Chapter 11: All in!
The sound of gunfire echoes across a relatively empty range as a trio of players are doing some target practice. The sun crests over the trees behind them, illuminating the slight fog hanging in the air.
"Honestly Agil, why do you even bother with target practice?" Klein asks as reloads his FG-42, "You don't really need to aim very accurately."
"Eh, it's fun to shoot my man," the black man answers with a grin, "Besides, I'm trying to improve my reload skills. Reloading this baby takes a bit of time."
"He said it," Kirito says as he fires his M2 Carbine, "I can understand why the Americans like their guns."
"Speaking of that," Klein asks, "When you were in GGO, why did you take a laser sword?"
Kirito shrugs.
"I guess I was still too used to my sword."
"Didn't Sinon try and help you with a gun?"
There's a brief silence before the teenager replies, rubbing the back of his head. "She did, but… let's not talk about that."
"Where are they anyways?" Agil remarks, noting their absence.
"Oh, girls' day out. I think they went shopping. Didn't ask too much."
"Speaking of girls, any chance one of their mothers would show up again?" Klein adds curiously.
Kirito glares at him and the not-subtle hint about Asuna's mom.
"No, her mom isn't showing up again. In her words, this game is 'barbaric' and 'uncivilized'. Asuna tried to explain her the concept of why it's fun but no success there."
His two friends burst out laughing.
"'Sup guys." a monotone voice cuts in. Turning their heads, the trio spots the familiar silhouette of Nguyen's driver.
"Hey, how are you doing Dick?" Klein asks as he raises a fist to greet.
"Fine, fine. My programming's coming along well." the man says as he stretches himself and bumps Klein's fist, "Sooo what are you guys doing?"
"Just some target practice my man," Agil answers.
"So what kind of programming do you do exactly Dick?" Kirito asks with interest.
"Working on a new software for a new game," he answered simply, "Can't say much about the game though except that it's a fun challenge to work on it."
"Hey good for you! Where's the rest of your guys?" Kirito continues.
"Lou, Roscoe and Tony are probably getting on soon," he answers, "Getting their stuff done after work."
"What about Nguyen?"'
"Well, Nguyen's doing correction. It's exam time and man has something like 80-90 students in his classes. Apparently correcting exams is a pain, something about students who need to learn how to write and how to spell check." Dick stated as he looked to the sky, "Think he's actually running on black coffee right now."
"That's bad?" Klein says perplexed, "Black coffee isn't exactly dangerous or anything."
"Nah, he's just fed up with his students. He doesn't drink coffee at all."
They're suddenly interrupted by another voice.
"Bro, fuck them."
"That bad man?" Dick asks a rather morose looking Nguyen who nods.
"Some dumbass drew a barn in his copy because I didn't want blank copies while another genius answered that the Pyramids, Colosseum and Stonehenge were built by Aliens."
He raises his hands with both palms wide open before saying "Aliens" with a very serious face.
"Kids these days."
"Hell yeah, one's mom actually showed up at my office begging me not to flunk her kid because it'd ruin her chances to be a psychologist or some lame shit like that."
Klein and Kirito look at him, incredulous.
"Wait what?" Kirito asks with a raised eyebrow.
"The joys of teaching… had to call security to drag her out... anyhow," he rants before changing his tone to a warmer one, "the rest of the gang coming in soon?"
"Yeah, the girls should be home from shopping soon," Kirito answers, "Got any news from Stonewall?"
"He's been working like crazy. Dude hasn't been ingame for days," Dick shrugs, "Been getting shit done."
"He'll be online in a bit." Amy announces before she practically pounces on Klein, hugging him.
"Ah! Uagh!" Klein yelps before they both fall over.
"Gotcha again."
Nguyen snickers a bit at their antics before more familiar voices ring.
"Hey everyone!" Roscoe shouts as he finishes materializing along with Lou and Tony.
After a quick session of greetings, a familiar player stomps in and grabs a M1919A6, plopping the machinegun down on the sandbags and wordlessly feeding a 100 round belt into it before cutting loose on a target, emptying the whole belt.
"Bro? Euh you ok?" Nguyen asks, glancing at Stonewall.
The American jumps up once the belt is spent, cheering. "It's finally up!"
"Yeah!" Dick exclaims as he high-fives Stonewall, "That's fucking good news man!"
"Ow! Motherfucker!"
"Wait, an American's hurting after be highfived by a Quebecer?" Nguyen teases, a shit-eating grin on his face.
"So what's going on guys?" Kirito asks, a hand on his chin. "What's finally up?"
"After months of hard work, setbacks, and several hours of tears, the Hellbound trailer has finally been released." Stonewall announces.
"Ah yeah!" Nguyen shouts gleefully, "Su Doan 22 will fight again! Fuck you Commies!"
The player's face takes on a faraway, daydreaming look as he jumps around like a small child on Christmas morning coupled with manic laughter. The ALO players look at him with confused expressions, Klein having picked himself and his girlfriend up by now.
"What the hell's going on with him exactly?" Agil asks, slightly disturbed.
"Ah, Nguyen's been waiting on Hellbound's trailer for awhile now," Lou explains, "He wants to have a game set in the Cold War so he can 'fuck Commies up' like his dad and granddad did."
"Right, his family fought in the war," Kirito remarks before turning to Stonewall, "Think you can show us the trailer?"
"If you pull up the company website in game, it's on the home page."
Kirito quickly begins to go through his menus, opening up a web browser. After a few moments of surfing on the web, a video appears in front of him while everyone else masses around him. They all watch as perspectives switch from infantry combat, to tank combat, then to an intense dogfight between two jets amidst a thunderstorm, finally switching to a glimpse of a guided missile cruiser firing a missile before it gets grabbed from below by huge tentacles and snapped in twain. After a couple minutes, the trailer finally ends, leaving the players awestruck and hoping for more.
"AWESOME!" Nguyen exclaims loudly, "Man I can already imagine what my avatar'll look like."
His tank crew all roll their eyes at this.
"Just what we needed," Lou dryly remarks, "Now he won't shut up about it."
"Our release date is in a couple months." Stonewall explains. "Try not to get too hyped yet."
More groaning from the Canadians makes Stonewall roll his eyes as he opens the feed tray on the M1919, clearing the action.
"Yup, we're gonna have headaches for months," Tony dryly remarks, "Thanks man."
"Soo… what's our mission today bossman?" Nguyen asks, having calmed down a bit.
Stonewall grins and straightens up, rocking back on his heels for a moment before looking at everyone assembled. "I've got a question for y'all. Who here is into gambling?"
Dick cracks his knuckles.
"Sure."
"You sure that's a good idea with your luck bro?"
"I'm in!" Tony adds with a confident grin, "Cleaned house last time I did."
Stonewall chuckles and stretches a little, "Good. We're going to cassino."
"Cassino? Don't you mean a casino?" Nguyen remarks with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope. Monte Cassino. Get your kit and let's get a move on. The battle's not gonna wait for us."
Nguyen throws a quick glance at Kirito.
"Aren't you guys missing a few of your crew?"
Kirito nods.
"Yeah the girls are out shopping but they'll be on later."
"Joy…At least you're not stuck lugging their bags," Nguyen shudders knowingly, "Or being annoyed to get you to buy the latest dumb fashion trend."
"This'll give us some time to go cruising for another crew member. Aria has decided she wants to join y'all as infantry. Now I gotta go shopping for another gunner." Stonewall says nonchalantly, "So I'm gonna swing by the Lulworth firing range and see if I can pick someone up. In the meantime, y'all chill here."
"Yo, anyone up for some cards?" Dick suggests, producing a deck from his inventory, "Could kill some time till everyone shows up."
"You betcha!" Klein exclaims, grinning side to side, "Prepare to lose your requisition points!"
"You sure you wanna play cards Dick?" Tony asks evilily, "Last time I remember kicking your ass bro."
"It's always an easy win against Dick," Nguyen remarks as he stretches himself and spawns a canteen and ration pack, "Have fun guys."
The friends begin to play a game of cards. Much to his annoyance, Dick keeps losing match after match.
"Ah fuck you!"
"So what other games did you guys play before getting here?" Kirito asks, trying to change the mood, "You guys look like you've been playing for a long time."
"Good lord," Dick grunts, "A long time you say? I think you weren't born yet that I was already playing video games."
"Man… the memories," Nguyen sighs nostalgically, "I saw so many franchises go up and go down. I still remember meeting Dick cause I was talking about Age of Empires III in my history class. Shame that franchise went down."
"I still remember that LAN party we did at my old place," Roscoe remembers.
"Yeah, we totally owned Nguyen's ass." Tony smirks, "Fun times."
"Fuck you man, that's because I didn't have my custom decks of doom."
The entire tank crew chuckles as Stonewall's tank destroyer rumbles past, driving into the teleporter before disappearing.
"Did you guys play any MMO's together though?" Kirito asks, "You look like the type of guys who enjoy that stuff."
"Not really," Dick answers, "I'm more of a single-player RPG guy. Nguyen did try and get us into a few MMO's and Roscoe did try and do group sessions of ARMA III back in the days."
"How did those play out?"
"Nguyen tried to get us into pay to wins," Tony explains, grinning evilly, "Roscoe and ARMA III were fun times except for when Nguyen's brother blew shit for the sake of blowing shit up."
"Urgh, don't remind me," Roscoe groans, "I had to remove satchel charges for all our games because of that idiot."
"Refresh my memory… but did he fucking blew up George Clooney in one of your games?" Nguyen asks knowingly.
"Oh my god yes."
"That has to be an interesting story," Klein remarks with a grin as he gets himself comfortable and lights himself a cigarette.
"More like weaponized autism."
Lulworth firing range
Dorset, England.
"I don't need a driver, I need a gunner." Stonewall insists.
After twenty minutes of searching, his patience is starting to wear thin with some of the newer players. Many keep following him around, asking him the same question they'd asked a half dozen times before. So far, it seems like any experienced gunners were taken, or at least not practicing at the range.
Until, finally, the American strikes gold.
"I uh… heard you were looking for a gunner?"
The somewhat timid voice shakes Stonewall from his slowly boiling frustration nearly instantly, his head turning to the source. A short player stands by a 57mm anti-tank gun, his black fatigues and MP-40 looking like he belongs in a panzer on the front line, instead of on the range.
"As a matter of fact I am. Interested?" The redhead asks, turning to face him.
"Sure! Lead the way boss-man."
Stonewall smiles and nods, waving the player along. "What's your username?"
"DuskfallBreeze. You?"
"SirStonewall, or just Stonewall. Mind if I call you Dusk?" The Dev replies as he climbs up onto the front slope of his tank destroyer, offering a hand up.
"Not at all. Go right ahead." Dusk accepts the help and climbs up to the turret, dropping into the crew compartment with a quiet grunt.
"Without further delay, climb in your seat and we'll send some rounds downrange." Stonewall instructs, standing on the commander's seat.
"Right."
Dusk maneuvers himself into the gunner's seat and sits down, just as Stonewall teleports his NPC loader into the loader's position.
"Loader, AP! Gunner. Target, tank!"
X-X
War-Torn
Naples, Italy
2 hours later.
"Fucking… fuck." Stonewall grumbles, lighting a cigarette as Warbreaker II cruises through the shattered streets of Naples. Supply trucks of all sorts line the streets and make maneuvering an unnerving affair until finally the tank destroyer rumbles into a tree grove with several tanks and a tent inside. He quickly orders the driver to park under a tree and hops off, wandering over to the tent while DuskfallBreeze scrambles to catch up.
"Alright motherfuckers! Who's ready to kill shit?!" Stonewall snarls, batting aside the tent flap and stalking inside.
"Let's kick ass!" Nguyen answers, faking a southern accent, "Ow! Fuck you Lou!"
The sound of a slap echoes in the tent.
''Love you too bro,'' the burly tanker chuckles before blowing a kiss.
"Dumbass."
The Canadian tanks had already made themselves comfortable as they were installed in various chairs except for Roscoe who's leaning on one of the tent posts. Tony enjoys a quick smoke.
"What's the plan Stonewall?" the gunner asks seriously.
"The plan is, we are the center prong of a three pronged attack. We will move out in thirty minutes, moving at best speed to our staging area. From there, we'll advance up the road towards Monte Cassino, taking out at least two identified strongpoints along the way." Stonewall instructs, pointing out two areas circled in red on the map.
"Alrighty, what are we facing man?" Nguyen asks
"Entrenched infantry and anti-tank guns. Possibly some tanks."
"Lovely… they got any 88's?"
"Most likely. You know how players are. Keep your eyes open for anything suspicious."
"Hmm, indeed. What about air support?" Roscoe asks as he looks over the map, "They got any AA or planes operating out there?"
"Weather should keep their planes grounded but not ours," Stonewall says, "Storm's hitting their airfields."
"Tcat's planes'll be there?" Leafa asks curiously.
"Said his squadron'll be flying bombing runs for us," Nguyen replies before noticing the player next to Stonewall, "Who's the new guy? Name's Nguyen by the way. Sorry about not noticing you."
"It's okay. I'm DuskfallBreeze. Just Dusk or Duskfall works. I'm Stonewall's gunner." The new tanker replies, shaking Nguyen's hand.
Some of the people in the tent give Stonewall some questioning looks, to which he replies, "I'll talk about it later. Everyone go and get topped up on ammo and supplies."
X-X-X
"Everyone loaded up?" Nguyen asks as he climbs up on his tank.
"Got some more det packs!" Liz says enthusiastically while Klein cracks his knuckles with a grin on his face before raising a thumb.
"I'll try and sneak in," Sinon calmly suggests, "and take out anyone valuable."
"Try and knock out their comms," Kirito proposes, "That way they can't call for help."
"Or artillery," Nguyen shudders as Sinon nods and exits the tent, "How's your medical supplies looking Asuna?"
"All good," the medic answers.
"Grab some extra bandages and morphine. You're probably gonna be busy today." Stonewall instructs.
"Who wants a ride?" Nguyen asks as Dick and Lou start 'La Montréalaise'sengines.
"Hey Liz! You gonna drive or what?!" Stonewall yells, waving her over to Warbreaker II.
"We're coming Nguyen!" Klein exclaims as he and Agil make their way to the Canadian tank.
"Uh…" Duskfall looks around at the bustle of activity before a masked trooper grabs him by the shirt and starts dragging him towards Warbreaker, M1 Garand in hand.
"Come on kid, get in your station."
"Who the hell are you?!" Nguyen shouts at the newcomer.
The tall, lithe figure pulls down the mask on her face and smiles, letting her long brunette hair fall down past her shoulders. "It's just me, I don't have my flamethrower for once."
"Don't wanna get barbecued?"
"Not today. I'm feeling hot enough as it is." she replies with a giggle and a wink.
"Oh. Hey Amy!" Stonewall calls out, waving at her. "Come to get shot at?"
"On second thought, I'll ride with Stonewall," Klein quickly says as he leaps off Nguyen's tank.
"Sure bro… go ride with your girlfriend!" Nguyen winks, "You still with us Agil?"
"Sure man," the machinegunner replies, "Who else wants to come?"
Leafa and Silica make their way to the Canadian tank.
"Us!" Leafa exclaims as the girls reach the back of the tank before Agil helps them get on board.
Around them, other tank crews start mounting up, infantry climbing onto tanks or into the backs of trucks, a confident and dedicated vibe to the air.
The sound of rattling tracks signals the start of the advance as Warbreaker takes the lead of the column with La Montréalaise following behind it.
{Baker elements, comms check.} Stonewall grumbles through the radio, looking back at the column over the heads of Amy, Klein, Asuna, and Kirito.
{Baker One-Two. Loud and Clear!} Nguyen replies with a grin.
{So… I'm sure you're wondering why I have a new gunner…}
{Da fuck is up with that man? What happened to Aria?}
There's a noticeable sigh over the radio, {Aria broke up with me. She packed up all her shit and left.}
{... WHAT THE FUCK?!} Nguyen shouts into the radio, surprising his crew and passengers. {Like wha?!}
{Yeah, surprised me too. She packed up all her shit while I was at the office working on Hellbound, and left a note and the engagement ring…}
{Shit… you ok big?}
{Yeah I'll be okay. Just… pissed off.}
{Right...}
"What happened?" Agil asks, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Freakin' Aria just fuckin' ditched Stonewall randomly man."
Leafa and Silica both gasp, their faces marked with shock. Dick merely grunts in disgust while Lou's jaw drops before he covers it with his hand.
"No way," the blonde girl says quietly.
"Yeah… Not gonna press the man for details but she packed up and left him there." Nguyen awkwardly explains.
"It's probably best to give him some space for now…" Agil agrees, nodding gently.
"Yeah. Enjoying the ride?" Nguyen asks as Tony opens up his hatch.
"Man that's fucking bullshit. Poor guy," the loader comments.
"Yeah," Roscoe says from the gunner's station, "We're not pushing him though."
"Aye. Soo… enjoying the view?" Nguyen asks again.
"Yeah, it feels just like Japan," Silica says as she looks around her, "The hills and forest remind me of some places there."
"Really? Nice."
"Is it this muddy in Japan?" Dick suddenly asks as the tank slogs through mud, "Cause the fucking mud's slowing us down tabarnak."
"Doubt it. Italy was known for having shit roads back then," Nguyen remarks. The driver scoffs.
"At least Mussolini got the trains running on time."
Nguyen chuckles a bit.
"Aren't you worried we're gonna get stuck?" Leafa asks as she looks at the muddied road.
"Nah, we'll be fine unless it starts raining big time," Tony says.
"Don't jinx it," the commander says hastily.
Meanwhile the conversation on Warbreaker changes to another subject.
"So what's the deal? No flamethrower?" Stonewall asks Amy, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I wanted to change things up a bit." The brunette replies with a shrug.
"There's more to it than that. I know you too well." Stonewall scowls.
Amy just grins and shrugs, leaning back against Klein.
"Hey a girl can use the weapons she wants no?" the former samurai casually says, "Right Amy?"
"Mmhm!" She smiles and nods, resting her head on his shoulder after taking her helmet off.
"So how did you end up as Stonewall's gunner Duskfall?" Kirito asks the new player.
"Well, he showed up at Lulworth gunnery range asking for a gunner. I was the only gunner there apparently."
"Is this the first time as a gunner on a tank?" Asuna adds kindly.
"No, I spent some time on heavier tanks, but this is my first time in an American tank destroyer." He says shyly.
"What tanks did you ride on before?" Klein asks.
"Uh… well, a Jagdpanther… Panzer IV… King tiger… mostly German tanks…"
Kirito's eyebrow rises suddenly.
"Stonewall, remember that tank we took out after that region boss in France?"
"The Panzer III? How can I forget?" Stonewall chuckles.
"Did you ever ride on a Panzer III?" Kirito asks Duskfall.
"No, why?"
"Do you do the honors Stonewall?"
"Heheh… so, back when our group was still kinda fresh to working together…."
X-X-X
"Everyone off!" Nguyen shouts as explosions resonate nearby, "We're in enemy territory now!"
The infantry players leap off the rear of the tanks and other transports, only to land knee deep into a muddy field.
"Thanks for the ride!" Kirito shouts at Stonewall who raises a thumb.
{Baker One-Two to Baker One-One… you see anything out there?!} Nguyen shouts into the handset while scanning the horizon with his binoculars.
{Negative One-Two, but I have a feeling we're being watched. Eyes open.}
"So how you been Klein? Sorry I wasn't online for awhile." Amy asks the ex-samurai with a smile.
"It's alright. I've been pretty good." He replies happily, giving her a sideways hug before they both jog to keep pace with the advancing tanks.
"So, has Stonewall told you about his plans?" Amy asks.
"No?" Klein asks, "What are you talking about?"
"He's gonna be going to Japan soon. He's got an extra ticket…. I'm considering going with him."
"Wha?" The ex-samurai's jaw almost drops in surprise as he processes the information. "Really Amy? You sure you can do this? I mean..."
"Yeah…. I think I can…. I'd hate to see the money go to waste…" She replies nervously, looking down at her feet for a moment before she looks at Klein. "And it means I'll be able to meet you in person."
Klein can't find his words for a moment before he finally blubbers something.
Amy opens her mouth to respond, but she's interrupted by a shriek of a shell passing close overhead. The rest of the infantry players hit the deck as a nearby explosion shakes the ground near one of the tanks. Nguyen quickly raises his body from the cupola, glancing around.
"Everyone al-"
Another shriek pierces the air before Nguyen's body suddenly collapses inside his tank. The Sherman suddenly stops as players begin firing on the hillside and tracers appear from the treeline.
"Nguyen's been hit!" Asuna exclaims as she quickly picks herself off the ground and rushes over to 'La Montréalaise', "I'll go check on him!"
She quickly leaps up the rear of the tank before peering into the opened hatch and sees an empty chair.
"Yeah Asuna, we won't need your help," Roscoe says nonchalantly as he looks up from his gunner's seat, "Nguyen took a shell to the head so you can't really help him."
"It's an improvement if you ask me," Tony quips with a shit eating grin.
"Oh come on… the real one would be better without his head," Lou laughs, "Shows this is a game."
She rolls her eyes at the crew's banter, sighing at their foolishness.
"Get yourselves out of here Asuna!" Roscoe orders, "No point in you being exposed up here!"
The medic swiftly jumps of the tank before running back to Kirito while the Canadian tank begins moving again, its hull turning to face the source of the enemy fire. Suddenly, another explosion resonates, this time accompanied by a flash of light on 'La Montréalaise'.
"Son of a bitch!" Stonewall yells, grabbing the commander's override handle and traversing the turret to face the culprit. "Baker One-Two, status!"
{Fuck!-Tank's- fucked up-Can't move!}
"Get outta there!" Stonewall orders as Duskfall elevates the gun, finally acquiring the anti-tank gun in the hilltop position. Warbreaker II's 90mm gun thunders once, silencing the immediate threat.
"Bail out! Lou, Dick! You guys still there!?" Roscoe shouts into the lower part of the tank while Tony pulls himself out of the tank. He suddenly hears some groaning and cursing.
"Fucking shit! I'm hit but I can get out!" Dick barks back as he pops open the driver's hatch with a groan, "Fucking Lou's unconscious though! Think you can help me get his fucking fatass out?!"
"On it!" Tony yells back as he rushes to the front of the smoking tank. At the same time, Dick slides down the front hull, landing almost face first in the mud.
"Cover us Stonewall! We're getting out!" Roscoe calls over the radio before jumping out as well.
Tony opens up the hatch above an unconscious Lou.
"Fuck why the hell did you have to be so fucking heavy," Tony mutters as he tries to pull out the heavyweight assistant driver/bow gunner, "Yo, can someone help me!"
"On it!" Roscoe exclaims as he rushes to his friend's aid.
"We'll cover you Asuna!" Leafa shouts as she and Silica open fire.
"Go help them!" the smaller player yells.
At the same time, Asuna runs over to Dick who's holding his side as he runs away from the crippled tank.
Klein and Amy move to suppress the hilltop position together, the latter bounding up onto Warbreaker II and grabbing the .50 caliber mounted on the rear of the turret, spraying up at the entrenched position with a grin on her face.
"AH! Fuck shit piss goddamniiit!" Stonewall yells as he starts trying to shake hot brass out of his coveralls, grabbing at the collar and moving away from the rear of the turret. "That fucking burns!"
"You ok there man?!" Duskfall asks, looking from his gunner sight.
"What's going on back there?!" Liz yells as she continues crawling Warbreaker II along the muddy road.
"Just a bit of hot brass down the shirt!" Stonewall yells back, finally grabbing the casing and throwing it aside.
Meanwhile, Agil and Kirito rush over to Tony and Roscoe while Leafa and Silica open fire, buying them time and covering them. The two Canadians are dragging an unconscious Lou behind them followed by Asuna and Dick.
"We'll get him to cover and then Asuna can patch everyone up!" Roscoe barks. Kirito nods while Agil replaces Tony.
"I think we can get him to that ditch over there." Kirito points at a nearby ditch on the side of the road
"Let's go!"
The whistling sound of mortars and machine gun fire echo in the valley around them. The other players scatter, all semblance of order gone in the chaos of battle with some hiding in nearby ditches or behind any cover they find. Others are cut down mercilessly by their opponents. 'La Montréalaise' suddenly explodes as the gang make it to a ditch..
"Shit… good thing we got out in time!" Tony remarks with a whistle as he peeks over the ditch.
"Dusk! Adjust left! There's a fucking mortar!" Stonewall orders before there's a terrible shriek of metal on metal, and Warbreaker II starts to turn. "Liz stop! We lost a track!"
"Right!" Liz says before cutting power to the tracks, "We're sitting ducks right now!"
Stonewall peeks up above the edge of the turret and grabs his commander's override. "Fuck the mortar! Tiger, four hundred yards! Load AP!"
The breech slams into place as the AI loader finishes loading the man gun.
"On the way!" Duskfall shouts as he stomps on the foot trigger, the gun recoiling in its mount and slinging the empty case back into the turret with a hollow clang. The shot misses the Tiger as Amy jumps off the tank and grabs Klein, shoving him into a nearby ditch before jumping in with him, yelling, "Let the tanks duke it out while we move up!"
"Reload! C'mon!" Stonewall yells at the AI loader, who grabs an AP round and slams it into the breech.
"Ready up!"
"Don't fuck it up! FIRE!" Stonewall yells at Duskfall prior to Warbreaker taking a direct hit to the front hull. Sparks shower everywhere before Warbreaker detonates, blasting the turret off the hull in a gigantic fireball and breaking the hull along the welds. The turret comes crashing down onto the road behind the derelict wreck and splatters mud everywhere while shrapnel hits some unfortunate players.
"LIZ!" Asuna shouts with horror as she looks at the burning hulk. Shocked expression appear on Leafa and Silica's faces.
"There's no way anyone could have survived that." Leafa says with shock.
"Whoa shit," Dick says almost casually, "That ended well."
"So anyone have a plan?" Klein suddenly asks.
"Take cover! Stay low and move often! Let's keep moving forward!" Amy yells, taking command after looking at the piles of twisted, burning metal. "Does anyone have a radio?"
"Yeah, I got one!" Roscoe says as he produces his radio, "It's still fully charged too. Who do you want me to contact?"
"Try to get Tcat and tell him we need bombing runs!"
"On it!" Roscoe says before turning on the radio and switching to the right frequency. "This is Baker One-One to Nickel Five-Five!"
{Baker One-One, this is Nickel Five-Five, send it.} a familiar voice answers.
"Nickel Five-Five, we need a bombing run at Quebec Zulu one-three-three! Target is a hostile tank on the road!" Roscoe yells as a burst of machinegun fire passes close overhead.
{Roger that. We are coming in hot! Hang in there!}
"Can't he get here any faster!?" Klein shouts, irritated at being pinned.
"He's probably still high up!" Leafa yells back, "Just stay calm!"
Kirito gives his sister a thumbs up and peeks out of the ditch, only to be discouraged from doing so by a burst of fire hitting the mud in front of him.
"What's your ETA Nickel Five-Five?! We're gonna be fucking dying down here!" the tank gunner shouts frantically into the radio as a nearby explosion throws mud all over them.
{Baker One-One… ETA is one minute.}
"Oh fuck there's more behind that Tiger!" Amy yells.
"What do you mean more?!" Tony shouts back as he blindly fires his Grease gun over the ditch's edge.
"More tanks!"
The droning sound of propellers fill the ground players' ears as Nite Lite swoops in through the thin cloud layer, flanked by two other P-38's. Their guns chattering as they rake the tanks with bullets and rockets, scoring several direct hits and breaking away before three B-26 Marauders swoop in, delivering a generous payload of 8 500lb bombs each. Explosions rock the ground as they impact along the column, sending mud, flame, and steel skywards.
"Heads down!" Amy yells as the debris comes back to earth, mud splattering like rain all over their uniforms.
"Did they get them all?" Silica says as she pokes her head over the ditch, "It looks li-GAH!"
A round hits the ground in front of the small player, showering mud all over her head. Agil quickly yanks her down.
"Be careful ok?"
"R-right!"
"Is everyone okay?!" Amy yells, looking back at everyone.
Tracer fire lights up the skies as the Pact players and NPC's open fire with their anti-aircraft guns, hoping to shield themselves from the wrath of the Alliance air forces. A terrible howling fills the air as a B-26 loses its wing and starts to plummet from the sky, disappearing over a hill. Another struggles to gain altitude, smoke spewing from its right engine.
{We've gotta break off, this flak is getting too thick for my liking!} Tcat reports over the radio as he and his wingmen weave through the enemy fire.
"Roger that!" Roscoe replies, "Stay safe man!"
"This is a fucking mess!" Lou exclaims as he tries to make sense of the situation.
"But it's our mess, so let's clean it up!" Amy growls, running along the length of the ditch with Klein following right behind her. Bullets whistle uncomfortably close to them, kicking up mud and dirt.
"I think we should try and meet up with the rest of the players!" Kirito proposes, "Maybe we can then launch an assault on their positions?"
"They're all behind us, and she's moving forward." Tony points out, "I don't think we need those slowpokes anyways!"
"Follow the crazy lady!" Lou chuckles after he wakes up, getting up and running after them.
"Keep up Klein!" Amy yells over her shoulder, sprinting along the ditch before a Pact player clad in tanker coveralls jumps out of a bomb crater and tackles her, the two going sprawling in the mud before they start wrestling. Klein tries to draw a bead on the hostile player, but Amy rolls on top of the Pact player and swiftly yanks her bayonet out of its scabbard, stabbing him multiple times in the chest and neck. Once he disappears, the mud-plastered girl gets up and retrieves her rifle, putting her bayonet back in the scabbard before grinning wildly at Klein, wiping mud off her face.
"You never cease to amaze me Amy." Klein laughs as a shotgun blast goes off.
"Take that motherfucker!" Dick yells as he unleashes another shot into an Pact player. Meanwhile, Leafa clubs a player with her Garand, knocking down an unfortunate rifleman while Agil mows down a trio of players who tried to charge them. Kirito and Asuna blast away at the enemy, watching each other's backs.. He suddenly notices a player emerging from a foxhole with a bundled grenade. Suddenly, the player stumbles backwards, hit by a bullet he never saw coming followed by panicked shouting from the hole. Two other players scramble out of the foxhole before the grenade goes off, catching both in the blast radius and sending one tumbling while killing the other outright.
"Was that Sinon?!" Silica exclaims as she takes down a much larger player with a lucky shot.
"Wouldn't be surprised!" Kirito shouts back, "She always knows how to pick her targets."
By now, the rest of the infantry begins to catch up with them and slowly push back the retreating Pact players into the treelines.
"Be careful everyone!" Asuna instructs, "Silica, keep an eye for traps with Pina."
"Will do!"
What was once a verdant forest was now nothing more than destroyed woodland. Broken trees and logs litter the ground while burnt out craters scar the ground. Smoke rises from small fires and embers left over by the recent bombing run.
"Looks like Tcat did a good job with his last run," Leafa remarks as they walk pass a ruined anti-tank position.
"Think this is the guy that got our tank?" Lou asks, looking at the broken remains of a PAK 40.
"Who cares? Fucking guy's dead." Dick replies, his shotgun trained at a hole in the ground, "No one inside this foxhole."
Gunfire suddenly echoes in the distance to the South followed by explosions.
"Looks like someone's shooting someone," Agil remarks dryly.
"Everyone's getting a slice of the action today." Amy giggles darkly.
"Guess that's where we're heading next," Roscoe states as he looks over to the source of the explosion.
"Not quite. We're continuing down this road." Amy instructs, looking at a map. "Towards uh… San Vittore Del Lazio."
"Enemy strongpoint right there right?"
"That's what our intel says." Amy replies with a shrug.
"Alright."
The group keeps walking alongside other players, taking their time and letting multiple squads move ahead of them. Tanks rattle past with infantry riding on them, the clean players looking at the mud-slathered group as they pass. Eventually, two tanks rattle up to them and slow down, Rift sticking his head out of his Centurion and waving them up while Seth opens the hatch on his Firefly. "Sorry I'm late!"
"Lucky bastards," Dick mutters in annoyance as he glares, "You missed everything assholes!"
"I was having connection issues!" Rift argues. "Besides, at least now you have two fresh tanks at your disposal!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Happy to see you guys," Roscoe says, "Our tanks got shot to bits on the way here."
"Yeah, they got Stonewall and his tank. Nguyen's missing his head," Tony adds, "Think you guys can clear a path for us?"
"We'll support you guys, but if we move too far forward we risk getting taken out by infantry weapons. We'll hang back a fair bit and overwatch your advance. Call us up if anything nasty needs killing!" Rift says with a salute, ducking back down inside his Centurion.
"Thanks man!" Roscoe yells with a thumbs up.
The group slogs along through the mud towards their objective in silence for several minutes before a cacophony of explosions and gunfire ahead tears through the tense air, drawing their attention to the group that moved ahead of them. Tanks and infantry alike dive off the road into the shattered remnants of a forest as artillery and machine gun fire cut down any infantry too slow to react to the sudden contact. From his vantage point, Rift watches as a Cromwell's front hull showers sparks, the tank lurching and slowly veering into a ditch, carried forward by its momentum. A Stuart light tank veers off the road into the mud and slows to a halt, tracks spinning but failing to get any traction, leaving it a sitting duck. Within seconds an incoming shell strikes it on the side of the hull, detonating the ammunition inside and sending a jet of flame out the open commander's hatch. Tracers rip through the scarce underbrush and cut down infantry like a scythe to wheat, sending those lucky enough to survive diving for any cover they can find.
"Damn, how are we supposed to get through that?!" Klein exclaims as he glances over the enemy's defenses.
"Yo, Roscoe, think you can call in air support?" Kirito asks, looking at the tank gunner who nods.
"Yeah gimme two seconds." he answers as he begins talking into his radio.
{We're a little busy up here, sorry!}
"FUCK!" Roscoe shouted, "Air can't do shit for us!"
"We need a new plan," Agil says, "Think we can maybe flank them?"
"We're pretty well bottled into this area unless we want to do some climbing…" Amy sighs.
Kirito scans over the position, trying to find a weakness.
"Hmm, do you think we can use some smoke to cover us," He suggests, "If we can hide our movements and attack, we might have a chance."
"We've got a few rounds of White Phosphorous!" Rift yells over the explosions and gunfire.
"Think you can find a good target for them?" Asuna asks with Rift nodding.
"If I can put the rounds into their positions and blind them, that should enable you guys to move up on them."
"Right!" Kirito says
"Andrew!" Rift calls down into his hatch. "Ready all of our Willy Pete!"
After a few moments, the Centurion fires and instants later, white smoke starts to cover the enemy's position followed by screaming. A few more shots thicken the smoke cloud and silences the enemy's weapons. Across the kill zone, infantry players jump up and sprint forward, Amy joining them and yelling at the others, "Forward! Let's get 'em!"
"LET'S GO GET THE BASTARDS!" another one roars as everyone charges forward. Very soon, they land inside the enemy's mud filled trenches, bayonets fixed. Kirito draws his sword as he unequips his carbine and hacks through a stunned player. Not far from there, Dick slam fires his trench gun, clearing a section of trench almost instantly while Tony covers his six o'clock.
"Nerf that sh-" one of Dick's victims croaks out before disappearing in a flurry of pixels. Asuna, Leafa and Silica are next to the entrance of a small pillbox. The dragon tamer takes a quick glance at Pina who growls, confirming that the enemy is still inside. Leafa throws in a grenade which detonates. With a blur, Asuna is inside, her Thompson blazing away at any silhouette she sees, followed by Leafa and Silica. Pixels rise from the enemy's position.
"Clear!" Asuna shouts as they swiftly exit bullet-riddled pillbox.
"Get on line!" Amy yells, firing her Garand at a fleeing Pact player. "Secure the perimeter!"
Kirito nods and waves for Asuna to meet up with him with Leafa and Silica.
"Baker Two-Three, move up." Roscoe orders while Tony and Dick clamber over the top of the trench.
{Copy that.} Rift replies, the Centurion starting to move up.
"We're all clear over here!" Lou shouts, standing next to an abandoned PAK 36.
"I'll see if I can't find any enemy radios lying around," Kirito says as he and Asuna search a trench.
"Agil! Set up over here!" Amy yells at the machinegunner.
"You got it boss-lady!"
"Asuna! We got wounded over here!" Silica shouts standing by a couple Alliance players.
"Coming!"
And there's part one of our march towards Monte Cassino. I do hope you all enjoyed. Sorry for the wait. - SirStonewall
Terribly sorry for the long wait… real life and other projects got in the way… hope you guys and gals enjoy this. - Goodalwayswins98