War: A Tanki Story

Chapter 8: Defence

As it turned out, the Bouncing Lions had trained themselves in the ancient skill of Parkour. However hard the GenFaiPers tried to Shaft the gliding enemies, not one shot was landed.

"Watch out!" Bryan cried as Lynus headed for his tank. A Railgun M3 stood just outside the gate--- right in range of him. Lynus ducked behind a wall out of instinct, bracing for a resounding explosion. The explosion came.

Outside the walls of the base.

Curious, Lynus peeked out while the Railgun reloaded.

Only to see a Firebird-Wasp M3 sailing over the gate.

"Up the defences!" Bryan roared, and pulled back a lever. The first layer of dirt on the ground surrounding the base shook and fell away. A neat line of mines appeared and the enemy Wasps slowed down, hesitating. The gate rose higher than before and glowed a dark, pulsing red. Electricity crackled around it and an angry buzz sounded. Sean rushed to the top and pressed a few buttons, then began to operate a giant machine with a devastating laser cannon. On top of it was a massive solar panel which obtained sunlight for the cannon to function. It was adorned with glowing blue energy lines and had three buttons. One was 'ON', one was 'OFF' and one was "DESTROY".

Sean pressed 'DESTROY'.

Meanwhile, Daniel had activated twelve silent generators in a round formation around the base. They shot rays of energy at each other, and soon power was circulating around the camp. Arcs of plasma began to solidify and a giant protective dome appeared. Regardless, the Bouncing Lions charged and was almost about to reach the wall when they were forced backwards.

A great red beam exploded out of the end of the cannon and flew towards the Bouncing Lion tanks. A few caught the full blast and were began to disintegrate at a rapid pace. Others had half of their tank sliced and were forced to take cover.

Meanwhile, Lynus and Bryan were in their tanks and began to engage the enemy tanks. Bryan skillfully fired a few exploding Thunder shells, bursting multiple tanks with only a few shots. Lynus easily locked on to the remaining tanks who had escaped, and they were torn apart by yellow nanobots.

But the tanks kept coming.

Just then, a huge explosion rocked the whole base.

Sean looked up. A clean hole had been made right through the barrel and out of the highly unstable generator.

"Oh. No."

With that, a Shaft shot split the turret in two, and a huge explosion rocked the very foundations of the base. Even Lynus, who was in his steady Viking custom built to withstand jolts, felt the huge shockwave in his bones. "SEAN!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs through the radio, hoping that by some miracle, Sean survived the trauma.

No response came.

Lynus fought back tears, trying his best to continue fighting the enemy, but his eyes were too blurred, his mind swirling. Clutching the movement wheel tightly, he could not bring himself to turn it. His limbs were rendered useless.

Lynus slumped back in his seat. His tank lost control, crashing into others and finally coming to a stop against the walls of the base. The battle raged on around Lynus as he sank into unconsciousness.

~=*=~

Bryan watched Lynus's tank carefully.

It wasn't like him to start driving crazily in the middle of a raging battle. In fact, anyone in their right mind would be doing anything but that.

Anyone conscious, that is. With that, Bryan shrieked through the communication system. "Get up! We're in battle!

"Can... Can you be... believe it?" Lynus struggled for words. "We lo... lost... nine members today?"

A hysterical laugh followed and Lynus collapsed.

Heaving a sigh, Bryan used his massive Mammoth M3 to push Lynus's relatively light Viking out of harm's way. Then, climbing out of his tank, he crowbarred Lynus's cupola open and dragged his unconscious body out of the tank. Just then, his arm sleeve got hooked on the latch of the cupola. "Drat," Bryan muttered under his breath. No matter how hard he tugged, it would not come off.

Meanwhile, a flying Hammer-wasp M3 espied the duo , and without hesitation, fired off a round.

As soon as the shotgun's pellets made contact, Lynus's eyes flew open in shock, stared blankly at his surroundings and he struggled to move. Swinging his arms around, he tore apart the caught sleeve. Bryan, muttering a blessing under his breath, swung Lynus into the tank and jumped in after him, closing the cupola tight shut before the enemy could take any more advantage of their vulnerability. Using a speed boost, he moved as quickly back to the first aid wing as possible.

Meanwhile, the battle raged on. Shells flew in all directions, and the sky was blotted out by smoke from burning tanks. The GenFaiPers made use of the Hammer M3's shotgun ability to increase their chances of hitting the dodgy wasps, and their plan worked successfully. Soon, they were able to push the Bouncing Lions back to the cover of the trees. Seeing that they were at both a height and cover disadvantage, they fled back to their temporary camp.

For now, the GenFaiPers had emerged victorious.

Some of the tankers got out of their tanks and

began repairs on the broken walls and gate, others went to tend to the wounded, especially their Fieldmarshal Lynus.

Bryan waited anxiously outside the operation theatre. Blood trailed on the floor and the silence was unnerving. A painstakingly long hour later, the doctor finally came out of the theatre. Bryan leapt from his seat, praying for good news. "Lynus will be fine. He will, however, be unable to enter the battlefield for a week or so" The doctor announced. Bryan let out a sigh of relief. But still, many things troubled him.

Finally, he made a decision.

That night, Generalissimo Bryan left without a word of notice, and not a single soul saw him leave.