The feeling of unease was palpable as the men of the First Enhanced Army filed into the room. Training had been called off early. While no explanation had been given for this meeting every man was certain that they would finally be getting deployed. The nature of their first mission had been a matter of speculation in the barracks for weeks. Would they be pitted against the German enhanced forces directly or a softer target? Both scenarios had been covered in their training and both presented a unique set of challenges. So far command had not given them the slightest hint of what the greater plan was. Patrick took a seat and watched General Morton walk to the front of the room. Once everyone was settled the General began.

"Now I think that most of you have figured out why I called you here," Morton said as he scanned the crowd. "For the past month the Germans have been kicking your fellow soldiers around and we haven't been able to do much anything to stop them. Tomorrow morning we are going to show them that Americans don't take too kindly to that. We are going to stand up and sock those Kraut sons of bitches so hard that it will send them reeling back to Berlin!"

A roar of cheers went up from the assembled men with Patrick as loud as anyone. This was what they had been waiting for. All the mind-numbing hours of training had led up to this. After everything that the Germans had done no one was ready to let them run rampant again, especially not with this sort of power. Behind General Morton an aide flipped over the cover on an easel to reveal a German propaganda poster. Right in the middle was the blonde Battleship Klaudia Hoch.

"You've all heard about this little lady. Battleship Sieglinde. She has been causing all kinds of trouble up north and we are going to put a stop to it. Day before last she went quiet all of the sudden. The boys over in intelligence discovered that she is going to be dispatched on a new offensive, one that will give us the opportunity to take her out."

Another page flipped over to reveal map of a city next to a large harbour.

"Sieglinde is being sent to attack Antwerp. That is the largest port that we control on the continent. Having it put out of commission is not an option. A whole lot of blood was spilled getting the Germans out of there in the first place. Ever since the ubermensch showed up our men and equipment have been moving back towards the port in case an evacuation was needed. The defences are strong enough to hold off even a massed panzermensch attack but a Battleship is a whole different story."

From what was marked on the map Patrick could see that there were indeed some serious layers of defence around the city. That was one thing that had come up during their training. The best way for a conventional force to take on an enhanced one was wear them out in protracted engagements. Fatigue was the number one enemy of a tankman in the field. Battleships seemed to have more leeway but no one could say how much for certain.

"The Germans are going to use one of their captured American trucks to try and sneak Sieglinde and a small panzermensch escort through as much of the defences as possible. Once she is inside the city she is going to disable the harbour, with the panzermensch watching her back, before breaking out. They don't know that you all exist and they don't know that we know that they're coming. The plan is to allow Sieglinde to proceed to her target here at the northern section of the docks. It will be early enough in the day that the majority of the workers will still be at home. Should keep the civilian casualties down. Our conventional forces armed with anti-armour ordinance will be positioned throughout the area to take care of the panzermensch. Every last one of you is to focus exclusively on Sieglinde. Take her out and both German fronts find themselves in one heck of a bind."

Patrick would have a little over forty American tank men alongside him for the fight. Even if Sieglinde was more matured than him those were pretty steep odds for her to face. Especially if she was not expecting any kind of serious resistance. Why would she, given that she had run roughshod over every Allied force she had faced so far? Even with the odds in their favour Patrick knew that far fewer men would be sitting here the next evening. It was going to be a dangerous mission for sure.

"There are some packets coming around for each of you. They have all the details on what to expect in the engagement area. You will all have some time to rest before we ship you out to Antwerp. Need to get you there early enough to have you in position. If you have any questions now would be a good time. Otherwise godspeed to every last one of you. We are finally back in this war."

Patrick stayed quiet as he looked through the booklet he was handed. Some of the other guys had questions but for now Patrick was just letting it all sink in. There were more detailed maps, showing all the streets with their strange Belgian names. Where Sieglinde was most likely to approach from and where she was supposed to begin her attack. What they were to do in case she did not make it to the ambush site. That was where things could get out of hand quickly. It was risky letting her all the way into the city before engaging. If she started her attack early a lot of innocent people could get killed. Not like it was the first time that would have happened.

Still once Patrick considered that numbers and surprise were on their side he was confident that they would be able to pull it off. Just a question of how much it would hurt.

"I just want it on the record that I advise against this plan in the strongest terms possible," Lupin said to General Morton as they sat in his office. The briefing had been overly positive in Lupin's opinion. No major engagement between enhanced forces had been observed so far and pitting two Battleships against one another seemed a poor place to start. "Patrick has barely begun to mature while Klaudia is theoretically half way through her's. There is too much of a chance that something will go awry."

"You've said the same thing about a dozen different ways now. Don't worry, its on the record. The decision has been made and this attack is going through come hell or high water. Sieglinde is going to be completely exposed and isolated. There might not be an opportunity like this again once we put our enhanced men into action. We need to make the most of all this secrecy and hit hard and where it will do the most damage. I have faith that Patrick can get the job done. You said yourself that the situation is only going to get worse as time goes on. Might as well press what little advantage we have.

"I have as much faith in Patrick as you do but the science is not on our side here." Lupin was stretching the truth slightly with that one. Pitting a freshly activated tankman against one with a few weeks of maturation was the closest analogy they had and the odds there were not completely one sided. While there had not been a chance to do full combat trials, seeing as the chance of damaging both men was too great, it did appear that most ubermensch gained the majority of their offensive potential early on while their durability lagged behind until later. It was a toss of the coin as to whether Patrick could kill Klaudia or she him, not to mention the significant chance of both dying.

"You're a good man Lupin. But you have to know when things are out of your hands. I'm grateful for the job you've done here. Everyone all the way up to the President knows that we wouldn't be in half as good of shape as we are if you hadn't cooperated on designing the training program. So you should be proud that you got these men this far. And be ready to let them go fight the war you trained them to fight."

Lupin knew that he had pushed further than he had any right to. After all he should have been a prisoner rather than a trusted advisor. Maybe the Americans were right. They did always seem to be optimistic about their chances.

"Yes sir. I just can't help but worry. I've never really had people's lives relying on me in this way."

"It's a hard thing to handle. But I do have something that should ease your nerves some," Morton smiled as he continued. "You've done about all that we need you to do here so they'll be transferring you back stateside to get training going there. Catalyst production still hasn't really taken off but testing has begun. Tomorrow you'll be stopping over in Britain and there will be some folks waiting for you there. I don't know how the Brits managed it but they got your parents out of Germany safely."

"They made it? They actually made it," Lupin could hardly think as relief flooded over him. With all the stress of training the American tankmen he had hardly had time to worry about his family. It left his brother in harm's way but if this miracle had been achieved then there might still be hope. Reaching across the desk Lupin held out his hand. "Thank you General Morton. It truly has been a pleasure working with you."

"Well lets not pat each other on the back just yet." Stanley said, though he still shook Lupin's hand.

"Is there anything else you'll need me for? I suppose I should go pack." Not that Lupin had much at all for possessions.

"I'm certain that O'Connor is probably still awake right now. Give him a final pep talk, let him know not to worry. Just don't say anything gloomy. If he believes he can take Sieglinde down, then he will take her down."

"I'll do my best." Lupin rose to leave the office. He had spent enough time lying to Patrick about little things that this one last time could not hurt. Especially as it was for a good reason.

Staring at the paper in front of him Patrick read back what he had written. He hated writing letters. Something about putting words to paper robbed him of his usual wit. Not that this was the usual sort of letter that he would have written home anyways. Just what tone should a final farewell have anyways? Putting his pen down Patrick just sighed and folded the letter up. No use getting too worked up over it as the chances of this ever having to be delivered were hopefully slim.

On the off chance that things went completely wrong the next day Patrick wanted to be prepared. He would be damned if he died without leaving behind something for his family. There had only been one letter that had made it through from home since he had been here. Written by his mother and signed by all his sisters it had mostly been about their confusion over what was happening. At the end had been a reminder for him to stay safe and make it home. It had not said it explicitly but Patrick was certain that by now his mother must have known that Eamonn was missing. That would be eating her up inside. Much as Patrick hated to contribute to her worries he knew that this was possibly the most important thing he would ever do with his life.

Carefully putting the letter in an envelope all that was left to do was find someone to entrust it to should it need to be delivered. As luck would have it a knock at the door preceded Lupin, who looked less sure of himself than usual. The stress of the upcoming attack must have been weighing on his nerves too. Still he should be able to get the job done if need be.

"You really should be resting. Tomorrow is going require everything that you can give." Lupin said as he leaned against the inside of the door frame.

"I'll admit it, I've got the jitters. First time back in combat in a month and this time I can wipe out a city block by giving it a stern look. Kind of hard to believe." Patrick replied.

"You'll do fine, I am certain of it. After all you did promise to show me a good time in America. I will have to hold off until you make it back there."

"They sending you over?" Patrick asked, to which Lupin nodded. It was the perfect opportunity. "Now this is kind of an awkward thing to ask but just in case anything happens to me tomorrow, anything that I don't come back from, could you please get this to my family? It'll probably just end up gathering dust but just in case."

Lupin looked taken aback as Patrick offered him the envelope, standing there silently before taking a step back. Not the reaction that Patrick had been hoping for.

"I'm sorry Patrick, I really couldn't-"

"Come on Lupin. I know it's a lot to ask but I would rather it be somebody I know instead of some stiff. And anyways, it's just a precaution." Patrick interrupted the German, who still refused to take the letter. A strange look came over Lupin before he replied.

"There is something that you need to know about me Patrick. I should have told you at the start but there just never was a good time. I'm not the man you think I am and I am certainly not the type of man you want to give this responsibility to. I am a Nazi Patrick," Lupin held up his hand as Patrick opened his mouth. "Just listen to me. I need to say this. You have to understand."

"When I say a Nazi I mean it. Had a membership number and everything. I joined the Party in 1932 with my father. He wanted us to join because of what happened in Bremen after the last war. There had always been a lot of socialists in the city and once the empire started to fall apart they seized control. The uprising was crushed after a few months but it still frightened my father terribly. That everything he had worked so hard to build, that he wanted to leave for my brother and myself, might be taken away from him. So when it came time to cast a vote he went with the option that spoke the loudest against the communists. Even then it was clear that there were some dark things beneath the surface but we told ourselves that it was just to make sure that the family business was safe.

So as Hitler took more and more control for himself my father and I just looked the other way and said that it was all just good business. We got some contracts to do with the rearmament and then even more. One of our closest competitors was owned by a Jew. Max Rosenstein, a nice man, we had been to each others homes on a number of occasions. When the Nazis decided that it was too dangerous to allow a Jew to run a business in a critical industry we did the neighbourly thing and bought his business for a fraction of the cost. When I talked it over with my father we actually managed to convince ourselves that we had done Max a favour, all because we gave him a bit more than others would have. Really we were no better than the communists grabbing at things that weren't ours. At least Max managed to get his family out, even if he had to leave behind his whole life's work.

Then the war started and my marriage had just fallen apart so I joined the military to clear my head. Remember how I told you about men coming back from the front and telling me all those awful stories? I would sit there and listen to them brag about shooting women and children and then I would go back to filling out requisition forms to make sure that plenty of ammunition was heading east. All the while I told myself that my hands were clean just because my finger was never on the trigger. When I was chosen for the ubermensch project at first I helped out because it just seemed like some puffed up general's mad waste of time. At least it wasn't contributing to the war effort at all.

Once we had actually begun to be activated there was a small window of time where I could have stopped all this. I had been activated but the Battleships hadn't. If I had just killed the three of them and Sankt the whole thing would have fallen apart. But I was scared. So I just misplaced supplies and fouled up batches of the Catalyst and convinced myself that I was doing all that I could. My whole life for over the last decade has just been one long chain of telling myself that there is nothing I could do. And now every fibre of my being is screaming at me that this mission is a terrible idea and still I try to say to myself that there is nothing I can do. You are in much greater danger than you think. I won't sugar coat it any longer. At least I can do that much. To tell you the truth."

Lupin's shoulders sagged as he finished his story. It filled in a lot of blanks about him. Patrick let the silence sit between them for a minute or so before holding the letter out again.

"Take the damn letter," Patrick rode over Lupin's objections. "This isn't a reward Lupin. This is a sacred fucking duty. You want to beat yourself up over what you could have or should have done? Here is some penance for you. If anything happens to me you give this to my family and then you look after them. My ma, my sisters and Eamonn when, not if but when, he comes home. You look out for them Lupin. Consider that something to help you get even with the universe."

After a moment's hesitation Lupin carefully took the letter. "If you're certain that is what you want."

"I am goddamn certain. Now since you seem to be in an honest mood tell me what I can do tomorrow so you don't have to deliver that letter."

"You need to hit Klaudia as hard as you can before she can put up a defence. Get behind her at the start of the attack and stay there. She won't be able to hit you with her halo if you're behind her," Lupin looked grim as went over the details. "Klaudia has a lot of anger but she was never given much training on how to fight. In fact I would be surprised if she had ever been in an actual fist fight in her life. Try not to let it come to that though. The longer that the fight goes on the better her chances get and the worse yours will be. As callous as it might sound let the tankmen hold her attention. The more damage you can inflict before she realizes what is going on the better your chances. Don't show mercy and don't let up."

Patrick had never hit a woman in his life. His mother would likely have murdered him if he even considered it. Yet now he was going to have to kill one. Everything that Lupin had said was sound advise that Patrick had no qualms about using in a fight but there was still that little bit of hesitation. Thinking back to Lupin's story he realized that he was in the same position. Now was a time where he needed to act, even though the consequences would be dire. The world could not afford another man ending up feeling like he had missed his chance to make a difference.

"Just to let you know Lupin, you aren't alone. I've done some things that I'm not very proud of. Hell, there are a few things in this war that I'll take with me to my grave. At least you have the guts to own up to your mistakes. A lot of guys wouldn't. I might even be one of them."

"Good luck tomorrow." Was all that Lupin said before he disappeared out the door. In a way it was all that could be said at this point.

Rubbing his temples Patrick made his way to his bunk. It was going to be a son of a bitch to get some rest now but he had to find a way. Too much was riding on him not to.

It had been an uncharacteristically quiet morning among the American enhanced soldiers. They were quiet as they loaded onto the plane that would ferry them to Antwerp. One final meal of glucose paste before the battle was not met with the usual chorus of complaints. When they landed outside the city and transferred to the trucks that sent them speeding off to their destination things still remained silent. It was only once they had reached the final point before heading off to their positions that everyone began to wish each other luck for the coming fight. Even then that only took a few minutes before everyone dispersed.

Patrick and five tankmen found themselves cooped up in a room without windows. There were still a couple of hours before the German attack was slated to begin so each man tried to get as much rest they could. Even with his eyes closed Patrick could not help but listen to every tick and buzz that came over the radio. The operator spoke quietly whenever the channel opened up but Patrick's enhanced hearing let him eavesdrop. Nothing of importance. As the minutes ground by Patrick found himself wishing that he could still sweat. It felt like the pressure was building up beneath his skin without any way to release it.

Silently, barely moving his lips more than he had to, Patrick began to pray. To the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. To the Blessed Virgin Mary. To every saint he could remember with an apology to all the ones that he could not. He had never been overly concerned with religion outside of going to church on Sundays. Now seemed like an appropriate time to make up for any slack he had let build up. It might make the difference as to whether he would live to walk off the field at the end of the day.

The radio crackled again and this time the operator looked up at them.

"They think they've spotted the German truck. It is heading into the ambush zone. Still waiting for confirmation."

That was it then. Patrick stood up and stretched, cracking his knuckles and flexing his neck. All the anxiety fell away. He knew what had to be done. No use worrying about it anymore until it was all finished. One last silent prayer passed through him. It did not hurt to be cautious. From here on out it was up to Patrick what would happen and the Almighty might just put a thumb on the scale for him if he did well enough.

"Confirmed eyes on the target. She is about three blocks north of us heading towards the harbour. Time to move." The radio crew grabbed their equipment and the group set out. They only made it about one street before the first flash appeared.

"Looks like she's started the party without us." Patrick said as he picked up the pace. The whole point of this was to protect as much of the harbour as possible so they needed to move. An explosion, a regular one at least, echoed through the streets. Someone must have engaged the German panzermensch.

"What?" The radio operator asked in confusion as he struggled to keep up, holding the phone to his ear as he ran. Dropping the headset he called to Patrick. "Sounds like some of the Germans wandered right into our guys. We gotta engage now while we can still get the drop on the bitch!"

Flashing the man a thumbs up Patrick took off. It only took moments to clear the last few streets before he was out in the open looking out at the harbour. Unfortunately it meant leaving the tankmen behind for the few seconds it would take for them to catch up but every second would count now. Already thick spines jutted out from this part of the wharf, some stretching out as far as four metres and all looking razor sharp. Looking for the source of the distortion Patrick saw Sieglinde ahead of him with her back turned. Activating his halo Patrick willed a distortion of his own into existence.

Sieglinde must have had some intuition of what was about to happen as she began to turn just as the distortion materialized. Rather than hitting her square in the neck it ended up enveloping the back of her right shoulder. From the anguished roar of pain that she let out Patrick knew that at least he had done some damage. Before he could even take a step to try and keep behind her Sieglinde finished whipping around, focusing her own halo upon him. Reflexively Patrick sent another distortion towards her.

Rather than appearing at their intended targets both distortions slammed together halfway between the two Battleships. To Patrick it felt like he was in a wrestling match, both arms locked with his opponent as they each tried to force the other off balance. Sieglinde took a step forward, pushing the distortions back towards him. This was exactly the situation that Patrick did not want to be in.

At that moment the tankmen who had been following him came in from the side, their own halos active and momentarily drawing away Sieglinde's attention. It was that slight lessening of the pressure against him that allowed Patrick to leap to the right, covering such distance that he was now in line with Sieglinde's side. Without an apparent target her distortion split and tore apart a few of the unfortunate tankmen. Determined to make their sacrifice worth it Patrick leapt forward. By the time Sieglinde could process it Patrick cracked her right across the jaw.

The light of Sieglinde's halo sputtered out as she staggered from the blow. Taking advantage of the moment's reprieve Patrick looked for where his tankmen backup was. They should have been here by now. Other than the few who had followed him there was no one in sight. A great plume of blue light rose from further back in the city. A halo distortion for sure and one much too large for a tankman to have made. If it had not come from Sieglinde...

Something had gone terribly wrong. Patrick could not think about it as Sieglinde was steady on her feet once again and coming at him fast. At the very least she was neglecting to use her halo for now. Still that left Patrick looking straight into her rage filled eyes. Dancing back he barely managed to avoid her fists as she swung at him with wild abandon. Each punch was thrown with such force and speed that it sent the wind whistling through the air past him. But Lupin had been right. Sieglinde had no idea how to fight beyond charging forward with everything she had. Her punches were sloppy and telegraphed. Waiting for a window Patrick responded with another blow to her jaw, staggering her again. This time his focus remained solely on her. Grabbing hold of her injured shoulder he dug his fingers into the warped skin while driving his fist into her stomach.

The blow sent Sieglinde down onto her knees and Patrick wasted no time getting behind her. He could see the damage that his halo had done to her shoulder. It was not pretty. Putting his boot onto her back Patrick managed to force Sieglinde down onto the ground. Seeing the flickers of blue appear again around the back of Sieglinde's head Patrick wrapped his hands around her throat, preventing her from turning back towards him. With his knee on the small of her back Patrick tightened his grip on her throat. It caused her halo to disappear again at least. Glancing up he could see the distortions still tearing through the city. Either the rest of the force was tied up fighting whoever was causing those or there were far more Germans around than anticipated. Just how had they managed to pull that off? Once he had taken out Sieglinde should he try to engage the other or retreat?

Thoughts racing Patrick felt Sieglinde's hands scratching at his wrists, trying to break his grip. He needed a plan, a course of action. Everything was turning to shit real fast. At least he would be able to complete the primary objective. As Sieglinde's hands finally fastened around Patrick's wrists he braced himself to keep hold of her. Then the world went white.

When his vision came back Patrick realized that someone else must have hit him from behind. A German panzermensch or the other Battleship or whatever the hell it was. Did not matter. He had lost his grip on Sieglinde and he needed to get it back. In fact he must have stumbled back as she was now getting back onto her feet in front of him, throwing something to the ground from each of her hands. Trying to get up and engage her again Patrick realized that she had taken the arms off of some poor sod.

That was when it dawned on him. Looking down, his head feeling like it was moving through jelly, Patrick saw that blood was pouring out of a hole on either side of him. Sieglinde had managed to tear off his arms at the shoulder. Gagging, struggling for air Patrick could hardly believe what was happening. He could not even feel that his arms were gone.

Lord have mercy on me. That was the only thing that Patrick could think of. He tried to summon the halo again but could not. Looking at Sieglinde he saw her face twisted with animalistic rage. She did not have trouble bringing her own halo forth.

As the distortion hit him Patrick remembered when Lupin had done the test on him. Every man had undergone it just so they could feel what being hit with the halo was like. A distortion about the size of the quarter on the forearm. It felt like when he had accidentally touched a hot pan. Searing pain that left a dull throbbing behind. This was different.

A thousand hands reached out and took hold of every part of Patrick's being, every muscle, every bone and every inch of skin. Then they moved.

Patrick was helpless as the hands began to push and pull and shape and twist. His skin crawled and opened to allow his muscles to seep out. His chest parted as his ribs blossomed outwards and his organs danced along with them. Finally Patrick managed a short scream with the last bit of air left in his lungs.

Then his jaw melted and his throat opened to the point where it could make no more sound. Yet Patrick still screamed in his mind, an ever-rising dirge that marked the end of his life.

Just as his skull split apart one last thought cut through the pain.

Mother forgive me. I couldn't keep my promise.

Then Patrick's mind was gone. All that remained was the silent cry echoing through the ruined vessel of his skull.