I headed back to Ruinberg, where I witnessed a couple of German tanks driving away after a battle.
However, that's not what I was concerned about.
I was looking for my old friend.
After a brief search, I found the burnt-out hulk of Goliath.
I immediately stopped the A-20, jumped out and embraced my old friend, crying.
"Oh, I've missed you so much! I'm sorry, Goliath!"
I think I cried even more than I did at Norway.
I knew that, logically, it was silly to get worked up over a machine, but as I've told you before, this was my best friend and we've been through a lot.
After my little crying fit, I sobered up and worked on getting Goliath to a functional state again.
Nobody showed, so once Goliath was functional, I destroyed the A-20 with a grenade and went home.
Back home, I took a nice, long sleep.
When I awoke, I started working on a lot of things.
First of all, I gave Goliath some proper repairs and made it totally functional again.
Second of all, I needed a new suit of armor because, as you know, my old set was in questionable condition.
After grabbing some scrap metal, I got to work.
In the end, I built a slightly more refined armored suit, which eliminated some weaknesses of the original.
Finally, I needed to do something about my PPSh-41.
Sure, it was compact, but I felt that it might still be a little difficult to handle inside a tank, so I sawed off part of the stock, leaving the "pistol grip" portion intact.
After all that hard work, I decided to relax.
First, I read through one of the tank handbooks I seized.
The book had plenty of new information on Soviet tanks, including: The KV-4, the IS-4, the IS-6 (also known as Object 252), and a tank destroyer called the ISU-152, which was an SU-152 built on an IS tank chassis and with a few more modifications.
With the information in this book, I could go into battle and not be puzzled when I saw a new Soviet tank!
Well…for now, at least.
The memorandum I acquired was also eye-opening:
"MEMORANDUM #41211:
'THE GOLIATH CASE'
Attention all company commanders; it has come to my attention that a certain tanker has been wrecking our cause. Not much is known about the suspect.
What we do know is that our suspect operates a KV-2 armed with a 152mm M-10 howitzer. The tank has the name 'GOLIATH' painted on the turret. Thus far, the suspect has struck against the Armored Shadows & Winter Warriors divisions. This tanker is very ingenious and as such, should be considered extremely dangerous.
Should you manage to kill or capture this man, please report it at once. If this is confirmed, then you shall receive a great reward.
-Regards,
W.G."
Uh-oh, looks like they're on to me!
Given the network that's behind this "W.G.", I don't think I can go out there for too long without being killed!
So, instead of bringing out Goliath, I decided to test out two of the other tanks that I'd bought.
First, I brought out the T-150.
Except for the increase in firepower, accuracy and armor, it was largely identical to the KV-1, so I stopped using it after a few battles.
I still kept it, just in case it had some need.
Once the T-150 was shelved, I went into action with the KV-3.
I didn't notice at first, but when I checked it out, it appeared that the same people who gave me the KV-1 and T-150 had also repaired this thing.
At first, I was pretty disappointed because the KV-3 felt slower and didn't seem to handle as well as Goliath.
However, it had good accuracy, great firepower (not as much as Goliath, of course), and great penetration.
Hmmm…maybe I could get used to this thing!
At this point, I had a great idea:
I was going to get back at the Red Wolves!
Ordinarily, this would've been a risky choice, but I had a special plan, you see.
For this plan, I painted my KV-3 in the same camouflage scheme as their tanks and also painted their logo on.
Thankfully, I had a picture of one of their tanks plus a document with their logo on it, so it wasn't much trouble.
With that all done, I hopped in to my KV-3 and headed back to Ruinberg.
While there, I spotted the Red Wolves engaged in battle with a German company.
Perfect.
I tuned the radio until I was on the same frequency as them.
"…we may need reinforcements, over."
Taking a chance, I said: "This is Wolf 17, I'm at the battlefield now, over!", being sure to disguise my voice a little.
The other tanker responded, "Ah, it's good to see you here! Let's go get them, over!"
"OK! Wolf 17 out!"
At first, I played along with these guys, targeting any Germans I spotted.
I wasn't sure, but I saw what appeared to be a Tiger with a different hull.
Regardless, when the time felt right, I targeted a T-34 and blew it up.
Unfortunately, another KV-3 spotted me and scolded me:
"Hey, that was one of ours!"
I replied with a phony apology:
"Uh…sorry about that! I meant to target a German instead, over!"
He replied: "Well OK, just watch where you're…"
BOOM!
I targeted him and did significant damage to him.
"…Wait a minute, that was no accident! Everyone, watch out! Wolf 17 has…"
BOOM!
I set the KV-3 on fire and destroyed it.
"Wolf Four, what's going on!?" chimed another voice over the radio.
"Wolf Four, respond!"
"Attention all units, Wolf 17 has gone mad! I repeat, Wolf 17 has destroyed some of our own troops! He is driving a KV-3! All units, locate and destroy the traitor, but don't let the Germans get us, either! Wolf Alpha out!"
Well, I guess they're on to me now, so I hid my KV-3 in a bush and carefully searched for a new tank.
I spotted a KV-2 with a ZiS-6.
I jumped on, opened a hatch and gunned down the crew with my PPSh-41.
With the tank under my control, I continued my plan of revenge.
Heading back into the city, I encountered an S-51, which was a heavy SPG on a KV-series chassis.
The ZiS-6 damaged the S-51 severely, but it was still alive, which is not a good thing with such a big cannon pointing at you at close range.
"This is Wolf Ten! Wolf Twelve has gone mad too! Everyone watch out…"
BOOM!
S-51 destroyed!
Next, I got an interesting exchange of messages:
"That's it, I can't trust anyone anymore! Everyone, prepare to die!"
"OK, if you want to do that, then prepare to die, too!"
"Yeah, you too!"
As I had planned, at least to a certain degree, the Red Wolves turned against each other and were now targeting their friends as well as the Germans.
Coming around a corner, I spotted an IS-3, so I targeted it and damaged it.
Naturally, it turned against me, so I backed away, abandoned the KV-2 and ran.
Behind me, I heard the IS-3 destroying the now-abandoned KV-2.
In the meantime, I tried to avoid this bloodbath, making a line back to my KV-3 whenever the coast was clear.
By the time I made it back to my KV-3, the cannon fire had subsided.
Eventually, I encountered the lone survivor: The IS-3.
Without hesitation, I aimed for his lower glacis, and…
BOOM!
Revenge is mine!
Having struck back at the Red Wolves, I went back home, where I re-painted my KV-3 and gave it a round of maintenance.
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.