I HAVE RETURNED! Yeah, sorry for those who hate this, and sorry for taking so long, but I just hadn't got any ideas for this story, well, until now that is. But the updates might be just as slow as they where, 'cause real life is being an arsehole to me, with the big final test coming nearer, and afterwards, the start of my training to become a real railroad engineer. So, I hope you like it that I returned to the story
Lukas slowly came to senses in an hospital room, "Ugh, I give you that Hans, you've got a nasty right hook." Muttered Lukas as he tiredly opened his eyes, "Good, your up." Smiled Charlie, as he put his book away.
Lukas looked around the room, "Hey lad, small question: Why the hell am I in a hospital room?!" he shouted, "I know Hans knocked me out, but sending me to hospital yet again? A bit over the top, don't you think?" he asked Charlie, "You would've died if we didn't got you here." Charlie replied.
Lukas looked at Charlie "What?" he asked in surprise, "Yeah, your rips were cracked and your stomach was ripped; don't worry though, they sewed you up and you should be alright in a few days." Charlie replied with a smile as Lukas's eyes wandered to the calendar, "Um, is that thing broken or was I really knocked out for 2 weeks?" he asked half-jokingly, "The calendar is working alright." replied Charlie. "Hans is already up though, but you gave him a pretty good beating: He had both legs broken, some ribs were shattered, and some minor internal bleeding." he added.
Just then, Shiho Nishizumi came in followed by a boy about Lukas and Charlie's age, "When they got Hans here, they also found out why he behaved so bad: he had a BAC of 0.20 percent." the boy said.
Lukas chuckled, "Heh, I thought that smell from his mouth wasn't normal." he said as Shiho turned to leave, "If you don't mind me saying so ma'am, don't be too harsh to Hans; he might be an arse and an rule breaker, but he's not completely rotten." he said.
Shiho was silent for a moment before she finally spoke, "I will remember that when we meet him in the courthouse." she said, and left the room.
Lukas looked at the young boy "Say, Aren't you from Hans's tank?" he asked, "Yes I was, I'm Theo." the boy said as he shook Lukas's hand, "I want to thank you for standing up for Hans." Theo said "I knew him since he was little, but he never had it easy; and when he started to drink, I knew something like this would happen." Theo sighed, "He will also take over the job as a driver for Maho." added Charlie.
Lukas looked surprised, "Really? Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked, "Yes. I actually like trains, but Hans doesn't, bad history with them." Theo replied, "I would've taken the job as driver from the beginning, but if Hans knew that I would work on the train, he would've sent me back to West Forest in a heartbeat and whoever is on the wrong foot with Hans there will be going through a nightmare." he finished, shivering slightly when he thought of what would happen at West Forest if he and Hans wouldn't get along.
Lukas shook Theo's hand, "Well then, welcome to the group Theo!" he said cheerfully, "Once I'm out of here, I'll show you the ropes of how to handle the 52 8201." he finished with a smile, "That won't be necessary, Maho and I already showed him how to drive her; also, I think it would be pretty tough to show him how to handle her." Said Charlie.
Lukas was confused, "Huh? Why?" he asked, "Because we're already back at Saunders!" laughed Charlie.
Lukas chuckled to himself, "I really was knocked out, wasn't I?" he said as he looked out of the window.
Theo stood up, "I'm sorry to leave you so soon, but the helicopter well leave soon, and that's my only way back to Black Forest." he said, "No problem. See you on the battlefield!" Lukas said as Theo walked away.
3 days later...
Lukas was impatient, "Okay, I know that's my first day in over 4 weeks that I've been here, but WHY THE HECK DO I NEED TO KEEP MY EYES CLOSED FOR SO LONG?!" he ranted Lukas as he sat impatiently, "We told you, it's a surprise!" Sebastian said as a shout came from somewhere, "Alright, you can open your eyes now!" said Christopher.
Lukas uncovered his eyes, "It's about time." he grumbled as he opened his eyes, "Hey, they finally got the time to restore the sheds! Nice work there ladies." smiled Lukas as he stood in front of the red brick shed.
But the shed looked different; instead of the two tracks, there were now four tracks that led inside it as well as two extra stalls were added along with several new sidings, on some of which, trucks and coaches of all sizes and shapes stood.
Lukas looked at the new facility in amazement, "Heh, guys, that's what I call, a surprise well done!" he said with a chuckle, but the others just grinned.
Pat beamed, "It ain't over yet my friend." he said with a smirk as slowly, the doors to the sheds were pushed open, and out steamed 'The Bomber', freshly repainted into cammo green, and in the middle of the consist, stood the 'Silver Streak', completely covered in metal armor, the wheels and running gear covered by removable plates, and the cab rebuild to cover up both the backhead and the tender.
Lukas was amazed, "Okay, now THAT'S a surprise well done!" he said with a big smile as he walked towards his engine, but stopped before climbing in, "Well? What are you waiting for? Get aboard!" he shouted as he climbed inside, the others following suit.
When Lukas got inside, he was surprised to see Kay at the controls, "Wait, you drove her out?" he asked in surprise, "Of course. I learned enough while watching you drive this train." Kay smirked, "Well, not bad for a start, but in a real match, I don't think it'll be quite enough." Lukas remarked as he walked over to the controls, "Ah, it's good to be home." He smiled as he started the train for a small run on the test track.
After returning, the engineer, the train crew and the tankery commander went to the tankery clubhouse to discuss the strategies for the first match, "Okay, so the first match you're going to participate in is a training match against Oarai." Said Kay.
Sebastian looked at Kay, "Alright, so us against the G8 shouldn't be too bad." he remarked, "But we couldn't take a look at their tanks, what does Oarai actually have?" he asked, "They mostly have small and medium tanks. But they do have one tank that could be dangerous if not taken out quickly: The Porsche Tiger." Kay answered.
Pat thoughtfully rubbed his chin, "I see, 8.8cm gun, aka, 'Panzertöter'. I read about those things, but they say they were more or less failures, that's why the 'Tiger' was chosen instead of the Porsche." he said, "Yes, but the Automobile club from Oarai rebuilt the Tiger so that most of the issues are gone." replied Kay.
Lukas grabbed the folder with the tank information, "Hm, let's see what they have next to the Tiger." he said, "Heh, Panzer IV, StuG III, a Hetzer, a Type 98, a M3 Lee, a B1 and a Type 3 Chi-Nu. And with this they won against Black Forest Peak?" he asked, a little stunned, "Yeah, why?" asked Kay, "Because if they took it up with Tigers, King Tigers, A Jagdtiger and a bloody Maus and still came out as the victor, then I don't want to know what they can do now that they have the armored train!" grumbled Lukas.
Charlie pulled out a map of the battlefield, "Let's see how the rails are. We need to know where we'll fight and about lines we'll run on so that we can make a good strategy." he put in.
Lukas also looked at the map, "Hm, plain terrain, only a few small hills, forest in the west, and a river. No bigger cities or other buildings. Wait, there is a interchange station for the standard gauge line? Good, at least something. Well, looks like this'll be the perfect start." he grumbled.
"Okay, I think I've got a decent strategy. Listen here, and we might win this." he said with a confident look, and started to explain his plan...
3 days later, Nagasaki, tankery battlefield
Sebastian looked about the field, "Alright, our first actual fight with the train!" he exclaimed, "Let's see how long it'll take them to take us out!" he joked, "Just keep to the plan, and we'll be out of this without any wagon lost." responded Lukas, as the judge came up.
The judge looked at Lukas and the other team's commander, "Commanders, Co-commanders and engineers! Make your greetings!" she said.
Lukas and the other commander shook hands, "Hey Takeo, ready to be blown of the tracks?" Lukas asked cheekily, "It will be a joy, to see your train derailed, McCoach-san." responded the Japanese boy with a smirk, "One just can't help but love you Tojos." Lukas quipped back, "Good luck!" said Miho, as the others did the same.
Everyone went back to their vehicles, and Lukas got inside along with his own crew and some girls from the tanks that couldn't work anymore, "Alright ladies and gentlemen, you know the plan, let's go for it!" he shouted over the radio as the signal rang out for the match to start.
They quickly made their way to the interchange station, and hid themselves in a siding, behind some trucks, "Alright, only thing we need to do now, is to wait until Kay brings them to the marked position, and pray to God that Takeo or any of the other tanks finds us." Muttered Lukas.
Time seamed to crawl; but a half-hour later, the radio crackled to life, "Lukas, we got the B1 and M3 Lee in position." came Alisa's voice, "Alright." smirked Lukas as he got on the PA system, "90mm guns, aim at point ED 1783, Pat, you fire first, Charlie will follow 5 seconds later!" he said as the 90mm guns moved in position.
With a loud bang, the first shell left the barrel, followed by the second, "Come on! Reload and fire again! They might just be two, but there's no guarantee that we hit them!" shouted Lukas.
After two further volleys, the radio came on again, "Good work Bomber, both tanks are out!" came the report, "Thanks. Any losses on our side?" asked Lukas, "Yes, they took out a Sherman at point AF 1295, and another at AH 1307." came the reply, "Drat, that means they are heading this way." Lukas muttred, "We'll move to our secondary firing location! We won't be ready for support for the next 7-10 minutes!" he said as he got the train into motion.
The train started off towards the secondary firing location in the forest, but was brought to a quick stop when something hit the first wagon, derailing it, "It's the Porsche Tiger!" shouted Sebastian over the intercom, "Pat! Charlie! Open fire quickly!" Shouted Lukas as the turret of the Tiger turned towards the rest of the train.
The two 90mm guns fired, and quickly took out the Tiger, "Phew, that was close. Seb, you and the others alright up there?" asked Lukas, "Yeah, we're fine! We come over to the others, but what about the wagon on the line?" asked Sebastian, "Leave it there! We'll simply pull back and go over that passing loop!" responded Lukas as Sebastian and the loader climbed into Pat's wagon, uncoupling the first wagon on the way.
After passing the now empty wagon, they made their way towards the secondary position, "Alright, that's three down for us, and three down for them, one of them being the Tiger and one of our wagons." Lukas said to himself, flipping on the intercom, "Seb, I want you to go to the front passage and look out. If you see anything on or next to the line, contact me." he said as he grabbed a shovel and threw more coal into the firebox.
The train made its way towards the point, when Charlie came on over the train line, "Say, McCoach, isn't it a bid strange that we haven't met the Oarai train, even though we are already this long in the match?" he asked, "That's why I sent Seb to the front passage. I have the feeling they're just waiting for us to pass by and take us out as soon as we pass them." said a concerned Lukas as they began to cross one of the bridges over the river.
Because of the short amount of time, and the assumption that they would be destroyed sooner or later, the bridges were build out of wood, and so were only allowed to be crossed at 5 miles per hour.
As they neared the river, Lukas thought he saw something in the bushes, but before he could check it out, the radio came on again, "Lukas?! Are you already in position?!" asked Kay, "Not yet, why?" asked Lukas, "We found their train! It's at point CI 3878, and already took out 4 of our Shermans!" Kay answered.
Lukas's eyes widened, "Great scott! Try to get out of range, we'll be in position in 2 minutes!" he replied to Kay as he grabbed the throttle, so that he could highball the train to it's position as soon as it reached the end of the bridge.
Just then, there was a loud splash next to the bridge, as something crashed into the water at high speed "I should've known." muttered Lukas as he switched the intercom on, "Charlie! The Hetzer is in the bushes over there! It's trying to sink us! Take it out!" he ordered as the 90mm cannon moved in the direction of the bushes, just as the back portion of the bridge was hit by an shell, ripping it to pieces.
Lukas growled, "Screw the speed limits, we're going to sink if we keep this pace!" he said, and threw the throttle wide open just as Charlies 90mm fired, hitting the Hetzer and taking it out of the game.
Lukas watched the smoking Hetzer "That's one more for us." he said with a smile as the train rocketed off the bridge as the rest of it broke away, crashing into the water, "Good thing those bridges are made of wood." laughed Chris over the intercom, "Less talk from you and more lookout for any enemy movement!" Lukas shouted
Lukas picked up the intercom, "Charlie, Patrick, load two Anti-tank rounds, we need their force to take out the wagons on the enemy's train!" he said as the train slowed down as it reached the secondary firing position, where Alisa already stood with the flag tank, "You took your time." ahe remarked, "Sorry, we had some trouble with the Tiger and the Hetzer." said Lukas, as the train's turrets took aim, "Alright, let it rain." smirked Lukas as the guns fired.
After a few volleys, they finally got the message they waited for, "The front wagon is out, they're pulling back! Good work 'Bomber'!" came Kay's voice.
Lukas smiled, "Alright, so, we have 4 tanks, and 3 armored wagons left, they have four tanks and 1 wagon. If we only knew where the flag tan-"
Before Lukas could finish, Charlie came on the radio "LUKAS, REVERSE QUICKLY!" he shouted.
The train quickly reversed, just as a shot rang out, followed by another, and two white flags popped out, one from Chris's wagon, and the other from the StuG III, "Good work Chris. Now go to Charlie's wagon and help out there." ordered Lukas, "Hey Alisa, where are our tanks right now?" he asked the brunette girl, "Kay, Naomi and Rachel are moving in a group northeast from here." she replied.
Lukas thought for a moment, "Hm, let's see... here! I think I know where they are!" he said as he pointed to a spot on the map where the rails crossed over a small road, "Why there?" asked Alisa, "They are down to three tanks, two medium tanks, and one heavy tank, along with one 8,8cm armored wagon." Lukas replied, "They would need to come together to form a strategy since doing that over the radio would only cause confusion." he went on "Trust me, I experienced that myself; and since that place is pretty much isolated from the main battlefield and surrounded by hills high enough to cover the engines smokescreen at least a bit, it is the best place to team up." Lukas finished.
After think for a while, Lukas finally spoke, "Look, I've got an idea how we can take them out, without risking anymore tanks. One of the three other tanks needs to lure Oarai out of there since shooting into there would mean risking harm to them." he said, "Once we got them out, the two others and the three train turrets will fire at the flag tank; the chances to take them out are pretty high, so the risk of loosing more tanks is a risk we need to take. Kay, are you alright with the plan?" he asked to the commander, who had listened to the conversation over the radio, "Let's do it." came the reply.
"Good. ETA from my position is 15 minutes, we'll position ourselves near the foot of the hill. You take position on both sides of the road. But in case this goes wrong, place yourself so that you can move out as soon as possible. McCoach out." Lukas said before turning off the radio and starting the train up, with only two wagons on the locomotive.
15 minutes later
Lukas watched as Kay's tank and the other Shermans rolled into position, "Alright, there they are. Load the AP rounds and wait for my command." he said over the radio.
A shot was heard as Kay's tank rolled back over the top of the hill, Lukas smirked, as he saw the smoke rise from the other side of the mountain, "That's the problem with the G8, it can pull heavy loads perfectly well over steep gradients, but once you need to push something, it'll refuse to budge." he said to himself as the smoke stopped moving.
Lukas came on the intercom, "Alright, aim at the flag tank!" he ordered as the rumbling of tank treads came nearer, and the three final tanks of Oarai came over the hill, the B1 leading, followed by the Panzer IV, and the Chi-Nu last, "Sandwiching wont help you." Lukas smirked, as he picked up the intercom, "Fire!" he yelled.
The 90mm cannons fired, followed by the 75mm of the Sherman and the 76mm of the Firefly.
The Sherman hit the B1, which was thrown to the side, but both a 90mm and the 76mm shells hit the Panzer IV, taking it out of the match, and ending it, "The match is over! Saunders wins!" came the call over the intercoms, "Win for the railroad!" Lukas shouted excitedly as he, pulled the locomotive's whistle chord, filling the air with a high-pitched squealing noise .
After the match
Lukas walked over to the other team's engineer, "Well Takeo, I couldn't take your train out, but I did take one of your wagons out!" he smirked as he shook Takeo's hand, "It was quite refreshing, fighting like this, but you could have warned me about the problem with the pushing." Takeo replied, "Well, that's true, that was my fault. Maybe you would've won if you knew of the issue. Well, maybe next time." Lukas replied with a smile..
Takeo snapped a salute, "Hai. Until then, McCoach-san, "Yeah, see ya, Tojo." chuckled the boy, as he and Takeo parted ways.
