I was kind of excited. I mean when you are getting a Techy that got built by guys funded by god. How can you not feel excited… and a little worried. I looked behind me at the sound of fast-approaching engines. The C-130 came in low with its landing gear and exit ramp down.

I thought it was going to wreck by hitting the trees that it was barely skimming over. When the C-130 reached the clearing it dropped down to what seemed like feet above the grass. The C-130s engines were deafeningly loud as they screamed into the clearing. A pallet-bound black pick-up truck with several attached parachutes that caught the wind seemed to burst from the exit ramp. The truck was slowed significantly by the several large parachutes and didn’t even skid more than 3 feet before it came to a stop.

Then the next truck came out the back of the C-130, then another, then another, and finally one last vehicle which looked like a hybrid between a sedan and a pickup slid out of the back of the metal beast which had delivered it into our loving arms. Almost literally as Alexei had to scramble out of the way of the oncoming flying car.

After dropping off its cargo the C-130 pulled away from the ground and banked high into the sky before disappearing behind a cloudbank. Kasamir was looking at me with a star-struck expression, Xavier was looking at the vehicles with excitement, and to be fair the guy on the other side of the radio really went through with “all the bells and whistles.”

All of the vehicles were painted black and had 4 doors which meant at least 4 seats, aside from the already mentioned sedan hybrid the main difference between the vehicles was what they were armed with. One had a metal box with four barrels elevated on a poll and another poll that was topped with what looked like a tank commander’s sight to my untrained eyes.

Two had the more standard .50 cals on swivel mounts with a gunner’s shield made from high-impact glass rimmed with metal plates and then bolted together. The last truck’s weaponry made me giggle with excitement, 6 barrels, endless fire, payback time. The minigun was mounted on a swivel like the .50’s but the mad lads that had made the thing were obviously fans of the halo games. Because the minigun had two stocks for the operator in order to stabilize the weapon and a gunner’s shield with the distinctive shape of the one in the games.

The sedan had a metal pyramid-like structure crowned with an open-topped turret for an MK19 automatic grenade launcher. A seam traced along and down the corners of the pyramid and after a few seconds of looking, I could see hinges along the place where the pyramid met the structure of the vehicle. I looked back to the turret and saw several clips and deadbolt locks holding the metal plates onto the vehicle.

While I had been taking my time gazing at the vehicles. Xavier had opened one of the unlocked doors to one of the .50 cal trucks and was checking it out. Mc’cullen along with Lez had both moved toward the truck with the box on a poll. As they opened the driver’s side door they saw a pamphlet. I walked over to see what this thing was.

The cover read V.A.M.P.I.R.E. vehicle improvement. Basically, it’s a guided missile system meant to be mounted to a truck bed. (if you want to know more America's DIY Truck Rocket Launcher Kit! - VAMPIRE System - YouTube) After we got through most of the pamphlet Xavier came running over waving another pamphlet, this one, however, was larger and had the picture of the truck on it along with big letters that read ‘Toyota owner’s manual.’

Xavier started going on about the specs of these trucks, the only things I could understand were 400 horsepower, A high powered radio set, .50 cal bullet-resistant windows, half-an-inch thick metal armor covering the engine and cab, and finally off-roading airless wheels. I let out a low whistle, ‘they really went all out with this.’ I thought as I looked at the trucks with more respect and admiration.

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“Alright, ladies let’s get these things unpacked and ready to roll.”

After about 30 minutes of cutting and unlatching lines and rope, we had gotten all of the vehicles ready to roll. Just before we were about to head out Alexei came up to me and pitched an idea.

“Hey, Harly I’ve got an idea.”

“Ok, what is it? You know we’re about to get on the move right?”

“Yea, I know but my idea is about naming the vehicles for easier identification.”

“Ok if we are going to be naming shit, then we should probably have everyone else here.”

I called everyone over and we spent a good 10 minutes discussing names for the vehicles. Before we came to the conclusion that we should probably get everyone together and then come back to this conversation. I told everyone to mount up in the sedan pickup, or either of the .50 cal trucks. Once we got our boys, we would bring them back along with any leftover supplies we could salvage from the base.

I hopped in one of the .50 cal trucks with Alexei hopping on the gun. Then I noticed that Kazamir wasn’t mounting up. So I got out of the truck and went to see what was up. Kazamir was looking at the trucks with a mix of awed disbelief and suspicious fear. I managed to coax him into the vehicle with assurances that it wasn’t going to hurt him or take his soul and that it was just a magical carriage. He got into my vehicle still grasping his gifted rifle with white knuckles.

That spooked me a little because if he shot in here it wouldn’t be pretty. So I told him to put the gun in the back seat with the safety on, and he did as I asked after a slight second of hesitation. After this little side story was wrapped up, I radioed Les and Mc’cullen that I would take the lead, a short “roger” from both of them later and we were on the road.

We rolled out back onto the small dirt trail we had used in order to get to the city in the first place. That reminded me,

“Les this is Harly message over.”

“This is Les send over.”

“Did you ever learn the name of the city you were defending, over?”

“Yea, Bronzepoint. Is that it or did you need something else?”

“That would be a negative, out.”

The 30-minute car drive gave me ample opportunity to appreciate the well-tuned suspension as we bumped along the dirt trail toward our makeshift campsite. I felt like I was back in the states riding buggies along dirt tracks with a few of my friends. Those times were long over now, so I focused on driving the truck through this constantly twisting and turning track.

When we rolled into the grassy clearing in sight of the burned village, I pressed the gas pedal a little harder. Thankfully, Kazamir was still a bit short to be sitting in the front seat. So he couldn’t see the burnt remains of his village. From there it was only 5 minutes in the car to the bottom of the hill where our makeshift FOB was.

I turned off the path and skid to a stop. I reached for the radio mounted at the top of the dash.

“This is Harly to convoy, dismount.”

I got a quick “roger that” from both Les and Mc’cullen

“This is Harly to basecamp, come in basecamp.”

No response. I started to get nervous. I tried one more time to get someone on the line before I jumped to any conclusions. Again no response.

“Fuck”

I swore under my breath. I hopped out of the truck with my rifle locked and loaded. I informed everyone else of the situation except Kazamir.

“Hey, Les cover us with that MK-19 while we go up there and take a peek at what’s going on.”

Les nodded and clambered up and into the MK-19 gunner's position. After Les was settled in, we began slowly walking up the hill. When we got to the top what we saw was almost comical. A White-haired cat lady was outside of the base cave on the logs surrounding the fireplace sharping a stone spear. I was done with this magical world's BS so I just shouted.

“Who the fuck are you?!”