January 20th, 2017 07:10 Hours
----------------------------------------
Zoe had thankfully come through for Luca and shown off her engineering skills. She was able to rebuild the worn out Continental 1790 V12 engine that had powered their M60 Patton. When she had the engine on the test bench and ran it, the engine was making close to a thousand horsepower which was a big improvement over the original 750 it made back when the engine was originally made.
"This is impressive, Zoe!" Luca patted her shoulder and chuckled.
"Danke." She giggled, "Fortunately finding the parts was not too difficult as there are some WePAC nations that still use the M60. This should hold us over until Kencrick can acquire a newer tank for us. Right now I must get the maintenance crews to place the engine into the Panzer and we can return to battle."
While Zoe went in search for the maintenance crew, Peter returned with their new loader and driver. He was wearing the typical Kesalian Army Combat Uniform but his haircut was a bit too long to be considered regulation and he had a bad boy's aura about him while the driver was exactly the gyaru that Kendrick had described with her bleach blonde hair that she hid under a military issue beanie.
"Here's the guy I told you about." Kendrick said, "Chew this Alessio, Alessio this is Chew and this is Riko Tatsuya...our psychotic tank driver." He chuckled.
"Pleased to meet you. First name's Peter."
" 'Sup?" Riko Added.
"I'm Luca." He replied, shaking Peter and Riko's hands, "You both come highly recommended from Kendrick."
"Well shit...I guess my skills are recognized somewhere." Riko chuckled, "Ain't that nice, Pete?"
"I suppose...just don't go crushing any exes cars this time." Peter teased.
"Yeah, I'm a reformed car crusher now..."
"THAT is what I like to hear. Minus the car-crushing part. We don't commit war crimes here." Luca patted Riko's shoulder, "The Patton is somewhat forgiving despite being millions of years old and it has an automatic transmission so no need to worry about a clutch or the thing stalling on you. Just listen to me when reversing so you don't crush some innocent Humvee and stop when I tell you to stop and you'll be just fine capisce?"
"Roger that." Riko replied, "Does it have air conditioning?"
"This isn't an Abrams so no... we all fight and burn together in un-air conditioned hell." Kendrick added.
As the trio continued to chat, Zoe walked over to update them on the situation regarding the Patton.
"The maintenance crews are installing the new engine as we speak. We have also received new orders.... our mission is to engage a unit of the Ruvanian 5th Guards Regiment near the outskirts of Angelus. We will be assisting the 22nd armored division in this battle... we mount up as soon as the engine is installed." Zoe said.
"Alright then... that was quick." Luca rolled his eyes, "By the way have you met Peter yet? He's our new loader. Riko this is Zoe Peretz... she's our gunner."
"Hello." Peter said, shaking her hand, "Firm grip I see." Peter chuckled, "And you're pretty damn tall."
"Such a pleasure to meet you!" Zoe laughed, "I get that a lot and yes depending on the tank, I fit in it just fine...unless it's a T-72, fuck T-72s."
"T-72s are trash." Riko added.
Time flew by as the crew continued to chat and now it was time to go when the crew chief informed them that the engine was installed and the tank was ready.
"Okay guys let's go, mount up!" Luca ordered.
The crew climbed onto the tank and into their positions. They then put on their tank helmets and Riko started up the tank, the massive V12 diesel quickly roaring to life with a faint turbo whistle. When the engine warmed up they joined formation with the rest of the column and began the journey towards Angelus this time with Bradley fighting vehicles loaded with infantry to provide support.
The tanks were now just twenty miles away from Angelus. Major Diedrich switched to an open comm to relay his orders to the tanks in his column.
"All tanks. If you spot any enemy armor you are cleared to engage take no prisoners. The mechanized infantry will provide support. Alessio and Hammer 2 will scout ahead for us." Diedrich said. "You misfits paying attention back there?" He scoffed.
"What an asshole..." Riko muttered.
"What was that?" Diedrich replied.
"Nothing." Riko said, "Hey, Luca do you listen to music during battle?"
"Sometimes, why?" Luca replied.
"I have some music if you and the rest of the crew wanna hear it." Riko said.
"Yeah I do... perhaps it'll help when we get there."
"I love to hear music during battle." Peter added, doing his best Revolver Ocelot impression.
As the tanks continued to advance to Angelus, Riko plugged her phone into the comms and selected Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC to play during the drive. When they arrived at the AO. The infantry in the Bradleys quickly disembarked from their vehicles and went to their fighting positions to provide cover for the tanks while Luca and the crew began hunting for enemy armor with the rest of the Abrams tanks in the column. Little did they know that things would soon go south when an Abrams within the group ran over an anti-tank mine powerful enough to blow off the turret killing the entire crew.
"Button up!" Luca ordered.
Luca and his crew followed orders and buttoned up. As they advanced through the town. A Ruvanian T-14 smashed through the rubble of a nearby building and now they were face to face with the most advanced tank in the entire Ruvanian military.
"Tank, tank!" Luca shouted.
"Fuck! It's an Armata!" Riko added.
"Tatsuya we need to flank it! Chew load a SABOT round!"
"Sabot up!" Peter replied after loading the Sabot round into the breach.
"It's like Diedrich sent us into a trap... fucking assholes." Peter said, "I knew he always had it out for you but damn."
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Well, we're not leaving 'till we knock out that Armata!" Luca said, "Zoe the second you have a chance to hit him in the rear you pop him, got it!?"
"Roger!" She screamed back.
Riko moved to flank the T-14 using the damaged buildings for cover while Luca stayed outside the commander's hatch to call the shot. When they finally had a chance the T-14 gunner turned back to take aim at their M60.
"FIRE!" Luca ordered.
"On the way!" Zoe shouted, firing the main gun.
The 105mm round penned the Armata's rear armor. Peter quickly loaded a second round and Zoe took aim once more firing another round into the Armata's rear. The enemy tank while not completely destroyed was at least disabled and no longer a threat before the Abrams on Luca's column finished it off.
"Tank destroyed, let's move on." Luca ordered, "Diedrich, this is Alessio... there is armor in here and I think it's best that you have some CAS on stand by. During our scouting session we managed to encounter a T-14."
"Did you destroy it?" Diedrich asked, not caring about the rest of Luca's report.
"We disabled it and another tank from the column assisted with the kill. Report your position."
"Watching over the city..." Diedrich replied, "Keep advancing."
"I figured that." Luca sighed, "Okay, Tatsuya let's move out."
"Copy that." Riko said.
Riko put the M60 back into drive and applied half throttle. She advanced towards the next waypoint and kept an eye on the tank's gauges. She began to notice the temperature gauge rapidly spike into the red before the engine finally sputtered to a halt.
"Ara... we've overheated!" Riko shouted.
"Fuck..." Luca said under his breath, "Tatsuya halt and shut it down."
As instructed, Riko stopped the tank and shut it off. Luca then disembarked to inspect the damage. His worst fears were confirmed when he saw the rear of the tank belching out white smoke from its exhaust.
"DAMMIT!" He shouted, "This piece of shit blew a head gasket!"
"Dammit...dammit, shit!" Zoe said.
Tears were beginning to form in the pit of her eyes. Zoe felt that she had failed and thus endangered both Luca and her crew as she was the one responsible for rebuilding the M60's engine.
"Are you saying you're sorry?" Luca asked.
"Yes... I rebuilt the engine on this tank and it is my fault for failing you. Now I have put all of our lives in danger."
"It's not your fault. This was an old ass Patton with an engine that was on its way out and I thought just rebuilding the engine would last us a lot longer than a few days. I just hope Kendrick can come through with us on that new tank." Luca replied before hugging Zoe.
"Yeah if we're alive by the end of this!" Peter said, loading his Imbel MD-2
"Just trust me... I'll get us all through this." Luca replied, grabbing his M14 and M1911 and handing Zoe her G3.
"This isn't my first rodeo so how bad can it be eh?" Riko added before racking back the charging handle on her Type 89.
"Let's move out... our base should be south from here." Luca said.
"Will we encounter any heavy resistance?" Zoe asked, her hands shaking as she held her G3.
"Pretty much a guarantee. We're in Ruvanian held territory... safe to say this mission was a failure too." Riko replied.
The team began the process of evading the enemy. While retreating towards Kesalian territory they began receiving radio calls about Ruvanian armor advancing towards friendly positions within the area. Luca pulled out his binoculars and spotted a column of twelve Ruvanian T-90As.
"We gotta take them out." He said.
"And exactly are we going to do that, genius?" Riko asked
"The Guards regiment should have some boom boom stuff lying around. Maybe some Kornets or something. If you guys are with me then come on."
The crew reluctantly nodded in approval and followed behind Luca. They advanced through the city eliminating any soldiers they encountered until they came across a small building that was missing part of its roof following the initial attack a few weeks ago.
"Let's see what they've got up here." Peter said, "Watch your sectors while you're at it... could be plenty of Rufies hiding in there waiting to pop ya!"
"I will keep that in mind..." Zoe replied.
When they entered the building they spotted a long stair case and advanced up it. Once at the top they overheard a group of soldiers chatting in Ruvanian. When Luca and his crew were ready they moved in and took out the soldiers and then took a look at what they had at their disposal.
"Holy shit man it's a weapons cache!" Riko said, lifting the crate, "Rocket launchers!"
"Not just any rocket launchers..." Luca added, "Kornets.."
"These suckers work just like a TOW... they'll rip an Abrams apart if you hit in the right spot."
"Well this is just what we need... how many missiles we got?" Peter asked.
"Just six." Riko said, "We take out the Vlads and then our allies can contend with the rest."
"They'll spot us sooner or later." Luca replied, "We have two launchers here... Riko and Zoe will shoot and Pete and I will reload. We take out as many as we can and then we run and hope that reinforcements are en-route to take over."
Peter and Riko assisted Luca and Zoe in setting up the Kornet launchers. Once the launchers were prepared they loaded them both with a missile. With the launchers loaded, Zoe and Riko aimed down the thermal sights and spotted their first targets. Two T-90s headed towards a squad of friendly Bradley fighting vehicles. They squeezed the trigger and kept the targets within sight until they impacted destroying the two tanks. Luca and Peter then grabbed two more missiles out of the crate and loaded them into the launchers before tapping Zoe and Riko on their backs indicating that the launchers had been loaded.
"Firing!" Zoe and Riko said.
The missiles streaked towards their targets and seconds later there were two more impacts this time leading to a spectacular explosion which lead to an ammunition cook off. Luca grabbed his binoculars and took a look at the remaining tanks and then his heart sank when he saw one of them aim its 125mm gun in their direction.
"RUUUUUN!!!!!" He ordered.
The crew immediate dropped what they were doing and threw themselves down the stairs before the T-90 opened fire just barely escaping with their lives.
After just barely escaping Angelus with their lives, Luca and his crew had finally made it to the outskirts, the summer heat was already taking its toll on them. They struggled to breathe and their hearts pounded as they trekked through the plains. As the sun began to set, Luca heard the sound of rotors and ordered his crew to hit the dirt. When he looked up he acquired a visual on the helicopter. It was a Kesalian Air Force HH-60 and they were relieved to see it. Luca quickly grabbed his flare gun and pointed it skyward and pulled the trigger.
"We're saved!" Peter cheered.
When the pilot detected the flare, he turned around and acquired a visual on Luca and his crew motioning for them to save them. The HH-60 began its approach to land but unfortunately they were not out of the woods. When the helicopter touched down and the cabin doors opened they began taking fire from the enemy and the starboard door gunner was killed.
"Get aboard! I've got the door gun! Get this damn chopper airborne!"
Luca moved the body of the door gunner aside and took control of the M134 and suppressed the enemy position. It was like a circus down there with all the Ruvanian soldiers that were coming out of the woodwork. It was as if they were waiting for them.
"IGLA 3 O'CLOCK!" The pilot shouted, dispensing flares in order to mask his Pave Hawk's heat signature.
"Got it!" Luca replied as he eliminated the soldier wielding the Igla with the minigun.
"Goddamn this LZ is hot... fuckers set up a trap!" The co-pilot added.
As Luca continued to suppress the position with the help of the port side gunner. The pilots maneuvered the helicopter away from the LZ and headed for friendly territory. Once the coast was clear, Luca let go of the minigun and took a seat next to Zoe. The flight back to base had the flight crew of the Pave Hawk on their toes and Luca and his friends were once again dangerously low on morale. When they arrived they were surprised to see a desert tan AH-64A Apache occupying one of the helipads but to Riko the Apache was all too familiar to her.
"Elson's here!" Riko said as she opened the cabin door and jumped out.
Luca, Peter and Zoe followed behind Riko and took a deep breath. When they arrived at the Apache they saw the owner of the helicopter performing some routine maintenance on it.
"Hey Elson.. good to see ya!" Riko said, "I'd like to introduce you to my new friends." Pointed to Zoe, Peter and Luca, "I'm a tank driver again."
"Hey buddy, girl good to see you!", Elson gave her a brofist. "A tank driver?! Never thought they'd let you near a tank again!", Chuckled. "'Sup, folks!", Waved at the others.
"Welp I guess they were pretty fucking desperate." Riko chuckled, "It's fun as hell and no I haven't crushed any cars....yet."
"Nice to meet you, Elson." Luca smiled, "Riko's a great driver but sadly we're tankless now."
"We had to abandon our M60..." Zoe replied in a defeated tone.
"This Jaffrian lady here rebuilt the engine but sadly with the parts she had she couldn't truly work her magic since the parts were second hand from the scrap pile." Peter added, "Not really her fault."
"I know the feel, eh...Becky here's all but scrapped parts!", Elson tapped the Apache's fuselage. "She's got engines from a civilian S-92, rotors from another Apache, and everything else salvaged from a junkyard I worked at when I was younger. Made some changes too, she's a single crew now. The extra space can still be used for a passenger...or fuel, which is what I use most of the time. Best $300 I ever spent, that's for sure!", Chuckled.
“$300? fuck me...” Zoe’s eyes widened at the figure.
"Wait, don't think it was a brilliant deal, she was deemed totaled! Damaged Beyond Repair, or DBR as they call it.", Elson explained. "In reality she was pretty much just a shell, but hey...still got the bare basics working! One thing I really miss is the Longbow radar, but I haven't found one to salvage yet.", Chuckled. "She's pretty nimble too, already did so many stunts with her..."
“Man I got ripped off with my Patton then.” Luca chuckled, “Damn thing cost me 60G’s. Now it’s abandoned somewhere near Angelus.”
“Now yo’ ass gotta come up with the scratch for an M1A2 , homeboy.” Kendrick chuckled
“I will gladly chip in for you!” Zoe said proudly.
"Abrams, boy! You be going high in the war games!", Elson chuckled. "I'll make sure to watch y'all from above.", Smiled. "Now, if you excuse me, I gotta keep workin' on Becky here, we gotta be ready to fly in only 90 minutes!", Waved them goodbyes.
The following morning, Luca and Zoe were enjoying some breakfast in the mess hall when Kendrick walked in. Just as Luca was about to take a bite of his hash browns, Kendrick hit him with the bad news.
"Luc... I have something to tell you and I don't think you're gonna be happy man." He said as he sat down next to him.
"What's up?"
"I recently got in touch with my contact at the armory in Saint Isabel. All the Abrams tanks stored over there are being refurbished and upgraded to the M1A2C variant and are being sent to frontline Kesalian units. He says it'll be impossible for me to obtain one."
Luca nearly spat out his food when he heard the news. He now had to search for an alternative and quickly. Given that his options would most likely be foreign it would take longer for them to arrive.
"So what now? I just shoot at enemy tanks with an SMAW and hope for the best?" Luca replied sarcastically.
"I have a suggestion, bro." Kendrick chuckled, "The Challenger 2...Eshil has quite a few of them and they're newer than the Abrams. Plus you have that hydropneumatic suspension which gives you some amazing ride quality off road also a rifled gun and it's the only tank that can fire a HESH round."
"What's he going to do with a HESH round? You are aware that the tanks today use composite armor right?" Riko added.
"It's still plenty useful against soft targets and fortified positions... things a Sabot really ain't perfect for bro." Kendrick said as he sipped his coffee.
"Hmph... the Challenger 2 is quite a good Panzer. I've trained with them before during an exchange program between Adlaria and Eshil and I will say that they are on par with my beloved Leopard 2 also it is one of the best protected tanks in the world when you consider that it was able to withstand 14 RPG rounds and a single Milan missile and still return to base and then be returned to service just six hours later." Zoe said in confidence.
"Don't forget the other one that survived SEVENTY RPG's..." Luca laughed.
"So the Challenger it is then?" Kendrick asked, raising his foam cup.
"I dare say that I agree, old bean!" Luca replied with a fake Eshillean accent.
"I'll get in touch with my contact then." Kendrick said, tapping Luca's shoulder.