"Should be an easy one," Anton said after he returned to his seat. 

Reversing out of the courtyard was a challenge, due to the limited visibility, thus Ronald's IFV made a turn in front of them, maneuvering so that its nose faced toward the exit. Anton and Kayla waited inside the Five-Seven for Ronald to drive out. 

"Better stay vigilant," Kayla replied. She then pushed the gas, and slowly followed behind Ronald as they set off on their quest. 

"Should be a similar task to the PvP quest we had back then, but this time against NPCs," Anton then checked the voice chat. He made sure that it was muted. 

"You think that's why he wanted us to come with him?" 

"Not necessarily," Kayla stated. 

"Maybe he just wanted to play with friends?"

"..." Anton didn't even consider that option, but he couldn’t exactly dispute it. 

As they continued on, Anton checked his virtual map, noticing the lack of any names around them. P4ngea had what could be described as NPC nations, nations or areas that didn't have anything to do with players outside of quests. These areas lacked adventure terminals and had very limited services, with inns and shops only available once a player accepted a quest in the region. 

Depending on the era it was based in, some vehicles and weapons may not be available, either. 

"Just out of curiosity, but if we decided to betray them, kinda like back in the Sumbar quest, what would happen?" Anton asked while turning the turret around, looking at the scenery. 

"... Do you really want to try that?" 

"No, no, just curious." 

"Well… they may be using physical weapons, but they could probably overwhelm us."

"I guess…" 

Anton continued looking around the road. While the Tarup 57 had the option to switch the turret camera to other cameras, allowing him to see beside where the turret faced, Anton found actually moving the turret more fun. There were hardly any cars on the road, though. The asphalt roads soon turn into dirt roads. Both the IFV and LAV had off-road capabilities, so it acted more as a slight annoyance than anything. 

They arrived at the point noted in the quest. An empty village sat in front of them, filled with stone houses of varying shapes and sizes, a large body of water sat beyond the village. Anton switched on the night vision, causing the screen to display green footage. The two armored vehicles moved slowly across the now cobblestone roads, roads so narrow that the vehicle’s sides stood no more than a few centimeters away from the stone walls. 

Anton tried to turn the turret to the left, then to the right, but both sides were so close that the cannon's tip would hit the wall if it went past the end of the LAV’s body. 

They arrived at a four-way intersection. Ronald's IFV continued forward in their path, continuing heading south, going past the intersection. 

"Kayla, stop," Anton called, and Kayla did as told. 

They stopped in the center of the intersection, exposing themselves to three angles. Anton quickly rotated the turret, bringing the cannon's tip to the rear of the LAV. 

"Ah, right," Kayla said. After the turret finished rotating, Kayla put her foot on the gas and caught up with the IFV. 

They hadn't met a single person so far, nor did the village have any signs of life. Anton checked the quest screen, which showed the unhelpful message of 'find the bandits'. 

The two found another intersection, with the one in front of them going down, heading deeper into the village. 

'Where should we go?' Ronald asked from the IFV. 

The map didn’t have the village’s layout, it didn’t even show a name. From what they could see, they could only assume the basic shape of the village. The northern sides occupied some kind of highlands, with the path before them connecting it with a section going further south. Based on what they could see, there seemed to be a waterline beyond the village. Anton checked his virtual map, finding a large river marked on it. 

They knew that they were in the correct spot, evident by the large red circle that showed them the quest area. It spanned the entire village, from the north point near the road all the way south to the river.

Anton then rechecked the quest log, making sure that they didn’t accidentally take another PvP quest. 

"We should continue ahead."

'Roger.'

The IFV then moved forward, past the intersection, the LAV following behind it. Kayla kept a safe distance from the vehicle in front of it in case someone attacked, leaving some room to maneuver. The two followed the cobblestone road down into a valley. 

Kayla drove with care, making sure to not slip off the left side of the road, which had a long fall behind it. A single wrong mistake could send them tumbling down the cliff and into someone's home, assuming those stone houses down there were, at some point, owned by someone. 

'The devs really love making empty spaces, huh?' Louis muttered with a curious tone. Anton turned on the voice chat, only to mute himself quickly afterward without saying a single word.

They eventually reached the end of the road and entered the lowlands. The roads were only slightly wider here, which meant Anton still needed to keep his cannon facing backward. They explored the village, occupied by countless buildings but not a single soul. They went from one end to the other, not finding the bandits they were looking for, even at some point passing a small dirt road that connected the village with the waterfront. 

"Maybe we should return?" Anton asked through the voice chat. 

'Good-' Ronald didn't get to finish his sentence when Anton heard the sound of an explosion coming from in front of him. 

The Five-Seven came to a complete stop and quickly reversed. 

"What's going on?" Anton tried to turn the turret. 

The narrow roads prevented him from turning the cannon, so he went to his screen and switched cameras. 

Ronald’s IFV backed away while firing its 25mm cannon at a target up on the hill. 

"So that's…" Anton zoomed in on his target. On top of the hill, standing on the road they just went through, was a tank. 

"Are we the tank attractors, or is it them?" Anton asked, intending to ask Kayla, but this time, he forgot to mute the voice chat. 

'... Maybe both?'

The two moved back, hiding behind a building just as the tank opened fire, sending another round into the building. It exploded, destroying the stone house and blocking the path. The two managed to reverse away from it just in time, minimizing the damage.

Kayla then reached an intersection. She reversed to the left before going straight. Anton turned the turret forward, and they sped away, with Ronald and the rest following behind them. Anton switched the camera again and watched as the tank fired another round, just narrowly missing Ronald, before reversing back to the top side of the village. 

Anton and Ronald raced through the lowlands, looking for a spot that would cover them from the tank. They decided that their best bet was to go through the dirt road that linked the village to the waterfront, probably the farthest point from the tank. The riverside was also outside the red area. 

Kayla found another intersection and was about to turn right when she pulled the Five-Seven to a stop. A shell weighing roughly one thousand kilograms tore right through the sky, narrowly missing the LAV and slamming into a building right next to it, causing it to crumble, dividing them from the IFV following behind them. Kayla tried to crawl on top of the rubble, but the vehicle suddenly became stuck, and another shell crashed into the LAV's front armor. 

It came at a shallow angle, the shell bouncing off the tank's sloped front, sending it on a crash course into the rubble beside them, but it dealt quite a large amount of damage as it did that. The shockwave of its blast shook the LAV, but at the same time freeing it from the rubble blocking its path. Kayla looked through her screens for a moment before stepping on the gas. Anton felt a force pulling him into his seat as the LAV jumped forward, speeding through the intersection, and heading east. They were just barely fast enough to dodge a third shell coming their way. 

"What should we do?" Kayla asked, a tone of concern leaking from her voice. 

The enemy surrounded them, their cannons aimed toward them. More enemy tanks of various sizes must be hiding somewhere else. They weren't safe as long as they stayed in this red circle. Anton thought about possible solutions to the problem, but he came out empty. He didn’t expect these bandits to actually have multiple tanks. It was far different from the PvP quest, with this one harder than he expected. 

Anton tried to recall the second tank that shot at them. Depending on the type, they may be able to win against it, as long as it didn't have thick armor. 

But the Five-Seven's 25mm cannon wasn't designed to take on medium and heavy tanks. Even if they could take this one on, Anton felt unsure about the one lurking on the north side of the village. Based on its design, that one looked to be a formidable opponent, one even better compared to the one they faced back in their PvP quest. To make matters worse, they were on their own, without support, in an area unsuited for tank-to-tank combat. 

After all that consideration, he still didn't have an answer for Kayla. 

‘An- Lykon, Layka, how is it on your end?' Ronald asked through the radio. 

"Anton?" Kayla called again from the driver's seat. Anton was at an utter loss for what to do, his mind incapable of thinking about anything. He looked through his cameras, searching for other tanks. 

Then it appeared. 

Another tank, but this time a light tank, appeared from their left, from the north. An older model, one they could handle with their 25mm cannon. Anton didn't waste a single moment and sent a barrage of shots into the tank, resulting in it exploding into a ball of flames. Kayla turned to the right, taking the south exit. 

"We're heading for the waterfront," Kayla declared, taking action. Anton didn't debate her choice, instead, focused on watching their surroundings. 

How do these bandits have tanks in the first place!? 

This was a world quest. It probably had a reason for happening… probably. Getting to the bottom of it may give them a solution to solving the quest without violence, although there was no guarantee. 

'Roger. We're- watch out! Ahh! Back back back! … We'll be there,' Ronald said through the voice chat.

"Roger!" Kayla answered. Kayla drove past the burning wreckage. Anton noticed two NPCs jumping from the burning wreckage, running away from the tank. He turned the turret toward them, his hand hovering on the trigger.

He didn’t fire. He simply watched as they disappeared behind the houses. Kayla continued on forward. Another light tank appeared to block their way. Anton fired at it, hitting the front side of its turret, damaging its main cannon. With it disabled, they went past it and turned at a three-way intersection, turning south. They headed for the waterfront, weaving in between cannon roars. They narrowly avoided two other tanks before finally arriving at their destination.