"Speech" = Allied frequency radio chatter.

"Speech" = Tiger-03's internal radio chatter.


Subaru exhaled after placing the sixty-eighth shell inside the open compartment. Subaru was on the process of helping Malcolm with storing the shells on the turret basket while Lloyd and Davis were passing the shells inside. The crew had already took care of rations for the long run.

"Aaand... Hngh! There we go. I think that was the last shell." Groaning, Davis helped pass an armor piercing shell to Malcolm, who placed it on the ready rack after. The tank could hold seventy rounds within its stowage, with most being high explosive, as they were sure they would mostly go against infantry.

Subaru looked around the tank as he rubbed his palms. His time in the military did teach him that anything, even how you take a piss, should be double-checked. That is further reinforced in times of war, so as to reduce the chances of something going wrong. He didn't quite like the idea of getting chewed-out by his newly appointed tank commander, or even to die in combat, so he took the initiave with a huff and spoke,

"Alright. Let's double check everything else before the sarge comes back." The suggestion had garnered the collective nods of the crew, and they began to work.

"Shells ready?"

"Yeah." Malcolm responded. "I counted forty high explosives and thirty armor piercing shells."

"Mighty fine. What's next, again?" Inquired Lloyd.

"Next are rations."

Davis sounded, "Oh! I took care of those! We should have enough for a week, tops."

"Nice, nice... Hey Lloyd, what about fuel?" Subaru asked Lloyd.

"We filled her tank to tha' brim. she's full."

"Awesome." Subaru turned to the ball gunner, "Davis, did you get enough ammo for your MG?"

"Yup! Got some boxes in!"

"Okay. The coaxial and the fifty cal outside are good on that department, aswell. Which only leaves..." he frowned, trying to remember.

"...our own guns?" Lloyd finished.

"Exactly that. Does everyone have your M1911's?" Everyone grabbed their sidearms and checked them, including Subaru. His pistol appeared to be in working order. Seven rounds, two magazines. He carefully checked if it was on safety before putting it on his holster. There were no problems for the rest of the crew, aswell.

"Uh... yeah. All good."

"Mine's in order."

"Ready to kill."

Everything was in check.

"I hope y'all don't mind but I brought a M1 along." Davis quipped, lifting his M1 Carbine to emphasize his point.

"The more the merrier." Lloyd shrugged.

"So, we good?"

"Yeah, we're good."

"Okay."

The crew rested for a few minutes and waited for Power's return. They didn't wait for very long, as they saw that the camp was suddenly much more active, with infantry, jeeps, trucks and even halftracks moving about. The Staff Sergeant surged with his helmet already on, along with the rest of the other tank commanders. Looks like it was finally time to get moving.

"Mount up. We're moving out." Powers ordered.

"Any idea where we going, Sergeant?" Lloyd asked.

The Staff Sergeant looked at him with a deadpan, "You're not here to ask questions. You're here to drive and follow my orders. Now get inside the tank."

"...Yes, Sergeant."

Each crew member entered and assumed their respective positions inside of the M46, Subaru on the right side of the turret, just below the commander's position. Responsible for manning the main ninety milimeter cannon. Malcolm was directly to his left and was looking outside from his hatch. Both Davis and Lloyd were just below of him, on the main hull.

Subaru put his helmet on and and activated this throat microphone. His helmet flaps held the headset for communication, while it did muffle out exterior noise, it wasn't much, as he could still faintly hear the radio from behind the commander's position.

"This is Tiger-01, PL, Assume a column position on the move, I'm leading."

"Tiger-02, copy."

"Tiger-03, copy." Powers responded.

"Tiger-04, roger that."

"Tiger-05, solid copy."

"Start her up, driver." Came another order from Powers.

"Aye aye." Lloyd flipped a series of switches from the instrument panel and in a few seconds, Tiger-03's engine purred to life for the first time. He admitted it was quite loud, but thankfully his headset muffled most of it. Even trained tankers would be driven nuts without these.

"Move out, platoon."

Subaru watched from his periscope as the Platoon Leader's tank, Tiger-01, passed from right to left with Tiger-02 following behind. They were going to be in the middle of the formation.

"Driver, forward. Get us behind Tiger-02."

Subaru was lightly pushed backwards as he felt them moving, the engine noise intensifying as they moved behind the aforementioned column. Subaru didn't exactly know where they were headed to, but he knew when they reached their destination, his platoon would likely be the one spearheading the attack. He gripped the turret's horizontal drive tightly in nervousness.

He would be seeing combat for the first time.


Or so he thought.

They must have been on the move for hours, now. Even the infantry following behind them decided to mount atop of their tanks, He guessed they got tired of all the walking. Well, he wouldn't blame them. They had passed hills after hills and the occassional farm. God damn, how many hills did South Korea have?

In the time that passed the tension that he had previously acculumated had dissolved, he was all but relaxing and sightseeing from his periscope. And there wasn't much to sightsee anyway.

The comfortable silence, the constant whir of the engine and the light shaking - courtesy of the uneven ground - had nearly made him take a nap. It didn't help that inside the tank was dimly lit and, surprisingly, cozy. More hours had passed and the morning turned to afternoon They still haven't seen anything and haven't reached their objective. The infantry was back to marching again, the poor bastards. It wasn't that he was lazy, but Subaru actually wondered if the platoon would stop and make camp at this rate, it seemed war was boring as hell. It soundeed to him only the infantry was talking amongst themselves, somehow hearing eachother despite the loud engines of the tanks.

The next second, his head hit the turret roof and nearly the cannon breech as an explosion shook the entire tank. The tank had lurched forward to a halt as they stopped sharply.

"Argh, shit!"

"The fuck was that?!"

"Oh my God! Sarge, Davis is-"

His head hurt, but thankfully his helmet saved him from an concussion. The only things he registered the next seconds was his commander had closed his hatch, Malcolm simply fell inside like a sack of potatoes and his pants felt wet. Radio chatter was erratic, a cacophony of orders and static.

When he looked down, his eyes widened.

Davis was missing both of his lower legs and was leaning forward, he could partially see his expression as his head was to the side, unmoving. His pants, the transmission and Lloyd's face were wet with his blood. Bile rose to his throat as he felt nauseated. He had never seen a person die before.

"Oh God... Oh shit..."

"S-Sergeant, we have a man down!" Lloyd shakily reported.

"God damnit! Scan arou-"

Suddenly, several 'clings' and 'clang's resounded. Even with a headset, he could hear the loud, constant sounds surging from all around the exterior of the tank. It reminded him of popping popcorn. They were getting shot to hell from all around.

"Ambush!"

"They're fucking everywhere!"

"Cover the infantry!"

Subaru vividly remembered that he, as a child, would occasionally ask his father to tell him war stories. His father, who had served in the decorated 442nd Regiment during the Second World War, would sometimes humor him of his greats act of courage against the powerful Wehrmacht, a tale that his infant self found, in lack of a better word; incredible. What he never told Subaru was what it had cost. How his father quickly shifted in emotion; it always happened so suddenly, like something had gotten to him. While he never went as far as to hit his mother nor him, he was admittedly scary. At times, he would wake up during the night, screaming. Even after going through bootcamp, Subaru never understood why he acted that way.

Until now.

"Pull your shit together! We got caught out in the open! Driver, get us moving!" he heard his tank commander bark from his headset.

"I can't sir, the transmission's busted!" Lloyd screamed back as he frantically pulled on the two sticks.

"Fuck it all! We're sitting ducks!"

Subaru, in the gunner position, managed to grip the horizontal drive of the turret with a shaky grip, and looked with one eye on the optic. The exterior and reticles filled his sight.

"Gunner!" Powers called out to him on his headset. "Gun to the right, we got commies on that hill!"

"O-On it!"

Subaru, filled with adrenaline did as instructed and with a twist of his hand, his view of the outside shifted from gravel to hills, the electric motor whining as the turret rotated to the right, his field of vision eventually spying a nearby hill. Sure enough, he could see a few muzzle flashes betraying the enemy's position from the distant shrubbery. He wasted no time in further adjusting the elevation - manually cranking the cannon upwards until his reticles were alligned right on the enemy position.

"Loader! Load an explosive, infantry!" Powers screamed.

"Sir!" Was all that Malcolm replied as he quickly lifted a high explosive shell and all but rammed it to the insides of the cannon breech in mere seconds.

"Up!" The loader called. The cannon was loaded and ready to fire.

"Range eight-hundred yards! Fire at will!"

"On the way!" Subaru pulled the handle's trigger.

A loud 'thump' and a second later, the tank shook as his vision was obscured, he felt himself lightly recoil backwards, the ninety milimeter flew back into the tank and ejected the heavy casing before quickly returning to its original position. The cannon had kicked up alot of dust. It wasn't long until he heard the rest of his platoon return fire to all sides, he didn't even want to think how the infantry was faring.

Even so, the enemy did not stop shooting them.

A grunt and another second, he heard the signature metallic 'click-clack' of the breech close again.

"Up!" Malcolm signalized. That was his cue to continue firing.

He sent another round flying across the field onto the hostile position. He couldn't see much to determine damage.

Another explosion sounded near him; this time, it sounded fatal. It was a sound similar to calefaction.

"Holy shit!"

The sound of heavy steel hitting the ground confirmed his fears.

"TIGER-01 IS GONE! THEY HAVE ANTI-TANK! THEY HAVE ANTI-TAN-"

Subaru didn't hear the rest of it as his tank was hit - he was on fire, he screamed as the flames consumed his flesh. He didn't even notice he had gotten out of the tank, the pain was unbearable.

His world turned to black as he was shot several times.


Subaru jumped suddenly. He was hyperventilating and his skin was pale, like he'd seen a ghost.

"Whoa! Nat, you alright?"

Subaru turned to see the Lloyd, Davis and Malcolm tensely looking at him.

They were supposed to be dead.

"Nat. Are you alright?"