"I don't see a battlewalker, do you?" Zhang Yi scanned the barren wasteland.
"You can't see out of those eyes anyway," Kush whispered as he shouldered his Park-52.
"Shut up," Ivan hissed.
The pounding became louder and louder, but the walker was still nowhere to be seen.
"Shit, you sure this is the sound of a battlewalker?" Heliang asked tensely, desperately rummaging through his pack for an EMP grenade.
"Trust me, it is," Ivan replied as he switched his rifle from normal to the PK-74 rocket mode.
"Are you sure?" Heliang asked again, "I mean, maybe it's just the sound of an orbital strike."
"Shut up and grab that Pilum on the ground," Ivan turned, his eyes still scanning the surroundings. The scene troubled him. There were no trees for the battlewalker to hide in, and there were no hills either. In fact, if there was a battlewalker, they would've seen it by now. But at the same time, the tell-tale trails from an orbital strike bombardment weren't there either.
"Are you sure you're not out of your mind?" Heliang asked again as he tossed down his Shuko and picked up the Pilum.
"Yes, now take up defensive position around the silo," Ivan hissed.
The pounding became louder and louder.
"I don't see anything," Tanya said, gripping her Krylov.
The pounding became louder.
"That's because it's not there," Zhang Yi whispered.
The pounding became louder.
"It's there, trust me," Ivan replied, "I know what those things sound like."
The pounding became louder
"Ivan," Heliang shouldered the Pilum, "I know you fought at Belgrade and Minsk, but that doesn't mean you can't be wrong about these things. I mean, look around, there's nothing here!"
The pounding became louder.
"Dammit, I know the sound of a battlewalker!" Ivan yelled, "I know it's there!"
Suddenly, the pounding stopped.
"Uh oh," Zhang Yi muttered. "If there's a battlewalker, it either stopped, or it's right behind us."
"How could it be behind us?" Kush whispered, "We're standing in a circle."
"Then where the hell is it?" Zhang Yi whispered back.
Suddenly, the twin chain guns on the battlewalker opened up and murderous fire poured out at Alpha squad.
"Take cover!" Ivan yelled.
"Where is it, where is it?" Heliang yelled back as he dove behind the silo, which was still firing off missiles.
"Goddamit, we need that EMP grenade!" Kush yelled as he ran all about, firing randomly with his rifle.
"WELL I'M SORRY I DIDN'T PACK ANY!" Heliang yelled back.
Ivan was crouched behind a supply crate, scanning the battlefield. He could hear the chain guns, he could see the ground being torn up by it, but he couldn't see the battlewalker. Just then, a sinister realization dawned upon him
The machine was cloaked.
"Get on the ground!" Ivan yelled into his mike, "It's invisible!"
"Great, if we had some EMP, we could see it!" Kush yelled as he kept running. Unfortunately, the running attracted the attention of the battlewalker pilot, who promptly redirected his fire. Kush's body disappeared in a cloud of dirt and snow.
"Kush, no!" Zhang Yi yelled as he ran toward his fallen friend, only to meet the same fate.
"Goddamit," Ivan snarled. He keyed in his radio to the commander onboard the Orlov. "This is Sergeant Ivan Morzhovy, Alpha leader, requesting large scale EMP strike at silo one!"
"Alpha?" the commander's voice cracked through his helmet, "are you the idiots responsible for those damned missiles coming at the Titan?"
"Sir yes sir," Ivan yelled back, "We had no silo programmer with us and my squadmates thought that they could reprogram the silo. But right now we're pinned down by a battlewalker and we need that EMP strike now!"
"We don't see a battlewalker at your position," the commander replied, "It's not showing up on the scans."
"The damned thing is cloaked," Ivan yelled as the walker now directed its fire towards Tanya, who ducked behind an empty supply trailer.
"Understood, EMP strike, your coordinates." The commander sighed.
Three teardrops fell from the sky and illuminated the earth with blue sparks. The EU battlewalker materialized from thin air, its cloaking system disabled.
"Heliang!" Ivan yelled, "shoot it now!"
"Understood," Heliang replied and aimed a well shot round into where the walker's legs and turret connected.
The mighty battlewalker's engine coolant compartment was ruptured, causing its temperatures to heat up exponentially. Sparks began flying from where the round met the metal, and before the pilot had a chance to bail out, the machine exploded.
On the other side, Tanya was bandaging Zhang Yi's wounds. Kush had taken eight rounds in his back as well as two in his head. There was no way for him to be saved. Zhang Yi was shot twice in the leg and three times in the back. He's alive but just barely.
Looking at his broken squadmates, Ivan sat down in the snow and began crying.