I casually looked through the mirrors of the periscope. I had a nice view of the road where we recently destroyed the French clan. As it was the first snow, the sun was hidden by a thick layer of clouds. It was low enough to hide the mountain tops, and sometimes, it provided a dense fog. Those conditions were not due to the snow - the place was simply like that, and we sometime had to fight in this fog. The HQ had to develop tricky plans to do so, but we usually got out of it without any additional casualties.

I was casually looking for the landscape under the snow, trying, like every winter, to understand where and when an avalanche would occur. Beside me, on another periscope – we had a lot of them around the base, those are quite small and stealthy from outside – Wallace, one of the engineer Centurions, was inspecting something more carefully.

"What are you looking for, Wallace?" I asked while trying to spot any trace of the last battle.

"Can you see the mountain pass? Please check it." he answered gravely.

I turned the device to face the top of the road. Everything seemed normal. I could barely see all the details because of the clouds just reaching this area. There was not enough to make it invisible though.

"Yeah I see it, what's up?"

"Don't notice anything unusual?" he asked.

"Uh, not really. Why, what did you see?"

"I'm really not sure mate. I thought... I guess it was just my imagination."

His answer made me uneasy. I was now more thinking about what he thought he saw than the upcoming meal. But I couldn't see anything. I didn't badger him about it though, because you didn't insist here, we were polite tanks. I tried to forget about it, but I was curious. We were still waiting for the dinner, night was not there yet, and I was anxiously checking the pass every now and then. I never saw anything.

Eventually our clocks rang dinner time. I was still worried, but I had my hot-cold bucket and a ration of "perfumed" fuel. Sipping through cold and hot pipes, I went to the periscope again. The excitement and temperature changes of the perfumed meal blurred my vision a bit and I wasn't able to see a lot. Night had fallen, but I was still trying to see something. Commander Nick, the Patton, came up next to me and asked me what I was trying to see all this time.

"Wallace thought he saw something earlier, I just wanna be sure it's nothing. But I don't see anything and well I have my meal so I feel... Uh... Too good to see clearly."

"Let me check" he said, forcing his way to the periscope. "Did you move the periscope from what you were trying to see?"

I just slurped some cold fuel.

"N-No, sir!"

"What were you trying to see and where was-"

He stopped his sentence, leaving me with half a question.

I didn't have time to answer he told me to pull myself together, focus and look again. I tried to do that and what I saw was some kind of light far away... I though it was my imagination doing me tricks until he told me:

"Do you see that spot of light?!"

The happiness I had from my meal suddenly disappeared, and the only taste I had left was bitter.

"Yes, I see it. Does that mean...?"

"I'm afraid so." He answered calmly, but gravely. "Don't finish your fuel, and tell the others. Code NL."

"Sir, yes sir!"

I quickly went to the speaker, leaving my bucket next to the periscope. The alert sounded in the whole base. Code NL, for Nachtlicht, or night light. Although we were not sure what it was, a spot of light in the dark night is not natural. Everybody left their meal promptly and went to their battle post. Most of us were just asked to regroup at the meeting room. But not me. In case of emergency, my first order was to get to the prisoners, brief them and take care of them as long as I don't receive any other order. When I arrived, both engineers were there. Wallace quickly came to me and I told him he was right earlier. The captured AMX were not really alarmed, in the best case they'd go free, in the worst case they'd die here. To the only one able to talk, that seemed to not matter anyway. To the other, he was still under shock and probably didn't notice the alarm. I briefed the demotivated AMX and waited here for any news.

I was able to keep track of the operations with my radio. The scouts took positions on various periscopes, to have the best view on the threat without risking to go out. Four G-13 took positions at the firing spots. Those were like small pillboxes. With a little opening to see and shoot, and a strong roof. They were also camouflaged into the landscape, dirt and grass were covering them in summer. In winter, like then, they were covered by the snow, but a smart air pulse could blow off a small window to shoot. We had emergency procedure for a lot of events, so the HQ knew what they should do, and they waited for any report from the AMX.

And Renaud reported, "I don't see anyssing moving. Zere is dat spot of light, but it is not moving. I don't see any tank. And zere is fog."

That was a good news. We then had time to think. The Hetzers positioned on the four shooting spots were replaced regularly. Winter nights are harsh, and the shooting spots, although they were "inside", were not isolated from temperature. It was a matter of not melting the snow covering them. As the threat seemed unwilling to move, the protection of the wounded were no longer a priority and HQ called me back to help. There is two important points in this procedure. One, we cannot let them advance. Two, we cannot kill them if they don't advance. In addition, it was winter and there was snow everywhere; it was a danger for us and for them, and we would not let them die in an avalanche. We shoot until the threat is averted, then we rescue the wounded. It may sound stupid, but this is our way of doing things, and we always did like that. This way, people understand they have close to no chance to pass through here, but also that we are not a threat to anyone respecting us.

My turn in the shooting spot came. I was in one of the highest of them, so if the snow was not covering it all I could had have a nice view on the light source. I radio checked with the scouts.

"Any news? How's the fog now?"

It was approximately four hours after the alert, midnight was close.

"I cannot see clearly. Zere is still clouds, as I cannot see any stars, but I fink zere is less fog. And nossing moved."

Less fog, so maybe I'd have a chance to see something. I opened the flap covering the opening of the pillbox – those have armored flaps for protection and better camouflage – and carefully, I poked the snow with my gun. That stuff's basically ice, so it was not the most enjoyable feeling to have on the tip of your gun. But I pushed some snow away and eventually made a hole the size of my muzzle brake. The cold had shrunk it a bit, and it would be foolish to shoot in such conditions, but I had now some kind of view on the outside.

To see what? There was indeed less fog, but still fog. We were pretty far away, and I was higher than the scouts. All I could see was a blurred orange light. As time passed my vision came back to normal, and I didn't noticed that earlier but that color is not one of tank lights. It was fire. From what, I had no idea. Maybe it was just an HE shell that exploded lately? No, that couldn't be, it wouldn't burn that long. It had to be a tank, or worse, a group. I bet they made a fire to warm them up during the night and continue their route on the morning.

I wasn't supposed to peek outside though, so I quietly notified Renaud and suggested that he could check the color of the light. He did not have a better view, but he had less fog. And what he was seeing was indeed orange. He thanked me for the idea and called the HQ to relay the news. Of course, the HQ was not discussing plans on the radio, so I had no idea what was their reaction. Maybe they already guessed it, but better safe than sorry.

It was now past midnight. My time in the freezing bunker was soon over and before I stuffed the hole with some snow, trying to avoid it to be seen, I watched the blurred orange spot once again. After I closed the flap, another G-13 opened the sealed steel door, a warm draft from the inside ran over my back. We quickly discussed the situation and I went inside, wishing good to my friends.

I didn't know why, but I had a bad feeling about this.