[GERMAN COMMAND- FARMHOUSE CELLAR]
Tanya had received a leather respirator as her New Year's gift - a labor of love from Feldwebel Klein, who'd combined elements from Wehrmacht protective gear and Ruhr mining equipment to create something that would let her keep commanding. The supple leather formed a seal against her face, held firm by brass buckles that gleamed dully in the cellar's lamp light. Its distinctive shape, halfway between their standard-issue gas mask and an industrial respirator, had become as much a part of her as her Oberst insignia. The filter canisters, fresh from their own supply lines, transformed each breath from agony into life. When she spoke, her voice emerged as a mechanical croak through the exhaust valve, no longer carrying the raw copper burn of the CK gas.
"Bring me everything," she ordered. "Every scrap of evidence from the attack. Every letter home. Every supply requisition. Every command order."
Her intelligence team moved with practiced efficiency. They'd spent three days gathering while she planned. Now the real work would begin.
[FLASHBACK - DURING ATTACK]
The first warning had come from forward observers - American supply trucks moving between sectors at night. But the signatures were wrong. The engine sounds distorted by extra weight.
"Sir," the radio operator's voice had cracked. "Chemical detection teams are reporting... something new. Something that shouldn't be here."
She'd recognized the implications instantly. Calculated response times. Mapped dispersal patterns. But even her mind couldn't outrace American vengeance.
She could only watch in horror as the screaming started.
[PRESENT - FARMHOUSE CELLAR]
"These are the real Allied supply manifests," Major Nuemann laid out documents. "Showing CK gas movement from American depots. And these..."
"Are what future historians will find," Tanya finished, studying the forged papers her team had prepared. The fabrications were masterpieces - period-accurate paper, ink chemical composition matched to the era. Even the coffee stains were authentic.
"We'll plant copies in their abandoned command posts," she instructed. "Make sure they survive the Protocol's deployment. Let them find evidence suggesting this was planned months ago. That Sector 7's losses were orchestrated to provoke chemical retaliation."
[FLASHBACK - ATTACK + 1 HOUR]
Her surviving comrades had retreated to the medical tents with most of them being wounded as her men's blood turned to poison. She found Captain Mayer still conscious, somehow, as his organs liquefied.
"The grass..." he'd gasped. "Watch... the grass..."
She'd seen it then - how the CK gas changed the soil chemistry. Created chain reactions they'd never imagined. Turned the earth itself into a weapon.
Later, she'd thank Mayer's dying observation. It gave her an idea for how the Weber Protocol's agricultural vectors could be rerouted.
[PRESENT - INTELLIGENCE SECTION]
"Sir," her chemical officer appeared. "First wave of Allied survivors reaching our lines. Their testimony..."
"Record everything," Tanya ordered. "Their fear makes them perfect witnesses. Show them these." She handed over another set of doctored documents - internal communications suggesting Allied command had planned worse weapons.
"Let them see 'proof' that their officers betrayed them," she continued. "Men broken by horror will believe anything that explains their suffering. Plant the seeds now. Let their testimony support our narrative for decades."
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[FALLBACK COMMAND POST - 6 HOURS LATER]
"The international observers have arrived at Checkpoint Delta."
"Good. Execute Document Protocol Seven."
Tanya has specifically named it Document Protocol Seven, after the battles she had in sector seven.
Her intelligence team moved with practiced precision. Real victims of CK gas were documented first - building emotional foundation. Then carefully edited military records suggesting Allied escalation plans. Each layer of evidence supporting the next.
"Show them the mass graves," Tanya instructed. "Then the 'discovered' orders for worse weapons. Let them connect their own dots."
[FLASHBACK - ATTACK + 6 HOURS]
The final casualty reports had come as dawn broke. 15,843 dead. Another 812 dying slowly as their blood became poison.
During their retreat she hastily reviewed the contaminated zones deemed safe as she donned protective gear, studying effect patterns. Learning how different soil compositions changed the gas's behavior. Taking notes that would help fine tune the Weber Protocol's deployment.
"They violated every treaty," her chemical officer had said. "Brought weapons never meant for European soil."
"No," she'd corrected. "They brought me a lesson in what's possible when you strip away all restraint."
[PRESENT - DOCUMENT FABRICATION FACILITY]
Tanya reviewed another set of forged papers - these were designed to emerge years later. Personal letters from Allied officers hinting at planned escalation. Supply requisitions with subtly altered dates. Memoranda suggesting chemical weapons had moved between sectors for months.
"These will go into their abandoned medical stations," she handed the documents to Major Neumann. "Make them look hastily abandoned during the Protocol's deployment. Things future investigators will 'discover' gradually."
The real genius was in the layers. Some evidence would be "classified" for decades. Other documents were obvious forgeries, designed to be discovered and discredited - making the real deceptions seem more credible by comparison.
[OBSERVATION POST - MIDNIGHT]
The radio brought reports of Allied forces breaking under the Protocol's first phase. But Tanya focused on controlling how that break would be remembered.
"Sir," Williams appeared with intelligence updates. "Survivors are already spreading stories about hidden Allied weapons programs. About plans for worse attacks."
"Perfect." Tanya studied dispersal maps. "Fear makes better witnesses than torture. Let them convince themselves. Their own terror will fill in the gaps we've created."
[FLASHBACK - ATTACK + 24 HOURS]
Her partisans had found American supply manifests. They had also traced how they'd moved CK gas between sectors. Every officer involved was identified.
"They'll claim it was a necessity," her intelligence chief had predicted.
"No," she'd smiled coldly. "They'll claim whatever our evidence suggests. Men need to believe their suffering had meaning. We'll give them the meaning we choose."
[PRESENT - DAWN APPROACHES]
The Weber Protocol spread through chosen sectors as Tanya reviewed her masterwork. Not just military victory - total control of how this horror would be remembered.
Real documents modified meticulously.
Fabricated evidence planted to emerge over decades.
Survivor testimony shaped by carefully revealed "truths."
Each layer supporting the others in an unbreakable chain.
Behind Allied lines, Harrison gathered his loyal officers for vengeance. But their coming fury would only add another layer to her narrative.
After all, the most believable lies are built on foundations of absolute truth.
And Tanya had fifteen thousand dead German soldiers to build her story upon.
[INTELLIGENCE ARCHIVE - FINAL PREPARATIONS]
"The beauty of it," she told her officers as dawn neared, "is that most of it's true. The Allied gas attack happened. Their men did break. Their commanders did seek revenge for Sector 7. We're just... adjusting the context. Adding supporting details that confirm what they already suspect."
Each survivor would carry a piece of her constructed truth. Each "discovered" document would reinforce their memories. Future historians would find countless small evidences suggesting Allied escalation had forced German response.
Now she would ensure generations would know their crime.
Even if she had to construct that knowledge herself.
The Protocol continued its work in chosen sectors.
And Tanya's greater victory took shape:
Not just in dying flesh, but in carefully crafted truth
That would outlive them all.
