A/N: Prepare for tanks, assault guns, and a side of super-heavy.

Two weeks later...

Rommel and Patton scouted yet another town. Like the rest, it lied in ruins. Blown to bits like every other town they'd been through in the past week, the telltale signs of a desperate but futile attempt against White Fang armor and guns. Rommel's eyes were darkened under his visor as he looked at the grim scene, the slaughter of innocents, and his emotions only barely masked. Patton, on the other hand, was taking in the scene in much the same way, but expressing himself in a far different way...

"DAMN IT!" Patton roared, slamming his fist into the snow and seething with anger. Winter had come, and graced the night-cloaked land in a fresh blanket of snow, and with it, they'd learned that their town wasn't the only one under siege. Towns all over the region were being silenced. As of now, they'd only just confirmed that to the North, South, and West they were all alone.

"Patton, alle Schäden in der Stadt sehen gleich aus." Rommel said, before rising to his feet and briskly jogging down the hill they were situated on, with the General hot on his heels. They'd quickly reached the city, and ducked into the ruins of a small, blown up store. There were corpses inside, none of them even armed or in uniform, all of them with nasty wounds or states of dismemberment. Blood was everywhere, and many bullet holes lined the walls and some of the corpses. He quietly counted the bodies while Patton looked the bodies over. The bullet holes were obviously made by a 7.92×57mm, probably an MG34 or 42. "These poor sods didn't stand a chance..."

"einundzwanzig, zweiundzwanzig, dreiundzwanzig. 23 tote Zivilisten hier." Erwin stated grimly, before reaching down and pressing a hand to a body. "Hmmm... these bodies are still warm. Attack must've been recent."

That didn't comfort the General at all, so they decided to look around for more evidence as to what had been used to attack them. Though the more and more they looked around, the more they disliked what they saw. Along the road, not far from where they'd been there was a large, used shell partially buried under some rubble.

Pulling the shell out, they examined the rear to determine just how big of a threat they were facing. Rommel quickly noted the shell to be a 12.8 cm shell, before dropping it and looking back to the buildings around them...

"It takes firepower to do this kind of damage this quick, and it obviously wasn't artillery that hit this place, otherwise that shell wouldn't be here." Patton stated, and received a nod from the Field Marshal in agreement. Looking around a bit more, he identified another used shell, this one a 7.5 cm, while Rommel identified only one set of tracks leading through the snowy road...

"Nur ein einzelner Satz von Spuren. War wohl ein Jagdtiger." Rommel concluded, before looking back to Patton and seeing the latter staring curiously at a used shell he'd not seen. "was ist das?"

"7.5 cm." Patton said curiously. "Jagdtiger doesn't got a 7.5 cm." He finished, before dropping the shell and looking back up at the Field marshal, who along with having stiffened up greatly seemed to have become much, much paler.

"Patton... I want you to tell me again, absolutely, one hundred percent clearly, the caliber of that shell." He said with a very shaky voice and a terrified expression on his face.

"Uhh..." Patton mumbled out, before looking back at the shell. "Yeah, definitely a 7.5 cm, why? What the hell are we facing here, Rommel?"

"Scheiße!" Rommel swore loudly, immediately followed by a loud rumbling, and the sound of a powerful engine in movement...

Slowly turning around, both gaped in momentary awe and shock as what was easily the largest tank they'd ever seen began rounding a corner and turning it's turret towards them...

"Run." Was all Rommel uttered, before both began a dead sprint away, ducking into an alley for cover but not before the 12.8 cm resounded behind them, and they were both thrown forward and onto their faces from the resulting explosion. They'd have to thank the girls later for unlocking their auras, as without it, they'd both be as dead as a person could possibly be. Quickly picking themselves up, they resumed their sprint to the hill just as the coaxial 7.5 cm fired, raining down debris behind them as they cleared the alley and made their way up the hill.

Immediately upon reaching the foot of the hill, the ripping noise echoed from an MG34, and peppered their position in a hail of gunfire. They redoubled their efforts at getting up the hill, as a few more stray shots chipped away at their already weakened auras. As soon as they reached the top, both main guns fired at once, launching them forward. The explosion didn't reach them, but the force of the explosion following it sent them reeling, only being saved by the snow cushioning their falls. Their auras were now totally depleted, but they had their lives.

Their crews were looking out on them from their respective tanks, each with a look of horror as they raced out to assist their commanders back into the tanks. Looking back up, Rommel yelled into his radio to their brothers in arms in the M4A8E3...

"RÜCKZUG! RÜCKZUG! WIR KÖNNEN NICHT HIER GEWINNEN!" Rommel yelled, immediately seeing results as both tanks began to hightail it back to Wulften...

"So..." Lieutenant Mira began, facing Crew Verteidiger. "You've completed all set parameters of your training set for the day. Crew Faust is almost done with their training, and the Ironhide is still under modification, but their crew finished their studies on their battlefield purpose twenty minutes ago. Until the Generals return and say otherwise, you are free to do as you wish." The crew being spoken to all gave crisp salutes, before doing an about face and making their way to the mess hall. Sighing, Lieutenant Mira merely looked back down at the folder in her hands, specifically the tab in it on the information they'd collected from the mercenary. Looking back from the files and adjusting her uniform, she briskly jogged down to the Prison block...

It only took a few minutes to get through security, and to have the merc moved into the questioning room. Such had to be done via wheelchair due to the nature of his weapons. Opening the door, she quietly slipped herself in before shutting it, and sitting down in front of the boy, who looked much different in his orange inmate clothes...

"Well, well, well... Mira, to what do I owe the 'pleasure'?" he said sarcastically. She ignored him, and merely pressed her fingers together and staring at him.

"I'm going to give you two options, Mercury." Mira stated calmly. "Either stay behind bars for the rest of your life, or join us."

"Join you?!. You gotta be kidding, the hell would you even need me for?"

"One tank is undermanned. Der Verteidiger has a crew of four, but it needs five. Now, I know how you are, Mercury. After all, you tried-"

"And failed to, PLEASE don't for get that!"

"to kill me once." Mira stated bluntly, ignoring that he'd interrupted her. "I got to know you closely during that time, and learned that you never break a promise. That's why you don't promise success for jobs, isn't it? You know something could go wrong?"

"Yes..." Mercury growled out through gritted teeth. "I don't value much in life, but I do value my word, and I don't go back on it. Ever."

"Good. Then you can promise to pledge your loyalty to Ms. Rose." Mira said smugly, relishing his exasperated reaction.

"Woahwoahwoahwoahwoah wait! I can't pledge my loyalty to some little girl barely older than sixteen yet!" Mercury rushed out, panicked.

"Well then, I guess you won't be leaving those orange rags behind. Take care, Black." Mira stated without showing any emotion, before gathering her folder and standing up. Right before she could touch the door, though, Mercury snapped out of his shocked state...

"A-Alright! I'll pledge my loyalty to her!" He stammered out.

"Promise? She said, a sly grin on her face...

"Yes, Please! I promise! I swear It on my life!" Mercury rushed out, capitulating under the threat of a lifetime behind bars.

"Good." Was all Mira said, before knocking on the door. It opened, and she left the assassin in the room for a moment while she spoke to some important people...

Ruby and her team had had a fine day so far. Their training was productive, and the cold kept their tank from getting too hot. Yang had made good timing with reloading over the past two weeks, dropping down to 6.1 seconds per shot, and Blakes hit/miss ratio had improved to 87 percent. Weiss had gotten markedly better at driving the tank as well, with Ruby keeping good pace as their commander. Still, they were one man short. Ruby's A-set could only be used to either issue orders to her crew, or communicate with other crews on the same frequency within a short distance. They needed a radio operator that could double for operating the machine gun. She also wanted to see if she couldn't find a Tiger Henschel, as in her opinion, the cupola on her turret was too large, and the aforementioned Tiger had a much better cupola than her own.

She dismissed that thought, and continued maintenance on their tank. They were still learning the ins and outs of it, mechanically speaking, but they at least knew how to do basic maintenance like cleaning the barrel, balancing the tracks, and checking the engine. She was currently applying new paint for a winter camouflage, and her team was busy modifying the tracks with Winterketten.

After about two hours, they'd finished their modifications, and patted themselves on the backs on their job well done. Looking down at Weiss, she clasped her teammate's shoulder and spoke plainly.

"Wir haben das früher beendet, als ich gedacht hätte." Ruby said in her limited, but expanding German.

"I agree, I didn't expect us to be finished for at least another hour or two. We're getting good at this." Weiss concluded, before Yang came out from underneath the tank.

"I'm gonna have to wash my uniform tonight, Rom would blow a gasket if he saw me this dirty!" Yang exclaimed, her face and uniform covered in oil and grease. Rom was what Yang had come to call the Field Marshal behind his back about a week prior.

"I second that, but mine just smells... well, it could smell better." Blake grimaced. Ruby just stifled a small laugh before making her way down from the top of the turret. Once down she called her team to attention.

"Alright guys, we did great today, aber morgen müssen wir besser sein! Let's throw our uniforms in the wash and tuck in for the night. Tomorrow we'll wake up exactly one hour early to throw our uniforms in the dryers." Ruby stated, earning a collective sigh of relief from her team. She just quietly chuckled before leading her friends out to their crew quarters in the barracks they'd moved into.

As they were all almost out the door, a voice called them from behind...

"Ms. Rose, I require your's and your crew's attention immediately." it said. Turning around, she saw Lieutenant Mira, standing beside her was the mercenary she'd learned was named "Mercury Black."

"Ah, of course, Ma'am." Ruby stated, giving a crisp salute, her teammates quickly mimicking her action.

"This here is Mercury Black. Mister Black, you are now officially attached to Crew Verteidiger as their radio operator and machine gunner. Now, Introduce yourself." She said in an orderly and firm manner. the Boy quickly stepped up and bowed to Ruby.

"On account of a promise made, I've sworn my loyalty to you and your team. Let's not get into the 'Meet&Greet', we all already know each other." Mercury said reluctantly. Ruby only nodded in response.

"Alright, Mercury." Mira said. "You'll be taking commands from her, now, and following the chain of commands as such. You listen to her, but myself before her, and the Generals before me. Ist das klar?"

"Yeah, like crystal..." he droned. The Lieutenant nodded, before quietly walking away. Mercury, now faced with four girls, all shorter than he, and all admirable in their own... physical, rights to him. He just lightly coughed to sort of break the awkward silence.

"So..." Ruby began, looking him up and down to inspect his uniform and make sure everything was correct. She nodded, seeing that all was in order. The Tailor must've dressed him before he was brought to them. Looking to her team, they just shrugged, so Ruby continued...

"You uh... You know any German?"

Rommel and Patton practically raced into the town, their hearts still racing from their brief but deadly encounter. They were quickly met with at least a dozen medical personnel rushing to them and their crews, looking them over for injuries. As Rommel waved them off, Patton gave one guardsman very strict orders to get Lieutenant Mira in the ops center immediately. The man broke out into a dead sprint to find the Lieutenant, while the two Generals' crews were waved off by their commanders to get food and rest.

About ten minutes later, The Field Marshal, General, and Lieutenant were all gathered together in the Ops Center. The latter looked concerned, as the two men's uniforms were ever so slightly ruffled up. This wasn't a good thing to see from Generals.

"Lieutenant, firstly, we've completed our objective we set out for yesterday night. There's good news and bad news in that. Secondly... Rommel?"

"Leutnant, wir haben ein sehr ernstes 188 Tonnen Problem in unseren Händen." Rommel said with slightly wide eyes. Immediately, the woman's pupils dilated appropriately, her eyes widened and her mouth gaped.

"F-field M-marshal... P-p-p-please d-don't tell m-me... T-they have a..."

"We're telling you, Lieutenant, it is. We'd know, after all, it shot at us." Patton chimed in. The poor girl slumped back in her chair, her hands rifling through her own hair as a million thoughts ran through her mind. She had just been given some of the worst news she could possibly be given, as she knew very well they didn't have any firepower capable of halting such a vehicle.

"Can our T95 break it's armor? It's got a 10.5 cm?" Patton continued.

"The most we'll do with anything below 12 cm to any weak point it's got is annoy the crew with the sound of the shot bouncing off." Rommel deadpanned. Patton growled angrily, if he had the amount of tanks at his disposal that he did during the war, this wouldn't have been a problem. But as it currently is...

"Anyways, the good news is we've mapped out the White Fang patrol routes." Rommel continued. Mira didn't wait to ask what was on her mind.

"And the bad news?" She asked.

"We're alone to the North, South and West. White Fang obliterated our neighbors with their panzers."

"Oh lord... any survivors?"

"None, Mira. From what we could tell, nobody in any of the towns survived." Patton cut in. The woman simply moved a hand to her mouth, before quickly excusing herself from the room...

They were both quiet, and after the Lieutenant didn't return five minutes later, they decided that the meeting was at an end. They agreed they'd not punish her, after all, if what she said was true, the poor girls' family was scattered across those towns. Sighing, they both made their way to the Crew Verteidiger's room...

Mercury wasn't sure just how much luckier he could get, sharing a room with four beautiful ladies. The room had it's own bathroom, it's own washers and driers, and to top it all off on a highlight, military showers. The latter he would've been extremely uncomfortable with if he'd have to share with other dudes, but he was the only guy in this team, and he was very happy about that. He also knew that because of required timetables they had to move at, none of them would be able to say he had to go after them or before them. He was actively aware that in this instance, he was an EXTREMELY lucky guy.

So, like the girls, he undressed, but only stowed his uniform in his footlocker, before wrapping a towel around his waist to have some measure of modesty, before looking over at the girls. They'd thrown all their clothes in the wash, and wrapped themselves in their own towels, and were currently preparing their night-time clothes on their beds, consisting of a sports bra, black compression shorts, and a dark gray tank top.

Once they were done, (and he too prepared his night-time clothes, of them being black compression shorts and a similar tank top) he followed them into the showers. They all took their towels off without a thought, like they didn't even realize each other was in the room, and hung them on the racks. Mercury mimicked their actions, but couldn't take his eyes off the naked beauties the entire two minutes of shower-time.

It was only about three minutes later that Mercury became somewhat disappointed, the fan-service ending with the girls wrapping themselves back up with their towels and getting dressed. Mercury tried to play off his awkward situation a bit...

"So... How come you're all so used to showering like that?" Mercury stated bluntly. His response was mostly just the girls staring blankly at him with some confusion written on their faces. Ruby spoke up first.

"Well," she began, "when you're being yelled at by Mira to hurry it up, you tend to learn how to ignore each other's presence quite well." The other three girls nodded in agreement, before turning to their own beds to get under the covers.

Mercury sighed. Of course Mira would ruin it like that. Why wouldn't she? Mercury had almost lost himself in his own thoughts when the door swung open, revealing the two generals, neither looking in the best state if their uniforms were any indication.

"Fräuleins!" Rommel stated quickly, immediately garnering all the girls attention.

"Ja, Kommandant?" Ruby answered.

"Ich muss dich benachrichtigen, we've a major situation."

"Major is an utterly ludicrous understatement, Rommel." Patton said, his hands behind his back.

"Umm... Sirs? If I may ask, what's the issue?" Ruby queried. everyone was silent for a moment, with the air getting tense and the room getting increasingly uncomfortable. After about a minute of this uncomfortable silence and tension, the Field Marshal sighed, and held his hands behind his back...

"Fräuleins, they have a Maus."