The twenty recruits waiting to be made into soldiers sat in two rows on either side of the glass-walled chamber, clad in sweaty leather and trying to amuse themselves in their waiting with knuckle-cracking competitions (since burping without excuse is known widely as being most unlawful when in the presence of ladies, even in America, and when paired with the fact that soon there'd be one in their midst it seemed most inappropriate). At last a squadron of six taller, more muscular European guards opened the mirrored double doors and the men, all between the ages of sixteen and eighteen and containing an average education in their multi-colored-haired heads, quieted and rose to their feet.

Walking down their center line was a young woman of nineteen, her hair brown with natural blond highlights and barely touching her shoulder blades. It swung artfully as she walked. Her eyes were gentle, masking her spirit in their perfect pale gray. She also wore leather, a jacket and black skirt to match, as well as a pair of the typical knee-high chunk- heeled black boots to complete the devilish ensemble. As she removed her coat and handed it lightly to one of her bodyguards, with utmost trained pageant-like poise and grace, it could be seen that underneath she wore a tank top that said, very simply, "Berlin".

Finally she stopped at the opposite end of the room, and turned to face her troops. "You need not know my name, so please refrain from daring to ask. You are to know me as Lucifer's Bride when in anyone's presence." A couple of the men noted, through their quieted conversation, that she could turn on and off her German accent at will. "The same goes for the twenty of you. You may choose to be known as whatever you like, the strangest possible encouraged." One of the younger boys, a Briton with thick-rimmed glasses, relished this chance to put his Star Wars logic to good use.

Then she turned on her heel, but paused at the door. "Oh.by the way.long live Hans Gruben." The guards returned her salute as she retreated to her private chambers with a cockily raised eyebrow.