilot long enough." Emily said and went to the cockpit.

While the plane was speeding through the skies, Milition Timur of the 199. Forward Special Forces Division readied his sniper rifle and aimed at the soldier´s head.

He pulled the trigger and the soldier fell face-forward into the snow. When he hit the ground, Timur had already stood up, grabbed his ammo case and was running away from the Germans. He heard how machine gun fire hit the trees behind him. After a few moments the gun fire stopped and Timur halted to check if he was injured. To his luck he was fine.

Just as he thought himself safe, someone grabbed his ankle and pulled so strong that Timur fell face-forward in the snow.

He rolled on his back to catch a better look of the attacker. As soon as he did that, a knife hit the ground beside him and as he looked up he saw another soldier clad in a white military uniform sitting atop of him. The front part of his uniform was blood-stained with a few drops still making their way to the ground and coloring the snow red.

The soldier tried to stab him another time but Timur pulled his knife like a flash and blocked the strike from the soldier.

For a short period both of them tried to overpower each other but the other soldier was simply too strong. However, that problem was solved when the soldier spotted the red star on Timur´s vest and began laughing.

He rolled off to the side and continued laughing.

When the laugh in his throat began to die the soldier suddenly felt a metal blade on his throat. Timur had gotten up and was now sitting atop the soldier.

"Any last words, buddy?" He asked the not-so-frightened-looking soldier.

For a moment the soldier stayed silent but then broke into even greater laughter then before.

"What a coincidence." He laughed. "I knew I´d find you somewhere here, but I didn´t expect us to meet that way."

"It can´t be." Timur stuttered while looking at the person underneath him. "Frost?"

"Bingo."

They spend a moment just staring at each other before Timur rolled off to the side and began processing what he just saw while Frost continued laughing beside him.

After some more time he managed to get his mind together and began ranting:" What´s gotten into you? Isn´t it already enough that your enemies think you´re retarded? Now you have to do the same to me?"

"We haven´t seen each other for a month and that´s all you have to say? I have to admit, I´m a bit disappointed." Frost scoffed with feigned disappointment in his voice.

"We haven´t seen each other for a month and the first thing you do is trying to put a knife in my head. If it was for me, silence would be the least of your worries." Timur replied annoyed.

"I´m sorry. Y´know, I was covered with snow and therefore could only hear if someone was approaching. I was told you´d gone out there alongside some other soldiers and when I heard only one person coming my way, I thought that it was one of the survivors of the ambush. So yeah, sorry about that."

"You know what? It´s okay."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I mean I would have probably acted the same way if I was you. And besides, everyone makes mistakes."

"And why did you rant at me like five seconds ago?"

"I got carried away just a bit."

"I see. By the way, did you know that the Japanese term for "I see" is synonymous with the Russian Term for "bitch"?"

"You are either very observant or you have too much time to think about things like that. Anyway, time to check on my men." Timur said while getting back on his feet and pulling his communicator out of one of his many vest pockets.

"This is Milition Timur to Strike Team T. What´s your status?"

"Corpses are plundered and the area is secure. There are no signs of any hostile activity. Awaiting further orders."

"Head back to Wernigerode. I´ll be staying here a bit longer."

"Yes, Sir."

Timur put away his communicator and looked at Frost, who was still lying in the snow.

"Hey, Timur. Would you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Could you climb into the trees and search for my backpack? I put it there to prevent someone from finding it if something should go wrong with my assassination attempt."

"Why don´t you do it yourself?"

"I´d like to but my thigh´s still kinda fucked and the doctor said I shouldn´t put any pressure on it."

"But you managed to climb on the tree to put your backpack there."

"And now it hurts like hell. Honestly, I don´t think I´d survive climbing into the tree again."

"Just what did you do that your thigh is so damaged that you can´t even climb trees?"

"I´ll tell you once I have my backpack." Frost said and Timur was sure that had put on a cheeky smile underneath his full-face-covering combat helmet.

Timur sighed and began climbing into one of the nearby trees. He didn´t had to worry about taking the wrong tree as there were no leafs hanging on the branches right now and blocking his sight. Luckily, he was able to spot the backpack in the treetop of the tree he had just climbed on and removed from there with ease.

When he was back on the ground, he put the backpack down beside Frost and waited for a moment when a call distracted him.

"Yeah, Timur here. Are there any problems?"

"Our listening post in Löcknitz has detected a plane of the German military approaching your position with high speed. If they hold their current course they will arrive in about forty-five minutes. What are your orders?"

"We´ll have to discuss that with Lars and Frost once we´re back. Until then, keep your men on standby."

"Aye, Aye, Sir."

Timur put away his communicator and turned to Frost.

"A plane you say?" The latter suddenly spoke. "I´d like to see for myself. Let´s head back to the city."

He stood up and grabbed his backpack and they began heading down a path leading to Wernigerode. On their way down Timur noticed that Frost was limping.

"So, out of curiosity, what happened to your thigh?"

Frost looked at him for a moment and then replied:" Do you remember Katana?"

"You mean that girl whose mother you killed? What about her?"

"Well, she´s the IS Representative of Russia and that means she has her own IS."

"Tell me something I don´t know."

"She rammed her spear into my thigh."

"I see. Y'know, I can totally understand her. I'd be pissed too if someone killed my mother."

"When she was talking to me while her spear was still stuck in my thigh she sounded pretty satisfied. I think I'll spoil her by telling that it was all part of the plan."

"Seriously? How does any good plan involve getting yourself hurt?"

"It doesn´t. I just love to ruin her mood."

"I see." Timur said and chuckled. "You really are a sly fox."

"Look who´s talking." Frost said while lightly nudging him into the side. Timur laughed at that.

"It´s good to have you back."

"Likewise. It´s good to see you one last time before my most difficult mission so far begins."

"What´s that about?"

"I´ll be going away. Very far away. Farther than even you can reach. It´ll be a long and dangerous journey and I don´t know if I´ll make it back."

"Oh, you certainly will. Because If you don´t I will murder you."

"Uh, yeah. Let´s rather talk about the interesting stuff."

"Yeah, like your time at IS Academy. My imagination runs pretty wild so tell me, how was it?"

"Oh, it was terrible, that´s for sure. But I got to see Laura and Katana again. That was totally worth it."

"What´s so horrible about IS Academy? I mean, it´s full of pretty girls."

"Do you know the term Thot?"

"I don´t like where this is going."

"It basically applies to all of the Academy. Not only the students but also the staff members. However, there was one big surprise among all these disappointments."

"What was it?"

"Ichika Orimura."

"How could that debil be surprising in any way?"

At that Frost just chuckled.

"If you ever had met him, you wouldn't speak so casual of him. Despite everything I heard, I can say pretty sure: He's not stupid."

"He's got seven girls around him, who're all desperately trying to make him notice that they all have fallen in love with him. They've been trying since two years and he still doesn't notice. Fucking, fucking, of course he's an idiot."

Frost yawned and said:" Y'know, the mistake you all make is to judge him by the way he interacts with others. Socialization isn't as important as it seems."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that if you would stop projecting that presumed denseness onto him, you'd see what I see: Outstanding talent, persistence and the will to protect those he loves."

"Now that you say it… There´s probably more to him than I thought."

"Yeah, probably. Anyway, I heard your troops are preparing to blow up Rappbode Dam."

"Yes, we have already mined the side that´s facing the valley and now we are waiting for some specialists to come and mine the side that is underwater."

"Did you know that Rappbode Dam is the single largest drinking water reservoir in Germany? The lake behind the dam can fit about one-hundred-thirteen cubic meters of water in it and blowing up the dam would cause many nearby towns to be flooded."

"Why, do you think, are we blowing up that thing?"

Frost shrugged. "I just thought you were interested in some facts."

Timur nodded when Frost came to a sudden halt.

"Take a look at that." He said and stretched out his arm to point at what was right in front of them.

Timur looked forward and saw the city of Wernigerode. Flashes of rifle fire could be seen throughout the city and most of the buildings had been reduced to burning rubble with only the snow hiding the fact that the rubble was scorched. Far away there was a group of undamaged buildings. This was where their forces had set up their HQ.

"You really are a psychopath." He said to Frost who needed a moment to realize that certain parts of the city actually were on fire.

He, in return, just chuckled and the two began making their way down the hill and into the city.

"Hey, what do you think? Will we encounter any Germans?" Frost asked Timur when they passed the first destroyed building.

"Probably." He replied. "They won´t start a full-scale assault due to our threat to kill all the civilians but they are constantly sending in strike teams to free at least some civilians."

"Has anyone been freed yet?"

"What kind of result do you expect when sending an infantry team into a city packed with tanks?"

"A simple no and I would have been satisfied."

"Don´t get upset. I mean, the answer was apparent so you should´ve been able to figure it out yourself."

"I did. I just don´t like people who make an elephant out of every fly."

"Oh? Is that so?" Timur asked and smiled underneath his face covers. Frost needed a moment to realize that he had marched into his own trap.

"Timur you prick!"

"Izvinite." Timur said and both of them broke into laughter.

Unbeknownst to them, they had drawn some attention on them and not one of the good kind. A bullet made its way out of a rifle´s barrel and missed Timur´s head only by centimeters.

Both threw themselves on the ground and Timur crawled behind a pile of rubbish lying on the street.

He looked over to Frost, who had done the same and was holding his rifle in his hands.

"Ready to go?" He asked him.

Timur just nodded and Frost jumped out of his cover, firing a quick salvo of shots into the surroundings and drawing the attention of the marksman at himself.

It worked and from this point on the marksman was solely focusing on hitting Frost which, of course, was an near impossible task. It took Timur a few more moments to spot her hideout but once he did, he took out his sniper rifle and prepared for another kill.

"Keine Bewegung!" Someone suddenly shouted from behind.

Timur turned around and stood face to face with two German soldiers who were both pointing their weapons at him.

"Pizdec." He grumbled and dropped his rifle.

"Was sollen wir mit ihm machen?" The soldier asked.

"Mitnehmen und verhören. Der weiß sicher wie wir die Zivilisten aus dem Lager befreien können." The other soldier replied.

"Hey, can you understand me?" She asked Timur in English.

"I´d have to be deaf if I didn´t." He replied with a scornful tone in his voice.

"You´re coming with us. Our commander has some questions."

"What choice do I have?" He sighed.

The other soldier took out her communicator and spoke a few words in German. They waited a few minutes when suddenly Timur´s communicator beeped.

He looked at the German soldiers but the one in charge just said:" Make sure to turn it on loud and don´t try anything stupid."

"Goddammit, Timur. Where´s my fire support?" Frost shouted through the communicator.

"I´m in a bit of a situation here. I´ll catch you later."

"Goddammit. Always leaving the hard work to me, aren´t you? (grumble) Alright, but you better have a good excuse."

Timur put away his communicator while the two German soldiers were talking to each other in a manner that got more and more nervous with any moment that passed.

"Tina sollte eigentlich schon längst hier sein. Hoffentlich ist ihr nichts zugestoßen."

„Wenn ich du wäre würde ich mir mehr Sorgen um uns machen. Wenn Tina nicht rechtzeitig kommt sind wir alle am Arsch."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a vehicle approaching their location.

Both of the soldiers nervously gripped their weapons but relaxed when the vehicle turned out to be a jeep of the German Military.

The jeep came to a halt in front of them and the driver´s door was opened.

"Na endlich, Tina. Ich dachte schon du kommst… Warte mal… Du bist ni-" Before she could finish her sentence, the driver had drawn his gun and ended the lives of the two soldiers with two quick shots into their heads.

"Did someone call a medic?" The driver then asked and took a look at the corpses. "I don´t think I can do anything for them." He clapped his hands. "Well, that´s life on the battlefield."

Timur meanwhile had recognized the voice of one of his closest friends.

"Lars." He exclaimed. "You can´t imagine how happy I am to see you. But what are you doing here anyway? Aren´t you supposed to patch up the wounded at the base?"

"I´m a doctor, not a paramedic." The Milition of the 112. Special Forces Division complained at that suggestion. "I may be able to provide first aid but I cannot do anything more for them if I have to use these pieces of scrap metal they call "surgery instruments". So when I finally was able to catch a break from all that first-aid-providing I jumped out a window and attempted to find you two. On the way I stumbled over a German jeep driver that just got the order to drive to some specific location in this city, so I decided to take the jeep. It took some time and all my skills in terms of fighting-in-a-vehicle but I managed to kill her and drove to that location. Imagine my surprise when I saw you."

Lars looked around for a moment before stating the obvious:" I can´t see Frost anywhere. Weren´t you supposed to be with him?"

Timur turned around to show Lars the spot where he and Frost had first encountered the sniper just in time to catch sight of Frost jumping from a nearby rooftop and onto another while a sniper tried to prevent him from doing so (unsuccessfully).

Frost crashed through the rooftop of the building the sniper was in and for a few moments there was silence.

"I see." Lars murmured before the silence was broken by a blood-curdling scream. A few moments later a corpse broke through the roof and landed on the pathway in front of them.

Frost followed not long after and landed on the corpse, breaking several vertebras of the already dead woman.

"You better have a good explanation for letting me fight that asshole sniper alone. Compared to us they may be noobs but there´s no denying that the Germans have one of the best armies in the world."

When he spotted Lars his tone changed from reproachful to aghast.

"Don´t tell me you chose a chat with Lars over my life."

"Well, I can´t tell what was going on in Timur but those two ladies certainly did." Lars said while stepping aside and revealing the corpses of the German soldiers. That effectively defused the situation and Frost went back to normal.

"I see. Then there´s no reason to waste any more time by standing around here. Lars, you think you can get that jeep running?"

"Of course."

They all entered the jeep with Lars and Frost taking the front seats and Timur taking the back row with his sniper rifle.

"So, Lars while we were up there in the Harz when we got that call." Frost said while they were driving through the snowy streets.

"I already know." Lars replied. "There´s that one German plane and we need to discuss if we should shoot it down. I wonder why you didn´t give permission to shoot it down. Judging by its current course it will fly over the city and we´d have no problems shooting it down."

"There may be a special person aboard that plane. If I´m wrong you can shoot down the plane whenever you want, but first I need to check."

"Did the Council devise another super-secret plan we´re not supposed to know anything about?"

"Yes, they did but it has nothing to do with this. This time I´m acting completely on my own behalf."

"I don´t think the Council is gonna like that, especially not in a situation like this."

"As if I care. If this works, the Council will be grateful."

"And if it doesn´t?"

"Then I´m screwed."

"You sound pretty optimistic. But nonetheless it would be better if you´d tell us what you have planned. Maybe we can help."

"You know, sometimes less is more. My "hidden agenda" basically consists of one thing to do: Talking to a certain person."

"And how exactly will make the Council thank you for that?"

"Maybe I should correct myself: You are going thank me."

"Now, if you´d explain that, I´d probably understand what you´re trying to say."

"Sometimes you only have to know what person you have to talk to. I attempt to speak to Lieutenant Clarissa Harfouch. She´s currently at Harz Military Base and to understand what makes her so important you have to know her history. Although she is a member of Schwarzer Hase, she´s not a test-tube baby. She´s rather an intelligence officer who was given command of Schwarzer Hase until one of the members reached the age of eighteen and therefore the legal authority to take command of Schwarzer Hase. Her position during that time had one pivotal reason. As a member of the BND and the Ministry for the Protection of the Constitution or BVS she withheld the right to monitor all the members of the unit to find and suppress any signs of deviation. She did a good job as all members of Schwarzer Hase are completely loyal puppets of the German government."

"So what´s the point?" Lars asked when they stopped in front of the temporary headquarters.

"The point is that she holds significant influence within the German intelligence and military. If I do it right, I can distract her from the Red Star which will reduce the effort you have to make when it comes to dealing with the Germans." Frost answered while exiting the car on the right side.

"I see. Are you willing to share what you have in mind?"

"No." Frost said while he pushed open the steel door of the headquarters and proceeded to the Ops.

While Lars stood there like stunned Timur also exited the jeep and positioned himself next to him.

"The poor boy." Lars muttered. "He´s been out of the sickbed for no longer than five hours and he´s already overexerting himself."

"You know Frost. Whenever he´s putting his health on the line there´s something bigger behind it." Timur said with a trace of concern in his voice.

"It has to be very important to him. Until now he´s always told us if there was something he wanted to get done outside of his field of responsibility." Lars replied.

"It has to be something damn important if he´s not willing to tell us. Do you think it´s something personal? Something with his past?"

"Could be possible. But I´d rather not. Whenever it´s something personal with him, things tend to get out of hand. Add to that a "very" and I´m beginning to believe that he's planning genocide."

"I´d be more concerned about Frost rather than what he´s planning to do or not to do. When this ends like last time, all we can do is hope that the Council is in a good mood when they address that matter."

"Are you sure that there is nothing we can do to help him, should it come to the worst?"

"We can try. But we´ll either get vetoed by the Council or by Frost."

"You know, I have a feeling about what´s to come. A feeling that tells me that Frost will be relying on us more than ever when this is over."

"Just a feeling or did you plan something?"

"Just a feeling. But one with hope as it´s source. The hope that he´ll realize that he cannot be the lone wolf forever."

Timur sighed after that and let silence fill the air. He inhaled the cold air and exhaled again, watching the small cloud taking form before it disappeared again.

"Let´s head inside. All that fighting made me hungry." He said after a moment and both of them entered the building on the search for something edible.

After getting themselves something to eat they began searching for a favorable spot to enjoy their meal and their choice fell on the roof terrace.

Now they were sitting on the railing of the roof terrace, their feet dangling over the inner courtyard and their gazes focused on the wooded, snowy mountain slopes in the far background. Although it was a view to die for, Timur couldn´t quite come to enjoy neither the scenery nor his food.

"Come on Timur. You´ve been getting something to eat and you´re already losing focus." Lars snapped him back to reality.

"You´re probably right." He muttered while keeping his eyes trained at nothing in particular. "It´s just… I still have to think about what Frost said in the forest."

"What´d he say?" Lars asked out of pure curiosity.

"He said that his next mission would lead him very far away and that he wasn´t sure if he´d survive. He has promised to return but I´m not sure if he´s inclined to keep his promise. If it has something to do with his hidden agenda, chances are high that the next time we´ll see him, he´ll be in a coffin."

Lars continued chewing on his piece of bread before swallowing it and turning to Timur.

"Listen." He said while putting his hand on Timur´s shoulder. "I know you are worried about him and as a medic and your friend I can totally understand but I can assure you, he knows how to stay alive and he will not waste that knowledge. On top of that he can pack quite a punch. Also, his abilities to combat both superior and evenly matched enemies are second-to-none. If you ask me, I'd say he's the perfect soldier… Well, at least if you are able to overlook his occasional lack of respect towards superiors."

"That´s not it." Timur protested. "I know that he´s able to take care of himself and I would never dare to trust his combat ability. It´s just… deep inside me there is something… something that wants to keep him as far away from danger as possible. I´ve already lost one family. If even one member of my new one died… I wouldn´t be able to bear it… I´d probably become depressive or worse… Like Frost when he´s in Psycho Mode." He whispered the last part.

Suddenly someone began clapping his hands behind them and Timur turned around in shock to find himself face to face with Frost. He had removed his balaclava and the mouth protection of his helmet. This left only his eyes covered and Timur could see a smile forming in the lower part of his face.

"How touching." Frost said with an emotionless voice while the smile faded as fast as it had appeared.

"H-How long have you been standing here?" Timur stuttered.

"Since I heard someone praising my abilities as a soldier." He answered and looked at Lars while smiling. "I just wanted to inform you two that this plane is not going to be shot down. Someone very important is onboard of that plane."

"Important to whom?" Lars asked.

"To me." Frost said with a bit more harshness in his voice than appropriate in this situation. "Anyway, my most recent encounter with this person has shown that I need to become stronger if I ever want to stand a real chance against her."

He took a deep breath and continued. "Lars?"

"Yes?" The person spoken to turned his attention fully to Frost.

"I need one of the Injections."

For a moment there was nothing but silence and Timur anxiously waited for Frost´s lips to form a smile again to signal that it all had been a joke but no such thing happened.

Lars had evidently reached the same conclusion as Timur and was now turning around and hopped off the railing. He walked a few steps until he stood directly in front of Frost.

"You´re serious about this, aren´t you?" He asked Frost.

"Now more than ever." He replied.

"I´m going to prepare everything. However, it´ll probably take a few days, as those things will be flown here directly from the Motherland." Lars said and proceeded with his way downstairs, leaving Frost and Timur alone, the latter still shocked about what his friend had said a few moments ago.

Timur was looking at the ground and tried as good as possible to avoid looking into Frost´s face.

"I can´t believe you just did that." Timur said in a low voice. "You´ve taken a spear to the thigh and now you´re trying to kill yourself?"

Frost scratched the back of his helmet and said:" Your concern is touching but sometimes you can take it too far. You have to understand that if I don´t become stronger I´ll never stand a chance against her."

"I want to… but… I don´t understand… It can´t be… It just can´t be. No one should be willing to kill himself for something so… so…" He was cut off by Frost.

"Of course you don´t understand. You weren´t put through the stuff I had to go through. You have no idea how it is to experience rejection and betrayal. I, in return have been experiencing these things since the day I was born. But most important of all, you have no idea how it is to lose the person you love." Frost said and looked up into the sky. He sounded unusually infuriated.

"That´s a lie." Timur said.

"Explain." He demanded without turning his eyes away from the sky.

"I didn´t tell you until now because I never saw a moment in which it seemed appropriate, but I had parents too. I even had a little brother. All of them died during the Incident eleven years ago. My parents sacrificed themselves to make it possible for me and Cyril to escape but in the end it didn´t make a difference. Cyril was murdered before my eyes and I would have followed if it hadn´t been Aria."

At that, Frost suddenly moved his head downwards and began making large steps in Timur´s direction until he stood right in front of him and grabbed his collar.

"From where do you know Commander Rayashi?" He asked in a low voice.

"W-well, as I just said, she was the one that saved me from certain death. She and the 3rd Domestic Airborne Division. If it hadn´t been for them, none of my friends would be among the living right now."

"I see." Frost said and let go of his collar. "But that´s not what I was trying to say."

"Huh?"

"Say, Timur. Were you ever in love? Have you ever loved someone so badly that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with that person?"

"I was eight when I entered the military! There was no possible way I could have…"

"Answer my question."

"Well… No."

"See? There you have it. You´ve never been in love. But I was. And I lost him." Frost sighed and turned around.

While approaching the stairs he said:" I envy you, Timur."

With that he left the roof terrace.

Timur just stood there, his eyes trained at nothing in particular while he tried to figure out what got Frost so upset.

About five minutes later, the airplane hit the ground of the runway of Harz Military Base.

When Laura left the Airplane she was immediately greeted by Clarissa and Maia. Both of them saluted and Clarissa said:" It´s good to have you back, Captain. About fifteen minutes ago we received reports about an attack on one of our strike teams in Wernigerode. We were able to recover the footage of one of their helmet cams but nothing more."

Clarissa handed her a pad with the recovered footage.

The footage was shot from the helmet of a soldier who was standing next to a jeep and repeatedly looking at her watch. Suddenly a shot resounded through the area and a few moments later her communicator rang.

"Tina here. What´s the problem?"

"Get your ass over here. We found something interesting."

"Alright." The soldier said and put away her communicator. Upon entering the jeep, she heard something hit the ground on the other side of the vehicle. She drew her gun and went around the front of the vehicle to check the other side, but when she arrived there wasn´t anything there.

Suddenly someone grabbed her leg from underneath the jeep and pulled on it. The soldier managed to stay on her feet and shot the arm of the unknown attacker a few times before retreating into the jeep and starting its engines.

She looked behind the truck a few times and after driving for some time she let out a sigh of relief. Just then a metal claw broke through the window on her side and attempted to grab her but she was faster and pulled the attacker through the window while drawing her gun.

"Don´t shoot! I surrender." The soldier exclaimed in clearly audible German as he landed on her lap.

"That´s a problem." She replied.

"Why? I mean, we both live longer through that."

"Pfff, as if. Now get out of my lap before an accident happens."

The attacker tried to get to the other side of the front seat row without causing too much discomfort to the German soldier but his attempts had little impact on the soldier´s mood.

After taking his seat he remained silent while the soldier still pointed her gun at him. After some time he asked:" Do you mind if I bandage myself?"

"Why?" She asked.

"Well, you´re quite good at aiming and shooting." He said while pointing at his bloody left arm.

"Did you just compliment me?" She asked in a rather suspicious tone.

"Who knows?" He said and chuckled. "But seriously, answer my question."

"You can bandage yourself but don´t pull any tricks or else we both might end up dead."

She watched the attacker closely while he opened the pouch attached to his thigh and took out a small bandage.

As soon as he was done wrapping it around his arm the pain seemed to get alleviated and the soldier let out a sigh and said:" Thanks."

"For what?" The soldier asked.

"For letting my take care of my wounds. I don´t know many people who would let a POW bandage himself in a situation like this."

"Well, it seems that this is your lucky day." She scoffed. He only laughed at that.

"By the way, my name´s Lars. What´s yours?"

At that the soldier had to evade a bunch of rocks on the road. The tires screeched and she yelled:" Are you out of your mind? You cannot just… just ask something like this."

"Why not?" The soldier asked. "I´m going to jail anyway so I can do as I please."

On that, the soldier didn´t respond and instead chose to remain silent. After some more driving through the streets she asked the attacker:" Say, Lars. Did you mean that earlier really as a compliment?"

"I think it was more of a fact. But it´s sweet of you to think so." He answered and chuckled.

"Uh, okay." The soldier was noticeably confused. Despite the fact that he had been captured and was likely going to get interrogated, the attacker remained nice and friendly. Laura could sense a trap and her fears came true when the attacker suddenly stabbed the soldier who couldn´t react fast enough and was rendered hors de combat.

The attacker pushed her out the jeep and laughingly drove away. The soldier groaned in pain as she hit the concrete ground.

After a few more seconds she heard tires screeching followed by two shots and a little later a blood-curdling scream.

The soldier gasped in shock and tried to get up but her wound didn´t made it very easy.

After some time of stumbling-through-the-streets she eventually reached the place where she was supposed to meet her comrades. Much to her horror, all she could find were two bodies, each with a shot in its head.

The soldier collapsed and with that the recorded footage ended.

Clarissa took the pad and continued her report:" A little research has confirmed that this person is the leader of the Red Star task force that has attacked the Schwarzer Hase-HQ. We don´t know much about him except for that he seems to be of German ancestry. However, I´m more concerned about that guy we call the Lieutenant."

"Why that?" Laura asked curiously.

"He´s clashed with the worldwide authorities more than one time in the past and he´s managed to inflict considerable damage so far. He´s incredibly dangerous even if he´s not here right now. Should you ever happen to cross paths with him, you have to take him out immediately."

"Understood." Laura said. "Now tell me, where do I have to go to negotiate?"

"Well… Uhm… That´s another problem. The Red Star hasn´t send us any coordinates yet

"I guess I´ll just have to wait until anything happens."

"I might have a good idea, Captain."

"I´m all ears."

"There currently are some BND agents at the base with the goal of creating dossiers about the Red Star and its leadership. The White Star has told us that we have to begin examining the third level of their leadership if we want to stand a chance but it´s going to take some time. You´ve talked to the Lieutenant before, didn´t you?"

"Well, yes." Laura answered slowly.

"What can you tell us about him?"

"He´s a deranged lunatic, that´s for sure. He also possesses abnormal physical strength as seen during our battle at ISA. I would have checked the recordings, but strangely there didn´t seem to be any."

Laura clenched her fists as she spoke. "He must have known where the recordings are kept. There´s no other possible explanation."

"Deranged, calculating, possesses abnormal physical strength." Clarissa muttered as she wrote down said words. "Is there anything else?" She asked.

"No, but I'll do my best to get the information you need. I'll let you know once I have news." Laura replied.

Suddenly, Laura´s stomach made its presence known through a loud growl, making clear that she wouldn´t be able to last longer than a few hours if she didn´t manage to get something to eat.

On her way to the mess she ran into Emilie, one of her fellow soldiers.

"Greetings, Captain. May I ask where you are underway to?" The blonde girl asked in a submissive, typical for the military, tone.

"To the mess. I´m hungry." Laura replied briefly. Without another word she continued her march.

After taking a few more steps, however, she turned around and saw Emilie still standing there. Laura couldn´t tell exactly but she looked hungry.

"Did you eat anything onboard of the plane?" She asked curtly.

Emilie just shook her head and Laura sighed. Emilie was a rather shy girl, always waiting for and fearing other´s opinions. She was reliable in battle but outside the battlefield it took patience and understanding if one wanted to learn how to interact with her properly.

"Do you want to come to the mess with me?" Laura addressed her in a soft voice.

For a moment Emilie looked quite shocked, but after a moment her lips formed a smile and she nodded.

"Then come." Laura said and tilted her head into the direction of the mess.

The mess was filled with soldiers, either returning from battle and eating something in to recharge, or taking a small snack before heading out again.

Timur´s eyes hovered over the masses and small smile formed on his face only to fade away immediately. Despite the situation he was in, he couldn´t help but feel proud of his men. Despite waging a nearly forlorn war, these men had found the time to smile and laugh. Despite all the grief, hardship and pain they had experienced, they managed to keep living. He couldn´t help but be proud of them.

"Hey, Milition. What´s with that gloomy face?" A cheerful voice caused him to look up.

"Hi, Sara. I´m just thinking, that´s all." He responded.

At this point he really wasn´t open for an conversation, least with one of the second-most stubborn person he´d known, after Frost. If Sara had stuck with an idea she wasn´t likely to let go of it anytime soon.

"It´s gotta be something serious." She teased him. "C´mon, wanna sit with us? Jason currently has some of that red fruit jelly, I´m almost certain you´re gonna like it."

"Almost?" He raised his eyebrow. "I´m not convinced."

"Aww, you´re no fun." She pouted playingly. "C´mon. Whatever you´re worried about, it won´t become better if you just stand here and maintain that gloomy expression. Also, I doubt that you can do anything about it right now."

"What makes you think that?"

"If you could, you would have done a long time ago."

At that he had to smile. "You know me too well. (sigh) Alright, I´ll be coming with you."

Sara let out a cheer and grabbed his arm. She dragged him out of the mess and to the edge of the nearby field where he could see a small table with nine other persons sitting around it.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked a bit surprised as he recognized the persons sitting around the table.

"Well, the mess was full and stuffy, so we decided to steal a table and some sweets." Evie answered laughing. "Besides, you have to admit, having a midnight snack under the clear, starlit sky is alluring."

"Yeah, you´re right." Timur said as he looked up into the sky.

"C´mon, take a seat. I saved you some of that red fruit jelly." Jason said and Timur thankfully took the piece of food.

They sat beneath the night sky chatting, laughing and for a fraction of a second, Timur forgot all his worries.