Unfortunately, it didn't matter what I did with that diamond, because I still had those dreams about the shadowy figures when I went to sleep, and those dreams were increasing in frequency, as they had been for the past few months.

As usual, they were demanding "The key", an object that I knew nothing about.

When I woke up from my latest dream, I got so frustrated that I flipped over a desk that I kept in my hideout for doing paperwork – planning, writing, etc…

I knew this was a childish thing to do, but in war, things change.

People act funny sometimes, you know?

Besides, I'd had enough of these dreams, and I had no idea what this key was supposed to do or even where it was.

Until then, I'd keep searching for these people, and in the meantime, I'd have to live with this.

After I had breakfast in the morning, I turned my desk back upright and picked up anything that had spilled onto the floor.

Now, today's order of business was to devise some new tricks that I could hide up my sleeves.

First of all, planting anti-tank mines had saved me on numerous occasions, but it worked better when I was not under fire from enemy tanks.

If I needed to plant a mine while trying to get away from a pursuing vehicle, it was difficult to do so with any accuracy, though I had been lucky at Erlenberg.

So, I set to work designing a mine dropper for Goliath.

After a bit of cutting and welding, I got the device attached, but the only issue left was to get it to activate.

Scrap metal wasn't the only thing I plundered, either.

I had some spare electrical wire lying around and some electrical expertise – not a whole lot, mind you, but enough to set up a simple switch.

The mine dropper was also set up to arm a mine automatically when it dropped one, so I used a few inert mines to test it and the test went well.

However, with the added weight of the mine dropper, I figured that the engine could use a little upgrade too, so I got to work on that.

When I was done, I had converted the engine to the V-5F standard, the same as in the T-150.

However, the coup de grace was yet to come.

While looking through all my files, I remembered a special modification that the Soviet Armed Forces did to some of its tanks before the fall.

It was a "Teletank", a remote-control variant of commonly-used light tanks.

Finding a suitable tank for the job was easy, as I located a damaged T-50 one day while cruising in Prokhorovka.

I towed it all the way back to my hideout, being careful to avoid enemy tanks.

Usually, they saw neither of us, but they did see the T-50 sometimes and just ignored it due to its condition.

When I got back home, I restored it to fighting condition and zipped around with it a little before putting it into storage.

The hard part was to modify the T-50 into a Teletank and modify Goliath into the control tank.

Compared to my electrical skills, my electronics skills were lacking.

Well, I did upgrade Goliath to a 10RK radio, but that was probably the only time that I ever worked with electronics outside of a classroom setting.

Besides, I figured I'd get through that matter somehow.

I thumbed through all my files, looking for any info on Teletanks, and after an extensive search, I finally found some schematics for a Teletank control + receiver unit.

Now, I just needed the components needed to construct these.

I went out with my T-150 and looked for some Soviet tanks to knock out.

At Malinovka, I spotted a T-28 and an SU-85, both of which looked perfect for the job.

I flanked the SU-85 and aimed for its engine bay.

After a few shots, the engine bay was smoking.

A couple of crewmen got out and attempted to repair the damage, but I used the coaxial machine gun to tag them.

With them out of the way, I aimed for the T-28, severing its track.

Again, the crewmen made a fatal mistake and tried to repair it under fire.

And again, they were cut down.

When the battle was over, I approached each tank and disassembled their radios in order to get the right components.

Once I collected all the necessary tubes and wires, I headed back to my hideout.

There was another component I needed, too:

A balloon.

This balloon acted as a reservoir for the hydraulics that operated the Teletank's controls.

I couldn't find any in the wild, so I just gathered up some fabrics and created a balloon back at my hideout.

After hours of hard work, I finally converted the T-50 into a Teletank, possibly the first of its kind.

Now, I just had to test it out.

I fired up both tanks and headed out into the wild.

The diagnostic tests worked out successfully; all functions, including driving, turret operation and weapons firing worked out successfully.

When I was all done, I pressed a red button on Goliath's control box, which set off a smoke bomb that was placed in the Teletank.

After the smoke cleared, I drove both tanks back home, happy that the tests went well.

Back home, I removed the smoke canister from the Teletank and instead wired up a little "surprise" for anyone unfortunate enough to get close to the machine.

Now, off to battle!

For my next round, I proceeded to a French village known as "Lakeville"

As the name suggested, it was right next to a lake.

First, before springing the Teletank into action, I drove it behind a house with some bushes nearby.

Next, I headed west, towards a valley.

The valley was split in the middle by a huge rock, and then narrowed out after the rock.

Since the narrow part was at the top of a small hill, I did not go up there because Goliath's gun depression probably wasn't good enough and because someone would be expecting me at this chokepoint.

Rather, I drove Goliath in reverse partway up the hill, and then planted a mine.

I then proceeded to plant mines in the more open area next to the big rock.

I only planted one at the narrow side of the rock because I figured that if they made it past any mines, then they would be forced to squeeze through here single file, where I could pick them off more easily.

When I took care of that side, I went to plant more mines at the northeastern sector, starting at the mouth of the village.

However, when I got to town, I spotted a random AMX-13 charging towards me.

I destroyed it, but then I had to hurry with the rest of the mines before other enemy forces got there.

There were actually two possible paths through this town, one which took a lower road and was right next to the lake, and one which took a higher road.

I place fewer mines near the higher road because I figured that the dead AMX-13 could hold them off for a bit.

Also, I stopped partway through so I could fire up the Teletank.

I guided the Teletank down the center path, which wasn't easy because there were some rocks blocking my view.

At one point, I saw the Teletank nearly fall off the ledge and into the lake!

Luckily, all my training paid off, and I saw the Teletank get to the other side.

Of course, I saw enemy tanks trying to pick it off, and it even got its track broken.

When I spotted a Tiger II charging at it, I pressed the red button.

BOOM!

I set off a large amount of explosives, which knocked out the Tiger II at the cost of the Teletank's life.

I finished setting up my remaining mines that I had and set up at the chokepoint in the valley.

A few minutes later, I heard explosions as a few tanks were foolish enough to trigger the mines.

I waited for an hour afterwards, hoping to catch one of them at a chokepoint that I'd set up, but nothing happened.

No other explosions went off, so I went to check the narrow point at the west side to see what happened.

Over here, I witnessed a Porsche Tiger and AMX-13 that had triggered mines, plus an ARL-44 that was at the top of the narrow pass.

I got the better of it, but it survived the hit.

With its tracks broken, however, it was going nowhere.

Falling back, I went to check the north.

I couldn't see much from here, just a Lorraine 40-ton that tried to push through the center and failed.

I could see some smoke in the distance, but I wasn't sure what I had killed.

For now, I was completely boxed in.

Given the pattern I had planted the mines in, I couldn't go anywhere without getting destroyed.

Or could I?

Nah, better not take the risk.

Besides, I could get shot by another tank off in the distance.

All of a sudden, I spotted an AMX-13 emerging from the north!

Damn, he must've bypassed all of the mines!

He couldn't bypass a 152mm shell, though.

Looking to the east, I noticed the corpse of the Lorraine 40-ton moving!

Something must be pushing it…but what?

By the time the 152 was reloaded, I saw very clearly what was pushing it:

An AMX-50/100.

I fired once I could see enough of it.

Being a higher-technology vehicle, though, it took the hit and kept going.

I threw an anti-tank grenade at its turret, disabling the vehicle.

Now, I just had to get around all the mines I'd placed.

To make my job easier, I disarmed a few and reloaded them.

Just like Pripyat, I followed the AMX-13's tracks.

The problem was that the AMX-13 was narrower than the KV-2, so I had to be extra-careful.

On the way to town, I saw the corpse of a Panther that had tripped a mine.

Another problem was that I saw both a Panzer V/IV and a Char B1 guarding both entry points to the village.

I blew up the V/IV first because it was a bigger threat even with the Panzer IV's 75mm gun.

I let the Char B1 bounce shells off of me while waiting to reload.

That turned out to be a bad idea because something else hit Goliath and did plenty of damage.

I needed to get into cover, and fast!

I tagged the B1 with the 152mm while on the move and just managed to avoid another shell from out of nowhere.

I dodged the remaining mines and pushed into the village.

At one road, I spotted a Porsche Tiger at an intersection.

I damaged it first, but it still managed to hit me.

Now, Goliath was doing quite badly.

Nevertheless, I pressed on, convinced that I didn't have that much longer to go.

I dropped a mine at the intersection near the Porsche Tiger and dropped another mine a couple of meters away.

A few seconds later, I heard an explosion as the Porsche Tiger was put out of commission.

Soon, I discovered a JagdPanzer IV guarding a pass.

Having taken on JagdPanzers before, this one wasn't much harder to destroy than others that had come before.

After it was gone, I left the town and came to a pass.

However, as I proceeded further, I spotted a tank destroyer of unknown type, possibly German.

I saw it turning to face me, so I tried to aim and shoot as quickly as I possibly could.

I managed to hit him, but it did not kill him, and fearing what he might do, I backed away.

The machine had fired a shot at me, but it missed because its gun had shaken when the 152mm shell hit it.

I stayed in cover, trying to come up with a viable solution to destroy it.

If this thing could survive a 152mm high-explosive shell without major system damage and deal so much damage back to Goliath, then I couldn't fool around.

That 152mm cannon took a while to aim, so it would probably destroy Goliath if I tried to shoot and move.

About a minute or so later, I spotted the machine trying to come after me, but a second 152mm round finished it off.

Proceeding further, I saw another tank destroyer, which appeared to be based on a Tiger chassis of some sort.

However, I noticed that the crew was frantically trying to repair its engine.

I took a quick shot at its front, and while it didn't destroy the machine itself, the gun was certainly disabled and at least one crewman was killed.

I knocked it out with an anti-tank grenade when I got close.

Hmmm…too easy!

Then again, as long as I've beaten them, why should I care?

About them:

They were the Holy Roman Alliance, a mixed French and German company who planned to unite France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Italy into one big country, similar to the old Holy Roman Empire, hence the name.

From there, they planned to expand their empire.

Already, I knew that their plans would make them an enemy of several tank companies, including: Les Fils du Jean Valjean, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Coalition, the Soviet-American Alliance, the Red Wolves and others.

Given their technology level, I don't think they'd have too much trouble facing any of them, unless all at once.

Speaking of technology, they really didn't have much that was new to me.

First, they had a variant of the Panzer V/IV called the Panzer V/IV "Alpha", which seemed to be a prize for special tankers of some kind.

Second, they had a tank destroyer known as a "Ferdinand", which was based on the same chassis as Porsche's version of the Tiger tank.

Suddenly, I had a realization:

Prior to the fall, I remembered hearing a few SU-76 crewmen refer to the SU-76 as the "bare-assed Ferdinand", something that I never understood completely.

However, when I noticed that the layout of both the SU-76 and the Ferdinand were very similar, it all made sense!

Finally, the crown of the HRA's armored forces was the JagdTiger, a fearsome tank destroyer based on the Tiger II chassis.

Given the fact that the Ferdinand & JagdTiger could mount 128mm guns, I was so lucky to have survived.

On the body of the JagdTiger's commander, I found this note:

"Agent 986:

I offer you my sincerest complimentations for making ingress into the central sector. Since Agent 412's efforts to maintain occupation of the eastern sector have failed, I now grant you the privilege of annexing this territory. In the unlikely scenario that you too shall fail, I will also request Agent 403 to cooperate with you. Despite a setback that his company has experienced, I am confident that your two companies shall be unconquerable when cooperating with each other.

Should you succeed as I have hoped, your reward will be greater than all the gold in the world. Do not disenchant me.

-With regards,

W.G."

Another one? How many tankers does W.G. have working for him, I wondered?

And what are his…

OH NO!

I just realized something:

The Red Wolves were also under his command, and yet they should be enemies of the Holy Roman Alliance!

I've figured out what W.G.'s plans were:

He was planning to turn various tankers against each other so that he can eliminate the survivors and take over the world once the major action subsides!

But wait, if I'm destroying people like the Red Wolves and the Holy Roman Alliance, wouldn't I simply be accelerating his plans?

No wait, that didn't matter!

I just had to find W.G., and fast!

I didn't even know where to look, but I just had to get home as quickly as possible!

With that, I got into Goliath and pushed the engine as hard as I could.

I stopped briefly, however, when I saw a German tanker in an SS uniform crawling away from a tank wreckage of some sort.

I got out of Goliath, but even though he was dying, I would not lend a hand.

I simply told him, "Hey you, I've seen your face before, my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am."

He just turned to me, and uttered these words:

"Sic…semper…tyrannis…"

Those were the last words he said.

With his last breath, he dropped something.

I picked it up and recognized it:

The black diamond!

It didn't matter who had it, so I just took it with me and headed home for the usual repairs and maintenance.

I also demounted the Teletank control console and put it aside.

I had no further use for it, but then again…