1307 hours 5 rounds spent

My tank is the first in the column yet again, the monolith calls us with it’s hypnotising purple esplendor, the monolith is wide enough for a Osorio, the APC said that passing through the monolith is like passing your hands through jelly, accelerate and you’ll be there, he said the climate is temperate “European” was the word he used, nothing but plains and forest on the other side but the depot is surely there, he knows that because he heard the sound of gunfire and explosive there, our boys need us.

“All units advance!” Augusto said
Now playing in the Manuel Player 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ldyg-yEcB4
The sound of the engines and our combined anxiety filled the air, the purple light and the black monolith became more and more closer to our optics, until the tank passed.
The world became a surreal mess as if I was part of a modernist painting colors and shapes intermingled and moved  through my mind. I tried to scream but my mouth didn’t move.

1310 hours? 5 rounds spent

I could feel the tank move a few meters forward, my eyes were closed, I felt sick in the stomach as if I just returned from a rollercoaster ride.
“Sergeant are you ok” Jacson said putting his hand on my shoulder

I opened my eyes, the world was lucid again through the REMAX display i could see green fields and snow covered peaks we weren’t in Brasil anymore
“Yeah, i’m just a bit sick gimme a few seconds” i said as my body started to come to its senses
“Yeah” Manuel said with a nauseated face “i feel the same”
“Same down here, thankfully i had a light breakfast” Bino said over the intercom
“So I'm the only one who doesn’t feel like emptying his stomach right now? heh lucky” Jacson said with a slight smile.
I opened my hatch, the air outside was cold, the sun was hidden behind the clouds, I grabbed my SMT 9 and climbed the hatch, the wind greeted me as i sat on the charred roof, Pernambuco was parked a few meters to the right positioned as if in a half circle formation, behind us the great monolith stood, it’s purple light wasn’t there anymore the Charruas were moving through it, they took their place in the half circle formation as they came.

No sign of the depot, just like the APC crew advised, we see a river and a stone road alongside the shore. It goes through a forest, it’s all very beautiful, but the sound of automatic gunfire at the distance quickly breaks the atmosphere short bursts by the sound of it. it’s a 7,62 MAG firing, about 700 meters from here coming from the east towards the forest no birds were startled by it so they must be firing those guns periodically for some time now.

All vehicles have crossed the monolith, the cold wind is blowing, some soldiers puked their breakfast out and the sound of gunshots is still loud, Tenente Augusto is trying to get radio contact the infantry is inspecting the surrounding environment checking if it’s safe for the tanks to cross if there’s ambushes nearby or for a place to pee, the usual stuff.
The stone road is the only sign of civilization around here, on the other side of the river there’s a dense forest, the road trails far through the horizon it probably connects to a port town or something.

1312 hours? 5 rounds spent

Now playing in Manuel Player 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbMFtmdjPZk
Augusto got in contact with the region’s depot. They are by the river some 2 kilometers east, we'll have to go through the forest, i hope we don’t get stuck here.

We are following the stone road through the forest in the direction of the gunshots, i’m sitting on top of my hatch first tank in the column as always, thankfully we can still hear some animals here and there otherwise it would be a sure sign we were being stalked, the sound of the engines feel anachronistic here, the trees are completely alien to anything we ever saw back in Brasil but they would be at home in Europe or Russia the wood becomes denser the more we move Eastwards enough to make you feel a bit claustrophobic specially with the fact the tanks are almost as wide as the road, inside the forest the cool prairie wind couldn’t reach us that made me a bit sad i was starting to enjoy it.

“This is giving me slight deja-vu from earlier today” Bino’s voice sounded from my head mic
“Yeah different world same shit” Manuel replied
Behind us was Pernambuco, Cleyton was eyeing the forests around him and he looked very anxious.
“C1 to C2, come in C2 over” I said over our radio frequency
“C2 here, send your traffic, over” Cleyton’s voice was heard
“Are you ok Cleyton? you seem to be very anxious right now” I said in a understanding tone
“Yes i am, just very stressed don’t worry about it anon, over” Cleyton said, he sounded a bit sad.
“This is all, C1, out” I finished the transmission

The brown and green camouflage on our vehicles felt a bit out of place in this shadowy forest, good thing we don’t plan to stay here for long.

We finally reached the end of the forest, we spent some minutes passing through it, ahead of us was the familiar river around it green plains the type that would be used for sheeps and bovine cattle around it rolling hills and a medieval looking European village at the river’s shores, the village wasn’t big and black smoke was rising from multiple points, small fires could be seen, shadowy figures prowled the few unblocked streets i could see as they limped about their heads moving erratically in abrupt movements in random directions at such speed a normal person would have his neck broken.

The depot stood over the fields some 250 meters to the village it’s classical colonial architecture and large size was alien to this place, through my binoculars i could see a few  figures trying to climb the walls and the garrison inside watchtowers built into the walls fighting them off with point blank firing and bayonets, around the depot long lines of bodies and red stains on the greenery could be seen, the figures didn’t look like rats, seemed more like men, probably the same that roamed the village.
I gave the signal for the column to halt and radioed in what i saw to Augusto
“Out of the road, maintain formation and move to the depot” Augusto was succinct in his orders

I passed the orders to Bino and the Legendario moved out of the stone road and into the grassy fields, the vibrations of the track turned more gentle the sound of stones being broken and tossed about were gone, the cold wind blowed once again but now it carried the rotten stench of death and sulphur
much like back in Brasil the scenario was idyllic but the situation was apocalyptic, the green fields were littered with rotting corpses, they all looked humanoid but some had horrific mutations, their heads replaced with open mouths, arms turned into blades, just like we saw back in the monolith in Brasil, i held my SMT close and put it in semi auto.

“Are those zombies?” Jacson said over the ‘coms
“Maybe, not sure what to expect after today and the footage they showed us this morning” I replied to him
“What should we call this place?” Bino said
“No idea, isn’t it better to let the higher ups decide?” Jacson said
“Rio seguro” I said
“Heh, not bad but does this mean we are colonizing the place?” Manuel said
The tank approached the depot gates
“Heads up, we arrived” I said and entered the tank, putting the SMT back on SAFE

The tank stopped in-front of the Depot’s gates, the gates were painted white with a green line running close to the ground barbed wire was planted on-top and every few meters a small white watchtower built on the wall, some parts of it were painted crimson red with blood and gore of the “zombies” that attacked it, on both flanks of the green metal gate stained dark crimson was small white stone guardposts converted into machinegun nests i could see the men inside there move about, they must have their hands full with all the killing that happened.

Our guidons fluttered in the wind while we waited the gates to move, Augusto asked for a sitrep but all i could say is
“They are moving about inside i’m sure they saw us but we are waiting here”
I climbed my hatch again, the smell of rotten and decaying flesh was even stronger than before, i saw one of the machinegunners inside the posts he nodded to me
I heard the sound of a metal door being opened but it came from behind, i looked to see what it was and saw Augusto leaving his IFV charrua and moving here, he had one hand over his mouth shielding his nose from the stench and in the other a IA2 rifle

He came close to the Legendario and right on time, the gates began to move.
The gates began to move the sound of the metal rattling and the gate engine echoed in the valley, the courtyard was filled with soldiers and civilians from the nearby village the soldiers were very happy to see us the civilians though, they seemed a mix of awe and apprehensiveness children were hugging their parents and closing their eyes probably expecting us to kill them, how adorable, they were dressed as you’d expect from medieval europe, there were a lot of them but I couldn't see them in detail they were a bit further away in the courtyard.

The tanks and charruas rolled in and some soldiers helped the drivers maneuver in and park the tanks at the courtyard, quickly we were surrounded by soldiers and curious villagers. The sound of chatting and murmurs was drowned by the heavy engine rumbling.

I gave the order to dismount and took my helmet off, with a black beret on my head I climbed down the Legendario.
I could see Augusto talking to a man with golden rank insignias by the gate
“You guys finally arrived, we were already praying for deliverance and expecting this place to be overrun” one of the soldiers said.
“Yeah we came to rescue your sorry asses” Manuel said while climbing his hatch
“I presume those are the unlucky villagers” i said pointing to the mass of ye olde dressed people, some had fluffy ears and tails, but they all seemed “normal”
“Those fucking zombies layed siege to us for the entire morning we managed to save some civilians and stopped most of them but some passed through” a soldier with a old FAL in hands said
“Don’t worry the ones who passed through the portal were dealt with” i replied
“Portal? thank god this means we are not stranded here, right?” A younger soldier said
“Damn are those the Osorios?! I never saw those out of a parade, awesome” I heard a soldier squeal
The chatting soon turned into an incoherent verbal mess with everyone trying to say something.
The sounds of the engines were no more and the crewmen were now alongside each other in the courtyard answering questions and chatting with the soldiers and the few civilians who didn’t shy away from us. Me and Bino refrained from interacting with the crowd and sat on top of the legendario, Bino began checking the cameras and radio equipment for damage.
The national flag and the Division flag fluttered in the wind, the climate and people were so different from back home but it definitely felt like we bought a piece of Brasil here with us.
“You think we’re staying here for long?” Bino asked
“Maybe, the depot will need security though i doubt they will devote precious Osorios to this place” I replied
The black smoke from the village was getting heavier, we should do something about it, people live there, I thought.
“Hey” A familiar voice came down from the left of the turret
“Who is it?” Bino asked while he was busy checking the Legendario’s radio and GPS equipment
“It’s me, Cleyton” The voice said, shortly after Cleyton climbed the tank and was on top of the turret with us.
“Catch!” Cleyton threw a can of Guaraná soda to me
“You too Bino” Then threw one to Bino as soon as Bino turned around to him
He sat on top of the loader’s hatch and opened his own can
“A tough day eh?” Cleyton said
“I had tougher” Bino said and opened his can
“Yeah…” I opened my own can, the sound of the crack and the gas leaving the can was like music to me, this is probably the first soda can opened in this world.
I was almost lost in this Guarana trance when short quick footsteps followed by not so short and not so quick ones was heard by the tank
“Knight-man... can you please help me!?” The juvenile voice was ragged and tired, surely because of the short sprint this lad did to reach the tank, behind him a young lady around my age with fox ears and a fluffy tail wearing medieval peasant clothing.
“Those monsters are there at the village, I left my dog there, can you please help me get him?!” The vulpine child said, with a determined face, his heroic stance was ruined  quickly by a bonk on his head by the young lady
“I’m sorry about my little brother, sire” She said and then bowed her head forcing her brother to do the same.
“No need to do that to your brother, we’ll save his doggy” I said with a smile, the kid reminded a younger me, when i was more naive and innocent, before the world forced it out of me.
They spoke Portuguese but with a different accent and a more ye-olde vocabulary, the kind you’d expect from an old colonial novela or book.
The girl and boy both had brown hair, the boy’s tail wagged from side to side like a dog, while the girl’s tail was held low, they looked very cute together.
“They speak portuguese?” Cleyton said in a surprised tone
“We are as surprised as you, sire” The girl said in a quiet tone.
“You’re gonna save Féhfeh?” The boy said, stars in his eyes, his tail wagging even quicker now.
“Yes, but first we need to plan this small rescue operation and all the other things” I said, trying to think on how we would do this.
“Thank you very much sire, i can not thank you enough for this” The girl said, her face lighted up, her ears stood up and a gentle wag from her tail signalled her satisfaction.
“Well, you can begin by giving me your name” I said summoning my inner Don Juan, I could hear Bino snicker behind me
“It’s Cecilia” The girl said with a calm smile her deep eyes staring at me
“Anon, a pleasure to meet you” i said
“My name’s Cesar!” The boy said with a gleaming smile while hopping up and down.
“I’m Bino” He said with a wave of his hand
“Cleyton” Cleyton did the same
“So what does Fehfeh looks like, Cesar?” I asked Little Cesar
“Small, around this size with white fur with brown points” Cesar said while using hands to show the dog’s size, it was small, probably a puppy.
“Our house is by the river Fehfeh should be there, it’s rather small compared to the others and there’s a small fruit tree by it, you won’t miss it” Cecilia interjected
I was about to climb down when Jacson and Manuel appeared alongside Augusto, the gunner and loader were carrying wooden unmarked crates and Augusto had his hands free.
I salute the Tenente Cecilia and Cesar moved out of the way while Manuel and Jacson began to climb the tank with Bino’s help
“Sergeant, new orders for you, you and a Armored Infantry squad are to clear that village, leave the fires to the infantry they have been issued fire extinguishers, Here’s a map one of the villagers drew from memory” Augusto said and passed me a small white paper piece, in it a hand-draw map of the village, i quickly found Cecilia’s house
“Is this it?” I showed her the map while pointing to what I presumed was her cottage.
“Yes, yes it is” She said, nodding her head.
“Catch!” I threw my almost full can of soda to Cesar, and he got it.
“Thanks, Knight-man” Cesar said while sniffing the liquid inside.
“Orders acknowledged Tenente, we’ll clear the village” I finished it with a salute
“Crew, mount up!” I commanded.