Campaign 13

“Malachi, we’ve finished making one of your tanks,” said Remi, “I had my engineers bring it to your armory.”

Once Malachi was finished dealing with Clara, he went to the armory as usual. Waiting outside was Remi.

“Is that right?” replied Malachi, “I wonder which of the ten will be able to drive it…”

Malachi and Remi entered the armory together. They headed towards where the tank, the tank destroyer, Malachi requested to be built was delivered. Inside Class 13’s armory were also the 10 engineers assigned to it surrounding the vehicle that was almost their heights.

“Wow, this thing really is small,” commented Felix, “But it is so spacious inside. The siege engines are twice this thing’s size, but it’s so cramped in them.”

“I don’t know, it only takes two steam knights to take out a single siege engine,” doubted Simone, “This one looks like it can collapse in a single hit.”

“You did read what milord wrote, right?” interrupted Asher, “While it is small and has thinner armor, it is faster than a siege engine by four to five times. While a steam knight can be faster than a siege engine, it still depends on the person wearing it. If it ever gets risky, we can just flee.”

“Still, I’ve seen the strange grooves inside the rifles and the other guns,” voiced Chase, “To think it can be used by tank guns. Did you see the pointy ammunition it will use? It’s even lighter than siege cannonballs.”

Malachi smiled seeing how his engineers were excitedly flocking around the tank destroyer. Looking at the finished product, while it was inspired from the late-WWII Soviet SU-100, this one had a number of differences.

The first difference was the overall armor. Unlike a real SU-100 that had 75mm of steel armor at the front and 45mm on its other sides—giving it a relative armor thickness of 97mm to 116mm at the front and 87mm to 93mm at the sides—the tank Malachi designed had an equal thickness of just 70mm on all sides with each side also sloped to a 45-degree angle. This gave it a relative armor thickness of 98mm to 108mm on all sides.

The second difference was the presence of spaced armor that protected its tracks. Spaced armor, attachments that were usually found on World War II German tanks, provided protection from explosives and reduced a bullet’s or a shell’s penetrating power before reaching the tank’s hull.

The third difference was the design of the gun itself—specifically, its loader. Rather than a breech loader, like how modern Earth artillery was operated, Malachi’s design used a drum autoloader. Imagine turning a revolver into a tank gun, but each spent casing gets ejected. Malachi’s drum autoloader has a capacity of 4 shells—increasing its rate of fire from 7 rounds per minute to at least 30 rounds per minute.

The fourth difference was its engine. The SU-100 used a V-12 diesel engine, but because this world did not have diesel or gasoline, Malachi had to use a siege engine’s pyrocite engine to drive the tank but with an additional machine—an electrocite motor designed by Malachi himself. Since pyrocites are a ‘slow burn’ type of fuel when not ground to dust, pyrocite engines could operate for a longer period. Electrocites, however, behaved similarly to electric capacitors that gave huge instantaneous boosts to power—just think of them as nitro boosters.

Finally, the fifth difference was the number of crew members that would operate it. A SU-100 had four crew members: a commander, a driver, a gunner, and a loader. Since Malachi placed an autoloader, a human loader was no longer needed—cutting the number of crew down to three—leaving an extra crew member available for another vehicle.

Suddenly, Garret’s head popped out of the tank.

“Phew, it’s still a bit stuffy in there,” he commented, “If not for the vents, it would be impossible to stay in here for a long time. Ah, Malachi, this is one fine piece of hardware. When do we get to have a test drive?”

All the other engineers turned to Malachi with eyes full of hope and expectations, making him flinch a bit from their eagerness. Not just the men, but also the women. The first to step up was Ritva.

“Hey, hey, how fast can it rea~lly go?” she asked, “I want to drive it. Can I drive it? I’ve read the guide ten times already!”

Malachi was taken aback.

‘Are these guys the equivalent of petrolheads?!’ he thought, ‘Then again, most of the engineers back then enrolled in engineering to build giant fighting robots… is it the same here?’

Ritva—and the rest—were still waiting for his answer. Malachi glanced at Remi to ask a question, but found the girl to be with the crowd of hopeful engineers.

“Err, well, since Remi is as hopeful as you lot, let’s go out to the field,” he said, “Remi, get us a target engine, and the rest will prep for deployment.”

Hearing the ‘go signal,’ 11 engineers cheered.

●

Since Class 13’s armory was at the very back, the tank was paraded before the other class armories. The sight of a small tank—smaller than a siege engine—was new for the other classes’ engineers that even they had to stop working to watch the parade of one tank, 7 engineers, and one Skaria.

“Which class is that?” asked an engineer, “Wait, that guy standing on its roof… Skaria?! Class 13!”

“The rifles were one thing, now he made a new engine?” wondered another engineer, “It’s so small, though. Can it even survive a steam knight’s blast hammer?”

Malachi felt glee from being watched by many eyes. Seeing that the way to the exit was unblocked by anyone or anything, he crouched down and opened a hatch.

“Hey, Ritva, try driving faster,” he suggested, “Though the way we’re going is fine, it’s only a wee bit faster than a siege engine.”

Ritva looked up.

“Won’t you fall off?” she asked.

“It is fine,” replied Malachi, “I can hold on to the railings. Now, punch it!”

With his order, Ritva stepped on the throttle. Almost immediately, the tank sped up three times faster. As the exhaust vents released gusts of hot air, electric sparks could also be heard, and Malachi sweated as he held on to the railings.

“Waaahoooo!” cheered Malachi, “Catch us if you can, losers!”

“Ah, no fair!” cried Felicia, “Felix, grab the steam knights so we can chase after them!”

“Do we really have to?” replied Felix, “It’s just up to the field, we can just jo—urk!”

Felicia did not care for Felix’s thoughts and grabbed him by the collar. The other engineers of Class 13 also followed the twins to get into available steam knights. Since there were already steam knights on standby, getting in gave them enough time to catch up.

As for the other engineers, they stood stupidly staring at the dust left behind.

“I don’t care about what others may say,” said an engineer, “But I want to see it as well!”

“Drop everything and pursue them!” ordered another engineer, “As fellow engineers, I also want to see this marvel of Skaria!”

Just like that, the armory became devoid of life. With a thundering horde of steam knights and engineers, all that was left inside were inorganic wood and metal objects, and -cites.

●

There were classes out on the field doing drills or combat exercises. Supervising them was Axton.

“You lousy maggots!” he roared, “Even with one less arm, I can beat you all to a pulp! You call that running!? I person with disability like me can even outrun you!”

“… but it’s not like you have a missing leg…” commented a cadet.

“Is that back-talking I hear from your filthy mouth!?” roared Axton, “20 more laps for all of you!”

The groaning of other cadets was heard.

“Remind me to put a gag on you, next time,” groaned a cadet.

Axton turned his attention to another class.

“It’s just push-ups!” he bellowed, “I’ll even join you for those that will complain!”

Axton dropped on the ground with one hand and started doing push-ups. Unlike the cadets that were struggling with even both arms, Axton easily achieved 100 push-ups with a single arm. Once he was finished, he still had enough stamina to jump up and run after another class that was doing combat exercises.

“The cadets that came to my arena years ago were better than you!” he roared, “They were tiny children back then, but they could already go up against the guards! That’s not how you throw an enemy!”

“’Children’?” wondered a cadette, “How can kids spar with adults?”

“It does not matter if they were kids, adults, or senile old men!” bellowed Axton, “A fight for your life does not give a damn about your age!”

As Axton supervised the classes, an army of steel could be seen over the horizon. With the thundering steps of the steam knights, coupled with the roaring engine of Malachi’s tank, Axton and the classes in the field had to turn to look at the rumbling storm.

Spearheading the horde of engineers was Malachi’s tank, and the person himself on its roof. He was followed by his class engineers in steam knights and the other steam knights. Finally, trailing behind them was a battalion of jogging engineers.

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“Gahahahaha!” laughed Malachi boisterously, “Hey, Drillmaster! Mind if we use the field for a demonstration!?”

Axton could only watch as Malachi and the tank came closer to him in just a few seconds. A few minutes after him, the steam knights had arrived and, even later, the engineers of each class.

“Uh, Malachi, that…” stuttered Axton, “What…?”

Malachi could not get enough of anyone’s surprise. Looking at the other cadets in other classes, they also held the same expressions as Axton: shock and awe.

“It’s a tank I designed,” explained Malachi, “I need full access to the field to test it out. Remi will also be bringing a siege engine for target practice, so I’ll need a space where we can safely discharge munitions.”

Even with a bit of hesitation, Axton ordered all the classes to clear out of the field. Once all the cadets had left to the perimeter of the field, they were all replaced by engineers and hardware.

Malachi opened the hatch of the tank, again.

“Okay, let’s see how well you guys can drive this thing,” he said, “Ritva, Stephen, Chase, go crazy!”

Once Malachi gave his order, he jumped down as soon as Ritva stepped on the throttle. With a bit of recklessness, Malachi was also swept with the tank if he did not have good reflexes. The tank destroyer sped through the field, as fast as Ritva could hold the throttle, and left a cloud of dust in their wake.

Inside the tank, the crew was configured like this: Ritva was the driver, Stephen was the gunner, and Chase was the commander.

“Ritva, hard left!” shouted Chase, “We’re about to hit a wall!”

“Roger that!” replied Ritva, “Yahoo!”

“I never should have volunteered, I never should have volunteered,” chanted Stephen as he held on for dear life, “I never thought it would be this fast, I never should have volunteeeeeered!”

“Shut up, bro!” cried Chase, “Ritva won’t be able to hear me! Ah! hard right!”

“Gotcha!” affirmed RItva, “Weehoo!”

While it was chaos inside the tank, the spectators outside were quiet. They all watched the tank run at dangerous speeds and make life-threatening turns. Malachi was watching from a tower with Remi and Axton.

“Hmm, quick learners,” commented Malachi, “But not refined enough. They’re just crazily going at full speed. Maybe I shouldn’t have told them to go crazy…”

“But look at how fast they’re going!” cried Remi, “If we have a lot of these, we can easily overpower any slow-moving enemy just from our speed! Even the resources used to produce just one are less than a single siege engine!”

“But, you have to remember, Remi,” added Malachi, “If they aren’t attentive, they could get crushed by a single cannonball or blast hammer. It’s still best to use this tank for ambush and hit-and-run operations. For this type of tank, the speed is for running and relocating, not for assaulting the enemy.”

After a while, Malachi held a radio.

“Chase, can you hear me?” he said.

“I hear you loud and clear, Malachi! Argh! Hard left!” replied Chase, “Ritva! Slow down a little!”

“Sorry!” she apologized. Ritva could be heard in the background.

“How is it in there?” asked Malachi, “Any problems?”

“Stephen fainted,” replied Chase, “Looks like Ritva was too reckless in her driving. Ritva, hard left, again! Slow down already!”

Malachi’s face could only twitch.

“Wake Stephen up,” he ordered, “It’s time to test out the gun.”

“Oh, roger that!” replied Chase, “Bro! Wake up! Get your trigger finger ready! Ritva, take us to the target!”

With that, the tank drove to the middle of the field where Remi had the siege engine target placed. This siege engine was Class 13’s old siege engine before it was about to be replaced by Malachi’s tank destroyer. The spectators also moved their attention to the two lonely vehicles, watching to see how a smaller tank would destroy a much larger siege engine.

Within the field, the siege engine was placed at the center, and was given an open space with a radius of 1 kilometer.

Malachi held the same radio, again.

“Chase, have Ritva drive until there is only 800 meters between you and the target,” ordered Malachi, “We will first try shooting the front armor.”

“Affirmative!” replied Chase.

Malachi held another radio; it was a receiver for the speakers where the spectators stood.

“Testing… 1, 2, 3… Testing…” he said. His voice was carried through the field without any problems. “Right, this is a tank I designed to replace the inefficient siege engine.”

Hearing that the siege engine was inefficient, some engineers could not take it and protested. Some, but the others could only stay silent from seeing the tank’s earlier performance. If Malachi’s tank could run that fast, they would not question their siege engines being replaced.

Malachi ignored the voices of protest.

“This ‘type’ of tank is called a ‘tank destroyer,’” he emphasized a few words, “As you can see from its speed, it can easily outrun any siege engine or steam knight. Now, we had our old siege engine become the tank destroyer’s target to test the effectiveness of its gun.”

Malachi especially stressed the words ‘type’ and ‘tank destroyer’ to make a point. Not only will this one tank be added to their arsenal, Malachi even had a few more up his sleeve, as he had shared with the rest of his class engineers.

“From the specifications of the siege engine, its front armor is 150 millimeters thick and is sloped to a 45-degree angle,” recited Malachi, “This gives it a relative armor thickness of 212 millimeters. We will try to puncture it from a distance of 800 meters.”

Malachi held the radio to the tank.

“Stephen, follow the guide I had given you and shoot the front armor of the siege engine,” he ordered, “Chase, Ritva, once Stephen has discharged a shell, immediately relocate perpendicular to the siege engine’s side. Once you’re in position, fire at will.”

“Yes, sir!” affirmed the tank crew.

Stephen looked into the periscope to acquire his target. Since the tank destroyer was a casemate tank, meaning the gun was affixed to the hull, Ritva only needed to turn the tank towards Stephen’s target. Stephen adjusted the zoom of his periscope to adjust the angle and elevation of the tank gun until he found a good spot to shoot at. Once he was satisfied, without warning, he pulled the trigger.

Loud thunder erupted from the field and reverberated along the ground. The dust around them scattered, and the tank gun recoiled back from the force. Almost instantaneously, the loud collision of two metal objects could be heard from the distance. The siege engine had already been hit, and the discharged shell ricocheted into the air, but not without leaving a deep depression on the siege engine’s front armor.

Afterwards, there was only silence. It was silent inside the tank, and it was silent in the spectators’ area. The only one who wasn’t silent was Malachi as he bellowed into the radio.

“What are you waiting for!?” he roared, “Change positions, already!”

Inside the tank, Stephen could only stare with his mouth agape at the performance of the tank gun. As for Chase, he had to scramble to give Ritva the order to move, and the girl herself was still stiff from the explosive thunder.

“I-I felt the tank move back,” commented Ritva, “… s-so powerful…”

“Ritva, Stephen, snap out of it!” cried Chase, “We need to relocate, now! Ritva, turn right, 30 degrees then go forward until I tell you to stop! Stephen, wake up!”

“D-did I really do that…?” wondered Stephen, “I-in just an eye blink…”

“I know! That’s why we should move it!” roared Chase, “Come on, Ritva!”

Once the tank crew had gathered themselves, the tank broke the silence again with its engines as it drove towards the siege engine’s left flank. Malachi announced to the spectators again.

“Now, we know that we can’t penetrate a siege engine’s front armor from 800 meters, but we can still dent it,” he said, “We will now try to penetrate its side armor. A siege engine’s side armor is also 150 millimeters, but it isn’t slo—“

Before Malachi could finish, the tank was already in position, and shot a shell. Like before, it was only an eye blink before the shell reached its target. However, rather than ricocheting into the air, a large gaping hole could be seen on the siege engine’s side.

The tank destroyer’s gun had penetrated 150 millimeters of steel.

“Right,” said Malachi, “As you can all see the once ‘thought-to-be’ impenetrable defense of a siege engine—only crushable by two blast hammer hits—was ‘torn open’ by a gun with a ‘smaller’ caliber of a ‘smaller’ tank from a ‘greater’ distance. I love your speechlessness, by the way.”

Malachi communicated with the tank, once more.

“Now then, I need you all to drive the tank closer,” he ordered, “200 meters should be good enough to punch the front armor. But, before you start shooting, reload the empty drums. Discharge 4 shells to end the demonstration.”

Without a word, the tank moved from the flank back to the front of the siege engine. Stephen took the time to reload the drum autoloader while Chase directed Ritva to the designated distance. Once Stephen was done reloading the shells, Ritva had already aligned the tank to face the siege engine’s front armor.

The same thunder erupted from the tank, and its shell reached the target. This time, unlike the very beginning, the shell did not ricochet.

The siege engine’s front armor was finally penetrated.

Without waiting for another order, Stephen readjusted the gun and fired another shot. This shot also penetrated and left a gaping hole in front of the siege engine. Afterwards, Stephen repeated his adjustments and discharged the remaining shells in the drum autoloader.

In just 12 seconds, four shells turned the siege engine into Swiss cheese.

Malachi was satisfied with the results.

“As you all know, the typical siege engine crew needs at least a minute to cycle between shots,” he said, “What if there was a tank that could destroy it under even half a minute? This is that tank.”

Malachi ordered the tank crew.

“Destroy the siege engine completely.”

●

Once nightfall came, the spectators in the field had already left. The cadets in the other classes that were in the field could only walk through the halls with expressions of disbelief, making the other classes in the academy wonder what had happened. As for the engineers, they could only stare at their own equipment. The siege engines of their respective classes were awash with gazes of pain and sorrow. A few engineers could only feel aching in their hearts knowing that their prided siege engines were nothing in Malachi’s eyes.

As for Class 13’s engineers, they gathered together to reflect on Malachi’s creations.

“How did it feel?” asked Asher, “How did it feel when you pulled the trigger?”

Asher was next to Stephen. The engineer who volunteered as the gunner was trembling after getting out of the tank destroyer. His brother, Chase, went to take a bath to cool himself down, and Ritva was just standing in a daze.

“I… I could only feel the recoil,” answered Stephen, “It’s like Malachi said, that tank was true to its name—a destroyer.”

Garret arrived at Class 13’s armory with Olivia.

“How was it?” asked Felix.

Garret shook his head.

“Completely destroyed,” he answered, “Not a single part was salvageable.”

Olivia sat down next to Simone.

“Everything was wrecked,” she added, “The controls, the engine, the gun, everything. For something smaller than a siege engine’s gun, it sure is terrible. Imagine if a steam knight were to get hit by that…”

Felicia shivered at the thought.

“I can’t imagine it,” she shared, “The infantry weapons could already punch through a steam knight’s armor. The TD should be even worse.”

“And he even plans to create the other tanks,” added Felix, “The MBT—Main Battle Tank—it looks like it will be more versatile than the tank destroyer.”

●

While the cadets and engineers were thinking about the tank destroyer’s performance, Axton was climbing the stairs to Eleazar’s office. Along the way, he was met by Clara.

“I assume you already know why I’m here?” asked Axton.

Clara only nodded.

“Well, let us report to His Highness.”

Axton and Clara went together to Eleazar’s office. The Buzzards that were standing guard outside immediately gave passage to the two once their gazes met. Without even knocking, Axton and Clara entered the room.

“That was rather loud,” said Eleazar, “I could hear the cannon fire all the way here. A pity the other classes weren’t able to witness what you’ve seen. So, tell me. How was Malachi’s tank destroyer?”

“Are you sure he really is your grandson?” wondered Axton, “He couldn’t be a monster, can he? I was completely speechless by the performance of his new vehicle, especially when it lived to how it was called—a destroyer.”

“We took a look at the remains of Class 13’s former siege engine,” added Clara, “While it is known that Class 13 is a class of rejects, their engineers are top-notch. That siege engine was one of the best ones available in the academy, but Malachi easily turned it into scrap. From what we’ve gathered from his childhood, there was nothing that would lead to how he has this much knowledge.”

“Also, I’ve heard something from a few engineers assigned in the kill house,” continued Axton, “It seems he can use some sort of magic to increase his classmates’ abilities or, rather, anybody who hears his voice. He was speaking in a strange language when everybody felt refreshed, or so they said.”

At this time, they heard a knock from the door.

“Come in,” said Eleazar.

The new arrival was Remi. She was carrying a stack of paperwork.

“Your Highness, Malachi is requesting for the construction of a new area on the academy,” She announced, “Here is his letter of request and proposals.”

Axton and Clara raised their brows and looked at Eleazar. Eleazar ignored the gazes of his two subordinates.

“What for, Remi?” he asked.

“Malachi said that the kill house and the shooting range was becoming too small for his planned exercises,” explained Remi, “He hopes that you would agree to building a dedicated training area for all his needs since it requires your permission to build any large-scale structure.”

Remi handed over the papers, and Eleazar took a look. After reading a few pages, he had to lower the papers, lean back, and massage his head.

“I may need to talk to Emmanuel and Bashia to know whether Malachi really is their child.”