A/N: This is the first chapter of the rewriting project i announced in the latest chapter. I plan on rewriting till chapter 4 and revising the rest of them. For any new readers, keep that in mind when you are reading chapters 2-4. For anyone that follows the story since the beginning, hope you like the new and improved chapter. Welcome to Hell boys and girls.
The Ether Conflict
Chapter 1: Welcome to Hell
The day was unusually clear. Birds chirped happily on the lonely trees, while the Sun shone brightly upon the hills. Two men strolled through the tall grass and short trees, stomping over them as they enjoyed the cool breeze that blew gently through the woodland. They stopped at the edge of a cliff, admiring the tranquil view. Below, they noticed a small outpost, still standing.
"This is boring," one of the men complained, as he sat down, sighing. "It's now what? The seventh time we passed this same spot? And it's still noon!"
The complaining man wore a red T-shirt and a pair of jeans, torn by the elements. He held an AK-47 assault rifle, its barrel pointing to the ground. He rubbed his tanned skin, irritated.
"Stop complaining," said the other man, who had his own AK-47 rifle slung on his back. Unlike the red-shirted man, he wore a blue sleeveless shirt, a pair of gray pants, and a green bandanna.
"It's boring!" the red-shirted man repeated, groaning.
"So what?" the blue-shirted one retorted. "Being on patrol duty is one of the best things that can happen to you. Just walk for four hours, two times a day, and you get free food, water, and a good place to sleep. What more could you ask?"
"It's still boring!" the red-shirted man groaned again. "Personally, I want to go out with the rest of the guys and shoot some people!"
"You mean, shoot innocent bystanders and civilians alike, and then abduct their women and children?" the blue-shirted man asked, raising an eyebrow. His green bandanna tilted a little, and the man fixed it back.
"If you put it that way," the red-shirted man continued. "You make it sound like we are some sort of bad guys."
"Because we are!" the blue-shirted man answered, facepalming with his right hand. "Good guys don't go and steal food and water from other people, and neither will they massacre a whole community just because they weren't in the mood that day. We're bandits, remember?"
"OK," said the red-shirted man, sweating a little. "Let's change the topic to something more palatable. Have you heard where the boys went?"
"They left with all the vehicles," the blue-shirted man replied.
"It is strange that they left all of a sudden."
"I heard that they went on a 'hunt' of some sort, again," the blue-shirted man said, fixing his green bandanna again.
"Seriously?" the red-shirted man blurted out, slamming his rifle to the ground. The soft soil shook at the impact.
"Yup," said the blue-shirted man, sitting down next to his comrade.
"Great," the red-shirted man retorted, spitting. "I thought they would go for supplies or something more useful. Did that boy break the merchandise already? That sick human of a boss sure passes his time nicely.
Both continued in their talk, their voices full of disgust and complaint at their base. Unbeknownst to them, two slim silhouettes crouched behind two giant bushes at a distance of about seven meters from the two bandits. They slowly crawled through the bushes, and the sunlight shone upon them more clearly. Two girls in identical, black military uniforms, covered with thin but flexible bulletproof vests, approached the talking bandits.
One of the silhouettes was a girl of medium height, with short, light brown hair and a pair of light brown eyes. She held a military knife with her right gloved hand, watching the two men talk, listening carefully for any information. A holster was strapped on her right thigh, which carried a 4th-generation Glock 34. The other silhouette appeared, in the form of a girl who was slightly shorter than the other. She had short but very curly, dark brown hair, with a pair of dark brown eyes. She also held a military knife with her own right gloved hand, her own holster on the right thigh, carrying a Ruger SR9c. The two girls squinted at the men, spying on them.
"He's the one giving us food and money," the blue-shirted man said. "So, there's not much we can do. Just stay away from his office and you should be fine."
"Hmmph!" the red-shirted man replied. "So, when are the boys coming back?"
"In about an hour," answered the blue-shirted man. "Unless they actually were going out to search for supplies."
"That's quick," the red-shirted man exclaimed, whistling.
Having heard enough, the two girls slowly but quietly approached the men, lifting their blades, ready to strike.
"Say," the red-shirted man began. "Why do we have to avoid his-mm!"
He could not finish his sentence, as a gloved hand covered his mouth. His own partner suffered the same fate, by a different girl. The girls silenced them with their left hands, and cut the men's throats with their knives. Their throats slit, blood spewed out of the ruptured jugular veins. Both men fell to the ground with a thud.
The girls then turned the bodies, and searched them for anything useful. Finding a few items of worth, such as some cartridges and snack packages, the girls proceeded to throw the bodies off the cliff. The bodies rolled around and around, as they slammed unto the cliffside. The girls watched them fall, until they disappeared beneath the forest canopy below.
"Let's go," the light brown-haired girl said.
"Yes," smirked the other girl. "Miss Nishizumi."
Stopping at the edge of the cliffside, Miho looked down to see how high they were, before motioning to Yukari that they were going to climb down from here.
The girls started descending the steep cliffside, making sure they didn't lose their footing and plunge down into their deaths.
"Couldn't we have backtracked the way we came Miss Nishizumi?" Yukari asked, stopping her descent and looking at Miho, who was on her left.
"It would take too much time. We have an hour at the most, before their main force comes back," Miho answered, looking downwards to see if there was any solid footing she could use to place her feet. "Our orders are to assassinate the highest ranked individual and uncover information about their main base. I'd rather avoid any unnecessary risks." Finding a rock that seemed solid enough to support her weight, she carefully stepped on it, applying her weight as smoothly as possible, to make sure the rock wouldn't dislodge itself from the side of the cliff.
"If you say so Miss Nishizumi, but don't you think climbing down without safety equipment is a risk too?" Yukari retorted, also carefully stepping in a stone big enough to have a strong footing.
"It's better than getting shot at least," she answered back.
Saying nothing more, the two girls spent about ten minutes climbing down the steep cliffside carefully. Reaching the ground, both of them unholstered their own sidearms, slowly scanning their surroundings for any threats. Finding none, they started trudging through the forest, stepping on dead leaves and small branches that littered the forest floor, the sound of them getting crushed echoing between the trees.
Reaching the edge of the forest, both girls take cover behind a tree each, their pistols raised in case they need to shoot. Peering over the side of the tree trunk she is using as cover, Miho spots a two-man patrol besides a wooden watchtower. The two men chat quietly, while a man on top of the watchtower scans the surrounding area from his elevated position with a weapon, presumably a sniper rifle. Behind the men, at a distance of about 50 meters, lay a structure made of wood and pieces of metal. It seemed like its roof would cave in at any moment and even the wood seemed to be moldy, a sign that the elements had not treated it nice during its lifespan. It didn't had any windows or an entrance from the side the girls were.
Pressing the earpiece on her right ear, Miho clears her throat before speaking. "Saori, can you hear me?" she says in a low voice to make sure the enemy won't hear her speaking.
"I can hear you Miporin, are you both okay?"a voice speaks through the earpiece.
"Yes, we are fine. Me and Yukari are at the edge of the forest, about 70 meters away from the target building, are you in position?" she asks, still looking around to see if there are any other patrols in the vicinity.
"Yes, but are you sure this will work?" Saori asks in great concern.
"We heard from some bandits that most of their forces are out on a 'hunt', whatever that means, and won't be back for about an hour. We have a distinct advantage over them right now," Miho answers back. Taking another look around, she spots another watchtower at the opposite side of the outpost. "Saori, can you see a watchtower from where you are?"
"We can actually see two watchtowers from our position," Saori reports back.
"Load an HE shell and tell Hana to fire at the closest watchtower on my signal. After that, tell her to fire at the other watchtower, then storm the outpost. Kill any enemy personnel you see. Use only the coaxial machine gun when you enter the outpost, we don't want to damage the target building," she orders and she can hear Saori groaning in response, since she has to act like a loader for the time being, before informing the rest of the crew of what they have to do.
"Okay, we are awaiting your signal," Saori says.
Glancing at Yukari, Miho signals her with her left hand to aim at one of the two men that are standing near the base of the watchtower. Raising her Glock 34, she aims at the man that is closest to the watchtower, resting her weapon's sights on his head. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, she steadies her aim. Now, the birds have stopped chirping, like a premonition of what is about to happen.
"Fire," she orders and a booming sound is heard coming from the other side of the outpost, before the watchtower on the other side vanishes in a cloud of smoke and fire, splinters raining everywhere. Miho pulls the trigger of her pistol and out comes a 9mm bullet, propelling itself through the air and towards the man. Upon contact, the bullet lodges itself inside the man's head and forces it to jerk backwards, blood spurting out of the entry wound. Even before the bandit hits the ground, his friend is already falling down, a bullet hole between his eyes.
Another thundering boom is heard and both Miho and Yukari see a shell crashing at the left side of the watchtower's body, the explosion throwing splinters and pieces of wood everywhere. The top of the watchtower starts banking on the left, the wooden supports and pillars on the right side creaking more and more intensely from the increasing pressure. Reaching their limit, both the supports and the pillars snap, causing the top to come crashing down on the ground, the impact throwing soil and dust everywhere. Taking advantage of this, both Miho and Yukari run through the dust cloud that lingers in the air, Yukari stopping briefly at the remains of the watchtower to put a bullet in the head of the enemy sniper, before continuing her advance to the target building, her Ruger SR9c raised and ready to fire. Reaching the wall of the building, she, along with Miho, immediately crouch and scan their immediate surroundings, checking for any enemies.
The rattling of a machine gun can be heard, accompanied by the screams of people and the sound of bodies hitting the ground. Sticking to the wall, both Miho and Yukari peek over the side of the wall, before standing up and making their way towards the front of the building.
Reaching the front of the building, the ground was littered with dead bandits, their bodies full of holes. Blood was oozing out of them, pooling around the bodies and painting the ground dark red. In front of the building stands motionless the Panzer IV ausf H, its turret and cannon looking directly on the wooden, front door.
As the girls approach the tank, the radio operator's hatch opens and out comes a girl that was the same height as Yukari, had long ginger colored hair and light brown eyes. She ,too, wore the same black uniform and bulletproof vest. Getting out of her seat, she grabs her SCAR-L assault rifle that sits on its stock to her immediate right, in the space between her seat and the tank's wall, and jumps off the tank and quickly runs to Miho and Yukari.
"Are you both OK?" she quickly asks.
"We are fine Saori, don't worry," Miho quickly says, before turning to face Yukari. "Yukari, change places with Saori and tell Hana to fire the machine gun at the wooden door on my signal."
Complyng with her orders, Yukari quickly runs back at the tank, climbing its hull and entering it from the loader's hatch, which was located at the right side of the turret. Miho and Saori take position besides the wooden door and Miho hits it lightly once, to indicate at Hana that she is clear to fire.
The coaxial machine gun sparks to life, spewing bullets that punch holes through the door, with splinters and blood flying everywhere. Stopping its fire, the machine gun sizzles, as gunpowder smoke slowly escapes the barrel. Saori retrieves a flashbang that hangs from her utility belt and after pulling the pin, she throws it through the many holes the door has developed and after hearing a loud puff, accompanied by a bright and intense light, she shoulder bashes through the door, breaking it in individual pieces.
Splinters shower her as she enters a narrow corridor that is no longer than 10 meters, its walls riddled with bullet holes and bloodied bodies lying on the floor. Quickly scanning the corridor, she notices a man lying on the ground, holding his head and groaning in pain. Saori snaps her aim on his head and presses the trigger once, and the man's movements seize. Keeping her rifle raised, she proceeds with Miho at the end of the corridor, where a metal door stands. Kicking it a few times, Saori manages to break the flimsy lock and with one last kick, the door is flung open. Both girls enter the room with their guns raised, scanning it for any hostiles.
Seeing none, Miho holsters her pistol, while Saori just lowers her assault rifle, keeping it in her hands in case there is an emergency. The room that the girls are in looks like a very small office, with a desk in the middle of it and a cabinet at one of the corners of the room. A very luxurious wheeled chair sits behind the desk, contrasting with the rest of the office. The room has no visible windows, its only light source being the fluorescent bulbs that hang from the ceiling.
"Saori, check the desk for any documents that might reveal the enemy's location. I'll check the cabinet," Miho says quickly, already in front of it and opening the drawers. Saori does the same, opening the drawers of the desk and quickly glancing through the stacks of papers they contain. Most of them were for the number of supplies they needed, how much manpower they had and other unimportant stuff.
"Miporin, there is nothing here," Saori says, walking slowly towards Miho. "Did you find anything?"
Shaking her head, Miho puts the documents she had on her hand back at the cabinet. Scanning slowly the room, a thoughtful expression forms on her face.
"Is something wrong?" Saori asks, seeing the thoughtful expression her commander had.
"I remember the building being bigger, yet this room seems far too small for its outer dimensions. I wonder..." Miho trails off, being already lost to her own thoughts. Not knowing what to do, Saori just gazes at Miho, trying to guess what she is thinking.
While looking down at the floor, Miho notices that the wooden planks on the floor next to the cabinet are damaged, scraped if we want to be exact. "Saori, come and help me move the cabinet," she quickly says, positioning herself on the right side of it.
Saori quickly grabs the cabinet from its left side and pushes it with Miho towards their left, alongside the wall. The wall behind the cabinet appears to have a door that is a bit smaller than the cabinet, but big enough for a human to be able to pass. Before Miho can retrieve a small LED flashlight she keeps in one of her vest's pockets though, a loud thud is heard coming from behind her. Her training kicking in, she immediately unholsters her Glock 34 and aims it at the direction of the sound, only to find the wheeled chair lying down on the floor, a trapdoor open in front of it and a figure running to the entrance of the building.
Saori runs out of the room immediately in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. Miho presses her earpiece to speak. "Yukari, we have a fleeing enemy, he should come out of the entrance about now, stop him at all costs!"
"Yes, Miss Nishizumi!" Yukari says, before exiting the vehicle along with Hana to catch the fleeing figure.
In the meantime, Miho, after holstering her pistol, finally fishes out of one of the pockets the small flashlight and opens the door that was hidden behind the cabinet to enter a dark, concealed room. Upon entering, a very disgusting stench hits her nostrils, the smell being so intense that her eyes tear up, putting her gloved hand over her nose and mouth reflexively.
"What is this horrible smell?" she thinks aloud, her gait producing a sticky, almost sickening sound. Turning the flashlight on to be able to see in darkness that envelopes the room, her eyes widen in horror, her stomach convulsing from the pure disgust she feels. Running out of the room, she falls to her knees, before vomiting everything her stomach was holding. Coughing a bit, she wipes her mouth with the back of her right gloved hand, slowly regaining enough strength to stand up.
What no one can see though, since she is alone in the room, is the color of her eyes, that changes from brown to red for a fraction of a second.
"Miss Nishizumi, we caught the fleeing enemy, we have him in front of the tank," she hears a voice speak from her earpiece.
"I'll be there in a moment Yukari," she responds.
Taking a deep breath, she starts walking slowly out of the room and into the corridor, not making any effort to avoid the tiny puddles of blood that have formed, the soles of her boots getting red and leaving footprints on the rest of the floor.
Exiting the building, she finds five people standing in front of the tank. A man that is not older than 25 years old, has black hair and eyes and wears a uniform that closely resembles the one the Japanese soldiers wore in World War 2. In front of him, at a distance of 5 meters, stands an elegant girl with long black hair and black eyes. Just like the rest, she too wears a black uniform and a bulletproof vest, a holster that contains a Glock 34 strapped on her right thigh. On her left stands Yukari, who has her arms crossed, looking at the man for any suspicious movement, while on her right stands Saori, who still holds her SCAR-L. Seeing the man, Miho subconsciously quickens her pace, anger feeling her slowly.
Hearing footsteps, Saori turns to look at who is coming. "Miporin, is everything alright?" she asks, noticing the serious and severe look on Miho's face.
Miho says nothing and goes straight for the man, everyone's gazes following her. Stopping in front of him, she clenches her right fist and punches him in the face with such force that his nose breaks, blood starting to seep out of it at an alarming rate. The man falls to the ground, clasping his broken nose and grunting from the intense pain he feels.
"Miporin, why did you do this?!" Saori yells, distressed at her friend's actions. Both Hana and Yukari look with concerned looks at Miho, who still doesn't respond back to her friend.
Miho unholsters her pistol and walks in front of the man, who upon seeing her gun, tries to crawl away from her.
Miho lodges her left foot on the man's chest, effectively pinning him down on the ground. The man tries to shake off Miho's leg, but to his utmost disdain he finds that however much strength he puts, he can't even budge her leg a little.
Aiming her pistol at the man's head, she presses her foot on his chest, as to have his full attention.
"I have some questions to ask you. Answer them all and I'll let you live," Miho says, her voice full of anger. Even her eyes are filled with killing intent.
"I have nothing to tell to you, little girl," The man responds with a grin, blood still flowing from his nose, albeit at smaller quantities.
Miho though is in no mood for games, and snapping her aim a bit at the right, she fires, the bullet passing millimeters away from the man's face, hitting the ground and bouncing off of it. The man's grin instantly vanishes, his eyes glued at the smoking barrel of the Glock 34.
"First question. Where is your main base of operations?"
The man says nothing, so Miho starts applying more pressure on the man's chest, causing his breathing to become fast and sallow.
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" the man says with a raspy voice. Miho reduces the pressure she is applying, and after taking a few deep breaths, the man speaks.
"It's...it's in the west. If you give me a map, I can pinpoint the location exactly," the man says quickly, still eyeing the pistol Miho holds. Yukari quickly goes into the tank and returns with a map of Japan and a marker. Thankfully the map was of the new Japan, showing how the land was after the Apocalypse. Handing the map and marker, the man quickly marks the place where their main base is, before handing them back at Yukari.
"Second question. What is a 'hunt'?" she asks with a demanding tone.
"It's when we attack communities to abduct some of their members and sell them to slave traders," he answers with a low voice. Upon hearing that, all of the girls develop a serious expression on their faces, with Saori visibly tightening her grip on her weapon.
Suddenly, the driver's hatch opens and out comes a short girl with long, thick black hair with bangs and a white headband, and dark hazel eyes. She too wears a black uniform with a bulletproof vest. "Miho, one of the sensors we placed on our way here has been triggered, probably their main force. They will be here in about ten minutes," The girl says in a sleepy voice.
"Thanks Mako," Miho responds, before turning her head to look at the man's eyes again.
"Third question. What is the purpose of the room that is hidden behind the office room?" she asks the man with a threatening tone.
"I-I don't know what you are talking about," The man says, clearly feigning ignorance.
"The room where you tortured two girls, that's what I'm talking about!", Miho almost yells, causing everyone else to look at her with wide eyes, shocked from what they just have heard.
"What are you talking about Miporin?", Saori blurts out, still shocked.
"The room we found behind the cabinet, Saori, I checked it out. They were two mutilated bodies inside. If you don't believe me, you can go check it out yourselves," Miho says, griping her pistol tighter.
Yukari instantly bolts into the building, her curiosity getting the better of her, Hana following behind her, wanting to see if her friend isn't just overreacting to something else.
Entering the building, both of them carefully step over the dead bodies and puddles of blood. Upon entering the room, Yukari spots an opened door that leads to a very dark room. Entering the dark room, both girls reflexively cover their noses and mouths, trying to stomach the smell of rotten flesh that permeates the air.
"What is this horrible smell?" Hana says, coughing a bit from the intensity of the smell.
Yukari doesn't respond, as she tries to find a light switch in the wall, her steps producing a sticky and sickening sound. Feeling something that resembles a switch, she flicks it and a fan can be heard starting, presumably the ventilation. The air starts to get lighter and lighter, until it is clear enough to be breathable, the smell having subsided. Finding another switch, she flicks it too. Light fills the dark room, as the fluorescent bulbs that are in the ceiling start flickering.
Turning to face the center of the room, she feels her whole body being petrified by horror, her eyes widening in pure shock from what they are seeing.
In the middle of the room sit tied in two chairs the mutilated bodies of two young girls, with the floor around them full of dried blood, which extends to the edges of the room. Both bodies have bruises all over them, some of their fingers seem to be snapped or missing from their hands and in some areas there is no flesh at all. One of the bodies has its abdomen cut open, the internal organs spilling out and on the ground. The other body has third degree burns all over it, especially on the head.
Both Yukari and Hana run out of the room, with Yukari immediately collapsing on the office's floor, vomiting from what she has seen. Hana fairs a bit better, using the desk to support herself, fighting the urge to vomit from the pure disgust she feels. Taking a few deep breaths, she manages to calm down a bit, regaining her composure, before helping Yukari to stand up, who seems unable to move from the sheer shock she feels.
"Wh-Who c-could do something l-like that?!" Yukari says in a quivering voice, her breathing being erratic.
"You need to calm down Yukari. Try to take some deep breaths," Hana says quickly, supporting her friend who still seems to be unable to stand on her own two feet.
They both exit the room and start heading back to the tank, the corridor feeling longer than the two girls remember.
"How can I calm down Hana? These girls were kids, they couldn't be older than 12! And the things they had been done on them!" Yukari says in a whisper, her eyes starting to tear up.
Exiting the building, Hana takes Yukari towards the tank and helps her to enter it through the radio operator's hatch, before joining the rest at its front. Mako dives in back to the tank, trying to calm down Yukari, who is silently crying.
"Hana, wh-what did the room had?" Saori slowly asks, already getting a feeling that she won't like the answer.
"It was as Miho said. There were two mutilated bodies, but they...belonged to kids," she hesitantly says, her mind still trying to deny what she has seen.
"What?" Saori widens her eyes both in shock and horror,her face getting paler by the second, as her grip in her weapon tightens as much as it is possible,her hands shaking.
"I'll ask you one more time. Were you the one that did these things to the girls?!" Miho says, intense killing intent mixed in her voice.
The man says nothing, looking away from Miho.
"Miho, the second sensor got triggered, we need to get out of here now," Mako says with her usual, sleepy expression, though the slight quivering of her voice suggests that she too has been affected from what she has heard.
Miho sighs lightly, and holstering her pistol, she goes towards the tank, accompanied by Hana. The man stands up and tries to run, only for Saori to hit him on his back with the butt of her rifle so hard, the man collapses to the ground, face first, his broken nose starting to bleed yet again.
"Where do you think you are going?" Saori seethes angrily through clenched teeth, her voice clearly indicating her next action. Aiming at the man's back, her rifle roars, as a whole magazine of bullets is expended. The weapon clicks empty and Saori lowers it, gunpowder smoke escaping from its barrel. The man lies motionless on the ground, full of holes, blood slowly seeping out from both his back and abdomen.
"Saori!" Miho yells from the commander's hatch and Saori quickly climbs the hull of the tank and enters it through the radio operator's hatch.
"Everyone seal your hatches. Saori, establish a transmission with the HQ and pass them what we have heard. Mako, get us out of here. Yukari, load HE shells," Miho orders.
"Yes!" everyone responds and the tank's engine roars in life, the characteristic sound of treads moving echoing through the now silent outpost. Following a dirt road that goes through the forest, next in which the outpost had been constructed, Miho spots a big wooden structure hidden between the trees.
"Stop," she orders and the tank comes to a halt.
"Hana, aim at 10 o'clock, at the big wooden structure hidden between the trees."
The turret slowly rotates and sets it sights at the target.
"Fire," Miho says and after a second a thunderclap is heard and the gun breach is kicked back, the shell casing falling onto the tank's floor. The shell exits from the gun barrel, propelling itself through the air, nearly hitting some of the trees. Landing on the structure, it passes cleanly through the wooden wall and explodes, resulting in the structure to get obliterated by an even bigger explosion that throws pieces of flaming wood all over the place and even sets some nearby trees on fire.
"This must have been their supply depot," Hana says.
"Mm, they must have had it hidden in the woods in case they were to be attacked," Miho answers back.
"They clearly didn't do a good job," Mako says, resuming driving onto the dirt road.
The tank keeps following the dirt road, the end of the forest being visible now.
"Saori, did you contact the HQ?", Miho asks, looking at the edge of the forest for any suspicious movements.
"Yes, we are to go and meet the Antelope team on Grid Point H45. We will receive further orders when we meet them," Saori says before adding, "Who are exactly these guys?"
"I only know that they joined Blackout a month ago, but their records are all outstanding, completing a lot of difficult assignments."
"I have also heard that they have a pretty weird tank. I have never seen it, but rumors have it that it is a salvaged Panther from Kuromorimine with a custom built turret," Yukari says in a cheerful voice, having calmed enough to be her usual self.
"Does their squad have a nickname like ours?" Hana asks curiously.
"Oh please, don't remind me of that thing again," Saori groans, not wanting to remember the nickname they have been given by most of the personnel in Blackout.
"At least it made you popular with the boys," Mako says to Saori.
"Yeah, but I wanted something cute. 'Black Wolves' is the exact opposite of that!" Saori says with a grumpy face.
Everyone giggles at Saori's behavior. The tank exits the forest and onto a plain, where at a distance of about 100 meters is a blockade made of civilian pickup trucks, all of them sporting a .50 Cal machine gun on their cargo bed and bandits taking cover behind them. Upon seeing the tank, all of the machine guns start firing on it, the bullets harmlessly bouncing all over its front.
Both the coaxial and the bow machine gun of the tank start firing, the bullets easily penetrating the cars and killing the bandits hiding behind them. The cannon is fired and one of the trucks goes up in flames, its body getting twisted and the shrapnel from the explosion killing or severely wounding anyone standing near it. The Panzer IV starts moving forwards, easily reaching 30 km/h and crashing into one of the trucks, it flattens it with ease, the sound of grinding steel resounding in the air. Leaving the blockade behind them and continuing following the road, Miho spots pickup trucks following them from both her left and right.
"Hana, aim and fire at the pickup trucks at the left, me and Saori will deal with the ones on the right," Miho says to Hana, while grabbing her M16A4 assault rifle.
Opening the commander's hatch, she aims at the driver of one the pickup trucks, and starts laying suppressive fire, hitting him multiple times on his side and head. The truck swerves to the right and crashes at the side of another truck, causing it to lose control and ultimately go barreling for some 15 meters. Saori peeks out of her hatch and aims her gun at another truck on the right side, only to press the trigger for a click to be heard. Wondering what's wrong, she quickly remembers that she didn't reload her weapon, so she ducks back inside the tank and closes the hatch, moments before .50 Cal bullets start pinging off of it.
An explosion is heard from the left of the tank and a fireball the size of the trucks can be seen slowly coming to a halt. Hana re-acquires a new target and is ready to fire, but all of a sudden the trucks start losing speed, before stopping their chase altogether.
"Why did they stop?" Saori wonders, seeing the pickup trucks getting further and further.
"They probably realized that they cannot take down a tank with bullets only," Mako says with her sleepy voice.
"Whatever the case, we managed to escape. Now we only need to meet with the Antelope team. I just hope we don't have any more trouble along the way," Miho says, sighing loudly, before slumping back to the commander's seat, feeling really tired from what has happened today.
A/N:Special thanks to SeekerMeeker for helping me with the revision. The second chapter should be rewritten in about a week. I hope you also like the new name of the story.Anyways, as always, suggestions, questions, corrections, reviews or PMs are greatly appreciated. Also, English isn't my native tongue, so expect some grammatical errors here and there. If you found the story interesting and had a great time, favorite and follow. Have a nice day/night and until the next chapter, stay safe!