[Issue 60] [Story] Between Tabs - Part X

[Shedinja 1,488]

Read Part I Here

Read Part II Here

Read Part III Here

Read Part IV Here

Read Part V Here

Read Part VI Here

Read Part VII Here

Read Part VIII Here

Read Part IX Here

 

 

This one goes out to my Dad, who's been with the series for a very long time and has been a steadfast supporter of my Tanki Online career. Thanks for the support to allow me to be fearless and play.

 

NickNackPattyWaack's Hornet M1 instantly crumpled under the kinetic force projected by my Railgun blast, the electric-blue line spiking directly through its core and forcing the machine to discard a uniform blue flag. "Uno, the flag is down! Go for it!"

 

My splotched green Hunter was on the edge of the red team's base, leaning from its relative cover behind one of the concrete jersey barriers that were such commonplace to Monte Carlo. My last shot had felled the leader of the opposing clan Stealth 360, whom was on the verge of slipping into the cover of the far rear alley. In a matter of seconds, a zebra striped Hornet/Firebird floated on-scene, returning our flag with a quick brandish of the front of her hull. someoneuno is hard on the trail as usual, I thought, bemused. It's only a matter of time before that Thunder finds her, though.

 

From the limits of my precarious lookout, I scanned the raised concrete labyrinth for ComeAtMeBro14, the only Shaft our humble clan had available. On cue, his tank reappeared back on our side within a second, the oblong turret already twisting aside to face our adversaries, the accompanying Hornet roving eastbound to find an advantageous sniping position; specifically, one covering the sloping ramp behind the red flag, where a pair of dark Viking/Thunders and an M0 Wasp/Railgun were taking cover, their various positions bringing errant thoughts of WWI trench warfare to my mind.

 

Back on our side, AR12GAMING was still crammed in the back by our flag, his steely grey Titan an impermeable barrier between trespassers and our flag harbor. Potatoe10937's petite M1 BP machine was twitching spasmodically behind him, a forest green mouse sleuthing for any intruders that dare trespass on our side. T3chio was carting himself busily about the duo in his metallic Wasp/Isida of mixed modification levels, fulfilling his role by keeping every defender at maximum health.

 

My Railgun was nearly fully charged once more, so I turned my eye back to the ramp where the Vikings were hiding. "Germ, there's a pair of Vikings on the ramp by the flag. If Tater, Bro and I could finish them off, it'll give you and uno enough wiggle room to swipe their flag."

 

The leader of Tanki Brethren, AllTimeGerman99, responded in a hurried fashion, his western cadence transforming his speech into a jabber that was slightly more difficult to understand. "Yea, go 'head, 'm spawning in now." Potatoe10937 wasted no time in responding with a quick 'yeah', while I remained silent, bouncing my driving fingers over the forward and reverse controls. Before I prepared to pop back out of my hiding spot, I witnessed the Forester M1 Wasp already commence dashing pell-mell across his side of the arena, the end of his Railgun just barely poking out of the walls he passed. The coal-black Wasp on the red flag's home ramp was beginning to move to the surface platforms, his own turret rotation patterns mimicking my partner's. Now's your chance. With a tap of the Spacebar and a finger crushing the reverse key, I was already moving out of cover, a round cooking in my now luminescent barrel waiting to bore a hole through my new target.

 

To my disappointment, however, the strike had failed to impact the end of his hull that I was targeting by a considerable distance.

 

My ally, however, did not miss.

 

Potatoe10937's shot, crossing my vision like a comet, hit true through the opposing Wasp's left set of treads, causing the shadowy vehicle to wobble dangerously under its own momentum. The owner of the craft was not ready to go down easily, however; it was apparent that he intended to grapple with the in-game physics to the fullest of his extent, yanking his treads to the left to maintain an odd stargazing pose on the ramp, desperate not to careen off of the edge.

 

Another chance began to regenerate pixel by pixel within the yellow bar hovering behind my tank. Seeing another opportunity to gain some ground, I decided to abandon my post and take shelter on the far side of an adjacent stone peak. If I remember correctly, this spot in particular, has a Double Power station nearby. An olive green crate with a hazardous yellow and black radioactivity symbol began its descent over my head seconds later, confirming my theory.

 

The Wasp, having finally succumbed to gravity, toppled over the ramp's side, beginning its terrifying plummet to the city below. A pale blue glow emanated from the flailing Railgun during the descent but was quenched shortly thereafter through hitting the self-destruct zone. Guess I won't need to focus on him, after all, I thought, chuckling quietly to myself.

 

Readjusting my position in the wooden library chair, I could see that the Storm-clad Viking/Thunder was on the move to the surface, suffering the full wrath of a surprise visit from someoneuno's M1 Firebird. She never had a chance to finish him, though, before NickNackPattyWaack barreled headlong towards her after phazing through a Tundra clad Freeze/Mammoth during respawn, peppering her hull with a cloud of orchid plasma spheres and ending her spree. I heard AllTimeGerman99's Wasp growl as it rounded the corner that I was previously sheltered behind as I peeked out from behind the obtuse ramp, punching a hole though NickNaackPattyWack's war machine once again. 

 

Golly, M1 Rail sure is tough, I contemplated, enjoying the fireworks displayed sponsored by the leader of Tanki Brethren's hull. Glad I bought this thing on sale during Tanki's 5th birthday. 

 

AllTimeGerman99's stained copper Wasp, having long since passed my camping position by, leaped with minimal effort over the red base's central peak, unnecessarily picking up a falling N₂O crate midflight. I'm sure Germ is, too.

 

The clouded blue Viking had only the time to blast one shot into the Dirty-clad M1 Wasp before he was terminated with a second-long stream of crackling electricity, leaving AllTimeGerman99 scot-free to raise the red battle standard over his head, take a sharp turn onto the nearby ramp, and leap into space.

 

However, the other Thunder/Viking wasn't about to let simply him walk away.

 

The blast from the shell's impact sent my leader tumbling sideways onto the other side of the unbridged void, his compact hull performing a short cartwheel before landing on its skirted side. Fortunately, the center of his weight remained on the platform, but a fair amount of the front tread sets were jutting precariously over the edge of the map. The steel plated M1 Isida atop was twitching and rotating oddly, his overall posture strangely reminding me of a beetle struggling to aright itself. His voice even sounded strained over the connection, as if he was trying to hoist a heavy weight off his shoulders while playing. "I've got the flag, I'm downed by their base on our side. Need some 'elp."

 

The dark M0 Viking had a second left to live before my Double Power-augmented Railgun charge sent bits of it into the stratosphere. Instead of ducking back behind the ramp, however, I let the momentum of my M0 hull carry me back down the path to the central bridge that overshadowed the map. Potatoe10937 was on the move parallel to me on the left, having previously taken shelter behind one of the concrete walls lining our side's forefront lane. All I gotta do is distract them for a moment longer. Then Tater can perform an assist and bring the flag home the rest of the way.

 

A quick turn to the right, and I was facing the width of the massive bridge, both strongholds visible in the peripherals of my screen. If you could call them strongholds, with the severe lack of shielding in a number of areas. Inspecting the furthest reaches of the sparsely armored paths revealed no other living soul, the bridge blocking my view of AllTimeGerman99 and the left base's sparing prop distribution somehow concealing Potatoe10937. Nothing was visibly advancing from the red team's span of land.

 

Disregarding the lack of players, I had completed the turn and was bearing down on the accessway to the central bridge when I was suddenly struck with an ovular orange disc, yanking the rear of my Hunter to the right and causing me to recoil in my seat. Halting and letting my heart skip a beat, I pulled my hull away from the edge of the ramp, wildly thrashing my Railgun in an erratic circle around me before realizing that no green was removed from my health meter. Confused, I commanded my turret to face left, discovering that ComeAtMeBro13 was facing me, the Shaft motionless on its seat. Wha... did he just shoot me? 

 

I opened my mouth to protest, but stopped short upon remembering that I was currently in a library. After about half-second of hesitation, I settled for an angry mumble. "Oi, Bro, watch your fire, you almost threw me off the map..."

 

Sounding almost insulted, he responded in full volume, the apparent injury tweaking his voice a quarter-octave higher than usual. "I am watching, but you have someone behind you!"

 

Instinctively, I turned my vehicle around, hull and all, just in time to catch a glimpse of a furious-looking Hunter/Firebird/Lava, currently in the process of struggling to free itself from the far edge of the jersey barrier I was hiding behind not thirty seconds ago. I must have been directly in his line of fire. It was probably right behind me when he decided to shoot.

 

Taking advantage of the half-used lifetime of my Double Power boost to blast the hapless vehicle to smithereens was no difficult task in comparison to letting go of my temporary fury at my teammate. "I'm sorry. Just please... try not to toss me off the edge of a cliff to kill another guy."

 

Rotating my hull to face the bridge once more, I crested the ramp and rediscovered AllTimeGerman99, still lying on his side, twitching the short ranged M1 turret sporadically. Far to my right, his original assailant, the wide black Viking, had respawned once more. Fortunately for both AllTimeGerman99 and I, Thunder user was pinned in place behind a stone outcropping by a clearly visible ComeAtBeBro14, his Shaft pointed true at the edge of the barricade, waiting for a solid opportunity to strike.

 

There's no way he'll be able to attack German from that position, I concluded gleefully. Unless he has suicidal tendencies. On the opposite side of the battlefield, Potatoe10937 was carefully making his way across the open ground between jutting bars of concrete, his weapon carefully trained on the other base. I'll need to cover him until he can grab Germ's flag.

 

From my lofty vantage point, I couldn't see another tank on their upper road taking shelter. A number of other close ranged tanks were clustered on the tilted plane behind the flag post, logically afraid to leave their refuge, lest they suffer a blast from my two long ranged allies. Upon noticing me, they scattered with the instinct of a crowd of discovered ants, the Mammoth/Freeze heading up and over to duck behind a triangular stone peak while a Viking/Isida backed down the ramp in a frantic yet futile effort to escape my firing range. A number of other tanks were visible doing battle with an angry, flame-spewing zebra, pressing forward with unnerving effectiveness despite T3chio's assistance.

 

The coal-black Thunder was not moving from its perch.

 

I quietly relayed my tactical judgements to my hearkening teammates. "Potatoe, go help Germ, I can hold them from up here!" Out of the corner of my eye, on the opposite section of the red base, the black Wasp had returned to the map, moving without haste in my direction as it developed into a tangible form. With only a third of the Double Power charge remaining, I whipped my turret around with dangerous levels of overconfidence and unleashed a round in his direction, only to have it soar harmlessly over his head. I gave the desk beside my computer a soft pound. Blasted altitude differences...

 

Both the Viking/Thunder and Wasp/Railgun had moved out of cover now, the latter developing a pale blue nodule of light near the tip of their turret. I hope they're aimed at me, and not Potatoe. I'll never be fast enough to return that flag.

 

However, it never had a chance to unleash the shell before suffering a crushing blow to the port side of the Railgun itself, a bright orange portal opening the Wasp wide open upon impact, tearing it to pieces. Immediately, the Thunder turned to this new adversary to target him, but his aim was in turn skewed by a cerulean bolt, the explosive shell launched in a direction unknown. I checked my peripheral vision to find Potatoe10937 already on the move, covering the remaining expanse of levitating concrete to his leader. Surprisingly, he only seemed to have suffered splash damage from the deflected shot, judging by the amount of light blue still contained by his health meter. It took but a matter of seconds for the two to transfer the flag, a tap of F and a quick shove of the clan leader into the abyss expediting his return to the team. someoneuno, having spawned by our Double Power drop zone, quickly came to the new flag-holder's aid, as he was quickly losing health due to revenge shots made by the selfsame Thunder.

 

Taking executive action, I managed to clip the end of his Viking as it was ducking for shelter with the last few seconds of my Double Power charge, but the Storm-clad Viking just as quickly took its place and began pummeling me from below, skillfully swinging the front of his hull upwards to strike me. It only took two shots from Asloth for my tank to incinerate itself, but in that time, someoneuno had already stolen the flag from Potatoe10937's corpse, bolting over the central peak through the open portions of the blue side's stronghold similar to an athletic horse conquering hurdles.

 

At this point, I knew we had won the match. She may have suffered an explosive blow to the hindquarters trying to reach the flag spawning point, but it was simply not enough to defy her momentum, especially with T3chio following closely and reconstructing her injured machine with a steady blue current. With a cheerful flick of the Hornet, she slid laterally past a sentinel AR12GAMING with ease and cruised directly over the blue flag's pedestal, causing the red banner raised above her Hornet to vanish and a bright green notification to appear on the top of the screen. 3 - 2. That's game,  I realized, a wave of excitement spiking quickly throughout my body as the semitransparent scoreboards obscured the fields immediately after her capture.

 

AllTimeGerman99 could be heard laughing over the Skype channel. "Good work ou' there, all a' you. Nice save there at the end, uno."

 

Someoneuno giggled, a high-pitched trilling sound through my weary headphones. "Thanks, Germ. Wouldn't have made it far without cover from Tater and Sigma, though."

 

The glow of the screen illuminated a grin forming on my face as I input a 'GG' by means of the in-game chat. "Heh. Glad I could be of assistance, then."

 

I digested the events of the match as my team celebrated over the comm, Monte Carlo having reset and scrambled everyone's placements, my particular tank being dumped by the blue team's Double Armor station behind another cracked jersey barrier.

 

Wouldn't have made it that far without cover from Tater and Sigma, though. The words ricocheted inside my skull for a moment, refusing to abate despite the growing activity over my headset. I must've been doing something right if they think I was helpful to the clan. Maybe I don't suck so bad at being a teammate after all...

 

The leaders of each clan were using the chat system in Tanki Online expressly now, discussing something about screenshots and the clan forum pages. takumi12 was whirring his M0 Thunder in his socket whimsically next to me, the Hunter he was using gently rocking back and forth behind an olive green crate adorned with metal sheets. "Wow, Sigma. We actually won. Aren't you excited?" His turret stopped rotating, facing a section of cold, white skybox.

 

I couldn't quite find the words to respond immediately, so I just let my turret's barrel play in the air for a second or so, vibrating back and forth like an antenna attached to a car that was plucked by a mischievous child. "I'm glad we won, taks, yeah. I'm glad I didn't mess anything up badly enough for us to lose, anyways."

 

takumi12's voice, usually at a cheery pitch capable of outclassing a number of birds, sunk to a more deflated tone. "I did everything that Germ told me to do, but I died... a lot. I'm happy we won, too, but I just wish I could have done better."

 

AllTimeGerman99 chimed in. "You performed yer job as best y' could, yeah? Didja try?"

 

"Uh huh. I tried my best."

 

AllTimeGerman99's voice was silenced for a moment, the channel suffering from a mighty ripple of lag. "Seems as though yer best was enough."

 

I nodded in agreement, despite knowing that none were able to witness it. "Clearly." My Railgun had begun to twist in its socket once more through the absentminded taps of my left ring finger, scanning the whitewashed city horizon.

 

Seems as though yer best was enough. AllTimeGerman99's philosophy lingered a bit longer in my head as I exited the battle and flicked open a new tab, entering the URL of Tanki Brethren's clan page through sheer muscle memory to send a rejoice letter of our victory to the page. 

 

I must've been doing something right.

 

 

 

*          *          *

 

 

 

Sparks from the M3 Railgun's ion trail spat in a uniform wave from the edge of the slate grey cornerstone I had taken cover behind just milliseconds ago. Returning fire, I somehow managed to plant a successful shot almost perfectly through the barrel of LIlsim's turret, its direct impact bringing him dangerously close to capsizing on the eastern ramp from the red flag. Look at you, Carlos Hathcock. I couldn't suppress a hubris-induced grin as I watched a second lavender shot plow through the injured Hornet's rear tread, setting the entire tank on fire.

 

"Watch T3, he's coming up behind you with the flag!" viperf50, whom I assumed to be responsible for the killing blow of LIlsims, had begun shouting over the intercom. My Railgun had only just begun charging not a second ago, so there was little I could do as T3chio, the leader of Tanki Brethren, hoisted himself up and over the ramp out of our territory and onto the central platform, making a beeline for the blue flag holster. As I charged out from behind my cover to intercept him, he swiveled his own M2 Railgun and sent a charge through the front of my hull, skewing my movement path and forcing me to crash headfirst into another angular slate wall, this one blocking my progress to reach the blue flag. "He's about to cap, I don't know how many shots he needs to go down!"

 

As I readjusted my hull to pursue T3chio, a shell only about a second away from being fully loaded, fake02 materialized from behind the adjacent barrier from my peripheral vision. I could only scrabble helplessly to escape the unnecessarily oversized polygon's grip as he launched a bright mauve pike through my engine, effectively ending my assault.

 

While my tank made the traditional visit to the upper troposphere to respawn, I made a brief analysis to myself of the events unfolding in the Sandbox below. fake02 is making his way to our flag spot once again, likely to keep an effective flag train going. MHSxc1 is following close behind along the western wall, ready to pick up where he left off. My clanmates are mainly gathered on the high platform and the right side of the arena, just like we practiced for Form Four. TankiMedic is pressing forward from the front, while viperf50 is taking shelter behind the wooden cabin as a defensive measure. Pokemontrainer2 was nowhere to be found, probably killed off by MHS. Maybe he MHS in the process.

 

I watched the ground swoop gracefully beneath me, ready to be transported to the next randomized spawn-in location. If there's a way to get Medic through unharmed, then maybe I could substitute for Pokes until he returns to the field and assist the flag catcher from the east. If I don't spawn there, I'll just defend as usual and let viper handle the flag instead. 

 

I looked at the scoreboard, frowning. We're losing 1:2 now, I concluded grimly, a yellow notification coupled with a blaring horn assaulting my senses. We need to be able to pull this flag out now if we want this form to still be effective. My view panned to the right of the pale flag symbols, allowing me to read the timer. And we've only got five minutes to do it.

 

Readying my fingers to move again, I folded my hands and stretched them until I felt a few satisfying cracks. "Viper, you've got two coming in for the flag, let Medic cover you and try to take 'em down." The trajectory of the camera seemed to be carrying me towards the western side of the arena. Looks like I'll be taking the defensive role again. "I'll target fake, you take on MHS." The ghost of my vehicle was visible now, the duo bearing down on me quickly. "Go!"

 

I was already using the western platform wall as cover, letting MHSxc1's tank keep my XP vehicle a phantom for as long as possible. By the time my tank solidified, my Railgun was already facing aft and preparing to spear an incoming fake02, a dulled blur of various shades of blue sliding across the grass and onto our flag. Now completely behind MHSxc1, a spike of adrenaline sent me into overdrive. With unnecessary pressure applied to the down arrow, I reversed my tank and crashed directly into my twin opponent, effectively holding him in place for viperf50 to expend a round into. His shot cut clean through MHSxc1, pulsing from the gap between our stronghold's closest stone escarpment and the humble wooden house.

 

Shoving the sooty corpse away, I finally had the leverage to attack fake02. I noticed that as I hit the spacebar and wound up my launch mechanism that he, too, was preparing to deliver a punch.

 

For a brief half-second, all we could do is cruise past each other, similar to a pair of galleons circling one another in preparation to dispatch boarding parties.

 

Then the lavender darts found their way to their respective targets, catapulting both fake02 and I in separate directions.

 

I leaned back in my recliner, awestruck. You've got to be kidding me. My tank had completely toppled onto its back, the topaz Hornet's momentum causing it to hurtle itself over completely. fake02, however, was somehow spared this same fate, his hull wobbling nervously on its side, exposing the welded seams holding together its underbelly. I squished the Delete button more times than necessary, a loud dak-dak-dak-dak audibly reverberating over the intercom. fake02, having fully understood his own personal conundrum, was in the process of swiveling his gun into the ground to right himself once more.

 

Then, for a range just beyond my view, someone's Railgun round sent a ripple through the air and blew the salty blue tank sky-high before it managed to land gently on both tracks.

 

As my own tank exploded, I resolved the answer to my question before I even thought to ask it. Pokemontrainer2 whirled around the corner of the platform and past the dirty crater I left behind, his M2 Railgun emitting a smooth whirring sound as the inverted sprocket holding it in place rotated back and forth rapidly, letting him seek out and train his focus upon any targets that dare stand in his path.

 

LIlsims, as I was able to witness from the limbo of respawn, was readying himself behind the northern side of the platform, rocking his M3 Hornet back and forth with the lithe of an anxious wildcat. Pokemontrainer2 must have seen him as well, deciding to reverse midstride and wind his own Hornet within the relative safety of the western ramp entry. Just as he slipped behind the tiny wall, the Legend kit had already broken away from the far wall, loosing a fiery orange bolt in his general direction. A smirk vented a considerable amount of concern as the shot soared far over his head.

 

The location where my tank was reborn didn't permit me to view the fight any longer, since the entire central platform blocked my view of their engagement. Instead, the ghostly vehicle found new life on the southeastern side of the map, where viperf50 had put a dent in MHSxc1's brand new M2 equipment. I scanned the eastern path ahead, but saw no signs of my co-leader. A quick glance to the upper right corner of the screen explained the rest of the story. "Medic, did you hit anyone before you died?"

 

"I finished off T3 and left a mark on sims," he replied, "but fake got me in the end."

 

"Alright, Pokes is by the flag, and I think he won his fight with sims. Head through the middle as you would with Form Two." I was barking orders with the dexterity of an auctioneer at this point. "Viper, stay where you are and watch left, we'll be a lot more vulnerable there. I'll take right and be ready to assist Pokes from there." With that, I thrust my Fracture-coated tank from behind the wall and weaved in a narrow zigzag across the field, sticking close to the central stone table and readying a charge for anyone that should come my way.

 

fake02 had already climbed the short ramp to the upper platform and had a round prepped for me, a feeble but intensifying purple dot at the end of his Railgun. Instinctively, I took a sharp left and slammed painfully into the wall in a successful attempt to dodge his shot, the bullet discharging the last of its momentum into the sheet of concrete. My Hornet's engine protested vehemently with a series of angry growls as I revved away from the wall, a low hum only adding to the cacophony when I began charging a retaliation shot.

 

To my surprise, instead of being buckled sideways, he erupted into a ball of heat and metal shards. Who hit him? Pokes immediately after waiting for him to respawn? Medic? I didn't break pace to revel in my small victory, speeding across the threshold of the blue camp just as I met up with Pokemontrainer2 once more. He stepped over the enemy flag pedestal and hoisted it high, not slowing down despite taking on the burden of an extra projectile through his Hornet's starboard thread set, courtesy of MHSxc1's more than decent aim. Wow. How didn't he suffer an injury this entire time?

 

A warm balloon started swelling in my chest, and I failed to suppress another smirk. Glad he's on our side.

 

I briefly hunkered down behind the concrete wall for about three seconds before slamming the up arrow and the spacebar simultaneously, my turret seeking vengeance on the opposing topaz machine for its trespass against my clanmate. A second burst of ignited fossil fuels appeased my weapon's wrath for the moment, along with my own.

 

After turning about to take a circumspective intake of my surroundings, I discovered that viperf50 was no longer at his post, and that T3chio was nowhere to be seen. Flab. Someone needs to cover Pokes. "Medic, watch for T3, he's likely headed your way."

 

TankiMedic seemed slightly antagonized by my warning. "Yeah, I know, he's here right now."

 

[T3chio has taken our flag]

 

Fantastic, I nearly growled aloud to myself. Hopefully, Pokes isn't directly in his line of sight. LIlsims popped into life directly next to me, already trying to plant the ghost of himself inside of my tank. Refusing to succumb and let him gain several more seconds of invincibility, I frantically threw my Hornet wide from the point, bouncing between the up and down arrows at random, my left forefinger barely applying pressure to the spacebar in anticipation. Either he's going to be able to catch me off guard with an immediate shot, or he's going to somehow spawn beneath me and flip me over. I need to get rid of him NOW.

 

In a redoubled effort to shake him loose, I feigned rearing my Hornet back up the ramp to slide behind the slate barrier to the right, but halfway up the ramp, I changed course and readied the magnetic shuck for launch. LIlsims flawlessly finished the climb up the ramp, looking straight down the glowing barrel of my M2 Railgun. Immediately, he tried to weave behind the same barrier and charge his own shot, but it was too late for him to dodge the round moving towards him at many times the speed of sound.

 

Clipping the face of his turret, his entire tank leaned sideways, the sunset glow from the end of his Railgun arcing skywards. Somewhere in the skybox, a cloud suffered a fatal blow, but at the cost of LIlsims capsizing thanks to his own recoil.

 

Just as the remainder of his turret vanished beneath the surface of the map, a wave of notifications swept the words lining the corner of the screen upwards all at once.

 

[T3chio has lost our flag]

[Pokemontrainer2 destroyed T3chio]

[TankiMedic has returned our flag]

[Pokemontrainer2 has captured enemy flag]

 

We're tied now, I observed upon a brief glance at the lower right portion of the monitor, slightly blurred by a small accumulation of dust particles. 2:2, and we've got exactly three minutes and forty one seconds to pull a rabbit out of our hats. If I can take back this flag safely, we can defend until time runs out.

 

I felt my heart thudding in my chest, its rhythm fueled by the consistent waves of electricity pulsing across my nervous system as I backed over the steely pedestal and collected the blue banner. My heart rate only increased as I watched first fake02, a dull blue cloud in my spinning vision, then MHSxc1 appear side by side, only a crate length away from the flag pedestal each. On the verge of panic, I reversed my Hornet away from impending doom as fast as I could, nervously swinging my hull side to side to the point where I was inducing a controlled fishtail with the front of my tank. My next round had not yet loaded. Hurry up... they're going to spawn any millisecond...

 

There was nothing I could do to prevent MHSxc1 from wheeling from behind the platform and jettisoning a shot directly through my core, fake02 following suit shortly thereafter.

 

Within a matter of seconds, the former had already returned the flag, and began taking the eastern path towards ours. His topaz Hornet didn't make it far without suffering a grievous wound from a vengeance strike made by viperf50, however.

 

fake02, as I witnessed during my monitor's simulated flight, did not follow suit behind the topaz machine, but instead turned tail and fled behind the barrier once more. Are they initializing another defense? Medic can't take another hit, and viperf50 isn't going anywhere. Where is Pokes?

 

Returning from respawn once again, I noticed that both LIlsims and T3chio have recovered from their various fates and were already traveling the open ground of the western path, both having clearly spawned near that position. My own random spurn managed to bring me back to the southern ramp, so following my knee jerk reaction, I hammered the up arrow into place and skittishly alternated between the Z and X keys, hunting lustfully for any sign of fake02's Marine coating.

 

Not two seconds later, I found him coasting along the western path's furthest wall, his attention locked firmly in place by the spontaneous appearance of TankiMedic about half a map in front of him. A quick an inexplicable tint of red hazed my vision. I've had enough of you already.

 

I purposefully delivered a solid jab to the front left corner of the tank, skewing his aim satisfyingly far to the right of the oncoming Sandstone blur and forcing him to expend the wrath of a high density, electromagnet-primed charge into the nearest beige cliff. TankiMedic delivered a quickly thanks over the intercom before finishing off the unlucky tanker with a satisfying cloud of flame, then proceeded to turn around and lay siege unto the two new arrivals into base, seemingly unimpeded. A passive glance toward the red camp revealed that viperf50 already seemed to have his hands full with MHSxc1; the pair could be seen looping around the house in the distance, bright lavender glows and the occasional escaping beam betraying that they were locked in a intense battle of prediction. "viper, once you're done with MHS, try and tackle LIlsims, he's got our flag now."

 

"Trying, he's not letting me g-- GOT 'EM!" viperf50 cheered triumphantly as he managed to flick the corner of the enemy vehicle with a bullet on the rightmost border of my screen, effectively ending MHSxc1's chase. Wasting no time, I turned my attention to the blue flag just in time to witness Pokemontrainer2 tackling the podium it stood upon once more. From the headphones, his engine could be heard audibly roaring as he hightailed it out of their base, taking the better sheltered western road once again. This time, there were no other tanks heading his way, but he had apparently suffered a wound in the period that he had disappeared behind the concrete barriers. Déjà vu. Hopefully it'll occur the same way it did last time.

 

"Shed, I missed sims, he's two shots!" TankiMedic was shouting over the channel over an artificial explosion on his end.

 

Not like last time at all, I reflected, an icy finger starting to trail its way down my spine.

 

I whirled around on the spot only to find myself staring straight down into his barrel, the sun burning brightly in its core. Before I could react, the concentrated force of a semitrailer smacked directly into the faceplate of my Railgun, the initial jerk lifting the front of my Hornet to the digital sky and shattering four-fifths of my health bar. A spasm reverberated through my body, that familiar plucked-guitar-string tension testing its strength. I can't recover from this position fast enough, I realized, panic beginning to feed and expand the urchin in my stomach once more. And I still haven't let off a shot.

 

Something raw and instinctive compelled me to rotate my turret 180° degrees from the left around on my still suspended hull. LIlsims, instead of deciding to try and plow through my uplifted hull, began to swing his hull about and rove around me from the left side. My eyes widened as I saw my opportunity, and I didn't hesitate for a millisecond to smack my laptop's Spacebar, quickly followed by a series of rapid taps of my middle finger.

 

The events that occurred next only came to me as a multichromatic blur. I saw a bright purple flash. The world around me began to spin crazily, the only item staying even remotely steady being my own tank. Even the Fracture-clad machine still took on a warped appearance as the brick water tower, previously standing sentinel with the red flag pedestal in its shadow, suddenly decided to start orbiting around me with the frenzied nature of an agitated honeybee. Someone shouted in surprise over Skype, but I couldn't focus on it properly. Crimson nametags whizzed in and out of my vision as I revolved on whatever axis I somehow still stood upon. 

 

After a few seconds, my Hornet stopped pirouetting, having tired the last of its momentum, and promptly collapsed flat on its right side to rest. 

 

Stunned, I scanned the world around me, trying to discern exactly what happened. Did I hit him? The numb thought bounced off of my brain like a tennis ball from a slanted slate roof, only the blink of a suggestion at first, but eventually succumbing to its own gravity and pressing for closure as I reoriented myself. Unable to use Z and X to effectively to view my surroundings, I settled for a rightward turret position for a quick arightening, but my hopes were immediately dashed by a tangerine bolt forcing its way through whatever HP I had remaining.

 

I took a brief moment to let the loose adrenaline valve in my system tighten itself as I respawned, letting coherent thoughts control my mind over instinctive responses. Alright, so if I hit him, sims should be a one shot, but there'll be a number of people ready to cover him, since fake02 should be respawning by now, and MHS should be well on his way. A quick glance at the central ramp confirmed my thoughts, with fake02 already wriggling his way onto the central platform and MHSxc1 appearing in the corner closest to the blue flag. On my descent, I begun to assume he had suffered a brief lag spike, as his ghostly XP equipment began performing an odd series of hops in mid-air before crashing back down to earth, zipping at unnatural speeds headfirst into the cliff beside him.

 

He immediately suffered a peck from an overzealous viperf50, whom in return picked up a decimating blow from T3chio. In the time of my absence, he had made himself a comfortable home alongside the western path's wall. It took me minimal effort to likewise finish him off after spawning in, a careless shot cutting through his beige and green tank like a hot knife through butter.

 

Pokemontrainer2 finally revealed himself from behind the wooden shack, the blue banner raised high and proud atop his turret. He carved a path through the grass and dropped the flag in front of me, then set off to the central platform to find a vantage point. Accepting the new responsibilities I had just been granted, I hoisted the flag and pressed my citrine machine against the wall of the red base and took into mind what was beginning to take place.

 

I have the blue flag. LIlsims has the red flag. We're tied on points. I took a quick peek at the timer. We've got just less than two minutes left in the match and counting. It looks like this is going to be a stalling match.

 

I patiently rocked my hull back and forth along the wall, focusing on the Q and E keys to find a vantage point to view the field from. "What's the situation over there look like? I don't see anyone." Occasionally, TankiMedic's glowing nametag would appear in the general area behind one of the looming billboards, but I couldn't quite get a bead on where his tank was.

 

TankiMedic had to holler over a series of in-game notifications that indicated that our flag traded hands between members of Tanki Brethren. "MHS has the flag now. Sims and fake are headed your way." I raised an eyebrow in surprise, then proceeded to swiftly back away from the wall and bullseye fake02, of whom managed to get caught on the western ramp's corner. Why would he give the flag to someone with low health? What's he playing at? On cue, a bright blue and purple flash of his paint betrayed his position upon his pass of the eastern ramp's entrance. My eyes widening, I revved to the western path as quickly as my XP combo could carry me, barely slipping behind the shelter of the corner just as LIlsims barreled around his own and threw an orange javelin where I was idling a second ago.

 

I readied myself to launch a retaliation shot, but quickly realized it would be impossible to accomplish with only three-fourths of a full charge. By the time the spacebar did more than make a loud tapping noise when I pressed it, he was already long since behind cover. Roving out from behind my wall, I switched targets midcharge and ended the life of fake02, still lingering on the upper platform for whatever reason. LIlsims, apparently realizing he gained an advantage, used the time that I couldn't fire at him to beeline to my hiding spot by stampeding through the red base itself. A lavender ion trail tore through me from behind, stealing a large portion of my health bar. My confidence in my survival similarly plummeted, hitting the bottom of my expectations with a sickening crash.

 

Unfortunately for LIlsims, however, viperf50 had just spawned by the wooden shack behind him, chuckling over his headset.

 

The hapless M3 tanker was never expecting a thing as he was readying to cripple me with another round. However, the feeble yellow dot disappeared in a bright orange cloud the instant it was born, the remaining scraps of metal following their original path of momentum and letting the once beautiful machine tumble violently. It eventually ground to a screeching halt at my titanium plated bow.

 

If I could have pumped my fist into the air at that moment, I would have, but I restrained myself in remembrance of the unseen opponent poking holes in my back. Instead, I coiled myself back around the mangled metal corpse to the safety of the water tower's shadow once more, peeking from behind the structure in an attempt to lock on to my previous assailant. A dash of red and gold hovered just above the opposing platform before being lost to sight behind a slate grey cornerstone. He came out of hiding with the flag to shoot me, despite being very low on health. Not sure if that's a sign of bravado or foolishness.

 

Itching to get back into the fight, I marched my Hornet directly up to viperf50 and deposited the flag onto the ground in front of him with a simple tap of the F key. "I'm gonna go try and take out MHS, do what you can to hold onto this thing." Not looking back to see if he noticed the banner immediately, I switched my orientation about and tossed my machine back up the southern ramp, barreling madly in the last visible location of MHSxc1.

 

With a few concise taps on the keyboard to adjust the camera altitude, I confirmed that he was indeed still resting on the far side of the slate wall, apparently waiting for a magnetic shell to finish loading before he proceeded with his assault. I barely had time to so much as wave the end of my barrel at him, however, before I was caught off guard by both a lavender and a sunset orange ion trail crisscrossing before my vision, eradicating the remains of my proud machine. Good thing I had the foresight to drop off the flag with viper.

 

While I was hovering in limbo, however, I felt uneasy about viperf50's positioning behind the house. Where's T3? I scanned the field nervously, but I couldn't find his Savannah-clad Hornet anywhere. Blast that paint. With my graphics, it'll be impossible to see him from a distance... As my last chance at catching a glimpse of T3chio died with my return to Earth, I sighed quietly to myself. They should ban that paint from eSports in general or something, I thought sullenly.

 

On the eastern path, LIlsims was visibly barreling down as quickly as he could onto viperf50's hiding spot, his M3 Hornet carrying him dangerously quick across the dirt and grass textures. TankiMedic, having apparently died in the battle beyond me, suddenly spawned into existence to the left of the empty bubble of space where I was waiting to appear. Not even waiting for the game to drop him into the arena properly, he was already charging madly towards the dark brown building, the Railgun bolted atop the oblong machine twitching frantically as it sought for its glistening Spark brother.

 

As my engine finally roared to life after leaving the mysterious medium of limbo, I felt an odd sensation in the core of my stomach. The electricity that normally ricocheted through my nervous system started pulsating faster than usual. My keystrokes each echoed in my ear for a long time after striking them, the aftermath of holding one leaving a slight indent on my finger. A tiny bead of sweat, previously threatening to push itself from my skin due to the overcompensating warmth of the house's heater, found its way out of the left side of my temple and started forcing a shaky trail down my forehead. We agreed to not have micro upgrades on, right...?

 

LIlsims' Railgun was whirring oddly fast in an attempt to track my Tundra coated comrade. Something's wrong here. My stomach contracted violently as I realized what was about to happen. "Viper, get away from the wall! Move to Medic!!" I howled over the Skype channel, hoping it would be enough. LIlsims was officially within spitting distance to the building now, Medic's shot having missed and my opportunity to loose one thwarted by the presence of the impenetrable cabin. Please let me be wrong, I prayed silently.

 

viperf50, under the fierce pressure of LIlsim's hull ramming full power into viperf50's side, was intemperately slammed into the cliff behind him, the shell he was preparing to launch shifting dramatically to discharge into the building. The recoil of his launch only pushed his tank sideways and forced the topside portion of his machine into the cliff face.

 

I could only watch in horror as a bright orange blade decapitated my clanmate, shattering every last red pixel in his health bar and depositing the flag amongst the wreckage directly on top of LIlsims. 

 

 

 

Read Epilogue Here

 

 

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[smokywasp492340 84]

It's back!!1!11!1!!!11!1

[r_I_already_won0 2,339]

Nice read. Quite long.  <_<  Good job! :)

[fordmustang12345 3,910]

Bit long but still a good read

[bc200214_777 582]

7k words :o