This is the rework of a story of mine i did more than a year ago and i hope it'll be better than what it used to be
The reason behind this rework is that the other one was dull, had too many plotholes and the overall shittyness was absurd, so i want to redeem myself with this and hopefully bring more quality along the way
There will be chapters that will not feature living vehicles at all, and might contain absolutely nothing related to tank warfare, AT ALL, you have been warned. rant over
Read, review, enjoy, if you spot punctuation and/or grammar mistakes just let me know...as usual
A New World
Times Square was mostly empty, except for the Soviet BTR-90 and the HMMWV, apparently an American high ranking officer was going to defect to Soviet lines and the reunion was to be made on Times Square under the cover of a dark night with a raging thunderstorm that made any attempt at deploying a team via helicopter impossible, but for one lonely sniper hidden within the destroyed buildings of the wartorn New York and with a clear line of sight, a sniper was more than capable of disrupting the meeting.
"This is Nighthawk, target located, awaiting instructions" said the sniper with a female voice, her name is Crystal McKenzie, blonde, brown eyes, white skin, black uniform to match the environment and a massive XM-109, a 25mm sniper rifle with a custom scope capable of IRNV, FLIR and to a limited extent, X-Ray.
"Copy that Nighthawk, take down the target with extreme prejudice" the voice on the other end of the radio replied.
"1200 meters, must compensate for bullet drop" she muttered to herself as she took aim at the defector, who was stretching hands with the Russian captain, who was flanked by two soldiers on the right and one of the left.
"Wind is blowing, adjusting for that" she added as she made the proper adjustments, her heart rate slowed down and her pulse dropped, time stopped as she slowly pulled the trigger, sending a massive 25mm bullet downrange, straight into the defector's torso, ripping him apart in a massive explosion of flesh and organs, sending the russian Captain scrambling for cover while the soldiers fired at random directions.
"Target eliminated, mission successful" she radioed back before quickly getting up and running away from her position.
About a week since her last assignment, Crystal found herself laying on her bedroom at the Fairchild Air Force Base, staring at the dull gray ceiling, thinking about the ongoing war, if the USSR had managed to invade the US mainland, soon the soviets would be claiming more and more territory, Crystal shook her face, and then heard a knocking sound on her door.
"Crys?" A male voice asked.
"I'm coming" she replied, she then got up and walked towards the door, she opened to reveal a man with short brown hair, dark brown eyes and a small beard, he also seemed to be in his 30s.
"Captain Stark?" She said, and then he noticed him holding her XM-109, which he handled over to her.
"You know we've been friends since childhood, drop the formalities, we have a situation, command wants us in the portal area" he replied.
"But... Why?" She asked.
"We're gonna be live tests subjects" he replied, Crystal gulped.
About half an hour later both soldiers were descending in an elevator into the underground complex, navigating through the maze of corridors until they arrived to a large hangar housing a large round flat structure one could step into, large enough to hold an Abrams tank and few more troops.
"Brought your gear?" A major asked.
"Yes sir" they both replied, Stark was holding an M16A3 with an M203 grenade launcher and an ACOG 4x optic.
"Guys!" Another soldier, this one with black hair, brown eyes, white skin, same age range as both Crystal and Stark, he was holding an Steyr AUG assault rifle.
"Ludwig?" Said Crystal.
"Short version they hauled my ass all the way from Europe for this occasion" he said explaining his presence; he also patted his gun twice.
"Parting gift" he said.
"Nice" they both replied, then an old bald general in his 70s, tall and muscular like a bodybuilder, coffee eyes and dark skin.
"Gen...General Stinger" said Crystal, slightly spooked by his appearance.
"You three are going to be sent to Europe, more specifically, to Ukraine, you're going to raid an officers meeting" he said and then turned around motioning them to follow him into a control room, they obeyed and once they were inside they were welcomed by a large operations map detailing their mission.
"You're going to be teleported to a kilometer away from the operation area, which is this small three houses complex, it's also lightly guarded, SPYSAT caught 20 heat signatures" Stinger began to explain.
"You have a few possible routes of offense, up the main road, which means through both checkpoints..."
"No way" said Crystal.
"Err ok, there's the river that goes along the complex or the surrounding forests" he finished.
"Two viable options" said Ludwig.
"Once you're inside you must clear the complex of enemy forces and secure the VIPs, General Aleksandr Kolga, TACNAME COMET, and Colonel Viktor Sokolov, TACNAME SOLARIS, ALIVE!" he made emphasis on alive.
"That is all ladies and gentleman, good luck and Godspeed!" He added before dismissing them, they all three exited the room and headed towards the teleporter.
"Alright, this is the first time it will be tested on humans" said a scientist as he prepared the teleporter from his terminal.
"Hey! You sure this is gonna work?!" Crystal yelled.
"Absolutely not!" The scientists replied.
"That doesn't make me feel any better" muttered Crystal.
"Man i feel like Jack O'Neil" commented Stark.
"Who?" Asked Crystal raising an eyebrow.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, from Stargate SG-1!" He replied but Crystal gave him the most confused look.
"Whatever" he said with a smirk.
"Activating teleporter!" A scientist said as he pressed a red button, then a blue light surrounded the trio.
"It's working" muttered Stinger from his spot.
Then catastrophe.
"Power is dropping!" A scientist yelled, Stinger's eyes grew wide.
"Get them out!" He yelled.
"We...we can't!" Another scientist replied, the blue light grew bigger, and then there was an explosion that cut the power entirely and knocked everyone to the ground.
"Status report!" Yelled out Stinger as soon as he got up.
"It looks like...it worked?" A confused scientist said.
"Let's hope it worked" Stinger said to himself.
"I want a damage report! And power back on!" He ordered and everyone obeyed.
Somewhere NOT in Ukraine, not in Europe at least there was a bright light and the three soldiers materialized.
"Whoa what the fuck?" They shares confused looks but then figured out it had worked.
"Where are we? Terrain doesn't really corresponds to the one depicted in the ops map" said Ludwig, true that, they should have been surrounded by a forest and a road that led to the checkpoints but instead were in a wide gravel path in front of a waterfall, and the next thing they noticed was that all their electronic equipment was dead, exception was the short range radio which apparently was simple enough to survive.
"An EMP blast" said Crystal.
"A what?" Asked Stark.
"Electromagnetic pulse" she replied and he made a gesture that told he now understood.
"So, what's the plan?" Asked Ludwig.
"Well let's head out in that direction and see where are we" she replied motioning towards the road.
"I'll take point" said Stark, he raised his assault rifle and began to walk forwards, his sights ready for anything.
The group had been walking for a little until they came in front a small hill.
"I'll set up there" said Crystal, pointing her finger at the small hill, after she received a confirming nod she ran up the slope and went into a prone position, deploying the bipod and zeroing the scope for 400 meters.
"Crystal here, I'm already set, there road splits into two, one leads to what seems to be a bridge, the other borders a dry riverbed, you might want to split up to cover the highest amount of ground" she communicated through the short range radio, the only surviving electronic equipment.
"I'll take bridge" said Stark.
"That leaves me the other side" said Ludwig.
"Alright boys, if you see anything suspicious fall back to my location" Crystal ordered.
"Hey i should be the one giving orders here Crys" jokingly said Stark.
"She's the sniper mate" Ludwig countered.
"Point taken" said Stark, he walked rather slowly until he came next to a huge rock in front of the bridge, and to Stark's surprise there was a turret less armored fighting vehicle giving him the broadside.
"Shit, unidentified armor" he said a bit loud, the AFV turned in his direction and fired without warning, Stark rolled on his knees to avoid death, taking cover behind the rock.
"Contact" he said on the radar.
"ID?" Asked Crystal.
"I don't know, it's a fucking tank!" He hissed back.
"WHO'S...? WHO'S THERE!?" A shaky childish female voice called.
"SHOW YOUR...SELF!" the voice called out.
"What the fuck?" Muttered Stark.
Then an explosion right behind the rock, Stark felt the shockwave.
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! I'LL COME OUT! JUST TELL THE TANK CREW TO STOP SHOOTING!" he yelled back.
"T..Tank crew? What are you talking about? There's no one else but me" said the voice, Stark knew something was wrong right away, so the next thing he did was to show himself, and to his surprise about 12 meters away there was a StuG III G tank destroyer, but this one seemed... Alive, it had eyes, mouth; it was breathing and was staring at him with a mix of curiosity and a bit of fear.
"You got to be kidding me" Stark said to himself, the StuG III had blue eyes and a distinctive feminine appearance.
"Are you an alien?" Asked the female TD.
"I should be asking you that question" replied Stark, earning a frown from the TD girl.
"Alright alright, I'm a human" he said, not wanting to get on her bad side.
"A what? Never mind, I'm Ludmilla Villarroel" the TD girl introduced herself.
"I'm Neil Stark, but everyone calls me Stark" he also introduced himself.
"STARK! STARK! COME IN!" Crystal's voice came in.
"I'm fine Crys, but there's something you and Ludwig have to see, come to the bridge, i can't explain right now" he replied, moments later both soldiers came running towards Stark, but stopped at the sight of Ludmilla.
"What the?" Both Crystal and Ludwig said at the same time, making Ludmilla feel embarrassed, she blushed red that moment.
"Umm...Hi" she muttered.
"Stark?" Crystal looked at him confused.
"Her name's Ludmilla, she's alive" he replied, Crystal placed her hand on Ludmilla's upper frontal plate and felt the metallic texture, and at the same time, a skin like feeling.
"Uh..." Ludmilla looked down at her, not knowing why that creature was so...surprised.
"I can feel her warmth, it's not steel...it's like... Skin" said Crystal; she then placed her hand on Ludmilla's gun mantlet, making the TD girl giggle.
"It tickles a bit" she said, Crystal then began to rub that area softly, surprisingly, Ludmilla welcomed the gesture.
"I'm Crystal" she introduced herself.
"And that over there is Ludwig" she introduced Ludwig, who smiled and rubbed the back of his head.
"May i ask, where are you headed?" Asked Ludmilla, the humans shared uneasy looks.
"I can take you to my home, i live alone" she offered.
"Thank you very much!" Crystal said.
"I noticed you're tiny compared to me, you can ride on my back, just don't touch my..." She then began to blush wildly red.
"We get it" said Stark, him being the first in climbing onto Ludmilla's roof, followed by Crystal and finally Ludwig.
"Alright, here we go!" She floored it and they shot off down the road.
The group had been travelling for a while now; Ludmilla was humming a tune and was being quite cheerful despite carrying around strange creatures she had just met.
"We're almost home!" She happily announced.
"Just out of curiosity, how old are you Ludmilla?" Asked Crystal.
"I am sixteen years old, why you ask?" She replied.
"I'm just curious, that's all" said Crystal, she had spent a good part of their trip getting a feel of Ludmilla's hull, for Crystal it didn't feel like if she was sitting on steel, but rather some sort of skin, that could flex, that felt warm when she placed her hand on it, Crystal felt convinced deep down in her mind that they were no longer in human earth, the mere fact a female living, breaking and talking WWII tank destroyer was unreal to her, she had to ask something.
"Do you have any...parents?" Asked Crystal, both Ludwig and Stark looked at Crystal confused, Ludmilla stopped and then a small tear ran down her left eye.
"That's none of your business" she said firmly, Crystal knew she had crossed a line she shouldn't had, but on the other hand it answered some questions but raised anothers, the most predominant being "are these vehicles biological?".
"I..." Crystal faked a regretful expression, something she did quite well.
"Doesn't matter" replied Ludmilla, disregarding the subject.
"Ludmilla, are there more... Like you?" Asked Ludwig.
"Turret less, turreted, self-propelled guns, ships, planes, you name it" the StuG III replied.
"Did you say planes?" Asked Crystal.
"And ships?" Asked Stark.
"Interesting, a race of fully sentient, living rational machines" said Ludwig.
"Excuse me!?" Ludmilla seemed offended by that remark.
"We are biological, we have organs, and in case you didn't notice, we reproduce you chimpanzee!" She barked at him.
"Wow" the three humans were left speechless.
"Sorry" Ludmilla said before continuing, however she had to stop immediately after a couple of feet, Crystal noticing the hull arching slightly, Ludmilla was getting nervous so she motioned the other two to get off.
"There's someone up ahead, and its big enough for my gun to be rendered useless" with a shaky voice, Ludmilla spoke, Crystal motioned the other two to get their weapons ready, she aimed her sniper rifle down the road ahead, their first probably hostile encounter with this new world's people was about to begin.
MS Word 2010 is a blessing
