Our time in Belgrade (1081st Okkulte SS Battalion Part 1 IC)

[Rynagria]

26 September 1944
Anton Company, 1st Platoon
Temporary Camp, 4km from Belgrade HQ
Objective: Destroy Partisan Company

---

It has been almost or about eight months since the siege of Leningrad ended in failure, more or less eight months since the battalion commander had decided that the 1081st would settle in Belgrade and attach themselves to Army Group F. There they would recuperate from the casualties that they’ve sustained during their deployment in the East, which had cut them nearly cut them in half, filling up their ranks once more. However, the leadership of Army Group F not content on letting a supposedly elite unit to sit on their laurels, ordered for them to take on the local partisan groups that had been becoming nuisances. Battalion deeming it a fair trade, happily agreed and regularly sends out entire platoons to hunt down the partisans when information of their movements were received. Others meanwhile, were tasked to help pull security around the headquarters and sending out patrols to the surrounding settlements nearby, ranging from towns and villages.

Anton Company’s 1st Platoon has been chosen to deal with the latest partisan group discovered, which amounted to a company sized nuisance, one of the bigger concentrations they’ve seen being so mobile. And after recognizing their pattern of movment, the platoon’s commander, a newly minted Obersturmführer decided an ambush would be the best course of action. Arriving on the path the partisans use several days early before they would come, they decided to place a camp there. There was many things done to prepare, among them was having both Jutta Kohler and Friedericke Adler (Subject-414 and Subject-013 respectively) to establish sniper positions along the path, for them to make sure that they overlapping fields of fire. Lastly, ensuring that Karoline von Trapp (Subject-109) was secured firmly, which was tasked to Stella Dahmen (Subject-008), one of the squad leaders of 1st Platoon, then first on watch duty. The 22 year old Unterscharführer thinks it must have been an attempted intimidation by her direct superior and one of the replacements, Sturmbanführer Viktor Walker, who had only arrived about a week ago.

“Untermensch, huh?” Muttered Stella to herself, as she hammered the steel stake into hard frozen ground and grounding the chain attached to it, not paying mind to the wolf girl just a couple of meters from her. “Who do you think made some of us like this? Did you think we had a choice into being transformed into someone else’s science project?” She continued, then addressing the other young woman with her. “Karoline, dear? Please bear with the cold a little longer, okay? I will make us a fire once I’m done.”

On the meantime, the rest of the platoon were staying warm near a fire, the three assistant squad leaders making sure that everyone stayed in line. Two of them were Okkulte, them being Constantin Reiter and other being Wilhelm Stahl (Subject-037 and Subject-000A, respectively), both of them holding or acting functionally the rank of Rottenführer, this is despite the eleven year old being bestowed the rank of Oberführer by rumor has it Führer Hitler himself, although most likely some other higher ranking officials. Still it was a bit jarring at the least to see such a young child holding such a position, and a replacement to boot. Regardless, he’s a authority and those lower than him will need to obey lest they wish to be punished. Dietrich Ekerhart Haegler, among the older soldiers in the platoon, was recently transferred from the infamous penal unit known for their atrocities. A controversial addition to the platoon, he was considered a welcome asset by the battalion commander, his survival with the reckless unit a big factor in his acceptance. It’s still several hours before the company is set to pass, leaving them some time to interact and relax.

[Wysten]

Viktor Walker
Platoon Command Tent

Viktor walked in through the tent giving a short salute to the Platoon Lead as he looked down onto the map below him. “1st Squad will set up on the East side of the road deeper into the forest. Then 2nd Squad will set up along the West side with a single rifleman standing by further down the road along with 109. 3rd Squad’s Mortar will set up further down the road beyond the range of the enemy with half of the rifles acting as reinforcements in case either of the squads start to come under heavy assault. Once we have our set up it will start with the mortar team and the squads on the flanks pinning down the Partisans and once they are pinned down for long enough we release 109 and it will crush the enemy.” He then stepped back looking at the Platoon Lead. He was a greenhorn who has hardly seen any action which stood in stark contrast with the battle hardened Strumbanfuher.

[Nachfolgia]

Here Friederike was again, alone in the woods. As usual she was tasked with overwatch as far away from the main camp as possible. This would have been normal for any ordinary sniper in the Wehrmacht, but that was not the case for Friederike. She knew the real reason for her posting up so far away, it was to protect the rest of the unit. She had a bad habit of bringing misfortune.

So Friederike was forced to endure all the cold nights by herself in this hell hole of a country. This was her fate and she was fine with it. She knew she was a danger to her comrades. Even her callsign was a warning for everyone to stay away. Krahe, the crow, a creature fabled to bring ruin to anyone around. She was indeed a Crow and she beared that cross willingly. Her only hope was that she could do her duty and defend her country.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

SS-Rottenführer
Dietrich Ekerhart Haegler
The Carver

Damn this weather. My fingers are getting all stiff and slow in the cold. , Dietrich thought while desperately rubbing his hands together. Not good when they became stiff. Hindered him when he was at work. And he had to work, yes, work, work, work. He stopped for a moment, staring at his fingers. They were twitching and shaking. They hadn't seen work in weeks. Now he was cursing this transfer. Initially he was happy that he had gotten to leave the unit. Dirlewanger was merciless both in his tactics in battle as well as for keeping up a semblance of discipline in the unit, his death had been only a matter of time. But atleast Dirlewanger had always made sure that they had fun. Always given him his prey.

He was standing together with most of the others at the fire. And among the group he stuck out like a sore thumb due to his clothing. Everything about him was dirty and ragged. He still bore a Dirlewanger patch on his collar, the crossed rifles with the stick grenade below it. Atleast he had finally received a SS patch for his collar but he was still lacking some insignia. Not to mention that he was apparently far older than pretty much everyone else in this weird unit. He hadn't been briefed properly about his new unit and if there had been a briefing, he probably wouldn't have listened but was it normal that they always had this many children around? Yes, so many delicious younglings Can't wait to hear their screams when the battle starts.

Dietrich quickly shook his head to get that voice out of his head. Not again. He didn't need it ruining everything right now. Oh, but I'm sure we'd all enjoy it. No! Execute! Depraved wretch! Kill you! Destroy you! Salt your grave! Maybe we should just defect? Swim across the Adria or something? Traitor! Deserter! I'll drown you personally and would you look at those younglings. How easily do you think we could cut of an arm with the shovel? You degenerate! You were never good enough for anything! That's why you turned out as such a perverted, spineless wretch! I'll laugh when you get ripped to shreds by bullets! A fitting end for such a degenerate! STOP!

The voices subsided...for the moment. Dietrich looked around nervously, trying to find out wether anyone had noticed him spacing out a little, shaking and blabbering weird, incomprehensible gibberish. He tried to act as though nothing had happened and went back to rubbing his fingers. Soon. Soon he would get some prey. Then the voices would come out. And after that he would be free from them. Yes, free...for a while. He needed more prey. Desperately.

[Wysten]

The Platoon Lead nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” He said his youthful face looking over Viktor. Nodding Viktor went outside and felt the cool autumn breeze and gave a sigh as he lit up a cigarette. “Squad Leads to the command tent in 20 minutes.” He called out to the camp before walking over to the cage and seeing Subject 109. Squatting down just beyond arms reach of the beast he looked at her. “Nothing but a tool to be used in service of Hitler and the Fatherland.” He said letting a plume of cigarette smoke her way. Turning to Stella he said. “Subject-008 make sure 109 here doesn't get any food or warmth I need it as bloodthirsty as possible.” He said getting up and walking away towards his tent.

[Danceria]

26 September 1944
Anton Company, 1st Platoon
Temporary Camp, 4km from Belgrade HQ
Objective: Destroy Partisan Company

---

The small box of cigarettes would float their way over to the chittering man. "Here." one of the small tubes of tobacco lifts itself up. "'S a spare." the speaker was a slightly small and youthful blond young man, his uniform distinguishing himself as a member of the Okkulte, casually snapping his fingers to light his own cigarette. "C'mon, have a puff. T'ain't no shame in havin' jitters on your first job."

Enter, Nikolaus Gutermuth, affectionately known as "Nikky" "Njord" or Subject-107. "You're from the camps up near Poland, right? Haven't the foggiest notion why grenadiers are hangin' back when you should...y'know..." he tosses his hand grenade as if it were a ball, allowing the metal head to complete a few revolutions before landing once more in his hand. "Guess you should be with the stretcher, Herr Doktor. Or at least near the fire. Th' name's Nikolaus by the way. Nikolaus Gutermuth," the young blond would extend his hand "Strumann, Subject-107 and Njord are also my callsigns, though you can just call me Nikky. 'S what the rest of the ten-eighty-first calls me."

Nikolaus then would direct his attention to Sturmbanführer Walker "Careful now! You want her to chow down on the Slavs, not you, right? Though, they'd most likely be skin an' bones..." he chuckled darkly, "Sit tight Fenny, ye'll get your blood soon 'nuff. Hope you don't mind gristle an' marrow for the next couple hours. Y'know how it is." he concluded with a shrug.

[Afrique Occidentale]

Anton Company, 1st Platoon
Belgrade, 1944
Constantin Reiter - Subject 037

All around the campfire was cold and quiet. A sort of depressing yet calm mood has gripped the area, as cold as the autumn wind hitting them. People kept to themselves, but it's clear that most of them lack any life in their eyes, and one of the older of the bunch mutter nonsense to himself. Blank faces are shown off by the group, either battling with their inner demons, submitting to it, or just resting their soul after the long war they are forced to endure.

Constantin stood around, hand crossed near the group, part of keeping sure everything stays in their line, but also to lament on his life decisions and regrets like the rest of the platoon. The cold didn't bother him much, he already subjected to much worse back in the east, but what in his mind is weighing him down. His eyes look tired, giving a glimpse of what the boy thinking, that he's tired of the war, tired of having men and friends died all around him,

Tired that he must be the one to survive, and now also have to bear the responsibility of making sure those below him survive.

The promotion to Rottenführer was definitely more of a curse than an honor. He was never much being a part of a regular squad. Counting out Leningrad, he was always more of "attachment" to the squad he was serving in. Back in Poland, Netherlands, and Greece...he was the addition the higher up deemed fit to support the regular troop. He still shares feelings of camaraderie with the troops back then of course, but it always a tad bit more limited. Greece was particularly painful though, and the mental scar of having to see such a level of heavy casualties is one that is sure to haunt him at night. But Leningrad...Leningrad was hell. Leningrad was the first time he was truly assigned as a squad member, and the first time he truly held his squad mates as he died in his hands. It was also the first time Constantin realized the war against the Bolshevik was not as pretty or heroic as the Nazi apparatchik painted it to be. It was much uglier and much bloodier.

With 1081st effectively halved after that Soviet counter-offensive, the higher up decided that those that survived will fill up the now empty ranks, especially those that have been deployed for quite a while. Constantin has no choice but to accept his new rank and responsibility. Which brought him to where he's now, acting as an assistant squad leader of Okkulte troops down in the Balkan. It's definitely better than to be deployed in the East, but he can't help to feel a nagging feeling of him running away from where he's truly needed.

"Hey, do you hear that? The Sergeant isn't gonna feed the dog girl." One soldier suddenly quipped to his friend next to him

"Wait, really? I don't want to be eaten. How do you hear him this far away anyway?"

"Did you really forget my ability? Why would I lie about something like this?"

The soldiers' sudden chit-chat snapped Constantin out from his daydreaming, or nightmare. He cant decide which. Either way, it seemed the soldiers picked up the Sergeant intention with Fenrir, the wolf-like girl the SS somehow get their hands on. Much to his luck, the girl is also part of his new squad, so it's his responsibility to make sure she didn't eat the entire platoon. With a dejected sigh, he drops his hand and decides to deal with the Sergeant before it became a bigger problem later on.

"Calm down you two, I'll talk to the Sergeant now about it. Don't stray around while I'm gone, you're still under supervision." Constantin says as he points to Stahl. The 11-year-old menacingly stares, warranting both of the soldiers to gulped and nodded in response.

He then walked to the group gathering around near Fenrir. Besides the obvious sergeant, there's the proclaimed mom of the group, Verschlinger, who are setting up some sort of chain spiked to the ground, probably to tie down Fenrir so that she won't run around eating anyone, not that she will shy around from a corpse herself. Njord, or "Nikky", are also around, seemingly playing around with a bunch of grenades. Like Fenrir, Njord is also part of Constantin's squad and are more welcomed due to the fact he's more cherry and human than her.

"He's right. With all due respect sir, I recommend you to reconsider your order. We want her to at least be partially sated, to make sure she won't be starving enough to eat us or too hungry to hear our command." Constantin chimed in as he arrived, saluting as his eyes met Walker. He patted Nikolaus back slightly, both to appreciate his initiative and to remind him of his manner. The sergeant is still their superior.

[The Frozen Forest]

It was cold and depressing. The Forest wasn't alive, it was just as dead as the carcasses she would soon be creating. She had been detached from second squad in order to cover the rest of the battalion, to give overlapping fields of fire. Her job would to be to make mincemeat of any partisans that made their way into the line of her scope. She shifted uncomfortably among the leaves, causing them to crackle softly. She had managed to wiggle her way through several logs and a bush to reach a prime sniping position-One of the few advantages to her size was that she could often reach places one wouldn't expect a person to be. She knew that nestled in where she was, the human eye would simply roll over her. She was nestled on a cliff overlooking the path. It wasn't steep enough to protect her if she was spotted, but difficult enough a slope that she could hopefully pull her weight through the bushes and escape before they reached her. That was if she were spotted, her preferred ability was useless. There wasn't enough snow covering the ground, so it was uselessly cold-At least her second ability, Stealth Combat would enable her to be about half as visible as she would be without it, and combined with taught stealth skills, she wouldn't be spotted.

Jutte Kohler loaded her Karabiner, watching as the rounds came down into inside of it. She loved the rifle, one of the few things she truly cared for anymore. It was a perfect machine of death. The Karabiner 98k was incredibly accurate, and more so in the hands of a skilled sharpshooter. She intended to get some modifications done when she found a the time, and assuming she lived for long enough. After reloading and cleaning the weapon she turned and nudged herself into position, aiming down her sights towards the opening of the path. She was fighting only so that she could have her brother back, no matter what it took. Nearby she knew there was another sniper, one from first squad. She had met Friederike Adler a few times and regarded her as incredibly unlucky. A bad trait to have as a sniper for the third reich, still she had survived the engagements she was thrown into. She was to refer to her though, as Krähe, her designation. Hopefully her own luck would hold out against Krähe's bad.

[Rynagria]

Anton Company, 1st Platoon
SS-Unterscharführer Stella Dahmen (Subject-008)
0830 Belgrade, 1944

---

Hammering the last stake in, Stellagot up to make a fire, only to be stopped by the platoon leader. Being prevented from creating Karoline’s fire and giving her food, Stella could only clench her left hand into a fist, away from the Sturmbanführer’s sight. Once the two were left, Stella was almost tempted to rip her own arm off to feed it to Karoline, but doubted that the younger woman would be comfortable with that. Not only that, her healing capability is severely handicapped in this weather, she’s not sure if she’d be able to have her back her arm before the action.

Damn replacement. She thought, left hand still closed into a fist. “.... If only Rüdiger wasn’t demoted and transferred because of me....” Muttered Stella, referring to 1st Platoon’s former platoon leader, who also happened to be her older cousin. That was the consequence after Stella had an emotional outburst that caused an “incident” between the two of them several weeks ago, the resulting aftermath leaving a dozen injured soldiers and a mangled up remains of a captured T-34 tank. The punishment was her being shot a firing squad and then being allowed to heal, which was repeated several times until the battalion commander deemed it enough. A relatively minor reprimand compared to her cousin, it had definitely left a foul taste in her mouth, especially after experiencing an epiphany after it. “I’ll be back and try to talk some sense into him, Karoline.”

Standing up, she yelled towards the camp. “1st and 2nd Squad, send someone to be with Karoline! Go!”

After giving that announcement, Stella quickly caught up to her superior. “Sir, I think you reconsider. The cold saps our strength, just like anyone else in this platoon, at the very least let her have something to eat.”

[Danceria]

0830, 26 September 1944
Anton Company, 1st Platoon
Temporary Camp, 4km from Belgrade HQ
SS-Sturmmann Nikolaus Gutermuth (Subject-107)

---

"That's my cue!" Nikky would smirk before tossing the rest of his cigarettes over to the doctor before strutting gently on over to the half-lupine female. The duo would not have the most...amicable of relations, she being practically a rabid lycanthrope one chain-yank away from gnawing your head of, and he being...well, not precisely the most terrifying presence. From his rather chipper humming to a cocksure grin holding his cigarette, he almost seemed like the textbook example of how not to act around an Okkulte member. Truth be told, he was.

If it weren't for his gregarious gung-ho interactions with many of the Battalion members, normal Wermacht and SS soldiers would have no idea that Krahe's radius was roughly ten meters, or how to treat them as normal people rather than dangerous superweapons. At least thirty chapters were dedicated on how to behave around Karoline, or "Fenny", as the young man would call her.

"'Allo, Fenny!" the blond man beamed, staying downwind of her and puffing away. "How ya been?"

[Remnants of Exilvania]

SS-Rottenführer
Dietrich Ekerhart Haegler
The Carver

One of his eyes locked onto the the floating object. He had never seen something like that. Of course he had heard rumours but still, it was always a little weird to see something this unnatural happen before your very eyes. He then locked onto the source of the voice which was offering him those cigarettes. One of the paranormal youngsters, judging by his youth and by the uniform he was wearing. Oh how he hated and cherished the fact that the youth was so involved in this war. It was terrible that they'd often die or be horribly mutilated in battles...it was really nice though that he often got to kill or mutilate children.

But he was no fan of cigarettes. Sure, they calmed down but they were neither healthy nor really good for his hands. They damaged his blood circulation, making his hands less accurate. And they made him cough, even worse since the element of surprise was of incredible value in close quarters combat. With a quick motion of his arm he pushed the floating box of cigarettes away, the speed of that motion having been additionally increased by the boy assuming that this was his first job. It was an insult, yes, an insult. This young good for nothing paranormal prankster dared to speak to him like he was some cheap Hitler Youth replacement! Things should be the other way around! He clenched one of his fists while the other was already reaching for his knife but his voice remained calm, betraying the ruthless killer he was:

"Gutermuth you say? Indeed a fitting name for one of such high spirit as you. And as charming as your assumption may be, I do not hold a doctorate-"

He didn't get further as the boy suddenly tossed the box of cigarettes at him and stood up, shouting that it was his cue, obviously answering someone else's call which he had not paid attention to. Not being finished yet with the boy, Dietrich decided to go with him. If asked he could easily say that he too wanted to do that task he had just volunteered for or maybe bring the cigarettes back. He impaled the box on his Seitengewehr 98 and walked after the youngling who had introduced himself to him as Nikolaus Gutermuth, Subject-107.

He moved silently, the faint sounds of his steps drowned out by sounds of the others in the base camp. He also kept a respectful distance to the chained wolfgirl. Wild animals were nothing to come close to, especcially not when it had been decided to not feed them. Maybe he should stick to his rifle and some distance to the enemy this time. As much as it upset him that he could not sink his blades into their soft flesh and hear their screams from up close, he didn't want to risk getting into close quarters combat too close to the animal. It might think he was just another steak to tear apart and eat. On another note, he marveled how quiet his head was once he had set himself a target and was going after it. He worked well concentrated and all his movements were well coordinated with each other.

The immensely toughtful Nikolaus came to a halt where the smoke from his own cigarette would not come in contact with the animal's probably very sensitive nostrils. Perfect, thought Dietrich and spoke to him from behind, where he had basically been the entire time:

"Excuse me Subject-107 but I believe you forgot something."

Not even waiting for an answer, he moved in closer holding his knife with the impaled package of cigarettes in front of Nikolaus' face. In a cheerful conversational tone he continued:

"Though I don't think I can really approve of you having such an item on you, much less actually using its contents. Drug abuse should not be something that children like you should engage in."

[Danceria]

0842, 26 September 1944
Anton Company, 1st Platoon
Temporary Camp, 4km from Belgrade HQ
SS-Sturmmann Nikolaus Gutermuth (Subject-107)

---

The young blond seemed unabashed by this series of events. "Meh. If Stalingrad couldn't kill me, a couple of ciggies won't either...though thank's for the Surgeon General's warning, Doc." With a practiced manuver, the good Rottenführer would find a surprisingly tough fist force his forearm upwards, releasing the impaled rolls of tobacco into the air. Quickly catching it with yet another current of air, the young blond hardly flinched from his chipper, coy grin. "Thanks for the potato peeler as well. Though you'll find standing guard in camp a lot different than in Ostprussen, folks 'round here are a bit more aware, slightly better fed, and have been in this biz as long as you have. So while I may be a kid," his tone then darkened "I've gutted, gored, fried and flayed more men than anyone should have reason to."

Silence hung in the air, save for whatever wind blew, and whatever itch that Karoline found herself to scratch, before the young blond returned the knife with a laugh. "Welcome to the ten-eighty-first! It's hell, and it's officially frozen over!" he welcomed the newcomer, before plopping himself half a stone's throw away from the lupine woman.

[Iownthisname]

SS-Schütze Karoline von Trapp (109)
26 September 1944
Caged, like an animal

It wouldn't be long before a 10' beast would slam itself against the side of the cage in the boy's direction, sending the sounds of the painful collision of bone and flesh against metal. While such a hit wouldn't quite be enough to cause any real damage to the structure containing her, it managed to knock the dust off the wall at the very least. Following her sudden rush was the creature growling and whining in protest, pacing left and right along the wall, both to being confined within those metal walls and being told she wouldn't be allowed to eat.

There was a reason she was known as Fenrir, and it was clear to anyone who stayed among their group for more than a day, considering her current towering form was only a fraction of how large she can become. And accompanying that was an understanding of why she was kept behind those bars.

[Danceria]

0842, 26 September 1944
Anton Company, 1st Platoon
Temporary Camp, 4km from Belgrade HQ
SS-Sturmmann Nikolaus Gutermuth (Subject-107)

---

Again, the clashing was hardly new to him, and he replied with a smirk that he knew that she mimicked running in her sleep. In both forms. "I know, I know, yer hungry an' cranky. Be a good girl an' I'll split my K-ration with you. In fact..." he mocked looking about before whispering. "If ya kill enough Ivans, I've got a nice treat for ya." he then cocked his head. "Unless ya need ta piss, an' that's the reason why you're antzy. Why couldn't you have gone during the ride here!" Nikolaus lamented, making himself comfortable in where he was, unflinching in movement. He'd been around people as crazy, tough, crazy tough and toughly crazy as her for as long as he could remember. It'll take more than that to get him to budge.

[Rynagria]

1157, September 1944
Anton Company, 1st Platoon, 1st Squad
Awaiting for the Assault to begin
Objective: Destroy Partisan Company

---

Nearly three hours had passed since the meeting in command tent had passed and the platoon commander had ordered for the squads to move out. And so Stella had took her squad to the position they were ordered to hold, with the exception of Friedricke, being told to proceed ahead to position where she can have a good line of sight for her rifle. At the same time, Stella had decided to split the squad into two elements, letting Wilhelm lead the machine gun team and the designated submachine gunner. The only rule given was that Stahl would not let his sub-unit venture more than five meters from her sub-unit, as to facilitate acceptable communications when the action happened.

Awaiting for the first mortar rounds to drop in less than three minutes, Stella once again observed the enemy camp with her binoculars quickly to get a bearing of the partisans, then ducking back down into the snow bank with her riflemen. Adjusting her camoflaged helmet, she gave an approving nod to the two riflemen that had been with her since Leningrad. Then turning to Haegler, a serious gaze piercing into the former convict. "Haegler." She began.

"Just make sure not to linger on one target for too long, okay? I know you like causing suffering, but there will be multitudes of hostile partisans that will be shooting back. You do your job, I might let you getting away with doing whatever you want to the leftover partisans. Understand?" Asked Stella, hoping that it was enough to motivate the Rottenfuhrer to do his job properly, even if it was a gross misconception of his character. Regardless, Stella would keep a close eye on him, unable to trust him due to his background as a former convict. Which only served to fuel her dislike for the regime recruiting such personalities.