1645 hours. 5 shells spent.

March orders have been given. The armored column is moving towards the unknown. The ominous rumbling of the engines and whistling of the tracks were the only sounds heard for miles. Mud splashed around as we moved among dense, dark, unfamiliar woods of this new world. Up in the sky and far away a big volt of buzzards filled the sky ahead. Their black wings were hard to see from this distance, but even as small dots in sky they were a chilling and mortifying sight, a pressage of what’s to come.

We reached a charred clearing along the road. From here the vultures seemed like an asymmetric blurt of black ink upon the indigo blue sky. The clearing was a godsend, it had enough space for our tanks and battle position, and also enough space for maneuver in case we needed. But time was in short supply and we could be encircled and exterminated like rats. That would be ironic considering we spent the entire morning doing just that.
“C1, halt” Augusto’s voice came from my headset.
“Bino, halt” I repeated the order almost in mechanical reflex.
I climbed my seat, opening the armored hatch and exposing myself to still and heavy forest air. Cacophony of engines bombarded my ears, muffling almost all other noises. Charruas and Osorios maneuvered and took their combat positions in the clearing, then came the familiar, overwhelming sound of the hydraulic ramps and the boots hitting steel and dirt. The infantry formed a perimeter and began digging in while the tanks and APCs positioned themselves and took firing angles. 

The vultures were coming closer, small puffs of smoke rose from where they were circling. I peeked my head out of the hatch and took an intent look at all the tankers and soldiers around me. They might die today. I might die today. Strange, morbid feelings rained upon me when this idea dawned. Before I didn't really care whether I lived or died. I was fine simply doing my job and living minute to minute. But now that I promised that girl to return alive, I had to change, the hardest thing that I did this entire day.

“All crews, prepare for engagement. Thermal sights on. C1, C2, pick forward positions.” Augusto's voice hummed from the radio, shutting down my overly emotional thoughts.
“C1 acknowledges, out.” I thoughtlessly responded.
“Bino, put us in a place that leaves us with our backs to the river and gives us an angle of fire to support Pernambuco.” I commanded via intercom.

The tank maneuvered, I entered back into my seat and closed my hatch.
“Thermal sights, scan the woods in front of us.” I said to Jacson and Manuel who had their eyes locked onto their screens. They both acknowledged my words with quick nods and clicked the switches to thermals.

The atmosphere inside the tank was oppressive. A small LED light illuminated the cramped interior. Vibrations from the movement outside reminded us we still were a part of the world, pulling us out of thought that we were stuck in our own pocket dimension.
“In position... sir.” Bino said, his voice slightly cracked as he did.
“Now we brace for the storm and keep the engine running.” I spoke, without confidence with which I usually voiced this.

1707 hours. 5 shells spent.
Now playing in Manuel Player3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKWhBbccTX8

The vultures were above us, they knew what was about to happen and so did we. The choir of battle drums and tank treads boomed throughout the forest. A curve in the road and the dense woods made it so that no thermal signature couldn’t be seen, but sounds and noises kept us on guard. It was then that I saw the head of their column, bipedal rats equipped with spears and hatchets, their thermal signatures were small just like them. They saw us in the clearing, one of them jumped in surprise.
The machineguns fired, the surprised rat was torn to pieces, fragments of his bone cutting the faces of the rats behind him, who then fell much like him soon after machinegun bursts echoed like a symphony. The column suddenly turned around and disappeared among trees, leaving the remains of less fortunate rats to rot. Powder charges exploded at the other side of the forest and massive metal bolts were sent flying in our direction. No penetration but the sound of thumping against the armor was heard like thunder. One of the bolts hit the REMAX right in the machinegun. The gun became uselessOutside, the screams of the infantry blood curled screams of pain and misery, I turned my REMAX towards their positions and I could see many men impaled by rods, some were screaming others were already impaled dead by those enormous bolts, the remaining soldiers got back into position and began firing back with their rifles.
“Load arrow, now!” I commanded Jacson.
Jacson quickly inserted an APFSDS round into the breech, arming the 105mm gun.
“Pronto!” Jacson alerted me
“Manuel fire back at their position, cut the trees!” I commanded Manuel, seeking revenge for the dead soldiers and my broken machine-gun.
The gun fired, the round passed through the tree line like a knife through butter, cutting many of the trees and opening view to their small firing site.
The other three tanks and IFVs followed my lead and shot at the tree line, explosions and fragments flew around as the powerful rounds tore through the once idyllic woods bringing doom to whatever was on the other side.
Heat signatures on the other side of the firing line showed nothing but dying diminutive bodies and quadricular frames with multiple holes installed on carriages, those were the launchers that fired on us, now they were nothing but scraps.
The vultures must be happy with their newfound meals, the battle drums could still be heard and the tank tracks were getting closer, our day was far from over and our blood was still fated to taint this earth.

The familiar sound of a 105mm L7 echoed from the treeline, leaves and dust went up and around and a red tracer impacted Pernambuco in the frontal armor, a metallic screech soared high following it, the culprit of such attack was a Argentinian TAM tank still in it’s homeland camo, arrow heads stuck in it’s armor at multiple points served as decorative reminders of it’s new ownership,
The TAM is a light tank based on the Marder IFV design, it is the pride of the may-sun republic.
Through my thermal lens I could see it’s silhouette among the trees.
“LOAD ARROW, 157, TARGET TAM TANK, FIRE AT WILL!” I yelled, not capable of controlling my panicked state.
“Target, TAM tank, firepower is comparable , armor is inferior, within range , geographical and climatic conditions are advantageous; firing at the frontal angle, aiming for the right side of the turret” Manuel mumbled, doing his gunnery analisis and deductions out loud.
“PRONTO!” Jacson yelled, the sound of the breech closing acting as a natural punctuation to his speech.
The TAM had it’s turret aimed at us as if it could sense we were the predator and it was the prey, the TAM fired another shot impacting our turret at the left side, no penetration but the vibrations of the impact echoed in our ears, our training didn’t prepare us for this but Manuel was acting like a machine glued to his monitor locking the Fire control into our prey and sealing the enemy’s fate.
Quickly after the impact on our armor our cannon came to life with a deafening roar impacting the TAM turret through the front passing through exactly where the gunner and commander would sit, a small hole marking the point of entry and a red tracer out from behind signalling a complete penetration, this has been the first shots made in anger by a TAM tank, and the first tank on tank battle between Brazil and the smiley sun republic.
“Load arrow again and find the other hermanos!” I commanded my crew
The other Osorios began firing their guns at the treeline, to dissuade any other enemy advances and open the sightlines as well as trying to hit the other TAMs.
“Tanks advance! the infantry needs breathing room” Augusto's voice came from my headset, ordering us into a dangerous gambit but exactly what was expected from the tanks named after the Reckless Maquis of Herval.
“AÇO!” I shouted enthusiastically on my headset.
“Bino advance, get us away from the infantry and closer to the enemy!” I proclaimed over the intercom
The powerful engine of the Legendario came to life, the force of the torque threw me back into my seat, while the Osorios moved forth I scanned the area with my Thermal camera.
The hot smoke from an engine exhaustor gave away the position of a lonely TAM moving about in the woods, no time to alert Manuel, I took over the turret with my controls and locked the FCS on the wannabe medium-tank.
The target was lazed and locked in little less than two seconds, I pressed the trigger prompting the gun to fire the Arrow at center mass in the Argie tank.
The tank exploded like a bomb, shaking the trees around it and starting small fires, the remains of the hull turned into a brutalist monument to Argentina’s light armor.
“Tank neutralized, Arrow again” I cheered
The other osorios also fired, filling the air with dust and deafening sound.

Black smoke rose from multiple points in the woods, the sound of machine guns and autocannons took over the symphony.
(THUMP THUMP THUMP)
The 25mm sang, opening way through the forest with it’s cruel verses, the staccade of 556 and 762 followed, the rumble of engines mixed and combined forming a drawn out mechanical roar that echoed miles around.
Out from the woods came another tracer impacting C3 at the sides, the injured Osorio stopped and turned it’s hull towards the threat, the tracks pushing earth as they moved, It’s turret couldn’t move but this didn’t stop the violent retaliation, the muzzle connected with the sight and the Osorio fired, the barrel recoiled spewing forth fire and a tracer. Through my Thermal display I could see the lone TAM and the tracer as it impacted it’s frontal armor, turning the Argentinian tank into a brazen bull, smoke and fire rose and after 5 seconds a big explosion.
“C1 to C3, damage report, over.” I radioed in to C3
From the other side coughing and small interference was heard along with a voice “Turret horizontal mechanism out of commission, changing to manual that is all, over” A man said through the radio.
“Roger that, out” I said.
The Legendario stopped, we were now very close to the woods, enough to give us space to maneuver and fire, enough to give the enemy confidence to assault us.
C3 moved along, it’s turret was at the 12 o’clock position, the Osorio had manual controls for the turret but it was far from optimal, having C3 here was a burden more than anything.
“C1 to C3, Retreat back to the infantry line we can’t risk losing you here, over”  I commanded over the radio.
“C3 acknowledges, retreating, out.” After those words were said C3 began to move back, maintaining the frontal armor towards the treeline.
Lots of thermal signatures, the enemy infantry is moving towards us, big and small fluorescent grey silhouettes in my display holding flaming molotovs and axes, there's so many of them.
From outside their ragged battlecry along the beating of the drums and our gun-simphony soared high they fell as they came, their hot blood leaving fluorescent pools in the ground and trees but no matter how many of them fell and died the wave continued moving, the sound of our machineguns dictated their cadence and in no time they were among us ignoring their fallen comrades and with bloody faces throwing their fire-bombs and climbing on-top of our roofs, Pernambuco was in flames, the roof and engine compartment became a firepit, that didn’t mean much, thermal insulation and engine intake ports controlled by the driver made so only a volcano had enough heat to put us out of commission.
“BINO, REVERSE REVERSE!” I yelled in the intercom, fearful of the chance of ending like Pernambuco
The legendario came to life and began reversing, Pernambuco and C4 followed while firing their machineguns into the amorphous horde of creatures thinning it each shot.
C4 was akin to an ant-hill, multiple rats were beating the hatches,REMAX and cameras with their clubs and hatchets.
“Shit they are on-top of us, climbing the turret” Jacson exclaimed. I could hear their feet against the armor. I turned the REMAX around and I saw their ugly fluorescent  rat-face in the black and white thermal display .
They had problems maintaining balance thanks to the speed of the Legendario; some were already falling down while others hung tight holding to the bars and storage bin on the sides of the turret.
A smile came to my face to my right was a makeshift button connected to a small cable fixed to the turret wall via black adhesive tape. The Anti-infantry shotgun barrels mounted to my turret were about to prove their worth.
I pressed the button, 12 shots were heard simultaneously and screams came shortly after crunching noises came from below while the tracks finished the jobs.
I swiveled the REMAX around, no rats or any other pests survived the 12gauge gambiarra.
The great wave of silhouettes was still converging into our position, autocannons and machine guns made sure they were turned to crimson mush as they came.
BOOM
The sound of a 105mm firing echoed but it didn’t come from one of us. C3 was hit in the turret side, they probably had casualties on-board now.
The other three tanks all turned their turrets towards the new threat and fired, while the remaining REMAXes continued firing at the monstrous horde coming our way.
We all fired our powerful cannons, neutralizing the brave tank that dared to make a stand and turning it into a funeral pyre.
The firing stopped, for a moment all you could hear was the crackle of open flames and moaning of the dying.
I switched out of thermal vision in my display, a thin black smoke enveloped us from all around. The once green grounds became crimson red with the blood of the rats and hominids that tried their best to stop us. To our sides the infantry with green painted enthusiastic faces stood in awe at the carnage; some of them were making their way to Pernambuco to help the flaming tank; others were carrying wounded and dead back to their respective armored carriers. The APCs and IFVs stood back behind us untouched by the brutality of the fighting with thin whitesmoke rising from their gun barrels like prideful displays of their combat prowess.
Above us the vultures circled the now orange sky, the sun was setting as if in shame upon seeing this level of carnage, soon the night would be upon us and we would have free reign over the blind prey or so it should but the locals warned us of the forest at night and none were bold sufficiently to gamble their chances against whatever called these dense woods home at night.
“All units embark and prepare to leave, the IFVs will lead the column, tanks stay in the middle, one IFV at the rearguard.” Augusto’s authoritative voice came from the radio
“Thank god” Jacson said with a tired tone  “ I thought we were about to be the next… to be hit.”
“Be grateful to the sun if it was still up we would hunt down the bastards to the last” I replied to his comment.
The cackle of open flames in the woods and moaning of the dying echoed alongside the rumble of the powerful engines, we entered formation and began moving back to the depot, confident the enemy wouldn’t continue their advance now with most of them decomposing.
We lost around 9 men, 5 wounded. C3 lost it’s commander and loader, Pernambuco lost it’s cameras and needed repairs in the REMAX thanks to the intensity of the flames that hit it, Legendario needed a machine-gun replacement, it was a decisive victory with around 4 TAMs destroyed and a unknown number of monsters killed, Legendario accounted for three of the kills.

1746 hours? 9 rounds spent

We moved back through the same path below an orange sky, the tanks were in the middle of the formation this time I didn't dare to open my hatch. The possibility of one of those fuckers stalking us and waiting for the moment to strike was high.
The air inside the Legendario was musky and warm thanks to the sweat and stress we went through. It was humbly illuminated by small lights on the ceiling.

“Damn this was close” Jacson said with a jittery voice

“Yeah, you guys did a spectacular job today, go get a drink when we get to the depot” I congratulated my men, making sure to say it over the intercom so Bino could hear it.

“Hooray, maybe this job ain’t that bad, hah hah hah” Manuel said with a hearty laugh, his eyes fixed to the LCD monitor in front of him.

“I’m surprised they managed to inflict that many losses on us” Bino said with a calm voice, his words coming from our headsets.

“Can’t underestimate the enemy, they will come back better prepared than today and be ready for that.” I said, to the entire crew.
The movements of the tank prompted me to hold on tight to one of the handles in the roof, the kind of thing you don’t notice when up on top of the hatch.

“We’re almost there, i can see the depot” Bino announced
I unlocked the hatch and opened it, the familiar sound of metal clanking greeted me.
I pulled myself up and saw the orange skies and the sun covered by gentle clouds, in front of us the armored column and the depot with it’s white and green walls, the sound of the armored wheels grinding and the engines screaming, the ever familiar melody of the armor.
The column stopped for a moment while the gates were opened, the sound of the metal gate moving gave way to the cheers of the people on the other side of the walls.
A hero’s welcome for sure as the vehicles entered the courtyard military and civilians alike cheered us. The medical teams were ready with stretchers and red boxes filled with medicine and medical equipment.
We parked our vehicles and took the wounded and the dead away, the dead went to another part of the depot, away from prying eyes, while the wounded went to the small over-burdened depot infirmary.
Some crowds still remained in the courtyard, talking to the soldiers and inspecting the damaged equipment, a repeat of what happened when we first came here.
Legendario was parked with it’s turret turned to an angle so Bino and Jacson could reload the bustle rack, Manuel was on top of the turret alongside me, helping me check the REMAX and the damage

“Those crates you guys stored in the turret, what’s inside of them?” I asked Manuel while disconnecting the pins the held the M2 Browning in place, it’s receiver has been punctured by the bolt, the bolt was already thrown away to the courtyard

“Survival kits in case we need them, not the best place to put them but good enough for an emergency, i guess” Manuel replied dismissively as if thinking of something else, he disconnected the servo arm out of the way and helped me lift the M2 out of the station.

“Anon!!” A female voice called me out, I lowered the M2 to the floor and turned towards the sound.

The click clack sound of quick steps upon the stone floor echoed as Cecilia moved closer and started climbing the tank, seeing a woman climbing the tank with such determination was strange, out of place even.
She climbed it to the top and then glomped me throwing me down on the roof.

“I heard so many noises, i thought you died, i’m so happy to see you.” Her tail began to wag while she nuzzled against me.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too.” I said as I hugged her.

“I’ll take the Browning to the depot, you go and finish this here, sarge” Manuel said

“Lemme help you with this'' I said then pushed Cecilia to the side and moved to the Browning laid on the roof, Manuel climbed down to the courtyard and motioned with his hands for me to pass the Machinegun to him, which i did, the hunk of gun was heavy and i had some difficult lifting it, Cecilia helped me pass it over to Manuel and he went on his merry way to the depot with the big gun on his shoulders.
“Ok now help me with this one” I pointed to the Loader’s M2 Browning attached close to the hatch.

“What we gon do?” Cecilia said while moving close to the Browning, i unloaded the Browning and pressed the trigger to let the hammer fall startling Cecilia.

“We’re gonna take this and put it in the REMAX” I disconnected the steel pin that kept the Browning attached “Ok help me hoist this, one , two , three!” We hoisted the Browning together and laid it in the REMAX support.

“H-heavy” She said while touching her slim arms.

“It’s gotta be otherwise it will break easily” I connect the support pin in the REMAX and then moved to the other side to connect the servo arm

“Can’i do it?” Cecilia said with enthusiasm while pointing to the ammo box

“Sure, first you need to open the cover, find a small metal piece at the sides it will open it” I said while she quickly moved to the gun and started touching it curiously.

“Found it” She said while opening the metal cover, showing the gun insides, her mouth wide open in surprise.

“Ok now take the belt and-” I was interrupted by her quick and smart movements, she put the belt in the feed platform

“Like this?” She said with a slight smile.

“Now close the cover and pull the charging handles back until this part here is held back” I said pointing to the hammer.

She closed the cover and tried to pull the handle, it almost didn’t move. She was too weak to pull it entirely even with both hands and both handles.
I gave a small slap on the cover to make sure it was closed then motioned for her to move to the side, then I pulled both handles. The mechanical noise of the bolt and mechanisms moving made her smile.

“W-what happens now?” She said with anticipation in her eyes.

“I need to connect it to the fire control system inside the tank and test the computer trigger and safety, but it is already ready to fire as it is, just have to switch the safety off.” I said, shutting down the smile she had and replacing it with a slight pout.
“You need to teach me how to fire it one day” Cecilia said, her pout quickly replaced with a lovely smile.

“Of course.” I said while connecting the cables in the REMAX, afterwards I tested the camera, trigger and safety, making sure to order Cecilia to unload the gun and switch the safety before.

Jacson and Bino finished loading the bustle rack and moved out to the depot, leaving me and Cecilia alone to tend the tank.

I gave my tank a final check and then moved out towards C3, our wounded tank it’s green and brown camo was the same as all the other vehicles in the greyish courtyard but the mark of a successful penetration could be seen by those with keen eyes, a small pin hole in one side of turret giving way to a larger one in the other side, it’s stowage boxes were ripped open, some water was still dripping out of one of these boxes, like a beast bleeding after a wound.

Inside the scene was way more brutal. Blood and some bits of flesh decorated the interior, leaving a strong iron smell, the two dead crewmen were already taken to the triage site in another part of the depot.

Thankfully the Osorio uses an electric mechanism for the turret, otherwise this place would have become flammable, looking through the inside i could see the emergency manual rotation mechanism opened, it is usually installed inside a compartment in the turret side, in case it’s needed you simply open the compartment’s box hatch lock the hand-crank in place and use muscle strength to move the heavy turret, every crewmen is trained on how to do this but the hand-crank is located by the commander’s side.

Upon seeing this scene Cecilia, produced a incoherent sound akin to a grunt or a ‘yipp’ and then began following my eyes in my inspection and checking, after her curiosity was satisfied she turned to the penetration holes in the turret’s sides and stuck her finger into the smallest one, after this small tactile experiment she produced another ‘yipp’ sound and asked me what was the cause of the penetration of the tank and the death of the crewmen.

I answered while using hand signals to better convey the speed of the projectile:
“Imagine an arrow flying faster than your eyes or ears can track hitting a single small pinpoint of a wooden sheet, upon penetration the wood breaks and turns into barbs. That’s what happened but it was Steel and composite material instead of wood, and the arrow was made out of Steel and tungsten.”
A confused yet curious look stamped her face, her ears twitched and she went back to inspecting the holes.
While she was perplexed by modern ballistics i went towards pernambuco, the tank that turned into a pyre, much like the Legendario it’s roof turned into a shade of black  thanks to a incendiary bottle, although unlike the Legendario the engine bay was also affected, the green and brown livery turned to a charcoal like black, but worst of all was the Remax and the loader’s camera, which broken due to the heat, surely it would be a easy repair but a check on the other cameras would be needed too, this all reminds me of the cruel fighting in Hue during the Vietnam war damaged tanks, dead crews, having to make do with those same damaged tanks.

While I was lost in my overly prosaic thoughts the sound of engines was heard outside the gates. A Staff jeep, ambulance and a lot of logistical trucks were waiting on the other side while a recently awake guard moved desperately to open the heavy green metal gates.
The dusky skies emitted their orange glow to the courtyard while the column of vehicles entered the courtyard, the staff jeep was the first in line, inside of it i could see Tenente Aguerres and the Regiment commander, I instinctively saluted while they passed through and moved deeper into the depot.
The ambulance and trucks followed the jeep, leaving my field of vision.

“Who were those guys?” Cecilia asked in an anxious tone, she was inside C3’s Hatch, her eyes and ears sticking out.
“My boss and his boss” I answered with a smile.

“Anon, you want to go to my house?” She said, like a teenage girl while moving herself out of the hatch, her shoes were sticky with the fresh blood from the commander’s station.
“Sure, but it will have to be quick, they will probably call me anytime now.” I said, lending her a hand to help her move down from the turret.
“Thanks anon, here” She said, offering me my Sergeant knife in its scabbard “It’s yours, thanks for trusting me with it.”
I took it from her hands and fixed it to my belt “No problem, you seem worth it anyway.”
She held my hand and moved down from the turret, her dress fluttering in the gentle afternoon wind as she did.
We moved out of the base, attracting some looks as we did. The guard at the gate saluted as I exited the courtyard into the greenery outside using one of the built-in doors in the gate.

The grass fluttered in the same gentle wind we felt inside, the marks of tracks and wheels on the grass were readily apparent, moving down the same path I speeded forth in my tank now on-foot gave me an interesting feeling, something akin to nostalgia mixed in with curiosity.
The night was beginning to set in while we moved down into the village, the inhabitants were still cleaning everything up, putting the mutilated corpses into carts, cleaning the stone-walls of blood, with one or another individual going around distributing lit white candles, the air was getting colder, the humid river’s smell began to lift into my nostrils while i made my way with Cecilia back to her house, the sound of chatting filled the environment while slowly but surely darkness began to envelop the land and as it did the orange flame of candles began to appear and duel against the shadows for the rule of the night.

We approached the river Cecilia’s house sat near the shore, the cold humid wind coming from the river greeted me, my eyes were gifted with the visage of the sunset against the indigo blue water of the river the sun in it’s red splendour waved for us one last time as it disappeared against the horizon.

“Is it always this beautiful?” I asked focused on the sunset
“What?” She retorted, confused.
I nodded and pointed to the sun with my chin.
“O-oh, yes it’s always like this, it’s nice here.” She answered and kept making her way to her humble house by the shore.
I followed her, just now I noticed I was still equipped for battle; overalls, tanker helmet, webbing gear, pistol, SMT. Not the most casual wear and surely not the best for visiting a peasant family.
I took off my helmet and disconnected the dangling cable, putting it into one of my overall’s pockets. Cecilia opened the wooden door and moved in gesturing for me to follow.
“Sister!” A young voice called out from inside.

I passed through the threshold. The air inside was warmer, the house’s main room was illuminated by the humble light of candles. Eliana and Julius were sitting by a large wooden table in the center, their faces lit up when they saw me and Cecilia . Little Cesar quickly ran out of his seat and glomped his sister’s leg.

“It’s good to see you’re back in one piece, anon” Julius said, like a proud father.

“We heard a lot of explosions, we thought they brought up mages and it was finally going to end for us.”  Eliana said in her usual half anxious, half curious tone.

“It was tough, but nothing that big, I might be able to take you there to see the results of the figh- ” I was interrupted by a dog barking and the ‘tick tick’ sound of paws running on a wooden floor.
The diminutive dog made its way to me and started jumping trying to reach my helmet, it’s mouth was wide open and panting loudly, I tried my best to protect my beloved helmet and hands from the vile diminutive beast bent on tasting them, my efforts finally paid dividends when cecilia picked Feh Feh up and held it in a hug, changing it’s focus of attention to her.

“Hello anon” Cesar said with a big smile stamped on his face while waving his little hands to me.
“Hi” I answered, in a similar tone and a similar smile.
“I-is that your helm?” He asked, pointing to the helmet in my hand
“Yes, this is my knight helm, you want to try it?” I said, beaming a smile to ease Cesar.
“Yes, please!” He said jumping in place.
I put my helmet on his head, it didn’t fit, the helmet was almost twice his head’s size.
“Look mom, I'm a knight!” He said, waving to his mother, flaunting his new green carapace.
“You really are Cesar, I'm proud of you.” His mom stood up and moved close to him for a hug.
Julius let out a hearty laugh, “ Maybe one day you’ll grow up and be like anon there”
“Can i?” Cesar asked with puppy eyes, his tail wagged around rapidly
“Of course, we’ll need all the help we can get, just study a lot for it.” I replied, forcing an honest smile.
Our little family reunion was interrupted by a bugle call in the middle of the village’s main road. It wasn't any of the usual commands relayed by bugle, it sounded more like music to draw attention towards itself.
I picked my helmet back from Cesar’s head gently, and bid my goodbyes to the family, and went out to see what was happening. A small crowd had formed itself at the mud road, the light of candles and torches illuminated their silhouettes against the night.
In the middle of the crowd standing on-top of an old ammo-crate was a Brazilian soldier, with a black beret at his side, a black soldier with a bugle and a camo cap.

“The 21st Regiment invites all the inhabitants of the village to participate in the funeral of our downed soldiers who fought and died at the river shores by this village’s surroundings.”
The Black beret soldier proclaimed, a hint of anxiety in his voice, I suspect the speech was improvised.

“Oh goodness ” Eliana said from behind me.

“Seems it’s time for me to go back, you can all come with me if you want.” I said looking at them and making my way up to the Depot.

Alongside me Cecilia and her family and a long line of villagers, all making their way to the depot’s gates.
Like a procession they brought candles and flowers.
The depot’s gates were wide open, the guards were standing proudly with weapons in-hand, making us feel like prized guests.

We moved on through the courtyard and the lined armored vehicles, moving on to the back parts of the depot, where the triage facility was set-up.

The light of candles was joined by the led spotlights that adorned the courtyard, the bright white lights and the orange flames, some villagers covered their faces with their hands so they wouldn’t have their eyes burned by the bright unfamiliar lights.

We finally reached the point we were being subtly led to. trucks were parked alongside a cozy looking administrative building with white/green walls, the courtyard was thin, the administrative building (which contained the infirmary) at one side and the walls of a big warehouse at the other side, the trucks were parked with their backs pointed to us.
9 bodies hidden beneath olive green blankets were positioned with some spacing on the courtyard, a Chaplain wearing the standard camo uniform with a white habit piece over it welcomed us, behind him the soldiers were in formation.
I left the crowd of civilians and moved closer to find my crew. I found them in the formation, an empty spot in-front of Manuel left for me, close to Augusto and in-front of the formation.
I took my place, wore my helmet on and turned myself immobile, like a statue.
The Chaplain continued addressing the crowd. The wounded men were positioned by the warehouse wall, their bodies adorned with white bandages.
The Chaplain did the cross sign and gestured for Augusto and the Regiment Commander to come forward.
The Regiment commander began to address both the crowd and the wounded soldiers, commending them on their bravery and sacrifice.
he ordered them to come forward, they began marching their way in front of the Regiment commander, Augusto had a wooden tray with green fluffy cloth inside.
The regiment commander produced red bronze, cloth medals out of the tray and began to pin them into each of the wounded soldier’s uniforms, he then stepped back and saluted the 5 men, and they saluted back, some had to use their right hands because of the wounds, the commander then put his hand down, and dismissed them, they moved out of center and took places in the formation behind the commander.
The commander and Augusto stepped back and the Chaplain resumed the ceremony.
After
The ceremony proceeded as normal, while the Chaplain did the prayers, the civilians held their heads down in respect and the soldiers behind repeated the prayers alongside the Chaplain.
The prayer ended, Augusto gestured while looking at the soldiers behind, and a group of 5 soldiers equipped with Mosquefals bolt action rifles marched parallel to the warehouse walls, their wooden rifles rattled subtly against their shoulders while the sound of their boots echoed.
Augusto turned towards them, ordered them to turn left.

“Ready!” The sound of bolts being moved and bullets being chambered in succession was heard.
“Aim!” The rifles were pointed up
“FIRE!” 5 shots were fired, the civilian audience flinched.

“Ready!” The bolts were circled once again, the children began hugging their parents strongly, startled by the thundering sound of the blanks being fired.
“Aim!” The rifles pointed up, some civilians covered their ears.
“FIRE!” The shots rang once again, some civilians flinched again, and my ears began to ring.

“Ready!” The metallic sound of the bolt being circled echoed along the ringing of my ears.
“Aim!” The rifles pointed up, this time the children weren’t so scared anymore, some were curious even.
“FIRE!” The rifles fired, this time the civilians didn’t flinch.

The soldiers put their weapon’s muzzles against their shoulders after a short gun salute.
The bugle player behind the formation started playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejbPaV89qzI

Augusto, The Regiment commander and the Chaplain ordered us to make way for the bodies, and commanded volunteers to help carry the bodies to the trucks.
The bodies were loaded into the trucks one by one, the trucks maneuvered and moved out of the depot alongside some soldiers. And just like that the ceremony ended.
The regiment commander and Augusto called me and the other tank commanders to an office in the administrative building.

As I entered through the cosy looking wooden door, Cecilia followed me closely, the other tank commanders didn’t pay any heed other than some odd stares.
We entered the office, a green metal table in the middle and white walls all around, an office desk at one of the corners, the place was minimalistic for sure.
The Regiment commander gestured for us to line up parallel to the table.

“First Sergeant Anon, your platoon and infantry complement will be sent to Brasilia, the Capital needs to be reinforced, you will be sent alongside platoon 2 and 3.”

He positioned a topographic map with lots of notes and colored symbols on the table, and began to point his finger to what I assume would be our route to Brasilia.

“Get what you need from the depot, and move out through the portals back to field HQ at the town, from there your vehicles will be transported by truck and train to the capital, further briefing will happen upon arrival at the capital, for now resupply here, move to the portals get to our field HQ, fix any battle damage there and promptly embark to Brasilia, Any questions?”

We all asserted negatively to that question.

“Well then, dismissed!” The commanded proclaimed

“Aço!” We responded with enthusiasm