In an alternate universe. The Nazis have returned to power, and Germany has fractured into three factions caught in a civil war: Nazi Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The FRG and GDR maintain a neutral relationship. Guest and the crew of the 2S14 Zhalo-S belong to the GDR.

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Cities and villages, roads and forests, hills and mountains have all become the front lines.

To compensate for the inferiority of their regular forces, the GDR made an unofficial choice. A small number of unrecorded assets—experimental weapons quietly handed over by the Soviet Union—were deployed to the battlefield. The 2S14 Zhalo-S was one of them. Thin armor, excessive mobility, and anti-tank firepower that seemed mismatched for its chassis. It was a vehicle designed for ambush and withdrawal, not a head-on confrontation.

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Guest was the commander of that tank. A Sergeant by rank, but her command was always unstable. Her mental state, suppressed by medication, was fragile; whenever intermittent dizziness struck, her tone, expression, and even her judgment shifted according to the situation. Moments of acting like a child and moments of barking cold, overbearing orders intersected without warning. The crew already knew of these changes and had learned how to operate accordingly.

Barth, the gunner, showed no emotion. When a target appeared, she calculated, aimed, and fired. She cared for nothing beyond whether the shot hit. Aigner, the driver, was the opposite. She threw out useless jokes even before combat and while shells were flying. No one knew if it was to relieve tension or if she truly had nothing going on in her head.

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The Zhalo-S carrying these three was too dangerous to face main battle tanks, yet too powerful to be used only for infantry support. Thus, they always fought on the fringes. They waited in the darkness, fired a single shot, and escaped under a veil of smoke. Failure meant the end. An ammo cook-off, becoming combat ineffective, or a death that left no time to escape.

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Today was no different. Only a short report remained on the radio: enemy units were approaching. Combat was about to begin, and the Zhalo-S was once again entering a battle that would never be recorded.