Once again, I had another one of those nightmares about the shadowy figures, and once again, they demanded that key.

I'll find these bastards soon enough, and I'll find W.G. too, even if it kills me!

After some thought, I decided to start my search in Karelia.

As usual, I chose the southern pass.

However, out of nowhere, I felt Goliath take a massive hit!

I screamed as I thought I was going to be killed by that one!

Luckily, I survived, and started to drive to cover when I felt a weird draft coming into the tank.

I looked back and noticed something terrible:

My turret was gone!

I was shocked beyond all belief!

Shock, however, turned to anger within a matter of seconds.

I abandoned whatever was left of Goliath and ran in the direction of the shot.

I didn't even care that another shell had been fired in my direction and that it just barely missed me.

I didn't even care that somebody had now opened fire with a machine gun and was making dents in my armor.

I just wanted revenge.

I threw not one, but two anti-tank grenades when I was sure I'd found the perpetrator.

BOOM!

I sure got something…but what!?

A few seconds later, I spotted it:

It looked like an ISU-152, except it had a low-profile hull with more sloped armor plus that same "pike" as the IS-3 had.

It also had a large, long-barreled cannon.

Whatever it was, I was glad as hell that I torched it!

Unfortunately, Goliath was a mere shell of its former self.

Apparently defeated, but still alive, I drove whatever was left of Goliath back to my hideout.

I just couldn't believe it.

My old friend had been destroyed before, but not like this.

I could replace the whole turret & gun, but that would take a while.

Also, I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to replace that thing.

Maybe my escape from the Red Wolves, or any number of other actions that I'd committed in recent months had earned me some serious wrath.

I figured that it was time for me to go incognito again.

For now, I shelved Goliath and turned towards my other tanks.

For the first time in a while, I actually gave serious consideration to the KV-1.

The only problem with it was that its armament was underpowered, but you knew this already.

I started rummaging through all my spare blueprints until I found something that looked promising:

A 122mm U-11 howitzer.

Actually, the handbooks usually designated KV-1s with this weapon as "KV-9", but I preferred the name KV-1 just for consistency.

Based on the specifications, it looked like it would give me plenty of firepower until I could resurrect Goliath.

So, I grabbed whatever pieces of scrap metal I could get and started to fabricate the gun.

Once it was all mounted, all that remained was to gather ammo.

After much searching, I found the proper shells at a random ammo dump.

Now to test it out!

I went to Prokhorovka, my traditional stomping grounds.

I saw a nice mix of tanks, none above Tier Five.

I located an M4 Sherman and put it in my sights.

BOOM!

The shell didn't completely kill the Sherman, but it was certainly near death.

As I expected, reloading wasn't quick, but it took maybe half as long as the 152mm M-10.

I finished off the Sherman and proceeded to destroy everyone else on the battlefield.

Satisfied, I went home.

For the next few battles, I got plenty of use out of my KV-1.

It was almost like I was driving Goliath before it became a KV-2!

I shed a tear when I thought of my old friend, but I didn't let that get me down.

Even though I was driving a different tank, I never let go of my mission.

I was still going to look for W.G. and those shadowy figures, no matter where I went.

However, my search still rendered no results.

After a while, I decided to change gears and pick another tank.

Because it was too similar, I skipped the T-150 and chose the KV-3 instead.

You know, a funny thing happened with that tank:

I was engaging some foes from atop the hill at Malinovka when I heard some shots being fired from below me.

I peeked over the ledge and noticed a KV-4 engaging some targets.

That's when I got an idea:

I drove off the ledge and tried to hit the KV-4.

I only clipped it with the KV-3's barrel, which caused the tank to tip in the direction opposite the KV-4.

The impact was quite harsh on me, but my crew and I survived.

The KV-4 was now investigating the impact, so I decided to hijack it while it was surprised.

I opened up the rear hatch on the turret and sprayed inside the cabin with my PPSh-41, killing the crew.

Afterwards, I took control of the KV-4 and tested it out.

At first, I wasn't sure I liked the KV-4.

It felt like I was driving a battleship on land, and I remembered how that was the downfall for the leader of the Gulag's Rejects.

On the other hand, this tank was impervious to practically anything that the enemy could throw at it.

It also possessed superior firepower compared to the KV-3.

Judging by the ammunition it used and the shape of the gun, I concluded that this particular specimen was equipped with the 122mm D-25T.

While it wasn't completely effective against higher-tier tanks, it still packed plenty of power.

I destroyed the rest of the enemy forces here and drove home, abandoning the KV-3.

Back home, I tuned up the KV-4's engine…er, I should say "engines" because it was equipped with two V-2KF diesel engines.

Anyways, I tuned the engines and transmission, hoping to get better performance from them.

While the KV-4 was surprisingly fast going downhill, it was slower than the KV-2 or KV-3 when on flat ground or when going uphill.

After repairs and maintenance, I took the KV-4 out for further testing.

I still did not find W.G., but I tore up a lot of tanks in the process!

Those tune-ups also helped, despite not giving a huge boost in power.

At one battle in Erlenberg, I witnessed a most incredible sight:

There was a T-34 with what appeared to be a 57mm gun taking on tanks more powerful than itself.

I couldn't really tell, but it appeared that this one was going a bit fast for a T-34, but probably not as fast as a T-50.

Strangely enough, it was also able to kill these tanks with only one shell each, and its opponents appeared to be healthy for the most part!

The way this guy (lady, perhaps?) drove his tank, he drove it with such grace and ease that it was almost as if he were dancing with it, a sort of "tank ballet", if you will.

I tried to get a better look with my binoculars.

I'm not sure, but I saw what appeared to be some sort of "winged shield" emblem on the turret sides.

I thought I also saw the letters "SR" emblazoned on the shield, but the tank was going quite fast, so I may have been mistaken.

I just went back home before it spotted me.

After all, if anyone can do that sort of damage with a mere T-34-57, then I don't think I want to mess around with it.

Back home, I decided that now was the time.

I'd already spent enough time without Goliath, so I decided to grab all the scrap metal I'd collected and start fabricating a new turret & gun.

It took a while, but after a lot of blood, sweat and gears, my old friend was back to normal!

Well…except for certain imperfections that the old turret had picked up as battle scars, but that's another story.

After repainting the turret, I was all set to continue my search for W.G. and the shadowy figures!

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.