The news of the Triton's shoot down along with the nation of Sensoa regaining its independence from its Ruvanian occupiers was a great morale boost to Merkuria. Ruvania was beginning to divert its forces to higher priority leaving the lesser equipped divisions to handle the Merkurians. Luca and his comrades were now placed in charge of the Bradley unit attached to Feya's brigade. Like his Leopard, the M3A3 shared the same name as his previous tank.
"These things are kinda roomy." Riko said as she loaded her Suzuki DRZ-400 into the payload bay and tied it down.
"Is your bike fueled?" Luca asked, "And how are we on TOWs?"
"Fully fueled and we've got enough TOWs to start a party." Riko gave a thumbs up.
"Pete, how's the driver's hatch suiting you?" Luca asked.
"It's nice not to be humping ammo for once...be careful with those TOW tubes." Peter replied.
"I'm more careful than you!"
Luca noticed that Zoe's hands were shaking as she checked the ammo belt for the 25mm Bushmaster, "Are you okay, Peretz?" Luca asked.
"J-Just fine. Oh who am I kidding, I'm terrified....you know what happens if this thing gets hit, right?" Zoe replied.
"We all die!" Riko added.
Luca rolled his eyes at Riko's comment and held Zoe's hand, "We'll be okay...we'll make it through this."
"Luca, Kovalenko needs us for the briefing."
Luca and Zoe walked to the ready room and took their seats. Zoe maintain her composure and pulled out her notebook, her hands still shaking as she prepared to take her down her notes.
"Victory is upon us." Feya said, "Our capital remains untouched by those orcs. Now we must push them out of our country entirely, We will lead a concentrated offensive against them with our tanks. The enemy is of course willing to send their best tanks including the T-90M and T-14 Armata but we have the means to deal with them properly."
Feya presented a map of the mission area. The Bradleys would move eastward while the Leopards would move westward. The goal of the M3s was to scout ahead of the tanks and if necessary knock out anything that presented a threat. The Bradleys lacked in armor compared to the tanks but their ability to outrange the enemy tanks with their TOW missiles was what made them a serious threat along with the scouts utilizing man-portable weapons like the Javelin.
"Tatsuya, because you're on a motorbike. You will be assigned a Javelin...with the speed of that bike, you will be quite the threat. I have seen your Youtube videos after all." Feya teased.
Riko laughed awkwardly, "I hope you're not gonna snitch me out when this shit's over...I'm too pretty to go to jail."
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The tanks were ready to deploy and Luca was ahead of the pack this time in his Bradley. Zoe had her head out of her hatch and took several deep breaths inhaling the fresh air as the IFVs pushed forward.
"This thing's kinda zippy...gotta love a Cummins!" Peter chuckled.
The vehicles neared the mission area and the crews began to button up. Luca placed his MP3 player into his comms cable and put Unleashed by Killswitch engage to play, now it was game time. Strangely, the place was a ghost town. Peter lowered the ramp and Riko rolled her DRZ-400 out of the Bradley and put on her headset and helmet.
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"Scout ahead of us, the Rufies might be hiding something up ahead." Luca ordered, "Take the Javelin in the back with you just in case."
Riko gulped and grabbed the Javelin at her feet, she had been trained with it but knew that there was nothing separating her from a HEAT round and a visit to the pearly gates. The launcher weighed a hefty fifty pounds as she slung it around her back and threw a leg over her motorcycle. She checked her mirror to make sure everything was fine before she took off down the road. The spring air felt hot, humid, and heavy as Riko pressed on. Her shirt clung to her skin in the sticky heat and the helmet didn't help much either. She arrived at the overwatch position and laid her bike on its side. Riko pulled out her binoculars and scanned the horizon, to the east there was a group of bombed out buildings but coming down the road from the West was a whole convoy of Ruvanian tanks ranging from T-62s to a T-14 which lead the pack.
Riko grabbed the Javelin she was given and began to assemble the weapon for use, she locked onto the T-14, "Deep breaths, Riko...you're dealing with the most powerful tank in the galaxy." She thought. The missile locked onto the Armata and Javelin pressed the trigger. The Javelin popped out of its launcher and the rocket motor ignited sending the missile on an upwards trajectory before impacting the top armor of the Armata. While the tank's turret was blown off, at least one of the crewmembers was able to bail out while the surviving tanks searched for where the round came from. Riko quickly got back on her bike and rode back to the Bradley.
"Well?" Luca asked.
"It's a whole ass hornet's nest, dude! I just schwacked an Armata with the Javelin but they've got T-90s, T-55s, the whole fucking army!" Riko replied as she rolled her bike back into the payload compartment.
"Got it, all Bradleys move forward, wedge formation. We need to scout out those vehicles and designate them for the tanks. Over." Luca said.
"Roger that." Said a Bradley commander.
The IFVs moved forward while Luca scanned with his Commander's Independent Viewer. Soon, he spotted a T-90 approaching and ordered Zoe to switch to the TOW missiles, "Tracking!" Zoe roared as the TOW fired out of the tube and headed for its target. The anti-tank missiles moved slower than conventional anti-tank rounds but if they impacted, they packed a punch. The TOW missiles aboard this Bradley were the newer IIB models giving them a top attack capability.
"Come on..." Luca said.
Finally, the missile flew over the T-90 and detonated and penetrated through its ERA and top armor, blowing the turret clean off the tank. Luca then spotted a Ruvanian T-55 about to open fire and took control of the turret. Rather than waste the second TOW, he switched to the 25mm and peppered the T-55's side armor until the tank caught fire and the crew bailed out. While one of the crewmembers was fortunate to get out unscathed, his comrades were less fortunate as they burned.
"Reload, reload! Pete get us behind cover!"
"Roooger!" Peter threw the Bradley behind cover while the second Bradley in the group moved in to take out some tanks.
Riko opened the cargo hatch and grabbed the TOW tubes while Zoe raised the launcher. Zoe switched the turret drive off and Riko began removing the old missile tubes and electrical connectors like she was changing tires on a Formula One car. She loaded the new tubes, inspected her work, and closed the cargo hatch, "You're clear, Peretz!" Riko confirmed.
The fighting ensued until finally, the enemy began to surrender. When everything was said and done, the Rufies had lost two hundred armored vehicles to just six Bradleys and two Leopard 2s. The surviving soldiers had either retreated or were taken prisoner and word of the war's end being near were starting to spread as the Ruvanian soldiers began to lay down their weapons. Oscar Diedrich, the now former Prime Minister of Kesalia had been revealed to have been playing both sides and had since gone into hiding while Deputy Prime Minster Colin Williams had taken over until a referendum could be run.
"So is it over?" Zoe asked.
"I hope so..." Luca sighed, "And I hope we get paid well for this."
"I just wanna go home." Riko added.
"Well then...drinks are on me!" Feya giggled before putting Сковорода by Artem Loik to play on the comms to the joy of her comrades, "I do hope my WePAC Mercenary friends will stick around for at least a few more days before they head home to spend their money."
"They're as perfect as a car can be, I own one." Luca chuckled, "I'm planning to get my engine built after this...built bottom end, twin turbos and a built gearbox. Hoping for 900 horses to the rear wheels." Luca replied.
Riko cackled from the cargo bay, "Good luck keeping up with my ZX-10."
"Been there done that, when you fly over a car and break both your arms, that motorcycle shit ends fast." Luca said.
"T-That happened to you?" Zoe said, looking at Luca with a horrified look on her face.
"Yeeeep. Still have pain every now and then but here I am. Still kickin'. Anyway, what are you gonna do, Peretz?"
Zoe rubbed her chin as she thought about her future, "Hmmm, Well I might spend some time in Kesalia now that I know someone." She giggled, "Also the best driving roads are there and my S2000 is made for handling and speed."
"So, when is the marriage happening?", Peter threw the question, out of the blue, teasing the couple.
"Will I be invited?" Feya added.
"There won't be a bouncy house or ball pit, Runt Dwarfsky" Riko added.
"Geez, Peter." Zoe blushed.
"We haven't even gone on a first date...I know a great restaurant near where I live. Atharian food freshly made, the aroma just takes you aback when you enter the place...how about it?"
"I'd like that..."
"Well then, Pete...why don't you take me for a ride in that Century when ya get it?" Riko teased, "After all you're gonna need someone to go over the import documents with you."
"About that...", Peter suddenly got a bit flustered. "What are your plans after the war, Riko?"
"After I take this paycheck...sleep for a year." Riko laughed, "Naaaah but in all seriousness, I hear that my friend, Hikaru is planning to move over to Kesalia and open up a shop....huge Honda fanatic but she kinda digs Toyotas like me and my sis so we might go into business together...who knows, who knows." She shrugged, wondering what the future had in store for her.
"...would you like to live with me?", Peter asked her, his cheeks a bit red, but a straight and serious expression on his face. "Though I've always been more into Adlarian cars...I may need some assistance in dealing with Sensoan stuff...", Winked at her.
"I didn't think you were into girls like me, but I'm into guys like you. You've got a deal." Riko winked.
"Never knew you liked Gyarus." Luca chuckled.
"I just didn't know about 'em. And hey...one must not judge a book by its cover.", Peter smiled. "Playful and teaser, but also hard-working, honest, kind...qualities that I appreciate and value..."