- So? Where have you been and what´s your story? – Helga asked.

- You really wanna´ know? –

- Just spit it out already, you´re annoying me. – Surprisingly it was Hans who spoke this time, he had taken the compass again.

I took a sip of water and sighed lightly.

- It all began in the 4th army group, armored division. I started out as a tanker, a bow gunner to be precise, sometime early during the invasion my panzer was disabled by a land mine and my commander and crew got killed while trying to get off the tank, the silly bastards were trying to get off from the front and got mowed by machinegun fire, I waited for a while and then carefully got off, after that I joined a squad that was passing by and had to fight on foot for a while.

A few days later we charged into a village, the locals decided it was a good idea to help the army and fought back fiercely, we were taken by surprise and suffered heavy casualties.

During the battle I managed to save 4 badly injured men by dragging them out of the frontline and took 2 bullets myself while doing so which earned me a couple of medals, after I got released from the field hospital the chief of staff heard I had flight experience and sent me to fly with the Luftwaffe as they were short handed, I did a couple of bombing runs, crashed landed and dragged 3 men of my crew through the polish country side until I stumbled upon a German troop garrison, all 3 of them lived, that same night a force of 700 men attacked the garrison by surprise and I helped repel the attack by driving a halftrack to the front and manning the machine gun, they sieged us for 2 weeks but we had enough ammo and rations so we just held and waited for the armor to roll up, when the siege was over my kill count had reached 110, I was sent to Berlin to receive the knights cross with oaks and leaves. When I got back I flew a Me 109 on reconnaissance missions for a little and then got sent back to Berlin due do the death of my father and now I´m here with you… That´s the ¨short¨ version. – After I was done I took another sip from my cup.

- Whoa, all that in three years? – Klaus asked amazed, he had this stupid smile in his face.

- I like to keep myself busy. – I said with a smirk on my face.

- So what is the count up to now? – Hans asked.

- Including the ones we got on our way here? 143 lives taken. -

Hans stopped toying with the compass and stared at me, he had a stern look in his face.

- Were any of them Jews? – Helga asked.

- I wouldn’t know, they were shooting at me and I just shot back, didn´t had the chance to stop and ask them. – I replied.

- Let me rephrase the question, have you murdered anyone for being a Jew? – Helga asked and stared at me.

- No, I have not. – I said, this was getting uncomfortable and perhaps dangerous.

- What is your opinion on the Nazi party Alexander? – Helga asked again.

I remained silent for a bit not knowing whether to be honest or just make something up, I chose to be honest and hope for the best.

- I do not follow nor endorse the Nazi party´s practices or beliefs, especially the ¨the racial cleansing¨ policies. –

- So you like Jews? – Klaus asked.

- I don´t like or dislike people by their beliefs, they can do whatever they want for all I care, If anyone points a gun at me I´ll kill them, if anyone gets in my way I´ll kill them, if anyone messes with my people I´ll kill them, be it Jew, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, Buddhist or whatever. –

- I see… - Helga said.

- So, what do you fight for? – Klaus asked.

- I ask myself the same question quite often, I think I´m just a thrill-seeker, I´m not particularly good with a regular life, come think of it bores me so I just came back here and went along with the flow. – I said.

The three were now staring at me and silent, Klaus and Helga exchanged a quick nod.

- Well, I guess you´ll fit right in with us Alexander, I personally despise the Nazi party and it´s shenanigans, so just so we´re clear; we don´t kill people out of hate or pleasure… as much as some of us might enjoy it. – Helga remarked while staring at Klaus and making an emphasis on that last part, Klaus laughed a bit.

I sighed in relief.

- For a moment I thought you guys were members of the party or at least followers, I´m glad I was wrong. – I said.

- Hey come on! Do I look like I´m a degenerate? – Klaus asked and no one said anything, it was Hans who spoke for us all.

- You do. – He said and we all laughed.

- Well… I mean yes, I AM kind of sick but not THAT sick. – Klaus replied, kinda hurt by the comment.

- Well don´t feel bad now, If it makes you feel better Klaus, I wouldn´t have you any other way. – Said Helga with a smile.

- Heh, thanks boss. – Klaus replied and scratched his head a bit.

- All right, It´s been a long day for us all, go to your rooms and get some sleep, except you Hans, you have your orders, meet me in the courtyard at 800 hours and be on your regular field uniform, we might need to go outside, you´re dismissed, Alexander, I´d like to have a word with you before you go. – Helga said, Hans and Klaus saluted and walked out.

- I´m all ears captain. – I said.

- I´d like to ask a favor of you, the captains of the other two Spezialeinheiten squads are loyal to the party and most of the members are followers of the Nazi cause, so please be careful around them, especially when asked your opinion on the whole ¨untermenschen¨ debacle, lie if you have to and don´t mention this conversation to anyone, am I clear? – Helga just stared at me waiting for an answer.

- I´ll keep my mouth shut. –

- Good, now let´s get out of here. – She said and we walked out.

The night was calm, warm and quiet, a fresh breeze could be felt, the front gate was closed and I could hear the sentries in the rooftop talk, a couple of soldiers were in the middle of the courtyard having a smoke and another one was wrenching at one of the kubelwagens, a subtle rumble and cracking could be heard in the distance: gunshots.

It was amazing how the civilian population was putting up more of a fight than the actual army, but it was hopeless now the French government had already given up and the army was all scattered, we just had to hunt down the last bastions of resistance and take the capital completely.

- Do we have any orders yet captain? – I asked.

- No, not yet, I´ll be getting them tomorrow, early in the morning, but try not to think about that and rest, I have a feeling we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. –

- Any idea of what´s coming? – I asked again, Helga stopped and stared at me as if irritated.

- A little impatient aren´t we? – Helga said, she sighed, remained quiet and then kept going.

– Spezialeinheiten one has been tasked with recon operations, they are currently tracking down the remainders of the French army command that is leading the resistance and trying to pin point their exact whereabouts, once they have the information they are to return here and report to high command, the squad has seven members that were picked from the Abwehr and all members in the squad are specialized on reconnaissance, espionage and observation. Spezialeinheiten three has been given a completely different task, they were given a list of leaders of the Jewish community in this area and ordered to find them and use the troops here to round them up and execute them and any followers that may be with them, this squad has ten members and all of them were picked from the lines of the SS-VT and the Gestapo, they are all pretty reckless and their leader is a mad man who likes to execute civilians in public to scare the population. Our group is the smallest, we were all picked from the battlefront and are the ones with the highest rank, honestly, we can be used for any kind of task the high command deems necessary. –

- Guess I´ll have to wait then. – I said a bit disappointed.

- Indeed. – She said and we walked up the stairs, I stopped at my door and she kept on walking to hers, before entering I wished her a good night, she smiled lightly and closed her door, I did the same.

A moment after the radio hissed and Helga´s voice came on:

- Radio check, confirm and switch to the auxiliary channel. –

- Loud and clear. – Hans replied.

- I´m here. – Klaus said.

I took the handheld and said: - Same here. – Afterwards I switched to the designated channel.

- Alright, Alexander, we use this radio to communicate with each other and the rest of the post, why? Because if something is going on outside the sentries can inform us and all the officers here, channel two is the one for all officers, I wrote the other relevant channels in the paper you found on your desk, any questions? – Helga asked.

- Can I order some room service with this thing? – I asked, jokingly.

- Very funny, go to sleep, I´ll see you all tomorrow, Helga out. – She said and clicked off, I returned the radio to channel 2.

Although the shower had been relaxing, my body was still sore and I was really tired so I set about to catch some sleep, I took off my boots and holster and jumped in bed which to my surprise was very comfortable, I closed my eyes and little by little and felt my body rest, I slipped into the dark void of my dreams.