Titans of war

by Trigger_Finger

Chapter 7

Alex grimaced in anger as he looked to the impossibly large gap between them and the other side where a small town sat. The town looked rather, western, and was a couple of miles north of them but just in front of them stood a large gap in the canyon which they couldn’t pass.

“We have to find another way around…” Alex stated to the group before slipping down into the commander’s seat and sealing the hatch. He waited for a moment before speaking. “Well?... What the fuck are we waiting for?!” Alex hissed.

Jackson almost jumped from the comment before quickly starting the tank and racing away. Vlad and Dmitry lay atop a cliff with the buffalo group. Luna had opted to stay with Flim and Flam to make sure they didn’t try anything like stealing the tank.

The buffalo all started cheering, raising Vlad’s eyebrow in curiosity. “Why are they happy?... Happy?” Vlad asked, trying to make the leading buffalo understand.

“TONK!” The buffalo said, trying to say tank but it came out a little slurred. Vlad shrugged, signalling that he didn’t understand. “Tonk, tonk…” The buffalo said again as he picked up a big stone. He then quickly used his right hoof to draw a map into the sand which sort of looked like the canyon pass.

Vlad watched as he drew a bunch of swoops into the sand. From the buffalo’s depiction of the valley, it looked like a bunch of S bends in the entire formation. “Tonk…” The buffalo said as he showed the stone then placed it in the sand and made crude tank noises as he moved it through the sand, following the trail.

Vlad nodded as he scratched his head. “Us…” The buffalo said as he pointed to both himself and Vlad then picked up a tiny stone. He moved it in a straight vertical pattern right through the entire map. Vlad scratched his head in confusion.

The buffalo sighed then pointed to the big stone. “Tonk…” Then made tank noises as he drove the stone through the map trails. “Us…” He said as he held the smaller stone then moved it straight through the map.

“A shortcut… you know a shortcut!” Vlad exclaimed and the buffalo brightened from the sound of Vlad’s voice.

“Dah, shotcut… shotcut…” The buffalo stated in crude English.

“Yeah a shortcut… Us, can get there faster.” Vlad said excitedly.

“Kamid… Kamid.” The buffalo said as he pointed to himself.

“Kamid?” Vlad asked then the buffalo grabbed Vlad’s hand and placed it on his own chest.

“Kamid.” The buffalo said. Vlad quickly clued in.

“You’re Kamid…” He said as he pointed to the buffalo, who nodded. He pointed to himself. “Vlad… Vlad.” He said.

The buffalo nodded happily as he smiled. “Vlad… Vlad, Kamid.” The buffalo said as he extended his hoof. Vlad shook it. The two quickly stood up with the others and raced off towards Kamid’s shortcut.

The M1 treaded through the canyon pass at a rather fast pace, kicking up dirt behind it as it paced along. Alex had a blunt expression on his face while the others all sat quiet, afraid that Alex might snap at any moment.

It was getting towards late evening and the sun was in the far western skies. The tank bumped along as it reached a fork in the road but suddenly Alex spotted a young buffalo who raced out foolishly with a spear to check the way for the others.

Alex swiveled the M2 machinegun towards it and fired a ruthless barrage of .50 caliber rounds into the buffalo, shredding the body into pieces. “JESUS!” James yelled as Jackson slowed the tank to a stop.

“Keep moving! Gunner, eyes up!” Alex roared and the tank began moving forwards again. Vlad, Dmitry, Kamid and the group of buffalo pressed up against the wall of the canyon, staying out of the line of fire.

As the tank reached the intersection, Alex swiveled the machinegun towards the group and fired relentlessly but suddenly the gun stopped. He racked back the charging handle but nothing loaded into the chamber. “Fuck…” He swore as he violently reefed open the ammo box to see that it was empty.

“FIRE!” Alex roared and James fired a wild shot that missed but did not erupt. They were still firing AP rounds. “Not armour piercing you dumb fucks! Frag rounds!” He roared.

Trixie loaded the last of the frag shells and James fired again but the rock walls protected the group from the explosive shrapnel. “Sir, we’re all out of Frag rounds!” Trixie announced.

“Anything that blows up!” Alex roared back. James directed Trixie to the High Explosive rounds which she quickly loaded.

Kamid went to rush out but Vlad grabbed both him and Dmitry and pointed to the top of the cliffs. “Up! Up! Kamid, Vlad… up!” Vlad stated. Kamid looked up.

“Us… go up.” He said, understanding what he had meant. The trio raced up the side of the cliffs and to the peaks then began giving chase to the M1 Abrams tank.

White fumes of smoke began emulating from the rear of tank as it began to overheat due to lack of sufficient coolant. Jackson looked to the gauges, the coolant gauge read over the limit. “SIR, WE’RE BURNING UP!” Jackson yelled.

“Just keep going!” Alex roared back as he continued to reload the M2’s ammo box with a fresh one. As he continued, he spotted three figures racing across the top of the cliffs. “Up high! Two o’clock!” He roared.

James redirected the main gun and fired but couldn’t get the elevation needed to hit them. Alex swore to himself as James fired a second shot but it too couldn’t hit the trio. “Fuck… he’s too high… and he knows it…” Alex hissed to himself as he slipped into the commander’s seat and sealed the hatch.

A third shell fired and Kamid went to stop. “No, we’re too high! Too high, he can’t hit us!” Vlad yelled as he pulled the buffalo warrior along with him. The trio continued on as the tank harmlessly fired at them with no success.

“We can’t hit them sir! They’re too high!” James yelled.

“Shut the fuck up and keep shooting goddammit!” Alex yelled back. He quickly popped the hatch and fumbled with the ammo box, finally securing it in place and loading the machinegun.

He took aim, but it too failed to hit the group due to the elevation. “COME ON YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Alex roared before sliding back into the commander’s seat.

Vlad pointed to the tank, almost as if he was talking to Alex directly. “YOU’RE MINE! YOU’RE MINE YOU RUTHLESS PIG!” Vlad yelled.

Trixie slid the last HE round into the chamber. “Last round sir!” Trixie announced.

“Hold your fire… hold your fire…” Alex ordered. The tank bounced along and as they made for a corner Alex roared. “FIRE!” James triggered the main cannon which spat out the explosive warhead. The shell collided with the cliff side and shattered apart rock but failed to injure the group.

The tank began to fume out a thicker and denser fume of smoke out its rear as the engine began to overheat with extreme temperatures. “SHE’S BURNING UP SIR!” Jackson yelled.

“Make it to the big intersection ahead!” Alex yelled, knowing that if he got far enough ahead, that he could take pot shots on the group from afar.

The tank crushed rocks as it bumped along and Alex used the remote controls to operate the M240 machinegun mounted to the turret. “Come on you sonuvabitch…. COME ON!” Alex roared as he activated the gun. 7.62mm rounds spat out of the gun and dusted against the side of the cliff. “COME ON!” Alex yelled frantically.

Dmitry, Vlad and Kamid all rushed down a cliff side in anticipation to ambush the tank. Dmitry and Kamid rushed across the trail and Vlad stopped. “DMITRY! COME BACK!” He yelled at the top of his vocal cords. Suddenly bullets began kicking up dirt as the M1 rounded the corner.

Kamid and Dmitry lept behind some large boulders. “RELOAD!” Alex yelled.

“We’re out!” Trixie yelled back. Alex swung the M240’s aim towards the boulder and fired but the bullets only chipped away at the stone.

Dmitry looked to his commander. “SHOOT IT!” He yelled and Vlad slapped himself as he presented the empty launcher for the young man to see.

“You have the rockets!” He yelled back. Dmitry gasped as he reached behind his shoulder and felt the two rockets that had come with the launcher. He grasped his head in despair .

“THROW IT!” Vlad yelled. Dmitry pulled one of the two rockets and tossed it but it fell short a few yards. Vlad went to grab it but the M1 fired its machinegun and kicked up dirt all around him.

“SHIT!” Vlad yelled. The M1 rounded their corner and the group dove to the ground to avoid being shot. As the tank passed them, Kamid gained a great amount of strength and tossed his war spear which was covered in feathers and other ceremonial garments.

The spear harmlessly bounced off the tank as it puttered along. The buffalo leader looked to Vlad just as he retrieved the rocket and loaded it into the launcher. “<Hey! The tank is that way!>” Kamid said as he pointed to the tank’s fume trail.

Vlad rolled his eyes as he stood up and began to follow the other two. The M1 spun its turret towards them. Alex fired the machinegun and tried furiously to hit the group. “LOAD WHATEVER’S LEFT!” He boomed. Trixie loaded one of the last rounds which happened to be AP.

James tuned in the sights just as Vlad, Dmitry and Kamid lept to the ground. His vision was stung by a bead of sweat. He grimaced and gasped in pain as he tried to wipe his eyes clean.

“FIRE!... Fire goddammit!” Alex yelled. James panted as he grabbed the turret controls and tried to aim, but his vision was blurred from the stinging sweat. He fired but it missed horribly and collided into the background cliffs.

Vlad took aim with the RPG’s sights and fired. The warhead collided with the back of the tank and at first, looked to be a useless effort. Vlad swore to himself as bullets chipped away at stone around his face, forcing him to take cover.

Dmitry handed him the last round which he quickly loaded and took close aim. Black smoke filled the air as the tank’s engine began to seize. “FASTER JACKSON!” Alex roared. Jackson slammed the drive stick to its full extend and the tank whined as it was pushed past its physical limits.

Kamid watched as Vlad took extremely delicate aim. He grabbed the Russian man and brought his face close to his own. “Vlad can do it…” He said in touchy English.

Vlad suddenly tilted his aim upwards and fired wildly at the cliff side. Dmitry gasped in shock. “HOW THE HELL’D YOU MISS THAT BADLY!” Dmitry screamed. Kamid also gasped but Vlad shook his head.

“I didn’t miss.” And just as he said that, the cliff side crumbled and large boulders along with chunks of rock came tumbling down onto the M1 Abrams tank. In seconds the entire tank was buried in rubble, only the muzzle was protruding from the pile.

Kamid lept up in happiness. “VLAD! VLAD!” He yelled in excitement. Both Russian men lept up and cheered in victory but suddenly a pitched whine filled the air and the M1 rumbled out from underneath its grave. The trio all gasped as the tank seemingly grumbled out from its apparent death. It began to putter along as it swung its gun towards them.

“Oh shit!” Vlad swore. Kamid and Dmitry both went to duck but they were all in the open and Vlad knew it was no use.

“FIRE!” Alex ordered as he squeezed the button for the machineguns, but nothing happened. The avalanche had damaged the controls. James readied a shot but suddenly an explosion rocked the tank. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" Alex roared and Jackson gulped in fear as their rival T90 raced into view.

The radio crackled inside the M1. “It’s my turn!” Yelled one voice.

“You always get to operate the gun!” Yelled another.

“We never used a tank before brother, so it’s my turn now!” Yelled the first voice.

“Fine then, I’ll just use the… oh what’s this do?!” Said the second voice. The T90 pulled into view but just as it did, a fume of chaff and smoke cover erupted from the counter measure barrels.

“OOH I LIKE THIS!” Said the second voice.

“HEY! Now I can’t see!” Screeched the first voice. The T90 quickly zoomed out of the smoke as Luna popped the hatch and grabbed hold of the Kord 6P50 heavy machinegun that was mounted to the turret and took aim.

“HEY, NOW IT’S MY TURN TO DRIVE!” Yelled Flam as he tried to yank the controls from his brother.

“QUIET!” Luna boomed in her royal voice. Both brothers gulped then raced back to their posts. Flam operated the main gun while Flim drove. The M1 began to swing its aim towards the T90 as Luna looked at the machinegun in front of her.

“How am I supposed to us this thing?” Luna asked herself as she poked at it. Suddenly she poked a switch and the gun fired off a single round which whizzed through the air. “AH!” Luna exclaimed as she took hold of the gun with her hooves. She checked the sights and began firing at the back of the M1’s turret.

The gun spat out 12.7x108mm armour piercing rounds. At first it had almost no effect but evidently, each round took a small chip out of the rear of the armour. Luna kept her sights steady and held down on the trigger button.

Within moments, the rounds finally pierced through the hull and ripped through the auxiliary motor. The turret’s motor functions all shut down.

“The auxiliary motor is pooched sir!” Jackson yelled. Alex quickly wiped sweat from his forehead as he slide down and looked to James who began to manually crank the turret.

“Keep going!” Alex roared. Jackson continued to drive the tank but it began to slow as the motor continued to seize up.

Flam grabbed an Anti-Tank Guided Missile round and looked at it with utmost curiosity. “Oooh, I wonder if this one is any fun.” He squealed in excitement as he changed the autoloader’s loading from its regular shots to his new favourite rounds.

He took aim and fired. The shot fizzed through the air and slammed against the M1’s left front. The tank was covered in smoke from the blast but came out only moments later with a large chunk missing from the front.

The autoloader began its reload process but the M1 came to a sudden halt. Jackson slipped it into reverse, then back into drive and drove forwards but once again the tank came to a sudden halt.

“Uhhh… sir? We’re off the track…” Jackson groaned in defeat. Alex gulped in fear as James finally lined up his shot but just as he did, the entire tank just seemed to die as the motor finally conked out.

“Go to emergency reserve power.” Alex ordered but Jackson wiped his face.

“We can’t sir… the battery’s dead.” He replied. Alex swore under his breath but then thought about something. Why weren’t rounds slamming against the tank anymore?

The radio inside the M1 crackled to life. “I see young American man… what’s wrong? Tank not as good as you thought it was? Or are you just taking a nap?” Vlad spoke over the radio.

Alex grabbed the radio. “Fuck you, Russian communist! You can’t hurt us. We’ll just wait you out.” Alex spat. Suddenly another ATGM slammed against the M1 but this time it penetrated and burst shrapnel throughout the inside of the tank. Luckily Jackson only suffered minor wounds to his left shoulder and cheek.

Trixie and James started screaming in fear as Jackson kicked open the driver hatch. “I SURRENDER! DON’T SHOOT! DON’T SHOOT!” Jackson yelled as he quickly pulled himself from the tank.

Alex began to roar in anger. “DON’T FUCKING GO OUT THERE, THEY’LL KILL YOU ON SIGHT! HEY! LISTEN TO YOUR COMMANDER GODDAMMIT!” Alex roared, but none of his crew listened as they all lept out and ran forwards before falling before their enemies, pleading for forgiveness and mercy.

A buffalo warrior went to execute Jackson but Kamid stopped him. “<Brother stop! If we are to ruthlessly kill them, then how are we any better?>” Kamid told the buffalo warrior who slowly lowered his spear and nodded.

Flim and Flam jumped out from the driver hatch and looked to the battered M1. “Ech… I don’t think that thing’s even worth restoring… new deal, we get your tank.” Flam said, but he half expected Vlad to tell him to go fornicate himself.

Vlad looked to him with a smirk. “Okay.” He said and both brothers gasped in reply. “On one condition, you disable the guns. This world does not need violence.” He said. Flim and Flam both became wide eyed in excitement as they began cheering.

Vlad placed his hands on his hips as he chuckled to himself then looked to the two American dogs. “So… which one of you was the ruthless leader?” He asked, curious to which one should be punished for the unspeakable acts.

They both answered at the same time. “IT WASN’T US! IT WAS ALE…” Was all they managed before a short chatter filled the air. Vlad gasped as three 5.56mm rounds ripped through his chest and slammed him against the side of the T90’s hull. A second burst spun him around, and then a third burst riddled his chest. He slid down the side of the tank, his blood smearing the armour. The top hatch of the T90 slammed shut as Alex stepped forwards with a still smoking M16A4.

“ALRIGHT, NOBODY FUCKING MOVE!” Alex roared as he held his rifle steady. He kept swinging it back and forth, covering the entire group. “You thought that you’d just fucking surrender and that they’d just forgive us?! Well fuck you all!” Alex yelled in anger.

He began pacing forwards, dust being kicked up from his heels as he stepped along. Empty brass littered the ground as he stepped up towards his crew members. “You cowardly shits! The penalty for desertion in my crew is death! You know that?!” Alex yelled.

He grabbed Trixie by the throat and hefted her up before dropping the M16 and pulling out his M9 sidearm and stuffing it into her mouth. “I never trusted you, you fucking whore.” Alex hissed as he turned her body so that her side was facing the group.

As he went to pull the trigger, a squeak from the hatch filled the air. Alex turned his head to see the night princess slam the hatch open and grabbed hold of the Kord machinegun. “FUC…” Was all Alex managed before Luna triggered the gun.

Alex’s body was ripped right off the ground as the heavy rounds collided with his body and shredded him. His body went limp before he hit the ground and was sent tumbling a few feet back.

“VLAD!” Dmitry gasped as he grabbed hold of his dearest friend’s body. Vlad coughed painfully as he placed his bloody palm against Dmitry’s cheek.

“Dmi… Dmitry… don’t live in violence… stay here… in peace… forget the old world… it will never get better… I have been fighting my whole life… hoping that it will become peaceful… it never will… but here… in these lands… there is peace…” Vlad told his young friend who nodded.

Trixie coughed as she staggered over. Dmitry went to push her away but she spoke out against him. “No, wait! Let me atone for my actions! I can help him.” Trixie said as she lowered her horn. It flared up but soon faded as she gasped for air. Luna hopped down from the tank and lowered her horn. Flim and Flam rushed over and followed suit.

The ground and air around Vlad was filled with a mixture of light and dark blue, along with green, magic aura. Ever so slowly, Vlad’s wounds healed and he coughed. Life began to return to his body.

Dmitry watched in pure and emotional fascination as his friend was saved from death. As their horns faded, the group collapsed in exhaustion. Dmitry grabbed his friend and held him tightly but Vlad gasped. “Ahh… Dmitry… they may have healed my wounds… but I am still sore…”

Author's Note:

Damn... in the end it was Luna that ended Alex... well hot damn ain't she something huh? Anyway, still got an epilogue to do.