Chapter 5: The First Night
The sun was beginning to set on the state of Indiana, but the roaring of engines continued to pierce through the evening. Gun shots could be heard here and there, far enough from normal civilization to hear, but close enough to make the wildlife run in terror. With a blanket of darkness covering the plains of The Hoosier State, movement became much slower, with battles coming to a close. But not everyone had gotten the signal, and some teams in fact became much more aggressive in movement, picking off the others who weren't prepared.
Not being one of those night fighters, Pool Platoon had stopped at an abandoned farm, parking their vehicles inside a large barn. The mechanic team began working on the tank and armored car in the dim light of several lanterns, with Dave himself taking care of some damage that had been taken by the jeep. Everybody else got to work with nightly patrols. They weren't allowed to leave a vehicle for more than 50 meters, or they'd be counted as dead, and they have to be ready at any moment to jump back inside their vehicles to continue fighting.
The first for the night shift were Albert, Joey, Jordan, and Sarah. The four watched the north and south in pairs while the others made dinner or went to sleep; every moment of rest was crucial for a crew member's performance in the field. After eating, Marelda began distributing the rations to the watch teams. "Keep your eyes open, you two!" she said cheerfully to Albert and Joey, who nodded as they both put a spoonful of mashed potatoes in their mouths. It was decided that potatoes and pre-cooked sausages were what the entire platoon would be bringing, so meals with the spuds in them were to be expected.
As she gave the other team their food, Marelda grinned mischievously. "Don't do anything funny you two.~" She skipped away as Sarah almost threw her food back at the girl. Jordan chuckled awkwardly, putting his food on his lap as he put a small sausage into his mouth. "Not like I was planning anything," Sarah grumbled, losing her appetite and putting her meal beside her. She stared at the moon that was beginning to appear in the evening sky, its shape only half of what the large sphere actually was.
Smiling, Jordan put a spoonful of potato in front of Sarah's mouth. Sarah blushed, but opened her mouth as Jordan gently placed the food inside. "No need to be grumpy, Sarah," he chuckled, putting the same amount of mashed potato in his own mouth. Chewing it, Sarah nodded, picking her food up and starting to eat. Carefully watching the outskirts of the farm, both teams were careful of any vehicles that might pass by.
Back near the tank, the mechanics joined the rest of the platoon as they had dinner around a lantern. "There aren't any problems with our rides now," Dave reported, "but if we don't do something fast, we're going to run out of fuel by next noon." Fauna stopped chewing, her face becoming uneasy. "Logistics is the ball and chain of armored warfare," she muttered, looking at her Ke-To that might not even be moving anymore if they didn't do something. "Heinz Guderian," Hanna added, "so, what're we going to do?"
Fauna pulled out her phone, checking the app's map for some solution. And of course there was only one. "An hour's drive from here is the closest fuel deposit," she explained, pocketing her device once more, "if we get can get there, we can most likely obtain some gas." Stuart raised a finger. "That would put us at a tactical disadvantage though, right?" he asked, "This place is just screaming 'trap!'" Hanna and Fauna both nodded, finishing their food. "But if we're going to keep moving, we'll have to push in," the British girl finished, stretching her arms as she stood up, "I'm going to sleep on it, see you lot later."
As the commander walked away, Hanna also went to nap, leaving Stuart, Marelda, and the jeep crew to themselves. "So, what are the chances we'll actually win this?" Marelda asked, fiddling with a blade of hay. Stuart looked up from his food, answering, "75 percent considering we can make it through the first half of the week." "Those are some good numbers then," Dave said, convinced. He crossed his arms, and looked back at his team. "Like I said before, just keep us safe and those tanks will stay in running order."
"Armored car," Stuart commented, "it's an armored car." Marelda rolled her eyes. "Even you called it a tank when we first saw the Autoblinda, don't make yourself look smart." The boy coughed, his face a faint tint of red. "F-Fine…" The mechanics laughed, and Dave stook out his hand. "Don't worry, we'll remember that," he said, "I'm David Russels by the way." The others also began introducing themselves. "Mark Jones," called out the gunner of the .50 caliber machine gun, his dark skin the color of a milky chocolate bar.
Stuart accepted David's handshake, and the last two introduced themselves. "I'm Emma-" "And last but not least is Kyla!" the brunette loader of the machine gun cheered, and then she was tackled by the other girl to quiet her down. "You do realize there could be people right outside, right?" she hushed. The girl underneath giggled, sticking her tongue out. "Sorry~," she replied quietly, "but that's why we have people up there, right?" Emma sat up on Kyla, looking up at one of the watch teams, brushing aside some of her night black hair that was blocking her view. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"
Up watching the northern sector, Albert hugged his legs to his chest as he kept his eyes glazed open, with Joey casually holding a pair of binoculars in his hand, up to his eyes. Albert was humming to himself softly, perking Joey's attention. "Opening of Strike Witches?" he asked without taking his eyes off the front. Albert stopped swaying his head from side to side, and blushed as he was caught off guard. "U-Uhm yeah," he replied quietly, "you've watched it?" Joey nodded, popping a sausage into his mouth. "Yeah, though I preferred the World Witches manga. Because you know, tanks." Albert hummed in agreement, looking down at the empty pen that used to house grazing cows.
"You know, I learned to shoot in a place like this," Albert mused, remembering his time hunting with his father. Every Sunday after church during 8th grade summer vacation, they would go off into the forest near the family farm where his grandparents lived, and spent all day tracking down deer and other big game. There was this one time when they almost got a wild boar, but it scampered away right between his father's legs. Albert laughed at the memory, but his happiness vanished a moment later. "I wish me and dad were still close like back then…" Joey looked at him curiously for a few seconds, but decided not to ask about it. "I see… So, uh, how did you get caught up in all this tanking stuff?"
Albert looked up at Joey, and said, "Oh, well I was always close to Fauna. Even though she always teased me due to my appearance, we both share a love in history. Military history was always her strong point, and I learned a lot about war from her." Remembering something, he took out a picture from his chest pocket, which showed a picture of Fauna taking a selfie of the three standing in front of a newly fixed Type 2 Ke-To. Albert was putting up a peace sign and Sarah was rolling her eyes with a smirk on her face. Fauna looked to be the happiest of all though, her free arm gesturing towards the tank as if it were her new boyfriend.
"She was so impressed with Sarah's find. A Japanese tank that was very limited in production, and in the middle of the US? It's such a weird meeting. But she got it fixed up right away, and then wanted to test it out." Joey looked at the photograph, nodding in acknowledgment. "So you went straight for tankathlon?" Albert shook his head. "No, we actually signed up for the school tanking team first." He then thought about it bitterly. "They laughed at us, saying our vehicle was too small to be used correctly. But Fauna didn't give up, and actually challenged them, getting us into a one-on-one fight with their recon tank."
The memory came rushing back to Albert, and he began retelling it. There he was, only recently having gotten accustomed to the Ke-To's armament and how to turn the turret. And now he was looking down the sights and up against a veteran crew using an M5 Stuart. They were across from each other on the old school running track, all the sports equipment having been cleared away for the tankery team to use. The team itself was sitting in the bleachers, cheering for their reconnaissance as the afternoon sun blared onto the two tanks.
The Stuart had viciously sloped frontal armor, and Albert was extremely unsure that they could even take this vehicle on. "It's even taller than us!" he remembered Sarah yelling to Fauna. The commander proceeds to burst into laughter. "Just move it, Sar!"
The tank then lurched forwards awkwardly, Sarah having only driven the tank the night before. The engine however had charged up smoothly, complimenting Fauna's handiwork. They then began running towards the enemy quickly. "Bring the gun to bear on our left!" Fauna shouted towards Albert. Frantically, he nodded and started turning the turret to the left. He knew the M5 Stuart was charging towards them as well, and stopped turning the turret when Fauna gripped his shoulder. "Hard right!"
The Ke-To leaned to the right violently, and Albert could hear a round fly next to the turret, a small explosion right behind them. "High explosive?! Those bloody-!" Fauna growled, and Albert watched as she peaked outside of the hatch, starting to yell curse words towards the Stuart.
"That day I learned five new ways to show I am pissed at someone," Albert commented before he continued, "and then she told me to shoot…"
The 37mm erupted for the first time in decades, Albert having not yet tried it yet. The occupants of the tank went silent, Albert shivering at the feeling of firing the cannon. "W-Woah, that felt good," he whispered. Looking up at Fauna, the girl seemed to have frozen into place, and obviously her panties were in full view, but were they… She wouldn't have pissed herself, so…
"Alberta you perv, go load the damn thing and shoot again!" Fauna shouted at him angrily, though her face was hot pink. Nodding profusely, he fumbled with another armor piercing round, ramming it into the gun and taking aim once more. He used the practice his father taught him. Take your aim… Breath in… Steady… Good, now fire.
Another round launched from the barrel sailing towards the target at high speeds. But that very day, Albert learned something about tanks that he didn't know before: gun mantlets are thick. The round ricocheted off, and the Stuart retaliated with another HE round. The shell blasted the Ke-To slightly, making the smaller tank lean on its side slightly, but they continued to run, and both vehicles began circling each other. Albert tried firing another round at them, but the round simply bounced off the sloped turret. "How do I take this thing out?!" he yelled frantically, getting another AP round. But Fauna cut him off, and pointed to the high-explosive shells they also had.
"Hit the tracks first and stop them!" Confused, Albert just followed her orders and put the round inside and aimed for the Stuart's running gears. As the shell flew towards the tank at a slower velocity, a flash came from the enemy's gun, and there was an ear piercing screech throughout the Ke-To. The M5 had finally fired an AP round, and knocked the vehicle out of the game. "Aw man…" Albert sulked into his seat, but peered out of his sights one last time, looking at the now broken track of the Stuart. Oh, looks like I managed to stop them anyways.
"They still didn't accept us, but finally they complimented our ability in dueling with their lightest tank," Albert finished sarcastically, "and the gunner apologized to Fauna for spamming HE rounds." Joey chuckled, and handed the binoculars to Albert to switch places. "I can imagine her fury already," he said, "so after that, you three joined tankathlon?" Albert nodded, putting the binoculars up to his eyes. "Yep, she didn't want to stop using the tank, and now here we are."
When it reached midnight, the two watch teams stood up and went back down, awakening the next four to take up the duty. The four of them went to sleep instantly, and the second shift began. The moon was straight up in the night sky now, and Stuart shivered as a calm breeze blew past from his southern post. He gripped onto his uniform, thanking the choice for long sleeved clothing. "It's really cold, isn't it?" he asked Kyla, who had been paired with him. The girl giggled, and playfully punched his shoulder. "No it isn't silly, you just aren't used to it yet!"
An hour later, there was a sudden a glow of bright light in the distance, and a few pops could be heard by the barn's occupants. "Looks like there's a battle happening a few clicks away," David muttered, his partner, Hanna, shifting uneasily. "There might be some trouble tonight if they get anywhere close to here. Shut the lights off." David agreed, and went back down to turn off all the lanterns inside the barn.
Both watch teams became extremely silent, with hope that they would be ignored, and the opposing forces currently in combat with each other wouldn't come towards their direction. But their prayers weren't answered, and the soft hum of several engines started rolling towards their direction. "Oh shit," David muttered under his breath, and Hanna had already started running towards her sleeping teammates. "Guys, wake up!" she said, trying to shake some of them awake. But none of them, especially the watch team, could get up. "Wha's goin' on?" Fauna asked drowsily. "Enemies, right outside!" Hanna hissed. Fauna almost looked like she was going to wake up, but then she rolled back to sleep. "Go take care of them then…"
Holding back her anger, Hanna got into the Ke-To's turret, whistling towards Marelda and David. "Stuart, keep us updated, and you two, get in, schnell!" The two nodded, and they ran down, getting into a position each. Stuart quickly got a radio set from the jeep, climbing up to the northern watch point with it on his back, breathing heavily and setting himself up.
David got into the gunner's position, with Marelda in the driver's seat. "Wait, I don't know how to use this vehicle!" Marelda exclaimed, the Japanese compartment foreign to her. Cursing internally, Hanna climbed out of the turret, and pulled Marelda out. "Get into the turret!" Panicking, Marelda just nodded, and scrambled to get into the turret as Hanna took over the driver's position.
Alright, let's see if this works. She started up the ignition carefully, and the engine hummed to life quietly. She wasn't exactly sure how to drive the vehicle, but she had once asked Fauna how to operate the vehicle's components. It seemed those lessons paid off, and she was ready to move the instant that their position was compromised. She was gripping on the controls rather tightly, tapping her foot tensely. "Calm down, driver," Marelda called down, smirking, "we'll be fine." Hanna, although a bit insulted by her condescending tone, felt some of her worry fly away thanks to the temporary commander's words. But she was still watching the outside of the slit cautiously.
"*crackle* Radio check, over." Marelda picked up the microphone, pressing the button on the side to activate the set. "Uhh, reading you loud and clear, over." There was a slight pause on the other end. "You mean 'I read you five-by-five, over', over." "Oh shut the fuck up, Stuart." "Hehe, also, I'm seeing some activity nearby, be on your guard."
On cue, there was a large roar of engines just outside the barn, making the wooden building shake slightly. There was no gunfire like before, but it seemed the engines were slowing down now. Did they knock the enemy out? Then the sound of the vehicles stopped, and Hanna slowly turned the vehicle to face the barn's door. She opened the hatch so she could listen to what might happen clearly. Luckily, it seemed that no one outside could hear the vehicle traversing, but neither did it seem that they would care.
"Get the tank back in shape, girls!" called out who must have been a British girl, and there was the sound of quick footsteps outside the barn. "They've stopped, seems like they need repairs done, over," Stuart whispered. David slowly inserted an armor piercing round into the gun, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to fire the weapon correctly. I can use the Ma Deuce, but this big thing? I don't know.
"They're still chasing after us though," growled another girl, who had some sort of Scandinavian accent, "let's get back into the fight and just finish them off before we do anything!" There was an audible sigh, and then a reply, "And only let your team battle? Our weapon's jammed too, for god's sake!" They continued to bicker back and forth. The four watchers calmed down, believing that they'd leave soon, but after several minutes, there was a slight problem from another team member.
"Uhh, ma'am! Our hammer broke, and we don't have any spares." There was a pause, most likely someone silently choking the other girl or something else less violent. "Gah, go look inside the barn, maybe there's one in there," the British girl mumbled. Oh fuck. Suddenly, Hanna got an idea. She jumped out of the open hatch, and jumped into the driver's seat of the AB 41, its engine also starting up quietly, and Hanna rolled the vehicle next to the Ke-To.
Then the barn door creaked open, and a silhouette of a girl came inside. "Jarvla, where am I going to find a hammer in here?" She then turned on a flashlight, and when it pointed at the two armored vehicles inside, she dropped it, running back outside. "Oy, what's wrong?" the Scandinavian asked. After a few pants, the girl who had come inside replied, "Enemy. Tanks. Barn." All the work suddenly stopped outside, and not a sound could be heard except for the humming of the two engines at work. One of them peeked their head inside. "Horunge!" she cried out in the Scandinavian accent. Hanna popped her head out. "You're leading a team to our position. Truce and we let you in, or we destroy your tanks."
Cursing in something Swedish, the girl nodded frantically. "Fine!" Hanna smiled, climbing out of the AB's driver hatch, and helping the Swedish girl open the barn door as three vehicles made their way in. When the last crew member of the unknown team got inside, the barn door was shut quickly, and everyone went silent. Stuart looked over from a ledge, and shouted, "More enemies in bound quickly!"
Another sound of tracks rolling on dirt pavement was heard outside, but they didn't stop, only slowing down as they reached the barn. It seemed they were of the same number as the team they were chasing, but they were most likely much more aggressive and looking to eliminate the ones that were being chased down. Everybody that was awake tensed up, quickly getting ready for things to get messy.
"Hey, see them anywhere?!" someone male shouted outside. "No," another replied, "let's keep moving, the fuel's close, I'd rather not waste any of our gas looking for these guys!" The vehicles accelerated once more, and teams inside the barn sighed in relief as the sounds disappeared into the distance.
"That was a close one," the British girl sighed, slumping back onto her vehicle. Having been awoken, Fauna turned on one of the lanterns, looking around bewildered. "Bollocks, what the fuck is going on?!" she exclaimed, looking at the vehicles that had ruined her sleep. "What the hell, a Mark VI, an L-62, and a Swedemobile?" She glared at Hanna. "Why did you let them in?!" Hanna, not one that wanted to say too many words at the moment, smacked Fauna in the head. "Ow! Oy!" "Have a nice sleep?" Hanna asked. Feeling the coldness in Hanna's voice, Fauna bowed like a Japanese schoolgirl would to her angry sensei.
"Sorry, sorry, but seriously, what the fuck?!" she asked again, looking at the three vehicles now sharing the barn with them. "Please, calm down," the other British girl said, standing up straight now, and offering her hand to shake, "we're at a truce as your friend says, and we were being chased down by another team when we came near your barn. I hope you can understand." Looking at the girl's calm composure and friendly gesture, Fauna puffed her cheeks, and gave the girl a firm shake. "So be it."
All the tension finally subsided, and the other team's mechanical crew began working on the Mark VI's broken machine gun and the punctured armor. Fauna had decided to go back to sleep, though still pissed off, leaving Hanna to take care of relations. "Uhm, well, I'm Hanna Barkmann, and that was our team commander, Fauna Pool," she said, smiling nervously. The British girl smiled, bowing her head subtly. "I'm-" "Beautiful, yes we know," David interjected, flashing a grin. There was an awkward silence, before the girl continued, "...As I was saying, my name is Vicky McAllister, overall leader and commander of the Light Tank Mark VIC being fixed at the moment."
"And I'm Astrid Wallin, commander of the Luftvärnskanonvagn L-62 Anti II over there," the Swedish girl added, tossing a ball up and down in her hand. "Uhm, that's mine…" Marelda muttered, her hand slightly tapping where the sphere had been in her skirt pocket. "Oh, is it? Sorry, didn't know." Astrid threw the golf ball back to Marelda. "By the way, that's not a Swedemobile, it's a Terrängbil m/42 KP, or KB-bil if that's too hard to say," Astrid grumbled, offended by how the vehicle was nicknamed.
"I'll be sure to tell Fauna," Hanna assured, "by the way, how're we going to play this out? Just split off when morning comes?" The three commanders began thinking, unsure of how they were going to work out how long the pact would last. "Well… Maybe we could do that, but I have a better idea," Vicky started, "how about we work together to get some fuel?" Astrid tilted her head sideways slightly. "Yes, I think we should do that, what do you think?" "Well…" Hanna turned around, and kicked Fauna in the side.
"Oh for fucks sake, whaaaat?!" Fauna growled, getting up and rubbing her eyes. "They're offering to help us in getting fuel," Hanna replied, helping her get up. Yawning, Fauna nodded in agreement, "alright, fine, let's do that." The three commanders smiled widely, excited that they were going to work together soon.
"Okay, now can I get some bloody sleep now? You wankers are annoying as fuck…"
The next morning, everyone was shaken away by Stuart, who had offered to finish the entire shift by himself. "Let's move people!" he shouted, his mouth gaping as he started falling drowsy. Everyone got into their positions, some of them trying to get some small talk from the new teams that had joined them, but within minutes everyone was ready. Stuart was helped into his seat by Marelda, who poked his nose, and put her pillow behind his head. "Get some more z's, you deserved it."
Thanking her quietly, the rear driver fell asleep, and the engine started up as soon as Marelda returned to her position. "Ready to roll!" she called out to Hanna.
Back in the Ke-To, Fauna was now fully rested and capable of giving out commands. Once everyone had given reports that their vehicles were set to continue moving, she looked down at her own crew. "All good?" The two nodded in reply, and Fauna looked back up, her eyes gazing over to the other British girl. Now that she was awake, Fauna could actually appreciate how good looking the girl was, but there wasn't any time for that. "What's your team's name again?!" she shouted over the noise of engines. "Bofors Motors!" Vicky replied, cupping her hands around her lips so her voice could still be heard. Fauna put her thumb up, and put the radio set to her mouth.
"Pool and Bofors, let's get ready to go!" David and his squad opened the barn doors, and the five vehicles rolled outside into the morning air, the sun just barely showing over the horizon. Soon after, the Willys MB followed them, and the teams set off towards the fuel collection point.
"Hey Fauna, do you think they'd turn their backs on us when we get the fuel later?" Albert asked as he checked the ammo they still had. The commander didn't answer, but simply stared at the Mark VIC rolling next to them, unable to process how things would go out in the future. "I'm not sure, but you know what they say."
"The enemy of my enemy if my friend."