Broken Armageddon

Voja

A tank's turret hatch releases open parting at the middle , its crew clamber out to lay on their backs flat on the asphalt road to catch a few winks of sleep and respite.

These men are a part of Company Rake - an element of the Armoured Guards Brigade and they are leading the charge northeast of Hidelburg in an effort to secure the vulnerable routes that provided the city with invaluable grains of wheat and barley.

Their relentless push under heavy enemy fire the night before had left them exhausted and taking advantage of a lull which had broken the monotone repetition of battle had taken this opportunity to catch their breaths and reassess strategies.

All around them were rolling hills pock marked with bomb craters and blackened by artillery fire.

One of the tanks that formed the spearhead, Rasnik 112, nicknamed Voja by her crew sat idly behind the remains of a barn where her crewmates hopped down on to the brown dirt and took in deep breaths of air untainted by the scent of sweat, gun fumes and piss bottles.

Wiping the dark soot off his brow and face, Captain Tarvej Koyak the commanding officer for this steel goliath stretched his limbs letting out a sigh of relief with a wide yawn.

The driver and mechanic of their crew, Lieutenant Josef Broswicka with gunner, Second Lieutenant Konja Viemicca stood beside Voja noticing the black scorch marks on her armour left behind by enemy fire.

"Not a dent ? Strange isn't it, Josef. ," Konja commented letting out a puff from the cigarette on his lips.

"It's not that strange, they were using their small calibre or more precisely low energy output weaponry. We were lucky is all. ," Josef rationalised after a thorough observation of the circular footballsize scorch marks on the sides and front of their vehicle.

"Same can't be said for Rasniv 113 and 115 - Anny and Elena. Lucky shots cut straight through their mantlets ... instant casualties. ," added their commander, Captain Tarvej Koyak sitting next to Konja who then offered him a stick of cigarette.

The trio for a minute of silence shared a moment of mourning and as tradition commanded each of them drew a cross totalling six crosses on their tank's glacis plate.

"A toast in their honour. ," Konya wiping his tears, removed his leather tanker's helmet and raised his flask alongside the Captain and Josef.

With this they bode a final farewell to the fallen and went on to prepare for what would come next but not before taking a short period of relaxation ; it was a dangerous thing for their line of work which demanded extreme levels of awareness and snappy on-the-spot decision making thus a tired mind was just as dangerous as being shot.

Leaning against the mudguard while Josef disposed the emergency piss bottles, Koyak tore open a packet of his Meal Ready to Eat or MRE ration whose contents immediately sizzled upon being exposed to the air.

It's aroma was rather pleasing to his famished senses though the meal was rather simple - peas, bits of meat and potatoes thoroughly cooked to near perfection through some complex chemical reaction.

Taking a plastic spoon from his equipment pouch, he joined his crewmates who were already eating their meals.

"Fucking disgusting" Konja spat out the lukewarm and leathery tasting food, "Join the AGB, eat five star meals all day they said."

Hearing the Second Lieutenant's comment, Lieutenant Josef had a dastardly smile on his face.

"Oy Konja, look" called Josef scooping a spoonful of his meal and downing it with great relish before pouring the remaining watery soup into his mouth, "Best five star meal I've ever had." teasing the gunner.