Markus lived in Alvonia-controlled Italy until late 1999, when war broke out between Slavorussia and the Nordic Confederacy. Because Alvonia was a part of the rival bloc ComIntern, then Director Hidolf Atler sent men to the border, as ComIntern had elected to join in the war with Slavorussia. Markus was a part of the troops sent to the border, and miraculously survived the eventual Nordic onslaught. Sadly for Alvonia, Italy was lost, and Hidolf relocated the nation to the Dakotas and Minnesota in the North American continent. Markus resigned from the Wehrmacht, then became Hidolf's assistant.