0837 hours, 3 rounds spent
“D-did we win?” Jacson questioned with an awed expression.
“Hell yeah we did, I told you, “confia no pai”, no way you can lose with me in the gunner seat.” Manuel answered, proudly.
“All units regroup at the Police department building” Aguerres commanded.
The other tank groups were entering the plaza while Bino maneuvered the tank, parking it near the police dept building, alongside Pernambuco and Aguerres.
I opened the Hatch and climbed on top of the tank, the roof was cluttered with spent casings and fresh blood, the world outside was different,way more cruel and chaotic, the sound of sirens still echoed along the streets, clouds of black smoke climbed to the sky, the gentle morning sun glowed brightly, birds could be seen flying up above giving no attention to the death and destruction down here.
A trail of destruction could be seen where the Osorios passed, uprooted trees, destroyed stone walls and bodies human and inhuman alike.
Jacson opened his hatch and looked around, seems he was hit by the same feelings as me.
Some PMs holed up inside the building came to welcome us at the entrance, it was the time to meet the people we just saved.
I took my helmet off and stowed it inside, picked up my SMT-9 and gave the order to disembark, my legs felt weak, as if my body knew the world outside was hostile to me and was trying to convince me to remain in the tank, my boots hit the floor, i put my black beret on.
“Bino, Jacson stay with the tank, reload the REMAX clean the blood and check the tracks, Manuel you come with me” I said while the rest of the crew was leaving their hatches.
Aguerres was already at the Dept’s entrance talking to the PMs there
“Tenente” I said while saluting the lieutenant
“Sergeant anon, you and your partner, with me, the rest of the crews: establish a perimeter around the park” The rest of the men saluted the commander and moved to their tanks yelling orders to their subordinates
“You guys came right on time, our ammo was about to run out” one of the PMs said, he had sergeant rank on his shirt ‘Richardson’ was his name
“This way” Richardson said pointing to the corridor the sound of steps and yells could be heard around the entire building, coming from the floors above and the rooms along the corridor
“How’s the situation in the rest of the country?” Richardson asked
“Contact has been lost with Rio and Sao Paulo alongside multiple other cities, all kinds of strange and horrifying reports all around the country, contact with the Regional command is still strong, they are as confused as us, our objective right now is to secure this town and make contact with the 2 Light infantry battalion and the Region logistical depot, i assume you are already up to par with your duties in this situation”
“Yes Tenente, we are spread thin here though, we have patrols all around the town, we still have contact with most of them but they are laying low, they invaded the town during midnight, we lost a lot of innocent people at that time, killed during their sleep, we lost a lot of our men too, the ones who managed to reach the Department on time are either spread around or here with us”
We reached a room at the second floor
“Come on in” Richardson said, opening the door. The room was an administrative office with lots of bookcases and a single central wooden table, the windows let a lot of light inside, giving a good cosy feeling to the entire room.
“This is the map of the town” Richardson said spreading a big colored map on the table
“This is us” He pointed to the plaza the serra could be seen behind it
“I got men all around us in a 2 km area around, and this is the access to the federal highway” He pointed to the far east of the town a big interstate road dominated the map there.
“Fire departments here and here” He said pointing to two buildings one at the east another at the southwest “We expect the fireman there to be waiting for us, the streets are too dangerous for our patrol cars to get there though, those fucking rats have established multiple barricades and blockades at random locations”
“Probably independent units of a larger army” Aguerres added
“Yes exactly”
“Reports from Rio and other cities and the Southeast indicate the enemy there is unorganized, we are dealing with something a bit more dangerous here, do you have any info on those minotaurs?”
“The cornos? they aren’t minotaurs Tenente, seems they are oversized rats stitched together and armored to make them look like minotaurs” Richardson said
“Fascinating”
“So we are dealing with oversized rats, you guys sure they didn’t come from Brasilia?” Manuel said finishing it with a slight laugh
We all laughed for a second
“I’ll relay all of this to the commander, Sergeant, i want you to rally your troops and shelter the local population, we’ll have our hands filled cleaning this mess up, Sergeant anon, take command of your pelotao and move East to secure the access to the Federal road”
“Yes sir” i said and saluted the Tenente, Manuel did the same and we moved back to the Legendario.
Upon exiting the building I noticed the bodies of the Phalanx members turned into a deep black goo, their shields and swords were still there, I had no time to examine it at the moment, so I ignored it, the sound of sirens was replaced with yells and orders, but the heavy atmosphere persisted.
The plaza was filled with soldiers and civilians, the APCs were cluttered with crates and equipment tied on-top of them, the soldiers were unloading everything with the help of the civvies, where did those civilians come from?
0847 hours, 3 rounds spent
Pernambuco suffered some damage on the paintjob, lots of arrowheads were stuck on the frontal turret armor, Cleyton, the commander of the thing, was standing on the roof inspecting the plaza.
“Manuel, i’ll organize the rest of the group”
Manuel jogged back to the Legendario, i made my way to Pernambuco
“Cleyton, new orders, you are under my command we are to make our way to the Federal highway and secure it alongside 2 charrua teams, sintonize our frequency Manuel will send it to you over the general comm as soon as possible”
“Roger that anon, you better not lead us into an ambush” Cleyton said smugly
The Charruas were setting a perimeter around the plaza, finding their commander was easy, big buff guy with a black beret, headset and aviator glasses ontop of an IFV Charrua, Lieutenant rank on his shirt, I jogged my way there.
“Sir, sergeant anon, tank commander, requesting two CGs for an armored task force.” Saluting the tenente i felt a cold shiver running through my spine, as if i committed a grave mistake
“The Federal highway? you gonna need the entire platoon to secure that, take your tanks to the east exit, my boys will be there, you better not leave them hanging, don’t disappoint me, sergeant anon.” the Tenente was staring at me through the sunglasses, i could feel the weight of the responsibility he was putting on my shoulders
“YES SIR” i saluted and jogged back to the legendario
The Osorio was parked by the police department building a gentle shadow was cast on it, a small green bird was relaxing on top of the barrel, seems he didn’t mind all the destruction going around, i climbed on top of it, Jacson was servicing the REMAX the roof was cleaned of blood.
“Jacson, finish this quickly we’re leaving” i said to him and gestured to Pernambuco to move to the east-most street, i entered the tank, stowed my SMT-9 and donned my helmet, the beret was inserted into one of my shoulder flaps, Manuel was already on his seat
“Manuel contact Pernambuco send them our frequency, their callsign will be C2, we will be C1, where’s Bino?”
“At his seat, praying”
“We wait then, you better pray too.”
I climbed my hatch, sticking my head out, 4 Charruas passed through us moving to the east road
“I’m finished, turning the engine on” Bino’s voice was heard on the intercom
The Legendario came to life, Jacson entered his hatch, the bird on the barrel flew away, Pernambuco started moving his way to the east street
“Panzer-vor” Manuel said through the intercom, in a high pitched voice, fucking weeb.
“Pernambuco, C2, C2, testing frequency,over”
“C2 here, pronto,over”
“C1, confirm, pronto, out”
0853 hours, 3 rounds spent
Now playing in the Manuel Player3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=336CeMHbENc
The tanks made its way through the east streets, Pernambuco was the last in the column, the Charruas were in the middle, small stores and houses filled the scenery, trees casted gentle shadows on the way, the sound of the tank treads and powerful engines filled the air, sometimes we had to clear the street off an abandoned car, couldn’t pass over them like last time because of the APCs following behind us, black smoke could be seen rising to the air, but not enough to block the beautiful sunshine, some dazed and confused civilians were making their way to the plaza, carrying as much as they could in their hands and bracing their kids, that visage reminded me this shitshow is far from over.
The travel to the east gates was idyllic, midway there we found an orange tree, me and Jacson managed to get some and then we continued the march through the town.
0901 hours, 3 rounds spent
“Sergeant, we’re about to hit a roundabout” Bino said on the intercom
“All units, prepare for combat, possible barricade at the next roundabout, out” I said on the general frequency
I closed my hatch and stowed my SMT. Inside the tank everything is different, you have to use periscopes and LCD screens to see the world around you, you feel like a scientist using a microscope, the REMAX was ready, 250 rounds in the ammo counter.
“LOAD HEAT” i commanded
The sound of a round entering the breech was heard
“Pronto!” Jacson affirmed
We turned on the corner street and there it was, another barricade, black smoke was rising from behind it
“TARGET, BARRICADE, 1.0.0, ENGAGE AT WILL.”
The cozy suburban street was brought back alive by the cannon, broken glass, car alarms and flying leafs filled the atmosphere.
“HEAT, PRONTO”
“Advance full speed, Fire at will” i said over the intercom
The tank began to charge, I started firing with the REMAX the bullets penetrated the cars in the barricade like butter, I made sure to pepper the place right didn't want a repeat of the last situation.
The foremost charruas also joined me in this shooting gallery.
“All units advance full speed, get out of their killzone” i said over the general frequency
“C2, copy”
“CGs, copy!”
A loud ripping sound was heard and 2 burning wrecks were thrown at our way
“FUUCK!” Cleyton, the Pernambuco’s commander yelled on the radio
The sound of the wrecks impacting the street filled the air, the sound of something crashing into a house could also be heard, no time to waste, the Legendario was about to breach the barricade
“FIRE AT THE CENTER OF THE BARRICADE” i yelled to Manuel
Another strondous sound, more broken glass, the HEAT shell passed straight through the barricade exploding upon hitting the street at the other side, dislodging some cars out of the barricade, made Bino’s job easier.
“Brace for impact!”
The tank hit the barricade full force, parts and scraps of cars flown to the air alongside the tank, the roundabout was filled with the damn rats, bottles with burning rags in their hands and minotaur somewhere, the tank maneuvered it’s way through, the machine guns fired killing everything some molotovs impacted to the floor leaving small burning patches on the streets the screaming of the rats was becoming louder thanks to it.
Molotovs impacted the roof of the tank, blinding us. I couldn’t feel the heat inside but without the cameras we were sitting ducks.
“Bino, keep us moving” I said over the intercom
The tank maneuvered and then suddenly began turning on its own axis, almost making me lose my balance, the sound of the Charruas and their machine guns could be heard, the flames still enveloped the cameras.
“The tracks are jammed!” Bino exclaimed
“It’s up to the Charruas now, Manuel see if you can use the backup sights”
“Already doing it” the turret moved and the machine guns engaged, i couldn’t see anything.
“Jacson, pass me the fire extinguisher” Jacson moved his hands to the lower part of the turret basket and gave me a small red extinguisher.
I folded the stock on the SMT9 sling around my neck, on the other hand the ready for use extinguisher, i began opening the hatch, the heat hit me at once the sounds of machine guns were louder now
I sprayed the extinguisher through the small gap the half-way opened hatch made and managed to extinguish enough of it so I could open it entirely. The heat of the fire wasn’t enough to stop me from seeing the carnage.
the roundabout was filled with blood and rat corpses the two catapults could be seen their crews slaughtered near them, small fires and scrap metal littered the place, the charruas were dropping their ramps, the infantry began bayonetting any survivors, two of them with fire extinguishers were moving my way another Charrua was maneuvering back towards Pernambuco, who was stuck halfway inside a house, the two burning wrecks by the street near it.
The two soldiers climbed the Legendario and extinguished the fires on the turret. I thanked them, disconnected my intercom cable and climbed down to check the tracks.
Part of a compacted car was stuck in the right track, jamming it, it wasn’t that big, so getting it out of there wouldn’t be that hard.
0923 hours, 5 rounds spent
The smell of fire and blood filled the air, both Osorios were immobilized, two charruas were trying to tow Pernambuco out of the house it was stuck in, Bino and some riflemen were clearing the debris in the legendario’s tracks, they had to lift the skirts.
I was on top of my hatch observing the situation.
“C1 to command, we will be out of schedule, tanks are currently undergoing track repairs at point B-23-13, over.” I omitted Pernambuco’s situation, it was too shameful for command to know.
“Command to C1, what’s the ETA on your repairs,over”
“C1 to command, around 14 minutes, over.”
“Command acknowledges, finish your repairs and proceed to your objective, remember to refuel your tanks, out”
While i was busy talking to command i could see Pernambuco finally managed to be dislodged from his situation
“The tracks are clear, sergeant!” one of the riflemen helping Bino yelled
“Finally, put the skirts into position and go back to your vehicles” i answered
I entered the tank and closed the hatch, the air inside was cold and comfy, unlike the outside sunny warmth.
The sounds of metal being moved was heard and the soldiers moved back to their APCs, Bino entered the driver’s compartment, all ready to go ,The two charruas and Pernambuco entered the roundabout and we entered formation and then proceeded to the eastern gate.
“Jacson, replenish the turret ammo rack” Jacson was almost falling asleep when i said that, he was startled awake and began moving about
“Manuel, put the turret in position” The turret moved and Jacson had access to the hull, he began moving HEAT rounds back in the turret and putting them in the turret bustle.
Along the way we began eating the oranges we picked, even Bino received one thanks to the turret being already in position.
The travel to the Eastern gates was relaxing to say the least, if you ignore all the cars in the way, thanks to the hydropneumatic suspension it wasn’t that bad.
0928 hours 5 rounds spent
We finally reached the highway, the road stretched into the horizon some “serras” here and there but otherwise green fields, trees and the long empty asphalt highway dominated the view, the yellow painted stone portals that demarcated the town’s entrance were an imposing view contrasting with the natural surroundings, there was a gas station nearby, i ordered all vehicles to be refueled there, the infantry would secure the entrance, fortifying the place with whatever they could find.
0945 hours 5 rounds spent
“C1 to command, objectively accomplished, the federal highway is secured, awaiting further orders”
“Command to C1, return to the plaza for debriefing and new orders, the infantry will be able to man the place, we need you and Pernambuco here now, over.”
“C1 acknowledges, RTB, out”
I alerted the infantry platoon about their new orders, and now with a filled tank, me and Pernambuco made our way back to the plaza.
