The following morning, the four arrived in Merkuria. The country had been skirmishing with the Ruvanians for nearly a decade before the conflict turned into a full blown war following the start of the Supercontinental War. Upon their arrival, Luca, Peter, Riko, and Zoe were ordered to turn over their flag patches before crossing the border.
They arrived at a military base that had seen far better days even before the days. The tank unit stationed at the base had given up its old T-72s for Leopard 2s and the crews seemed motivated despite the conditions. One of the crewmembers was almost a carbon copy of Riko albeit even shorter.
"What took you guys so long?" The woman teased, "My name is Feya Kovalenko. I guess you could say that I'm the best driver in this whole unit. Which is why they made me commanding officer."
"Yeah okay." Riko muttered, "So uhh you sure you can reach the pedals, short stack?"
"So you really know each other?", Peter pointed at both girls.
Zoe raised an eyebrow, "I'd like to know as well."
Feya nodded, "Indeed we do! I knew her and her sister Ako, we were childhood friends. I studied in Sensoa until my ehhh middle school years as you Kesalians call it then I came back to Merkuria with my family."
"Her and Ako both annoyed the shit outta me in otherwords" Riko sighed.
"So how many people have you run over?" Feya teased.
"Shut up! I'm a better driver than you, idiot!"
Zoe quickly moved in between the two girls to prevent a fight, "Geez, you're tall...what do they feed you?" Feya asked, looking up at Zoe.
"Wait, but are you from here or there anyway?", Peter looked at the direction of Sensoa and then at Merkuria.
"She's from here...her parents moved to Sensoa for business reasons. Then she AND Ako made my life a living hell...but if there's one good thing to come from being friends with this smug midget, it's the fact that she introduced me and my sis to Adidas track suits."
"Don't tell me you do the Hardbass dance too...", Peter facepalmed.
"Nevermind that, let's see how you drive." Luca said.
"Thought you'd never ask." Feya replied, "Andriy...music."
Feya and her tank commander climbed into their Leopard 2. The tank was caked in dirt, and twelve kill markings were painted on the 120mm barrel indicating that they had seen their fair share of combat. The Commander plugged in his comm and played some music from a hip-hop artist native to their country and Feya started the twin turbo diesel V12. The loader meanwhile placed a bottle of vodka and placed it on the tip of the barrel.
The Leopard peformed a 360 degree rotation with the gun pointed at the four before returning the gun to center. Feya drove through the course and maneuvered the tank through the slalom as if it were a Porsche 911 rather than a seventy-three ton tank and then performed the same maneuver in reverse with the commander guiding her. She then maneuvered the tank through the rougher parts of the course with absolute precision.
"I think you might have competition, Tatsuya." Zoe said.
"Peretz...shut up."
Luca meanwhile watched in amazement, "Mother of god..." He finally said.
Peter looked at the Leopard moving with such mastery, then at Tatsuya. Then at the Leopard again. "You gotta level up, girl. She's in 'legendary' status, you're still in 'epic'."
Feya had finished showing off and parked the tank back in its spot. To prove that she had accomplished the course without spilling a single drop of Vodka, she showed the bottle to the four and then poured a shot for each of her crew.
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"So aside form that little spectacle you put on for us...why are we here?" Luca asked.
"Yeah, midget." Riko added.
Feya's smug expression turned to a serious one. She had been fighting the Ruvanians for eight years...their small annexation of a territory they had once viewed as theirs soon became a full-blown conflict when the Supercontinental War began.
"I called on you specifically because I knew Riko would show up regardless...despite our differences. My country...its people have lost a lot to those orcs...those pigs. My husband is dead and my darling daughter now resides in Adlaria for her safety. We all lost something...and it's because Ruvania decided that they wanted to inflict this pain on us all." Feya explained.
"Wait...Artem's dead? I remember when you guys came to visit us on your honeymoon. Fuck this war..." Riko snarled.
"I'm sorry for your loss.", Peter said, low tone. "I hope we can be of help in this conflict."
"We're happy to help." Zoe added.
"I knew you'd be. Get ready for the briefing tomorrow at 06:00."
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The briefing began on time with Feya providing the information in English while a translator provided the same information in her native language. The mission was a combined arms mission to defend the city of Tkach. The tanks would advance with a group of BTR-4s and Bradleys while the infantry provided cover. Unfortunately, they'd have to move through a desolate patch of land which was ideal for mounting an ambush.
"Does everyone understand what they are to do?" Feya asked, looking around the room, "Then let's get moving."
The Leopards advanced down the road, with Delilah following behind Feya's tank. Luca and Peter scanned with their heads outside the hatch and prepared for anything.
"Tank two, stay close." Feya said.
"Delilah rolling... Peretz keep an eye on that treeline, Chew button up."
Luca and Peter closed their hatches and took their positions inside the tank as the Stridsvagn slowly advanced.
"Yo,yo,yo, Tatsuya we have troops on the ground...watch it." Luca said, observing the crawling Merkurian soldiers, "Keep it slow, slow.."
"Get your head out your ass!" Feya roared.
Suddenly, Luca spotted a Kornet whiz by his tank and impact the BTR behind them, taking it out. He switched on his thermal imager and spotted the team in the process of reloading the ATGM for another strike, "Chew load HESH! Peretz traverse right, one two hundred meters!"
"I see them, AT team one two hundred meters." Feya added, "Fire! Bondar, eyes front!"
Peter was fast. In less than six seconds the gun was ready.
"HESH UP!", He locked the breech and moved away from the recoil path.
"On the way!" Zoe said, pressing the trigger and firing the gun.
"AT team eliminated." Luca confirmed.
Luca opened fire with the roof mounted gun while Zoe used the coax to take care of the troops, "Don't let up! Keep on squirting that treeline!" Feya ordered.
"Tank, tank three o'clock!" added another Leopard Commander.
"Identified! It's a T-62...Load another HEAT round, Chew...he ain't worth a sabot."
"Roger!", Peter repeated the procedure. "HEAT up!", It was ready.
"On the way!"
Zoe fired the 120mm cannon. The HEAT round impacted the T-62 from the front and destroyed it completely, "Tank destroyed!" Zoe confirmed.
The coast was now clear and Luca ordered his crew to dismount, "On foot everyone." He said. The crew exited the tank and checked the enemy positions with the mechanized infantry.
The night began to fall after the skirmish had come to an end. There was no sign of the enemy and the tankers took this opportunity to rest as well as refuel their tanks once the fuel trucks arrived.
Luca and Peter grabbed the fuel pump and climbed atop the Stridsvagn to begin refueling it. Peter held the hose while Luca positioned the pump into the Stridsvagn's nozzle.
"Hey, hey! How many guys does it take to fuel a Leopard!?" Riko teased.
"Where are you going with this?" Peter asked with a suspicious look on his face.
Luca looked at the price at the gas pump, "$2200, and I thought refueling my car was bad."
Zoe giggled as she shut off the fuel pump, "Well at least this one's on the house right, Feya?"
"I'll put it on your tab." Feya winked.
"My friend, Hikaru would drop a Spoon engine in this thing and call it a day."
"To use as an alternator, right?" Peter added.
"So, Peretz what kinda car do you drive? I picture you as a G Wagon kinda girl. You've got that look ya know..." Riko said while climbing on top of the tank to grab her things from the bustle rack.
"LS Swapped S2000." Zoe replied as she cleaned the dirt out of her fingernails.
"You evil psychopath....you war criminal!" Riko pouted.
"A Honda with torque! That's something new for a change!"
"My husband and I were in the process of building a Hayabusa swapped ZAZ-968 before all this happened." Feya sighed nostalgically.
"When you finish that thing, maybe I'll see you on the Grand Route." Luca chuckled.
Zoe looked at Luca and sighed, "S-So you'll keep in touch with us after the war then, right?"
"Of course I will!"
Peter checked his phone and his eyes widened, he began jumping for joy as if his favorite racing team had just won the world championship, "THEY GOT IT! THEY FUCKING GOT IT, BABY!"
"Got what?" Riko added.
"The Triton! That Rufie super weapon!"
Zoe and Luca joined in on the cheering, "Fuck yeah!" they said together.
"One step closer to this shit being over!" Luca added.
"More like a hundred steps." Feya laughed, "That was Ruvania's ace in the whole...once we push them out of here then this is the end for them. The goal of our leadership is to defeat them entirely and hopefully join the WePAC. Which reminds me...would you allow us to requisition your tank?"
Luca crossed his arms, reluctant to let Feya take claim to the tank that he had paid for. Feya of course wasn't surprised by his reluctance and offered him a suitable replacement for the time being. The replacement while track technically was not a tank much to the chagrin of Riko.
"A Bradley? Really...a quasi-tank that has less armor than a snow-blower, but carries enough ammo to take out half of Angelus." Riko sighed, "I was in a mechanized infantry unit with Type 89s before I signed up for this gig and let me tell ya...fighting a tank with these things is not smart."
"Bradleys actually scored more kills than Abrams during Desert Thunder. Those TOWS are not to be taken lightly especially if they are the new TOW IIB models with the top attack capability." Zoe added.
"But it only has a crew of three." Peter added.
"I'm not driving that thing, but I can load the ATGMs and do the scout work...that troop bay is big enough for a dirt bike." Riko suggested.
"That works...I do hope to be compensated for giving up my tank though." Luca said.
Feya sighed, "Typical Kesalians...you will be compensated but don't scratch my Bradley."