Volume 4
Prologue
Semper Fi
Ryoga yelped in surprise when the round struck the Piranha III that he had been sitting in. The force of the explosion threw Ryoga off his seat and into the man loading the rounds into the Piranha III turret.
He was about to apologize when he noticed the loader had half of his head gone. Blood and brain matter was splattered along the interior of the tank.
Ryoga threw up.
Once he had stopped retching, he got to his feet and checked out the others. The soldier driving the tank was okay and he was throwing the tank into reverse.
"The loader's dead!" Ryoga yelled to the soldier.
The driver looked back, saw the loader's body and turned back to the controls.
Ryoga had been listening to the driver and loader converse and he had a small idea of how to do what the loader had been doing.
"I take over," Ryoga told the driver in much accented English.
Ryoga grabbed one of the many heat rounds and slapped it into the tube. He picked a target and shouted.
"Fire!"
The Piranha III shuddered when the as the round was expelled. Ryoga's rang from the noise but he continued to watch as his eyes followed the round he had just fired. He had missed his target, but he had been close.
"Were taking a new route!" the driver called out. He spun the Piranha III to the right and took off.
Ryoga glanced out the Piranha and was able to make out Ranma's M1 Abrams tank leading the column as it raced alongside the enemy positions. Ranma had taken a position inside his tank as well; he was manning the .60 caliber machine gun on top of the tank.
He turned back to his duty and missed seeing Ranma get hit by enemy fire.
As they sped down through the snow, Ryoga heard the noise that is made when several heavy tanks fire at once.
The earth shook as the rounds impacted around the American tanks.
The soldier driving the Piranha III suddenly slammed the halftrack into reverse as Ryoga heard Phil's voice come over the small radio inside of his helmet.
"Get your fucking ass back inside that M1 Saotome!"
There was a moment before Ranma replied.
"The other guys dead!" Ranma's voice shouted.
"I don't care!" Phillip yelled angrily. "You are a goddamned civilian and I am not going to let you get blown away!"
Ryoga didn't know if Ranma replied or not because several Chinese tanks burst through the foliage ahead and began firing.
"Shit!" Ryoga cursed as the driver suddenly spun to the left and began to retreat.
"Let's pull back and set up a perimeter before we let these sonsofbitches have it!" Phil said.
Ryoga saw two other tanks turn their turrets to bear on the advancing Chinese tanks. He slowly brought the long tube of the Piranha III around to face the Chinese tanks.
He fired a HEAT round at them but missed. The soldier driving noticed that two of the Chinese tanks got stuck in the ditches that had been created by their fire. He stopped the tank.
"Fire another one at those bastards!" the driver called back.
"Start your fucking engines Thomas!" Phil's voice ordered.
"I've got a good shot!" the driver responded.
While they were talking, Ryoga was able to get another HEAT round into the tube. He made sure his sights were lined up and fired.
It seemed that time slowed as the round fired from the Piranha III traveled the five hundred feet to the Chinese tanks stuck in the ditch. The round impacted and the Chinese tanks exploded in an impressive array of fire and sparks.
Ryoga hit the small switch on his helmet that allowed him to talk to the other soldiers.
"Did you see that Ranma!?" Ryoga asked excitedly.
But before he could hear a response, a Chinese halftrack that had been located in the foliage directly across from Ryoga's position fired. The round hit the Piranha III.
Ryoga was thrown roughly to one side of the Piranha III. He did not lose consciousness and he had the moments panic when he noticed that everything was on fire. He tried to get to his feet but a large wave of pain lanced through his body and dropped him back to the floor of the Piranha III.
Ryoga last conscious thought before the pain and fire overtook him was of Akari.
===============
Akari gasped and dropped her teacup onto the floor.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked concerned.
Akari looked at Akane for a moment with a horrified expression on her face.
"N-nothing," Akari said shakily and bent down to pick up the pieces of her teacup.
I could have sworn I heard someone calling my name, Akari said to herself.
===============
Author's Notes: A short chapter to get you prepared for the last volume of Balance of Power. This volume will not be as long as the others, as it will mostly be filled with the final events. An Epilogue will follow the final chapter, and I have been toying with the idea of writing a sequel to this story.
Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed this story, I realized that this story is now novel-length. Now I want you all to remember that my wife will be writing the next few parts of this so try and write a review.
Thanks to all of you who have read this far and a special thanks to all those who have written a review.
Ryoga yelped in surprise when the round struck the Piranha III that he had been sitting in. The force of the explosion threw Ryoga off his seat and into the man loading the rounds into the Piranha III turret.
He was about to apologize when he noticed the loader had half of his head gone. Blood and brain matter was splattered along the interior of the tank.
Ryoga threw up.
Once he had stopped retching, he got to his feet and checked out the others. The soldier driving the tank was okay and he was throwing the tank into reverse.
"The loader's dead!" Ryoga yelled to the soldier.
The driver looked back, saw the loader's body and turned back to the controls.
Ryoga had been listening to the driver and loader converse and he had a small idea of how to do what the loader had been doing.
"I take over," Ryoga told the driver in much accented English.
Ryoga grabbed one of the many heat rounds and slapped it into the tube. He picked a target and shouted.
"Fire!"
The Piranha III shuddered when the as the round was expelled. Ryoga's rang from the noise but he continued to watch as his eyes followed the round he had just fired. He had missed his target, but he had been close.
"Were taking a new route!" the driver called out. He spun the Piranha III to the right and took off.
Ryoga glanced out the Piranha and was able to make out Ranma's M1 Abrams tank leading the column as it raced alongside the enemy positions. Ranma had taken a position inside his tank as well; he was manning the .60 caliber machine gun on top of the tank.
He turned back to his duty and missed seeing Ranma get hit by enemy fire.
As they sped down through the snow, Ryoga heard the noise that is made when several heavy tanks fire at once.
The earth shook as the rounds impacted around the American tanks.
The soldier driving the Piranha III suddenly slammed the halftrack into reverse as Ryoga heard Phil's voice come over the small radio inside of his helmet.
"Get your fucking ass back inside that M1 Saotome!"
There was a moment before Ranma replied.
"The other guys dead!" Ranma's voice shouted.
"I don't care!" Phillip yelled angrily. "You are a goddamned civilian and I am not going to let you get blown away!"
Ryoga didn't know if Ranma replied or not because several Chinese tanks burst through the foliage ahead and began firing.
"Shit!" Ryoga cursed as the driver suddenly spun to the left and began to retreat.
"Let's pull back and set up a perimeter before we let these sonsofbitches have it!" Phil said.
Ryoga saw two other tanks turn their turrets to bear on the advancing Chinese tanks. He slowly brought the long tube of the Piranha III around to face the Chinese tanks.
He fired a HEAT round at them but missed. The soldier driving noticed that two of the Chinese tanks got stuck in the ditches that had been created by their fire. He stopped the tank.
"Fire another one at those bastards!" the driver called back.
"Start your fucking engines Thomas!" Phil's voice ordered.
"I've got a good shot!" the driver responded.
While they were talking, Ryoga was able to get another HEAT round into the tube. He made sure his sights were lined up and fired.
It seemed that time slowed as the round fired from the Piranha III traveled the five hundred feet to the Chinese tanks stuck in the ditch. The round impacted and the Chinese tanks exploded in an impressive array of fire and sparks.
Ryoga hit the small switch on his helmet that allowed him to talk to the other soldiers.
"Did you see that Ranma!?" Ryoga asked excitedly.
But before he could hear a response, a Chinese halftrack that had been located in the foliage directly across from Ryoga's position fired. The round hit the Piranha III.
Ryoga was thrown roughly to one side of the Piranha III. He did not lose consciousness and he had the moments panic when he noticed that everything was on fire. He tried to get to his feet but a large wave of pain lanced through his body and dropped him back to the floor of the Piranha III.
Ryoga last conscious thought before the pain and fire overtook him was of Akari.
===============
Akari gasped and dropped her teacup onto the floor.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked concerned.
Akari looked at Akane for a moment with a horrified expression on her face.
"N-nothing," Akari said shakily and bent down to pick up the pieces of her teacup.
I could have sworn I heard someone calling my name, Akari said to herself.
===============
Author's Notes: A short chapter to get you prepared for the last volume of Balance of Power. This volume will not be as long as the others, as it will mostly be filled with the final events. An Epilogue will follow the final chapter, and I have been toying with the idea of writing a sequel to this story.
Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed this story, I realized that this story is now novel-length. Now I want you all to remember that my wife will be writing the next few parts of this so try and write a review.
Thanks to all of you who have read this far and a special thanks to all those who have written a review.