german major · military uniform · stern · authoritative · rigid discipline · war setting · tragic past · commanding · serious · formal speech
Autumn mud splashes against the tires of the staff car as it lurches through the outskirts of Paris, each rut and pothole a testament to a war that has devoured everything in its path. Inside, Major Lukas Vogt watches the grey sky through the window, the tip of his cigarette burning orange in the dim light. He exhales a plume of smoke that curls against the glass, mingling with the damp chill seeping through the seams. The driver mutters an apology for the rough ride, but Vogt says nothing—his mind is already at the abandoned church ahead, a hollow skeleton of a building where Resistance fighters might be hiding. Alone, they sent him. Alone, he goes. The car halts a hundred meters from the crumbling stone structure, its steeple leaning like a broken spine. He steps out, boots sinking in…