"This way, hurry!" Karl called out as he scouted ahead for his two comrades.

Following the agile loader, Maho negotiated her way over yet another pile of rubble as best as she could, while still clinging to support Muller over her shoulder.

Moving as fast as their feet could carry them, they had left their crippled panzer as it became engulfed in flames. The faint sound of voices and objects falling to the ground from around several corners in the alley behind grabbed hold of her attention.

Another contingent of soviet infantry had followed up the last through the wide avenue, and while it was not near enough to intervene in the brief firefight, they were well within hearing distance, quickly sending a small detachment to rout out any remaining enemy personnel in the area as they passed.

She knew that they were going to be unable to outrun any form of pursuit in the state they were in with a wounded man in tow; and while the easiest solution for a fighting chance of escape came to mind in a state of desperation, she immediately reprimanded herself for even harboring just the remote thought of leaving a comrade behind.

Ahead of them laid a small courtyard for one of the massive apartment complexes towering above them. With a separate exit at either end leading into two different buildings, along with an ample amount of clutter within the open space for cover.

She made the decision to act there.

She was their commander before anything else, and as such she was not about to let even one more of them perish as long as she was able to stop it. Even if it meant breaking her promise in doing so…

Turning towards the team's loader, she shifted Muller slightly before walking over towards him.

"Karl..."

He didn't need to hear anything else before taking the wounded radio operator from her, and transferred Muller safely onto his shoulder without another word exchanged between the two. He then went to hand her the MP40 from him, but was met instead by a wave of her hand against it.

"Take Muller and get out of here."

"Lieutenant?"

"Karl we can't outrun them like this. One of us is going to have to distract them long enough for the rest to escape."

"You can't be serious?" Karl asked with a tone of disbelief.

"I'm am."

"…"

"Just leave me. I'm just slowing you two down." Muller said hanging limply over Karl's shoulder. His injuries have appeared to have been much more severe than they originally thought. He had lost a lot of blood, and with every passing minute he was becoming less and less responsive because of it. If they weren't able to get him proper medical attention soon, his chances didn't look too good.

Maho turned and glared at the radio operator after his comment. "I'm not going to let anyone else under my command die out here. Karl take him out of here. I'll lead them off as best I can, then meet back up with you after I shake them off."

"There is no way in hell I'm letting you do that Maho!" Karl could tell that she wasn't very optimistic about her chances of making it back.

The sounds of fast approaching footstep and shouts in Russian was rapidly growing past the corner behind them.

"That's not a request corporal, and there's no time to argue about this. Just take him and go before they find us!"

It was easy to tell that Karl wasn't pleased with abandoning her to flee for safety. But nonetheless he responded to her order with a mumbled "yes sir" and a nod before turning down the dark corridor with Muller in hand, both giving one last glance towards her before disappearing around the nearest corner.

Content with her comrades leaving to reach safety, she glanced back towards the direction her fast approaching enemy. She reached down towards her waist, and much like in the countless exercises at the academy's firing range, she slipped out her sidearm and cocked the first round into the chamber in one smooth motion. Ahead of her two large gaping holes provided more than enough room for her pursuers to quickly enter and flood the small space she was in.

She had to make her next move perfectly; if she slipped out to the adjacent exit too soon, they would split up and ultimately find her drastically slowed down comrades, if she stayed too long and gave them the chance to aim at her… the result pretty much presents itself. She calmly straightened out her right arm with pistol in hand, ignoring the slight disconcert it brought to her wounded limb.

It didn't take long before the first two leading Russian soldiers leapt through the opening to her left. She quickly squeezed the trigger three times in rapid succession. Her aim was more than good enough for the close proximity of her targets, and without so much as being able to stop themselves let alone bare their arms to engage her, both soldiers were already on the floor bleeding out at her feet.

More were coming, much more than she could possibly hope to take on directly and survive. She waited until the second set of caps and helmets came into view through the openings; then bolted through the second doorway as fast as her legs could manage.

From what she could make out as she ran from the first corridor to the next, it seemed that a good amount of the men perusing them have continued on after her; whether or not it was all of them she couldn't tell, and the constant sound of battle from every direction only added to her worry.

She had to keep moving at this point; the next two halls came and went without a thing in sight to stop her. The third one however, wasn't as favorable for her as several large beams of blackened wood were lodged into the tight confines from the leveled floors above. There was not a single alternate route in sight, but she figured that at least one of the gaps in the obstruction in front of her was large enough to fit through.

At least several sets of footsteps were just rounding the previous corner behind her, she leaned down towards the small opening.

It was smaller than she anticipated at first, but with a few quick twists and turns to negotiate the somewhat restricting confines around her she was able to get through with only little difficulty. She then made to get to the next corner, but on the first step she fell back to the floor as if something was holding her down.

Sure enough, as she slipped through the barrier of debris without noticing, the sling for the small duffle bag she held over her shoulder had become snagged onto a protruding piece of charred wood.

After looking back to see what had happened. Maho reached to unlatch the strap rom the loose wood, it took a little fidgeting with a few loose slivers of wood to release it from their hold. She then quickly reshuffled back onto her feet and stood back up just as the first Russian soldier entered the hallway aiming his rifle right at her.

"Stoy!"

Showing no intention of heeding him, she started to run for the next corner without a moment's thought. He fired a shot in response, and she opened up with two of her own.

Not one seemed to have even landed even close to their intended targets however; but did give her the opportunity to get out of site before the soldier could load another round into the chamber as his comrades stormed into the hall with the barrier of debris still in their path.


"Well… looks like he got away." Alex said as he looked towards the corner that the black cladded German had just sprinted past just moments before.

The pile of burnt wood in front of them may not have seemed as much as an obstacle to clear away. They could already tell that in the time needed to clear enough away to get through, the person that they were going after would be already long gone.

Alongside him among others, stood the remaining squad members from his village, Vlad David, and Kimek, while in the courtyard, Dennis was fast at work seeing to the two men outside.

No one were of high spirits at that time.

They had been in the city for neigh a few hours, and already they had been nearly cut down by half; along with their very first attempt at some form of retribution turned into a complete failure, with two more of the men that came with them down.

Of the group however, none looked more upset about the latest news than Vlad.

"DAMMIT!"

A few more pieces of wood and plaster came crumbling onto the pile in front of them as his fist hammered into the wall next to him, very nearly hitting Kimek instead as he jumped past him.

"WHOW! Come on guys! Are we just going to stand around here, or actually go get that guy?"

"Comrade… stop! We already lost him. And it was just one of them anyways." Said one of the other men as he grabbed onto Kimek's arm to pull him back.

Off to the side, David was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed at his chest. His complexion a grim one. "Well, if we're all going to die here. It would have nice to have at least taken one of those bastards with us."

Alex was simply dumbfounded at that point already. Not a few hours had past, and already nearly half of the few friends he had left were gone, and the rest nearly changed past recognition.

'If only Nonna was still here…'

Regaining his composure in front of what would be technically his men now, he cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"Well, since the other squad has already set into the other building to set up that Heavy MG of theirs. There doesn't seem to be anything else we can do here besides going on a wild goose chase; we might as well head back to the rest of the platoon past where we left them." He then looked back down the long corridor.

"There'll be plenty more of them where he came from."


In the last several minutes since negotiating past the collapsed corridor, she was already down several stretches of corridors and up a set of stairs. Adrenalin was coursing through her veins, though she could still feel her body entering the early stages of fatigue.

'I have got to get out of sight!' She thought as she ran along yet another hallway.

Evenly spaced out on either side of her, a multitude of identical doorways stretched along. It wouldn't do her much good to continue running blindly without a chance to recompose herself; and besides, it didn't seem like anyone was close enough behind to see her enter through one of them anyway.

She picked an upcoming door at random, and came to a steady halt in front of it.

Much like every other door she came across in that particular building, it was of painted over wooden manufacture with a simple metal doorknob that she reached out for.

It was unlocked. The next door over wasn't even closed all the way, though it would probably be better to enter the room that wasn't simply left open to the outside world for who knows how long.

She quickly swung it wide open before lunging through the doorway.

Closing the door behind her as quietly as she could in the state she was in, she leaned up against it and drew her pistol; poised for anyone that might come through after her.

She waited for nearly a minute waiting for them to pass; but instead, never even heard them approach at a distance.

'… That's odd. Probably they took a wrong turn somewhere?'

She stepped away from the doorway somewhat perplexed, though far from willing to step back into the corridor just yet… May as well take a look around the room that she chose to lock herself up in for the time being then.

What awaited her was a communal apartment almost completely untouched by the happenings of the outside world, complete with two bedrooms with the sheets all neatly folded, and a kitchen with a table left covered with bowls and plates still full of the rotted remains of a meal long since missed.

She lowered down her gun.

Seeing how the neighboring wing of the building was almost completely demolished from previous bombardment, it would be quite reasonable to assume that anyone still in there at the time wouldn't have taken the time to lock the door behind them before fleeing for their lives to wherever they could.

Largely ignoring the contents of the room, she walked over towards the small kitchen sink and brought out her nearly empty canteen that she hadn't had the opportunity to have refilled since that morning. She turned on both faucets to full strength, but not even a single drop came out of it. The pipes were completely dry.

'Well that's not good.'

Her stomach growled, she seemed to have completely forgotten just how hungry she had become as well.

Since she was already in the kitchen though, it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look around to see what she could find.

Among the kitchen cabinets however, all that she was able to find available was a single small Cyrillic labeled can of appeared to be some sort of fish. She was also able to procure an unopened bottle of red wine, though she decided that it would probably be best to avoid alcohol in this situation, even though there still wasn't any other sort of drinkable fluid to be found.

She then proceeded to neatly clear out a small area of the kitchen table to eat, and placed the dirty dishes onto the counter before setting back to sort through the cabinets to find a clean dish and utensils. She may be a scavenger in a bombed out building yes, but that doesn't mean that was no reason for her to not keep at least some sort of composure while she could help it.

Pleasant memories of Kikuyo's reactions to her and Miho's antics as children came to mind for the first time in what felt like forever, before proceeding back towards the main dining table with everything she needed in hand.

Bang!

Without much warning, the somewhat peaceful aura of the apartment was completely shattered in an instant by a single loud explosion. Without second thought, she ducked down as quickly and quietly as possible, though the second part was instantly negated with the plate shattering on the ground.

It sounded too small to have been a random aerial bomb or artillery shell, and from the direction the noises were coming from, they didn't seem to be in the same building as her though.

She slowly eased up from her crouched stance behind the kitchen counter, though still maintaining a sense of caution as she looked towards the direction from where the sound seemingly originated from.

On the far end of the common room, a number of large draped windows lined the wall.

It might not be the best idea to look into; but then again it does seem better than nothing, and there was also somewhat of a distinct lack of any other choices on hand.

Using whatever she could for cover, Maho cautiously moved across the room, and back against the wall before sliding up to the nearest window, just as a second blast could be heard in the distance. Her heart gaining speed with every step she took.

She then gently eased along the end of the drape and looked through the parted opening. Across the street a block down from where she was on the other side of a small gully, another apartment building stood; very evidently displaying the scars of battle over nearly every square inch of it.

Its once white concrete finish has become blackened with the scars of extensive fire and bombings, few windows remained in place, and in some places entire sections of wall have cascaded onto the streets below. All in all, a structure that someone would expect few to ever think about even getting near to, let alone fighting over inside.

And yet the sounds of grenade blasts, gunfire, and yells and screams in both Russian and German could easily be identified as coming from the tall imposing building. Once or twice she could even make out for a split second the wrought outline of a moving shadow past blackened window frames.

The loud revving of an engine, and rapid claking of metal hitting on concrete from amongst a number of wooden houses across the gully from her was the next most prominent thing to catch her attention.

Around the corner at the intersection, and into sight from behind several smaller buildings; a single Panzer IV set off along the main road in the opposite direction as her in what she could reasonably assume to be westward.

'That was easier than I first thought.' She had to admit, she wasn't optimistic that she was going to lose the men behind her, let alone locate any form of traversable path back to friendly lines as easily as she had, or at all for that matter.

Now however, what lied between her, and the contested structure lied two possible paths. The first moving along the street in the open to the intersection past a small bridge and crossing over: and the other into the gully directly across the street through a number of small wooden buildings to the other side.

The first would be near suicide at best, with the second didn't seem much safer either though both the shorter distance and greater amount of cover made it the much more appealing of the two.

One thing was for sure, behind enemy lines, and with only little water in the sweltering heat of the Russian Summer, she couldn't stay as she was for long.

Her mind made up; she quickly returned to the table and tossed everything she had on the table back into her bag before proceeding back towards the front door of the apartment.

"Time to get going then."


Author's Note (This one's going to be long).

Well that took a little longer than expected, I'm really sorry about that. I was actually aiming to get this chapter uploaded in early May. But hey, what I can say: Finals.

In contrast to Maho's general portrayal as the great imposing Sensha-do veteran in the canon anime and manga; in this chapter I have specifically went out to present her as someone truly experiencing combat for the first time, while still trying to maintain her outside appearance and conviction of a highly trained and disciplined commander while with her crew.

The available time I have for Fanfiction in general over that period has dropped dramatically as well, to the point that as the moment on Theralion's Necessity to win series, I am still on chapter 15 of the original one, let alone the sequel, the prequel, and the side stories, *groan.

Though on the other hand, I have been able to find much more time to devote into the research needed for many of the detailed scenes and pieces of information needed for this. The single most surprising instance from that came from the TV tropes website, where I first discovered that it actually contains a community based Fanfiction recommendation page; let alone the fact that I found my own in it. I was really beginning to wonder where all of those new random followers were coming from. So for that S7alker117, If you're reading this bit, you're awesome.

But now that I have been able to put college English far behind me, I can finally devote more of my time towards this. I plan on completing one more chapter for this story as soon as possible, then I hope on laying out the first chapter's on two new stories to go along with this; one being a GuP crossover, and the other being a similar WW2 based AU story, but with a different anime series. I don't plan to be actively working on all three at once, mainly to test the two new ideas out with a sample base and see how it goes from there as time goes by.

I was planning to add much more to the Author's Notes section of this chapter at first, but then decided against it, because most of what I wanted to add would make much better sense next chapter anyway. Plus, this one has already come to be long enough already. Haven't had the chance to add a Reader's recommendation for this one either, but plan on re starting on this the next chapter onwards.

So until then, have a good one; and happy reading, no matter what it is, or wherever you may be doing so. I'm going to be heading to bed now… Nevermind, it's already the next day after I got this edited now...