1240 hours 9 rounds spent, Second day

We reached Goiás, the big state where Brasilia, the federal district, is located. Our arrival was on time.
The station is very far away, so we'll have to drive our way to the central plateau, to Brasilia, it will take some time.

The road to Brasilia is open, I stand over the tank and feel the rising sun on my back. We have the firepower and the guts. I hope we can make a difference, there's no anxiety in the air, we know what we can do, we were touched by battle and came out on top.

The cables securing the tanks and APCs to the freight cars are disconnected, men run all around the station repeating the work and movement, engines are turned on and the tanks move out of their cars, an awe inspiring sight, we need to change the tracks and make our way.

After it’s all finished and we’re covered in grease and sweat we take a time to do a small prayer, and after that we moved out, deserting the once filled train and station.
The railway battalion saluted us as we moved out.

Another highway, different state.

The environment here is completely different, the air is drier, the land is browner, there’s not so much vegetation, and there’s lots of depressions and elevations in the scenery, though I don't think most would classify as hills, everywhere we move we see civilization, much like back in the South but in greater numbers, some restaurants and rural properties here and there, hotels, shops, warehouses and factories all by the highway, along with an immense quantity of vehicles moving away, people fleeing from the city i assume, this is the time you miss having motorcycle scouts with you.

We passed by a lot of small towns on the way, some of them were deserted, others were still holding.
We made some stops to refuel in an abandoned gas station, we got some candies and bakery goods out of one too, sadly it was deserted so we couldn’t pay for it, it seems we are robbers now.

1534 hours 9 rounds spent, Second day.

Now playing in the Manuel Player 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXQLJVJBcaA

We reached it, we finally reached it, the dusk sun is upon us and the outskirts of Brasilia are in view, Brasilia is a very small city, around it is a aglomerate of smaller towns, we reached one of those, it’s much akin to any other Brazilian urban environment, although way more chaotic.
Black smoke rose, shots and blaring sirens were heard, the cruel symphony of a dying city.

In the battle management system i could see friendly units all around me, mostly concentrated around the military district in Brasilia and the Brasilia air base

“Attention all Units, we got contact with the Plateau command, we are to move to the Southern Wing in the Brasilia Air base, Legendario lead the way.” Tenente Augusto said he also told Bino what route to take.
I wonder where the other two platoons are, they will probably reach the city later, somehow we ended up being the fastest ones to get here, even though we had to travel over worlds.

Inside the tank the atmosphere was merry, we finally reached our destination hard not to get happy, even though the destination is burning before your eyes, unfortunately we had to contend with having an extra body on-board.

Through the REMAX display I could see graffiti filled walls and colourful houses, and shops.

The tank moved throughout the suburban streets

The sound of artillery fire and jet engines echoed all throughout, the beautiful symphony they trained us to partake in.
The red tracers from Autocannons and machineguns lighted up the barely visible horizon

“Sarge we need you to prepare the brownings, the cables should be by the Remax” Manuel said, his eyes glued to his gun sight display.

“Be careful anon” Cecilia said before I opened the hatch and pulled myself up.
The smell of gasoline and diesel was around in the air along with the earthy smell of asphalt and bricks.

By the REMAX pedestal there were two cables, each one connected to a browning machinegun over the gun barrel.
I seated myself on the hatch and took both cables in each hand and then pulled them as strongly as I could, the sound of the heavy bolts being moved greeted me, i pulled it until i heard the clack of the bolt being secured in the ready position and then left the cables as they were and moved back inside the tank, closing the hatch.

“PRONTO” I yelled as I came back, the sound of the closing hatch punctuated my speech.

The vibrations of the tracks felt clearer, inside the tank only it and the humming of the engine could be heard, everyone was concentrated on their display and Cecilia was glued on my display.

We kept going through the streets, some bodies littered our way, along with abandoned cars and shot-up walls and houses.
We turned a corner and a small group of people appeared in my display, around five of them down the street and running towards us, their clothes were ragged and I could see one of the females holding a small child while she ran. They are still alive.

They saw us, I could feel their happiness and satisfaction at seeing the steel behemoths, happiness and satisfaction that was cut short by the undead that were right behind them, their ghostly white skin and horrible wounds a cruel reminder of their fate.
The civilians weren’t fast enough and i couldn’t get a clear shot with the Remax, the undead were right behind them, one of the men was tackled and kicked to death, another one had the same fate, a third one tried to fight back and was overwhelmed soon after.

I tried to get a clear shot but the woman was on the way and they were still a bit far. The tank kept moving towards them but I still couldn’t get a good shot. The browning isn’t precise enough. I can't risk hitting the child and the mother.

“SARGE DO SOMETHING!”
“Anon!”

The fourth man got a head start, the woman lagged behind, the monsters tackled her down as she screamed, the man turned back and saw her being ripped apart as she desperately tried to shield the child.

I got a clear shot.

I pressed the button and opened fire on the undead that were on top of her, their bodies were ripped apart by the .50 BMG bullets.
When I released the trigger and blood and guts were all that remained in the display, the surviving man rushed towards the mother’s now lifeless body.
I disconnected my helm cable, opened my hatch and rushed out as the tank moved towards him jumping out from the turret and into the street, almost falling head first as I did.
he was crying loudly, the sound of a child crying was heard beneath the mother’s dilacerated body.
He moved her body, sullying his hands in her fresh blood and retrieved the crying child.
He hugged him tightly and turned towards me, his face was contorted with anger, tears streamed down his face.

“Why didn’t you do anything?! YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER!” He screamed at me in a belligerent stance.

“I-i’m sorry i couldn’t shoo-” I tried to excuse myself, stepping back towards the tank

“LIES!” He interrupted me, he hugged his son and kneeled down crying loudly.

I moved back and climbed the tank which had stopped to wait for me, I delayed the entire column.
I moved into my hatch, and entered the tank, defeated.
The tank started to move again

“PORRA!” I yelled and punched the tank’s wall, not hitting any equipment “Can’t even save a single fucking family!”

Frustration Frustration, i’m inside a forty ton killing machine, i have years of training and killed multiple enemies but i can’t save a single family, why?

“Anon, a-are you ok?” Cecilia said, motioning one of her hands towards my shoulder.

“Yeah” I sighed and tried to present myself as a healthy human being “Yeah, i am, just a bit stunned by all”

“Anon, you don’t have to bottle that up” She said candidly with an understanding expression.

“I have to, now forget about that.” I said, refusing her help and ignoring her.

We aren’t that far away from the Brasilia air base and the southern wing, just a few more minutes and hopefully there won’t be any more problems in the way.

“Almost there, just a few more streets and then we’ll be at the southern wing.” Bino's voice cracked in the intercom.

The sound of artillery and rocket fire echoed in the distance, ASTROS batteries are doing a reprise of the M270s performance during Desert Storm, hitting multiple targets per barrage and acting as the fingers of God for an entire division, i wish i could see the spectacle, but here in the suburbs inside this warmachine the best i can do is listen to the symphony or maybe Opera would be more fitting, given the whirling scream of the firepower.

We reached the big boulevard, it’s actually a federal highway the same one we took to get here, it runs straight through Brasilia, a carotid artery, our way to the heart of Brasil, burned out and splintered cars litter the way, destroyed by artillery fire, blood and bone mended, carbonized along with their vehicles, highway of death a fitting entrance to the city.

We had to move to the opposite driving hand, because the southward way was filled with burning cars, we pushed the cars out of the way and crashed our way through to the other-hand of the highway and then continued our way south.
Black smoke rose towards the sky, the sound of firing became clearer, it seems these sounds will be with us until this city’s last dying gasp.

We moved to a scissor’s intercept in the road and took the way towards the Brasilia air base, to our right was a residential unit, just some lonely streets with mansions or something like that, to our left, greenery and a flower shop.
This part of the road was littered with abandoned cars and corpses, we had to move around the bigger ones and slowly pass over the smaller ones, crushing them under our treads and weight, a very satisfying ordeal although also a time consuming one.

After some time of this we reached an open ground, the road turned into a roundabout and we had to cross over to the other side to get to the airport. We could see some billboards with ads here and there.

Now playing on the Manuel Player 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YWRREgi8dA

The sound of screaming jet engines filled the air, jets were landing in the airport FAB’s F5s and AMX i suppose, it was punctuated by the ever present sound of artillery.
Dead bodies and bloody grass and dirt littered the area around the entrance of the airport, some machine gunned cars were also present.
There was a big towering billboard frame in the entrance to the airport, right ontop of the highway, it was turned into a hardpoint, sandbags and concrete, firing ports and machine guns.
Around it turned cars made into walls, sandbags and chain link fences, the entrance was blocked by a tall tourism bus the windows of which were covered with metallic frames, gun barrels pointed outward from inside of it.
As we approached the bus moved opening the way for us, the sun was setting as we entered.
On the other side soldiers motioned for us to keep going towards the terminals, they didn’t use the standard Brazilian camo and the usual FAL or IA2 rifle, they used futuristic looking bullpups with carry handles, air force infantry.
The car renter building was converted into a barracks, men could be seen formed up on the parking lot there, receiving a speech or briefing, the cars were gone, used to make the walls.
The sound of the raging artillery was ever present, sometimes punctuated by the scream of rockets or the takeoff of a plane.
We reached the terminal, a officer there was surprised to see us, he motioned for us to go to the runaway access, from there another equally surprised NCO motioned us to a hangar and there we stopped, the sun was gone and the night was above us, the airport had illumination, and the hangar was lighted by led spotlights.
The hangar was being used to store munitions, lots of bombs, rockets and big ammunition boxes filled with autocannon belts, lots of space for us to park the vehicles.