Story [Issue 28] The Insurgence: Sandbox (Part 3)

[GoldRock 6,165]

Read the first part of this series here: The Insurgence: Massacre.
Read the second part of this series here: The Insurgence: Sandbox (Part 1).
Read the third part of this series here: The Insurgence: Sandbox (Part 2).

Recap (the ending section of the previous part):

They wipe our memories. That's the first inexplicable thought which came to my mind as I regained consciousness, and almost as soon as it came, it passed. Then, I heard a series of shots sound from various points around the outside of the arena, and I instantly turned to seek the source of this danger. But danger it was not - it was those who had come to observe the duel. They were firing into the clear sky above in appreciation of the contest they had just witnessed, I soon realised. My partner, who had spawned opposite, trundled over to meet me. "Not bad for a recruit, actually."
"You clearly have some potential, kid."
Before I could respond, he drove off, weaving across the arena and then jumping down into the spectating area. The final score flashed across the signpost in the corner of the arena - "2-1". My heart sank; I'd lost. The General had watched me lose. I just wasn't good enough.

I turned, and jumped the short height down into the area below the arena. My heart sank; the General was making his way towards me. Was he going to let me stay here, even after being completely outclassed before his very eyes? I lowered my gaze as he approached and came to a halt in front of me.

"Impressive performance, recruit. That's the closest first match there's been in a long time. You'd be surprised at how practically no-one manages to even get a kill on the Major during their first attempt at training. Even when he tries going easy on you lot, it normally takes some practice to get the hang of basic tactics. But it seems you're a natural."

He gave me a searching look, smiled a little, and then left. After all, I thought as I drove wearily away from the arena, every cloud has a silver lining.

______________________________

I was taken to the barracks, which, they told me, would be my living area for the next few months. It seemed that I was the newest recruit to arrive, although a fair few there didn't seem to have upgraded equipment, either.
"How did you do it?"
I turned, and found that a small crowd of my fellow recruits had gathered behind me. They must've been waiting there for my return from the training arena, I realised.
"Do... what, exactly?" I responded, still slightly disoriented from the whole respawn process which I'd just undergone twice, some minutes earlier during training.
"Get a kill on the Major, duh!"
I sighed, as I remembered the events of training. Apparently, it was a big deal - the recruit standing before me had said these words with a mixture of awe and wonder in his voice. I still didn't see what was so impressive - I'd lost, for heavens' sake - and my performance was hardly anything fancy.
"Oh yeah, that..." I replied, trying to think of something cool to say to these guys, who I'd be training alongside for the next few months, until we finally earned fully upgraded equipment.

Fortunately, I was saved from answering by the appearance of the Major. Everyone was instantly silent, and turned his way - I could sense an aura of respect, but now some were also turning to glace at me. I felt as though I wanted the ground to open up and engulf me as the Major looked towards me, too.
"Alright, alright, so one of you kids got a kill on me - big deal!" he said, sounding half-exasperated and half-amused by the behaviour of my fellow recruits, and giving me a pointed glance.
"But I'm hardly the best there is, and to be honest, that was probably just a lucky kill"
I felt something rise within me in protest of such a casual dismissal, at this point. Was it pride? Anyway, I thought to myself, I'd better keep that emotion under control here, because this guy probably won't take arrogance from his trainees too well!
"If you recruits wanna rise up the ranks and prove yourselves to us, you guys are gonna have to TRAIN HARD!" He bellowed the last two words out of nowhere, and all of us jumped. This definitely wasn't someone I wanted to cross.
"Follow me."



The Major led us back to the training ground again. I groaned. I just knew that now he was going to take this opportunity to pulverise me in front of my fellow recruits. Spotting the look on my face, he smiled, and pointed at me. Everyone turned at the same time - it was like they were running on automatic whenever they did that.
"You, whats-ya-name, you're up!" he exclaimed, jabbing towards the training arena.
Once again, I felt angry emotions rise within me at being addressed in such a way. "You will address me by my rank," I imagined responding curtly. Then I laughed at such a thought - Recruit is hardly something to show off about! Smiling to myself, I trundled up towards the arena.
"Hey, what's so funny, eh?" The Major was staring at me now. "Nothing," I quickly responded, the smile vanishing from my face. "Good," he replied, and suddenly smiled. This guy had a volatile personality, that's for sure, I thought.
"Alright, you'll be his training partner," he said, indicating one of my fellow recruits to join me. I breathed a sigh of relief - I wasn't going to have to face the Major again, after all - but this was quickly replaced by apprehension as I saw my training partner.

My training partner, it seemed, had a rather oversized tank. I'd heard about this recruit - apparently, he was one of the few who'd managed to escape the chaos of Massacre and get to our base all by himself. The General told me that it was rare, and that he'd been able to do that as a recruit. He'd assured me it was just luck more than anything at the time, and that it didn't indicate that I was worse than them - only training would reveal how skilled I'd turn out - but that it meant that some of them managed to get their hands on more advanced equipment earlier on. After all, they'd had more experience of getting through a hostile environment. I turned to my training partner again as he entered the arena, and saw that his bulky hull was in fact a Mammoth, though not yet upgraded. This hull could withstand an intense firefight and still come out alive, I'd been told, and it certainly did look like a formidable fortress.
"Do we just... start?" my training partner asked. His voice was surprisingly soft, and from the sound of it, he was actually at least as apprehensive as I felt. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead," motioned the Major, as he procured a clipboard from a compartment in his hull.

On the billboard, the timer showing the length of the duel began to count down. But I wasn't feeling any fear at all now. I was the one in control here, I'd been through it before and came out with my honour intact. Plus, I knew how to deal with this opponent. After all, I'd seen the Major tackle a similar opponent when I first entered the base.



My training partner slowly advanced. And I mean slowly - this guy wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. But then I saw something glow at the end of his barrel, and I instinctively dived for cover as a piercing shot tore through the air where I had just been standing. This was the same weapon those snipers in Massacre had! Trying to clear my head of the sudden panic this fact had created, I cautiously peeked around the corner wall behind which I was sheltering to see where my training partner was. He was still some distance away, it seemed... and even though I'd come out of cover for a few moments, he didn't shoot? Had the duel been stopped? I glanced towards the Major, puzzled. The Major, who was sitting at the periphery of the arena with the rest of the recruits, just smiled. Alright, so there must be some sort of reason why my training partner wasn't shooting... I racked my brains, and a few words of information which the General had imparted to me on the journey to the base sprung to mind.
"Ah, reload... Some tanks have weapons which reload faster than others. Don't forget that - you can definitely use it to your advantage."
Those words hadn't made much sense to me previously, but now they clicked into place. My training partner wasn't firing... because he couldn't fire! I chanced it, and ducked out of cover. This time, his weapon began to glow again, and I hurriedly returned to cover as I felt a rush of hot air sear past me.

Wait... so now he was reloading... I should seize this chance! Almost as soon as I thought this, I dived out of cover, and began pelting him with the rapid-fire Smoky shots that I'd become used to aiming. He was clearly taken by surprise, and struggled to continue his advance... and then started backing away! I'd won this, he had no chance now... And then his turret began to glow. I continued to fire frantically - why hadn't he been destroyed yet? - and then realisation dawned on me. I'd completely forgotten about his well-protected hull.

I had less than a second to brace myself for the impact before I was blasted into the air. I flipped over and over, shrapnel flying, until I crash-landed to the ground, skidding towards the very edge of the arena. I instinctively ground my gears and accelerated in the opposite direction, coming to a halt with one of my tracks hanging off the edge of the arena, and then jerked forwards, away from the edge. Instantly, I realised I'd taken a lot of damage - I could hardly move, and even worse, my vision was obscured by gaping cracks across the front of my turret... I held my breath, fired a shot in the general direction of my training partner, and I faintly saw a flash of lightning and heard a tremendous explosion. The timer on the billboard beeped as it reach zero.

I'd done it! I was pretty beaten up, and felt like any more damage would be enough to blow my tank into pieces, but that didn't matter now. It was eerily quiet - it sounded like the crowd of recruits around the edge of the arena were either really stunned, or pretty bored of the whole thing - probably the latter. Then, I heard the Major speak.
"Not bad. Someone take him to the garage so he can get fixed up."

Then I heard his voice in front of me. "Recruit, I'm referring you onto our Advanced Training Programme. Once you've undergone repairs, I want to see you at HQ on the double."

[Mr.I3oSS 557]

Its Awesome Dude

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That paragraph below caught my eye

 

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Wait... so now he was reloading... I should seize this chance! Almost as soon as I thought this, I dived out of cover, and began pelting him with the rapid-fire Smoky shots that I'd become used to aiming. He was clearly taken by surprise, and struggled to continue his advance... and then started backing away! I'd won this, he had no chance now... And then his turret began to glow. I continued to fire frantically - why hadn't he been destroyed yet? - and then realisation dawned on me. I'd completely forgotten about his well-protected hull.

I had less than a second to brace myself for the impact before I was blasted into the air. I flipped over and over, shrapnel flying, until I crash-landed to the ground, skidding towards the very edge of the arena. I instinctively ground my gears and accelerated in the opposite direction, coming to a halt with one of my tracks hanging off the edge of the arena, and then jerked forwards, away from the edge. Instantly, I realised I'd taken a lot of damage - I could hardly move, and even worse, my vision was obscured by gaping cracks across the front of my turret... I held my breath, fired a shot in the general direction of my training partner, and I faintly saw a flash of lightning and heard a tremendous explosion. The timer on the billboard beeped as it reach zero.

 

Edited October 31, 2014 by Mr.I3oSS

[Warhammer_TO 181]

My favorite series in the paper, great writing, GoldRock!

[hogree 4,179]

Loving this series. One of the best, if not the best.

[redfrostgragon 4]

Man !! I love ur chapters Goldy I love them They are the best of the best (y)

[EmersonSilva 0]

Quando eu cheguei lá eu 

[Killah93 3]

Fantastic! This is my first time reading this (probably should've started from part 1) but keep up the good work. This should be put into that new Tanki Book.

[Magnificence 126]

Nice gold, keep up the good work :P

[Raging_Rabbit 1]

This series is brilliant! Great work Gold

[FaaiqBilal1 795]

Haven't read any of the earlier chapters, but if they didn't exist, this could be a perfect start too! Good job.

[donut70 97]

Nice job.

[eminemrapgod 16]

:)