Story [Issue 7] Silence: The Discovery

[hogree 4,179]

Silence. Most popular map in Tanki? By a landslide. This map is so commonly found in all servers that I'm

sure practically all you readers know the map inside-out. In fact, I personally wouldn't be surprised if, when

your teacher/boss shouts “Silence!”, your immediate reaction thinks of the map before you actually register

the meaning. Yet, what do people know about Silence's discovery? It is a largely ignored fact considering

the popularity of this map; and this is how it all happened...

~There was a time when all tanks were at peace with each other. There were twelve states,

each with their own leader, all united together in the kingdom of Tanki Online....~

“Bro!”
Hex glanced up irritably. He hated being disturbed while he was thinking. It was his brother Pent. “What?” he said.
“We're on supply duty again.” came the reply.
“You serious?”
“Yeah, Trav can't do it for some reason, so we've got to deputise. We need to go ASAP apparently. Let's go stock up in the garage.”
Pent turned and drove off towards the garage. Hex sighed and followed reluctantly.
Hex and Pent were twin brothers, who lived in Masaker. Masaker was one of the less prominent states in the kingdom, whose “state job” was delivering supplies. They
were the chief manufacturers of supplies, and each day, residents took turns to go round passing supplies on to the eleven other states.

Normally, Hex would have looked forward to his turn at going round the kingdom delivering the supplies, but today, not so.

Two reasons really. Firstly, Hex was feeling extremely lazy at that moment. Secondly, and far more importantly, him and Pent had been on their rounds just ten days back, and on their delivery rounds, they stopped, as always, at Kongarr, one of the leading states in the kingdom. On the way through, they met a highly respected member of the Kongarr leadership by the name of Silvestrea. They managed to get onto the wrong end of him, Hex in particular, and Silvestrea had threatened to deal with them if they crossed him again. Hex wasn't particularly looking forward to learn what that “deal with them” implied. The thought of having to go on their rounds again, through Kongarr, so soon after that event, was rather disconcerting. Sometimes, Hex just wished the tanks weren't all at peace together, so he could have a valid reason to attack annoying noobs like Silvestrea...

But a job was a job, and Hex and Pent set off after they had gathered necessary supplies in the local garage. The amount of supplies they had to carry was rather exhausting, but after going on these delivery rounds at least a million times, the two of them had got used to it. They had to.

The two of them passed under-pace through Bobbriusck and Suporhev, taking longer than they normally did dropping supplies off to their local garages, as they drove through. By the time they reached Kongarr, they were behind time. And with both of them keen to stick to the back streets on the way to the garage in an attempt to avoid Silvestrea, they got even further behind time than they intended. They finally reached the garage, and handed off the goods to the garageman as soon as possible. He was clearly surprised to see them.
“Oi Pent, what brings you here again? I'm pretty sure you did your delivery rounds just a couple days back.” he said.
“Yep, deputy jobs,” replied Pent, “And not much time to spare right now either, we're behind time.”
“Right.” said the garageman, quickly taking the supplies shown him.
Just then, Pent felt a tap on his shoulder. He glanced round. It was Hex, and he was pointing backwards. It was Silvestrea. And he was driving directly towards them.

For one moment, Hex felt like just freezing on the spot. Then he realized that he would be freezing on the spot soon, if he didn't move, and not by his own will. Silvestrea was rather an upper-class tank because he had a very “special-edition” turret. It went by the name of Freeze, and you can guess what it did. And since Silvestrea was such a leading member of the Kongarr leadership, he had permissions to do what he wanted with pretty much anyone. And that included them. And he definitely did not intend to go on the dizzying journey of respawning back in Masaker now, especially since they had not finished their delivery rounds yet. Hex felt himself being grabbed by his brother, and heard his brother mumbling a quick Goodbye to the garageman. Then he shook himself into action then fled.

“Where should we go?” yelled Hex, as they rounded a bend. Silvestrea hadn't caught up with them yet, but they knew he was going to round the bend any moment now. Ahead of them was another bend though, and they quickly rounded it, only to find themselves stuck at a dead end. Hex knew Silvestrea would see them any moment now. In sheer desperation, he rammed into the door of a nearby deserted building. “Help!” he said , his voice almost breaking from fright. He knew there would be no answer from such a clearly deserted building, but he could almost imagine Silvestrea rounding the bend to freeze them up.

Just as he was about to lose hope, to his disbelief, the door opened behind them, “Quick!” he heard a voice mutter, and before he knew it, him and Pent were in the dark building, and the door was locked. He heard Silvestrea shout outside the building like he was right next to him. In a way, he was, the door the only thing separating them. “Where've they gone?” came the sound of his annoyed voice, “They can't have gone far. Bet they're hiding down the road, slimy cowards.” The noise of his loud engine died, as he heard him drive away. And then, when Hex finally thought they were safe from him, he slowly turned around, and took in his surroundings.

The immediate thing he noticed was their “rescuer”. Strange thing was, he looked a little like Pent... then he realised; he was Pent. Wrong guy thought Hex. He glanced to his right and saw another tank, and this was most certainly not Pent. The fellow had clearly been through a few rough days during his time, his paint was a bit worn, and he looked but before he looked him over properly, he had suddenly seen something that had attracted his attention. It was on the table, and it looked from a distance like an old parchment. As he drove towards it, he figured out what it was.

It was a map.

There was something about it that made Hex glance at it for more than a second. It was such a perfectly drawn picture that you had to look at it to admire the drawing. But more than that. It was that “X” at the top. Hex's eyes widened as he realised what he was looking at and span round, a million questions in his head, staring at the fellow who had rescued them. Before he could get in a word, the tank moved forward.
“Greetings.” he said.
Hex restrained his excitement. “Hello.” the two of them said together. Pent continued, “We are so thankful for you saving us back then.”
The tank acknowledged this, then remained in silence.
Hex grew agitated with the continuing silence, eager to know all about the building, the map and the rescuer.
“What are you doing here?” Hex said, eventually “I thought these buildings were deserted.”
“All will be revealed, youngster.” the tank said mysteriously.
Another awkward silence ensued, before he spoke again.
“I am thinking you would like me to tell you who I am and what I am doing here?”
That's what I've been thinking of for the last ten minutes dude thought Hex. “Yes. I would.” he said.
“Then you will get what you wish.” the tank said, before continuing.
“My name is Aggroda. I am in this building for a specific reason..” he stopped, as if unsure whether to continue, before he carried on. “I found a map. I am here because this is where I was directed to find it. And I believe that this map is important. Very important. Because I believe there is something hidden, something important hidden, at the X.”
“Impossible.” Hex said, immediately dismissing the idea. “That tiny jut out there holds nothing but an empty space for people to do nothing.”
“Young one,” Aggroda said in one of those aggravating voices, “I am not talking about anything being on there.”
“Then what on earth are you talking about?!” said Hex, annoyed with Aggroda now, yet still intrigued.
“I am saying that there is something underneath there.”

Hex's eyes widened. The concept of there being something underneath Kongarr was pretty unbelievable at the time. The fact is, all the 12 states were linked together but Kongarr was on the north edge of the map. On the north of Kongarr was what was known then as 'the Open Area'. It was widely accepted and told there was nothing beyond, let alone underneath.
“How do you know that map is right though? For all we know, it could be a fake, just to make people fail.” said Hex, suddenly sceptical.
“That's right,” popped in Pent, “We don't know you're telling the truth, you might be just fooling us for all we know.”
Aggroda smiled wryly. “You are so sceptical. But I will tell you why. I discovered in my house, as I was cleaning up just two days ago, a sheet of old paper, with a key, hidden underneath my floorboards. The words were faded, but I could just make out what it was saying. It gave me an address and was written “Map” on it. I tracked the address which sent me here, unlocked the building and found the map. All I can say now is that I believe I have been given something that holds a secret. And I believe that there is something there.”
Hex surprised himself even by his belief in this tank's words. He found himself taken in. “What do you think could be there?”
Aggroda looked doubtful. “Treasure of some sort. I do not know, I do not know...” he trailed off.
There was a silence till Pent butted in, “Why have you told us about this though?”
Aggroda paused, then looked them in the eye before answering,“Because I think I need some help.”

Hex stared up at the wall above him.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” he asked, fearfully.
Aggroda had brought them outside the building, after explaining his plan to them. It was “Midday mealtime” when they left, so the streets were clear of any sight of Silvestrea. They had come out to the side of Kongarr which bordered The Open Area. More specifically, they were just left of the X written on the map.
“It's the only way,” replied Aggroda, “Its risky, but it has to be done.”
Hex grunted. He knew that Aggroda was true, but he couldn't help being scared. What they were about to attempt to do was against all ideas of the average tank.

They were going to try to get on top of the wall.

They had worked it out and it was the only way they would be able to discover what was underneath the X. They had to get on top of the wall and then go from there. For Hex, the idea of going onto the wall of the state was absolutely crazy. Nobody tried to climb onto the wall, for fear of tipping and having to face the awful dizzying journey to respawn. Hex had seen someone do it once, and he swore he never would try that. And now he had to.

“This is crazy.” Hex thought out loud, “I have no idea why I'm gonna risk this.”
“You're going to have to if you want to find whats underneath.” said Aggroda, quietly.
Hex sighed. “Fine... come on Pent, we need this over and done with.”
Aggroda had given the idea of one tank providing a ramp for the other to drive up onto the wall. It had been the best so far, so they had gone with it. Now Hex was beginning to regret the idea of even taking part in this crazy attempt.

Pent carefully drove into the wall producing a sliding ramp. “Go. Quick.” he said, clearly tense with the effort. Hex drove up, but couldnt raise himself onto the back of Pent. He repeatedly backed off and drove forwards again, but his tank wouldn't raise itself onto the back of Pent. He groaned.
“Shoot him.” instructed Aggroda.
“What?” said Hex, starting to doubt this tank's loyalty. “Shoot him?!”
“Yes. You will be raised onto his back with the kick-back.” he said. “Pent, it may hurt. But it has to be done.”
Hex stared in disbelief at what he was about to try, but he nodded. “All right.”
He took a drive back, drove forward, and took a shot with his turret as he drove into Pent. He felt the massive kick-back as he shot, reeled, but the front of his tank was now on Pent. He used all his energy reserved, grabbed a N20, and drove forward with all his might. His tracks spun for grip, and Hex was about to lose hope, when he felt a surge run through him, and to his own disbelief, drove up onto the top of the wall.

“You did it!” said Aggroda, barely controlling his excitement. Pent grinned, though still stinging from Hex's shot. Hex remained frozen at the top, stopped in his tracks by the view of Kongarr from this height. He couldn't turn away from this amazing moment so soon. I wonder how many people have ever done this before... he thought. A voice below brought him to his senses. "Quick, Hex." It was Aggroda. He glanced down at him and nodded, before turning towards the extreme edge of the map. He looked over the area of emptiness ahead of him, so barren, yet so mysteriously promising.

He slowly edged closer to the edge, and peered downwards, looking for any sign of anything. But before he could look further in detail. he heard a voice shouting urgently to him. “Hex! Hex!” he heard Pent cry. He span his turret around, just in time to see Silvestrea and two fellow officers making towards the wall he was on. He saw one of the officers charge his turret, taking a shot at him, and he froze. He felt the painful burst reel through him as the shot took effect and he reeled backwards. He felt himself falling off the edge, and in sheer panic, attempted to drive forward. But it was too late. The last thing he heard before he fell was Pent's voice: “HEX!!!!”

Pent panicked, the moment he saw Hex fall off the edge of into the Open Area. He's dead. he thought, anger surging through him. He turned to Silvestrea and his men before he realised they were as panicked as he was. They had meant to hurt him, but they hadn't tried to hit him off the wall. Into the unknown. He remembered that he still had his mic to contact Hex. He spoke into it, panic clear through his voice. “Hex!” he said. No reply. “HEX!!!!” he screamed. Still, there remained a plain crackling noise through the mic. He's gone. Pent screamed, panic coursing through him, and rammed into the wall in a mixture of anger, pain and hurt. He's gone.

But Hex had not gone. The moment he had fallen off Kongarr, he sensed a presence underneath him. He fell for another 10 seconds, till he hit something and was halted in his freefall.
“Uuuuggh.” he groaned, hurt running through his hull. He looked under him, seeing what he landed on. A pile of boxes. It was then that Hex realised where he had fallen.
It was their treasure chest. Their X. In the form of an Island.
Hex felt shock course through him. The X had not been a treasure chest, it had not been anything so irrevelant. It had been an island. A new state.
Hex looked around him, still groaning from his fall. They were buildings dotted around the place. Even some ramps. The whole place looked like something out of history, yet so familiar. The thing that struck him most, though, was the silence. There was absolutely no noise. Nothing. Apart from a small familiar crackling noise.... Hex glanced down at his mic. It had switched off when he had made contact with the boxes. He switched it on, and said a single word.
“Pent?”


And I think we can well say that the rest is history. Hex was rescued by a team sent down for him. It was the first island discovered seperate from the states, and they soon made a bridge to link it with the main kingdom. Hex was asked to name it, and after contemplating, he named it Silence, after the shocking lack of sound he had noticed. This map still lives on today, burning with battle each day.

And so Silence lives on...


Avatar credits to BLASTOISE-T12 -- Map used in Railgun-Hornets Pic credits to cheese3000

Edited July 31, 2017 by Hexed

[Lhamster 4,081]

Aw, your poor story has no replies...

I like this, keep up the story writing!

[Beerme 106]

Poor pig, great job on your articles and its sad that people dont like commenting on your work, maybe it is cause of your pig power :P

[hogree 4,179]

maybe it is cause of your pig power

 

Maybe, just maybe... :huh: Thanks.

[daboss123 0]

Great work on the story! I love it! keep up the good work ;)

[dilberts 1]

great work i just skimmed through it cuz i have to play :) but it's good keep up the good work

[slurpyrobot 2]

Great story !!! :) :) :)

[r_SwagBoy110 421]

Very long, but I'm glad I read it all. Great Story!

Tanki sure has a lot of talent. :)

[Dr.Urbi 657]

Awesome!

[Valletta 834]

Awesome avatar Hog :lol: congrats to Blastoise

[unholysin1 3]

gz on ranking nubree

[r_caleb7770 2]

Nice story hogree :)

[Keith626 1]

nice man

[Darren4Turbo 4,913]

Good article @hogree Lol, it's so old, almost 4 years passed.  :P