CH. 1 - The Day the Earth Stood Still
March 22, Anno Domini 2038
"Good morning, viewers. We interrupt your regular programming with breaking news. An unprecedented and perplexing event has been occurring for about a week now, sending shockwaves throughout the global community. Anomalous wormholes have been materializing in close proximity to several US military facilities around the world, but also disappearing after a few minutes, these events are raising concerns and questions about the wormhole's origin, purpose, and potential ramifications. Our team has been working around the clock to bring you the latest developments on this mysterious phenomenon."
The camera switches to a reporter as she is standing outside the gate of Fort Knox, the activity within the base is very much present as cars and personnel are running about, checking if the incident damaged anything.
"Thank you, Anderson. I'm standing just outside the gate of Fort Knox, one of the bases affected recently by the anomaly, where the atmosphere is tense as officials scramble to understand and respond to the situation. The wormhole, a swirling rift in spacetime, as described by a soldier who was near the event, has left scientists and military personnel baffled. It appeared near the base's Vehicle Hangar. After the incident had passed, a heightened restriction was established by the Base Command to ensure the safety of both military personnel and civilians working there."
It switches again to a pre-recorded brief interview with one of the base commanders.
"Our top priority right now is to gather as much information as possible about this wormhole. We're working closely with experts in various fields to assess the potential threat and implications it may pose."
As the camera switches back, it slowly pans out, showing personnel from various government research facilities assembling their equipment in hopes of finding more data about the anomaly, some civilians are taking videos of what is happening currently, this is becoming a hot topic to the general public.
"Indeed, Anderson. Scientists from all across the globe are converging on these military bases where the anomalies have happened, with permission from the Pentagon and escorts provided by the National guard, to study this enigmatic wormhole. Theoretical physicists are debating whether this could be a natural occurrence or something deliberately engineered."
A clip is then played showing one of the researchers giving their opinion about the situation.
"The constant appearance and disappearance of these wormholes is unprecedented in our understanding of physics. It's possible that advanced technology or extraterrestrial forces might be at play here…"
As the broadcast continues, a hand reaches over by the shoulder of the man who was watching the news broadcast attentively and shakes it to get his attention.
"Chris! Chris! Get up man! Bossman is calling us over, the Briefing order arrived this morning so he called us for a meeting, Jack and the rest of Inquisitor Platoon are also there waiting" a Caucasian man with jet black hair and azure eyes looks over to the man of Cherokee descent.
"Oh sorry Eric, got a little too engrossed in what is being shown" he apologizes, turning off the TV and standing up to fix his Army fatigues.
"Well, if you want Bossman to chew you out and make you do latrine cleaning again for being late, be my guest, I'll see you there man." Eric cackles at him and quickly runs outside.
"Shit!" Chris cursed and promptly secured his shoelaces and went after Eric for the brief.
Chris ran for a few seconds before reaching a large hangar with a long table situated in the side of it, in there sat the rest of his platoon who glanced at him as he was walking inside.
"A lil' under 2 seconds and I would've sent you to latrine duty! You better thank me for sending Sticky after you. Sit down Lefty, we are about to check the objectives of the exercise." Their platoon leader motioned him to sit down after looking at his watch.
"So the Exercise for tomorrow will be an Endurance Variable Objective one, this will test out our Tanks' ability to be autonomous for long duration Tank hunting and overwatch operations" a dark-skinned Latino guy wearing a beanie is about to say something when Bossman cuts him off
"Yes, yes, Grave Robber I know that Tanks don't operate without infantry support, but General Dynamics sent this Exercise to test that, we will be wearing that special Augmented Reality Goggles to synch with the XM1E4's on-board sensor and camera suite, which should theoretically improve our situational awareness, especially for our drivers, speaking of which…" Bossman calls out the Tanks' Drivers.
"Grindr, Sticky, Coma, Sonic, have you guys used those driving simulators R&D has given us 2 months ago?, would really save us some time in using the system since you guys needed that the most after us Commanders." Said drivers all nodded.
"That we did chief, let me tell ya boss, it's a whole new world using it, it's like you are the tank itself and it even has a nifty night vision and thermals as well, good tech and the experience was not uncomfortable nor gives headaches." Sticky gave his insights along with nods of agreement from his fellow drivers.
"Nice, okay, going back to the brief, the Exercise will be an endurance one and will take 2-3 days to complete, so pack a lot of essentials and extra fuel, however there will be supplies provided but that will be the bare essentials only, remember to write observations on any issues that may happen on the Tank so General Dynamics can look resolve it immediately, we are a Test Platoon and it is our job to give any bit of feedback before they proceed to mass production, is it clear?"
"Yup, Yup!"
"Good, I'll be sending the detailed dossier on your tablets, make sure to review it before the op starts tomorrow, for now, prepare the tanks to full combat load, dismissed" the whole of Inquisitor stands up with their Platoon leader and goes to their respective squads to prepare their tanks for the upcoming exercise.
"Yow Chris! You still headed to the groceries later?" The Dark-skinned Latino called out to Chris as he was walking to their section of the garage
"Hmm? Oh yup, still going there Jack, why? you gonna tag along?" Chris asks as he was checking his rucksack, double checking what he needed to buy.
"Yessir, I needed to buy some more canned food so we are not stuck with MREs, you know what that does to your bowels when you eat it on the daily right? Also gonna get me a box of cigs for us" as Jack was noting what he needs to purchase, Eric chimes in.
"That's for all of us right? Hope you ain't hogging all those to yourself, buy some vape juices as well, Oh and some sweets too!"
"Yeah it's for all of us, but you boys better give me some cash cause I don't think I have enough in my wallet" Jack complains, calculating the costs of the goods in his mind "Better yet, why don't you come as well, we can prepare our shit once we get back to base later, plus its a Saturday, guaranteed the mall will be crowded tonight, so we might take a while to buy everything we need."
"Sure no problem, gonna buy some stuff myself anyway since this exercise will last nearly a half a week. Speaking of the op, what time did Bossman say on what time the dossiers will arrive?"
"He says about an hour as General Dynamics is gonna give us different targets and scenarios for each squad. Which reminds me, we gotta get some diesel cans at the motor pool so we won't run out of fuel during crucial moments even with the designated supply points, we must not be reliant on them, seeing how warfare is now all about recon and decisive strikes from small drones."
The rest of the crew continue to converse as Jack enters Thunderclap's commander's hatch to boot up the Tank's main systems but not turning the engine on, Chris unloads all the empty diesel cans and the rest of the crew's rucksacks from the bustle basket and lines them up by the right track.
It's been half a year since these guys were chosen by General Dynamics Land Systems to be the Test Platoon for the Army's new baseline Main Battle Tank, the XM1E4 Abrams, a derivative of the previous decade's AbramsX Technology Demonstrator, the tank's unmanned turret was a big improvement but the Army still wanted the crew to have full access of the turret controls should the tank lose remote control of it so they remade the turret to have an emergency compartment for the commander and gunner which still has the same seating layout as the previous generation of the Abrams, while the main command capsule was only changed slightly and made the seats and screen panels adjustable and foldable, the capsule can accessed by all the crew via the extra hatches on the side of the driver's main middle one. Both Main and Emergency stations are capable of fully controlling the tank should any of the crew get taken out of action.
The Turret has a new compact FCS module installed by transferring all the necessary systems into a single unit that had interchangeable modes instead. The tank still uses the MEGGITT Bustle Autoloader System, the turret bustle is also remade to be able to carry 44 rounds of ammunition, the autoloader was further improved upon to be able to fire a round every 4 seconds, as fast as the Type 10's reload time in its Bustle Autoloader. Due to the installation of the autoloader the loader station was no longer required but they replaced that station for the recently introduced Drone Operations Command and Control Suite, the same system that is present in the KF-51 Panther that the Ukrainians use. This was made to combat the new type of Warfare that was created due to the extensive use of Reconnaissance and Combat Drones that are cheap, but still dangerous.
The Main gun, the M360A1, is an improved version of the XM360 by fully Utilizing Electrothermal-Chemical technology in its firing mechanism, giving it enhanced chamber pressure by improving the predictability and rate of expansion of propellants inside the barrel making it able to fire higher penetrating Armor Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot or APFSDS, as well as the ability to use programmable Multi-Purpose High Explosive Anti-Tank rounds or HEAT-MP, which is paired with its Pepperpot Muzzle Brake for extra Stability when fired.
The XM1E4, like its Technology Demonstrator version, features a Distributed Aperture System much like the F-35's, in total, two sensors are mounted on the front of the hull, two on the side and one on the rear. These sensors strongly improve situational awareness and are compatible with the newer version of the Iron-Vision system and enables an augmented reality view on the outside of the tank, reducing the otherwise numerous blindspots tanks normally possess.
Unlike the mass produced Abrams models which are powered by gas turbine engines, the XM1E4 is swapped to the good old reliable Cummins ACE that is paired with a hybrid electric engine. Now not only does it save the planet in a different way, this also makes the XM1E4 sound much meaner and makes it go faster as if it was a Dodge Hellcat on a drag strip, clocking at 80km/h.
Due to the extensive changes made to the system, GDLS decided that it would employ Tank Crews from the 1st Armored Division to form up the Test Platoon, this is because they wanted to see how the tank will perform in a grouped setting compared to just using a single unit with its own personnel, seeing that the army always deploys their tanks in platoons for ease of command. It has been nearly 65 years since the first Abrams was tested this extensively, the later units were usually upgrades that only affect performance and not the subsystems which require a whole different training regime
After being selected from the pool to be part of the Test Platoon, all of them were transferred to the Yuma Proving Ground, the place where all Abrams' Prototypes and Production Models were tested, GDLS sees this as a significant milestone which is why they picked this site for the XM1E4's testing and evaluation.
Some hours have passed and the crew has done their maintenance checks on Thunderclap, attached the spare diesel cans and spare parts back to its bustle basket and topped her fuel tanks off, to prepare for its longest exercise yet, before that they only do the usual gunnery table drills that are done by existing Abrams Crew with some performance testing done to check its limitations.
"Well, that's the last box checked from the maintenance list we made." Eric marks the whiteboard filled with writing as he puffs his cigarette. "Time for us to get some chow and go shopping!"
Jack chuckles "I'm getting the Truck ready, you guys gonna change out of your clothes?" he asks, glancing at their sweat and grease laden overalls, Chris gives him an 'Are you serious' look.
"I think that's a given now Jack, unless you want the ladies that are shopping to comment on how 'gruff and rugged' you look."
He waves him off "hey being gruff and rugged ain't bad! Just need to grow my beard a bit to sell the look"
"Yeah, yeah, and look like a hobo in fatigues instead!" Eric remarks as they are walking back to their barracks to get changed.
The trip to the mall was a short one, as Eric puts the metal in pedal to the metal on his Ram Power Wagon, much to the chagrin of Jack and Chris, who were gripping onto the seat handles for dear life. Once they got in the Yuma Palms Regional Center's open parking lot, both of them immediately disembarked the vehicle and were holding their mouths and stomachs trying to hold the vomit in.
"Remind me to sneak in some jalapeños in Eric's food later… Goddamn, you almost got the cops involved! The Bossman ain't gonna like that once he gets a call from the police station because they arrested us for reckless driving!"
"Oh, quit your bellyaching Jack!" Eric laughs it off as they are slowly making their way to the mall entrance. "You told me you are used to my driving now, so why the sudden reactions?"
"Because you could've hit somebody bro, you are going around 100 mph, I don't want to go to jail because we were joyriding!"
"Ah potato-potato, just so you know I'm one of the best drivers in the whole platoon, lets have some fun once in a while, especially since we're going back to training by Monday."
"Best 'Tank' driver, fucko, there's a difference! Anyway, let's just get on with our shopping, need to get more snacks, because I can feel the whole exercise will be full of downtime and that can get boring as fuck."
"I think I'm gonna be sick… Ugh!" Chris didn't manage to hold it in and vomited on the asphalt floor.
"I gotchu, homie…" Jack gives Chris some wipes that he took from his belt bag while Eric is laughing uncontrollably.
"NASA, Space-X and numerous international space agencies are collaborating to launch scientific missions aimed at studying the wormhole's properties and its potential impact on Earth. Experts are working around the clock to gather more information, but many questions remain unanswered."
The gang are now sitting in a local pub to eat, after buying what they needed, Eric suggested that instead of going back to base after, they should just get dinner in a nearby pub, all of them agreed to the suggestion. As they are waiting for their meal to be delivered, Jack notices Chris staring at the TV, completely engrossed in what it's showing.
"Still have your mind on all those rifts, eh Chris?" Jack asks as he glances at the broadcast as well.
"Kinda hard not to, this has to be the greatest scientific anomaly ever recorded in history. Not even the Feds managed to keep a lid on it."
"Figures you would be interested in this, you're the science nerd in the whole platoon, even Bossman goes to you when he wants to ask about something related to science. Oh Thank you, guys, food's here let's eat" Eric pitches in as he takes a Pepperoni-Cheese Pizza from the platter.
"How could I not be? Everything that happens to our world can be explained by science, and it's only a matter of time till we get to learn about the rift's inner workings." Chris answers as he also takes a slice of Pizza and grabs some chicken wings.
"I've heard what all those weebs are saying that it could be just like GATE on the other side, full of underdeveloped civilizations, gorgeous elves and demi-human ladies just waiting for us "civilized men" to command and conquer right?" Jack jokes.
"Hey, don't do my weeb brethren dirty like that, remember that your driver here is a massive Initial D and MF Ghost fan" Eric quips jokingly while Chris chortles as he takes a drink at his beer mug.
"Figures you'd be an Initial D fan, you drive just as crazy as the folks over there"
As the two were starting to bicker, Chris muses and eats his food quietly.
"But what if it isn't so easy? What if it's not even some magical mishap or some cosmic natural event, but instead someone opened it on purpose?" He pondered, looking a bit more serious.
"So you're saying that it could be some super advanced alien civilization preparing to launch an expedition on our world?" Eric implores, his joking demeanor dropped, seeing Chris asking a legitimate question.
"Or worse, what if… they are something like a "super predator" race that wants to wipe out all of our sorry asses just because they see us as a potential rival? And considering how rifts are opening this easily next to military installations no less… this could be like a War of the Worlds scenario for us" Chris looks at the television as it shows some scientists explaining that if the rift was identified and studied it would mean Humanity entering the stage of deep space exploration.
"Well if that happens, we can still kick their asses, remember that War of the Worlds ended with Humanity winning HARD, because the aliens didn't think that our environment could kill them. And if it does happen, you know that we won't go down without a fight. We are one of the best armies in the world for a reason, have some confidence in us hahaha" Jack gives his piece while trying to lighten the mood, this seemed to work as Chris chuckled and drank from his beer mug again to down the pizza slice.
"Damn straight, Jack, if we have no choice but to fight, then might as well make them hurt as much as we can. Thanks for that man, almost lost myself there."
"Bro you always lose yourself when it comes to things like this, do you plan to finish college after your service ends? You can be a Physics major with your fascination with it man." Eric asks while eating a chicken wing.
"I might, but not right now" Chris replies with a bit of a somber tone. The two notice this and just decide to share stories to keep their spirits up as they continue to eat dinner.
"That was a great meal man! I'm stuffed as fuuuuuuuck" Eric belches as the group is slowly walking to the parking lot, they already loaded their groceries earlier before eating.
"You better not drive like a maniac after eating, or else we will be bathing in our own dinner" Jack warns as he smokes from his vape pen.
"This time I won't because I know for sure the dinner bath will happen if I did" Eric pats Jack on the back as he smokes his vape pen as well.
"Hey Jack, I just remembered, I heard you're planning to leave the Army after completing the trial for XM1E4? Chris inquired Jack as he was carrying a bag of their leftover pizza and chicken wings they saved for tomorrow's exercise.
"Yep, planning to finally settle down and start a new life after all of this, maybe start working in appraisal. I think it's finally safe to say that I've redeemed myself after all these years of service both here and in Ukraine. Honestly, I wish I could just let go of my past, sure I managed to earn enough to crawl my way out of that hellhole, but watching all the people around me, including my family, turn into crack zombies makes me sad" Jacks states solemnly as he looks into the star-filled sky.
"Hey, man, it's in the past, no need to get yourself hungover on that, you." Eric comments as he takes out the Ram's car keys to open the doors.
"Thanks man, that means a lot." Jack smiles at his friend and fellow crewmember. "What about you Eric? Got any plans after this Program is over with?"
"For me, I have no plans on quitting for now, someone needs to look out for you Chris, but I was thinking of heading back to Oklahoma for my next leave. Haven't seen my grandparents since Ma and Pa moved to New York." Eric responded.
"So you're finally leaving that concrete jungle and finally touch some fresh grass?" Chris jokes as he too, took a puff on his vape pen.
Eric elbows Chris as they are getting in the Truck. "Fuck you, man. But yeah. While we need to adapt to improve, nothing says we have to sever the past entirely like… what was it, like wheat from chaff? My Pa made his choice to move out. I just want to reconnect with my other family, and finally learn some of their customs now that I'm an adult. I hope they don't take it badly with Pa and Ma leaving the clan and moving to the city." Eric replies with aspiration visible in his eyes.
As they are driving back to the Yuma Proving Ground, Jack asks Chris, who is sitting on the back.
"How 'bout you man? Do you have any plans after all this? That's a long ass leave the Army is giving to us."
"Don't have anything planned, might go back to the Farm to help Dad renovate his Gun Range, looks like it's been going well, they have visitors almost every day ever since he opened it. Well, anything I can do to forget the bullshit Jessica pulled." Chris muttered with bitterness.
Jack consoles Chris by handing him a cigarette which Chris takes gladly. "But hey! Could have been way worse, if you ended up buying a house and settling down with that cheater it would be a whole new can of worms for you man."
Chris laughs. "Chyeah right."
"You deserve way better than that cheating piece of trash, Chris. But still, just try to think of it as a tough learning experience for now, we've all been there. Just be patient and eventually you'll find someone great, heck it might be someone from the other side of the rift!" Eric Exclaims as they are, once again driving at a hundred miles on the long empty road.
Chris groans with disgust. "Dude, I'm not sure what to think about dating an alien, I don't even know their customs, their likes and dislikes, for all I know sex could get them freaking killed!"
"Hey, you never know till you try!"
It is midnight.
Nocturnal animals are scurrying about, hunting for food, daytime wildlife is non-existent, either some are hiding from their natural predators, or are already being feasted on by the various creatures that are home to the night.
As they are continuing to feast on the body of an antelope, the wolves are driven away by the sound of imposing, heavy footsteps, as they are running away from their well earned meal. The foliage has been destroyed by Large, Chrome-laden machines surrounding what seems to be a giant structure, said structure is a large Truncated Pyramid spanning 50 square meters wide at its base, standing on the 4 corner of the foundation are 4 silver-blue monoliths standing at 30 meters tall, connected to the structure are 3 large silver insectoid structures that seem to be the structure's power supplies. Bright blue lights pulsated ominously, most onlookers would quickly realize that whatever this machine is being prepped for, it's something significant enough to allocate as many as 3 massive reactors to power it, reactors that would have powered entire war factories on their own.
"Projekt Zeitgeist wird initiiert, Start von Testläufe Nr. 14"
[Initiating Project Zeitgeist, Commencing Run No. 14.]
"Admiral-Einheit 1 ist online. Reaktorstatus optimal."
[Admiral Unit 1 is online. Reactor status optimal.]
"Admiral-Einheit 2 ist online. Reaktorstatus optimal"
[Admiral Unit 2 is online. Reactor status optimal.]
"Admiral-Einheit 3 ist online und im Bereitschaftsmodus, zusätzliche Edelfalter-Einheiten sind in Bereitschaft."
[Admiral Unit 3 is online and on standby, additional Edelfalter units are on standby.]
"Beginne mit dem Kalibrierungsprozess."
[Proceeding with the calibration process.]
A multitude of giant mechanical centipedes are milling about, loader arms extending from their segmented bodies, connecting and moving cables that direct the power from the fusion reactors to the pyramid.
"Stromausstoß stabil."
[Power output stable.]
"Kalibrierung abgeschlossen, Parallelwelt lokalisiert, Berechnungen liegen innerhalb akzeptabler Parameter."
[Calibration complete, parallel world located, calculations are within acceptable parameters.]
The machines slowly move away from the reactors and are preparing to activate the large structure.
"Koordinaten sind wie folgt einzustellen: 32,8595° N, 114,4396° W. Fortfahren mit der quantenharmonischen Resonanz."
[Coordinates are to be set to following: 32.8595° N, 114.4396° W. Proceed with quantum harmonic resonance.]
As the voice gives its order, the pulsating lights in the reactor are slowly picking up speed.
"Befehle bestätigt, Stabilisierung der Leistung bei 75%."
[Orders confirmed, stabilizing power at 75%.]
"Wir müssen in diesem Lauf veritable Ergebnisse erzielen, bereits zu viel Zeit und Energie wurde verschwendet, Erhöhung der Ausgabe auf 85%."
[We need to produce some veritable results in this run, too much time and energy has been wasted already, increase output to 85%.]
The reactors' pulsating lights are getting quicker in speed, as this is happening a huge swarm of butterfly-looking machines perch on top of the reactors and are expelling electricity akin to a tesla coil.
"Warnung, das neue Leistungsniveau liegt über zulässigen Parametern, Anfrage zur Bestätigung neuer Parameter."
[Warning, new power level is above permissible parameters, requesting confirmation for new parameters.]
The other voice would have never dared to disobey orders, it was just its built-in safeguard coming into effect, requesting clarification of the order given as more and more butterfly machines surround the reactors.
"Genehmigung erteilt."
[Permission granted.]
"Die Fehlertoleranz wird auf ca. 10 km geschätzt. Fluktuationen in der räumlichen Geometrie werden während des Laufs erwartet und können zu zeitlicher Desorientierung führen. Alle Einheiten bleiben in Alarmbereitschaft."
[Error margin is estimated to be within 10km. Fluctuation in spatial geometry is expected during run, may result in temporal disorientation, all units remain on alert.]
"Abschließende transdimensionale Synchronisation, Testläufe Nr. 14 beginnt in T-minus 10 Sekunden."
[Finalizing trans-dimensional synchronization, Run No. 14 Commencing in T-minus 10 seconds.]
[9]
[8]
[7]
[6]
As the countdown continues, the reactors suddenly flare up and are now spewing runaway electric volts all over the place, hitting everything in its path. Yet the countdown continues. Then the Monoliths of the structure are slowly blinking as its trying to tear open reality itself, the generating hole is slowly growing bigger, within it shows a different time period but was moving in fast forward, its shows massive propeller driven bombers reducing a city into a blazing inferno, a nuclear explosion, a rapid advance of Main Battle Tanks, a massive formation of jets cruising over a burning oil field, a long convoy of tanks being ambushed with anti-tank rockets and missiles, and a cruiser's smoldering hulk being consumed by the black sea after being tricked by drones, all of these is being shown in a rapid pace.
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
"WARNUNG: Fluktuationen im Stromnetz erkannt, Systemkompromittierung."
[WARNING: Fluctuations detected in power grid, system compromise.]
"Abbruch des Laufs, sofort."
[Abort run, immediately.]
"Ausführung nicht möglich, Reaktion läuft bereits. Alle Einheiten, sofort in Deckung gehen, ich wiederhole, in Deckung-"
[Unable to execute, reaction is underway. All units, seeker cover immediately, I repeat, seek co-.]
[1]
A bright light flashes into the night sky, visible from kilometers away.
As the light diminishes, the damage is now visible, only the reactors are destroyed, with all the surrounding machine units melted or obliterated from the explosion, the Structure however, remains standing tall and undamaged.
"No Face zu Mistress, bitte um sofortiges Statusupdate, over."
[No Face to Mistress, requesting immediate status update, over.]
A robotic male voice speaks as the massive frame that housed the speaker's CPU emerged from the aftermath, somewhat disoriented but still very much functional.
"Mein Zustand ist in Ordnung, aber Projekt Zeitgeist hat im Prozess Schaden erlitten, das System meldet eine Ausfallrate Fehlerrate von 45%. Bitte um zusätzliche Ressourcen für dringende Reparaturen."
[My status is fine, but Project Zeitgeist has suffered damage in the process, system reporting failure rate of 45%. Requesting additional resources to perform urgent repairs.]
A feminine voice replied, with disappointment laced with her words.
"Projekt Zeitgeist hat die Produktionsrate an der Westfront bereits um 5% gesenkt, hat jedoch unzureichende Ergebnisse erzielt. Bitte um Rechtfertigung für die Fortsetzung des Projekts."
[Project Zeitgeist has already reduced production rate on the Western Front by 5%, yet has yielded inadequate results. Requesting justification for project continuation.]
The male voice inquires, as if trying to see reason on the continued progress on the project done by the Female voice.
"Rechtfertigung? Der Krieg zur Vernichtung der Feinde dem Reich dauert länger an als wünschenswert, Zugriff auf parallele Welten könnte potenziell verlorene Technologien aufdecken, die die Kampfeffizienz der einzelnen Einheiten um ein Vielfaches steigern könnten. Setzen Sie die Priorität für die Ressourcenanfrage auf hoch, passen Sie den Zeitplan für Plan Schwertwal, Plan Halcyon und Plan Odin bei Bedarf an."
[Justification? The war to exterminate the enemies of the Empire has lasted for longer than desired, accessing parallel worlds can potentially uncover lost technology that can potentially increase individual unit combat efficiency by several folds. Set repair request priority to high, adjust schedule for Plan Schwertwal, Plan Halcyon and Plan Odin as necessary.]
The female voice replies, almost in an exasperated manner, unusual for a machine that isn't designed to feel emotions.
"Verstanden, mein Herrin. Anfrage mit hoher Priorität eingereicht, empfehle Vorsicht bei Durchführung nachfolgender Testläufe empfohlen ist geboten. Ende und Aus."
[As you wish Mistress, high priority request submitted, advise caution on executing subsequent runs. No-Face out.]
The male voice disconnects from the transmission.
Somewhere beyond the test site, sits the capital of a nation. Despite being midnight, several vehicles cruised down the main street. The peaceful air it gives makes it impossible to imagine that the country it belongs to is at a state of war for the past nine years.
To the uninitiated, the main street of the capital would have reminded them of an iconic avenue with mellow songs written about it. Stretching ahead majestically, its sides adorned with trees forming a lush green canopy overhead, quietly rustling with the breeze while antique yet slightly rusted black street lamps shine their incandescent light into the darkness. A prominent monument stood at the far end of the road, having withstood the testament of time and oversaw numerous rises and falls of the great nation.
But upon closer examination, something felt off, the avenue is way too wide, dwarfing the vehicles, trams and pedestrians traveling through them to the point of almost insignificance. The ancient Western styles stone-constructs adorned with various carvings projected not a warm, inviting brown color, but a stark and foreboding white, as stark as the population that inhabited them. As one's eyes eventually adapted to its grandiose display, the scene in front gradually started to project a sense of bleakness and trepidation.
Situated in front of the snow white palace was a statue of regal woman brandishing a sword, as if leading the charge in a battle, and in her hands situated a five colored flag, perhaps the most colorful object in the scene despite its somewhat worn and faded nature, symbolizing freedom, equality, fraternity, justice, and purity. The stone tiles on this main street extended straight out to the suburbs, paved after much careful city planning.
In the silence of the night, a translucent wormhole has appeared floating above the road, nearly invisible to the naked eye unless you spot the anomalous liquid-like material that warps the objects seen through it. What this wormhole leads to is unknown, but what it entails is much bigger than it seems.
March 23, Anno Domini 2038
"GUNNER, HEAT, PC, TRAVERSE LEFT 240"
"IDENTIFIED, 1300"
"FIRE"
"ON THE WAY!"
"TARGET, CEASEFIRE"
The thunderous report of a gun is heard from the dense forest, as the creaking of Thunderclap's tracks rumbles the ground, the Endurance Exercise has begun a few hours ago, each platoon member was given a different set objectives, ranging from Recon work, Interdiction and Sabotage, some of these objectives are things Tanks are not supposed to do, but with new threats of all kinds emerging against armored assets, the Pentagon is looking to develop more countermeasures to ensure that America's armored fist doesn't lose its punch, and autonomous operation outside of supporting infantry is one of the primary goals of these objectives, as seen from the recent war in Ukraine, Tanks will have moments where they have to perform missions themselves, instead of the supporting infantry.
Radio communications will only be limited to contacting supply stations which also acted as designated checkpoints for their progress, the exercise is stated to be done on 3 days at best and 4 days at worst, and without contact to the main headquarters mean that the crew will do all the maintenance on their tanks, so that will be three days of continuous activity, luckily due to the men buying necessities in advance, they could be able to power through the whole exercise.
"Sticky, take us to that berm over there.'' Jack looks at his screen as he scans the environment with the CITV*.
Their current objective is to intercept a convoy of officers that are about to reach their AO, finishing them off will hinder the whole enemy operation, the listed hostiles were not accurate as the brief stated that they would only be facing light vehicles and emplaced anti-tank weapon crews, but from what they have seen, they have already eliminated 4 tanks and 5 light vehicles, the hostile tanks were made short work as they have their sides exposed so Thundeclap only expended 4 armor-piercing rounds for each OPFOR Tank, then switched the 30mm for the light vehicles, with one of them eating a HEAT round as it was trying to flank them.
As they reached the berm of a hill they spotted two M1(D)* Abrams tanks perched at their own berm at the hill in front of them.
"Those guys have not yet seen us, good, Sticky, activate silent mode*Lefty, index the gun for sabot." Eric then pushes a button in his steering module to activate the electric motor instead of the engine to move the tank, Jack and Chris meanwhile, switched to their Thermals, the Green hue of the thermals showing three additional targets that are driving away in the road by the left of the hill where the enemy tanks are, they seem to be regular M113s. Chris then activates the Autoloader to load in an APFSDS* round to the breech, once the cycle is done a small light appears in his gunner module and a voice from the tank itself speaks.
"Sabot Up!"
"Gunner, Sabot, Tank, Traverse Right!"
"On!"
"Identified Tank 2500!"
"Fire!"
"On the way!"
"Target, next Target! Gunner, Sabot Tank, Traverse left!"
"Steady, On!"
"Up!"
"Identified!"
"Fire!"
"On the Way!"
"Target, Ceasefire!"
Once they have eliminated the two tanks opposite of them, Jack scans the thermals again to look for the two M113s, but he can't seem to find them.
"They must've just kept driving down the road, we need to intercept them. Sticky, follow the road, let's catch that convoy." he instructed, still looking at the screens that are showing the blind spots of the tank as well as the main monitor that controls both the CITV and the CROWS*.
As Thunderclap is rolling by the road, Eric has this feeling of dread, he does not know what but his gut tells him they are about to experience something bad, he professes his concerns to Jack.
"Hey Grave Robber, I don't think we should be chasing after them using this road, there could be an ambush and I have this really weird feeling that something bad is about to happen."
Jack pondered for a bit, but decided that this is their best course of action.
"This is the only area we can use to access the other side of the hills man, if we go back to where we came from and go around from there, it would take us hours before we can reach them. By that point the Convoy would have already been extracted and we will lose the objective. Chris and I will be on extra alert for ambushes, okay?" He reasoned, Eric seemed to be satisfied with the answer but still can't shake the feeling, he instead monitors the displays and sensors more frequently as he drives along the dusty, long road.
"Lefty, scan that ridg-'' Jack didn't get to finish what he was saying as the whole tank suddenly shuts down, and their periscopes enveloped in darkness even though it's the middle of the day. "Sticky, what the fuck happened?"
"I-I don't know, I was just driving when the whole tank suddenly shut down!" Eric explains as he frantically tries to start up the tank again.
"Sticky if you fucked around with the tank before we sortied, I'm gonna fuckin' wring your neck. And why the heck is it so dark out? It's not even nighttime!" As Jack and Chris were peering through the auxiliary sights, light suddenly flashed, the two men covered their eyes as they tried to adjust from the abrupt brightness.
"Ok! I got the engine running!" Eric exclaimed as he is now rebooting Thunderclap's systems.
"Put us in reverse, we must've fallen into a ditch, but how? We didn't even see one." Jack ordered as he's recalibrating the CITV's rotating mount.
A sudden metal crunching sound emanated from the rear of the hull.
"What the hell was that!?" Jack, alarmed, turned his CITV to the rear, what surprised him is that they are no longer in the training area, instead what he sees is a broad and lengthy avenue akin to that famous street in Paris. There is even that ancient palace at the far end.
"Did we just fucking travel back in time or am I fucking tripping?" He muttered to himself.
At first he thought this was France in the 1960s or something, everything around him seemed ancient, the cars looked like they outright belonged in museums. Right behind Thunderclap stood what looks like a somewhat battered Peugeot D3 that Eric has accidentally reversed into. But another closer look soon told him just how wrong he was. Champs-Élysées wasn't this ridiculously wide, and nothing was supposed to look this fucking WHITE, the oversized palace, the buildings, the cars, even the PEOPLE are white from head to toe. Since when France was this ethnically monotonous?!
The silver-colored crowd exhibited a mix of confusion, shock, and anger, some were shouting at him and honking their horns, some drew out their phones to record what they were seeing, the man with the crumpled van seemed more disheartened than angry at what happened. A long haired girl still in her teens clad in what looked like a military uniform designed by Roy Mustang was shouting into what looked like a comm device in panic.
"Grave Robber, I'm seeing a lot of people converging around us, is this part of the Exercise? From what I've read, all infantry dismounts are represented as cardboard cutouts. We need to do something as the FCS AI is going haywire at the amount of unknowns it's seeing." Chris said calmly, but on the inside he is already on the verge of panicking.
"These people are getting too close for my taste, Grave! Give me the order to sound the horn." Eric flips the switch for the horn but hovers just above it, waiting for confirmation.
"No, we are not doing anything until we figure out what is going on." Jack then hastily reaches for the radio behind them to contact HQ, but all he hears is static he tries again, this time to Bossman's tank, he tried reaching for the others, every nearby military asset he tried contacting, but to no avail, the same static noise is still heard around the capsule as Jack finally confirms with fear evident in his voice.
"R-radio's dead guys, we are on our own."
The dreadful feeling that Eric had earlier went back like a freight train, Jack is sweating bullets as he's thinking on what to do, Chris is frantically swinging the turret left and right, scanning for any possible hostile as the crowd is getting closer and closer, with sirens being heard overhead. They only one thing on their mind at that very moment.
"Where the hell are we?"
Liberté et égalité
Republic of San Magnolia
March 23, Stellar Year 2148
And that concludes chapter 1. We hope you guys enjoyed that. This story idea has been wracking around our heads since last year, only now we finally get to work on it with my friend.
Updates will be random as me and WENth100 are currently juggling writing this story and work, but rest assured that it will be updated unless we say otherwise.
I would like to thank my friend and Co-Author WENth100 for proofreading and giving additional input and ideas that we can include in this story.
Don't forget to leave any comments you have on each sites' respective comment section.
That's it for our author's note, peace.
Terminology:
CITV: Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer, a piece of technology cooked up by Raytheon, the CITV is standard issue for M1A2 models and onwards, as well as several other MBT models. It allows the tank commander to scan for additional targets 360 degrees even in adverse weather while the gunner focuses on engaging existing targets.
M1(D): A fictional, UGV converted Abrams for training and wargames purposes, since it's not designed for actual combat it's not actually fitted with composite armor.
Silent Mode: Shuts off the Abrams' diesel engine and have the tank run on electric power only, reducing the amount of heat the tank produces and makes it less visible on enemy thermal sights.
APFSDS: Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot, sometimes called a long dart penetrator. A type of kinetic energy penetrator ammunition specifically designed to take on tank armor, and are fired out of smoothbore cannons as rifling increases friction and converts some of the linear kinetic energy to rotational kinetic energy, thus reducing the round's armor piercing capabilities. Typically they are either made out of Tungsten heavy alloys (WHA) or Depleted Uranium (DU), the latter seems to be the preferred material in American as well as most of 86.
CROWS: Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, commonly seen on American AFVs and military vessels, different models fitted with different caliber weapons.