Being deployed to South Korea would be the first of many new experiences for Corporal Natsuki James Subaru. Newly assigned to the 73rd Tank Battalion as a direct crew member, a gunner, to Tiger-03, a shiny, brand new M46 Patton and was at the moment, waiting to meet the rest of his crew. That was something. Having spent a few years in the military, Subaru never expected the US to be involved in another conflict after World War Two. In a span of just five years, at that. He supposed, ironically, that if the First World War, 'the war to end all wars' wasn't enough to keep another conflict from ecloding, then it was no surprise. Oh well.
Sitting ontop of the driver's hatch with his back to his M46's mantlet, he briefly looked around him. His tank was parked right next to five others of the same model, some of which assigned crews were already in the process of familiarizing themselves with eachother or were off doing God knows what. He didn't know what miracle befell upon his camp, as it wasn't overly busy, otherwise he wouldn't be sitting there, which made him wonder what was taking the rest of his crew so long. He looked to the other direction.
Hills, grass, hills and more hills. That was how Subaru would describe Pusan. Vastly different than the urban environment he was accustomed to, full of buildings, skyscrapers and lots of things to keep you distracted. It seemed that South Korea unfortunately didn't have so many urban centers, with only Seoul looking a bit like home. The problem is that the capitol was recently overrun by North Koreans, could be a while until they retake it. Well, a touch of nature once in a while wasn't too bad, he supposed. Even if you were at war. Truth be told, despite what his father told him, he hoped to show the North Koreans how gung-ho he could be. Heh, after all... what could go wrong, if they were in a tank?
He sighed and refocused on the not so appropriate magazine on his hands. What? Could you blame him? He was ordered to wait and was bored out of his mind. Why not pass the time looking at some beauties?
"You peelin' on wide open or somethin', Nat?"
He recognized the voice instantly and looked down to see his friend, who had a shit eating grin on his face.
"Peeling? Nah man, I don't want my trousers sticking so soon." Subaru smirked. "And what's that about wide open? You still do that shit?"
"'Course I do, Why'dya think I keep your sisters photo on me for?"
"Oh yeah? Fuck you then, Lloyd. I was going to show you this, but I guess I'll find someone else."
Corporal Lloyd Danvers, Subaru's childhood friend since elementary school, would be acting as the driver for Tiger-03. Kind of a dick and kind of a stick - he was a little bit skinny - and a little perverted, much like Subaru, but had his heart on the right place, he was arguably the best tank driver in his platoon since bootcamp.
Lloyd then looked to the magazine in Subaru's hands with a sheepish expression. "Tha' the new magazine already? Oh c'mon, Nat. You know I was jokin' about tha', right?"
"Nope." Subaru licked his thumb before turning the next page.
"How 'bout I trade you the other edition for that one?"
"You mean the last batch? I saw that already."
"Already? Damn. You's a mighty pervert."
"I mean... you're the one who wants to bang my sister. So who's the bigger pervert?"
"Well, you keep scratchin' your nutsacks lookin' at these magazines while I only want one gal, so I'd say it's you." Lloyd grinned.
"Hey, I'm only admiring some fine curves here, alright? Nothing better to do anyway."
Lloyd shook his head. His gaze went elsewhere. "Speakin' of which, I think we'll get somethin' to do real soon alright. Look over there." Lloyd gestured in the direction of the tents with a nod of his head.
After a brief look, Subaru could see that three people were walking towards their direction. He guessed that was the rest of the crew, along with the new CO. Yup, definitely something to do. Remembering that the magazine was still on his hands, the frantically threw it inside the turret before presenting himself beside his friend.
"Look alive, Nat. Best not to fuck up."
"Yeah, I know. Here we go."
The oncoming trio stopped just a few feet short of them, the burly man infront with his fists on his hips, his eyes radiating experience. Looking closely, Subaru could tell he was a Staff Sergeant, he appeared to be on his late forties. Most likely also served in World War Two.
"You two, on the deck. And line up with the others." The Staff Sergeant adressed the duo, still atop of the tank.
They wordlessly complied and dropped to the floor, lining up with the two individuals that came along with the Sergeant while he inspected the tank, introductions would be later, it seemed. After one minute, give or take, to both Subaru's and Lloyd's relief, the older soldier calmly walked infront of their four man rank without throwing a fit. Thank lord. They had wasted the entire morning and afternoon cleaning this thing when they had first arrived. Subaru was brought out of his reverie when the Sergeant started talking.
"I'm Staff Sergeant Logan Powers, I'll be your new tank commander. Now, If we want to get through this war safe and sound and in one piece, you'll have to follow your orders and follow them right. Do exactly what I say and when I say it with no questions asked, we'll get along just fine. Any questions?"
"No, Sergeant." The lower ranked line responded.
"Alright, great." Powers nodded, apparently satisfied. He then had looked between Subaru and Lloyd. "Which one of you is the gunner?"
"I am, Sergeant." Subaru quickly responded.
"What's your rank and name, son?"
"Corporal Natsuki James Subaru, Sergeant."
"You and I are going to be working together most of the time. You how to properly estimate range?"
Subaru nearly frowned in confusion, but ultimately responded, "Yes, Sergeant."
"Good." Powers then moved to Lloyd.
"You're the driver, then?"
"Uh, yes, Sergeant."
"What's your name and rank?"
"Corporal Lloyd Danvers, Sergeant."
"Know your left from right?"
"Yes, Sergeant."
"Good enough." With a sigh, the Sergeant then gestured to the two other crewmembers, yet to say anything.
"Those two will be our loader and the ball gunner." He pointed to the two, respectively, "Load your shit in and get yourselves acquainted, make sure to pack something to eat on the way and see if there are any shells missing. We'll be moving out in an hour. Fall out."
With that, Powers walked off somewhere, leaving the rest of the crew to their devices.
"Quite an impression, huh?" With a quirky tone of voice, the one pointed as the ball gunner started.
"I guess."
"I'm Kyle Davis, I'll be, uh... on the ball gun as the Sarge said." He then looked to the loader, "That's Malcolm, he doesn't talk alot but he's a beast on the ninety mil." Malcolm just gave them a nod before going to store his rucksack. Not the talkative type, indeed.
Davis continued, "Well, uh, it's a pleasure to meet y'all!" He extended his hand to Subaru for a shake.
Subaru shook it, "I'm Subaru. You can call me 'Nat' for short. I'll be gunning." He then gestured to his friend, "This one here is Lloyd, he's the driver. He may be a bit of an ass, but don't mind him, they just never fed him a sandwich." Subaru jested, earning a playful elbow on the ribs from Lloyd.
"Nah man, listen, you'll be sitting right under Subaru and lemme tell ya, he keeps alot of porn stacked, trust me and watch your head when we're on combat or it'll start rainin'." Lloyd guffawed, slamming his palm on Davis's back.
"O-oh, that's... great." Davis looked quite worried.
"Don't listen to Lloyd, Davis. Unlike him, I don't do combat jacks. Your back is safe, heh!"
"Really..."
Subaru snickered. "No. We're just fucking with you. Just watch the sides, yeah?"
"Um... alright."
"I think that's 'nuff scarin' the newbies, let's go get the big girl ready."
