>>42603025
[2/2]

Well, it could have been up to you with some creative fudging of the logistics chain back in Alaska but alas.

Greta laid back on the engine block, yawning as she let the horrific vibrations of the engine run across her back. “Greta.” Thorn leans over. “That does not look comfortable.”

Rather genuinely, Greta smiled, looking at Thorn. “We have different ideas of comfortable.”

You sigh, planting your head on the turret roof. You need to rid yourself of this boredom and you need to do it before you kill someone.

> Break out the rations, it’s way past breakfast time anyway… you think.
> Although everyone seems spent on Texas Hold ‘Em, you might reinvigorate them by putting up your skirt into the pot. Everyone seems so curious what you’re wearing underneath.
> Try and take a nap. You’re not actually going to nap so much as lie down and wait for things to happen.
> Other

>>42603033
>Break out the rations, it’s way past breakfast time anyway… you think.
Always eat when you have the chance.

>>42603033
>> Try and take a nap. You’re not actually going to nap so much as lie down and wait for things to happen.

>>42603033
>Although everyone seems spent on Texas Hold ‘Em, you might reinvigorate them by putting up your skirt into the pot. Everyone seems so curious what you’re wearing underneath.

>>42603033
>> Break out the rations, it’s way past breakfast time anyway… you think.

> Break out the rations, it’s way past breakfast time anyway… you think.

You pull out a ration pack and snap it open, spilling some of contents onto the top of the turret. Aurelia continues to lambast the game of poker at Rascal while you sort things out. Let’s see, water, some pudding, weird thing that appears to be a chocolate bar, something labeled “Meatloaf Surprise”, and an orange slice. This is not the best kind of food, but it is the only kind of food now that you’re here. You decide on the orange slice.

And you immediately regret it. You spit out the dry, salty, pulp out into the snow. Nevermind then. You toss away the peel and decide on the chocolate bar. You snap off a bit of it and start chewing a piece. Nearly cracks your teeth but at least it’s edible. You shake your head, a bit glum. Surely you could do better than this. And you certainly aren’t going to touch the Meatloaf Surprise.

Thorn leans over. “Whaddya got there?” You scoot away, showing off your ration. “Ration packs huh?” She smiles, staring off into space. “I remember when I was with the Marines! I got to eat like a Queen. Turkey, chicken, and all kinds of fruits and veggies freshly cooked all day!”

Greta glances over. “Was that because they stuck you in the kitchen where you belong?”

“YOU FECKING WHAT I’LL DECK YOU, GRETA!” Thorn shouts at her, causing Greta to flinch. Still, laughter comes right out of Greta, she certainly wasn’t expecting a reaction like that. Thorn quickly clears her throat. “No, I was not on KP. They knew to keep us witches well-fed!” She pats her stomach. “Aye, the best way to a witch’s magic is through her stomach.”

Rascal glowers at Thorn. “I thought it was through her-“

“That’s what growing boys with no ideas of how girls work think,” says Thorn. “Maybe when we get to the outpost we’ll get something better to eat than that ration!” She points to the pudding. “I have that?” You shove it away, towards you. “… okay.”

[1/2]

>>42603853
[2/2]

Aurelia rolls her eyes. “Please. As good as gourmet food is, we do not require such luxuries on the frontline! The Sergeant makes do with what she has!” Your stomach grumbles a little. Maybe that chocolate was a mistake. “We shouldn’t ask no more of what is expected of us.”

Greta quirks her brow. “Wow. The first intelligent thing I’ve heard from you yet, Aurelia.” Aurelia squints at Greta, glaring hard at her. “Who cares about food. Food’s food.”

Rascal chews on a ham and cheese sandwich. “You’d be surprised.”

Suddenly the column of tanks starts grinding to a halt. All of you face the front to see one of the Tiger’s spewing smoke right out of its engine. It appears to be dying a very slow and painful death. The tank commander of the tank you’re sitting on pokes his head out, communicating with his crew in the Karlslander tongue. He turns around to you five. “Girls. Lead tank’s engine is having issues.”

> “We’ll leave it behind then. We have to keep moving. They can wait for an ARV.”
> “I’ll go ahead and tow it then behind us.”
> “I’ve got experience with Tiger engines, let me see.”
> Other

>>42603872
> “I’ll go ahead and tow it then behind us.”
Doing the grunt-work as usual.

>>42603872
> “I’ve got experience with Tiger engines, let me see.”

>>42603872
> “I’ve got experience with Tiger engines, let me see.”

>>42603872
>“I’ll go ahead and tow it then behind us.”

>>42603872
>“We’ll leave it behind then. We have to keep moving. They can wait for an ARV.”

>>42603872
>“I’ve got experience with Tiger engines, let me see.”
Kid is smart. Kinda. In her own way.

> “I’ve got experience with Tiger engines, let me see.”

“Hold on, let me see.” You stand up, dusting your uniform off. “I’ve got some experience with knowledge with Tiger engines. Especially the new ones the Liberions have been sticking in them.” The tank commander nods. “Girls, stay here, I will be right back.” You drop off the tank, and quickly jog on over to the leading tank. Already the commander, the driver, and his loader have opened up the engine block. You pull yourself up and have a look.

From the intense amount of smoke spewing out of it, it’s definitely not actually dying. More it was somehow overheating in the cold of Orussia. The reason for this is oil getting out and splattering itself across the engine. One of the many issues with original Karlslander tech that survived the initial invasion of Karlsland. Nowadays, most Tigers run on engines that while are Karlslander in nature and origin, are extensively modified by the Liberions in the factories. This particular engine was original Maybach HL230, which must have somehow escaped the notice of Liberion mechanics’ eyes.

“You know how to fix?” asks the driver. He obvious knows how to fix it. He’s probably just wondering what you’re doing up here.

“Yeah. It’s a simple fix.” You roll up your sleeves. Time to go to work!

[1/2]

>>42604432
[2/2]

-

-

“Hey, Kid!” You look up from the engine block, then see Thorn and Greta standing in the snow next to the tank. “How much longer is this gonna take?” asks Thorn.

“How long have we been here?” you ask.

“Like… an hour!” yells Thorn. “Are you any closer to fixing the engine!”

You look down. Well, in order to fix the engine, you had to fix the oil first. However, you discovered another issue which was that water was leaking out of the engine so you had to fix that too. One of the cylinders as well was strangely filled with quite the build up of dust so you had to fix that. Thorn and Greta climb up, and immediately are shocked. “Sweet Fatherland! What are you doing to this engine!?” yells Greta.

Simply put, you have partially disassembled the engine and right now you were reassembling it. “Well, things got out of hand.” You wipe your brow, and find your palm completely blackened from grease and muck. Ugh, disgusting. “Don’t worry, I’ll have it fixed in like a minute.”

Thorn shakes her head. “Kid. That does not look like it can be fixed in a minute. I thought you said you’d be right back!”

“I did. I just saw a couple of issues that needed fixing,” you say. Thorn and Greta stare at you, a little frustrated at you.

> “Look, when I see a problem, I fix it! I wasn’t Employee of the Month two years running because I’m cute!”
> “Hey, since you’re here, could you help me a little bit? … please?”
> “Look, if you’re not going to help, please kindly leave me alone.”
> Other

>>42604455
> “Look, when I see a problem, I fix it! I wasn’t Employee of the Month two years running because I’m cute!”
Well, not ONLY because of that.

>>42604455
>“Look, when I see a problem, I fix it! I wasn’t Employee of the Month two years running because I’m cute!”

>>42604455
> “Hey, since you’re here, could you help me a little bit? … please?”

>>42604455
>> “Look, when I see a problem, I fix it! I wasn’t Employee of the Month two years running because I’m cute!”

>>42604455
> “Look, when I see a problem, I fix it! I wasn’t Employee of the Month two years running because I’m cute!”

> “Look, when I see a problem, I fix it! I wasn’t Employee of the Month two years running because I’m cute!”

“Look, when there’s a problem, I fix it! If I don’t fix it, that problem is going to eat away at me until I forget about which I don’t until a lot later! I wasn’t Employee of the Month two years running just because I’m cute and I got a winning smile!” You grin at them, showing off your winning smile. Thorn flinches a bit, apparently your teeth gave off a bit of a shine to them. “I have to fix this, and I have to fix this now. Okay?”

Thorn shrugs. “Alright, Kid. If you say so.” She drops off the Tiger, moseying on back to the Tiger you were riding previously.

Greta though says, “An admirable trait. However… do you not worry that we’ll be late?”

“You can never be too late for anything!” you say. “Now, do you want to help me with this?” Greta shakes her head. Understandable, it is a bit of a science trying to understand engines. Especially ones designed by Karlslanders. “Alrighty. Don’t worry, I’ll have this fixed within the hour!”

[1/2]

>>42605156
[2/2]

-

-

Thirty minutes, twenty seconds! That’s a new record for engine reassembly! You pump your fist with pride. Thankfully there were no more problems with it as you finally settled the engine block back. The Tiger again roared to life, now very much livelier and much more… what is the word you were looking for, alive sounding! You step back onto your Tiger, grinning. “Girls?”

Rascal grunts. “You look terrible.” You tilt your head, and she instinctively covers her tush with her hands. Truth be told, you can feel the sweat and muck staining your face and your hands. But you’re surrounded by snow! Next time you stop, you’ll take a quick wash in the snowflakes and just let nature do the rest!

“So is the engine repaired?” asks Aurelia.

“Repaired and operational!” You snap your finger as the Tigers finally get moving once again. “And might I say, it was some of my finest work.”

Thorn rolls her eyes. “Great, we’ll put it in a museum after the war.” You pout at her. Come on, you are genuinely happy you got to fix that engine! Not often you get to do it. “Hopefully this stop won’t set us back any.”

“Yeah,” you say. “Don’t worry though. I got word from the tank commander up front, he tells me we’re only a few dozen miles away from the outpost.” They all groan. “Aw come on guys!”

“We’re riding tanks!” says Rascal. “This isn’t the Pony Express! That’s gonna take forever!”

Not if you…

> Sing a song!
> Tell spooky stories!
> … no, no, she’s completely right. It is going to take forever.
> Other

>>42605178
> Sing a song!
WOOO

>>42605178
> Tell spooky stories!
>"Your favorite QM a shit!"

>>42605178
> Sing a song!

>>42605178
> Sing a song!
> Tell spooky stories!
lots of time

>>42605178
>> Sing a song!
Marching songs!

>>42605178
>Sing spooky songs.

>>42605178
>> … no, no, she’s completely right. It is going to take forever.
>> Other
"..Well, it WILL take forever if we just sit our ass and stare on sky like this, but perhaps it will feel faster if we singing or something"

> Sing a song!

“Let’s sing a song!” You grin again, then pull Greta and Rascal close. “When my Mom and Pop took me to ballgames in the middle of rush hour traffic, we’d always sing to make the time go by! Let’s see uh…” Rascal clearly looks uncomfortable having your filth rub off on her, while Greta simply bemusedly waits for you to think of a song to sing. “Er…”

Wow, you actually can’t think of anything to sing.

Thorn raises her finger. “If we’re going to sing something… how about We’ll Meet Again?” Oooh, that’s a good one. “You know the song, Kid?” You nod. “How about you lead us off, we’ll follow along.”

You clear your throat. You never were the most public singer but if it’s to make the time pass by, then so be it.

We'll meet again,
Don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.
Keep smiling through,

Thorn joins in along, as does Greta as she plays with the spare bullets in her pockets. Then Aurelia joins rather reluctantly, and finally Rascal. Your voices create a very chaotic but still wonderful sounding chorus for the song.


Just like you always do,
Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds, far away.
So will you please say hello,
To the folks that I know,
Tell them I won't be long, I won’t be long
They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go
I was singing this song.

[1/2]

>>42606544
[2/2]

-

-

Your singing gets groggy after the fifth hour of driving. It really did take forever to travel a couple dozen miles. Greta has already fallen asleep, with Thorn lying down on top of her. Rascal as well looks about ready to doze off, with Aurelia lying on top of the turret just waiting to die of boredom. “Come on guys…” you whine. “Just the next chorus.”

“That’s what you said for the past hour and a half,” says Rascal.

You squint. “Wait.” You stand up, and peer out into the distance. That smoke plume breaching into the sky does not look very reassuring. You nudge Thorn and Greta awake. The five of you all stand up and hang on to see a gigantic plume of smoke out in the distance. The tank commander pokes his head out, peering out with his binoculars.

“Stop!” he yells. The column of tanks halts right on the road. “Kinsler! Get on the radio, tell commander the Outpost appears to have been attacked. We are not receiving any signal from them.” You cross your arms, glowering into the distance. The hill is the only distinct thing you can see past the smoke and the fires. He turns back to you five. “I hate to ask, but could you investigate. I don’t feel safe sending the tanks in first.”

“No problem.” The five of you quickly slip into your Strikers, chained up against the Tiger’s hull. You snap the chains off and dismount onto the snow, then speed off towards the outpost.

“What happened!?” yells Thorn. “They should’ve sent word or something!”

“They did, last night!” you say. “We must have gotten here too late!”

You hope that little detour with the engine had nothing to do with it.

[2/3]

>>42606570
[3/3]

You arrive on the outskirts of the outpost. Debris, shrapnel, and hulking wrecks of tanks and vehicles litter the snowy plain leading up to the hill. “Alright… let me think,” you say.

What should you do first? Time is of the essence, and there’s the terrifying possibility that Neuroi are still in the area.

> Search the area for survivors. They can’t have killed everyone.
> Signal the tanks to move in. It doesn’t seem like there are any Neuroi around yet. They must have moved on.
> Build up a little forward outpost. For safety’s sake, in case there are any Neuroi out and about.
> Other

Note: I have to actually pause right about here. Family stuff. Will be back in at least an hour or two. Keep the thread alive until I return.

>>42606591
> Search the area for survivors. They can’t have killed everyone.
Gotta save and get info.

>>42606591
>> Search the area for survivors. They can’t have killed everyone.
"Tanks behind, witches look for survivors. Once it clear we will make a FO here."

>>42606591
> Build up a little forward outpost. For safety’s sake, in case there are any Neuroi out and about.
Later GS!

>>42606591
> Search the area for survivors. They can’t have killed everyone.

>>42606591
> Other
Scout out the outpost. Anything else will just get us shot at while our guard is down.

>>42607074
That's a good point, it might be included in the first choice though.

>>42607348
Searching for survivors means staring at the ground and occasionally poking bodies. It is the anti-thesis of alertness.

Back. Writing update.

> Search the area for survivors. They can’t have killed everyone.

“Search around for any wounded. We can’t have gotten here too late.” You motion Thorn over. “Go take a look around the outpost, stay alert.” She nods, gently rolling first while the rest of you begin to sweep around. Trucks lined up in rows have been sawn clean through, probably a laser blast. A King Tiger tank lies flipped over end over end, its tracks and suspension smashed to pieces. A few corpses lie in the snow, burnt to a crisp. Horrific.

But at least this wasn’t your fault. These guys were dead by the time you left the base.

“Anything?” yells Aurelia as she checks a few burnt out tents.

“Nope!” Rascal rolls on over to you, carrying a few crates of weapons. “I did find a lot of grenades and explosives though.” You motion for her to put those down, which she does in command. You do not need to explode very suddenly today. “Seems like everyone’s dead.”

“That can’t be.” You cross your arms. “They sent out the message last night.”

“They might’ve gotten attacked last night,” says Greta. She drives on over to you all. Unfortunately, not accompanied by anybody. “They did say they needed urgent help didn’t they? Maybe they needed immediate help and not just reinforcements.” She sighs, crossing her arms. “We have to face reality here. The Neuroi might be behind our lines.”

“Wouldn’t they have ambushed us?” asked Aurelia. “What makes you so sure?”

Greta thumps her chest armor, making it bang loudly and echo across the hill. “Unlike you, Aurelia! I actually have experience fighting the Neuroi man to man! And I know for a fact that they won’t just play fair with us since we don’t.” She places her hands on her hips. “Has Thorn found anything?”

[1/2]

>>42609230
[2/2]

You shake your head. “Nothing yet. But you are right, Greta. That’s not a good thought, but it might be worth mentioning that the Neuroi did overrun the place. I just wonder why they’d just leave the place like this.”

And as if to punish you for saying that, you hear an explosion in the camp. Thorn! You all jump and drive over to her location, barreling through tents and crates left in the snow. And there you find her lying on her back, dazed, scorched, and her Striker moderately damaged. “Thorn! What happened!?” yells Rascal.

Thorn raises her hand, gently waving off some smoke. “… I think the Neuroi mined the camp.”

Ugh. Mines. The last thing you need right now!

“Great!” Aurelia kicks at the ground unwisely, but then you all freeze. She just unearthed another mine. A thin black cylinder salvaged from Karlslander S-Mines. Spring loaded and nearly ready to bounce up and slice someone in half with a heat blast. “… okay, that was my mistake.” Aurelia slowly rolls back on one leg.

“Well, at least we have a way out,” you say. “But… mines!? Seriously!?”

Thorn stands up, dusting herself down. “How are we going to clear them all!? The Tigers can’t move in if there’s all these mines in the way and we don’t have any detectors on us!” You scratch your chin, thinking. Technically speaking, the best way to clear mines is to set them off, but you don’t have anything that can safely set them off. Well, barring just generating shields and then just rolling over them.

You look at Greta. “… what?” She tilts her head. She smirks. “Stunned by my good looks? I’d be too.”

> “I need you.”
> “No, bad idea.”
> “Forget it. Let’s just set up camp outside and wait for reinforcements.”
> Other

>>42609261
>> “I need you.”

>>42609261
> “Forget it. Let’s just set up camp outside and wait for reinforcements.”

>>42609261
> “I need you.”
Oh Greta, you're the only mine-sweeper in my heart!

>>42609261
> “I need you.”

>>42609261
> Other
Just push the flipped Tiger 2 through them.

>>42609834
Hah, now there's an idea.
Would we be able to push from a safe distance though?

>>42609850
How big do you think a Tiger 2 is? Remember that tanks cleared mines with a plough.

Oh man, did I miss the panties choice? God knows that's an important part of good questing and quality writing.

> “I need you.”

You grab her arms, staring into her eyes. “I need you.” She blushes intensely. You swear you could see steam coming out of her ears and the top of her head. “I need to use you as a minesweeper!” Her blush immediately disappears, and she sighs with relief. Thorn, Aurelia, and Rascal glance at each other, suspiciously.

-

-

The Tigers creep up on the camp as you’re clearing out the mines. How you’re doing it is simple. Because the snow’s still a bit slippery and many of the mines are pretty shallowly laid into the snow, you’re just sliding Greta across the ground. The mines explode harmlessly off of her front as she slides over the mines and trips them without taking much damage. You, Rascal, Thorn, and Aurelia stand by the road as the tanks come by. “What is going on?” asks the commander in the lead tank.

“We’re clearing mines,” you say.

Greta stands up, completely covered in soot, dust, and snow. “Alright!” She pumps her fists up. “I am going the distance! Here we go!” She runs full tilt and then slides across the ground. Another mine blasts her upwards. And as she lands, she sets off an entire network of S-Mines, which explode harmlessly in the air with her flat on the ground.

“Interesting way to do it,” says the Tank Commander. He looks down at you. “Our orders now are to establish defenses and then wait for reinforcement. Colonel Hessler will arrive in the next few days.” You nod. Alright then. Set up camp, get the tanks hull down, clear out the last of the mines.

Greta meanwhile is having a blast. “Whooooo!” She shovels right through a nest of Teller mines, which all explode off of her chest and blast her into the air. “Hahaha! This is amazing!”

Aurelia shakes her head. “I never thought I’d say this but that actually looks fun.”

[1/2]

>>42610932
[2/2]

-

-

The Hill is the most important salient to defend as part of the camp. As a consequence, that meant having to repair most of the defenses there as well. Sandbags needed to be relaid. Corpses had to be buried and then honored, the tanks had to be hulled down facing west in case of the Neuroi coming to attack. MG nests were established for anybody brave enough to setp out and man them. An intact AT gun was also established at the top of the hill, a Pak 43 88mm gun. There wasn’t a lot of air defense save for Aurelia, but this isn’t supposed to be a castle. This is meant to hold until reinforcements arrive.

You wearily sit down in one of the trenches, covered in sweat, oil, sand, snow, and everything else you had to move today. Ugh. Terrible. You sniff your armpit.

Oh, you regret that. You regret that so much.

Greta looks down, smiling. “Hi!” You look up, and smile back at her. “You look terrible!” Look who’s talking. She hasn’t cleaned up from her minesweeping antics. “Want your big sister Greta to bathe you?” Baths? Out here?

She probably means an oil drum bath. Eh…

> “No thanks.”
> “Sure, why not.”
> Other

>>42610962
> “Sure, why not.”
Stink is bad.

>>42610962
> “Sure, why not.”
That went surprisingly well.

>>42610962
> “No thanks.”
night GS

>>42610962
>“Sure, why not.”

But we gotta be quick. Never know when they'll be back.

>>42610962
> “Sure, why not.”
Do it in shifts.

> “Sure, why not.”

-

-

You sit in the barrel, letting the hot water wash away the gunk and muck of today’s work. Greta dutifully washes your back, wearing a tank top and her trousers as she stands outside. You’re actually given a good view of the west. The snowy plains were marred by blast marks and random patches of ice where a snowdrift used to be, after the snow had been rapidly melted into water. But past all of that, hundreds of miles away and yet plain in sight was a Neuroi Hive. You heard of this one, the Salvaging Hive. The one that’s always stealing vehicles, weapons, and other equipment and turning it into its own.

The tank commanders all stare down the Hive, their crews poking out of the hatches and joining them in the staredown. These men have seen a lot of their friends and allies be killed by the Neuroi. Maybe soon tomorrow it would be time to even up the body count.

In the trenches, Aurelia and Thorn watch overhead, scoping for any potential aerial attacks. So far, there appears to be none of that. If the Neuroi wanted to attack and sweep you off the field, they would have done so by now. Perhaps they simply do not know you’re here. Or perhaps they’re just consolidating a force for an attack later on.

All these thoughts scared you a little. And excited you a little more.

Greta smirks. “Just you wait, Child. When the Neuroi come for us, they will have to do it over piles of their own dead.”

You nod. “Yeah. We’ll show them what for, Greta.”

Lightning strikes from the inside of the Hive. You could definitely tell it was getting closer. Like some gargantuan monster of mythology, it was lumbering across the skies. You could see faint dots of what look to be drones spewing out from the eye of it, down into the dark clouds beneath it.

[1/2]

>>42612787
[2/2]

Rascal walks over, wearing nothing but a towel and shivering. “C-C-Can you hurry up?”

“A few more minutes,” you say. “Look there, Rascal.” She turns her tired eyes to the Hive, looming in the distance. “There’s the Hive. It’s not going to strike us. But those drones coming out of it, they will soon.”

“Yeah, great,” she says. “Now please?”

You sigh, standing up and arching your back. Rascal and Greta’s eyes widen for a bit. Hmph, they know a good, well-exercised body when they see it. You step out of the bath then grab a towel. Rascal immediately hops in. “Hey!” Greta leans over, glaring at Rascal. “It is my turn.”

“Too late.” Rascal lowers herself in by the nose.

“Ah, you little rascal!” She slaps the barrel, fuming.

As you wrap the towel around your body, you looked back to the Hive.

Your first fight is coming. And it’s not going to be gentle.

Good. You love it rough.

>>42612807
Lewd.

File: tumblr_newrq6uEAG1tebavfo(...).png (251 KB, 815x1140)

251 KB PNG

That is it for tonight's chapter of Tank Witches! We'll return tomorrow hopefully a bit faster and uninterrupted. Hope you all enjoyed.

Follow at: https://twitter.com/GermanSchteel
Ask at: http://germanschteel.tumblr.com/

See you next time.

Thanks for running GS.

>>42612859
Thanks for the thread.
Finally, time for glorious sleep...

>>42612859
Thanks for running, boss.

>>42612859
Thanks for the fun. Sorry I missed most of it.