Before Meghan had gotten off the porch again, suddenly pandemonium broke out. Guards nor prisoners never knew how it happened (the dogs sure did of course), but 'someone' had opened the dog pen and suddenly the compound was flooded with vicious guard dogs!

The crowd of eager prisoners scattered in a panic as the dogs set off after them, and Meghan did the only sensible thing to do: she fled into the office. Major Hochstetter and Kommandant Klink were definitely better than a rabid bunch of German and Belgian shepherd dogs... or at least she hoped they were.

"LeBeau!" Newkirk cried from up the drainpipe off Klink's roof. "Get those dogs away, will you? I don't want to end up as their supper!"

The onslaught of canines had certainly brought LeBeau back to earth a little bit. As soon as there were no more guards in sight, he knelt down by Friedrich and Bismarck and asked in French, "Hey, sweetie, what's up? What are you doing out of the kennel?"

An eager barking duet was his reply, and soon the other dogs joined forces with them and LeBeau was surrounded by the dogs, all barking fervently.

"Oh, so that's the problem! You know, I think you boys and girls have become spoilt! All that attention and awards these past years...! That's not good for you, you know! But let's see what the outcome is. But even if you don't win anything, you'll have to learn to take it as a... as a dog. You can't win them all."

That got another fierce barking concert, and LeBeau shrugged. "Well, that's not up to me. Anyone who likes Hogan's Heroes could vote. It depends on what everyone thought - not just us. We know how important you boys and girls are, even if you don't win any awards."

Suddenly, the compound turned eerily quiet, save for one sound: the menacing growl from two dozen canine throats...

"It's a bloody case of 'Vote for me or I'll bite!'" Newkirk observed from up his drainpipe.

"Do you think it's safe to come down yet?" Carter piped up. "Someone still has to run over to go and collect the note from Kinch and the Colonel."

"We'll let LeBeau take care of that," Newkirk decided. And at full volume, "Hey, LeBeau! Go and fetch the new winners, will you? The sooner we end this stalemate, the better, or we're going to have to fix Klink's drainpipe next. And me," he finished in a mutter.

"Alright, alright." LeBeau marched over to the barracks, with the dogs at his heels. (Luckily, the guards had fled too far away to notice the oddity of the Dogcatcher of Hamelburg.) "Now stay here, boys and girls. You know you are not allowed to enter the tunnel here."

Another collective growl was his reply, but he managed to shut the door on their snouts. Immediately, the dogs were scratching at the door, and LeBeau - fearing they might manage to get that open as quickly as the dog pen - quickly jumped down the ladder. "Quick! The next results!" he breathed.

Colonel Hogan raised an eyebrow. "Why - what's the rush?"

"I've got some twenty guard dogs on my heels!"

"What?"

"Never mind." LeBeau grabbed the paper out of Kinch's hands and quickly scanned it. "Bonté divine, we're saved..." With that, he clambered back up again and opened the barracks' door.

"Woof?" came Wolfgang's threatening inquiry.

"Yes." LeBeau waved the paper in front of him. "You boys and girls can relax - you won something."

"Woof woof - woof!"

The dogs wouldn't let him past though, so LeBeau figured it was safer to announce the winners to them here and now.

BEST PORTRAYAL OF ORIGINAL CHARACTERS

.

Gold:

John Hogan
in
Unto Us & Dead Men Tell No Tales
by Goldleaf83

(a threatening, bodeful growl...)

.

Silver:

Jürgen
in
A Bridge Too Near
by Sgt. Moffitt

(an even more minacious and ominous snarl...)

.

Bronze:

Blümchen
in
Keeping up Appearances
by Snooky-9093

And finally, there was the release! Many of the dogs happily started dancing around, playfully snapping at each other's wagging tails. Others however, put their proud tail behind their legs.

"Bronze... is that all we merit?" Bismarck grouched.

"Yeah... where is the time when we were considered the best story of the year?" Gerda pined.

But LeBeau merely shrugged. "Like I said - you can't win them all. Of course you dogs are important for the operation, you really are. We couldn't do it without you. But you're not the only ones, understood? Now can I please get back to the office so the winners here can be announced to everyone?"