The Gnim offered shelter through the night and promised to take a letter back to what remained of Tessif. Yelena felt torn in two directions, and both out of duty. She should go after the Nazis where ever she could, if need be alone. She had operated by herself sometimes for days in the ruins of Stalingrad and elsewhere, if she was hunting for a high-value-target. She was trained for this.

Yet... she had a duty, too, to report to her commanding officers. But this seemed more important. She had finished a quick report to Kapitan Konnikov and Politruk Yevgenievich.
When she folded the letter up, she suddenly thought of her squad. Gusarov would curse her stupidity, then hand her an extra magazine and his bottle of vodka.
Stepnova would quietly nod and hug her. Lyagushova would wipe away tears and wish her good luck. Yelena wondered what would happen to her. She had been devastated when young Kirill Polushin had been killed in the assault on the MG42 position on the other side of the portal.
Tsimmermann would smile, ruefully and make a joke about her leaving him.

Lisitsyn would be angry for not being able to charge into the hornet's nest. And the Jewish partisan, Anna Friedman... she would probably give her a Jewish blessing.

Auntie Mungoola offered Bhalla a clean, new tunic, the color of fresh moss and a light leather skirt. "Here. Nobody shall say that Auntie Mungoola does not look after her children", she said, as she kissed Bhalla on both cheeks.

Mattaki received fresh clothes as well, a dark yellow robe, mended in several places. Clearly, this had once belonged to one of the Axtzals of Tessif.

"We do not have clothes for your kind", Mungoola apologized, with the help of Bhalla who translated.
"But the Deutsche left some behind, if you want to select something?" and she pointed at a chest filled with civilian clothes and some nazi uniform items.

---

Jangie led the little group through the forest to the Kuani river. They arrived in a small Axtzal village in the evening and were lucky - there was a boat going downriver, that agreed to take them aboard as passengers. They had no local currency, of course, but Mattaki all but requisitioned the vessel for the Emperors's Navy, promising reimbursement to the fisher at a later time.

They slept on the boat, sheltering from the elements and curious looks under a tarp and made it past the small town of Fischbach. Like Reinhardsdorf, or Tessif, this seemed to have been an Axtzal settlement, but now had been taken over by the Germans, with a new wall surrounding the houses.

The Kuani grew ever wider the further down they went and they encountered several other boats, propelled by oars, sails, like their own, and even a heavy transporter that was pulled along the riverbank by a team of six beats that looked like a cross between a hippo and an oxen.

Their captain told them that they would have to stop in the next town, a German town, but that they should be save.
One day later - the fourth of their journey - they arrived at Neuheim.

When offered the chance, Lena went through the chest, trying to assemble a Nazi uniform.  Granted she wouldn't look right in a man's uniform, but it might have uses, especially if she took it back to the other soldiers eventually.

Other than that, she tried to look like a German peasant.  Well, peasant was a strong word, but that's definitely the vibe she was going for.  If she got caught she needed to look the part.

---

Lena stood and peered out, not sure whether to expect something like a mound city or a faerie village, but conquered by Germans.  What would either of those even look like?

Yelena looked at both the civilian clothing and the uniforms of her enemy with obvious distaste. If it weren't for Lena, the soviet sniper would have probably left without grabbing anything. But, as it was, Lena's choices were smart and potentially useful. So Yelena essentially copied her. They would both look odd up close in a nazi uniform. But from a distance...it might have its uses.

---

Yelena looked out at Neuheim as they approached, dressed in a very similar manner to Lena.

The voyage so far had been rather uneventful. Mattaki and Bhalla tried teaching a few pieces of Axtzal. Yelena found this a bit easier, with Russian already featuring a multitude of different s, sh, zh and tch sounds, but both Yelena and Lena are far from able to hold a conversation in Axtzal. (This will eventually allow to to pick up the language on a d4.)

Your skipper, named Damuz, competently steered the boat along the Kuani. The German town - Neuheim - is visible for about an hour before you actually arrive there. At first, Yelena is reminded of the concentration camps she saw in Poland. A high wall seemingly reinforced by concrete, multiple watchtowers along the wall. But there were no razor wires outside the walls, instead there were several small hovels and houses outside the wall, an orchard, houses and small piers along the river.
It looks as if the town was built as a fortress, but the inhabitants quickly outgrew the walls.

The boat passed the wall and arrived at a small river harbor, with two concrete piers and a few more wood piers a bit further downstream. Damuzi made for the second concrete pier, allowing you to take in the bustling activity of the harbor. There were soldiers here, but they seem to be just part of the crowd. There were also other uniformed men, wearing the green police uniforms that Lena last saw in Berlin in what feels like a lifetime ago. There were even a few wearing the blue uniform of the water police.

(Notice roll)

And civilians. So many civians. Men, women, even children. In between, Axtzals and Gnim are hustling around. The harbor was quite busy

A belltower rung, striking eleven times.

Damuzi apologized: [Language unknown: "K pa stintiout pl andis ard ne wa ionainand k nepe at. Ee ntiprotheear, ec Ofwe nde o hat homene."]

(So you got some time to kill. You can stay on the boat, explore the harbor or even venture deeper into the city if you want.)