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 05

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.


"He didn't really tell us precisely what we were doing, you know." Leo said as they made their way back through Hannover central.
"I know, but that means we'll just be told later." Ethan said, dodging a ferret pushing a wheelbarrow full of cabbages.
"We'll eat, grab a cuppa, then go see Daz. We'll have plenty of time to get ready for this. I want you both to clean your weapons, check Tonka twice before we leave. So yeah . . ."
"On edge, Boss?" Andy asked quietly.
"Does the pope recline in his vaction coffin?" Ethan grumbled shortly.

They stopped at a small military mess to eat, mostly beans and vegetables, but at least it was hot and substantial. They drank tea quietly, all of them somewhat uneasy with the news they'd been given.
After about twenty minutes they left and made their way to Daz's yard. Daz was tending to a pair of Marder IFVs that were up on ramps. Between him, his mechanics and the crews, they were busy running checks and routine maintenance.
They found Tonka propped up on a similar work lift, spots of oil on the ground and some scratched paint around some fo the bolts showing that Daz and his lads had been hard at work.
"Good job Daz!" Leo yelled over, the mouse waving back as he stepped out from under a Marder. He padded across the yard and shook hands with the team.
"I know hyoo are all out on 'sa sekrit bisness. Hardley ever do I get so many crews in here at 'za same time!" He smiled. "Nothing too outrageous I trust? They sending you to 'sa Polish border again?"
"Not quite, mate." Leo said with a faint smile.
"It's bad, issn't it. . ." Daz said, noticing the tone.
"Aye, but don't worry." Ethan said softly, giving him a hug. “We’ll pull Tonka down, and be on our way. You stay safe.”
Daz hugged him back happily, before being beset by Leo and Andrew at the same time. “You too, boys. You know you’re my favorites, right?”
“Right.” They smiled.

Leaving Daz behind, they rolled Tonka to the staging area, Zone C. Hundreds of assorted people had turned up, either to watch or to form up. The area was basically a large open space with wire mesh fences and checkpoints, providing an unhindered space where large formations could set up before leaving.
It was common to see large convoys piling up here but this was different. Nobody had seen such a large formation of armed vehicles in years. People pointed and chattered, as armoured vehicles rattled loudly into the cordon, did last minute checks and moves into formations, guided by officers.
Tonka pulled up and after a quick conversation with the guards on a local radio channel, the gate was lifted for the small tank, and they slipped into the yard, pulling up behind a pair of Paladin artillery pieces.
After fifteen minutes, they were guided to a spot at the front left corner of the overall formation, three Scorpions, five Marder IFVs, a couple of M113 Gavins, and a dozen Stryker APCs sat in a loose grouping, crews and passengers arrayed around the vehicles waiting. It was midday.

“Strykers?” Andy said across the Tonka’s intercom. “Unusual.”
“We’re stuck protecting those heaps of shit?” Leo grumbled. “Typical.”
“Look.” Ethan said. “They’ve got all the extra shit pulled off. They look like they came out of the factory.”
“Oh!” Leo exclaimed, peering at them through his periscope. “I bet the Gavins are the supply trucks for the lads in there. We’re gonna’ be takin’ the roads anyhow.”
Ethan laughed. “Expected another ‘Berlin’ did we?”
“Five hours diggin’ mud out from under the shittiest armoured cars ever created!” Leo yelled, and Andy laughed.
There was a knock on the turret hatch and Ethan opened it up carefully, popping up to see a US officer, a wolf, greeting him.
“Ethan Black?” he queried, clipboard and files in hand.
“Affirmed, what can I do for you?” the rabbit enquired, reaching up to shake hands with the wolf.
The wolf shook his hand and passed him a file, scribbling something down. “Nope, just handouts. Good luck out there, limey!” he grinned and offered up a casual salute, hopping down.
Ethan smiled and watched him walk away, before tearing open the cardboard seal on the file. He opened it up, revealing several maps, along with a simple mission brief.
The rabbit lowered himself and closed the hatch oepning the intercom.
“You are to make best speed for Dresden. Checkpoints have been greenlighted for travel in advance. You do not stop until Dresden. You have two days allocated time for repair, rearmament and resting at Dresden. From there, you are to breach the Russian lines at Gorlitz. From there you will proceed to Zmigrod, where a forward base of operations will be set. You are to hold there. Maps provided will show you the progressive route. Ops channel is Grey Fifteen. Silence is to be observed past the Polish border, unless authorized by lead command vehicle ‘Starfire Charlie Four’.”
Ethan stopped talking, shivering slightly. “This is it, guys.” he said softly.
“Fucking hell” Leo mumbled. “It’s been a while.”

Having passed the maps through to Andy and finished the preparations, the crew spoke idly amongst themselves, waiting for the call to go. Eventually, the call came and they heard the crisp voice of a US officer across the G15 radio channel.
“This is ‘Starfire Charlie Four’ command vehicle, all engines hot. I repeat, all engines hot. We will be underway in three minutes. All crews are to be operative, weapons are cold until Dresden.” The voice when on to repeat, as the roaring sound of engines beginning pre-deployment checks, warming them for time on the road.
The Tonka’s engine roared throatily, causing the vehicle to vibrate, as Leo and Ethan blucked themselves in. Ethan checked his tactical computers and marked out the lead command vehicles, nothing some of the callsigns and vehicles. “Four M1A1 Abrams at 3-O-clock, Andy. Starfire contingent.”
“Roger!” Andy replied, still fluttering the Tonka’s engine.
“One minute. I repeat. One minute. Starfire 1 through 4 will be point. All other units to follow in order marked by the mission dossier. Out.”

Soon, the call came and the Zone C gates of Hannover began to part. The exhauts of the four ‘Starfire’ Abrams tanks Diesel engines roared, and they drew out of Hannover, accelerating steadily. Next to move were the lightly armoured vehicles. This included the Tonka.
The three British Scorpion tanks rolled out behind the Abrams, followed by the marder IFVs. The Strykers and Gavins made up the bulk of the centre of the pack, and a Group of CV90-120 Tank Destroyers brought up the tail.
Falling in behind those were eight Paladin self propelled artillery pieces and their six heavy logistics trucks. These were tailed directly by Engineering and recover vehicles, with other supply and fuel trucks.
The last vehicles to roll out were twenty MBTs. These were comprised of Leopard 2, LeClerc and Challenger tanks, all arranged to bring up the rear. The vehicles progressed in a huge column and began their rush to Dresden.

Overall, their journey took eight hours. They kept up a steady 40 Mph on the highways which were roughly intact. There were no catastropic breakdowns, thanks entirely to the work of the mechanics at Hannover. The crews, however, were understandably cranky.
As they arrived, it was midnight, and the column had been progressing through the downpour. Vehicles were buffeted by strong winds, and visibility was down. Thankfully, Dresden had been repaired. An old warehouse complex had been cored out and converted into a staging area, where the crews and their vehicles could disembark and stay in comfort.
“Fuck that!” Andy said, climbing out of the drivers hatch, the crew having parked and begun to disembark.
“My arse is numb, ‘s it still there?” Leo joked, staggering, having clumbed out of the turret.
“Yours is. Don’t know about mine, I think the road ate it.” Ethan groaned, rubbing his backside and stretching.
“Two days right?” Andy asked.
“Aye, two days” Leo confirmed.
“Food, then sleep.” Ethan murmured, zombielike, getting some nods in reply. Locking their hatches, the trio moved into the next conjoined vehicle for food.

Ethan rolled his eyes as he picked up a tray. The serving station had been set up close to where a Stryker and passengers had unloaded, the troopers taking an interest in his body.
“I hate mincemeat.” he joked to Andy and Leo flipped the group the bird as they called out after the rabbit boorishly.
“Tell me about it.” came a female voice from behind them. Ethan turned his head to look, finding himself face-to-face with a vixen and her two crew, a female ferret and a male alsatian. “Can’t go two steps without the cannon fodder using their ‘brains’ out here!” she said deliberately loudly.
Ethan and company grinned, the Stryker’s crew returning the finger gesture.
“We don’t want no ballet dancin’ faggot TGs anyway!” Howled a thick-headded calico cat, who earned himself a slap on the back of the head from a colleague.
Leo span on his heel. “You WOT?!”
“Eh, sod 'em, Leo, these guys are just being stupid.” Ethan smiled thinly and guided the otter back into the queue. “So, Miss, Who might you be?”
“’Tasha Amsel.” She said, her faint German accent pulling through. “Marder AC121. Here’s my Gunner, Ami Bieber and my Driver, Hans Durr.” She gestured to her friends.
The six exchanged handshakes. “Ethan Black. Commander, FV101 Scorpion ‘Tonka’, Driver Andrew Foxworth, Gunner Leopold Buckley.”
“Nice to be of meeting you.” Ami smiled.
“Ja.” Agreed Hans.
“I take it you’re as on-edge about this whle thing as we are?” Tasha asked, stepping fowards as the queue moved.
“Of course. You’d be lying if you weren’t. It’s the biggest thing that’s happened in years.” Leo replied.
The server began to dish out food, some unnamed tepid vegetable splat was given to the vegetarians of the group, including Ethan, while unnamed steaming meat slop was served to the others.
“I’m glad we have you assigned to us.” Tasha said pointedly. “The Blues and Royals are quite well known for their reputation.”
“Huh,” Ethan said, quite lost for words. “We just do our job I suppose.” He shrugged, looking down at his food.
“Honestly, you are.” Tasha insisted as the group moved away to eat. “You kept those guys alive at Berlin after all!”
“Heh.” Andy laughed. “We did.”

They went on to talk about the events of Berlin, where earlier in the great war, many people had fought over the control of Eastern Germany. It ended in the last fight for Berlin, where the western European armies forced back the Russians with an impressive counter-strike, devastating the overstretched Berlin defenders and pretty much conquering the Russian attack into Germany at that stage.
The Royals and Blues were present, fielding no less than fourteen Scorpion FV101 tanks, who gained notoriety for protecting the southern edge of Berlin from a counter-assault from 20 Red Army T-72 MBTs, who were encroaching on a military staging area, responsible for evacuating refugees by air.
While eight Scorpions were lost, the Red Army lost eleven T-72s who found themselves surrounded and picked apart in the tight streets as they fought to weave through buildings. The Blues and Royals went on to protect the evacuation of over a thousand refugees, earning them their status with the German army, not to mention notoriety with Russian MBT crews.
At 02:00, the crews went their seperate ways, retiring for the night. Sleeping, however was hard when you’re forced to sleep in vehicles, but they slept nonethless.

The next day passed uneventfully, refuelling and performing routine checks. The Tonka’s crew met up with Tasha again and enjoyed an afternoon at a local bar. Leo disappeared off with Ami later that evening, though they all regrouped at the same bar. Tasha and Ethan had been sharing stories about everything from their preferred command styles, strangest moments in the wilderness and even the comfort level of their bras.
That evening, the entire force was told that they would need to be combat ready by 1000 hours, which cast a charged atmosphere over the evening. Leo seemed pleased with himself for the rest of the night regardless. The groups split as the night’s torrent began to fall, and the crew of the Tonka bunkered down for the night, making tea before trying to get some sleep.
“It’s not like you to frolic with random Marder gunners, Leo.” Ethan commented with a smile.
“Hey, I don’t wanna die with my paw being the last person I slept with.” He grinned. Ethan snorted and Andy choked on the tea he was drinking.
They spent the rest of the night unable to sleep properly, resigned to listening to music quietly in some attempt to relax.


<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>