The air that flowed around the border was always chilly in the morning, in reason because the location itself was a geographical transition between the lush green areas of Lugnica to the unforgiving cold, snowy white lands of Gusteko, the nation of which their invaders came from, in the past day. Thankfully, however; a significant partition of the Holy Army of Gusteko was driven back, retreating all the way to Fanlouier hill. He had heard earlier from the Eleventh that they almost had been entirely flanked, but just as the Holy Army were to launch its fatal strike on their outpost, some iron beast intervened, as if the fates themselves had decided to be merciful to Lugnica.
The Duchess, who had seen it in action from a distance herself, said the being was so powerful it defeated its wrongdoers with a mere sneeze, of all things, a feat that saved the entire regiment. For one particular gray haired young man, who knew some about the wildlife and animals of his word, he didn't have the slighest idea of what was such a creature, nor he ever recalls hearing of any living being made out of steel. Even so, he couldn't help but wonder how it looked like.
Otto Suwen sighed, a cool breath escaping his lips as he refocused on his matutinal tasks, rearranging his personal belongings and equipment inside his tent. He was very used to the act at this rate, to the point it was as banal as tying your shoes, and as such, he didn't take very long. After setting his equipment correctly, he turned to grab his weapon, looking at it with an expression of pride, despite its simplicity. He held the blade he had earned with his sweat and blood close to him, inspecting it as it laid on legs. the first thing he was adestrated to do before anything and everything else, was to properly maintain his sword.
As he set to oil his blade with an old rag to prevent rusting, he found himself wandering back in his thoughts, to how he lived his life up until now...
He was formerly a merchant. Sure, a really unlucky merchant but he still managed in his own way... when he wasn't being mugged or kidnapped, that is, but while he most always failed on delivering goods, he never failed on properly maintaining his finances, never going bankrupt as a result. After his fateful rescue from the Witch Cultists - the day he found himself indebted to Ricardo, his savior from certain death - he was unceremoniously drafted to the Royal Army when he arrived at the capitol, as many citizens were. From what little he learned, Gusteko had declared war on Lugnica and Vollachia. In spite of having the Sword Saint, Reinhard, the Royal Army was considered undermanned; the military desperately needed new personnel to fill in their ranks in such a dark hour.
Otto Suwen, while on the Training Grounds, discovered his aptitude in scouting thanks to his unique Divine Protection, which granted him the ability to communicate with wildlife and discover locations otherwise invisible and unexplored. While he did not reveal his Divine Protection, he was still regarded as a very competent scout; earning him a place amongst the famous Honored Eleventh, in the Scout Squadron.
He remembered being very surprised by such a development, but that was not to say he wasn't nervous about it. Being on the best defense regiment meant you had the greatest of responsibilities: the chain of command all the way down to the Lancemen of the regiment would depend on his scouting abilities. Should he fail, his comrades would die. Due to the pressure alone, he always made sure to complete his missions diligently. He didn't want anyone to die for his mistakes. So far, he was glad he never failed.
While Otto was a great scout, he unfortunately wasn't the best with his blade. Yes, he could hold off in his own for some time, but after some nefarious plays on the training ground, he elected to not try for direct combat and let his bad string of luck take his life that way. He would try to confuse the enemy and... tactically retreat once given the chance... man, he was glad his Kingdom wasn't like Vollachia.
"Scout!"
Otto jumped in fright at the sudden, harsh voice from outside, hastily standing and sheathing his sword to answer the call. As he exited his tent, he saw it was his Rear Officer, Gilvern Hillberg, who had called for him. His armored, moustached figure standing with his arms behind him with the same perpetual scown plastered on his face.
"Y-Yes, sir?" Otto responded meekly with a salute, almost shrinking from the officer's assailant gaze.
The officer then directed his stare to Otto's chest, subsequently grimacing, "...where is your armor, soldier?" and asking his subordinate in a grave, low tone.
Otto visibly paled, "U-Um... I left it in my tent, sir. Y-You called, so-" stuttering as he attempted an explanation.
"By the Dragon, Private! You are never to leave your armor while on duty! You sleep with it, you eat with it, and if needed, you shit with it! Your armor is your mother, your blade your father! Do you understand me?" Gilvern loudly chastized his subordinate for disregarding his armor.
"Yes, sir! I-I apologize, I was cleaning my-" Otto responded with his hands glued to the side of his legs as he kept his chin slightly up.
"We'll see to your negligence later, scout. The matter at hand is urgent." Gilvern interrupted with a sigh, partly relaxing his austere expression as he continued, "The Duchess has personally summoned your sorry carcass at the fore wall quadrant. Grab your equipment and go meet Her Ladyship with utmost haste. Do not forget your armor this time around." The officer concluded the last part with a growl, making Otto shudder.
Gulping, Otto responded, "Yes, sir! R-Right away!" before reentering his tent to find his armor.
He was glad he had organized his stuff earlier, so finding it wasn't an issue. The armor was, needlessly to say, a lighter variant of the standard pattern given to Lancemen. Essentially one green coloured chestplate along with a pair of cuisses and greaves, no helmet. Of course, the configuration presented very few protection for a frontline battle, as it was projected for other uses. However, it was enchanted in such a way it allowed its user to move much faster and made virtually no noise with movement. The end result? A perfect type of armor for reconnaissance missions.
Once fully equipped, the unlucky scout headed off to meet The Duchess. The cold air of the morning bristling against his pale skin as he moved through the outpost's patio.
The outpost itself was constructed with a circular shape, with a diameter of roughly eight hundred meters or so and was subdivided into four wall quadrants, all of which connected to the main walls and onto a large tower in its center, much like bridges, except a little more inclined in relation to the ground.
As it had already been constructed in the past, solely to guard over the nation's borders, the regiment's work was cut short; only being needed to occupy and set a forward operations base within it. Tents had been spread out and organized around the walls based on squadrons so as to facilitate the work of locating a neccessary detachment or individual.
While three quadrants were occuppied with several Lancemen and Scout squadrons, the remaining last quadrant contained the last Artillery squadrons, where their Commander presumably was located.
Only after he passed the gate to the fourth quadrant, was when he realized he was close to his destination. Even though it was morning, the fourth quadrant was brimming with activity. Several soldiers could be seen carrying boxes to and about, cleaning their swords, maintaining the last three remaining massive Mana Cannons. Some were atop of the walls, watching for any possible movement.
It was also where most of the wounded from yesterday's battle were resting; The sight of their despondent states made him feel regretful for these men, along with forlorn dread. Some scouts were among their midst. He looked forward with a heavy heart, hoping they recovered soon.
He then noticed Crusch Karsten, The Duchess, along with a few Front Officers and her knight, waiting for his appearance in front of her tent, which was used mainly as a forward operations base; where the Front Officers often discussed the strategies of their defense with her. As the gray-haired Private didn't want to waste any more of her already scarce time, he hastily approached his Commander; stopping at attention in front of her as he closed enough distance.
"P-Private Otto Suwen of the Scout Squadron, at your service, Your Ladyship!" he nervously reported as he simultaneously saluted to the woman many more ranks above him in the military and social hierarchy.
He was then prompted to stand at ease when she saluted back, "Private Otto Suwen." she started as she looked to her subordinate with no expression. "In reason of your previous achievements as a scout, I have personally summoned you for a task nigh difficult. Come with me." She waved him to follow her to the tent.
The interior of the tent was just like anyone would expect; it was essentially a war room, but with a much more simple aspect. In its midst, it merely contained a table with a large map atop of it, along with a few quills to allow for marking strategic locations or movement on the map. Nothing else could be seen from within the tent.
"Private. I take it you have already heard of yesterday's happenings?" Crusch inquired, obviously referring to the Beast that had saved the regiment.
"Yes, Your Ladyship."
Crusch nodded as she closed her eyes for a second, "I see. That is good. Now, I ask you to closely pay attention. Time is of essence and as such, I can not afford to repeat myself. Here..." He directed his gaze to the spot she had pointed on the map, "...is where we currently are located in." Crusch looked at Otto for one moment, who only nodded in response.
"And here, is where we have seen the Steel Beast. It is a distance of approximately one kilometer. I understand you have some experience in animal handling?"
"Yes... Your Ladyship." Otto calmly answered on the outside, but on the inside he was nearly panicking, as he already had an idea of what she was going to ask of him. While he had a Divine Protection that allowed him to communicate with wildlife - one of the reasons of his success as as scout - and sometimes tame them, he wasn't sure he could do the same with an aggressive animal he had never seen in his entire life. What's more, was the thing could easily kill him with another of its explosive sneezes or eat him, should he fail to tame or anger it in any way. Now he could say he was screwed!
"Then I believe this task will not be difficult for you. I need you to cross this distance, locate and effectively tame the beast." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Once you tame the creature, you will direct it back until you reach this passage..." she gestured to a spot on the map, devoid of trees, "...our rendezvous point, where we will meet to continue the mission. On the event you fail at handling the creature, you will attempt to keep its attention and draw it all the way to Fanlouier Hill and disengage. If all else fails, retreat immediately. Do you have any questions?"
"N-No, Your Ladyship." He trembulated for a moment.
Crusch partly narrowed her eyes as she looked at him for a few seconds, noticing his stupor. "...You seem troubled, Private. Are you not up to the task, or do you not consider yourself capable enough?"
Otto balled his hands behind him into fists in an attempt to calm down. Only he knew the dread inside of him. As his superior had said, he did not feel confident enough for this mission, the creature could very well signify his demise. At the same time, he feared what would happen to him if he refused the mission; mayhaps he would be executed for cowardice? Arrested for disobedience on the spot? He wouldn't be surprised on any outcome. The decision was nigh difficult for himself as it was in theory, a gamble, but as he analyzed the odds; between certain death and exile or fight with the possibility to survive, he chose the most favorable to him.
The Scout took a few moments for himself before finally answering, "I apologize, Your Ladyship. T'was merely the cold. I will accomplish the mission, as ordered." Otto said. It wasn't entirely a lie however, as the area could get really cold during the morning.
The Duchess, who still had the same look plastered on her face, continued to impose her near-frown on the Private for several more moments, sensing his nervousness. Ultimately, the Valkyrie sighed.
"Very well..." she gazed at the map for a few more moments, as if contemplating something. Otto wasn't entirely sure, but for a few seconds he swore he saw a flash of guilt on her facade. Before he could be certain, however, she extinguished it as fast as it had came.
Crusch Karsten didn't look like it, but she understood the scout's position very well. She essentially was sending three soldiers to face an unknown threat. All soldiers knew that facing an enemy without prior knowledge of their exact capability meant almost certain suicide, and that was exactly the case here. Many would call her mission an absurd, with little to no chance of success. After all, the little she had observed from the strange creature so far, was that it could cast magic very rapidly and had an... unique way of attacking; sneezing.
Having read the known files of the man before her, Otto Suwen, she discovered he was, in spite of his less than desirable performance in combat, an excellent scout. But what had really interested her, was another unique ability of his own; which was taming most kind of animals, and as incredible as it may sound, that sometimes included predators. Of course, with the Steel Beast still being in the exact same position as before, she elected not to waste such an opportunity. She needed to take this risk, lest the enemy overwhelms them and the Kingdom.
Sometimes sacrifices are neccessary for the greater good. Thought Crusch to herself, remembering the line of a particularly grand military strategy book; granted to her by one of her many tutors in her childhood. She intended to use Otto in order to tame the Steel Beast, for her own... no, for the Kingdom's defense. The thought was what gave her the strength and courage in her heart to send him away.
With renewed vigor, she managed to look up to him then, "You will depart immediately, accompanied by two more scouts, they are waiting for you at the front gates. Worry not, they also know of the mission, so you won't need to repeat what I said here. Avoid engaging in direct combat with the enemy and tame the Beast by any means neccessary. May the Dragon's spirits guide you three. Dismissed!"
Otto reacted on instinct as he vehemently saluted at the dismissal with a salute, exiting the tent to meet his peers with his head held high as he tried to hide his growing turmoil.
He frowned as he squeezed his fists even more firmly than before. He had been entrusted with an important mission from Crusch Karsten herself. I cannot afford to show weakness to her or anyone else, even if it's a hard mission! Otto had concluded to himself as he moved to the front gates with purpose.
After patching themselves up from such an unusual engagement, Powers ordered the immediate repair of the tank tracks, internal lighting and anything else that broke. They couldn't stay there. The repairs began from the interior; it was when dawn shone from the horizons, that Subaru, Lloyd and Davis moved out to repair the tracks.
Subaru groaned as he lifted a sledgehammer and then swung it downward, slamming its head on the tread's pins which sunk deeper into one of the many tread segments as Lloyd held it firmly in place. The distinct sound of steel 'clanging' loudly reverberated through the forest. Lloyd visibly cringed at the sound, nearly letting go of the treads. After the little skirmish they had with whatever freakshow was presented to them, Powers ordered immediate repairs for the tank tracks and internal lighting. Subaru, Lloyd and Davis were responsible for repairing the tracks, while Malcolm and Powers took care of the lighting and maybe the radio.
"Nat, don't ya darn hit my hand with tha'!" The driver said as his grasp shook upon impact of the heavy sledgehammer, nearly dropping the tread in the process.
The Japanese American smirked, "Hey hey, don't worry. I've got a good grip. You just need to hold yours steady." speaking with a smug grin on his face at his friend's hassle.
"Don'tcha thin' I'm tryin' to do tha'?" Lloyd retrucated in mild exasperation, "This thing's heavy, man!"
"So is this thing, though." Subaru said, emphasizing his point as he swung the hammer atop another large weld into the tread's axle joint with another groan.
After a while, Subaru was panting from the physical exertion of continously swinging the sledgehammer, scoring hit after hit in order to repair the tank's tracks. Having been introduced to the practice ever since his training days, he knew for certain that the process would be arduously long. Still, the act was tiresome as it was boring, and the fact that they had to make repairs in the open with no cover or support didn't help the situation, either. Even though they were armed and Davis had brought his carbine with him as he was on watch duty while the rest fixed what they could, he still feared a surprise attack.
Even with all the noise they were making though, the only surprise he had was a cheetah or whatever magical creatures they had on this forest didn't jump them yet. On a positive note however, they could count themselves lucky, as whoever had attacked them earlier had ran back to Hogwarts with their tails between their legs. Thankfully enough, they didn't seem to be gutsy enough to come back for more, but the fact alone didn't completely eliminate the possibility of their eventual return.
That was why they needed to complete the needed repairs and get the hell out of dodge as soon as possible before then, even if it took a while. Actually, it might take longer than just a while... Subaru contemplated. Every man in the crew was tired, wounded and stressed after such a long day... and night. It was so noticeable by their expressions and body languages that anyone would be able to tell from kilometers away.
Malcolm opened his hatch then, a tired sigh escaping his lips as he brought himself up from the cramped turret.
"That took a fucking while, God damn..."
"Well, well. Mighty nice of ya to join us." Lloyd sardonically spoke.
"Oh don't even fucking start now, dude. I'm dead tired here and I'm not on the mood for any more of your bullshit, cowboy."
"Only ya are tired? Boohoo! We're all tired here, bug ass."
Malcolm's expression ruffled into anger. "You little fu-"
"Hey!" Powers intervened from his cupola, making the crew look at him in wariness, "What did I say earlier, huh? You angry? Then keep it with the NK and the other bandwagon assholes that shot us. So shut up and let's fix the tracks before I make you both lick the whole tank clean."
"Yes, Sergeant." The two begrudgingly conceded in unison.
After several minutes, Powers had joined in on the track repairs after having no success with the radio, switching the sentry duty from Davis to Subaru and gave another sledgehammer to Malcolm, to help with the track welds and ordered Lloyd to rest for a few minutes.
"So, uhhh..." Davis, who was now holding the tracks instead of Lloyd, started, "...is nobody going to talk about the dudes who attacked us with a fireball?"
"Yeah." Subaru shrugged whilst he held David's gun, figuring it would be a good way to pass the time whilst they worked, "Who were guys, anyway? They wore alot of weird stuff like armor and robes. Who even wears armor these days?"
"No one in their right state of mind, that's for sure."
"Well, I don' thin' these guys were NK. They look like they came righ' out from tha' medieval ages." Lloyd opinated, taking a sip of water from his canteen as he did.
"No kidding? I'm more worried about how they even managed to do that whole voodoo fireball shit they pulled out of their asses in the first place." Malcolm said. "Where the fuck did that come from, anyway?"
"I dunno, but 'least it didn't kill us."
Davis snickered, "I think that's a good name for the weirdos, Voodoos, I mean."
"Did you all see the giant lizard things they had, too? Never saw those in my life until now. They kinda look like dinosaurs." Davis added with a hint of enthusiasm.
"Hey, that's what I thought when I first saw them!" Subaru agreed.
Powers groaned from the impact as he felt his muscles straining from lifting his sledgehammer. "Well people, thanks to the 'Voodoos', we now know for sure we aren't anywhere near Korea or the US, for that matter. I don't know which rabbit hole we ended up in, but if that's what they're capable of, we need to be very careful from now on."
"Yeah. Speaking of which, Sarge, what are we going to do now?"
"We first need to figure out where the hell we are. Then we do what I said before: Find a high place and see if the radio works. If not, then we'll figure it out from there."
As Subaru opened his mouth to suggest another course of action, he closed it as he felt the distinct feeling of being watched.
Call him paranoid or scared, but Subaru never liked the feeling at all. It was ominous to him. To add to his dismay, they were currently in a location which was very similar to the place he had died for the first time in South Korea: between two hills. Except now there were trees all around and the hills were significantly smaller. Even so, he couldn't help but stand at alert, tightly squeezing the M1 Carbine close to him as he scrutinized the ambient around him for anything suspicious.
On such a state, the discussion behind him was muffled as he focused on different noises around the forestous pathways. What he heard, however, forced his senses to be even more alert:
For one second, he thought he had heard the rustling of bushes. And it wasn't from the wind.
"Hey look, if them weirdos can shit out fire, I don'wanna see how their explosive diarrheas are like, alright?" Lloyd loudly spoke, presumably engaged in another interesting discussion with Malcolm, "And Sarge, how do ya reckon we even going to keep the tank? I don' thin' Harry Potter & Co have juice and ammo, even if they can do some fairy-tale-looney-tunes crap." and Powers.
"Guys..." Subaru called, pointing the carbine towards the treelines as he slowly moved backwards.
"We'll do things just like I said so, Lloyd. If we can't keep the tank, then we blow it up. We'll move on foot if we have to." Powers reaffirmed with a firm tone.
"Oh and then we's just stay in this open'up place with no radio and couple'a flimsy pistols? I'm mighty sorry, Sarge, but that doesn't sound'a good idea to me at all."
Malcolm piqued up then, "Hey, cowboy, if you have any better ideas maybe you can just say them rather than whining, huh?"
"And then we have this asshole, Sarge. I can' stand this guy at all." Lloyd sneered.
"Look, I think we all just should calm down for a second, we're all stressed and tired..." Davis attempted to calm the escalating situation, the men were nearly at eachother's throats.
"Blah blah blah! And 'ah thin' you should jus' shut the fuck up!" The driver shook as he spat at the auxiliary, his accent heavily contourning his speech.
"Guys!" Subaru called louder than before.
"What?!"
"I think we have company..."
Heeding Subaru, all hostilities and the arguement from before were promptly extinguished in a second just by that statement. The now silenced crew grabbed their pistols, readying their sidearms as they stood at caution, aiming their M1911's at the sea of trees before them. Only now, with the rising sun light, they could see the perfectly where they were. Davis, Malcolm and Lloyd had a mixture of dread and anger plastered on their faces. Powers had a frown that screamed annoyance, as if he only was being bothered by something minor; even then Subaru had took notice of a very faint indication of fear. Not for himself, but for his crew. Or it was what Subaru wanted to believe.
"Voodoos?" Powers asked his gunner.
"I don't know."
One thing was for certain: the crew had collectively taken note of how suddenly suffocating their surroundings had turned, how ominous and dark the logs appeared, in spite of being showered by the bright dawnlight. Of the silence. Of how it was the perfect place for an ambush.
As he aimed the M1 Carbine to a particularly suspicious location, Subaru shook as he remembered his first death. It was sudden. Painful and sudden. He still hadn't forgotten how it felt, after all it was very much recent; as recent as a day ago, it still hurt. His chest still hurt from then. But from everything he felt at that moment, the feeling most proeminent was the cold. The cold made him feel like he was still in Pusan. Still in South Korea.
It forced him to remember it was the place he had perished, along with the four men beside him, only because of his mistake.
It was only because of his fault that everyone died. He didn't know exactly why, but he could hardly look at Davis.
Subaru shook his head in an attempt to shake off his self-deprecating thoughts, which continued to demolish his already low spirits as the somber forest opressed him, threatening to overwhelm his very morale. Until suddenly, more rustles shook him from his thoughtful state and harnessed the attention of the whole crew.
Pointing their firearms at the general direction of the unseen disturbance, they had yet to see or identify what was causing such agitation.
"From tha' sound o' it," Lloyd whispered, as if being careful not to draw attention to themselves. "I don' think thatta a human bein'."
The other four considered his statement, finding his insight satisfied; almost obviously so, their current situation. "...What do you think it might be, Lloyd?" Powers asked his driver as he attently surveyed any crevice that could potentially hide a living being.
"Some kinda animal, that's for sure. I know there's lot's of 'em. But I jus' don' know which." Lloyd replied in a tone with mild frustration at his inability to help further on the matter.
It took a moment for the crew to process the grim realization of being surrounded. It was especially nightmare inducing for one particular gunner. Every man visibly showed no emotion, albeit their twisting expressions screamed of their inner conflicts.
The Corporal shook as he managed to control his inner panic avoiding erratic hyperventilation with slow breaths. He had been surrounded twice in the span of one day. One by NK's and the other... he still had to know. Was fate toying with him? He advocated whatever being was forcing him on these kinds of situations had quite the twisted sense of humor. Sadistic fuck.
Subaru spoke in a whisper then, sensing his friend's distress. "Don't beat yourself up, Lloyd. It doesn't matter what comes outta the jungle, we'll shoot it to hell, eh?"
"Thanks, Nat. But I still don' feel comfortable with them peashooters." Replied Lloyd, presumably referring to their sidearms. "We're in them cartoon valleys now."
"We still have the Ma Deuce though, don't we?" Davis reminded them of the fifty caliber machine gun mounted atop of the M46's turret. "We still didn't fire a single round on that thing yet."
"Let's just hope it doesn't jam on our exposed asses, huh?" Malcolm said.
"You's jinxing us, moron."
"We still have alot of guns to shoot from, gentlemen." Powers added, "So don't worry about that. It shouldn't be a problem."
Their casual low conversation ceased then as they redoubled their focus on the ambiance around themselves. The lack of sound served only to further unnerve the worn out soldiers. Any place completely devoid of sound had a wrong characteristic to it, almost forbidding in nature. One could agree that it meant the place was devoid of life... or such lives were being hunted by unseen danger.
It was funny. Even the most lively or natural of places could seem dead with a grim atmosphere; threatening at the mere lack of activity, all due to complete silence.
However, It is especially worse if you know you are in danger from something you cannot see. And in the crew's case, they had caused enough truculence the night before and it came to bite them in the ass.
They were waiting for a battle. And the waiting was always what tore one apart.
"Fucking hell..."
"Keep your eyes peeled and your guns ready, boys." Powers sounded, careful enough to not be loud. "Whatever they are, they can come from anywhere..."
Unbeknownst to the crew, a figure slowly rose from the top of the tank's turret.
Powers, the most steeled and collected in the crew, turned when he thought he heard something akin to a growl. Just in time to see a large, wolf with spikes protruding from its body, baring its fangs at them, its eyes glaring pure red, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
It jumped.
"Lloyd! Watch out!"
The driver didn't move fast enough to avoid being tackled by the massive wolf from behind, and promptly collapsed to the floor with the creature in a bundled mess.
"Lloyd! No!" Subaru called.
"Argh! What tha' fuck! Get this thing offa me!" He screamed in desperation as he frantically twisted and turned in an attempt to escape from the predator with his arms behind his head to protect his neck.
The large canid continuously attempted to reach Lloyd's neck, furiously gnarling and biting at the man's arms in the struggle. Thanfully for Lloyd, he still had the helmet on so the back of his head was safe. However, his arms weren't. The sensation was as if the thing would rip his arms off.
"Oh shit, help him!"
"Get it off!"
Frustrated with its prey's persistence, the wolf intensified its attacks, which soon turned erratic and imprecise.
Two loud 'bangs' later, and it all stopped; the creature fell dead with a last growl.
The barrel of Power's M1911 smoked as he lowered it. "You alright?"
Lloyd, still stunned from the attack, sighed in relief as he got up, feeling his arms as he did. "Mah arms were nearly torn right'a off, but I'll live. Thanks, Sarge."
"Your arms are bleeding." The Sergeant pointed, "There's some rolls of bandages on the bags, patch yourself up."
The driver acquiesced without a word.
Before anyone could voice their concerns, more shuffles and rustles were heard from the greenery's innards, interrupting their train of thought and triggering their alert.
"There's more of them..." Davis said as he looked to the general area of the noises.
"Looks like It's not over yet." Powers turned to his crew, "Get up on the tank! Cover the perimeter!" At Power's command, the crew hastily complied, climbing the tank and setting themselves in positions which covered the area in an arc of three-hundred-sixty degrees.
"He brought along his buddies, too. And I don't think they're happy." Malcolm spoke.
The rustles could be heard from any direction by now: from the front, from the rear, from the sides. Everywhere.
"We're in a pinch, guys... I think it's a whole pack chock full of them." Subaru said, the disquietude that laced his tone was evident.
"Just had ta' throw tha' to make them day better, eh?" Lloyd quipped, but not faring any better.
"Still think we're going to shoot the hell out of them all, Subaru?" Malcolm jabbed, directing his sarcasm at Subaru.
"...Wouldn't hurt to try." Subaru replied, "I don't know about you, but I'm not looking to turn into magic dog shit."
Lloyd couldn't help but snicker at Subaru's comment, "Hey, if you's magic shit, maybe ya'll grow wings or somethin' and go flying. Imagine tha'; Natshitki Subaru, for a name."
The whole crew, including Subaru himself, nearly openly laughed at the notion. "Eh, shut up, Lloyd." Subaru said with a grin.
"Alright, enough joking." Powers concluded before turning to the resident assitant driver. "Davis, ready the Lady 'Duce. We'll need her."
"On it, sir." Davis acknowledged with a nod, pulling on the heavy charging handle of the fifty caliber machine gun, readying the weapon as a round was then inserted into the chamber with a click. He gestured to the Sergeant that it was ready, to which Powers nodded.
"Now we wait. Critters don't wait for too long when they're hungry."
Subaru exhaled. Now would be another contest for their lives, they had to fight and endure, or perish. The crew anxiously waited for the pack's full out attack in the somber forest. The tight space around the tank gave very little distance between themselves and the greenery shrouds, which their soon-to-be attackers were currently camouflaged in. If one were to guess, it was probably three or four meters at most, which meant that the wolves would get to the tank pretty fast, and the turret could only partially turn, due to the length of the cannon: nine meters long. They couldn't move, couldn't use the big ninety militer. That only left their firearms and the fifty caliber atop the turret.
They could mount the tank, but after facing Colorful Battallion earlier, they figured things in this place couldn't possibly abide by the laws of physics. Not fully, atleast. In reason of that, it is better to take out the overly grown wolves than to risk further damaging the tank; their only means of fast locomotion at the moment, and maybe even their ticket out of there.
Howls surged from all over suddenly; as if coming from right out of the skies, cutting through the air like deadly knives. Subaru was familiar with the sound of a howling wolf, but this one was different in a way he couldn't properly explain. The various howls sounded almost like they were distorted, like a broken radio, and grave like it came from the depths of hell.
Hearing the notably alien, malevolent howls sent a chill deep into Subaru's spine, making his grip shaky and his legs woobly, despite him clenching the M1 Carbine tightly in his hands to keep it steady. It was their form of psychological warfare, it seemed. He knew it was now that they would come to attack.
The fast approaching shuffles was what signalized their attack.
"Here they come!"
Several canine dark forms with red, glowing eyes appeared fourth from the shrubs in a flash, sprinting towards the tank with brutal purpose, their fangs showing.
"Open fire!" Screamed Powers.
The response was immediate; swift and deadly. In simultaneous with the pack's appearance, forty-five and seven-point-six-two caliber rounds began flying through the grim morning air. Loud bangs could be heard from the entire forest as the crew promptly opened fire at the oncoming threats.
Two assailant wolves fell right as they had exited their natural camouflage, blood gushed out from their necks and legs as their dying bodies planted to the floor.
Three had made it across. When one jumped, Malcolm swiftly turned and fired. The forty-five caliber bullet struck the beast's head as it was in the air, fracturing its skull and immediatelly destroying and scrambling its gray matter everywhere. It felt nothing as it fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, a blood trail following its descent from its forehead.
"Oh yeah! Take that, you bitch!"
Powers groaned as he stomped on the paw of another who was on the process of climbing the tank, securing it in place. The attacking wolf loudly cried out in pain as its bones audibly shattered with a disgusting 'crack'. Before it could produce its retribution, Powers fired at its head, resulting in it bursting open like a soda can, spraying blood everywhere as it fell.
Davis let out an yell as he reared his leg back and then quickly sent it forward, impacting a hound right in its mouth. The force of the man's kick had consequently tore some of the creature's teeth right off along with its mandibular joint, causing it to recoil and whimper in pain as its jaw hung loose.
"Aw, holy shit!" The brutal display momentarily disgusted Davis as he reared back with his gun raised, finishing the animal off with two shots to the torso, taking it out of its misery as it finally collapsed.
Subaru clenched his teeth as he frantically fired his carbine, scoring a few hits as two wolves fell dead without ever having gotten close to them. Four more appeared from his left, which he immediatelly turned and engaged, managing to down two of them as the others got close, just below him. He clenched his weapon firmly and then rammed the buttstock of the weapon right in the face of one who tried biting at this foot. Blood flew from the creature's snout as it fell dazed while Subaru turned to adress the other. Subaru maneuvered the carbine in such a way it somehow ended up in the second hound's gullet, much to its dismay. Without any hesitation, Subaru pulled the trigger with his eyes closed, feeling the blood of his attacker shower him as its weight was alleviated from his firearm.
He didn't even have the time to finish the dazed one before others came at him, one nearly managing to rip his gun out of his hands. He recoiled, receding further onto the turret and continued shooting at the oncoming wolves.
Lloyd punched another hound right as it lunged at him, sending the wolf flying atop the engine bay, where Lloyd finished it by stomping onto its neck with all the force he could muster. Turning to see what was behind him, he managed to rear up his arm just in time to save his jugular from getting bitten off.
"Argh!" He yelled in pain as he felt a beast bite deep into his already wounded forearm, the feeling akin to being stabbed by multiple needles.
With a grimace, Lloyd quickly retaliated. As if uncaring of his pained arms, he slammed the back of the wolf's head against the turret, pressing the creature in place as he lifted his M1911 right between its eyes, and pulled the trigger. The canid's head recoiled and its jaw went loose, losing its life and freeing Lloyd's forearm as it slid downwards, leaving a bloody trail on the turret.
"Them some's annoyin' bitches alrigh'!" Spoke Lloyd as he continued to lay down fire upon their attackers. "They love mah arm!"
Malcolm's gun clicked just as he was about to kill three more. "Reloading! Cover me!" Shouted the loader as he grabbed an additional magazine from pouch.
Subaru heeded the call and shot two more canids about to pounce on Malcolm from behind, they dropped like flies; one hit on the head, the other on its heart.
After seeing that Malcolm effectively reloaded his weapon, he turned to the increasingly large torrent of wolves, shooting and killing five more before he ran out of ammunition, aswell.
"I'm out! Loading!" He called for cover.
Lloyd, who had situated himself on top of the turret, gave his friend supporting fire, "I got yer back, Nat!" taking out several more of the predators before his own weapon was completely emptied.
"Don't wolves hunt in a pack of six or eight or whatever?!" Malcolm yelled his indignations whilst he maintained continuous fire on their attackers, the amount he killed was now lost to him as he couldn't keep count anymore, "Why is there a fucking ocean of these things?!"
Davis looked up right in time to counter a hound that sprung forwards. The assistant driver ducked as the thing's claws narrowly missed him, "Christ! They're almost on top of us, Sarge!"
Powers, who was on top of the engine section, shot two more dead, slowly retreating further onto the tank as the already large horde of angry wolves continued to increase in sheer quantity. For him, the pathways might have well been painted completely black by the creature's numbers. It was at this moment he realized he'd need some more firepower.
Quickly setting his down pistol atop the turret, the Staff Sergeant then grasped the heavy machine gun's handles.
"Everyone, get down!" Powers howled. His crew didn't question as they got down onto crouching positions, practically hugging the turret.
When Powers pressed the machine gun's triggers, the two canids that had leaped above never stood a chance.
Both were practically eviscerated in a gruesome show of red, bloody mists. With blood raining over the turret, the M2 Browning roared as fifty-caliber bullets brutally punished the oncoming heinous canids with a cruel, painful death. Powers turned the machine gun accordingly, neutralizing threats from all angles. At near point-blank range, the heavier projectiles tore apart anything that stood in its way, spewing death and destruction to the congregated hound masses below.
Powers kept rotating the screaming weapon all around, even managing to take down a few thin-logged trees along.
The bullets overpenetrated their targets and continued their path of blood until they found a mark on another, making short work of large conglomerations. The wolves were quickly being slaughtered by the sudden onslaught, spending the last seconds of their lives in mutilated, brutalized carcasses, agonizying on the ground as they desperately attempted to hold on to life; for naught. The force of the bullets made the creatures implode like a spray can.
For a moment, the large group of canids faltered in fear, overwhelmed by their animalistic instincts as they witnessed the brutal end of their pack. It was when the wolves slowly began to lessen in number that they finally begun to run away, fearing for their twisted lives. Most of the fleeing lot were easily cut down by Powers.
Ceasing fire, the Browning's barrel was almost glowing hot, dispersing more smoke than an open keetle.
It seemed the fight was over.
"Yeah! You better run away now!" Malcolm poked at the fleeing wolves. "Look at them go!"
"Thank tha' lord, we made it..." Lloyd smiled.
"Let's try not to get stuck in forests now." Davis said, ruffling his hair as he held his helmet.
"Hell yeah! That was fucking awesome, Sarge!" Subaru cheered, elated to have lived through such an experience.
Powers smiled at the appreciation as he nodded.
"We held them off well. Good work, boys." He then looked around. Damn, we'll have our hands full after this. He thought to himself as he noticed the torrent of dead wolves litter the entirety of his surroundings: be it the floor, the top of the tank, top of the turret; everywhere.
"Huh. I just now noticed these things have spikes coming out of their backs." Davis commented, looking at one of the many dead hounds. "Is everything here weird like that?"
"Looks like life itself just got weirder, man." Subaru replied. Alone, he had already gone through the most unbelievable of things in one day. Namely dying.
"Ah knew it. They weren't jus' normal critters." Lloyd convinced himself.
"Yeah well... these critters are gonna start smelling bad soon." Malcolm gestured to the sea of dead canid bodies and to their own selves, "And us, too. Yuck!"
As the crew looked to themselves and the M46, blood caked almost the entirety of the tank, their uniforms were a reddened green as they were previously showered in blood from all sides, Indeed, everything was putrid.
"Yeah, looks like we'll have a lot of cleaning to do later." Powers conceded.
Subaru leaned back on the turret's rear as he sighed.
Another catastrophical disaster avoided, hopefully. But why do I still feel like being watched? The gunner slowly but surely surveyed the background, seeing nothing but the bodies of the strange spiked wolves and a few toppled over trees, courtesy of Power's shooting.
But to his immense shock, from the corner of his vision he saw one of the wolves, somehow alive from earlier, running towards him at full speed.
He yelped in surprise when it leaped with its maw wide open, having not nearly enough time to bring up his weapon to bear.
"El Fula!"
Suddenly, a very strong wind current grazed past, tearing the creature in two pieces. Only the wolf's chest made it across, harmlessly skidding to his foot as he looked in shock.
"W-Wha..."
"What the fuck was that?!" Malcolm voiced his thoughts perfectly.
"Subaru?!"
"Nat! You alright?!" Lloyd, worried for his friend, went to check on Subaru.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay..."
"Wait! Wait! What tore that thing open?" Davis spoke, surprised.
"That was of my doing." A new voice declared, earning the attention of the whole crew, who immediately turned their weapons at the three news figure who surged from the within forest.
"It's the fucking Voodoos!" Said Malcolm after noticing that the three figures were clad in green armor.
The man who presumably spoke rose one his hands before any action was taken.
"I would advise you to calm down. We are certainly not affiliated with these... Voodoos you speak of. We are from the Royal Army." He corrected as he spoke, "I am Rear Officer Gilvern. Tell me, are you five the handlers of the Beast you stand upon?"
The entire crew looked to eachother quizzically at the man's words.
This was going to be a long day.
Hey there! I'm sorry if this chapter took a little long, I had to take care of some issues, mainly college and personal related matters, but it's finally here. I hope it was well worth your time!
In addition, I'll be answering some of your comments below:
FriendlyShadows: We'll just have to wait and see!
derekrendon8205: Maybe he will join it, maybe not. It will all depend on how the story goes.
Anon: It truly makes me happy you feel this way my man! I hope to continue to entertain and surprise you with this story!
ZorionCosima & Satellaa: I know! Quite a funny image to bear, isn't it?
Frostco1: I'm very glad this story entertains you so, there's even more to come! Thank you for the review!
Guest: Indeed, I certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that, haha!
lokitos9870: Glad you liked it, there's more to come!
Deathenglegamers1144: GATE helped base this story, yes. But what really inspired me to write this story was The Final Countdown, a rather interesting film with the same premisse!
RiflemanOfRBLX: I'm happy you enjoy the story, my dude! Don't worry, I'll bring out more! I brought out things from the Korean War as I feel that particular setting isn't very explored, I believe. But thank you for the suggestion!
Stay safe and leave your thoughts with a review!
