adventure Tigger Tank

[Idris 241]

Chapter 1. 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 it turns to nap tonight, then grab a tow in the morning."

 

 

Chapter 2. Time to Leave

 

Tigger opened the rear door and sprang out into the roar of gun fire. There wasn't time to be messing about removing covers and seeing which power relay was sticking. Instead she span around and bucked the general vicinity of the power cell as hard as she could before diving back into the relative safety of the tank. Jabbing her hooves back into the shifter stirrups she punched the auxiliary power button again and waited for the indicator bar to creep up.

 

It hadn't been the quiet evening she had hoped for. Her arrival seemed to motivate the enemy and they were pretty keen to get rid of them before she could report their positions. They were in luck, because the initial firing of the tank's rail gun showed the main battery was indeed lying about its condition.

 

"One, two, three, come on! I'm not going out like this! Not with a flat battery!" she shouted at the info panel as another projectile clanged off the front armour. If this carried on she would be lucky to back up let alone fire the rail gun again.

 

It might have been the kick or the impact of the incoming fire that shook the whole machine, but either way the indicator shot into the green and the cooling fans started up. Delta looked up from the communication station.

 

"Incoming!" he shouted, adding; "Right now, while we were down, they got on top of us."

 

Setting the auto-target system to 'metallic' Tigger scanned the battle field ahead for Robot Horses and found no shortage of targets. There was even a command tank coming into view far off in the distance.

 

The combination of both types of weaponry was bad news. If she used the main gun on the heavy target she would run the risk of a power outage that would leave her unable to fight the hoof soldiers. But if she didn't fire she risked its main weaponry hitting her. There was no option really but to remove the immediate threat a mere stone's throw in front of her.

 

"Missile, set dead ahead, shrapnel, 300 steps!" she barked. Delta looked up with surprise at the very short fuse delay, but seeing her face he immediately cranked it in and slid the explosive rocket into its launcher. Tigger put the cross hairs onto a mech in the middle of the group ahead, selected 'missile' on the ordinance panel and pressed send.

 

Everypony held their breath as the launch tube showed green and then orange before the whole tank shook to Tigger's touch of the fire button. Almost instantly the second explosion hit them. The leading mech soldiers' disintegration was followed by a rain of debris on the roof.

 

"That should hide us for a second or two," She said out loud to herself. "Ready the rail gun. I want those capacitors charged and ready to go as soon as their heavy shows through the dust." Hopefully the opposing force believed that it was her blowing up?

 

"Yes Sir," shouted back Delta as he threw the auxiliary power switch to the main gun. This wasn't exactly in the training manual, but nor was fighting with half the travel motors out. He held his breath as the power hummed into the rapid release storage batteries.

 

"Come on, come on," he said as the indicator on his panel rose.

 

Tigger looked down and smiled. "This is going to work. We should raise a full shot just before we see them." Turning back to the viewer she added, "Or at least, just before they can see us?"

 

Ideally she would use technology to scan the horizon for the large metal threat coming toward her, but this would have to be done by sight. Hopefully the metal of battle machine parts strewn around them would hide their radar profile. Right now the debris was the only thing hiding her and she needed to keep it that way by not emitting energy waves.

 

Delta's eyes were upon her as she stared into the periscope. The only noise came from the circulation fans and the super-coolant running through the gun coils. He held his breath and waited.

 

There was no doubting she had found her quarry when her ears went back. With a grin she took the distance.

 

"Ten thousand steps, ten steps compensation, full charge rail gun!"

 

"Rail gun at ninety eight percent," replied Delta.

 

As the front of the tank lifted slightly to aim the main weapon Tigger turned the trigger selector to 'automatic' and set it to trip at full charge.

 

"Brace!" she shouted.

 

Their whole world shook as the entire battery load was dumped into the coils surrounding the gem tipped projectile. Even at this range the effect was virtually instantaneous, a red trace lighting the ground ahead. A flash indicated it had found something solid in the distance and as the bright light receded the opposing tank could be seen split in two.

 

Tigger hadn't time to be pleased though. Spinning the commander seat around she kicked both stirrups forward and felt the machine lurch under her. The remaining tracks scrabbled for grip on the dirt road before eventually finding their way. "Time to get out out of here," she called out. "Eye's wide open for ambush! They know where we are and they know we're off home."

 

 

Chapter 3. Home Time

 

Getting home wasn't going to be an easy feat. It wasn't a large distance to the forward operations centre, but the two dragging tracks weren't helping and nor had that last railgun charge. They were very pleased to see a recovery track ahead and radioed its number.

 

"Heavy to 23, require recovery," called Delta.

 

"Recovery 23 to Heavy, taking fire, set your auto tow, ready for syncro."

 

Tigger tapped the recovery icon on the auto pilot and felt the feedback pressure drop on the stirrups. Her tank approached the other machine slowly with the ominous sound of heavy machine gun fire tinkling on the outer armour. There was a stout metallic clack as the tow hitches locked.

 

"I have you Heavy, returning to Base A3."

 

Supply Base A3 would do nicely as she didn't have to face any flack from the earlier incident at Park 6. Alpha Three would be a bit too close to the action to have a comfy lay about and a rest though. A night in her tank was a safe bet. She hoped they had parts?

 

"Is there a fresh battle plan in yet, are we in for a good haul?" she asked Delta.

 

"Long enough for munchies if we are to make a start on the drive motors on arrival,"

 

He rummaged around in a side locker before jumping and dropping the entire contents on the floor.

 

"Nuts, what the hell was that one? I thought it was coming through the hull!"

 

Tigger studied the back end and then spun to view the front.

 

"Meh, front light only ever lit up the top of the gun anyway," she shrugged at the wisp of smoke coming from it's mount. "It should be showing a line-short on the third bus. Yes, nice one, lemon hay-bar! Hoof that over over here before it rattles under the floor board."

 

They were soon in a line up of other battered hardware, a power line running into the back of their tank. A heated debate was soon underway;

 

"Just because I only have one drive motor doesn't mean I'm out for good!" shouted a blue stallion.

 

Tigger laughed. "That main gun is done for. Look at the sedate gentle curve along its length. You couldn't hit us with that and we're right in front you! Give it up, you know you want to. Help a filly out. Its half off anyway?"

 

"What the buck? Get the hell away from my tank ya jack ass!"

 

Delta looked a little ashamed. "Well, it sounded like we almost had a deal?"

 

Tigger re-gained the stallions attention. "Hay bar? It's a lemon one," she suggested, waving the bright wrapper in front of the stallion.

 

He eyed it cautiously.

 

"Yeh, go on then. If it had been strawberry you would have been walking home!"

 

Tigger grinned, kissed him on the nose and ripped the power coupling out of Grundle's side with a bright blue flash. "Baby's getting a new track motor," she sang.

 

Half an hour later they were synchronising the drive speeds as tinkling noises came from above. Tigger looked up at the inside of the hull. "Shrap' rains early tonight, how are we doing on charge? Mine says fifty percent?"

 

"Mine says one battery is in the main stores in Neighville and the other says two hundred percent, so i guess we should have took his comms panel as well," replied Delta as he got up to throw the charge cable out of the back door."

 

Soon they were underway in the darkness which was much easier without the gun-light reflecting back at them. Three motors put the odds in their favour and they were making cruising speed. Nopony needed to be loitering around this close to the front and speed was better than armour.

 

Delta kept an ear out for 'chitt chat' on the radio and the secure scribe-net. He could see that some R&R wasn't going to be in his stars this week. Their forces were taking a hammering in the north, while in the south progress was slow.

 

"We are directed to Air 19. I guess it's an emergency air supply depot? Left at the next turn."

 

Tigger made the next turn a little wider than she wished and took out a fair length of roadside fence. Glancing sideways to the rear-view portion of the periscope she saw a post come up over a rear track and snap like a toothpick as the metal belt took a second bite.

 

Her eye lids felt heavy as they pulled onto the side of the air strip next to some other beaten up Heavies. Delta flipped the breakers as they made for the door. Just outside was a young stallion in flying garb.

 

"We're all leaving. They've got ahead of our forces and we're cut off. That's your way out," he said pointing to a plane. "I'll see you onboard."

 

Tigger walked to the plane chatting to Delta, but then suddenly looked confused. She hadn't been more than a thousand steps away from that machine in six moons?

 

"Come on Captain, Hatty left hours ago, Grundels going to be fine!" But Tigger didn't look so sure? "We can catch a plane back with spare parts in an hour or two," he added.

 

As she put a hoof on the first step she heard the hit and felt the betrayal. She knew in that instant what the noise was. The whole of existence slowed as she thought back to the first time she saw that cursed machine. Ever since she had fallen through the roof of that shed and landed on 'her tank' it was obvious to her that they had a journey to make.

 

Only Hatty and Delta would go near it. That's why it was in a shed on it's own. Until it's true Captain sat at it's command station it just crackled and spat at anypony who dared to look at it. She didn't even know why it liked them? They had tried to paint it, but the paint just slid off onto the floor as though it simply rejected it. Enchanted or cursed, Tigger was the only officer who gained a tank command just by being able to drive one about.

 

"She doesn't need to sit an exam if she can drive that thing. If she can get near it without being burned alive then who are you to deny her anything?" had been one overheard argument.

 

As a sound like imploding glass rang out across the airstrip she looked up to see the utter horror across Delta's face. Standing wide mouthed his eyes were huge as he watched Grundel turn a brilliant purple and then begin to crack all over its surface.

 

"That's not right," he mumbled, "That was only a small shell."

 

The cracks thickened and then for a split second he could see every impact it had ever taken. One large round had gone right through his radio station, a tank on the other side easily visible through the hull. But until that moment it hadn't shown as much as a scratch? And then, as though it had simply just had enough of the fight it imploded. All that remained was one rear track set that had somehow been left behind as a memento.

 

"GO!" screamed Tigger as she ran up the steps hurling Delta into the plane. "GO!" she shouted at the pilot, who was thinking the same thing as more missiles rained down. This was going to be another close one and the ground was traveling past them quite quickly as they slammed the door shut. At least they were gaining distance as they crept into the sky.

 

Then it just sort of hit her. Her home was gone? Where would she go now and what would she do next? As she sat on the floor with the other ponies she was strangely all alone. It was like Tigger had died inside Grundel. Now it was just her. She was back to being Tammy, a young mare with a hint of stripes in her soft brown coat.

 

The End

 

Team Idris

 

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Edited July 19, 2015 by Idris

[Idris 241]

I've produced it as an audio book with Lost Narrator, Goombasa, Neighrator Pony, Peanutbutter Brony, Reverb Brony and Cut Glass.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwk3Iwj7M0c