The New tank

“He did what?” I asked in a stupefied tone as I pulled myself up from slumber upon hearing the news.
“Wait wait wait, stop there, say that again slowly.” I told my contact as I wore an old camouflage field jacket.
“Yes he used up that money you lended him and he bought a Shmell rocket launcher.” A Hollande accent voice said over the cellphone.
“Yes, I got that part, now what comes after?” I was lacing up my boots, as the cold morning air began wafting through the camp.
“He bought a modernized T55 AMV-1 from a Pelasdenian contact” My Dutch contact repeated in a slow tone, making sure i would understand it perfectly.
“Good morning Guiui” A friendly voice called out. I looked towards the person who said that with a hateful look filled with unwarranted venom.
“Did you see Jao around here?” I asked Mael, our token mulatto in the camp.
“Uh eh, not, nope didn’t see him… uh i think i saw him leaving along with the other Brazilians last night.” He said, tripping over his own words.
“Ok, thank you for warning me Kae, God bless you.” I said to my contact.
“Yes, God bless you too.” He said as I closed my flip up phone.

I began walking towards the edges of our field camp, men in surplus equipment and weaponry walked merrily along the dirt paths in this tent town.
I heard the sound of a heavy engine in the distance, and my blood boiled as i began running towards it, as i began springing up my pistol fell out of my jacket, i stopped mid run and walked back towards the muddy 1911 clone, i picked it up and began running towards the source of the sound.

I ran as fast as I could in the muddy ground as people from my company began greeting me.

“Going for a morning jog?” A Puerto Rican catboy asked, yes we found one.
“Shut up!” I yelled as I ran as fast as I could until I could see a soviet green tank fitted with explosive reactive armor, Drozd active protection, laser rangefinder and modern fire control systems.
The driver, Vapo, had his hatch opened and was driving quite haphazardly.
The tank was way taller than me but my blood was boiling and I was too fast to stop. I ran towards it like a Karen looking for the manager.
The tank turned its front towards me, I could see Vapo’s astounded expression from a distance as I didn’t show signs of stopping.
I jumped up on the frontal glacis and held on to the 100mm cannon as i climbed up towards the turret, using one of the ERA modules for support i moved towards the commander’s hatch and began beating against it with the muzzle of my pistol

“Open up, Son of a bitch” I said in between a coughing fit as my lungs began to burn.
I heard an unlocking sound and the hatch began to move. I dodged the incoming hatch and positioned myself to the side as I heard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzkYsiKtRIw coming from inside.
“Get out of the tank before I turn you into a Rio de Janeiro kid.” I yelled down below.
The tank stopped abruptly, Vapo engaged the parking brake and turned off the engine.
The loader’s hatch was opened and Bahiano began moving out of it with his hands up, I turned my gun towards him and could see only fear and a demand for a diaper.

I stood up and disengaged the safety “Come on you fucking rat, get out before i turn you into a Sao Paulo apartment complex.”

Two hands grabbed onto the commander’s cupola and the face of Jao was seen.

“I don’t fear execution because this was a calculated and well thought measure” He said in a, well, his tone, his usual tone.
“Just like when you wrote off that Shmel you bought as vital supplies and then used it against a Shandian orphanage?” I asked him, pointing my pistol down.
“More vital than that.” The liveleak addicted individual stated.
“This is a Pelasdenian modernized T55 AMV-1 with a geist included.” He said.
“A what?!” I asked, still trying to piece it all together.
“A Waffengeist, you know, the weapon spiri-” I interrupted him mid-sentence “DID YOU USE THE FUCKING UNIT’S MONEY TO BUY A FUCKING WIFE AND A REDUNDANT TANK!!?!?” I yelled out, my hand gripping the pistol with a renewed rage.
“The unit’s money was just for the tank, the bonus came from my pocket, besides we got a new crewmember and needed a new tank.” His arguments had few holes, but that subdued smugness in his eyes made me want to empty half my magazine on him. Knowing my lunch and gun money was stolen by him only made the feeling more visceral.

“Get the fuck out of my station” I commanded as he made space for me to enter.
“Vapo! roll out, motor pool, try not to run over the cat!” I said as i looked towards the Bahiano, who was looking at me with absent eyes “Get the fuck in before i get angrier” I told him as i entered the commander’s station.
Bahiano entered the loader’s station and the tank sprang to life in a mighty diesel filled roar.

“Turn off that gopnik music” I said as I turned the safety on my pistol and checked the interior of the tank.
“It’s worse than Gopnik, if one of them listens to this shit they will dissolve while screaming obscenities” Jao said as he moved his hands to the red JBL speaker in his station to turn the volume down. The tank made its way towards the camp.
I stuck my head outside and held onto the opened hatch as I looked around, to see the other members of the camp running around preparing for combat while screaming orders to each other and lighting cocktail molotovs as we approached.
I looked to our right flank and could see a giant of a man preparing to charge forward with an equally giant log of wood, ready to jam it in our tracks.
I pulled myself up and began waving my arms around in an effort to make them recognize me.
A shot rang silencing everything around me, I closed my eyes and held my head in effort to hunker down, I waited a moment while the sound of the shot reverberated in my ears.

I’m still alive.

The tank was still moving, I could hear a commotion in the camp as I stood up on the tank and looked towards the people there.
“WHO THE FUCK SHOT ATA ME?” I yelled out.
“Sorry I thought it was Jao!” I heard from the group of people.
My best try at a poker face was my expression as the tank approached the commotion steadily

“Vapo, ignore the faggots, straight to the ‘pool.” I yelled down towards the driver.

We arrived at the motor-pool, it was a set of tents with enough space for the vehicles and tools below.
Vapo passed straight by the motor pool and then reversed into it, our Cascavel was there, alongside some jeeps and an old Toyotta shitbox.

“Ok, crew out!” I yelled as I exited the tank and landed on the soft muddy floor below.
The rest of the crew did the same and began congregating around me.
“Ok, do we have ammo and spare parts for it?” I asked Jao.
“Not yet.. but soon enough” He responded.
“What?” I asked, alarmed.
“See that grad box on top of the engine deck ? Shit’s full of coke man, already got a destination, once it’s delivered the guy is gonna drop off our supplies.” He said pointing at the gigantic wooden crate barely attached to the vehicle with rope and blue electrical tape.
“Coke? you mean coca cola?” I questioned further, awaiting a different answer from the now very obvious truth.
“Your innocence is palpable and your high expectations regarding my character almost hurt me.” He responded, bursting into laughter at the end of the sentence.

“You…” I said, grinding my hand into a fist “You nigger… you absolute niggerlicious negroidal existence, What was your plan?” I asked him, my hand hovering over my piece, Vapo approached, expecting he would have to stop me.

“Ok so, hear me out before trying to shoot me. In the land we stand at currently, coke is completely legal, and the same applies to most of the continent, the thing is, that shit is mad illegal in Shiandi, the plan is we cross the border at night and drop this shit off to my contact, man should be just . . . Some 20 km ? Into their territory. Should be able to be a single night venture. Another point is that if we do complete it, I can pay off like, 75% of the tank.” He explains with his hands held up but the smug attitude is still there.

I sighed deeply and deliberated in my mind for a second.

“Ok, we’ll not traffic this shit, but we’ll get the money. I’ll burn the coke myself and then we’ll bring the boys along and kill the contact and tail it with the money and supplies, simple as that.” I grasped a hand against my chin. “Oh and Jao, you will never buy anything with the company money again.
You will not sell coke, you will not buy Shmells, i will never lend you any money again, stop trying to fuck the local women and stop playing Kino nonstop on the radio. You’re lucky I was thinking about buying a new tank.” I walked back and forth along the motorpool, as my mind tried to process and comprehend the events that unfolded this very morning.
“Kino’s good tho . . .” He mumbles at a barely audible volume.
“Tell me we have ammo in this shit, please, tell me this shit is working.” I asked.

“Oh, you can fucking bet it is, besides coming with an extremely expensive girlfriend, it also came with a full ammo load and completely functional systems, Our current ammo load is . . . 4 Bastions, 6 Willie Pete rounds, 12 HE-Frag, 9 HEAT rounds and 12 Crowbars. Plus an actual fuckton of 23x115 on the boxes I strapped to the turret.” He answers proud of his negotiation skills.

“Ok, ok, ok ,ok ,ok. Vapo do a checkup on the engine, Bahiano help me with the crate, and Jao! go get me Vivid and the rest of the friends” I said as I approached the engine bay.

“All units, this is Retard 1-2, requesting your presence at the motor pool to check out the results of my incomparable cunning and silver tongue. Plus Retard 1-1 actual is asking you to get your asses here.” He said over an old ivanoid radio set he spent a fortune on. 

Me and Bahiano cut off the ropes and blue tape and lifted the crate and with a bit of trouble managed to put it down on the motor pool floor while Vapo opened the engine bay and did a full check on its integrity.
The crate was closed and sealed.

I turned my attention towards the tank, it was a modernized T55, the difference is that it was modernized by a nation on this side of the portals and they are a bit unorthodox and alien.

The ERA package is the first thing that calls my attention, all around the tank, except the rear, Kontact 1 blocks, all of them.
Second thing, the Drozd active protection system on the sides of the turret, 4 107mm shots on each side, they look like torpedoes and use a radar doppler for determining when to fire it. We have smoke launchers behind the torpedoes.
The Dshk machine gun on top of the cupola is way bigger than a standard one, it’s chambered in 23mm, more firepower, less ammo and it’s smoothbore. There’s extra 23mm drums fixed on the turret.
The Laser rangefinder and FCS sights seem to be normal, I cannot identify them but it’s 21st century technology.

“Vapo, how’s the engine?” I asked as I climbed on the tank.
“V12, diesel, liquid cooled. Looks to be a later model.” Vapo said as he looked around inside the engine.
“Yes, based on the T-72 engine. It’s installed on later T55s, around 700 horsepower.” Jao commented.

The markings on the tank are in Roman numerals, a red star proudly adorns the side of the tank.

“Get some paint, we’ll have to change the markings, after the hit is complete we’ll paint it in Brazilian two-tone camo.” I said as I sat on-top of the turret bustle.

“Fuck no, it ruins the charm!” Jao exclaimed the moment he heard it. “Oh and by the way, I forgot to show you guys the best feature of this tank.” He continued. “Ulyana, meu amor, could you please appear ?” As he said that, a tall white haired girl materialized beside him. Her physique was decently toned and her hair reached just below shoulder length, fluffy appendages decorated her head and end of her spine, along with 2 ambar-like eyes on her face. She was dressed in a way you’d expect a tanker from the 90’s to be dressed like, except with the VSR jacket tied around her waist instead of worn, in its place a white and black telnyashka.

“See, totally worth it dude.” He said as he kissed the newly materialized girl on the cheek and she responded in kind.

I turned to stare at him, my mind couldn’t process what I just saw.
“Totally worth it… for you, what can she do?” I asked him as I stared at them both, trying to process the femoid in front of me.

“Ok so, the best way to explain this is that she works kind of like those sci-fi ship AIs, she has control over most of the tank’s subsystems, shit like the Drozd and Smoke launchers, the whole Mobility setup and can even fire the gun on her own, the thing is she, can’t really reload it because that has to be done manually. She can also cast some minor spells onto the tank and its occupants but that’s about as much as I know.” As Jao speaks the girl silently nods from beside him, confirming all of the seemingly bullshit affirmations made by the guy.

“Maybe you really got some trading skills… and I was supposed to be the merchant,” I sighed and deliberated inside my mind.
“Ok, get Bahiano familiarized with the ammo types and how to load it. I’ll burn the coke, call me when the friends arrive.” I said as I took a jerry can from the tank and moved towards the coke crate.
“Vapo help me here, you’re plenty strong for this.” I called out to Vapo who was still on top of the engine bay, looking in awe at the female geist besides Jao. I snapped my fingers and he looked at me. “Help me here with the crate.” I asked him.
“Ok ok, i’m coming” Vapo said as he moved closer.

“For the love of god do not burn the coke, we can just go in and out with this, it’s an easy mission and easy money. We also need out spare parts and ammunition, killing the only supplier is fucking retarded” Jao said before i got a chance to even move the coke out of place.

“What?! He's the supplier too? why didn’t you say it before?” I asked in utter surprise.

“Who do you think gave me the actual mission ? I got it from the same guy I got Ulyana and the Shmel from.” He said.
“So if I kill that guy I won't have to deal with your shenanigans anymore, got it.” I said in a sarcastic tone.
“You still will, it’ll just be a lot more expensive.” He responded

A set of heavy sounding boots striking against the damp mud was heard, I turned my eyes towards it and saw Lock, the commander of the company entering the motor pool tent.

“Hey yo yo my friends, what did Jao do this time around?” He asked while glancing at the tank beside him.
“Good news, I got a girlfriend lock !!” Jao told him enthusiastically while still hugging the wolf girl “Oh, and also this T-55 from Pelasdenia, they’re also kind of the same thing but yeah . . . This is Ulyana.” He says pointing at both the tank and the girl.
“It’s self explanatory, the problem is this thing here” I said, standing up and pointing to the crate filled with coke.
“Is that what I think it is?” Lock asked while approaching the crate.
“Positive, Crack cocaina.” I answered, matter of factly.

He stood there for a second sighing while holding his palm against his face.

“Jao, you’re a fucking nigger-monkey, you’re the blackest gorilla retard i ever had the displeasure of meeting, ACTUAL FUCKING PRIMATE!” Lock exploded as he rebuked Jao.

He went on a rampage of insults and anger that lasted for a while.

I glanced over to Vapo and Bahiano who were equally astonished at the verbal creativity behind the words and uncomfortable at the whole thing. Ulyana was also uncomfortable but with a hint of growing anger at her eyes as Lock went back and forth physically and verbally at Jao.
Every time Jao tried to interject he was promptly shut off by Lock.

I moved closer to the towering man that was Lock and touched his shoulder. “That’s enough, Lock.”  He turned to me and nodded.
“We need to burn the coke” As i said this Jao physically motioned and opened his mouth, but stopped midway through “And then deal with the contact, you should get the rest of the people so we can discuss and plan it together” I said to him as some other members of the company were approaching the motor pool, weapons of all shapes and sizes slung over their shoulders.

End of first chapter second arc

In front of the muddy motorpool Lock lined 12 brave souls, their heights and bodies were as diverse as their weapons and equipment. Everything from Soviet warehouse-punk to American gun fetichism pseudo equipment.

We were as diverse as a Hong Kong business meeting. The coke-box was burning like a funeral pyre a few meters away from this meeting.

The men talked and mumbled about while Lock tried to get their attention.
“Shut up, EVERYONE, SHUT UP!” Lock screamed, silencing everyone. “Ok, we need to do a hit on a smelly snarling merchant, the nigger was trying to buy drugs but as you might see the drugs are now burning, so we’ll move towards the meeting point and take care of the bastard ourselves.”  He exclaimed in an upbeat tone.

While Lock was giving his speech I was taking a look at maps on top of the commander’s hatch while talking to Vapo.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” He asked, twisting a smile.

“Good enough.” I answered while I drew our route on the map, marking possible enemy overwatch and ambush positions.

“How are we gonna get our supplies after this eh? What if they try to retaliate? I’m very scared about this Guiu” He continued.

“We have two worlds to choose from for our supplier, and we have contacts with multiple Fankasia side kingdoms that maintain relations with Earth side nations. Now about the retaliation… umm, we’ll have to take him alive and use him as a hostage.” I explained.
He gave me a look of understanding and nodded.

“Ok, but I'm still shitting bricks about all this.” He commented as I copied my drawings into another map of the region.

“Ok but i’m just saying, that’s your loss.” Joao commented while he greased the tracks.
I passed one of the maps to Vapo. “There’s our route, red one is the main one, blue one is the backup, it’s gonna be a long one. Are you gonna be ok in the driver’s position? it isn’t like the Cascavel.”  I asked him as he took the map and gave it a thoughtful look.

“Yes, it’s not so different anyway.” He assured me.

“Ok, give a final check to the engine and see if Ulyana is good to go.” I ordered him as I moved down from the turret towards lock, holding a copy of the maps in my arm. Bahiano greeted me as he moved into the motorpool.

“Ah, I was about to call you Guiu-chan!” Lock said as I moved closer. “As you know Guiu here is in charge of the Brazilians and has training in armored warfare, if you want to survive you’ll better listen to him.” He added.

“I would have been a tank commander in Brazil if Stalking wasn’t a crime, anyhow.” I gave Lock my copy of the map and he started to analyze it.

“This will be a long range raid, we’ll go in, we’ll go out, bring ammo, food, medicine and ropes. Main objective is to capture the contact and bring him back.” I explained as the attention focused on me. I waited a few moments before resuming. “I need three men who don’t owe me that much and are good with vehicles.” As I said that a few hands went up, volunteering.

A young zoomer, a Miami Cuban and an Australian weeb, can’t deny they are tankist material.

“The Cascavel is a product of a WW2 mentality with cold war armament, it drives like a truck and even a child can use the main gun sights. I need you three to crew it, go to Vapo and he’ll brief you over.” I said pointing to the big 6x6 armored vehicle parked besides the T55 in the motorpool.

The three enthusiastic fellows fell out of formation and went towards the motor pool with a big smile on their faces.

“The rest of you… you will have to ride on top of the tank.” I told them as Lock scribbled down some things in a bright colored notebook.
The men looked and sounded enthusiastic about it, like kids in a playground.

“Here’s the map, Guy” Lock said as he misaddressed me while passing me my map back.
“I’ll leave the rest to you, instruct them to stay away from the moving parts and optics, you need to sit the closest to the commander’s hatch.” I told him as I moved back to the T55.

I moved back to the motorpool. Vapo was putting the motley crewmen into the Cascavel, instructing the driver how to operate his tools, and then moving back to the gunner and telling him the bare minimum, or should I say, everything he would need to know.

“Tell them to follow behind us!” I yelled out to Vapo as I climbed the T55 up. “Yeah!” He answered, focusing on the task at hand.

I moved to the commander’s hatch and reached down for my Tankist helmet, the classic black shock absorbing ushanka, modified so fluffy canine ears could fit.
Pelasdenians sure are weird.
The intercom cable was already connected, so I just wore it and began testing the radio.

Jao was down by the driver’s position talking to Ulyana. It made me uncomfortable. I could hear him speaking sweet nothings in a very cutesy voice.

Bahiano moved up the turret and saluted me entering his hatch shortly after.
A few minutes later Vapo ran back and entered the driver’s position, Jao stopped his disgusting romance and moved up the turret too, nodding to me and entering his hatch.

I reached down and turned the radio on, setting the right frequency.

“All units all units, radio check, over”
“Lock here.”
“Aussie here, mate.”
“Radio communications are open, keep the channel clear, T55 callsign is Tango 1, Cascavel callsign is Charlie 1, over.” I said over the radio as I entered my hatch, it was a hard fit. The hatch itself was smaller than my shoulders.

As I entered I was greeted by a claustrophobic environment, I wasn't the tallest man around so  space wasn’t the main problem, rather the low, almost nonexistent amount of vision prisms was the true culprit for my anxiety. I could see to the front, albeit slightly blocked by my main optics, and I could look to the left, through a single prism. In Front of me was the commander’s sight and hunter-killer controls, as well as a break box with the smoke grenades and active protection controls. As well as an electric control panel.

The men in line were talking and rumbling about in an enthusiastic tone as Lock motioned and gestured like an opera master.

“Vapo, Ulyana, turn the engine on and put us in front of the men” I said over the intercom, while Jao and Bahiano donned their helmets and tried to set themselves in a comfortable position.

“Roger roger” Vapo responded through his intercom.

The V12 roared to life as black smoke began to spew out of the exhaustor.

“Charlie 1, turn the engine on and enter column formation behind us, over.” I told them over the radio.
Our tank began to grind forward leaving the motor pool and turning abruptly to the right.
I left my hatch so I could look around, I sat on top of the turret while holding onto the opened hatch.
The tank was awe-inspiring, in all its full metal glory. The men stared at it with exhilaration. I looked at them from my hatch, made me feel like I was unstoppable

“Mount up!” Lock yelled out and the men responded instantly, climbing up onto the tank using whatever they could find for support like ants on an ant hill they sat on every flat part of the vehicle the ones that couldn’t fit were motioned towards the cascavel that was leaving the motorpool. Lock sat close to my hatch.

“Won’t all these people on the tank mess with the turret rotation?” Jao asked, already aware of the answer.
“Yes, but we won’t be meeting any enemies on the way, just make sure to lock the turret in place.” I answered.
“Yeah, same answer on the drozd torpedoes?” He asked, with a coy smile “Unfortunately in case of an RPG ambush the tank will survive at the price of the people around it, ha ha.” I answered in a joyful tone.

“What are you monkeys talking about?” Lock asked in a friendly tone.
“If we are ambushed on the way I want everyone here to jump out and get at LEAST sixty meters away from the beast, lest you want to be hit by shrapnel” I answered, in a yell to make sure I would be heard through the rumble of the engine.
“Got it,” Lock nodded.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We drove through hills and forests towards a small green valley pierced by clean blue rivers. Very different from where I was born, the colorful birds and oppressive heat were nowhere to be seen or felt.

Meanwhile, Joao decided to make small talk to try and ease the rest of the crew into his new acquisition. “Hey, so . . . Did you guys know our APFSDS is rated against Chobham armor ?” He said, in as much of a casual tone as he could knowing his precious drugs got burned.

“What chobham are you referring to?” I asked, with a smug tone. “Like, Challenger one, Challenger two, how many millimeters?”

“I’m talking like, Challenger 2 type shit, things suck out ambient mana and then turn into extra propulsion via some magical rune bullshit.” He said, surprisingly confident even with the seemingly bullshit explanation. “All that I know is that depending on how much it travels these things can possibly go faster than the 152mm APFSDSs Pelasdeania uses, granted they’re not also enchanted, mind you.” He explained.

I grappled my head in confusion as I tried to process what I just heard. “Magical rounds?” I blurted out.

“Yep, they don’t have mana storage in them, they just absorb what they pass through, so they’re pretty much useless on our side. But they’re great on this side of the portals, and since here’s where we operate, we should be good. They’re the ones marked with a white band on the dart, I assume that’s the magical rune thing they added.” He explained, seemingly unlocking some ancient sage knowledge.

Until, of course . . . His new “wife” intervened. “You fucked up the last part, badly, and i’m very disappointed in you.” Came a voice directly from the tank’s internal comms system. “The white band isn’t the runic formation, it’s just there as a cover up, if you apply mana directly to it it’ll form into the actual runic pattern, it also does so in flight, that’s simply the inactive state of the formation, made to act as a signal band while not manifested.” She added, Joao giving what can only be called a fluoride stare in the meantime as a reaction, as she seemed to go back to whatever she was doing micromanaging the tank’s systems.

“I don’t know what to say, they didn’t teach me this back at the academy and this shit ain’t in any manuals or forums. I’ll leave it to you, the gunner.” I said, trying to focus on other things.

“Got ya, just wanted you to know we can punch a bit above our proverbial weight class, and considering some of the defensive spells Ulyana can cast, survive a bit more than we should too. She said she’s been learning this stuff since chechnya, I didn’t ask much more, seemed sensitive.” He said, going back to scanning his thermal sights.

We reached a summit on the road, ahead of us was the valley and its beautiful visage. The contact was waiting for us by the biggest river, I could see the smoke rising from his encampment from here.

“G, stop the tank.” Lock said as he tapped my shoulder.
“Vapo, halt!” I yelled on the intercom as I punched my right fist up in the air for all to see.

The machines grinded to a halt. Whispering could be heard as Lock moved about behind me, I took my binoculars out and started surveying the grounds ahead of us. Forests, rivers,low to zero population, short sightlines, no roads, elevated terrain in some parts. Bad place for a tank.

“G, what’s the plan?” Lock asked, disguised anxiety stamped in his face. I thought for a second as I scratched my head through the tankist helmet.

“Dismount the infantry then keep following the road ahead while keeping radio contact.” I said, before producing the map of the region out of my thigh strap.
“They are supposed to be here. Approach carefully, we’re supposed to take their shot-caller alive.” I said pointing to a red outlined point in the map.
“And… that is supposed to be” Lock deliberated for a second looking around trying to get his bearings. “Right there.” He pointed to a small clearing down in the valley where small puffs of smoke were rising.
I gave a hearty laugh. “Amateurs, as expected. Go on and let’s start this party”

He had a big smile on his face before turning back and yelling orders for the men to move out and jumping out. And so they did, hopping out of the tank with visible enthusiasm before charging forward down the road following Lock’s example.

“Charlie, follow us, keep radio contact, over” I said over the net.
An affirming grunt came in return. That’s good enough, I thought.

“Vapo, low speed ahead. Follow the road.” I said with a click to my intercom button.
The tank rocked back and forth before settling down on a steady march forward. The sweet sound of the diesel V12 reverberated all around as we moved.

“It feels so different from home, it’s amazing.” Vapo said in an astonished child-like tone.
“I try not to think of it.” I replied while straightening myself up on the hatch.
“Think of what?” Jao asked, his voice punctuated by the electric screech of the intercom. “Of home” I said in return with a quick tap to my helmet..
“Fair…”  He answered, in a more melancholic tone.

“G, I see them. Something is happening down there.” Lock’s voice sounded through my ear-piece with an apprehensive tone.
“What is happening?”  I asked, expecting the worst.
“We weren’t the first, we weren’t the first. The contact is under attack by fucking knife ears.”  Lock spilled out with rage over the radio.
“Wait for them to finish the job and then we jump them.” I said, barely able to contain my euphoria.  The situation handled itself without our intervention, what a great day.

“You hear that boys?” I said over the tank’s intercom.
“What?” Bahiano and João replied in almost unison.
“Elves are attacking your little “contact”, it seems they are in trouble. We’re gonna wait for them to die, kill the tree-hugger and take the spoils. Like kings!” I said, triumphantly with a fist pump at the end.
“We just don’t stop winning, do we ?” Joao said, eyes still glued to the thermal, having found the encampment and currently checking the laser rangefinder in case the infantry needed some fire support.
“Well, I’m sure not fucking winning. I had to trade my personal fridge for this crappy seat!” Vapo blurted out while pulling on the parking brake stick, relaxing back in his seat.

“Oh fuck this shit, they are wiping the floor with them. These aren’t the edgy eared elves, they are well equipped and know what they are doing. We need you here now! NOW!” Locks’ voice screamed through the radio.
“Lock, we’re on the way.” I said over the radio before changing the frequency. “Charlie one, battle positions, follow our lead, over” I stretched myself on my seat before turning the frequency back.
“Vapo, move up, follow the road!” I yelled on the intercom.
“Ah, just when I was starting to get comfortable.” The driver sighed, disengaging the parking brake and continuing down the road at a comfortable, albeit slow, pace.

“They saw us!” A panicked screech reverberated in my ears, gunshots and yelling in the background. “Kill those niggers!” A symphony of gunfire soon followed.

“Vapo, full throttle!” I commanded with a steely voice, this is not the first time this same situation repeats itself another day, another sudden charge to relieve the poor bloody infantry.
The steel beast thundered ahead, throwing up a small dust cloud as it speeded down the road.

“Load HE in that shit” I yelled out to Bahiano, pointing to the D10’s breech. He in turn quickly turned back unlatched a round out of the wall behind him and with some difficulty pushed it deep into the open breech who responded to this by closing down with a metallic thump. “Pronto!”
I opened the hatch locking it forward and stuck myself out holding on to it as the wind blew violently into my eyes.

“Are we really letting the willie pete rounds sit this one out ?” Joao said, while toggling the guns’ 2 plane stabilization, expecting to have to fire before the tank even got to stop.
“HE first, aim for the tree canopies, let the fragments rain down on them!” I said as a smile began creeping up on my face.

We passed by a hill and came into sight of the ridge where our guys were. Huddled up together behind rocks and trees as tracers flew above and around them. They fired back with machine guns and rifles amid panicked movements.
The enemy was down below in the valley doing likewise. Down there, a lot of bodies and small fires glowing. I could not see much more than pale arms and rifles firing from amid the vegetation.

“Fire everything we got! don’t let them escape!” Lock yelled out, seemingly unaware that his radio was transmitting.

“Jao. weapons free.” I said as the turret swerved towards the enemy position with a metallic crank and an electric whirl.
“Firing.” Joao responded, and a not a second later, the whole tank felt the recoil of the D10 gun firing, rocking the still moving tank. The rest of the crew could hear barely audible giggling at that.

Smoke and dust were thrown up as the tank shaked a bit and the barrel recoiled. A tracer flew towards the enemy and in what felt much less than a second impacted one of the higher trees on their position blowing up in a magnificent star-like pattern. The muzzle flashes that were coming from that place were swiftly silenced.

“WP. Now!” I yelled out as the coaxial began to fire towards the enemy.  “Stop the tank, point the hull towards them.” I added. Vapo soon complied, doing as ordered.
“Pronto, W.P up!” I heard Bahiano say over the intercom.

“Move up, move the fuck up!” Lock screamed over the radio. “Move the fuck up you idiots the tank will cover us.”

“Adjusting and Firing.” Joao said as he aimed the gun a few meters behind the first impact, intent on intercepting the enemy retreat, if there was any, and sent the shell down range. With a toothy grin for all in the tank to see.

The gun roared once again sending a tracer down-range which exploded in a cotton-white cloud some meter behind the tree line.

“The shot connected, keep loading HE and firing down!” I yelled through my intercom. “I’ll go for the ‘23!” I added before pulling up my intercom cable, extending it out of the turret and then moving up and towards the big machine-cannon on the loader’s hatch. 

The infantry began to move forward towards the valley taking advantage of the havoc we were sowing upon the enemy lines.

I yanked the heavy bolt of the 23mm Dshk back as adrenaline began to course through my veins. The bolt slammed back as I unlocked the AA mount and aimed it towards the enemy using the iron sights. I fired it away the concussive waves of the muzzle break were overwhelming.

Soon enough the Cascavel and its motley crew joined the fight, stopping close to us and firing everything they had towards the enemy position.

Reinvigorated by this display of overwhelming firepower our men streamed down towards the valley with weapons firing. Closing in with the enemy with vitriolic fury.

“Cease main cannon fire! cease cannon fire, use only the coax!” I yelled out on the intercom and platoon net as I stood up over the smoking gun to see what remained of the beaten zone. The trees were torn about, bits and pieces of human and elf bodies were strewn along as the white phosphorus burned ominous in the background.

The gun-fire stopped, replaced by the jubile yells and cries of our victorious men… standing over here away from all that I felt nothing. It’s just another day.
The crew of the cascavel turned their engine off and began making their way down to join the rest of the company in their ad-hoc festivities.

“Vapo turn the engine off.” I commanded over the intercom soon after the powerful humming of the V12 died down.
“It’s over?” Vapo meekly asked over the ‘com. “Yes, yes it is. Weapons safe and hatches open people. Dismount.” I replied before disconnecting my intercom cable and leaving it to dangle harmless onto the roof.
I did the same to my tankist helmet, dropping it down with a thump as I straightened my hair and tried to shut down the ringing in my ears.

The loaders hatch opened revealing Bahiano’s neutral face, soon enough Jao climbed up the commander’s hatch and jumped out of the tank. Summoning his wife from the vehicle soon after.
I followed his example and jumped down the tank, letting my jungle boots hit the solid mud below.

"Baiano, you stay Watch over the tank, make sure no-one sneaks up on us!” I yelled up before moving on. Bahiano replied with a smart salute and an affirmative grunt.
Me and my crew walked down the stony hill to the valley below.

Another glorious day, I thought to myself as I approached the merry men who seemed to be curraling the few surviving elves into a tight group for “processing”.

A towering man came over to me waving his hand up. “Just another day?” He said stoically to which I replied “Just another day” In a similar tone “Anything else?” I questioned.
“There’s some elven women still alive so Lock is thinking about what to do with them, I guess you know what the rest of the guys are thinking.” He continued a hint of hate in his tone.
“Of course…” I replied already tired of dealing with this kind of thing.