Here, in the barracks, I found only Leytenant Polyanskiy.

"Ah, hello again!" she said. "It's good to see you!"

"Likewise." I said.

Personally, I held a slight contempt for her just because she was a woman, but on the other hand, she was from my country, so that was a bonus.

Also, maybe I should open my mind to new ways of thinking about what women can do.

"I would like to talk to you," she said. "Do you mind?"

"Go right ahead, Magdalena." I replied.

"Please, call me Mila!"

"OK then, Mila."

"I wonder, where did you get that steel suit of yours?"

"I made it myself!"

"Really? How interesting!"

"Actually, this isn't my first one. I made a slightly different one before this, but I had to replace it because it was taking a lot of damage."

"I'm glad that you can take care of yourself like this! Now, what is your name?"

"I don't have one, and before you do, don't ask me why not. I just don't, OK?"

"That's…strange, but I think I understand. Now, what did you do before the war?"

"Oh, not much, really. After I graduated school, I joined the army right away. It's pretty much the only thing I know."

"Well, you seem like you've been in the army for a while. Have they taught you a lot?"

"Well, actually…I taught myself a lot of this stuff. You know, repairing the tank, fabricating new attachments for it, keeping it stocked, everything a good tanker should know."

"Amazing! You must be very talented!"

"I suppose I am, but as I have said before, the army is what I'm best at."

"Well, I'm sure you'll find a good job after the war! Now tell me, do you have a girlfriend back home?"

I got a knot in my stomach at this point, but I tried my best.

"No…not really," I said.

"Really? Why not?" asked Ms. Polyanskiy.

"Actually…there was this one girl…I suppose."

"Please, do tell me more."

"Well…you see…I saved her from enemy tanks, but then…I…"

"Yes?"

I got a few more knots in my stomach, but I kept going despite the pain of bringing up such a topic.

"I…well…you see, I…I lost her! I told her that she couldn't come along with me! I was doing it for her safety, but I probably sent her to her doom!"

"Oh, that is so sad!" said Mila, who reached out and tried to hug me despite the fact that steel wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing to hug.

However, I stopped her and told her, "Don't bother, I'll be fine. No…really! I do appreciate the sentiment, but I assure you that I'll get through this!"

Mila replied, "Well, if you ever change your mind, I'll be there!"

"Yes, thank you very much" I said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

"OK then! It was nice meeting you, whoever you are!"

"Likewise!"

I got up from my bunk and went to the motor pool to start working on Goliath.

However, Goliath's parking spot was empty!

It wasn't long, though, before I located Goliath in a nearby repair bay.

However, the technicians were just standing around, looking at my old friend.

I asked one of them, "Why are you standing around?"

"I don't know," said one of them, an American, "I just don't know about this thing."

"Why not?"

"I mean, look at it! It looks like it's been through two wars, not to mention the crazy repair job you did to it!"

"I know that's not my best work, but I was in a hurry at the time! Believe me, I know a lot about repairing these vehicles! I could have it fully operational again!"

"You sure, pal? I think you'd better take another look at this heap of junk!"

"Hey, watch what you say about this thing!"

"Look, I'm just not sure this is gonna happen! Try taking another look at it!"

"Very well, for your sake, I will take another look!"

I took a more thorough look at Goliath.

Hmmm…maybe he was right.

Even with my half-finished repairs, I guess it had been through so much.

Maybe it needed more than repairs.

I figured that now was the time to rebuild Goliath completely.

"Wait, I've got a great idea," I said to the technicians. "Do you have any steel or other raw materials around here?"

With that, we started working on Goliath.

Rather than simply repairing damaged parts, we disassembled my old friend completely, discarded any parts with significant damage or wear, brought in fresh parts and fabricated new parts if we didn't have any spares lying around.

We kept the basic hull, though.

It was a complex job, but with multiple people working on it, it went quite smoothly.

I even stepped in to guide somebody if they were having any sort of difficulty.

While the rebuild was underway, though, Boyesen came in and requested to speak to me.

The other technicians stopped for a moment.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I want to show you something," he said.

I instructed the other guys to keep working while I was away and to come get me if they were really stuck.

In the meantime, Boyesen brought me to a secluded vehicle bay.

"We got this for you," said Boyesen, pointing to the Soviet tank parked in the bay.

I immediately recognized it as a KV-series tank, judging by the chassis.

It had an elongated chassis like the KV-4, but it had a gigantic turret, plus an enclosed machine gun turret in front of the main turret.

This must be a KV-5!

"I'm sorry, Major, but I cannot accept this," I said.

"We got you this tank because we felt that you deserved something better," replied Boyesen. "Doesn't a tanker as good as you deserve a tank like this?"

"Major, I understand what you're saying, but I do not feel that this tank suits me."

"Why not? It has better armor, a better gun, it's a better tank all around."

"Believe me, Major, if you'd been with Goliath as long as I have been, you would understand. Trust me, I…"

I trailed off for a few seconds.

"Although, I think you folks should keep this tank for me in case I ever change my mind. Can you please do that?"

"Yes, we can do that for you," he replied. "However, our space is limited in this castle."

"Don't worry, Major, I'm sure you'll figure something out!"

"I sure hope so."

We returned to the repair bay, where I assisted the technicians with the rest of the rebuild, plus the repainting.

They even had a proper camo net for me!

When it was all done, Goliath looked just like it had rolled out of the factory!

Well…except for the addition of the mine dropper.

"Hey, that machine looks awesome!" said the American technician that I'd spoken to earlier. "I didn't think you knew anything about repairing these tanks!"

"Thank you, too!" I said. "This machine was like a friend to me! There's just one thing missing, though."

"What?"

"Do you have any white paint?"

"Sure."

After I got the paint, I repainted Goliath's name - in Russian - back on the turret.

"What's that say?" asked the American.

"It says 'Goliath'," said another technician, a Russian.

"That's the name of my tank." I added.

"Oh, that reminds me," said the American, "My name's Garrett, Luther Garrett. What's yours?"

"I don't really have one, but don't let it puzzle you," I said.

"OK then. By the way, that's Ulf," he said, pointing to the German technician, "and that's Mikhail," he said as he pointed out the Russian technician.

As usual, we exchanged handshakes and greetings.

"That is an unusual sort of armor you have," said Mikhail, "I never imagined that Soviet industry would create something so innovative!"

"Actually, I made this suit myself," I said.

All three of the technicians were awed.

"Well, since you know a lot about repairing tanks, I should've known you'd make something so nifty!" said Garrett.

"Could you take it off?" asked Ulf. "I wish to see what you look like."

"Sorry, but I remove this armor for no one."

"Well, can you make us a suit like this?" asked Mikhail.

"Yeah, this could help us out a lot!" exclaimed Garrett.

"I would love to," I said, "but this is not for everyone. It's heavy, so you must be strong enough to overcome the weight. Besides, I don't have time; I must attend to other matters!"

"Well, it was nice seeing you, pal!" said Garrett.

With my tank finished, I went to find Boyesen…

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.