Ok, before I present this new chapter, I wanted to do a quick OOC Note. It's been a while since I updated this story, but I'm quite eager to continue this again and because my IRL situation stabilized, I can now dedicate more attention to this project.

I also did a lot of fresh editing-work on the first two Chapters and I'm finally satisfied with them now. Compared to the latest public versions, I think the differences are quite large and it'd be worth rereading them.

An important thing I'd like to point out, though, is that I have done a major rework of the first two chapters. The content and structure is still the same, but there are some specific details added and I finally managed to correct most of the atrocious spelling-mistakes in those chapters. I think the editing makes them worth re-reading.

Corn fields. Apple Trees. Cow shit. Tractors. A girl laughing.

Eggs, potatoes and gherkins fried in a pan. A family eating breakfast.

Endless fields. Wide green landscapes. Beautiful trees.

Giant lackes glittering in the sunrise. A hand gliding through hair.

The school bell ringing. Sun shining through windows.

A slender feminine silhouette framed by sunshine.

Hands lovingly moving gliding over naked skin.

The fresh spring breeze contrasting with hot body warmth.

Snow. Frozen mud. Christmas.

Glühwein. Drunken euphoria. Warm bed.

Candlelight. Hot chocolate. A gentle kiss.

The flurry of nostalgic impressions ended abruptly when a few raw, yet feminine fingers awkwardly parted Nico's lips to get a good look at his teeth.

"Seems like your teeth didn't rot off after all.", a familiar voice commented sarcastically.

"Good morning, Riza.", the tired teen replied annoyed. "You could have picked a better moment to wake me up."

She manually poured a bit of coffee into Kevins mouth, because the AT-Specialist was shaking so hard, he couldn't hold the mug himself.

"Did I interrupt your wet dream about Sara?", the medic teased, in her usual annoyingly impolite manner. Nico hated it when he accidentally talked in his sleep. Even though he rarely had anything to hide, he valued his privacy regarding his family and pre-army life. Erich was the only one who knew Nico well enough, to know personal things.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you are insufferable?"

She laughed it off. "Oh, did I hit a nerve?"

"We should have handed you over to the Iranians.", an overtired Erich mumbled jokingly.

"Yeah, then you wouldn't have someone to nurse you little junkies through your withdrawal.", Riza, countered, removed the cup from Kevin's mouth, put it away... And slapped the shaking young man in the face hard.

"Clear enough now, that you can tell me how many pills you've taken?"

Kevin was holding back tears. "Since the start of the Operation. In the minimal dose to delay the withdrawal. I swear, it just started to win that fight in that forest.", Kevin mumbled in his insecure English.

Erich groaned disapprovingly before the women could make another comment.

"Kevin, we've discussed this during Combined Arms Wargame 23A 'Großwildjagdt'. Only do drugs as required, in combat or to stay awake during a battle. Regular consumption is only tolerable, to avoid withdrawal symptoms in dangerous situations. As soon as a safe environment is reached, drug use is to be ceased immediately and withdrawal symptoms are to be endured with the dignity expected from a german soldier.", the squad leader recited the unofficial statement of their Colonel.

"Yes, Sir.", stammered Kevin. "I will only take the pills with direct orders from now on."

"Oh, well...", the iraqi medic sighed, calming her temper. "At least you guys aren't as bad as the junkies I'm used to. I wish mine had your discipline. Trust me, those Pervitin Pills are peanuts compared to Crystalline Meth."

Now that they were all somewhat recovered and in a safe environment, Erich had the opportunity to ask.

"When you treated Erwin, you said something about Los Angeles and that you worked with addicts there."

She looked curiously at Erich.

"You want to hear the story?"

He nodded, giving her the charming smile he always reserved for women. She returned it, surprisingly.

"Yeah, I'm curious what it was like, working in the USA. Back home we were educated about the crimes of the US Empire, but they never told us what it is like, to live there."

"It's different from Communism, for sure. Dad studied in Leningrad, Mom in France. So I have reference points. In America, there is a huge selection of products to buy. Far more than anywhere else in the world. But the drawback is, that wages are shit, social security is almost nonexistent and their conception of 'Democracy' is a sham."

"Yeah, that's what we are told in school."

"But thats just one side. I worked in a hospital and I met a lot of nice people and friends, especially among the feminists. There are many good people who have progressive ideas. They are not communists or Baathists and they tended to be a bit condescending, but they have their hearts in the right place. But they really have a lot of work to do. America has this weird phenomenon that their entertainment-culture is trying to claim they live in an equal society, while sexism, racism and so on are still rampant. Also, the public seems completely oblivious how much social progress that madman Reagan had pushed back.", she explained, then added: "But remember, Americans are normal people. In their free time they do the same things as we do. Sports, going out with friends, reading books, doing hobbies and so on. Most of it has a bit of a capitalist aspect, so that it is profitable, but nothing so dramatic that you couldn't relate to it. It's easy to make friends if you don't wear you political identity on your sleeve."

Nico felt a sense of guilt creeping up. Maybe it was due to the withdrawal, but a depressing memory was reawakened, hearing the descriptions of the doctor.

Jim. In that battle Nico killed countless Americans, but that one death really haunted him. It felt like murder, because of the simple fact that he saw Jim as a human being. Could they maybe have developed a friendship, if the situation hadn't escalated? The reminder was hard to endure. Nico wished he had not shot, or at least not done it himself. Now his first kill wasn't a nameless GI that he hit from hundreds of meters away. Now, it was someone with a face, voice and personality.

"Also, if you ask the people in America, they don't consider themselves as oppressed as the soviet propaganda claims. True, there are problems, but for example the possible anger of workers about low wages and lacking social security is almost completely countered by the sheer mass and endless variety of cheap consumer products. The proles are too entertained and happy to care about politics."

Bahsila took a breath and changed topic.

"My job was as a medical assistant/nurse. Mostly, I was stitching up stab-wounds and bullet-holes from all the gang-violence on the West Coast. It was excellent training for what I'm doing now. But I also had to work with drug-addicts. Because Cocaine and Morphine is too expensive, poor people do more dangerous substitute drugs. Alcohol and Marihuana are the favored drugs of the both the middle- and working class. However, the fucking scum in the mexican cartels came up with the idea to produce a cheap chemical substitute-drug for cocaine. The result was Crystal Meth. Imagine smoking or sniffing crystalline Pervitin in a concentration where one single crystal, the size of a 9mm bullet casing, is as potent as an entire bottle of Pervitin pills."

The boys all got a bit pale at that thought.

"It's a nightmare. These addicts are hooked so hard, almost no one is able to get clean again permanently. We weren't even allowed to give them cocaine as a safer alternative. Hard withdrawal was so unbearable, that many gave it up. Meth addicts die extremely fast." Her voice wavered, as she told it. Obviously, it was a traumatizing experience. She changed topic quickly.

"I lived in an apartment, on the border of the poor districts. Quite a nice neighborhood. I didn't have it far to the beaches. The Pacific is absolutely awe-inspiring compared to the tiny strip of coast that Iraq has in Basra. And California has proper tourist-beaches! It's wonderful to go swimming there or just walk on the beaches. Do you have beaches in Germany?"

Erwin shrugged. "Not in Potsdam. But we have really beautiful Lakes. I only saw real Sea on vacation in Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. My family never did vacations inside Germany. Ask Nico, he lived in Pommerania."

It was refreshing to see the medic looking at him with another expression than hostility. It showed that Bahsila Riza had more character than just the angry, sarcastic side, she liked to show.

"I didn't live directly on the Baltic, but I was there a few times when we had our family reunions at my grandparent's house. Nice beaches, I guess, but the Jellyfish always scare me off. I prefer the lakes."

Marco giggled. "You kidding? The Jellyfish scare you? I've seen you eat landmines for breakfast." He then turned to Bahsila and explained. "It's a little inside joke. This madman walked through a live minefield while eating a can of Kraut Salad. We sane people were trying not to blow ourselves."

She looked at Nico in blank disbelief. "That guy?", she asked, giggling.

"Yeah, I trained that on the Baltic. The beaches are like a minefield of jellyfish. The mines were marked with little flags, so it was the same principle. It's not like those things would have killed me. It were training-mines. They explode, sure, but so weakly and deep underground, that at most they break your foot.", he explained the anecdote.

"Ah, ok. Yeah, I was talking about Oceans. California is great. Speaking of California, the earthquakes seriously surprised me, but like the people who live there, I was able to get used to it. It's a special regional routine. There is a routine in hospitals east of the Euphrates to take precautions, when sandstorms approach. Like closing all windows, doors and so on in the entire hospital. And prepare a cleanup detail to clear the sand from the approach that the ambulance needs. It's a similar principle with the earthquakes, just other specifics. It is easy to get used to."

"Generally though, I prefer to live in Iraq. America has too many social problems and I am a Baathist. I have a duty to my country and hold social attitudes that are strangely controversial in the USA. Like Atheism, Feminism or Socialism. But I never regretted the two years I spent over in the US. It's useful to have some practical experience with America and I had a good time there.", she finished and took a little syringe from her 'requisitioned' (a polite term for stolen) iranian doctors-kit.

She injected the medicine from the syringe into Nico's neck. He immediately felt a little better.

"It's a weak stimulant, but stronger than coffee. The withdrawal symptoms will probably stay for a while. For a day, this injection should keep you presentable. Apparently we'll be back with civilization soon."

Nico crawled out of his sleeping bag and stood up. The withdrawal symptoms were starting to fade away. Finally!

The last days had been hell. Depressions, aggressive phases, overt fatigue, sweat. And that fucking omnipresent heat during the day.

Nico wasn't bothered by it as much as his unit. The Nanosuit had the convenient function of being 'weather neutral' and cooling him when the heat was too much.

But the rest of the unit wasn't even equipped with desert uniforms. They had to choose between two flavours of nope: Grey urban uniforms or brown-green winter-jackets. Most chose the slightly lighter grey ones or just fought in their underwear to the irritation of the locals who were used to the heat. The exile-soldiers were forbidden to buy desert-clothes from locals, because East German money in the Middle East could be found by the CIA.

In response, they had simply started to just loot them during the battle in the town. It was an old tradition of german soldiers to loot every useful piece of enemy equipment, ranging from jackets to tanks. Nico didn't have the idea in mind to get himself a desert uniform, until it was too late. His suit was awful in terms of visibility and some camo-cloth could seriously improve its practicality.

The rest of the squad had the same problems as Nico. Headaches, depressive tendencies, sweat, and lethargy. Kevin was hit the hardest. Erwin was shrugging it off, though. The Brandenburger was quite big. Broad, sturdy, muscular, but not exactly tall. He was definitely the strongest one in the squad, before the suit-incident. His parents were cattle-farmers. Good beef was his diet during childhood and the muscle mass that the boy had built up was impressive. It was no wonder that he could shrug off the pills. But that shattered jaw was really painful. The shredded nerves in the mouth were causing Erwin serious pain. Only upside was, that he enjoyed the majority of Bahsila's attention, which had helped him endure the pain while she was picking the sharp tooth-fragments out of his mouth.

The Iraqi medic, Bahsila Riza was her full name, and her squad were still prisoners. Nico had relayed their wish to be handed over to the Syrians, but as he expected, they were ignored.

The masterminds on top of the organisation decided that they were unwanted witnesses and the options were to kill them or keep them along. Thankfully, the choice was left to Schrader, instead of some heartless bureaucrat.

Stasimeyer always appeared like he had been a soldier for at least a while. He gave respect and some autonomy to his soldiers and demanded loyalty.

Nico personally had the hope that Riza and her squad could be recruited. They shouldn't be held prisoners forever. And really, there wasn't any other choice for them to avoid years of boredom. Ensuring their loyalty would be the primary problem.

Outside of the tent, Nico was greeted by some of his comrades doing morning-exercises. And ABC-Drills. This particular activity was so deeply anchored in the minds of the recruits, that some even started to find it 'fun' and compete who can do it the fastest. Nico was decent in that particular activity according to the standards set by his other colleagues. That absolutely didn't mean he liked it, though.

Hazmat Suits were quite awesome and Nico felt like an invincible Superhero the first time he had used one during an exercise. He had walked through a sewer full of tear-gas and didn't smell anything. It is an incredible thrill to casually walk through a hazard like that. But this first enthusiasm crumbles, when you stay in that suit for hours and keep marching. Or when you have to wash the shit of an entire city off the suit. Or once your body odour starts to dominate the inside of the suit. Or if you didn't shower for days already.

Nico was quite pleased with the Nanosuit, in contrast. It was light, agile, tight and had all the positive aspects of a hazmat suit, with more added boni. The drawbacks however were an unknown factor and this was worrying. Things like defecation, urination or ejaculation were not possible inside the suit. The first two were apparently just not happening anymore.

Like any normal teenager Nico had tried number three, but the metal-sheet was too unyielding for a proper round of 'five against willy'.

Nico still felt hunger, thirst and things like that, but the fact that the suit is able to mess with these things was terrifying. A combat-uniform, however conceptual and experimental, should not be able to mess with biological inside the body under it.

Nico shook off his worries and took a moment to appreciate the landscape outside the camp. In front of the resting unit, an imposing mountain-range was setting a beautiful contrast with the rather flat fields and hills of central Afghanistan.

The mountains were impressive, but equally dangerous. It reminded Nico about the time when the war was still raging and he had been hearing about it in the radio. And later, learned about it in training.

Nico knew the reports of German Soldiers who served in that war. It had been the trial by fire of the previously untested alliance and what had brought the troops of the involved nations closer together. Previously the 'Warzaw Pact' had been a dry bureaucratic structure that didn't have anything to do with the lives of the soldiers. That had changed. This war had created something like a common identity of the involved militaries. Eurasia's finest.

Civilians never understood how important this new sense of identity was. The soldiers had realized how well they performed together and old pan-slavic thought reemerged among the ranks. In the perspective of the troops, the Warsaw Pact was a proud Empire. Prussians, Polish, Hungarians, Romanians, Czechs, Slovaks, Bulgarians and the many slavic ethnicities of Russia, all combined into a huge Superpower. Until the collapse, even those who weren't loyal to the communist cause had been itching to finally test their ability against the smug Westerners. This common enthusiasm was what made this mess of different nationalities stick together during the exodus. Not everyone was a die-hard communist. Erwin was the best example of that.

While the mountains, plains and hills of Afghanistan were a majestic sight to behold, Nico couldn't help but imagine what a nightmare it must have been back in the day, to fight in this kind of rough terrain. Ambushes, hidden supply routes, guerillas mixed into the population... The military horrors of a true people's war. All that potential and revolutionary energy, wasted on the reactionary ideology of the Taliban.

Really, the only thing that won the war was the Taliban loosing support by the population. Sadly the Kalq Party had to make lots of concessions to the reactionaries, but it slowly deprived the Taliban of its support-base. Just in time, because at home in Europe, the war had been very unpopular.

The war had been a success, but Nico saw its price when he stared at the rusting, burned out wrecks of BTR-70's that were scattered in the terrain and countless unmarked graves, only a helmet on a pole marking the last place of rest for countless soviet conscripts.

Suddenly Nico saw that the Major was running around screaming "ABC ATTACK, ABC ATTACK!", so he calmly grabbed his mask from his belt and ran over to the place where they were supposed to line up.

During the transport across Iran, he had started improvising tactical equipment for his rather unpractical suit. The first improvements were a belt, a bandolier and an improvised backpack. Nico was annoyed how the suit lacked basic functionalities like pockets. Sure, the Nanosuit was awesome, but just not really ready for combat. Coincidentally, Nico had discovered the magnetic plates, where he could just 'clip' weapons or metallic items onto the suit. It was a brilliant and creative idea, but how should he clip a plastic bottle of Pervitin, or a paper document, or a large Karl Marx book onto these surfaces?

Nico got so annoyed with it, that he just awkwardly bound a leather belt around the waist. It was actually fairly easy, because the Nanosuit was designed in a manner to imitate the layout and function of human muscle-tissue.

On the belt were various ammo-pouches, a satchel for the headpiece of the suit and a field-shovel. The two bandoliers, really just strings of cloth, held a sufficiently large cloth-bag in place on the back, where Nico stored the few personal belongings he hadn't left behind. It looked a lot like the simple, yet functional bags that the Soviets had used during WW2.

It was all improvised, but sufficient.

At the center of the camp, a line of masked soldiers was forming and more were trickling in. Even the Iraqi prisoners were in the ABC suits that they had been issued, when it became clear they would stay for a while.

They were very familiar with annoying Drill Sergeants sounding ABC alarms. Marco had voiced the theory that every army on the planet does those ABC exercises and everyone agreed that it was probably true.

When all soldiers were in line, ordered by time of arrival, Schrades shouted: "Good timing. You start to get the hang of it. DOWN AND GIVE ME 50!"

Everyone dropped down to the ground and did their push-ups.

Nico and the Iraqis too. For the prisoners, it was a sort of friendly competition. After the secretary of the General paid them a visit and injected them with a tiny implant that would, quote, "Send a guided missile after them if they fled", they accepted their situation and started to integrate into the company. Even pick up some bits of German.

The ranks had to be refilled anyways. The Comrades who decided to stay home and those who died in that town, left a gap. It felt depressing with the unit only on 40% strenght. Friendships had been cut, squads broken, the fighting capacity crippled. But now, there were no reinforcements. No replacements.

For Nico, the physical exercise was a joke. He did it so his muscles would stay in shape, but the suit was providing undesired help. For non-combat scenarios, he had found a way to power down the suit, so that the physical assistance was reduced as much as possible. Sadly, it couldn't be completely deactivated. The push-ups felt real, but that little bit of assistance combined with Nico's well trained athletic body gave him an unfair edge. He feared, if he stayed to long in the suit, his muscles might degenerate.

While everyone was sweating into their suits, Schrader was walking up and down the line to give a briefing. "We will soon reach our new base. It's not very far, now. But the quality of the roads deteriorates from now on, so every cargo that is transported on top of vehicles must be fixed very tight. When you are finished, everyone runs three rounds around the camp, and then you will pack up and mount your vehicles."

Nico sighed. That would take a while.

The roads to the base were as shaky as promised, and Kevin had to make sure again, that the straps that held the crates on the back of the tank in place, were properly tight.

Keeping Katarina, the Company's newly captured T55 Enigma, running was also hell. The only reason it worked at all, was the abundant presence of T55 spare parts.

However, that model was too valuable to leave it behind. Combat analysts had given the opinion, that this thing was genius in its simplicity. Nico knew what those strange boxes around the armor were, now.

They were Boxes.

The secret weapon of the Iraqi army that made the Enigma nearly immune to ATGM's were hollow wooden boxes, optionally filled with sand and gravel, that prematurely detonated missiles and seriously slowed down tank-shells. Hell, according to after action reports, the thing had put quite a dent in the Syrian T72's.

From a certain point of view, the operation had been a success. The Syrians had some fresh poison gas for their national defense and the Pact units had broken through to Iran.

It was a hard lesson in humility, though. The Iraqi Army had definitely showcased that they were a power to be reckoned with. Syria and Iran had planned to put Iraq into place, but apparently they just poked a Lion. The last days, diplomats from all around the world had worked around the clock to prevent a Second Gulf War. Saddam Hussein was pissed

Nico watched the front of the convoy coming to a halt. Apparently they had arrived at their destination. In front of them was a large cliff, where the road ended and a massive pair of medieval wooden doors marked the entrance to what Nico assumed was their hideout. It was some kind of medieval fortress, built into the cliff. A common trait of afghan architecture.

The natural caves and the mountainous geography of the country resulted in nightmarish fortifications. Even more so in modern times.

A bunch of guards were walking around and so on, but it didn't really look suspicious. It weren't even government forces. The militiamen were armed with Lee-Enfield Rifles and WW2 era british helmets. There was a bit of variety, because some had 'modern' AK47's, soviet helmets or turbans. But all wore civilian tunics with red armbands, marking them as secular communist loyalists. In more conservative regions, the Taliban had been replaced by so-called 'Peoples Mujaheddin'. A militia adhering to a conservative version of Islamic Socialism, but loyal to the government.

The militiamen cleared the way for the convoy and the big gate was opened. Old doors were tugged open by modern diesel-engines and the lead of the convoy started moving again.

From the top of the tank, Nico saw the majestic interior of the former Mughal-Castle. Or at least what it used to be.

The main hall had been a marketplace once, but centuries of war had wrecked the place long before the Soviet Army left its own marks on the scarred walls.

There was a bit of light breaking through the roof, but everything was illuminated by petroleum lamps, on the sockets that used to be occupied by torches. The wide, open hall was illuminated by a pleasant orange glow.

But deeper into the cliff, the rustical and majestic atmosphere was broken by a huge and optically out of place silvery steel-gate. And it was huge. Probably meters thick.

Some czech officer got out of his UAZ Jeep and did something on a computer console. Probably open the door.

It took two minutes until the officer got impatient and just knocked on the door. And the thing was so massive, Nico didn't even hear it from his position.

Then the officer angrily ran back to his jeep, threw off the poor guy on the back and then proceeded to 'knock' with three 12,7x108mm AP bullets from his KPV Maschinegun.

PLONG! PLONG! PLONG!

Soldiers ran to cover as the ricochets splintered across the hall.

Then, the door finally set in motion and as soon as it was open, the convoy drove down a long tunnel into the hidden underground complex.

Angry complaints about careless use of weaponry by the base-technicians were laughed off by the less disciplined czech soldiers.

From what Nico could see, the german construction team had made the most of the natural cave system. The walls weren't stabilized, it was just a road in the middle and a big mess of cables along the walls.

Eventually, there was a big fortified roadblock and another big gate, that was already opened. All the guards were regular Afghan Soldiers, this time. The ones outside were just to keep civilians away without drawing attention. It was a trick, that Nico knew from training. Many hidden facilities were guarded by Grenzers to make them look boring and unimportant. But inside, the Wachregiment Guards were ready to greet nosy saboteurs with a nasty surprise. General Meyer's influence was clearly visible.

The road led further down, but eventually there was a large parking space. Katarina was one of the first vehicles that arrived and Erika followed soon. Heinz was determined to keep an eye on his old girl. The emotional connection to the tank was strong.

Nico already saw two men in suits, standing in front of a normal sized door, who were probably Meyer and an assistant. Using the binocular mode of the suit, he quickly confirmed that.

The squad jumped off the tank and walked over to Schrader and the other squads. Quickly, the Major ensembled his unit and ordered: "Everyone form a line."

As soon as a proper inspection-line was formed, Schrader walked over to the two spies. Nico used his suit's capability of noise filtering to simply listen to the conversation from the distance. He couldn't really look their way, without turning his head and breaking formation discipline, the voices had to be sufficient.

"Sir, my unit is awaiting orders."

"Good. It will take a while until everything is ready. We are still preparing for the stasis procedure, but we intend to start tomorrow morning."

"What are our orders in the meantime?"

"I think the kids need some time to prepare themselves. They will get a tour of the base, some time to store all their personal belongings, recieve a few briefing documents to explain why I plan to keep them on ice for probably years and then some downtime. The guide should arrive here soon."

Nico was curious about the explaination for everything. Meyer had a reputation as a ghost and invisible mastermind. This operation seemed crazy, unconventional and far too unpredictable to be executed without long planning.

"Yes, Sir. What about Corporal Seydlitz and his squad? And the prisoners?"

"I want to talk with Seydlitz and his unit alone. They come with me. About the prisoners... I don't know yet. What is your impression of them?"

"The threat with the tracking devices pacified them. For simplicity's sake, we just treat them as part of the unit. They aren't that well trained but the medic is actually a real doctor. Field Medics with actual medical competence are a rare treasure. The others aren't that impressive. We don't even understand each other, but they seem to somewhat socialize with the trainees."

"Are you implying you want to keep them in your unit? You know why the Wachregiment recruits only from distinguished and loyal families?"

Nico didn't need to see Schrader to know that he was worried he might have stepped out of line. The Major wasn't particulary liked by his unit, but his skills in knowing how to work with higher ranking officials gained the unit quite a lot of helpful favours to increase the quality of the training. Here, his instincts seemed to tell him that he should be upfront with a man like Meyer.

"Yes, Sir. My unit was decimated and there will be no conventional reinforcements. These boys are far from ready to be integrated into the actual Regiment. I am ready to integrate the prisoners into the unit, to regain some strenght. Even if they are not ideologues, they could be kept in line by comradeship, if the integration is sucessful."

"Are you absolutely sure? I am ready to lock them up forever, if that prevents disasterous information leaks."

"Sir, if they are in my unit, they are under constant oversight. I will make sure they become loyal."

"Acceptable under the condition that you give me monthly written reports on their behavior. I will lock them up, if there is any indication that they want to defect. Now give me Seydlitz."

The Major walked back to his unit that was patiently standing at attention. "Mackensen, Seydlitz, Petersen, Fang, Jahn and Meyer, the General is requesting your presence.", he ordered and the mentioned group walked over to the General. Behind them, the formation corrected itself.

"Good morning, Gentlemen. Let's start with the tour.", the Meyer mumbled croakily. Nico didn't notice it over microphone first, but now that he had taken his mask off, the General sounded very tired. The young Chekists didn't comment, though. The question wasn't necessary and there was surely a reason.

They were halfway into the hallway, when the old Meyer jokingly asked: "Oh, no hug for your dad?"

The entire squad collectively rolled their eyes.

There was no response from the General, not even a stop in his walk. They reached the end of the hallway, until a response came.

"I am willing to concede personal freedoms, rescources and rule exeptions to agents, officers or soldiers under my command, if that directly leads to increased operational efficiency. If a hug increases operational efficiency, feel free to send a formal written request to my office.", the General elaborated with a completely straight face, while he unlocked a security door with his keys.

Everyone present, including the secretary were trying their best not to burst out laughing.

"Ok, now in klartext. That you are my father does not give you special privileges or exeptions to military conversation etiquette. We can talk privately, if we are off duty."

"Yes, Sir!", the old man affirmed, recalling old memories of his days in the Wehrmacht.

"And regarding you trainees, don't take your new special place in the command chain as an excuse to let discipline slip.", the General added.

"Yes, Sir."

The door led to another street and a waiting Ural truck. While the corridors were rather nondescript and conventional, the fact that vehicles were needed as a tranportation system, made Nico think about how large this base was. How was it built? And how many tax-ostmarks were used to finance this? It was the kind of base that the Stavka would hide in, during a nuclear war.

The secretary, Nico wasn't exactly sure what function that man actually had, climbed into the drivers-seat. Everyone else climbed into the back and sat down on the banks.

"Sir, could you please specify our position in the chain of command? We thought, we are part of the training formation.", Erich asked, as soon as he had placed his backpack at his feet.

Meyer quickly adjusted his glasses, then explained. "Yes, for the moment you are still in your unit, but I still have the authority to give you orders without respecting the proper chain of command. At the moment, your unit is part of the independant 'Dzerzhinski Regiment'. The Wachregiment and LStR-40 were the only large military formation that defected as a whole. At the moment, there are no steps between regimental command and the central command council. The desertions from the regular armies are only on squad, maybe platoon, level. Many are just individual soldiers, that never knew each other. They are being organised into Regiments sorted by nationality. You are a semi-independent entity within your unit, because the Major will transfer command immediately on request. If I wanted to give another squad in your unit this private tour, I'd have to send the request down the chain of command. But I need the suit under my direct command."

"Understood, Sir.", Erich confirmed and the General gave a cynically amused laugh. "Actually the chain goes even higher up than me, but there it becomes a legal mess. We are legally under command of the afghan 'Central Commissariat for Peoples Militias', because there is no other way of doing any of this without breaking laws. And we are screwing international law anyways."

The squadleader nodded. After a minute of typical german silence, he looked at his boss questioningly and Nico knew his friend good enough to know that he was considering to ask some question.

"Sir... I have another question. Why are we... Why do you treat us this well? We expected that you would take Nico out of our unit, keep him with your HQ and leave us out of it."

What Nico found strange, was that the General seemed caught off-guard by the question. Like he was a bit embarrased that it was brought up.

"I think that would be unneccesarily cruel. You are still kids. The desertion of the Wachregiment had been planned, but the training battallion was supposed to stay behind. The suit makes the situation seem dead-serious, but broken down to basic ethical principles, Corporal Seydlitz is a kid that accidentally got stuck in a suit of armor. If he was a, let's say... 10 years old civilian in a village in Pommerania during peacetime..."

At that point Nico felt an involuntary shiver go down his spine. The spy had definitely screened his history.

"... the STASI would keep an eye on the situation, but we wouldn't abduct him from his family and keep him locked in a cage until we get a good doctor and an engineer. We'd let the boy stay home, under guard in his own house with his family, and escort him to his appointment with the specialists. That way, the incident stays low-profile. Being mean or evil is often just too inefficient. I'm not letting you stay with your unit because I am such a nice person. The friendly option just happens to be the most pragmatic in this situation. And it worked. That you got into combat was a worst case scenario, but the proximity to your comrades and allies saved you."

"We appreciate the honesty, Sir.", Nico thanked. In training there were lessons about interaction with spies. The teacher had given a knigge course about the interaction with agents, spies, STASI employees and politicians. And one piece of advice was, that almost all of those people had a strong tendency to lie. However, as the military arm of the STASI, they should not take it personal, when being lied to. Because most of the time it would be out of necessity. The honesty of the General was very out of character. But on a second thought, it made sense. He was a military officer now.

"Sir, you implied the reason for this private tour is that you want to remove the suit?", Marco asked, picking up on the example.

"Yes. This suit is the holy grail of military technology. We had a candidate from LStR-40 selected to be the pilot. Plus, this technology was never tested before. You really don't want that thing on you longer than necessary."

"Agreed, Sir.", Nico confirmed.

The rest of the truckride was very quiet. Everything relevant had been said and there would be no private conversations in the presence of the General. Nico passed the time by studying the base that they were driving through. It was enormous, but still very claustrophobic. Despite the size of the installations, it was still just a network of very metallic tunnels.

Thankfully, the ride was over very quickly, because it turned out that driving a truck through a large building is a very fast mode of transportation.

Meyer Jr. jumped out first, then the others followed. They were in a big cave, where a classical lab-building was constructed. It looked like an actual building and it's traditional german brick-walls seemed a bit out of place in this futuristic environment. Probably because it was an actual building, not an extension of the cave.

Without really thinking about it, the group formed a 2x6 marching formation and followed their General.

They marched into the house and it looked like a doctor or scientist was working here. Nico had expected a workshop with prepared instruments to get him out. Inside the house, an old man in a sweater and casual trousers was working on something on his desk. It was his house, not an actual lab.

The soldiers formed a line-formation in the living room, while the General approached the doctor.

However, the old man quickly finished his notes and jumped up exited. "General Meyer! I have recieved the reports. The lab is already prepared. Where is the... Oh, back there."

The old scientist walked over to the soldiers, who looked kinda silly in the way they were standing at attention in a living-room. He went straight for Nico, but also quickly ordered, "At ease.", without even looking at the others. He offered his hand and introduced himself.

"I am Karl Ernst Rasch, Imperial Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Section 4. This suit is my design."

Nico accepted the handshake. So this was the man who can get him out of the thing.

"Nikolai Seydlitz, Guard Regiment Dzerzhinski, Training Detachment. We are the unit that saved the suit."

"We are very grateful for that, young man. This is an invaluable masterpiece. A magnificent piece of technology, isn't it?"

Nico considered being polite and nodding it off, but he was a soldier of the Wachregiment. It was expected of him to be polite, respectful and brutally honest, even if it meant hurting someones feelings.

"I used the suit in combat and the it's capabilities are incredibly potent. However, there are some dangerous design-flaws. I felt a strong cold pain all over my skin the first time I put it on. There is no zipper. There are no pouches. There is no helmet. The gloves are too edgy to properly handle AK-Grips. Generally, there is no inherent compatability with equipment from the GRAU Index. And the lack of camo over the shining metallic materials is making the 'invisibility mode' look like a bad joke.", he explained, almost ranted, trying to sound as polite as possible. The old man looked cought off-guard. General Meyer was smiling and giving Nico silent, reassuring nod behind the scientist's back. Yeah, he definitely was a soldier.

"I appreciate the honesty.", the old man admitted, even though the friendly tone sounded a bit forced now. "The suit you are wearing is a prototype that is supposed to be used for research and testing, not actual combat. There are still many steps of research between this suit and production-start. It would be helpful if you compiled a written list of necessary improvements for the Infantry Version of the suit. The engineering team will appreciate it."

At least the argument made sense. A prototype version wouldn't need the bulky tactical gear that Infantrymen carried around, if it was for simple lab-tests of the technology.

The old man suddenly had a thought. His eyes betrayed a hidden worry or pity. "How much do you know about the technology of the suit? Did you have any hallucinations or visions? Have you heard voices? Oh, and General... What clearance level do they have?"

The General cut the conversation short very quickly. "Could we please go over to the lab? We need to run the diagnostics before we can discuss a higher security clearance. Don't take it personal Corporal, but there are some secrets that you are not supposed to know. I won't give you information out of generosity. You will be informed of all potential long-term health problems, but no details yet. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, Sir.", confirmed Nico. "When I joined the Wachregiment, I knew that I will usually be left in the dark. I trust your judgement."

Meyer nodded proudly. "Good. Eventually we will tell you the full truth. Let's get to the lab now. Karl, the tunnel please."

The scientist walked over into a corner of the room. There was very unsubtle red button that he pushed and a badly hidden secret door automatically opened.

"I have a tunnel to get to my lab quickly. It's a good shortcut.", he explained and led the way.

The squad broke formation and marched throught the stone-tunnel, their boots still hitting the ground in a synchronized tact.

It seemed that the tunnel had been some kind of last-minute addition to the 'house'. The mining-work was solid, but there were no real attempts at building proper walls, decorations or pleasant lights. Above, there was a chain of lightbulbs, nothing more.

At the end was a metal door. Not one of the automated version that seemed to be the standard in the base, but a classical design with hinges and a door-handle. And it seemed to be broken. There was a keypad, where a digital codeword was to be typed in, but there was some defect and the door didn't unlock.

"Seriously?", the General asked annoyed. "I thought the electrician fixed that thing yesterday?"

"He was supposed to... What a delicious irony that we can develop technological marvels like the nanosuit, but a digital lock..."

Rasch suddenly dropped his humored smile, when looked at Nico questioningly and worried.

"Can you please stare directly at the control pad?", he asked, earning amused and questioning glances from the soldiers present. Just the General's expression suddenly became a lot more serious. "With the mask please."

Nico, as well as Marco, sensed a tension building up. They were suspicious of what their superiors were thinking. Orders were orders, though.

Seydlitz pulled the mask over his face and felt that awkward sensation of the metallic fabric coldly melting onto his head. To seal the suit, the edges of mask and collar grew together until there was no trace of a seperation. That always creeped everyone out.

As ordered, Nico looked at the keypad and there was a half transparent icon floating over it.

"I see an icon with stylised circuitry.", he reported, without looking at the expression of the scientist.

"Please press the button labeled 'CTRL' on your left-wrist control panel."

Nico did so and a little red dot appeared in the centre of his vision. He knew of that function, but didn't exactly know what it was supposed to do. Sometimes icons would show up when aiming it at electric devices and if he pressed the enter button there were mainly two options to choose from: 'Shutdown device' or 'Display Script Code'. The latter was just opening a window full of computer code stuff.

"Aim at the icon and press enter."

He did that and there was the menu title 'Invalid Code' one option displayed: 'Debug?'

"There is a 'Debug' option.", he reported, but the scientist did not answer this time. Nico turned his head and the scientist was asking the General something in russian: "Can we talk safely in russian?"

In the privacy of his mask, Nico rolled his eyes. It reminded him of the way his parents spoke in foreign languages when they talked about things that kids shouldn't know about. When he had learned russian and told them not to do 'dirty talk' when he was in hearing range, their expression had been priceless.

Meyer, however, knew that russian was on the learning scheduele of soldiers, so he did his 'adult' conversation with the scientist in chineese.

In his peripheral vision, Nico saw how Marco was subtly translating the conversation into German for Erich. The boys had picked up quite a few tricks from their working relationship with the secret police. Including the value of linguistic knowledge and faked ignorance.

Nico selected the debug option and the door opened.

They were walking into a lab, where scientists were doing science. More accurately they were reading books, disussing things, typing things into the computers and reading protocolls. From Polytechnical School, Nico still remembered the lessons that had been organised by a local biochemical laboratory. He knew that science work consists of endless study, analysis, reflection and repitition. The fun activities from early school lessons, like brewing homemade beer, were not at all part of a scientist's routine.

A few scientists were actually working on a very fancy looking maschine, that had a human shaped mold in it and was connected to a lot of computers. Nico guessed that thing was supposed to remove the suit. Finally.

The conversation between Meyer and Rasch stopped. Both started to work on the computer, paying no attention to the rookies. Marco took the opportunity.

"I couldn't understand much, it was all weird science talk. But they are scared shitless by the door opening stunt. They said something about a computer, the suit, something called 'Nanites', assimilation and danger. If they try something, we are ready."

Nico's stomach felt like a vacuum was inside it, after he heard that last part. He wanted to immediately counter, but the General was looking at him now.

"We are ready here. Corporal, please lie down in this mould. It's not tailored for you, so please tell us when to activate the mag-locks. You have to get the right parts in the right places.", Meyer explained.

Nico obeyed, nervously. His face was still hidden under his mask, so the spy hopefully couldn't read into him too much. Hopefully no one would do anything stupid.

Getting comfortable inside the docking station for the suit was a bit difficult, not easy enough. The thing had been built for someone with far more musclemass. Nico was tall, but his body was trained with agility, endurance and speed as the focus.

Eventually the locks gripped and Nico felt this sudden rush of icy cold in his body again. This time it wasn't painful, but exiting. Like a pleasant adrenaline rush in an ice cold shower.

In his field of vision, a shiny window with a constant stream of computer code appeared.

The General and Doctor Rasch were outside of Nicos field of view. Nico noticed that the magnets of the station were holding him in place perfectly. He decided to use the opportunity to relax a bit, because he didn't need to hold himself in place. It was quite an interesting way to relax.

Rash and Meyer did their science stuff and Nico was tempted to have a little nap inside the privacy of his suit.

After a few minutes the General gave up on making sense of Rasch's technobabble and just sat down on an office chair, reading a pocket novel. Nico found that sight unusually calming. Meyer was a mastermind. A rather honest one, but he never bothered to hide the cold calculations that dictated his actions. Seeing him reading a novel to pass time made him look somewhat human.

"General, you need to see this!", Rasch suddenly exclaimed.

Nico was curious, but his head was fixed. The General was looking at a screen.

"I found this."

"Are those shrapnel?", asked Meyer, bewildered. "I see no damage on the suit."

Nico confirmed. "Sir I don't remember to get hit by shrapnel. I never felt any penetratio..."

"Exactly!", Rasch interrupted. "You didn't feel it! The suit managed to completely shut this pain out. In the module on the spine, the suit produces Nanites. Tiny robots, made to maintain the suit and reconfigure it's surface. They repaired the suit." The scientist turned to the perplexed General.

"The Nanites are, at this moment, mining away the shrapnel and flooding into his bloodstream. The wound isn't closing naturally, the nanites are forming an armor-panel! It is perfectly fused to the surrounding tissue."

The voice of the scientist got significantly darker. "We did not program that function."

Nico's stomach felt like it was sinking into the ground. This was getting out of control. He subtly started pushing against the restrainst, but it was futile.

Erich gave a signal and send an apologetic look at his best friend. The group slowly spread out over the room.

"What do you mean, this was not part of the program?!", Meyer asked unhinged.

"Let me explain!", Rasch tried to calm him down. "Here is the nanite overview. They got into his blood. Don't you understand? He activated his SECOND! This blue cluster? That not around his spine. It's inside!"

Meyers head snapped towards Nico, a glare of anger drilling into him. Then the General drew his pistol.

Adrenaline shot through Nicos veins! There was no way to escape. Flashbacks haunted him, while the pistol moved from it's holster.

The day he last saw his family. He remembered the unresolved tension. How his mother still hadn't accepted his decision to enlist. How his father tried to accept it.

Now it was too late.

Suddenly, the stock of a rifle bashed into the General's back!

Erich stood behind him with a familiar fury burning in his eyes.

Rasch sprang to action and snatched the Pistol. He ordered: "Hold the General down!"

Erich took the chance immediately, while the room was filled with shouting.

"Everyone, get on the ground right now!", Erwin barked at the scientists, waiving around his MG. The rest of the squad was doing the same.

The General was recovering from the blow and his glare was furious. "You are going to the firing squad for this! The Corporal died the moment he entered the suit!"

Erich answered by tightening his grip. "At least we die together. I insist we are executed as mutineers, though. Don't you pig dare call us the traitors!"

Nico was deeply moved by the way his friends were trying to rescue him. And it felt heartwrenching, that now they had signed their own death-warrants.

Rasch immediately seized initiative to deescalate.

"Thomas! Listen to me! The boy is the perfect specimen for the suit. He has activated his Second, but they have appearently formed a bond. This is far beyond what we hoped for. Sykes' dominant personality let's him have the upper hand in the relationship, but Seydlitz has merged with the suit. He is still the same person."

Nico was not overly smart. He didn't get the details, but the shock was there.

The thought-controlled functions... They were actually body-functions.

The Nanosuit had become his body.

"Corporal, listen. The Nanosuit is far more than a piece of equipment. It is supposed to directly enhance the wearer's biology, including your brain. 98% of the human brain are unused and this is what controls the suit. When you put it on, a second intelligence was born inside you. The suit is alive and you share the same human brain."

Reacting to this was difficult. Nico knew he was himself and that he didn't feel anything intrusive was going on in his brain. But there was also the way he could feel his suit. Something was there, in his thoughts, with him and subtly executed commands and mental suggestions.

"Sir, I can feel it somewhere, but I am not controlled by it.", he explained.

Rasch nodded.

"Thomas, the Corporal is not a puppet! He is not a Ceph.", he said, forcefully.

General Meyer was far from calmed down.

"You have 5 minutes to give me good reasons why I shouldn't order the guards outside to storm the room. Major Sykes is outside the in the Nanosuit Mark 1 and a team of Wachregiment Soldiers. Adult and fully trained. And the Major sounds quite angry. He want's to, quote, 'rip his new suit off that little brat's skin'."

Oh, shit. 'Wait.', Nico thought. 'How does he know? Does he have implants? He must have.'

The argument between the adults continued.

"He is highly valuable to my research. Studying his interactions with his suit would be guaranteed to yield breakthroughs. But don't you feel ashamed on principle? Even if it is the suit we are talking to, the personality of the pilot is obviously intact. I won't allow you to kill a child."

"What if we are being deceived?", he defended himself.

"Hey, attention PLEASE!", Nico shouted into the room.

The arguing adults turned silent and looked at him.

"General, I am ready to sacrifice myself for the greater good. Everyone of us is. But this escalation is taking us nowhere. There has to be a way to do this scientifically, but we finally need to cut away the bullshit! Tell us what the hell is going on!", Nico ranted. His life depended on it. He was not ready to die like this.

Rasch started explaining. "This suit is not made with human technology. We engineered the design, but all of it's higher functions are beyond our understanding. We had weaker prototypes before, but this one is the first that realises it's full potential, by connecting with the human brain. The source code and technology used is based on an alien organism that we found in the Tunguska spaceship crash, so the big worry is that there is a backdoor for an alien intelligence to control 98% of your brain."

Meyer nodded, confirming the claim.

Meanwhile, the squad was lining up their hostages to block line of sight from the door and shield Nico. Almost immediately, the Special Forces outside used the chance and moved in. They did not fire, neither did Nico's comrades, but they simply occupied territory inside the room, seeking good positions for a synchronised opening salvo. However the suit-maintainance area was almost it's own room with bulletproof glass and a door-wide chokepoint that was now blocked.

One of the soldiers caught a lot of attention. A bald, angry man in a nanosuit.

He was impatiently pacing up and down in the room, glaring at Nico through the window. Using the zoom function on his nanosuit, he saw that the man had an SAS tatoo on his neck. Odd.

"My recommendation is that the kid is placed under a long-term observation. We can analyse the effects of the suit and further our research. From what I see, his neural activity is that of a human. There is ceph-code active within Second, but it's all in line with our predictions. If necessary, I we still have the kill-switch."

"And your kill-switch is accurate? Reliable? With the computing-power of a human brain, SECOND could rip any code apart.", Meyer protested.

"I swear it is!", Rasch assured.

The soldiers could practically hear Meyer grinding his teeth, deep in thought.

"You of all people know, that working with Ceph technology is gambling with the fate of humanity. If Corporal Seydlitz goes haywire, you will need to put a bullet in his brain. And probably everywhere else in his body. You have permission to keep him.", the General conceded. Then he turned to Niko.

"I don't want to create a grudge here..."

"Erich, slap him on my behalf.", the angry young soldier cut off and his friend happily gave his boss a slap in the face.

Meyer was obviously reconsidering his decision, but begrudgingly let the blatant disrespect slide.

"If you loose control over your mind, the risk is that an ancient, powerful, inhuman, hostile, biomechanical swarm of impossibly advanced aliens will find Earth and genocide humanity. You are a kid, yes. Killing you repulses me on a moral level, but I'd do it without hesitation when this is what's at stake.", he said firmly and to the point. "Don't take it personal."

Niko answered: "Sir, I understand your reasoning. I won't hold it as a grudge against you and I am ready to continue my service. But I can't pretend nothing happened."

"So you will hold it as a grudge.", Meyer commented dryly. He didn't get another answer.

"Very well, I'm going to recall the soldiers outside. Then you are all going to surrender your weapons and spend the night in the brig. Deal?"

"Deal.", Erich agreed.

Meyer was set free and surprisingly he kept to his word.

The angry bald man in the other nanosuit angrily punched the security glass a little in a fit of childish rage, while the others escorted Nikos friends out.

Rash started working on his computer again and said: "If you ever ask me to do something immoral without good justification, you will loose your only expert on the Ceph."

Meyer nodded angrily as he left the room.

That left Niko alone with the scientist and plenty of questions.