Unfortunately, my little trip into the mineshaft had no effect on the strange dreams I was having.

The shadowy figures invaded my dreams once again and made a demand:

"The key! The key! Give us the key!"

They've mentioned a key before, but I don't know who they are, what the key is or why they want it.

Perhaps I should just forget about the whole thing.

Maybe I'm due for another vacation.

However, I can't go to Africa again because I'll be cooked.

So, what would be another good place?

Hmmm…why not Italy?

I've never been there before, so I should check it out.

So, after packing extra supplies, I made my way to the South Coast of Italy.

This country was beautiful!

Unlike a lot of Europe, this place was relatively untouched despite some recent invasions.

I also enjoyed looking at the ancient landmarks, too.

However, when I got to one village, I got a nasty surprise:

A lot of the houses there were ransacked; doors broken off their hinges, windows smashed, possessions overturned or missing.

At the beach, there were wooden chairs, umbrellas and wagons that had been overturned or crushed.

From the beach, I could also see a large marble structure, so I went in for a closer look.

Here, I saw a gathering of American & French tanks, some familiar, some unrecognizable.

For example, there was an M6 with a new turret.

There was also an ARL-44 plus some unrecognized French tank destroyers.

That's odd, I didn't think they ran any besides the FCM 36/P40.

I also saw an unusual sight:

The tank crews were stealing various items and loading them into and/or onto their tanks.

That was bad enough, but I noticed something else about these folks:

I wasn't too sure, but there was something unnatural about way they moved.

I didn't know what, though.

Whatever the case, I decided to disrupt their little plans.

Taking aim with Goliath's 152, I fired and killed a bunch of them.

As the survivors rushed to their tanks, I attempted to gun a few down with the turret-mounted DT machine gun.

However, even with the increased accuracy of being on a fixed mount, it was still inaccurate, so I only managed to tag a few more tankers before the rest got to their tanks.

The damage was done, though: With some of those tankers dead, a bunch of those tanks would be operating at reduced potential, and one was even left completely inoperable because its entire crew was dead.

Already, I had a tactical advantage.

However, even with this advantage, I decided it wasn't wise to stay here and attempt to take on all of these tanks now, so I proceeded further down the beach.

When I was doing so, I was attacked by an American tank I'd never seen before.

Judging by the low silhouette, I figured it was a light tank or possibly a small medium.

Whatever it was, it got blown to pieces.

I nearly got blown to pieces, too, when artillery started coming down.

Except for some broken tracks and the Ensk incident, I've been lucky with artillery so far.

Guess spotters aren't all they're cracked up to be.

Regardless, I needed to get off that beach, so I gave Goliath all it had and proceeded to a hill at the southern end of the beach.

However, an M4 was waiting for me here, so I toasted it with the 152.

Hmmm…maybe I should've waited on that one because an AMX-13 was coming at me shortly afterwards.

While I was waiting to reload, it took the opportunity to try to circle me.

It damaged Goliath pretty badly, but I finished it with an anti-tank grenade to stop the madness.

Continuing up the hill, I sighted another unknown American tank, this one being equipped with a double-barreled gun.

It did no damage to Goliath, however, so I finished it off and proceeded further uphill.

Near the top, I sighted an unidentified American SPG plus two unknown French vehicles that appeared to be based on the FT-17 chassis.

The SPG was the bigger threat, so I removed it before running over the French vehicles.

Artillery fire was still coming down on me, so I went to investigate the southeastern sector of the map in an attempt to find any remaining SPGs.

On my way there, I found a BDR G1B, which I terminated.

Not long after, I discovered I was right: There was a French artillery gun of unknown type waiting for me.

Luckily, it wasn't long before the 152mm was reloaded, so…

BOOM!

Enemy down!

On second thought, maybe I should've looked before I fired, because I noticed another Sherman nearby a second later.

Though he hit Goliath, the shot did minimal damage.

Still, I backed off, but that's when I found myself in a little bind:

The tanks that I spotted near the marble building were now catching up to me.

At this point, though, I figured that because I only had one tank coming at me from the front, it was better to take the risk of advancing forwards.

So, I rounded the corner, with a few shells flying past me, got the 152 aimed at the Sherman, and…

BOOM!

Though it took out the Sherman, I think maybe we were a little too close because I certainly felt the blast from that shell.

Goliath & us were still OK, so I guess I shouldn't be too worried.

When an M2 tried to cut us off, I simply used an anti-tank grenade on it.

With him out of the way, we pressed on to a small village and made our stand there.

There were only two tank destroyers plus the M6 remaining.

The tank destroyers, thinly armored as they were, didn't prove too difficult to destroy, but at this range, we missed two shots.

Thankfully, they missed shots as well, no doubt because at least one of them had a dead gunner.

However, the M6 wasn't so easy to destroy.

Usually, I could down an M6 with only one or two shots, but this one took quite a beating.

It also dealt quite a beating, too, but in the end, it was just another victim.

Having disposed of another tank company, I of course went to investigate them.

When I was doing so, I found something unusual:

The crew members were carrying pouches filled with some strange powders & herbs.

Now, who was this company, you ask?

They were called "The Electric Revolutionaries", and as it turned out, the strange substances they were carrying turned out to be drugs.

However, they weren't just a ragtag band of drug addicts, as the following note proved:

"Agent 776:

Now that you have annexed the southern sector, you may now commence Operation Angel Dust. Though I disapprove of your proclivity towards these substances, they will nevertheless prove useful in our grand scheme.

Remember, he is prepared. Keep your minds clear and stay alert.

-With regards,

W.G."

Is this it!?

Has "W.G." sunk so low that he/she/it has resorted to hiring drug addicts to carry out his/her/its grand scheme!?

This is either extremely brilliant or extremely stupid.

Now that I think of it, maybe they weren't just keeping all of those drugs for themselves.

Also, despite their apparent drug addiction, they seemed to be capable of operating tanks just fine, barring any loss of crew members.

About their tanks, now:

As you know, they had a tank destroyer and SPG based on the Renault FT-17 chassis, which were called the FT AC and BS, respectively.

Their other French SPG was known as the Lorraine 39 L AM, which was based off a completely new chassis.

They also had two tank destroyers based off the SOMUA S35 chassis:

The first one, the SOMUA Sau 40, had a layout similar to the Char B1, with its gun mounted on the front of the hull and an autocannon in the turret.

The second, the SOMUA S35 CA, had a more conventional casemate layout with a high profile.

Now, as for the American tanks, they had a light tank called the MTLS-1G14, which was apparently meant for export to the East Indies.

How it ended up here is beyond me.

They also had a new Sherman variant: The M4A2E4, which had a diesel engine instead of the gasoline engine that the Sherman usually has.

Also, what I thought was a light tank was actually another turreted tank destroyer, the M18 Hellcat.

Their new SPG was called an M12.

Finally, the M6 was actually a variant called an M6A2E1, which sported better armor and a turret that could mount a gun from a T29.

Before I went, there was one other thing I had to take care of:

There was an ARL-44 still sitting around, so I took all the drugs I could find and loaded them into this tank.

I wasn't going to be satisfied with merely blowing up the tank though, so I started it up and drove it into the ocean, bailing out before it drove in.

Also, I salvaged any stolen artifacts and returned them.

Satisfied, I went back home.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.