Chapter 19

A while later…

I looked at the leaders of the Countryhumans, who're now sitting across me.

After we've explained what's been happening to the very astonished tankery team, I've spent a while listening to the Big Five talk about their biology, army and all. I was surprised to learn that they had long grudges with the Bluhtnebel too, and that they plan to pay it back sooner, now that we've united. All Countryhumans are extremely resilient, and can endure attacks that can cripple an ordinary human with ease. They are also extraordinarily united, regarding each other as brothers.

"Seems like we're allies, then." Wilson said, sipping his tea.

"Oh, and one thing else." Klaus looked at me. "I think it's high time you called that Sirius guy. After that, we've things to show you."

With that, a strange device appeared in my hand. It was like an iPad, but much sleeker and silver white. A "D" and "R" was pressed into its back and side, surrounding a blank screen. The device hummed, and began to light up.

"Who knows."

Meanwhile…

ZAM! BANG!

Sirius sighed as he put down the rifle in his hand.

He looked around. Still, the tiring, cold, emotionless steel that formed the entire lunar base was all he could see.

It's been so many years since they last returned from Earth to the back of the Moon, fleeing from the ruined and dying Germany that had once been their homeland and command. As the highest-ranking officer, he had been positioned as the leader of the entire army, but it's not done much to the dull atmosphere: at first, they still fought occasional battles with those USSR cosmo-soldiers, but after the Soviet Union collapsed, everything went into shutdown, and then there's the fact that their supplies are draining … damn, he hated those hibernation capsules for being the only choice. How he longed to go back to the Earth once more …

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Ja, Kamerade." He sighed, and turned his eyes.

Beside him, also holding a rifle, was General Danyl Volkov, Marshal of the former Soviet Cosmos Corps. He was ordered to lead an army of elite Soviet cosmonaut soldiers to hunt down and destroy the last armed force of the Third Reich, and had been fighting with Sirius's troops for years until a solar flare damaged both their bases, causing a cease-fire until 1991, and then the USSR's downfall came. Although they remained Communist, no-one had the heart to continue a war that has long ended, for 2 nations that have both ceased to exist. They agreed to peace, and hibernated all their soldiers. The duo had kept the bases running for all these years by themselves, using books, talk and listening to the Earth's radio channels to bite away the time. He could've gone back to Earth, but without a homeland, relatives or something to believe in, he decided to remain a lone Bolshevik forever until life ends.

"I miss my homeland." Danyl sighed.

"Who doesn't?" Sirius muttered to themselves, "Man, had I known, I would never have come to this place…"

"You really believed Hitler back then?"

"Yeah. When I first got this uniform, everyone looked at me like I'm a superhero. I remember Feldmarshall Rommel and Guderian themselves congratulating me. And I felt so glad, thinking that I'll be fighting for the great homeland. I came here, set up my base, and started working on building an interstellar armada that can take on the world.

It was like that for some 3 years. Then, Normandy. All the supply lines cut off. I panicked, because I've just finished building the RKS Abbruch, on the Fuhrer's command. The fleet was mostly ready back then, but with no orders, we couldn't learn anything about the events on Earth. When we finally set up the Planetary Radar Station, the first piece of news we got…" he looked down, "the Reich is gone."

"I understand." Danyl stared at his rifle. "I felt mostly the same. When Georgy Zhukov personally came to see my troop off, I felt like I was the proudest soldier of the whole USSR. I swore I'd break the last Nazis to bits. When I learned that the proud Soviet Union is gone…I felt like someone pulled my spine out of me."

Beep-beep. Beep-beep.

"What was that?" Sirius frowned. He unslung his backpack, and looked in.

"Huh?"

His tablet was shimmering. He pulled it out and stared into it.

Transmission Incoming.

Location: Pacific Ocean, Earth

Source: Unrecognizable

Callsign: Oarai

"What the…?"

Sirius felt incredibly bewildered. For one, the transmissions between Earth and their base had cut off when the Ober Radio, stationed in the Berlin AA Tower, was blown up to stop it from falling into Allied hands, and all related documents were burned, so it should be theoretically impossible for anyone to reestablish that connection. Secondly, he knew of Oarai: he had been eavesdropping on the major news channels with the base's radio equipment for a long while. He liked this 'Tankery' business, but was a bit disappointed with the 'no-boys' phenomena. But, how could Oarai possibly reach them via radio? Not even any government can do it. Besides, what for?

"Herr Sirius." A voice came.

"Was ist los?" He said, alerted. Who is this? How did he know my name?

"I am Sturmbannfurher Alberich Muller of Oarai High School, co-commander of the school tankery team."

"Oh, you." The reports on Alisa's Rage drifted into Sirius's head. "What are you calling us for?"

Back to Alberich's point of view…

"You see, I know of your current status: stranded on the Moon, not able to return, with depleted resources. Not exactly ideal, I figure." I said, "However, we are currently attempting at developing an army, comparable and greater than any army the world has ever known. We have learned of your existence, and we are willing to cooperate with you. This is a deal that benefits us both, so I hope you could agree."

There was a long, long silence on the other end.

"What do you plan to do, once we join?"

"At ease, mein kommandant. I just plan to use your valuable fighting experience to the benefit of our team. Besides, our technology is rapidly breaching the limits of what ordinary science could achieve. A strong armed force is needed to defend them from prying eyes."

Another long pause followed.

"On several conditions." Sirius spoke, "me & my troops must be allowed to keep our weapons, light and heavy; we must be allowed to act on our independent will when no orders come, and we will not ignore any hostility related to our political stance."

"I believe these are acceptable." I spoke.

"Then we have a deal. Do we come to meet you, or are you coming up here?"

My phone buzzed, and I knew what it meant.

"The latter."

"Fine, then I'm hanging up. Heil der Fuhrer!"

"Sieg heil." I replied before shutting it off.

But just then, something else happened.

"LOUIS! GOD DAMN IT, I FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

The café's door flew open, and Andrew burst in, waving his Thompson.

The Countryhumans leaders tensed: I saw Xu's hands go to his Type 98 in a second.

"Relax, he's a friend. Andrew, what is it?"

"Some people …" he panted, "tried to kill me and my lieutenants!"

A few moments ago…

Andrew was maintaining his T-14 with Jacob, Mason, Mike and Jason Voorhees when a girl walked up to him.

"I take it that you are Sergeant Andrew?"

"Yes, why?" Andrew inquired.

"Sir, a girl requested to meet you."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. What the hell? His three buddies (who were sitting around the tank) looked at each other. Takashi, who happened to be standing nearby, gave Andrew a look.

"Where?"

"In the alley behind the compound."

"Got it, I'm coming."

"Sir." Jason spoke suddenly, "I'm coming too."

Everyone looked at him.

"Being a supernatural entity, I can sense it when something is wrong. Right now, I smell a strong stench of malice in the air. I believe this is not that simple."

Andrew wanted to protest, but he realized that what the big brute said was true: normally, nobody meets others in an abandoned alleyway. And then, he remembered the gangs of Chicago in the 19th Century, and decided that maybe bringing Jason wasn't a bad idea after all.

"Fine. And if you're so sure of it, I'll grab my arms."

"I don't see anyone." Jake said.

They're standing in the designated alley, but to their confusion, there's no one there.

"I'm sitting down." Mason grumbled, "man, these girls should get a sense of time."

Just then, something pressed against Andrew's neck. A boxcutter.

"Don't you move, boy." A voice snarled.

If it were someone else, they probably would've been scared into submission. But this is Andrew. He's known for his bravery, and having firearms and a military rank made him much more confident in himself. He whirled around, raising his M1923, and the boxcutter clanged against his bayonet. Then, he planted a kick right in the assaulter's knee, flooring the girl and sending the blade flying away.

Rifle in hand, Andrew examined his attacker. She was a girl in dirty clothes, like a street dweller, wearing a stained coat over a rather smeared jumpsuit of some sort. She had gloves like the type a surgeon wears, and a long scar across her chin.

"Who are you?" Andrew demanded, in a cold, hard voice.

"You'll never know." She sneered. "Get them, girls!"

And the alleyway exploded into action. People poured out of the nearby exits, swarming towards the five soldiers and the infamous murderer. They were all girls, clad in stained and battered clothing, waving small arms such as fruit knives, switchblades, gardening scissors and even several pikes.

"Fuck!" Andrew growled, pulling out his chain whip, "strike back! Aim for the legs!"

And the five went right into the fight. Andrew lashed at the attackers' legs with his whip, taking down a horde with every swipe. Jacob's trench knife flashed in and out of the fray, slicing at whichever enemy he can find. Mason went to smashing his opponents with the flat of his axe, which knocked them out with surprising efficiency. Being unable to wield their melee weapons, Jake and Takashi reverted to kickboxing, throwing whoever dares assault them away like bags of straw. As for Jason … nobody can get within 2 meters of him without being tossed away like ragdolls or slammed against the ground in a real vicious manner.

Within 2 minutes, the six had successfully diminished the entire assault, leaving the outlaws lying everywhere like broken mannequins.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Mason exclaimed, "what the heck just happened?"

"Just…you wait…" one of the offenders hissed, "more are coming…"

"Then I'll wreck them all." Jason declared, "now, shut up."

And he kicked the girl in the face, knocking her downright unconscious.

"More are coming?" Andrew said, "I don't like the sound of that."

And as soon as that went out, the rapid thumping of footsteps made them spin around.

A new wave of assaulters was indeed coming. And these were much better armed than the prior.

These girls wore body armor, police helmets and long boots, and have covering around all their joints. The first few held electric batons, followed by several with Makarov PM pistols. The majority behind had PPK-41, Owens Mk I Lanchester, and M3 submachines, as well as an M17 Grenade Launcher. From the other end of the alley, girls clad in similar gear bore down on the boys too, these holding Colt M16 assault rifles, M14 rifles, AKM guns and even an M60 machine gun. Looking up, the soldiers can see people on the railings overhead, aiming sniper rifles like Winchester M70 and M21 guns. All in all, it was a huge jumble of WWII and Vietnam era weapons.

"Oh, fucking shit." Mason moaned.

"Prepare for battle!" Andrew called, taking the front row of the left wave in the sight of his Thompson.

And all hell broke loose. The M60 roared and spit a stream of flame at Takashi, who ducked behind a pile of scrap boxes. Jake's M50 fired, taking out an AKM gunner. A burst from an Owens Mk I glanced off Mason's M1 helmet, who retaliated by racking his M2 and turning the shooter to a beehive, along with at least 7 others. The M17 fired a warhead, but slammed into a nearby window, sending fragments flying everywhere and knocking out 3 enemies by pure chance. Mason released his M2, which had depleted an ammo box, and drew his Model 1897 shotgun, firing relentlessly and jabbing the closer gunners with the bayonet. Takashi's Grease Gun punched holes through an enemy raising a PPK-41 at Jason, and the girl went down.

Jason…he didn't even bother to fight. He just stood there and let bullets tear through him (if they really did) without moving a muscle. The M60's gunner blasted him in the chest, but the bullets just disappeared in the folds of the serial killer's deep black AG44 coat.

"What the…" the girl muttered. "Everyone, blast that big guy! I think he's got bulletproof armor!"

All the remaining enemy guns turned on Voorhees. The M17 launched its payload, which slammed into Jason's shin, erupting in a huge fireball. M70 rifles cracked and sent bullets into the big man's hat, and assault rifles thundered as they poured searing lead at the towering figure.

"Are you done yet?" Jason finally spoke, in a seriously bored voice.

The enemy weapons went silent abruptly. The gunners looked at each other, their faces white with horror.

"How … how is that possible!?" A girl cried in fear.

"He had to be wearing tank armor!" Another decided, "Or he's … or he's not a living being at all!"

"Well, if you're quite finished," Jason said. "My turn."

And he unsheathed the giant machete strapped to his belt. He took off, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the M17's operator, who yelped in terror.

With a sound like a knife cutting through a fruit, the machete cleaved through the armor boards like paper and cut right through the girl's stomach, tearing out of the back in a spurt of blood. Jason twisted his arm, and the girl's lifeless body slid off the reddened blade. Then he picked up an iron pipe nearby, and flung it at the M60's gunner like a javelin.

The girl with the machine gun had the thickest armor of all: she was wearing what Andrew identified to be a suit of FBA ENG4300 full body armor suit, a MICH 2000 tactical helmet and a pair of S2V RKC050 boots. The whole set was supposed to be able to stop fire from an HKM16, and in addition, the pipe had a blunt end, meaning that it will have a real hard time piercing anything.

But as soon as the pipe contacted the vest, the front of the vest sagged visibly beneath the tip. And a single, horrible, loud crunching noise came as the pipe punched through and shattered the 3 layers of bulletproof panels with the efficiency of an AP tank shell. With a last cry, the girl flew backwards, the LMG falling out of her hand, and was nailed onto the nearby wall: even after the rod ran clean through 6 layers of armor panels and the girl's body, it still had enough remaining momentum to put enough of a dent in concrete to support the total weight. Horrifying.

At this point, even the boys were too stunned to do anything.

"FIRE!" A gunner from the enemy team screamed.

AKMs, M16s, PPK-41s, M14s and M3s thundered and roared, spewing out ammunition of all calibers. All vanished as soon as they made contact with Jason's hulking form.

"Oh well." Jason muttered.

And in a flash, he was on a killing spree. He tore into the enemy, swinging his machete left and right. Hard armor designed to stop dynamite and bullets crumpled and fragmented in his fists like cardboard and glass. Nothing stopped him, and no firearm seemed to bite upon him. In 10 seconds, what had been an elite squadron of soldiers was reduced to broken bodies strewn in pools of blood.

"All right, let's get out of here." Jason said, turning to the stunned boys, and half-dragged them away from the scene.

"Then I decided to come find you." Andrew confessed.

By this point, I was speechless. The corner of my eye revealed the Big Five to be in a similar state.

But then, a terrible thought flashed through my mind.

"Wait," I looked at Andrew, "did you guys tidy the scene up?"

He paled. "Oh, shit…"

"我的老天爷啊 (Chinese, literally "Oh my God")" Xu moaned, "you left the scene of a mass carnage completely untidied?"

A police siren cut through the silence. Looking outside, I saw what I guessed: 3 police cruisers coming next to the café, sirens wailing and lights flashing.

I looked at Andrew. He was shivering.

I took a deep breath and patted him on the shoulder.

"Andrew, whatever happens," I said, "I'll get you out of this."