Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Snowy Soulmates. Enjoy the 1500-word chapter. I don't own VK, Sega, Ryutaro Nonaka and Shuntaro Tanaka do.

Matias and Minerva shared a look at the sight of the APC. They couldn't believe it. One of their own vehicles on their terrain? That was both convenient, and TOO convenient for either military officer to really believe in it at all. It didn't help that both knew they had little choice. If they tried to run? They'd be gunned down in the snow alongside their troops, buried like trash among countless corpses.

"What are you thinking?" Matias questioned, not lowering his gun for a second as both looked at the vehicle. "I'm thinking it's too good to be true. There's no real way they'd just send an APC like this, not without knowing our position." Matias added, keeping his sights aimed on the tank in front of them.

The vehicle slowly but surely began to approach, keeping its turret sweeping across the tundra as it did so. That was standard Vinland procedure, though. You kept a constant vigil for the enemy to make sure nobody flanked you. It was also why most soldiers boarded the vehicle backwards, keeping their backs to the transport while pulling themselves in case someone flanked you from behind and you needed to shoot them while boarding. It wasn't the most usual method.

But then again? They weren't the most usual military when it came down to it, and that was partly why they won battles while other countries struggled with it.

"I need a soldier to check it out." Minerva responded, gesturing to the tank with a finger. "Everyone else? Rifles up." Minerva added, knowing what would happen if this was a trick like she could guess it was.

The empire wasn't stupid, if they had cornered them? Then they'd be dead before they even got a shot off. Minerva wasn't going to die without a fight, however if that was how she did indeed expire.

"Boss?" One of the soldiers said before Matias nodded, gesturing to the APC in question as well to ensure the soldier knew his intention from the start. "Ok then." The soldier said before slowly approaching the APC with caution, casting a gaze over his shoulder towards Matias who nodded to him.

These men were brave, Matias couldn't ask for better soldiers then them. He turned to Minerva, curious as to their next move when they got out of here, if the empire was chasing them so hungrily? They'd have stepped up their attack on the base as well. Matias could only guess imperial forces were laying siege to the base, trying to get the soldiers to panic and attempt escape into the wilderness where untold horrors awaited them as well.

It was NOT a comforting thought to the colonel who hated the very thought of one of his men dying to the empire… But they had made their choices to serve here, Matias wouldn't spit on their choices and he hoped no soldier spit on his decisions.

"Are you with the Vinland army?" The soldier asked, knocking on the door, he turned a second to look at Matias.

The door slid open and every soldier including Matias and Minerva brought their guns up. Matias and Minerva could feel the cold winds of the icy plains sweep over their bodies, but it was repelled by their strong wills. They focused on keeping their men alive before themselves.

"Sir, it's friendly, hold fire!" The soldier stated to which the majority of soldiers lowered their weapons. "How did you find us? The blizzard is keeping everything screwed to hell and back." The soldier questioned, knowing the group could easily be hostile.

"Followed the large tracks, your squad left thousands." The soldier in the vehicle responded as the squad approached. "We've heard chatter from the rest of the platoons, it's not going well out here, their trying to round up forces." The soldier added to which Matias cursed.

"Did they reach the point yet?" Matias questioned, keeping his pistol ready if he needed the weapon at all. "They shouldn't be that far yet, that's why we tried to delay them so much after all." Matias stated as he sighed.

He hoped they were already putting distance between them and the imperial forces. The longer this went on? The more ended up dying to gunfire and the elements.

"There's plenty of soldiers getting out when they can." Matias heard as he shook his head. "There's plenty of enemies for us out here, though. We're heading to the evac point, the Vinland fleet…" Matias heard as he nodded, unsure of what to say next.

"The Vinland fleets?" Matias questioned, raising his eyebrow as he did so. "I thought they left when they dropped off our forces." Matias stated as he shook his head, curious as to how to adjust to this.

"They retreated to a maximum safe distance, didn't want their AA defenses busy." Matias heard as he hummed to himself. "There's no shortage of ships that can house us. However? We still need boots on the ground, this blizzard is playing havoc with the radar." Matias stated to which Minerva raised an eyebrow.

"The Vinland fleet had forces offshore?" Minerva questioned which garnered a nod. "Why didn't they coordinate with us? we could have lured them into a trap." Minerva said to herself as Matias hummed, unsure of himself.

"The empire has just as powerful a military as us, Ms. Victor." Matias said as he sighed. "If we were to go fully to war with them? We'd be fighting a losing industrial battle just as much as a military one." Matias said before clearing his throat as he sat up.

"Vinland has just as powerful a military industry as the empire, there is no way they'd be outmatched." Minerva said as Matias nodded.

"Yeah, but allow me to point something out." Matias said as he slowly sat up, humming as he did so. "They are located across the sea, so are we. Let's say we can make 200000 tanks and they make 100000. We are still miles away from them. If that happens? Then we still have to deal with them being thousands of miles away. We then have to transport, prepare, load, stock those weapons… It would take months to bring all of that over here." Matias stated as he clicked his fingers on the metal.

Minerva was silent, that was a good point, even if she didn't want to admit it, not yet. There was a lot on her mind to think about, like the next monster of a battle. This war wasn't even halfway over and the empire already had them on the back foot. How could you handle a war that was constantly shifting with battlelines? Minerva couldn't begin to imagine those moves and plays they'd have to play in order to earn back the advantage. However? Their strike on imperial lines was probably enough to shift some of the power back to their side of the court.

"There's going to be more battles to fight coming up." Matias added as he paused to think about it. "How do you handle a million soldiers who know the terrain and area better than you do? It's impossible." Matias put in, placing a hand on the hull as he sighed to himself.

"Do you want me to point out how bad we could have lost?" Minerva questioned to which Matias shook his head. "This war could end a lot better if we didn't constantly squander assets." Minerva stated as Matias hummed, brushing off his armor as he did so.

"To be fair? We're fighting the war on their terms, not ours." Matias said, crossing his arms. "The enemy knows the terrain, their equipped for the winter. We aren't, to them? This is nothing more than a wartime exercise, to us? It's the biggest charge we've made as an army." Matias stated as he closed his eyes.

"How many men do you think escaped because of us?" Minerva questioned as the colonel opened his eyes. "This type of fight? We're be lucky if a few battalions managed to make it back by now." Minerva stated before she rubbed at her cold arms.

"I don't know, I hope almost all of them." Matias stated as he sat up. "But that's war for you, there's plenty of work to be down. If we manage to regroup? Then we can cut them down with a counter attack, till then? We need a way to end them and evade them. This winter isn't going to help with our strategy." Matias stated before Minerva nodded.

Author notes

Phew. Another chapter done! I want to point out next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will be longer. Next chapter will be 900-5500 words or such and will show them arriving at the dwarf and such. Next chapter is much longer and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!