Battle for the Flag [TL&TL Short Stories]

[Cyber2_O.o 64]

The battle around me was filled with the continuous hiss of a Firebird's spray, the powerful whoomp of a Gauss flying through the air, and the screech of a Shaft making a successful snipe. I spawned on the blue team's side of the hill, on my fifth life, looking around to see if anyone was in need of healing. Both teams were equally matched, with one flag captured each. I toggled on a Speed Boost, and climbed out of my dent in the ground.

 

Boom. Almost instantly, a Thunder shot at me, leaving a dark spot about two feet away. He was rolling towards me with his high-and-mighty Dictator, recharging another shot. Under its wheels was a dark indent that suggested it blew up a mine while coming for me. I stabbed the R key to see his protection modules. Firebird, Isida, Freeze... Wow, this guy really doesn't like short-range turrets, does he? Thunderleaf can handle him better than I can... hopefully. 

 

Leaf, I have the flag. Meet me at the Repair Kit drop zone. Thunderleaf's message popped up in the chat. Come on, I can't hold off half of the red team for long! I gave one last glance to the austere Dictator/Thunder, then sped off toward my buddy, toggling on a Double Armor on the way. Five tanks - a Smoky, an Isida, a Freeze, and two Firebirds - were chasing him. I slid myself between the two teams and proceeded to destroy the Wasp/Smoky in seconds. Apparently hearing Thunderleaf's plea, a Hornet helped us with their overdrive. The other four tanks piled themselves on top of me, hitting me with all of their short-range might. As a Hunter, I went down easily, but Thunderleaf wasn't done yet. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Thunderleaf activated his Viking Overdrive and blasted the remaining four tanks off the map. He then turned to the Dictator/Thunder that attacked me earlier, and blasted him too. Apparently, my sacrifice had given him the few vital seconds to charge it up.

 

Thanks, Thunderleaf! I called in the chat, but we weren't out of the woods yet. As I spawned on my sixth life, a chill passed through me. I used another Speed Boost to catch up with Thunderleaf. I kept a wary eye on my surroundings, and saw, thanks to the Hornet's Overdrive, that there was a Gauss aiming at us. I threw myself in front of him again, hoping to block the coming attack (a healer should show altruism to other tanks, after all). I jammed a hand on the Double Armor supply and waited for the Gauss hit me with it's snipe.

 

Xx_Thunderleaf_xX has dropped a gold box, the message screen read. What? How could I have dropped a gold box? Then realized it. My finger had slipped while going for the Double Armor, and pressed 6, the number for Gold Boxes. However, that had created a diversion for the Gauss, who slowly rolled toward the drop zone. I sighed in relief, my earlier disquietude fading, and caught up with Thunderleaf. He rolled his last few paces, then...

 

Thunderleaf has captured enemy's flag. Whoo! I cheered. After everything, we'd successfully captured the flag for our team, ranking first and second on the leaderboard. With both of our overdrives fully charged to 100%, we rolled to the gold box drop zone. Hunter/Isida and Viking/Thunder, both fully charged, with only 30 seconds left in the game.

 

Ready? I asked in the chat, teeming with excitement. The gold box that I'd dropped shone above us, in it's idyllic but exigent form. Without waiting for an answer, I unleashed my overdrive, an electromagnetic pulse, and stunned most of the red team in one blow. Go for it. I grinned. This was going to be quite an ending.

 

With Double Damage, Thunderleaf unleashed a whirlwind of attacks (or should I say a storm of attacks?) on the stunned red team. His overdrive fired up, quickly clearing the drop zone of the red team. A greedy Dictator/Twin jumped forward to catch the box, and we let him. After all, the battle we just played amounted to more than a gold box would ever worth to us.

 

 

The tanks mentioned in this story, Thunderleaf and Xx_Thunderleaf_xX are real Tanki accounts. I got permission from both users to use their usernames in this story (one of which was my own). Although in this story, it suggests that the tanks are ranked near Warrant Officer 1 and above, the real accounts are actually at a way lesser rank.

 

 

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Sorry if this isn't as good as my poem, but I think it's a pretty solid story. While some parts of this story was based on real events in battles, most of it was a product of my imagination. Oh, and sorry for adding in a few arcane words (see what I did there?), I hope you didn't have to go running for the dictionary too many times, if at all!

[kaisdf 3,320]

Article Approved.

 

It's not often that people manage to pull off a good TO battle story, but you definitely have. Fantastic description and high-stakes tension from the very start leave a thrilling piece full of some nice twists and turns!

 

Edits:

• A couple of small spelling mistakes - try reading the piece aloud to yourself before publishing just to double/triple check for mistakes

[r_Given6 859]

Great story. Elaborating less about the smart supplies would have been an improvement, although they don't seem much of a distraction.

[Person_Random 4,991]

I really enjoyed this story.  It was one I couldn't stop reading.  You have a strong writing base, so I'm not going to do too much critic.  While you have a steady hold on sentence starts, but I would like it if you spread your "I did this..." style sentences farther apart, as they are in chunks.  (Unless you meant to reiterate that for effect).  Adding on to what Given said, you don't need to state that you used supplies. Instead, you could write "putting on a burst of speed" and most readers will assume you've put on a speed boost.  And of course, if you do have time, here are a couple of things I'd suggest just for fun.  1. type the actual words in chat and then screen them, crop them and show them for effect.  2. If you capture a flag or drop golds, etc, then you could change the font accordingly  (green is good, yellow bad, orange gold, just for quick ref).

[Cyber2_O.o 64]

Okay, thanks, everyone! I honestly think that this wasn't exactly the best story ever, but somehow that got proved wrong.

I'll try to use the advice, unless I forget on TLSB (Story #2, The Lag Strikes Back). 

 

I would like to add pictures of the chat, but Thunderleaf doesn't play Tanki anymore  :(.

[Pythor 1,354]

Reading through PR's critical text wall on every article gives me a headache.

 

 

 

Somehow I still find myself doing it though  :blink:

[Person_Random 4,991]

Reading through PR's critical text wall on every article gives me a headache.

 

 

 

Somehow I still find myself doing it though  :blink:

Maybe it will be a little more enjoyable in comfortable pUrPLe CoMIc sAnS

[Pythor 1,354]

Maybe it will be a little more enjoyable in comfortable pUrPLe CoMIc sAnS

I feel like I should start writing a critical analysis of your critical analysis. :)

[Cyber2_O.o 64]

If anyone sees this, can a moderator change the title? I was hoping to make this a series, but the title doesn't really convey it...  :blush:

Just change it to [TL&TL] Battle for the Flag, please. Without the italic lettering, of course.

[Lose 881]

Nice story mate.