Hey y'all,

Ethan Black has created a couple characters that will be having bit parts in the PW main storyline.

So, in order to flesh them out, he's written a short story, chaptered up for yer convenience.

Welcome to a different world, in dire straits . . .

Coalfired 02

All names/characters/vehicles/parts/systems are property of their respective owners/manufacturers/creators/players.
This particular pile of words is property of Ethan Black.

Ethan woke first and sat up, the tent was warm enough, but just cool enough to be uncomfortable. The rabbit reached to dig out his canteen and drank thirstily from it, rubbing at his eyes, and stretching with a yawn.
"Ugh."
Andy woke next a short while later blinking tiredly.
"Morning, Colour Sargeant." The badger said softly, still laying back. Ethan handed him the canteen with a nod.
"We'll be starting the run today. We'll be trying to do it in two days. I don't want to spend any more time out here than neccesary." Ethan muttered softly.
Andy nodded silently in agreement.
"Me either" came Leo's voice as he woke, propping himself up on his elbows.

The temperature was beginning to rise rapidly, so the crew took their chance to get cleaned up. A brief scan of the horizon for contacts drew nothing of note, so they took the chance to scrub down quickly before the temperature rocketed.
The sky was as grey as ever, and the light was dim, but they could already feel the heat of the sun bearing down upon the planet. Last night's rain was already gone, only the sand that had collected at the base of the tank and tent telling of the massive downpour that occured every evening.
Ethan washed himself silently with his back to the pair, before shaking himself off and slipping back into his undergarments, and began to brush his fur down, not wanting to turn up at Hannover or any of the checkpoints looking like a grey marshmallow with ears.
Leo and Andy cleaned and tended to themselves in a similar manner, before the three sat in the warming sand round their gas heater, poking at a pot of water.
"Be nice to eat something other than MREs, beans and soup." Leo muttered, rubbing at his scalp distractedly. "Haven't had fish in a while."
Ethan shrugged as Andy nodded. "Be nice to have a larger selection of vegetables, that's for sure." The rabbit mused.

They ate their thin soup quietly, extra water added to make it go further, before beginning to pack up, rolling up their tent and shelter quickly, and stowing it on the sides of the Scorpion.
Andy began to run a quick check of the tank, making sure everything was good to go before the journey, while Leo busies himself inside, running a checklist of their equipment, and checking the gun.
The otter swivelled the turret of the tank around slowly, as Ethan sat atop the turret, running his own checklist and rechecking their orders, before taking down the time and GPS location.
"March 6th, 2000, 49.283103,10.398502." The rabbit said, penciling the figures into a sheet. "Moving North from Leutershausen to Hannover. We will be bypassing Fulda and Kassel."
The rabbit tapped the map and stowed it, before taking up his seat in the commander's position.
"Corporals, are we ready?"
"Ready here sir!" Leo said, sticking a thumbs up out of his hatch.
"Everything green here, Commander." Andy said through the intercom.
Ethan strapped his helmet on and leant back in his chair, his jacket laid across his lap, wearing just his sports bra on his top half for heat's sake, Leo similarly disrobed from the waist up and nodded.
"Take us out" he said.
"Aye aye Cap'n!" Andy called, more entheusiastically. "Tonka is rolling!"
Leo and Ethan grinned, the rabbit's paw steadying the FN MAG mounted to the turret ring of his command hatch as they set out, the Scorpion accellerating to an impressive 40mph over the sand with little effort.

Four hours passed uneventfully, the Tonka and it's crew cruising comfortably between 40 and 50 Mph, having joined a northward road somewhere near Hanau. The landscape passed quickly and the temperature raised with a similar speed, the crew beginning to feel the heat.
At midday they entered a checkpoint for a stop. The checkpoint was mostly a litftable metal barricade with a pair of guard stops and a squat building behind them. The road had been turned into a slalom with concrete blocks, forcing any vehicle to slow to navigate them.
"Guten tag!" Ethan called from the turret to the mixture of UN troops stationed at the small outpost, noting a German Army wolf at the side of a liftable barricade, and at least four furs manning mounted machineguns.
"Tonka, FV101 Scorpion, Royals and Blues. Britische Armee." Ethan called out to the wolf.
The wolf nodded and stepped up to the side of the vehicle. "Kann ich Ihre Papiere? Your papers, Kommander?"
Ethan handed over their identification and area clearance, the wolf poring over them with some scruitiny before nodding. "Ja, Gut. Let zem through!" he yelled, and handed them back up.
"Safe travels, Kommander." The wolf said with a nod.
"Danke." Ethan replied curtly and kicked a storage box with a booted foot, Andy weaving the small tank through the checkpoint's concrete barriers and back out to open road.

The rest of their day was expectedly uneventful, the dreary landscape at least brightened by the music Leo was playing from his portable CD player inside the tank, a mixture of rock and metal accompanying their journey through desolate Germany.
After ten hours on the road, they pulled off into an abandoned town called Korbach, and maneuvered their tank Tonka into a garage, setting up the tent between the vehicle and the back wall, and settled in for the night.

The crew huddled around their trusty gas heater, boiling drinking water and eating their meal, talking quietly amongst themselves.
"Better than the journey out here." Leo grinned to the other two, getting a nod from both in response.
"Stuck behind an LRU convoy for fifteen hours." Andy said in disgust.
Ethan bit into an MRE, some mauve block with green bits, intending to taste like cabbage or beetroot and failing at both. "At least we get a tank, eh?" he grinned.


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