Blood Mill

The next day, after an early breakfast, Hans and Paul assembled on the staging ground of Tempelhofer Feld. They climbed into a Hanomag halftrack together along with a few other freelancers, sitting in the APC's troop bay and waiting for the assault to begin. The American Panzertroopers clambered into their vertibirds and the VTOL aircraft took off into the predawn darkness. Five minutes later they got the word to proceed, and the Hanomags lurched forward. The four halftracks drove southwest across the base's fields, the modified Famo at the center of the pack.

"An 88's an awful lot of firepower to send against Panzerbots and Panzer Is. Seems disproportional," Paul said. He was sitting across from Hans, hands folded behind his head. It always struck Hans as odd how nonchalant the man could be before a battle. Hans always got the shakes.

"You haven't seen the way Americans fight," Hans said. "They don't know the definition of proportional."

They and the rest of the freelancers were silent the remainder of the trip. The halftracks pulled out of the park and onto A-100, winding or pushing their way through the pre-war traffic. They turned left at an interchange, merging onto A-103 and taking it the rest of the way to the Botanical Gardens. As they neared the target site the sound of the battle rose to meet them, plumes of black smoke rising into the sky. The vertibirds circled overhead, providing air support for the American Panzertroopers.

The road vehicles pulled off the A-103 and onto the grounds of the Botanical Gardens just as dawn broke, casting the scene in what would normally be a calming glow. The bulk of the grounds was taken up by a large glass dome, which served as the greenhouse for the gardens. Around it were smaller greenhouses, rife with NDM soldiers and Panzerbots. The halftracks weaved around a pond set before the main greenhouse and stopped, allowing the infantry to pour out and rush to cover. Hans and Paul stuck close together, hunkering down behind a concrete planter whose plants moved out long ago. The halftracks pulled back to guard the Famo, the MG34s atop the troop compartments dousing the NDM positions in lead.

Hans poked his head up and took in the battle. The Panzertroopers were inside the greenhouse dome, slaughtering everything in their path. Outside the NDM was holding their ground, staying behind their Panzerbots. Hans scanned the grounds again and watched the NDM's Panzer Is come grinding into the fight, the twin MGs in their turrets thundering. There was a titanic *BOOM!* as the Famo crew fired the 88m, cracking apart one of the Panzer Is and sending its turret sailing into the sky.

Hans deployed the FG42's bipod and joined the fight, targeting the Panzerbots. The combat machines had light armor in their first revisions, making them vulnerable to 8mm Mauser. The lighter Panzerbot Is were knocked out of the fight quickly, leaving the more-armored PzB IIs remaining. Their 20mm cannons targeted the halftracks, the targeting systems recognizing them as escorts for the much bigger threat of the Famo.

The FG ran dry and Hans ducked down to reload while Paul took over, his STG rocking in his hands. Hans went prone and peeked out around the edge of the planter, exposing as little of himself as possible. In the chaotic haze and din of battle clearly seeing the opponent was impossible, forcing him to target muzzle flashes. A few of the NDM soldiers had energiegewehrs, making them easier to target as all he had to do was track the yellow laser bolts back to the source.

The NDM returned fire on their position, forcing Hans and Paul down. Hans crawled back behind the planter and rose into a sitting position, putting his back to the planter. He saw movement and looked up, watching as the halftracks and Famo moved position. The 88mm flak gun mounted in the bed of the Famo was fixed in place, forcing the entire vehicle to move to change targets. The halftracks stuck close to it, shielding it from the 20mm autocannons of the Panzerbot IIs.

Hans was about to get back in the fight when he heard an explosion from above and looked up, horrified to see one of the vertibirds trailing smoke. It pitched forward and crashed to the ground, clipping the greenhouse dome as it did so, shattering part of it and raining glass onto the soldiers inside. The American Panzertroopers were unharmed, leaving them free to continue their bloodbath.

"This is a Goddamn mess," Hans said, rising up and putting rounds downrange. A squad of EAE soldiers moved up to another planter and were blown apart by a Panzerbot II, the autocannon rounds effortlessly blasting the concrete. Hans ducked down, praying the robot wouldn't see him or Paul. It shifted targets, aiming for the halftracks. A Panzerschreck rocket slammed into it from the left, fired by someone Hans couldn't see. The rocket shredded the robot, leaving it sitting in place bleeding smoke.

"We need reinforcements!" an EAE officer screamed into his radio from a nearby position. His squad was pinned down by a PzB I, its twin MG34s hammering them and chipping away at the concrete. "Reinforcements, reinforcements! End!"

"Understood, end. A KKG has been dispatched and is on the way. End."

The squad leader threw down his radio in disgust. "Aghh, a fucking KKG?! Seriously?!"

A rocket screamed overhead, forcing everyone down. It hit the ground near one of the Panzerbots, showering it in metal and concrete shrapnel. The robot shrugged off the hit and moved forward, its treads grinding up the concrete beneath. Nearby was another of the NDM's Panzer Is, using the Panzerbot as a kind of shield while the crew maneuvered the light tank to flank the EAE soldiers. Another rocket screamed by and hit the tank in the treads, tearing apart its road wheels and throwing the track. The driver hit reverse and the crippled tank turned in place, unable to move. Green plasma orbs slammed into the rear of the vehicle, igniting the fuel and setting the tank on fire. The crew bailed out and Hans and Paul opened fire, joining another squad in cutting down the tank crew.

Hans reloaded the paratrooper rifle and moved to the left side of the planter, leaving Paul to cover the right. He watched as one of the smaller greenhouses disintegrated as a Panzerbot smashed through it, its turret turning. Hans squinted through the haze and felt a chill run up his spine, recognizing it as a Panzerbot III. The barrel of its 37mm cannon lowered and fired, sending a shell into one of the halftracks and leaving the vehicle a burning wreck.

The remaining three halftracks moved closer to the Famo and the Panzerbot was about to fire again when a vertibird came roaring in overhead, hovering over the bulk of the EAE positions. The soldiers all opened fire at once to give the pilot cover while the reinforcements disembarked, spreading out and taking cover. Hans watched them move, confused by what he was seeing. The soldiers looked...wrong. As if their uniforms were a size too big.

Or they were too small to fit them.

"Goddamn Kinderkriegsgruppe!" an EAE soldier yelled as he reloaded his STG. "Unbelievable!"

What the f... Hans thought. They have KIDS fighting for them?!

The KKG soldiers moved position, pressing forward. There were five of them, all in their teens. Their arms and armor were on par with what the rest of the German EAE soldiers were using, but Hans couldn't help but be appalled by the sight of kids in uniform.

The PzB III rolled backwards, its turret turning right, away from the halftracks and towards the KKG troops as they closed in on it. The MG34 bubble turret on the roof of the main gun turned as well, the targeting AI prioritizing the close threat. With its attention on the kids a soldier with a rocket launcher was clear to fire on the machine, blowing the turret clean off its bowl-shaped hull.

Hans tapped Paul on the shoulder and together they moved up to another concrete planter, closer to the dome. The NDM troops taking cover in the smaller greenhouses to the right of the dome broke cover as the EAE advanced and set up position, firing on the runners. Hans fired short bursts from the FG42, dropping at least two monarchists as they made a break for it. The second of their two remaining Panzer Is moved, providing cover for the retreating infantry. The gunner opened up with both machine guns, cutting down several EAE soldiers before they could get into cover.

*BOOM!*

Hans fell over, head swimming and ears ringing from the blast. He rolled onto his side and saw the Famo a few yards away, the muzzle of the 88 trailing smoke. The crew was frantically reloading the cannon, ejecting the smoldering shell and slamming a new one home. Hans covered his ears just in time as they fired again, splitting the Panzer I in half. Hans peaked over the planter and then moved forward, taking position in the small greenhouse the NDM had just vacated. He cast a glance into the dome and saw that the American Panzertroopers were finished cleaning up and were preparing to join the fight outside. The EAE had the dome covered in an L-shape, forcing the remaining NDM soldiers to escape via the back-left section of the greenhouse.

Hans was about to move again when he saw movement out back of the dome, watching as two fresh squads of NDM soldiers and a Panzerbot III deployed from an Opel electric truck. They spread out and took positions, firing on the EAE and forcing them down. The PzB III rolled ahead, turret turning towards the Famo. The crew was hurrying to reload the gun, leaving them vulnerable. Hans fired on the robot, his rounds bouncing off its armored chassis. He shifted fire to its tracks, hoping to bend a roller or throw the track.

The robot stopped, muzzle bobbing, and fired just as one of the halftracks surged ahead, stopping behind the Famo and taking the hit for them. The Panzerbot's shell hit the engine and exploded, killing the driver and setting the gunner on fire. He fell to the floor of the halftrack, screaming as he burned to death. The Panzerbot turned and grinded ahead, driving straight into the greenhouse Hans and Paul were taking cover in. It rolled straight towards them, turret trained on where the AI last saw the Famo. The bubble turret on its roof turned towards them, the MG34 rising as the computer tracked and targeted them. Hans pulled Paul into cover as the robot opened fire, its empty cases clattering off the thick glass of the greenhouse's walls.

A lull in the firing gave Hans a chance to throw a grenade, lobbing it straight down the path towards the robot. It landed beneath the machine's chassis, peppering it in shrapnel and kicking up a huge plume of dust. The robot's red searchlight snapped on, helping the sensors see through the smoke. It grinded ahead, coming to a stop right next to them. The turret rotated further to the right as the computer targeted the Famo, automatically loading in a fresh shell. At this range they were close enough that the bubble turret couldn't target them, leaving them free to watch helplessly as the robot prepared to blast the Famo crew.

The machine was just about to fire when a storm of green plasma slammed into its back, slagging its armor and erasing its sensitive innards. The machine powered down, frozen in place as its core systems melted and caught fire. Hans and Paul waited a moment and then cautiously rose into a crouch, but the American had already moved on. Outside, the Famo driver moved the vehicle again, reversing so that the crew of the fixed 88mm could see and respond to threats.

"Let's go!" Hans said to Paul, and together they moved up and outside. The EAE had routed the NDM from the Botanical Gardens and were moving up to finish off the stragglers. Fresh reinforcements for the monarchists rushed in, taking cover wherever they could find it. Hans and Paul crouched beside the burning hulk of one of the Panzer Is, waiting for the Famo to move up. The driver backed up next to the Panzer I and stopped, staring at the driver-side mirror to watch where he was driving.

*BOOM!*

Hans ducked and held onto his helmet as one of the vertibirds suddenly exploded, raining shrapnel down onto the EAE soldiers below. The aircraft spun in the air, drifting towards the dead trees that surrounded the grounds of the Botanical Gardens. It slammed into the earth with a series of chilling crunches and snaps as it broke the trees. "What the Hell was that?!" Paul yelled. There hadn't been rockets or plasma bolts fired at the vertibird; it had simply exploded.

Hans stood and peeked over the hull of the Panzer I, surveying the raging battle. He scanned right to left, looking for anything that stood out. As he looked left, over the hull of the tank and the Famo next to it, he saw something that made his blood go cold. It slowly lurched forward, devouring the dirt beneath its treads. Its road wheels squeaked as they rolled, the whine of its turret motor audible even over the battle as the gunner rotated the gun to the right. The vehicle stopped, the barrel of the gun bobbing for a second as the suspension soaked up the inertia.

Parked behind the greenhouse dome of the Berlin Botanical Gardens, its imposing 75mm gun aiming right at Hans, was a Panther tank.