A Command & Conquer story by SSJ_Bardock
It was approximately twelve in the morning when the alarm
blared throughout the camp. The sirens were ear piercing and annoying as all
hell. The Allied troops quickly scrambled out of the barracks and put on their
gear. Each man was armed with a standard issue M-16 assault rifle, some with
M-60's for ground support. Each of the soldiers were outfitted with helmets,
boots, and of course, Kevlar.
The base was stationed in a small town in America, which
had a large civilian population. The actual base itself was on the outskirts of
the city. Patriot Missiles scattered the grounds, numerous pill boxes were
positioned at pinch points, and of course, the tanks were out front, with the
exception of three. To tell the truth, no one really knew if they were tanks,
with the large apparatus around the gun.
Finally, an officer stepped forward in front of the
soldiers. "All right men. This is the day you've been waiting for. All the
training, all the preparation, and all the time away from home, comes down to
this very point. Our satellites detected a Soviet ground force just twenty
miles away. Now it is our job to stop them! Do you understand?" he asked.
"SIR YES, SIR," came the troops reply.
"All right than, before you dispatch, the following
troops are to stay here. They are: Walker, Nathaniel; Argouto, Steven; Jenkins,
Jim; Cansoko, Sean; Kennedy, Eric; Watkins, Kyle; Matheson, Anthony; Opem,
Matthew; Peterson, Zachary. Now you nine will be driving our new tanks,
straight out of development. You should feel very honored. Now let's go kick
some Commie ass!" he yelled.
"SIR YES, SIR," they all yelled in unison.
The other twenty-one soldiers dispatched to their
positions as the nine remained behind. As they started walking toward their
vehicles the officer stopped them, "Now you listen here. Those things cost a
fortune, so if you wreck them, I'll make your life a living hellhole. Is that
understood?"
"SIR YES, SIR."
"Good then, go on you've got work to do."
With a quick salute they each headed to their tanks,
three men to each tank. Nathaniel took
the cannon, Steve took the drive controls and Matt helped him. When Steve put
on his headphones, a voice came over it. "All right now, listen up and listen
good. You are to be stationed at the park in the East sector there you will
engage the enemy and report back your situation every twenty minutes, do you
copy?"
"Yeah,
I read ya," came Steve's reply.
Surprisingly the controls were that of a normal tank's.
The only difference was that this tank fired a pulse blast instead of the usual
stuff. It also when still, gave the enemy the illusion that it was an ordinary
tree. That would be all fine and dandy, if it had been tested previously.
Nathan sat at the weapons control. It wasn't like the
other tanks because his seat was stationed a little above the others and a
visor came down over his eyes. The sensors had two options, standard and
infrared. The cannon fired a small pulse blast that was lethal. The turret
moved surprisingly fast and the tank itself was faster than normal. "Hmm,
finally those lab rats do something right," Nathan mused to himself.
Matt was working the radar. The tank had good radar
considering it was fed by the same satellite as the base was. Matt put on his
small c.d. player he had stashed away and put on his headphones. It was going
to be a long boring ride, so he figured what could it hurt. As long as he kept
his eyes on the radar, it would all be okay.
The civilians of the small town watched as a strange
tank-looking thing drove through the streets. It was barely audible but it was
huge. It had a silver paint job with blue mixed in. To any normal spectator,
they would think it would stick out like a sore thumb, too bad they didn't know
what the apparatus was for.
10 minutes later…
The tank finally stopped in the small park. It was parked
between to big pine trees, provided exceptional cover. Now, if all were going
to go according to plan, then a couple squads of ground troops and maybe one or
two tanks would be coming their way. Hopefully, they'd be able to destroy them
all without damaging the equipment. Yeah, fat chance.
Their current position had them facing toward the town's
structures. A couple houses, a library, and even a liquor store were within
view range. Yep, this was just another American town…you could call it
"Anytown, America" if you wanted. The three soldiers sat relaxed within the
tank, not an enemy within radar's range. "How long is this going to take?"
asked Nathan.
"The hell if I know. Anyway, just be patient. You should
considering you're the one that gets to have all the fun," remarked Steve.
Nathan just sighed in response and slumped in his seat.
Matt continued to stare at the screen until he suddenly sat up right. "Here's
Johnny," he said, trying his best to imitate Jack Nicholson. The other two
immediately sprang up as well.
"Where?" Nathan quickly asked.
Matt squinted for a moment and then gave him the
coordinates. Nathan quickly turned the cannon to face their direction. "Wait
for the tanks," Steve said.
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock," Nathan retorted.
Matt just chuckled, "200 yards and closing." Steve picked
up his radio,
"Attention base. This is Ground Wolf 2, we've located the
enemy."
There was a slight pause on the other end, "…All right,
let us know when they're within firing range, over."
The Soviets were coming in closer. "Approximately…150
yards and closing," Matt announced. Nathan hands became sweaty, his pulse
increased, the adrenaline was pumping. The first damn thing that stuck its head
out right now would be dead. "125 yards and closing…" The tension was building
up. In a couple minutes now, the enemy would emerge from behind 62nd
and Third Street.
Nathan gripped the handles tight…
"100 yards and closing…."
A small bead of sweat trickled down his forehead…
"75 yards and closing…"
His eyes squinted…
"50 yards now…"
He quickly cracked his knuckles and neck…
"25 yards, get ready man…"
He licked his lips in anticipation…
"10 yards, any second now…"
His eyes concentrated hard. Finally the enemy appeared
from behind a store. Approximately twenty ground troops and four tanks
emerged…Wait a minute, four tanks?!
"FUCK!" yelled Nathan as his fingers clutched the
trigger. In one swift motion he pulled back. The tank shook as a pulse blast
was launched. The blast connected right in front of the soldiers. Seven of the
Conscripts were sent flying through the air, each one missing a different part
of their body. Blood flew everywhere; it was one big sick gore fest.
Nathan sat shocked in his seat. "…H…Holy shit," was all
he managed.
"Shoot the fucking cannon!" yelled Matt.
That instant, Nathan returned to reality and aimed. The
crosshairs flashed red as it was placed over a tank. "Now let's see what this
baby can do," came Nathan's voice as another blast was let loose.
The Conscripts had taken off for cover, but the tanks
were too slow. The blast tore into the lead tank. The Soviet Rhino Tank shook
as the blast hit. The men inside the tank screamed in horror. Nathan aimed
again…then fired.
Once the second blast hit, the tank went up in a pillar
of fire and smoke. Civilians shrieked in horror at the carnage all around them.
It was pure chaos. People were running all over the place as the Soviet force
tried to get the hell out. Just before the last tank got out of the way, Nathan
got off another shot. It connected with the side of the tank, completely
tearing apart the tanks tracks, leaving it as a huge roadblock, or the
possibility of another huge bonfire. Nathan chose the latter of the two and
fired again. "Another one bites the dust!" Nathan chorused.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Soviets had fallen back to regroup. Whatever it was
that attacked them, it wasn't something to be messed with. Which meant that,
they'd have to mess with it. They had now formed a basic plan though. They'd
have to lure the thing out from its hiding spot, then once they found out where
it was, keep it distracted enough for the Crazy Ivan to wire the thing with as
much dynamite as he possibly could before it blew. Some plan.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nathan sat in his seat, riveted in place. He'd never felt
so alive as when he was gunning down a Communist soldier. It was something of
which he had never experienced before and he loved it, which was the sickening
part. He watched as several Soviets emerged from behind a building. They fired
their AK's with desperation. Nathan smirked and pulled the trigger….
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The ten remaining Conscripts watched carefully and for a
brief second spotted their target. It was a tank, disguised as a tree. Oh, the
Allies sure were developing neat toys indeed. The leader signaled for the Ivan
to come forward. He gave him his instructions and then they set the plan in
action. The remaining troops scattered into the streets, behind buildings, just
keeping fire on the supposed tank. They watched as the Ivan began to wire the
side of the tank, strapping on three sticks of dynamite at a time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nathan stopped firing when they had taken cover. On his
left was a single target. "What the hell does he think he's doing huh? He can't
stop me," Nathan said aloud.
0:05
Nathan spun the turret to face the target...
0:04
His eyes widened at what he saw…
0:03
Smiling at him was what was codenamed as a "Crazy Ivan" freaks that
loved dynamite…
0:02
The other two in the tank just started at him, "What's wrong Nathan?"
asked Steve, confused and a little panicked.
0:01
He looked at them, and stared.
0:00
"Shit."
BEEP!