Story [Issue 26] The Insurgence: Sandbox (Part 1)

[GoldRock 6,165]

Read the first part of this series here: The Insurgence: Massacre.

Recap (the ending section of the previous part):

They wipe our memories. That's the first inexplicable thought which comes to my mind as I regain consciousness, and almost as soon as it came, it passes. But it's only a ghost of a thought, this time. And then I remember where I am. I feel pain shoot across my side, slightly dulled, and I groan. How am I still alive? As I start to regain my senses, I rephrase the question. How am I still alive if they all fired simultaneously? Now that is something I don't have the answer to, and I suddenly want to find out. I look around; the terrain is less damaged here, though I can see the ground slope upwards ahead, and hear their missiles pierce the air and explode beyond the slope. I turn again, and then I see them. Right in front of me.

And then I realise I can speak.

"You're..." I begin, but I'm interrupted. This one has a larger hull, and a turret I don't recognise.
"No, we're not 'them'. Can't you Recruits try asking something a little more original for once?" he chuckles, his voice deep.
"Recr..."
He interrupts again. "We call all tanks which survive Massacre that, you're one of them. It's lucky you escaped, you're the first one we've had in weeks now. I suspect one of ours had a hand in that."
"But if you're not... them, then who are you?"
"We're just like you, just that we got of that that hell-hole a while back. Looks like you must've had to take quite a few tries at that!" he laughs, as if he just shared an inside joke.
"You look pretty beat up, too. We'll get you patched up, though, and who knows - you could be alright once we've trained you up a bit. Welcome!"

He turns and starts to drive away from the slope, and I instinctively follow.

______________________________
 

I turn, looking back on what we've left behind. The slope is merely a pinprick on the horizon. We've been travelling for a few days now, resting under whatever shelter we could find - or if we couldn't, out in the open. It's dangerous, my companion tells me; they sometimes send patrols out beyond Massacre. "But you shouldn't worry," he chuckled, "I've not yet seen a tank which I can't destroy!" And his combination, which he claims is a "third-generation Thunder/Mammoth", certainly does look formidable.

We reach a ridge; that provokes a groan from my companion. His gears grind as begins to trundle up the steep incline. I don't seem to have as much trouble as him, despite his explanation that I'm using a 'non-upgraded' combination at the moment. I reach the edge of the ridge whilst he's still got some way to go, keeping an eye out for hostile patrols. We haven't met any so far, but I'm told it wouldn't be a fun experience for a Recruit if we did. "If your combination is so powerful," I call down to him, "why don't you just try and destroy them in Massacre?" He climbs up beside me, having finally managed to push his bulky hull to the top of the ridge. "Even I wouldn't try going into Massacre," he chuckles, "at least, not alone..." Laughing at the confused expression on my face, he points to what lies ahead. "Welcome to our camp - it might not look like much, but you'll have to call it home for at least the next few months."

The 'camp' looks like the result of a lot of hard work, but without an intelligent architect at its helm. Buildings of varying shapes and sizes are sprawled across the scene - there must be at least a hundred of them, stretched out over a mile or so - with a dense collection of larger constructions at the centre. These ones look more modern, but many of the buildings are contructed from wood, fairly small and primitive, which instantly strikes me as a bad idea. A sudden burst of gunfire breaks the silence; I jump, but it seems to have come from amongst a cluster of buildings at the other side of the camp. The gunfire continues.

 

"Enjoy your stay!" he says with a smile, as we navigate down the other side of the ridge. I can't tell whether he's being sarcastic or not.
______________________________

As we make our way towards the centre of the camp, I spot various tanks wandering around. I don't recognise many of them, though I spot one using a hull which looks like mine except slightly larger and with more armour plating, and I see another Thunder user keeping lookout on the outskirts of the camp alongside some tanks with longer-barrelled weapons. In comparison with the size of the camp, there doesn't seem to be that many inhabitants. A fairly significant proportion of the buildings appear to be unoccupied, and I peer into one of them as we pass. I catch a glimpse of beams of sunlight streaming through gunshot holes in the wall before we continue on. "Is this camp... safe?" I ask, slightly nervous. "Oh yes, of course," my companion replies, "though occasionally one of their patrols finds us and attacks the camp. It can be a messy business trying to hold them off." Seeing my more-than-slightly disturbed expression, he hastily adds "but that hasn't happened for months now, fortunately." I notice his expression darken as he turns away.

As we reach the camp's centre, I'm able to examine the buildings there in more detail. One of the larger ones appears to be some sort of warehouse - I guess that's where they might keep various equipment - and another, not far off, appears to be completely coated in layer of steel. Bizarrely, I can't see any visible way of entering it. My companion spots what I'm looking at, and leans in. "Apparently, they're working on some sort of fourth generation of equipment", he stage-whispers. He seems to be particularly excited by this revelation, though I'm still wondering how I can upgrade my tank at all. We reach what appears to be the main building; it's not as large as the warehouse, but it's set in stone and has two armed tanks guarding its entrance. "Operational Centre", I read, as we are allowed to enter.

______________________________

 

We're met by a couple of senior-looking tanks; both are well armoured, and look like they could be the ones running the place. "How's it going, General?" one asks as he looks up to see us entering. With a jolt, I realise they don't run the place - from the sound of things, it's my companion, who's been looking after me for the last few days as we made the arduous journey here, who does. "Not so badly," chuckled the General in response, "but I managed to get hold of another new Recruit. He needs some patching up, take him to the Garage where you can brief him on his initial training." The tank who looked up as we entered now turned to face me, quickly scanning me over and noting the wisps of smoke still coming from the jagged hole pierced through the side of my battered armour. "Come on then," he sighed as he drove past me towards the doorway through which we had just entered, and I turned to follow him.

 

As we made our way further into the camp, it seemed we were getting nearer and nearer to the source of the gunfire which I'd heard before - intermittent bursts still broke the silence. Just as I was on the verge of asking what this was and where we were going, we rounded one of the larger wooden buildings and the answer became obvious. A number of tanks, many of them not dissimilar in appearance to my own, appeared to be taking it in turns to fire at targets set up some distance away, watched by a couple of supervisors. Off to one side was a small arena. I observed the action, fascinated, as a smaller tank weaved its way towards a much larger tank with a long-barrelled weapon, who appeared to be trying to snipe its opponent.

But too soon, the distance was covered, and the smaller tank's weapon suddenly erupted with flames, taking mere seconds to burn its bulkier foe into oblivion. I watched, horrified, as a series of explosions marked the end of the duel. "Now that's how you take out an enemy sniper," said my supervisor. I turned to see that he too had stopped to watch the action, and from the sound of it, he was almost as impressed as I was. "Anyway, we haven't got all day. We'll get you patched up, then you'll be next. After all, we have to see what you're made of." he laughed. The gears of his tank ground into action once more, leaving me to contemplate what he'd just said in the dust his tracks left behind.

[qinwan9 125]

Awesome dude!Really awesome! :)

[Mr.I3oSS 557]

Good Job goldilocks :D

[aBdUlLaHkInGg 39]

Sandbox is my favourite map in XP battles.

[hogree 4,179]

Sandbox is my favourite map in XP battles.

Try reading the article before commenting next time...

Edited September 5, 2014 by hogree

[aBdUlLaHkInGg 39]

Try reading the article before commenting next time...

Oops sorry for that hogree bro.

[7919zola 252]

Another captivating article you have here Gold. Can't wait to read the next part of it, hopefully on the next Press Issue.

[Warhammer_TO 181]

Great job! 

[lordmostafa 3,821]

Great work mate, I can't wait for the 3rd one :wub:

[redfrostgragon 4]

I can't wait for the next article Goldy. 

 

A good 1 bro.........AN awesome 1

[Ledroid 0]

HA!Ha! Ha!

[m6ttetu 288]

Good story

[I.Prince_of_Albania 278]

what if it s a horror story i dont want to read it :/

[Moreuz 67]

4Th Generation? I wonder if they are getting at something

[liverpoolaum 811]

nice