Panzer x Bak

Chapter One

Kenneth walked through the fields of Prokhorovka without a word, narrowing his eyes to keep out the light of what remained of the falling sun. The whole plain was cloaked in a warm orange as night slowly approached. There was a faint crackle emanating from the fire where the corpses of the day’s losses were being thrown upon. A multitude of men from various European nations stared into it solemnly, realizing they would need to move out soon in a tactical retreat.

“Umm… Sir Kenneth.”

One of the Commander’s crew asked.

“Lucas is going to be put into the fire, and well… We thought you should join in with the funeral service… Sir.”

Kenneth frowned slightly, and continued staring at the top of a small hill in the distance.

“I do not find it necessary for the living to waste time on those who are dead.”

He stated coldly. The crewmember looked shocked.

“But sir! He… Lucas was one of our comrades! We all fought with him and-”

“Wellington, I will not repeat myself. You may honor his memory without me, as I have planning to do.”

Wellington paused for a moment and turned away with a sunken look in his eyes, walking  towards the flames.

Lucas Silvion had been one of his most trusted allies. Kenneth was deeply troubled by his death, but had decided to come across as a strong and capable leader in the beginning of his glorious new career. He needed to come across as rock solid, so that his crew would have full confidence in him during battle. That was why he would not mourn this loss.

The Commander removed a bullet from his trenchcoat and held it before him.

  “Farewell.”

He dropped it to the field below and turned, walking towards a steel behemoth in the distance: the German Panther medium tank. With sloped frontal armor, an excellent gun and surprising speed, it was an opponent to be truly feared. And yet, not invincible. Kenneth’s eyes dropped to the small hole left by the APCR shell in the front of the tank. While they were not put out of action by it, it had bounced around several times in the crew compartment and tore apart Lucas and ripped through the flesh in Darius’ arm. Blood still stained the inside of the vehicle, and the the thought of having to drive this machine into battle like that the following day disgusted the commander.

   Two engineers had bolted some metal over the whole, but this would be purely for decoration. Steel plate like that would have difficulty stopping bullets, let alone antitank weapons. But the crowds back in Germania needed to keep thinking they were unstoppable, right? Wars are won by the will of the people, after all.

The enemy they fought against was powerful, and at this time Germania was focusing more on the Americas. Kenneth thought he knew why, but kept trying to deny it. They wouldn’t just abandon Europe and move themselves to a safer place, would they? These thoughts were very worrying in the minds of many soldiers, as supplies were getting harder and harder to obtain, let alone more tanks and soldiers.

Kenneth shook his head with a sigh and approached one of the engineers who were repairing his tank.

“Do you… Do you think it would be possible to remove all of the… The….”

“The blood?” The engineer replied with a dull face.

“Yes… Yes, the blood. Can it be done by tomorrow?”

The engineer frowned and motioned to the metal giant.

"Does it look like we can just pull a firehose out of our asses? We barely even have enough water to drink, let alone to waste on making that thing look better."