Angie

  The entire situation was a term Allen used known as FUBAR, fucked up beyond all recognition. After dealing with intercepting aircraft from the Alpha Corp, Angie and the rest had been forced to make an early and sudden jump out of their dropship and land onto this wasteland. The dark red sky that greeted them along with endless stretches of dark sand was an insane hellscape. She was thankful she wore her full armor with built-in temperature regulation that protected her from the scorching heat.

  She marched up a hill, lagging behind Allen and Miles’ team. She cursed under breath at how weak she was. Even after all the gruelling training she put herself through with Jane and Allen, she was still the lowest level of the entire group. She hated that she was already breathing hard after travelling fifty-three kilometers in this wasteland.

  Angie finally made up the sandy hill and stopped and crouched beside Allen. While Jane and Michael were busy dealing with their pursuers, Allen was now in charge. The minigun madman looked around the team and said, “If anyone here is worried about Jane or Michael, get those thoughts out of your heads. Both of them are more powerful than any of us. Let them handle their obstacles while we handle ours on the ground.”

  The other members of the team nodded while also looking out towards the vastness of the desert wasteland in the night. Or what Angie assumed to be nighttime. Seeing Kodak territory with her own eyes was not the best first impression. Visibility had been reduced to a mere killometer with anything beyond that distance obscured by some sort of mist or dust cloud. The occasional dust devils would spawn then quickly disappear to reform elsewhere.

  “According to Michael coordinates, there should be a giant wall that serves as a barrier between a city and the wasteland. Dan and Li are held prisoners within that city.” Allen started down the other side of the hill. His white helmet and black visor tilted down at the hellish landscape in front of him. “I think I speak for everyone here that continuing on foot is getting annoying.”

  “You’re right about that, brah,” Miles said. “I may be a tier two superhuman, but damn walking through a desert is no joke.”

  “Don’t feel too bad,” Allen said. “That’s because deserts are harshest environments on the planet. Intense heat, dry air, stretches of sand that gets in the little nooks of your armor. It’s not a fun ride. But we’re not here to have fun. We’re here on a rescue mission to get Dan and Li back home.”

  Miles raised his fist. “Hell yeah brah. If we don’t save those two, we won’t get those fights we were promised during the Combat Games.”

  “I second that,” James said.

  Allen nodded. “Good to see the enthusiasm. You’ll be needing it for what our next step has in store for us.” The senior agent pointed down the slop of the hill. Angie followed Allen’s finger and found dark specs moving within the sand. Angie hoped those weren’t some sort of undiscovered mutated species lurking within the wasteland.

  Allen’s helmet tilted in her direction. “Don’t worry, those aren’t animals. We got enemy tanks patrolling the desert. We’re going to launch a hijacking and get ourselves some rides to the city.”

  The idea didn’t sound too outlandish to her. She agreed that it was getting tiring walking on foot in this desert trying to get to their objective. But while the team did carry anti-materiel and anti-tank weapons, this was different. They weren’t looking to destroy a few tanks. They needed the tanks intact so they could take them. Angie had stolen and operated cars before, even a few enemy jeeps. But she had never tried to take control of an enemy tank before.

  “Got any tips brah?” Miles asked. “I don’t any of us have ever stolen a tank before.”

  “Sit and listen carefully then. We only have one chance to get this right,” Allen said. He pointed his finger down at a tank moving toward the dust cloud. “I count two of them down there. One of them is heading into the dust. That leaves the other one all by its lonesome. If you look closely, those are definitely hover tanks. See how they don’t leave behind normal tracks in the sand? They just glide above the sand, blowing away chunks while keeping themselves afloat. For a vehicle to float like that, it has to be lightweight.”

  “And that means weaker armor right?” Angie said.

  “Exactly. But our goal is to hijack, not destory. Besides, we need to save our firepower for when we get into the city and encounter enemy agents. Out here, we need to use just enough to put some pressure on these tanks so that one of us could sneak up behind and bust through the troop hatch.”

  Angie zoomed in thanks to her helmet’s optics. She scrutinized the lone tank in the desert. The tank was an all black design that blended into the desert were it not for her HUD’s red outline. The tank was caked with spikes and razors jutting out from its armored shell along with a shovel at the front, presumably for ramming enemies. Angie was not surprised one bit that this was a Kodak tank.

  “What kind of tank is that?” she said.

  “It’s called a strider tank. It’s a two-seater but can function with one operator and a rudimentary AI. It has a main energy cannon and missile launchers.”

  “That sounds cool and all, but aren’t those things locked down tight?” Miles asked. “If the driver is already inside, isn’t it hard to get the hatch open from the outside?”

  “They are, but when you eventually level up to a tier three like me, strength no longer becomes an issue. So, here’s the plan. Against that tank down there, I need you all to stay up here and rain down some fire. Don’t aim directly at the tank, just enough to focus its attention on you guys. I’ll slide down and circle around it, ripping that hatch open and kill the dirver inside. Simple, right?”

  Angie took the deathdealer grenade launcher off her back and gripped it tightly. “I’m ready,” she said.

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  “Good,” Allen said. The senior agent lifted his minigun and placed the giant weapon across his back. “Make some noise and keep that tank busy.”

  The senior agent lept three meters into the air before sliding down the sand hill. Thanks to her helmet and the HUD, she calculated the exact spots for her to aim while accounting for the drop off of her grenades from this distance. Angie fired off her first two grenades. The explosions sent geysers of sand shooting upward mere meters away from the strider. While they weren’t direct hits, the concussive waves from the grenades were enough to rock and destabilize the hover tank. The tank momentarily swayed back and forth to its sides before stabilizing itself.

  The rest of the team opened fire. Miles opened up with a brilliant beam of concentrated particles from his crack shot cannon. The beam slashed through the dry desert air and impacted the sand beside the tank. Another great geyser of sand shot up into the air, this one even higher than the ones caused by Angie’s grenades.

  The strider tank glided erratically along the sand, maneuvering itself out of the paths of enemy fire. Angie spotted the missile launcher of the tank flash and a projectile blasted out and into the air.

  “Incoming!” she said.

  The entire team scattered in various directions. Angie pushed herself to her limits, even through the burning sensation throughout our her legs from the extensive walking.

  Berserk mode activated.

  She needed the amplifying effects of the berserk to guarantee getting away from the missile. The shockwave of the missile’s impact sent her flying forward. While uninjured, the blast sent her forward enough for her to lose her footing and tumbling down the hill. With her briefly enhanced strength, she punched her arem through the sand and slowed down her tumble, catching herself only a quarter of the way down.

  Her ears picked up the sounds of more shots being fired by her team. Miles continued blasting his crack shot at the strider while James caught back up to the hill and peppered the tank with his ZK-77 rifle. Even against the lighter armor of the strider, the tungsten rounds of the assault rifle still had little chance of penetrating the armored shell.

  Angie powered down from her berserk mode and climbed her way back up. At the very least, she could maintain her berserk mode for more than a few seconds without almost killing herself. She got back to the top of the sand hill and watched with relief as she spotted Allen had already hitched a ride behind the strider. The tank continued gliding across the sand wildly.

  “Cease fire everyone,” All en said through the private channel. “I got the rest covered.”

  Using her zoom function in her helmet, she watched as Allen punched his arm deep into the strider’s backdoor. The door hung open and Allen climbed into the tank. The strider came to a stop and floated in place for a few seconds before Angie saw a body flop out the back. Whoever it was tried standing back up. In the next moment, bolts of blue plasma roared out the back of the strider and shredded the enemy driver. Allen had successfully taken the tank.

  “The tank is ours now,” he said. “Give me a moment.”

  The strider still floated in the same spot. Then Allen finally took the controls and tested out its controls. “Just as easy as I remember. No need for a full crew.”

  The tank gliding along the sand. Allen tested out multiple moves with the hover tank ranging from basic circles, strafing maneuvers, and straight lines forwards and back.

  “Alright then. I’ve had my fun. I need someone else to be my driver for this one,” he said. “Angie, come down here and take over for me.”

  Angie’s heart rate went up from Allen’s order. She sound’t suppress the grin under her helmet. She was getting the opportunity to drive a tank.

  “Lucky bitch,” Zara muttered through the private channel.

  “Go for it brah,” Miles said. “Just give us a turn before the missions ends.”

  Angie put away her deathdealer and hopped over the top of the hill. She slid down the sand. She was initially tempted to simply run down the hill to get down faster but decided against it. She could easily lose her footing and then start tumbling down the hill, making herself look like fool in front of everyone.

  When she finally reached the bottom of the hill, the strider tank slowly hovered over to her. Her ears picked up the subtle hum in the air as the strider glided closer to her. Out of curiosity, she crouched down to get a better look at how the tank managed to float off the ground. All she saw was invisible cushions that held up the tank. The sporadic blue arcs of energy would dance between the sand and the underside of the strider. But Angie couldn’t gain any insight from just looking at it alone.

  The backdoor of the strider swung open. “You can read the data entries of this tank later girl,” Allen said. “Get in. The controls are pretty damn easy. A kid could probably get the hang of it.”

  Angie reached her hand up and Allen grabbed her hand, lifting her up and into the strider. She took a look around the interiors of the vehicle. As Allen had explained earlier, it was a two-seated interior that was relatively tight on space. She guessed that two fully armored agents could fit in the seats and possibly a third passenger could sit on the floor behind them.

  The driver seat of the tank had a strange helmet the hung over it.

  “You gotta put that thing on to see anything. But once you do, it’s like controlling vehicles in a video game. It zooms out your view and you’re like a spirit watching over this tank. Quite a sight to behold when its on an actual tank rather than a simulation.”

  Angie placed her deathdealer along the small weapon rack on the side and sat in the driver’s seat. She took off her helmet, breaking the seal and allowing the cooled air of the strider to hit her face.

  She grabbed the helmet hanging above her seat and pulled it down over her head.

  Interfacing with Kodak Strider tank…

  Initializing. Please wait…

  Angie saw nothing but blackness while wearing this strange device. Then a grid of red lines glowed and flashed in her vision before the image of the desert wasteland faded into existence. The glowing red lines disappeared and the view zoomed out just as Allen described. Angie was no longer viewing the world through her own eyes. The device on her head gave her a much wider perspective as the tank she controlled was in her view. It was she was viewing the entire desert through a drone in the air. The view made minute adjustments as she looked to her sides while controlling the tank. The controls of this vehicle were surprisingly similar to a regular car. Her foot stepped on a pedal and the strider moved forward. The angular and bulky steering wheel was more resistant and cumbersome to turn, though it was still a wheel nonetheless. Her view settled closer to the ground. She saw the back of the strider tank while still getting an elevated view of the wasteland around her.

  “Holy shit this is fucking amazing,” she said.

  Initialization complete.

  View calibration complete. Driver senses now in sync with Strider.

  A red square zeroed in on another Strider that had entered through the dust cloud ahead. The tank was less than three kilometers away.

  “Alright then team,” Allen said. “We got this tank. Our next tank isn’t too far from here. We’re going to grab us a second strider and ride the rest of the way. You guys up for another hijacking?”

  “Fuck yeah brah,” Miles said through the private channel.

  “I won’t let Angie get all the fun driving,” Zara cut in.

  “Good. Let’s get a move on. Dan and Li can’t wait forever.”

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