Rough Riders
Chapter 9
In the Mountain's Shadow
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Cimarron, New Mexico
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Early Morning
The time just before the sunrise had always been what Tyler considered to be his favorite part of the day. Since that time came when most people were still asleep or in to process of waking up, he could just sit back and enjoy watching the sun slowly climb its way into the sky. Normally, Tyler would be with the others, yet the anticipation for the upcoming match made it a little challenging to stay asleep. To his luck, there had been a coffee machine in the motel room that was relatively quiet and didn't awaken the others in the room. Now, he sat on a bench outside the motel and enjoy the atmosphere of the small town. The last few nights had been restless for the young Commander. Constantly thinking about the match and contingency plans for multiple alternate scenarios in his head. Operating on barely an hour of sleep, the black caffeinated liquid in his hands was the only way that Tyler would be able to make it through the day.
While the match was to be held near Colfax, Scalis was unable to find a place to stay in the town. The closest place that had vacancies was a few miles southwest in Cimarron. The small town sat at an extremely interesting spot. To the east was the vast rolling hills of the Great Plains, and to the west were the colossal peaks of the Rocky Mountains that touched the clouds. Tyler was dragged out of his thoughts when the bench he was on shifted with the additional weight of several people joining him. Shifting his gaze away from the mountains, he saw noted that Liz and Caleb had joined him.
"Do you know what that one is called?" quizzed Caleb as he pointed off at the sight Tyler was once looking at. Following his friend's arm guided Tyler's eyes towards one particular peak. It was a large formation of bare rock that jutted out from the ridge it sat on. By now the rock face had an orange glow to it, courtesy of the early morning sun.
"They call it the Tooth of Time. Settlers traveling along the Santa Fe trail used it as a land marker. They called it that because it sort of resembled a tooth and it indicated that they only had two more weeks to go until they reach their destination: Santa Fe" Caleb stated without waiting for an answer.
"And you know this how?" Liz asked.
"My parents took my brothers and I on a ski trip a little west of here in a town called Angel Fire."
"That sounds like a fun trip."
The group sat in awkward silence after that, not knowing were to continue.
"So…what happens next?" asked Caleb.
"What do you mean 'what happens next?'" Tyler questioned.
"I mean, say hypothetically we win the nationals. Then what. Do we just wait until the next national tournament?"
"Well the team that wins the US Nationals will go on to compete in the Internationals" stated Liz as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "The United States has only won that tournament twice in the history of the sport. Once in 1976 and the second time in 1986. That last one was mainly because most of the European teams had to back out due to the risk of radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl explosion."
"Well…who typically wins the internationals?" Tyler asked.
"Usually it is a crab shoot on who wins. The one that ended back in June was won by the team from the Philippines. Last year it was the Czech Republic and the year before was Mongolia."
"Well as interesting as this conversation is, we really ought to get ready for the match" Caleb interrupted. The two friends looked dejected and slowly rose to their feet. Tyler downed the last of his coffee and headed inside.
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North of Colfax, New Mexico
Late Morning
Even all of the preparations and planning that was done in advance to the match couldn't quell Tyler's nerves. To add on to the nervous stomach, the constant movement of the A7V traveling over the rocky terrain would eventually get to even those that didn't get motion sickness. The lack of suspension saw most of the crew attempting to not slam into the sides of the crew compartment. But that's why they had helmets…right? Looking at their surrounding and then down at the map to confirm their position, Tyler picked up the radio to issue orders.
"Raider, you need to break off and head towards point Hound" he commanded.
"Roger that, Imperator" came the reply from the Puma. The little armored car sped off from the column and on to the entrance of the narrow gorge.
"Everyone else, except Firestorm," Tyler made sure to clarify. The artillery crew was positioned roughly a kilometer north of their starting location, "continue to push forward to point Saratoga."
A sound off of conformations came through the radio from the team. As the column pressed onward, Tyler kept on checking and double checking their position on the map. Minutes passed by in what felt like hours due to the bumpy ride. Pushing the Doughboy helmet back just a little bit to deal with a slight itch, Tyler moved to gaze out the front viewport of the A7V.
"Alright Kat, there should be a ditch coming up that we…" Tyler was cut off as the front of the vehicle suddenly dropped down, sending him crashing face first into the unforgiving steel wall before being dumped on the metal floor. After a second or two of silence, the crew of the A7V snapped out of their shock.
"Well, I found the ditch you were talking about" Kat jokingly said. Climbing back into the Commander's seat, Tyler peered out the viewport to see the landmark they were looking for had been concealed in the undergrowth.
"Is everybody alright?" asked Tyler. Peeking down from his elevated spot above the engine to where the others were.
"I am fine over here" came an answer from Otto. He looked to have been knock on his butt from the drop.
"I hit my elbow on the wall" Liz groaned from the front by the gun. She was leaned up against the front wall with her hand grasping the injured elbow.
"My knee smashed into the ammo box" Lucy winced. Tyler could see the bruise forming from where he sat.
"I may have gotten a first-degree burn on my forearm from the engine" stated Caleb. His forearm was starting to look a little red from what Tyler could see. Otto got up off the floor, picked up the tank's first-aid kit and crawled over to start bandaging up the burn on Caleb's arm.
"I think I'm fine as well" spoke Kat. The Driver's seat was about the only one with a seatbelt attached to it.
"Well then, let's keep going" Tyler concluded. Grabbing the radio, he gave a warning to the other tanks.
"Be careful everyone, there is a ditch right here."
"I kind of figured that after watching you take a nosedive into it" was the snarky reply from his co-captain over in the Constellation. Tyler rolled his eyes at the comment as the Imperator surged forward once again.
"Uh…Tyler?" Kat asked, her tone was a mixture of worry and concern. Turning to face the Driver revealed a similar expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" questioned Tyler. However, Kat seemed to be having trouble formulating words at the moment,
"Your head is…" was what she managed to get out. Tyler slowly reached his hand up to where Kat had mentioned. There was an intense surge of pain that coursed through his head upon contact of the two body parts. Instinctively jerking his hand away, Tyler noticed something on his fingertips. The once pale skin had been stained a deep crimson. His face plant into the side of the vehicle did a little more than give him a rough knock on the head.
"I'll be fine Kat. It's just a scratch" he said. Yet that only seemed to stoke the concern in his friend.
"Are you sure? There is quite a bit of blood."
"Head wounds tend to look worse than they actually are" Tyler tried to reassure her. "Otto, could you please hand me some gauze and a bandage?"
"Do you need some help with that?" the Austrian asked.
"No, I got it" replied Tyler. The medical supplies were handed over with a significant level of uncertainty from Otto. Removing his helmet, Tyler quickly pressed the gauze to his forehead and wrapped it up with the bandage before donning the Doughboy helmet once more. With only a minor incident where Archangel got stuck due to the poor ground clearance of the Saint-Chamond's design, the Rough Rider's armored column began moving once more towards point Saratoga.
"Did anybody get hurt while crossing the ditch?" Tyler asked the team over the radio.
"Only just a few bruises. I wish this damn thing had some form of suspension system!" came the complaint from Constellation. The lack of any suspension in the Great War tanks was yet another issue that the team had to face. The slightest bump in the road could be enough to cause a crew member to lose balance and fall over. Even with the modifications that had been made on the Great War tanks, the addition of suspension was not on the list of NAAT allowed upgrades. At least one person received a new bruise roughly every other practice, but nothing more. Until today.
"Everyone in the Main Force, fall into Mobile Defense Formation" Tyler ordered. This was a formation that the team Commanders had planned for this match beforehand. Since Liberty was chosen to be the flag tank for this match, the formation was designed to disrupt the enemy's ability to get a clear shot one the lightly armored M1917. With practiced ease, Dreadnought and Basilisk moved forward. The Saint-Chamond and the Sturmpanzer II took up positions in front of and behind the M1917 while the A7V and the Mark V fell in beside to guard the flanks of the light tank. With the FCM 1A and the StuH 42 leading the way, the Rough Riders pressed onwards with the M8 HMC watching the team's tail. With every bump in the road slightly increasing the amount of pain in his head.
Up ahead, Tyler saw their objective. The patch of trees that sat in the middle of the play area. From those trees they would be able to ambush the enemy as they traveled up the only road on the map. South Shore wouldn't have much of a choice if they wanted to get around in a timely manner but to take the road. As they slowly entered the tree cover, Tyler lifted the radio to his mouth and gave the orders.
"All units need to spread out and take defensive posit…"
The booming of a cannon firing and the sound of a sizable caliber shell ricocheting off the side of Dreadnought and the following detonation of the tree seven feet to Tyler's right cut him off. The team captain wasted no time in issuing new orders.
"Liberty pull back and find cover. Pioneer and Basilisk, head north and stop them from hitting our left flank. Mars, cover our right flank."
The mentioned vehicles split off and move to protect the flanks. Tyler grabbed his small pair of binoculars and held them up to the narrow view port to attempt to find their assailants. The sound of the 105 mm gun on the FCM 1A blasting away into the woods broke the silence.
"Three tanks spotted to our one o'clock!" was the shout from Cass that followed the shot. Relaying the information to Liz, Tyler shifted his gaze in that direction. Two of the enemy vehicles were British Crusaders, although it was hard to tell which variant from there distance. Their armor—or the lack thereof—had the slightest chance of possibly, maybe surviving a hit from the 40 mm gun on the Crusader II, but highly unlikely if it was the 57 mm on the Crusader III. Yet the two Crusaders were the least of Tyler's concerns, for the third tank posed a significantly greater threat. It was a Cromwell V. Its 75 mm cannon could knock out any of the Rough Rider's vehicles. Predictably, the two Crusaders moved to attempt a flanking maneuver, one to the north, one to the south.
As Tyler was about to pick up the radio to issue new orders, a shell from the Cromwell V shrieked through the air and slammed into the side of the M8 HMC. The force of the impact toppling the vehicle like a tree. Just as the pearly white flag sprang out of the top of the M8 HMC, the small field gun that was on the A7V fired. The 57 mm shell glided and struck the Crusader that was attempting to flank the team from the south. The knocked-out tank continued forward under its own momentum until ploughing into a tree, finally coming to a complete stop.
To Tyler's left he could see the muzzle flash of the Saint-Chamond sending the enemy a present, in the form of a 75 mm shell. Their 'present' arrived in the side of the second Crusader that was trying to flank from the north. Within the blink of an eye, a third shot from the Cromwell V collided with the Archangel, causing the long vehicle to rock back and forth once or twice before settling on its tracks. Tyler could only imagine the kind of hell the crew inside was going through without the suspension. The firefight came to an end with the FCM 1A graciously giving the Cromwell a 105 mm shell right in its turret face plate. And just like that, it was over. The skirmish had barely lasted five minutes, but it was five minutes of chaos that resulted in five tanks knocked out of the fight.
"Imperator, this is Raider. We have reached our position" crackled the radio. Snapping out of his stupor and with the radio still in hand, Tyler began to respond.
"Rodger that, Raider. Keep an eye out for the enemy flag tank."
"We can see some smoke from here. Is everything good over there?"
"Just an enemy scouting party. It has been dealt with."
"Oh…okay…cool, well, there's an entire armored column heading towards point Saratoga."
"What?"
"It looks like they're firing at you now."
"What?"
Tyler's question was answer when the shrieking of cannon shells started, followed by the detonation of several trees surrounding the team. The sound of splinters bouncing against the armored walls of the A7V came next.
"Why didn't you inform us, Raider? You're supposed to be our eyes!" Cass, the Commander of Dreadnought, practically shouted into the radio.
"Well, you seemed a little busy at the moment."
"That doesn't matter. You should have told us immediately!"
"Knock it off you two! Get into defensive positions now and return fire to those phony tea lovers!" Tyler order, breaking up the fight, "Liberty, remain in cover. If you can, head further into the woods for more protection."
"Rodger that, Imperator!"
As the metal beast that Tyler rode in slid up to the edge of the tree line, he finally got a clear view of what they were dealing with. Rolling over the hills in the distance was a trio of Valentine Cruiser Tanks, possibly either Valentine IXs, Valentine XIs, or a mix of both variants, it was challenging to tells at the distance at which the two sides were engaging. Supporting the three Valentines was a massive Churchill VII heavy tank and a Matilda III medium tank.
With the Rough Riders still getting in position, several flashes could be seen from coming from the enemy tanks. Once more the shrieking of airborne shells filled the air. Out of the blue came a thunderous booming sound echoed throughout the mountain range. The front of the FCM 1A erupted in flame and smoke. A little white flag appeared on top of the turret. Tyler focused his binoculars to the tank that had produced the thundering noise. A Comet I, with its freshly smoking 17 pounder gun pointed right towards them was the sight that greeted him.
"Liz, there's a Comet out there. Do you think you could make the shot?"
"Perhaps."
As the word left her mouth, several things happened at once. The left sponson mounted gun on the Mark V fired, sending a shell careening into the front of one of the Valentines. The next moment saw a shell from the Comet's 17 pounder fly straight and true to the right sponson mounted gun on the Mark V. Then there was the thundering of multiple guns firing at once. One from the A7V, one from the Sturmpanzer II, and one from the StuH 42. The small hill that the Comet sat on soon became obscured in smoke and dirt as the three shells slam all around. After it was all said and done, the Comet survived the onslaught. A retaliatory shot from the Churchill VII knocked out the StuH 42 from the fight.
"Firestorm, fire mission. Grid 5114 by 2624, keypad 8. Drop a shell on their heads!" Tyler yelled into the radio, barely being able to hear himself over the sound of the firing cannons. The pain in his head ever increasing with each shot fired.
"Gird ref 5114 by 2624, keypad 8. Firing one, Imperator" came the hardly audible reply from Abby. Everyone stopped firing when the boom of the 9.2-inch heavy siege howitzer fired away. The sound echoing through the mountains several times.
"Impact in T minus fifteen seconds" Abby called out over the radio. Tyler counted away in his mind until impact. Everyone on the field seemed to follow suit. Listening very closely allowed the faint whistling of the massive shell flying through the air, steadily growing louder and louder with each passing second. Just as quick as the sound had increased, it stopped. The hill side that the enemy team had been using as cover erupted in fire and smoke. As the dirt and dust slowly fell out of the sky, Tyler could see a few vehicles emerge from the haze, white flags raised.
"Imperator, we have eyes on the flag tank" the voice of Ella crackled over the radio.
"Well what are you waiting for? Take the shot, damn it!" Mallory's voice cried out.
From his spot Tyler could see a flash coming from the edge of the gorge where Raider was positioned. A streak of light shot out from the gorge head straight for the enemy team. Once it disappeared behind the hill a trail of smoke began to rise into the clear blue sky.
"The South Shore High School flag tank has been knocked out of action! All participants stand down immediately!" called the NAAT official on the radio. Tyler let out a breath that he didn't realize that he was holding. He felt something drip down his face.
"Hey, Kat. Wake me up when we arrive back at the sheds" Tyler managed to get out before his eyelids slammed shut and he fell asleep.
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I know, I know. I said that this chapter would be up by the end of November (which was several weeks ago) but I had college finals to deal with for the last week of November and the first two weeks of December. Now that I have returned home to spend the winter break with my family, I have encountered yet another problem. Extremely poor Internet connection and lack of time to write. However, I still managed to get this chapter out for y'all.
Starpottergeek: I was actually considering those tanks when I started on the first chapter. However, since that was quite a while ago, I had forgotten about them until you brought them up. Thanks! I will remember to consider them once again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
Now this time I'm going to try and get the next chapter up sometime in January. As of me posting this chapter it is currently Christmas Eve. Since most people will probably not read this within the next few hours, I wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!