Tigger Tank

by teamidris

Grundel

Because my mind is out of of step with reality and the thoughts from tomorrow haunt my dreams as sharply as those from yesterday, I shall start this tale part way through it's journey.....

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Falling forward she landed hard flat on her belly. Winded she stood up, pirouetted on her front hooves and clocked him in the side of the head with a rear. He snorted briefly, rolled his eyes and went down like a sack of potatoes.

Then came the icy tones of Colonel Raven. Oh hell, she was in for it now! Even if he had seen everything that led to that kick she would likely be up on a charge.

"Tigger, you and Delta move to forward defence. You, what crew are you?" Before anypony could reply, "Pick that up, put him in your ship and follow them," he balled, pointing at Grundel. "We'll talk about consequences 'if' you come back!"

Delta, Hatty and Tigger ran for their tank before anything else could happen. Hatty hung up the charge cable on it's post and closed the door before jumping into the engineers seat. "Main Batt is full, aux is full, main gun shows green," she called out.

Everything appeared to be working fine, which was of some concern? They had called the old tank 'grundel', because of it's lack of interest in doing anything properly. It was just grumpy and reluctant to trundle and should have been destroyed ten times over! The previous crew of Unicorns had done things to it and no one was quite sure what? If nothing else it could take one hell of a beating. And 'hell' was where it was happy.

Tigger watched as Hatty threw the main breakers and smiled as the machine began to hum and tick. Sounding the siren she steered the giant tracked gun out of the parking area and onto the road. Forward defence wasn't a big task, so she decided to burn some power on a fast run. It would be interesting to see if Rotors crew could keep up?

All was going well until they came to a fallen tree. Tigger slowed down to climb over the obstacle, which passed with nothing more exciting than the sound of splintering wood. Hatty was just getting up to check something as tigger put her hoof down. There was huge bang and the tank stopped dead. Hatty hit the panel in front of her hard and slumped back in her seat. Delta sprang to her aid and pulled the silver mare to the floor.

"Oh hell she's out cold," he said. "We need to get her back".

Tigger looked around her for signs of ambush and attempted to reverse up. Checking behind she could see Rotors tank coming up fast behind them. Giving the tank full drive power she felt it dig in.

"Tank trap!" she called out. "I thought ours were supposed to be marked on the map?"

"Must be a new one?" called out Delta. "How many fingers am i holding up?" he asked Hatty.

"Pony's don't have fingers," she half grinned back, "But when did you get eight legs?" Then she passed out again.

Tigger looked down at her friend and scowled. "Get Rotors crew to take her back. At least they are moving. I'll call for recovery when she's safe."

Delta dragged the incapacitated mare to the rear door, kicked it open and pulled her through. It wasn't safe outside, but the obstacle they were stuck in might be dialled into an enemy firing position. Right now it was a juicy stationary target.

Ten minutes later she heard the other machine move off, followed by Delta shutting the door. If it was a trap laid by their ponies then forward was probably the only way out. It would have been dug to slam fast moving machines into the vertical wall of earth she had just driven over. Self recovery was worth a shot before she called for help.

This time she was gentle with the controls as they moved forward. At first Grundel wouldn't climb the exit slope, but with a turn this way and that they began to climb out. It was all looking feasible until;

"You rust bucket!" she shouted as the track just exiting the ditch began to smoke. It must have been holding them back because a sharp jab on the stirrups had the huge machine leaping from the trap. The exit wasn't quite as graceful as it needed to be and another track motor took the harsh landing badly.

Tigger jumped from her station and made for the door carrying something. "You lousy rotten..."

Delta couldn't make out the really bad words because she was holding some heavy object in her teeth, but he could hear the ringing blows as Tigger struck the free wheeling links with a hammer. It was more 'tiger' than sweet little mare today!

A metallic twang suggested both front drive motors were now disconnected. Delta stepped up to the command panel and set them both to 'Isolate' as Tigger was shutting the door. This was all turning out badly and he was glad they would be going back despite the repercussions.

"It'll be an easy run to the front," she said. Then seeing Delta's surprised face; "It's a steady downhill road. We'll take it in turns to nap tonight, then grab a tow in the morning."