Anon's Christmas

Anon's Christmas

	The base is alive with activity, everyone giving gifts to each other and generally seeming more happy than usual. The season was definitely upon you.
“Hey, commander.” G11 says. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” You reply, smiling warmly.
However, the Christmas had not been merry for you. Garand was nowhere in sight and neither were the rest of your airborne troops. It was almost like they vanished. Then, the unthinkable happened.
“ALERT! ALL AIRBORNE UNITS REPORT TO AIRFIELD FOR IMMEDIATE DEPLOYMENT.” The intercom blared.
You rush over to your room, gearing yourself up for a drop.

20 minutes later

	You arrive at the airfield and see the plane already waiting for you, Katy waving you inside.
“MOVE IT ANON! THERE'S A TEAM ON THE GROUND WAITING TO MEET YOU!” She yells.
You nod, almost jumping inside the plane as the engines begin to throttle up. When you sit down, you look around the plane, seeing it was empty. This team had better be as good as your airborne troops.

30 minutes later

	You've been looking out at the snow laden country side for a while now, passing over cities and towns as the pilot flies at the perfect jump altitude the entire time. Suddenly, the light goes red, signaling you to get up. You get to your jump master position before realizing nobody else is on the plane.
“Get ready.” You say to yourself. “Stand up. Hook up.”
You hook your static line to the cable above you.
“Equipment check.” You say to yourself.
You check that the equipment on yourself is fastened tightly, making sure no harnesses are lose.
“Sound off on equipment check.” You say. “One okay.”
You wait for the light to turn green before walking up to the door. You jump immediately, feeling the cold blast of air against your face as you jump from the plane. The parachute opens, pulling you by the harnesses to a straight drop. Then, you saw your landing sight marked with green smoke.
“You idiots. You're going to get yourselves spotted.” You whisper to yourself.
As you float down to the ground, you steer towards the green smoke. As you follow your usual routine of bent knees, flaring your chute, and crumpling to the ground, you feel the cold snow ride up your neck. When you get off the ground and pull in your chute, you grit your teeth angrily.
“You idiots! You can see that smoke for miles!” You yell, appalled by the unprofessional nature in which they marked the target.
“Why are you yelling?” The team says, snow rising around you.
“Might as well. Everyone already knows you're here.” You say, anger coming down after scanning the area. “What's the mission?”
“Did you see that cabin about 3 miles back behind the hill as you dropped?” G3 asks.
“Yes, I did.” You tell her.
“That's our target. There's lots of Sangvis T-dolls taking refuge inside. We're tasked with eliminating them.” SVT-38 tells you.
“Gotcha. Let's get moving, this cold is almost painful to be in.” You tell everyone.

45 minutes later

You're about 500 yards from the house when you give everyone the order to crouch and take aim.
“Are you able to put suppressing fire on that building?” You ask MG3.
“My weapon has been jamming up this entire time. I don't think I can.” She tells you.
“Shit, we'll just have to go in fast. Everyone, on me!” You say, getting up and rushing the cabin.
When you reach it, you lean against the wall. It was a rather large cabin, seeming more like a lodge than just a cabin.
“I'm going in.” You say, bringing your rifle to bare.
You slowly creep toward the door, rifle in your right hand and left hand reaching toward the door. As soon as your hand is 2 inches from the door handle, the door flies open. You bring your rifle up and squeeze the trigger, only to be stopped by Springfield.
“Merry Christmas, commander.” She tells you. “Your friends are waiting inside.”
You cock your head a bit, looking back at MG3.
“It's Christmas time. We thought you could use a little away time, so we organized a jump for you.” Springfield tells you. “Come on in, the food is getting cold.”
You take your finger off the trigger, putting the weapon on safe before slinging it on your back.
“You know dropping from a plane with a paratrooper parachute is dangerous, right?” You ask.
“We both know you weren't in any real danger, commander.” Springfield replies.
You nod and walk inside, seeing all of your paratrooper T-dolls sitting around a large table.
“Is this where you all went?” You ask them.
“Hey Anon!” Garand yells to you, waving wildly.
You wave back and she pats the seat next to her, as if you'd sit anywhere else. You walk over to the table, sitting next to Garand as she scoots away from SOPMOD.
“I hope the cold wasn't too bad.” Garand says, obviously feeling guilty for lying to you.
“Paradrops are dangerous, Garand.” You tell her. “However, I'm happy I don't have to go out on Christmas to fight again.”
“Again?” She asks.
You nod.
“Let me tell you the story of the bulge.” You tell her.

December 25th, 1944
Battle of the bulge

	You're sitting in your trench, freezing your ass off. You're tired, hungry, thirsty, and angry. You were expecting resupply via airdrop, but the airdrop has yet to come. You looted a German supply convoy and you were now sporting a German rifle with some sort of scope on it. It was nice to look at distant targets with, especially considering your vision was obscured by heavy snowfall.
“Hey, Anon.” McKinley whispers. “Merry Christmas ya big oaf. Have some kraut chocolate.”
You smile, taking the chocolate and stuffing it in your uniform for later when it was warmer.
“You hear about that bunker with the Nazis in it? Go check it out.” Masterson tells you. “It's all heated and stuff, so you won't freeze your nuts off out here.”
You nod, taking one last look out at the forest. Nothing was out there, as was to be expected.
“It's about half a mile down the line after you take a right. You should be able to get in.” Masterson adds. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” You reply, getting out of your foxhole.
You drop the German rifle with the scope and grab your M1, checking the chamber. Still only 5 rounds left.

	When you reach the bunker, you're greeted by a captain, who you salute before being waved inside. The warmth coming from the bunker was definitely a sight better than sitting out in the cold. You're standing in front of a large circle mounted to the wall, a stairway leading up into it.
“What's that?” You ask the man sitting in the office.
“A teleportation matrix to parallel universes and different times. We can use it to teleport atoms, theoretically, to different locations within the universal matrix.” He tells you.
“What?” You ask, dumbfounded by the words he was speaking.
“It moves things to other places dumkopf.” He tells you. “Through both time and space.”
“So it's like something out of Buck Rogers?” You ask.
“Ja, something like that.” The scientist tells you, rolling his eyes at your inability to understand.
“Well, I'm gonna set up camp in the back room, if any of your pals come in, I'm putting a 45 in their skull.” You tell him, undoing your holster.
“NO NO!” He shouts quickly. “Zhere is no need for zhat!”
You smirk, putting the holster back in place.
“Good, I'll be back tomorrow.” You tell him.

	You're walking back to the 'teleporter' labs with more ammunition for your rifle. It was sad that you had to scavenge off your dead comrades, but it was a necessary evil. You had a full loadout of ammunition now and were feeling a bit better about your odds of survival. You enter the teleporter room and see the scientist getting up off the console.
“Hey, buddy, I need you to do something for me.” You tell him.
“Ja?” He asks, fiddling with some dials before turning to you.
“I need you to, uh, teleport me to Patton so I can get some reinforcements.” You tell him.
“Vell, of course! I could do that for you. Let me just set ze year, date, and location...there!” He says, a bit optimistic.
“Doc, if this kills me during transit, I'll haunt you forever.” You tell him.
“Oh nein! Ze last death ve had was back in 1938. Ze teleportation matrix is perfectly safe!” He says with a smile.
You watch as he pulls a large lever, causing the lights to flicker as electricity sparked from the ring. The electricity started to swirl around the ring until what sounded like a large bang prompted it to change forms. It was now a swirling gas of some sort.
“Step into the teleporter!” He shouts over the loud whooshing sound coming from the ring.
You run up the stairs towards the teleporter ring and look into it. The sound coming from it was deafening, but you didn't care. You were going to get Patton to move his ass if you had to. You put your arm in first, but realize quickly that this was a mistake. The teleporter pulls you in as the Nazi scientist laughs.
“SO LONG AMERICAN!” He shouts.
You black out as your body is overwhelmed.

	You wake up, groaning and sweating as your senses come back to you.
“Jesus, what the hell happened?” You ask nobody in particular.
You take your coat off, stripping down to just your skivvies as you lay everything out. Nobody was around anyways, so you didn't care. Once you had dried yourself off, you take a look around, seeing nobody around you, as was expected in the middle of a grass field. You get your clothing back on, save for the coat, and get out your compass.

	You've been going due north for almost 3 hours now, having drank the now melted water from your canteen. You didn't know where you were, as you stated in your journal. The buildings around you were in ruins, but you could tell they were not from your time. Every single tower looked as tall as the empire state building.
As you're looking at the buildings around you, shots ring out further away. You recognized it as rifle fire. This makes you shoulder your rifle, looking around the ruins for anyone who might be a threat. Then, you see them. Girls with some sort of pink glowing rifle in their hands. They spot you and take aim, almost robotically.
“HEY!” You shout. “I'M NOT-”
The ground around you throws dust as you scramble towards a concrete pillar.
“Fuck!” You yell. “I'M NOT YOUR ENEMY!”
“Sangvis directive 33-B783, take no low priority soldiers prisoner.” A girl says robotically.
You peek out from behind the pillar and are immediately fired upon by the girls. They don't look any older than you.
“We will make your death quick and painless if you surrender.” The girl says.
Surrender? SURRENDER?! You grit your teeth, angered by the fact she'd think you would surrender. You take aim with your rifle and fire 2 shots at the girl's chest, downing her. She sparks a bit before getting back up, prompting you to shoot her a 3rd time in the head. This fells her immediately. You aim for the next one's head, firing a shot as they scream in pain. You fight back tears, they were a threat to you. You weren't dying in this destroyed city.
PING
You load another clip in and the bolt flies forward, allowing you to fire again. You keep dropping more of these girls, tears running down your face as you do so. They call a retreat, running away from the 'low priority soldier' as you continue to pull the trigger.
PING
You barely notice it, still pulling the trigger as you slump down to the ground.

Present day

	You come back to reality, not noticing that Garand was crying into your shoulder until now.
“Why's he crying? They're just Sangvis T-dolls.” Sop says trying to lighten the mood.
“That's not the point.” Garand replies in a tone that would make even Sop quake in her boots. “He thought he was killing women and children.”
You nod and Springfield comes back in, a turkey in hand. Everyone's mood lightens as the table is filled with food.

	You finish your food as Garand continues to eat hers.
“Thank you for the turkey Springfield.” You tell her.
Everyone else follows your example, thanking Springfield. She blushes bright red as she puts a hand to her mouth.
“Oh, you're all very welcome.” She tells everyone.
You chuckle at her embarrassment, looking over to Garand.
“Hey.” You say.
“Hmm?” Garand asks.
“Merry Christmas.” You say, digging into your pocket.
You grin when you find the German chocolate in your pocket, pulling it out.
“Is this still edible?” Garand asks.
“It hasn't been opened at all since it was packaged, so yeah, it's edible.” You tell her.
“But it's almost-”
“1 year old, I know. It should still be good. Besides, it's German chocolate. I hear it's the best in the world.” You tell her.
Her eyes go wide.
“Is this the chocolate your friend gave you?” She asks.
You nod.
“Never got the chance to eat it and I forgot your Christmas present at the HQ, so this is the next best thing.” You explain.
She takes the rather large bar of chocolate from your hand and unwraps it, seeing it hasn't bloomed at all. When she breaks a piece off, it comes off rather easily before she sticks it in her mouth. Her eyes light up before closing as she swallows the chocolate.
“This is so good.” She tells you. “Thank you, Anon.”
You nod, ruffling her hair under her hat a bit.
“Merry Christmas everyone.” You tell them.
“Merry Christmas, commander.” They all reply.

	You arrive back at the HQ after having learned the place you all went for Christmas was Springfield's house. She offered you and Garand a room, but you both declined vigorously. When you get back to your quarters, you take Garands coat, hanging it on the coat hook.
“Thank you Anon.” She tells you.
“No problem.” You reply back.
You open up your chest of old paratrooper stuff when you find the wrapped gift you'd been saving for Christmas.
“Here it is.” You say, producing a small box from the chest. “Your present.”
It's a very small box, maybe 2 inches cubed, but inside was a very special present for her. She carefully tears open the wrapping paper before seeing the box, eyes going wide. As soon as she opens the box, you take a knee.
“Anon...” She says
“Garand, you and I have been together for a year now. You've helped me in ways I can't even begin to explain. You've made me the happiest man in the world and I'd only be happier if you took this ring. So I'm asking you, will you marry me?” You ask.
“YES!” She yells, throwing her arms around you. “I will!”
You feel her press her lips against you gently as she holds you in an embrace. You wrap your arms around her, enjoying the warm feeling of another person pressed against you. It really was a merry Christmas.