The crunch of the snow seemed to echo through the still snowy forest despite Mg42's best efforts to keep silent. The overcast sky threatened to bring more snow, dampening her already discouraged mood as she trudged after Kar98k and Mp40. She longed for the comfort of Springfield's cafe, warm and full of friends with smiling faces. Still she kept up with her two squad mates, even though her weapon was heavier than both of theirs' combined.

Step after step, crunch by agonizing crunch, toward an unknown destination. She wondered how cold it actually was, but she refused to turn this sensor on. She leaned her Lmg against her shoulder as she walked.

Suddenly Kar used a hand signal for them to stop. The squad knelt to the ground quickly, but silently. Kar98k's head swiveled around as she seemed to hear something. Soon Mg42 heard it too.

The crunch of feet moving through snow came from behind them. Kar then gave a series of hand signals and MG42 nodded along with MP40. With some noisy haste, she moved to some snowy underbrush on the side of the trail that was by where Kar had stopped.

She unfolded her bi-pod and laid down in the snow, being sure to hide most of her gun in the brush as she aimed toward the sound of the unknown footsteps. Kar98k and Mp40 took positions behind trees on the opposite side of the trail aiming in the same direction. She waited, watching for any sign of the enemy as the world seemed to slow to a stop.

A shot fired from Kar98k broke the spell, echoing across the forest followed by her operating the bolt of her gun with inhuman speed. She fired again, but still Mg42 didn't see the enemy yet.

"Rippers!" Kar yelled once more firing. "Watch your aim," soon enough from a bend farther down the path that the squad had been following, Sangvis Ferri Ripper model T-dolls broke into her line of sight. The MG squeezed her trigger.

Her gun spat round after round, and Mg42 almost laughed with enjoyment from the feeling. The blistering fire rate of the machine gun would prove fatal for the Sangvis dolls that had been charging down the path. She stopped once those that she could see were dead. Once more she watched for easy targets to reveal themselves.

Kar98k fired again, but now Mp40 was also in the firefight. The two fired at unknown enemies, but soon the distinct particle weapons of the Sangvis fired back, revealing their position to the waiting MG. Not wasting this moment, Mg42 turned her gun toward a tree in the distance and squeezed once more.

The tree splintered from the suppressive fire of her gun. Guessing the enemy to have either moved or was dead, she stopped shooting. She then turned further to her left, aiming toward a fallen tree that sat on a small hill. Particles flew from behind the log so Mg42 once again laid down fire upon the position.

Part way through her blasting the poor log with holes, her gun clicked and stopped shooting. She pulled back the bolt and lifted the cover so she could pull out the Gurttrommel (drum mag). She quickly placed a new one in and fed the belt into position before closing the cover, ready to fire once again.

She looked up to see a ripper was dangerously close to her on her left. Luckily Kar destroyed its head before it could shoot, saving the poor MG. looking to acquire new targets, she watched but only the sound of Mp40 shooting some unseen target filled the air. It quickly ended with the sound of the quiet forest returning once more.

"Clear," MP40 said. Mg42 now stood up and folded her bi-pod once more.

"Only the first wave, I imagine they were meant to slow us down." Kar98k said. "Which is weird. They came from…" she seemed to be in thought.

"What do you mean?" Mg42 asked. The group gathered on the path.

"It's nothing," Kar98k said, "we should keep moving." She started down the path again and the other two looked at each other.

"I guess we keep going, 40?" the MG shrugged, unsure if Kar was hinting at something.

"I believe those are our orders," The Smg started walking followed by Mg42. "Ma'am, are you getting any contact on any frequency?"

"No, and until you reach the airbase don't send any signals. The enemy is most likely monitoring our comms." the squad leader remarked. Silence followed as they walked. For several minutes the sound of their footsteps were all they heard.

"River, ahead." Kar98k said. "Watch for ambushes." sure enough the sound of water moving filled the frozen air. It wasn't long before they crested the ridge of a ravine to find a river below them flowing through the ravine. The river was wide, but not very deep according to MG42's sensors. "Mg42, you go first. Set up on the opposite ridge from us so you cover me and 40 as we cross." with a nod the MG slid down the side of the ridge and prepared to cross.

One step in and she could swear she felt the water freezing her leg, despite her not having those sensors on. She could see her leggings soaking up the cold liquid as she looked down to find places to step.

"42, once you cross remove your leggings so your legs don't get frozen." Mp40 called from the ridge. 42 gritted her teeth as she inched through the thigh high water. An eternity of wading later it became shallower and easier to move. She then stepped onto the bank of the river.

Doing as Mp40 said, she removed her shoes and quickly removed her leggings. Once this was done she put her shoes back on and stuffed the leggings in her bag. She then began to climb the other side of the ravine. Now on top she unfolded her bipod and laid down to cover the way she came.

"40, go." Kar said. The smg saluted the rifle and slid down the side of the ravine. Mg42 watched as Mp40 untied her boots and removed her socks before putting the boots back on. The smg then began to cross.

The first step in, Mp40 seemed to have the same reaction as her. The poor smg then gritted her teeth too as she moved step by step though the water, being sure to keep her gun and Saber from touching the cold river. Though she crossed slowly, it passed uneventfully.

"Why didn't you tell me to do that?" Mg42 asked.

"42, please keep watch," Mp40 said sternly. She was busy checking her belt to ensure her sword was still attached properly. "Also I didn't think about it until you were already halfway across." She found a large rock nearby the river to use as cover. "Ma'am, it's your turn."

The rifle slid down the side of the ravine. As her boots were pretty high on her legs, she walked in with little need to remove anything. She visibly gritted her teeth as she must have felt the imagined bite of the river too.

Suddenly particles fired from the ridge flew toward Mg42 and over her head. She aimed toward the source of the attack and unleashed her torrent of bullets. Trees splintered as she felt a rising sensation within her, causing her to laugh almost maniacally. More particles shot from the ridge so she turned her gun to fire at them too, though she couldn't make them out individually. She kept up with new targets as they showed up.

Her gun clicked and she began reloading. As this was going on she looked to see that Kar98k was almost across now. However, as she grabbed a new Gurttrommel, particles from a Vespid model T-doll fired at Kar. Mp40 tried to suppress the doll but it was too late.

The rifle screamed as her right shoulder was hit by the first particle. She fell into the river which kept her from getting hit by the rest of the shots. Mg42 froze with the Gurtrommel in her hand.

"42, cover me!" Mp40 called, snapping the MG's attention back to the situation.

"I'm still reloading," she quickly pulled the belt so she could place it in her gun.

"Los schnell!" the smg fired up toward the ridge at a hiding T-doll.

"Ich weiss." she said more to herself then to Mp40. She placed the cover on and aimed for any enemy she could see, her heart racing with anxiety while doing so.

Out of the corner of her eye as she unleashed torrents of rounds at any doll foolish enough to approach the opposing ridge, she saw Mp40 remove her belt and place her saber against the rock. The Smg then charged into the freezing water again to rescue their squad leader.

Despite the rush of her firing her gun, she couldn't drop her worry for Kar. she watched the ridge holding her breath while occasionally glancing at Mp40 who had now picked up Kar. The two were now walking to the shore. More rounds were fired preventing the enemy from reaching the ridge.

The two dolls below stepped onto the snowy shore and Mp40 then moved to place Kar98k against the rock she had hid behind earlier. As Mg42 pulled back the handle of her gun to reload again, Mp40 fired at a T-doll behind a tree next to the ridge. What little of the enemy force that was left now began to dwindle as if they backed off to regroup.

"Mg42, help me get Kar up the ridge." the Mg left her gun and scrambled over to the edge to lift their leader up the cliff. Once Mp40 had scaled the ridge, Kar98k finally spoke.

"42, you need to find a shelter of any kind. Me and 40 will freeze if you don't hurry."

"Right," she quickly picked up her gun and bag.

"We'll be right behind you. you must hurry." Mp40 said. Despite her heavy load, Mg42 ran like her life depended on it. She looked desperately for anything they could use to warm themselves, her fear making her search harder. Then she saw it in the growing darkness.

"40!" she almost cried, "a small cabin," she pointed to a small cabin in the distance.

"Secure it 42," the Smg called to her as she and Kar walked together. Mg42 ran as fast as she could. She lined up at the door and gently leaned against it, opening it with her gun ready in case the dark cabin was occupied. Once open, she flipped on the switch and backed behind the door for safety. When nothing happened she pushed against the door again and slowly cleared the room. The cabin was empty and decent sized. She looked around the main area of the cabin and quickly checked behind a door, in a similar fashion to earlier, next to the front door that, turns out, led to a bedroom. Coming back to the main room she moved along the wall to a corner. She inched along its sight line until she cleared the small space behind it, learning that this was a kitchen with a sink.

Now that the place was clear she looked at the cozy couch in front of a fireplace that sat on the opposing wall from the kitchen. Thinking that the light might reveal them, Mg42 moved to the windows on each side of the cabin, perpendicular to the fireplace and kitchen, and closed the curtains. She then moved to the door just as Mp40 opened it.