Snow Panzers at War!

[Sledgehammer427]

Let me explain a little, I love writing, I'll write about anything. Today, as we were dropping my step-siblings off at Laguardia Airport, I got a wonderful idea for a story involving tanks...in the (not so distant) future! This is only a few opening paragraphs, there will be more explained later if everyone takes a liking to it. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Some of the things in here may seem far-fetched...but bear with me. The characters represent Germany...you will see.


"Zug Kodiak, report status."
"Kodiak zwei, good to go." Hissed over the radio.
"Kodiak threi, everything's good."
"Kodiak vier, all set."
A smile slowly found its way to Kodiak one's commander, Kurt Tomzak. "Okay, men. Does anyone have any contacts?" Kodiak one's gunner reported nothing and the other three responded in kind.
"Alright. Give it another two minutes on my mark and we will move out....Mark."
Kurt then decided to look outside. A massive snowstorm was tearing past the treeline in which Zug Kodiak was entrenched. To any other combat unit this would be hell on earth.
"Zug Kodiak, time's up, let's move. Wedge formation."
Only then did the high-pitched shrill of their engines match the howling winds outside. The tanks began to move, shrugging off the snow they were buried in, revealing the sharp lines of Germania's newest fighting vehicles. The Leopard 7A3 was on the cutting edge of fighting armor. Shaped like the contemporary Leopard 2A6, the additions and improvements were many, and easily noted. The 120mm smoothbore from the earlier tank was replaced with a 175mm rifled gun, the shells were far too heavy for a human to load, so machinery replaced the loader, able to carry 90 of the monstrous shells. The projectiles were capable of penetrating any type of armor thrown in it's way, even those of the Leopards it fought beside. The barrel was also longer, just a shade under the length of an artillery peice. The advantage, beyond muzzle velocity, was that the leopards, if necessary, could engage targets just beyond the horizon, accompanied by the proper satellite aiming. The tank's engines were now far smaller, but producing ten times the horsepower of the earlier models. By taking in the air from outside, the engine was able to filter the incoming air, remove the combustible particles, and turn it into a fuel the engine could run on. Other than planets with no atmosphere, the tank could be driven anywhere until there was no air to run upon. The coaxial weapon was now a gruesomely efficient 30 caliber gatling gun. Another one sat in front of the commander's hatch. The tanks were a terror on any battlefield. Usually their appearance on any fighting ground was deterrent enough to stop the fighting. Not today though.
"Sir, target spotted on thermal, dead ahead"
Kurt flicked a switch and the screen went from an outside view to a world filled with shades of purples and darker mediums. Thermal imaging hasn't changed really. Thought Kurt. Suddenly the smallest of slivers of yellow appeared among the darker shades.
"Spotted." announced Kurt loud enough for the gunner to hear him without use of the intercom. The tanks were moving at about 10mph, so there was a very slight notion of movement within the moderately cramped turret.
"Any idea of what it is?" Kurt asked Johann, his gunner.
"Definitely looks hostile, herr Tomzak, recommend armor piercing round."
"Acknowledged, I say take it, Johann."
"With pleasure." Said Johann, who went to work readying the gun. leaning into the electronic gunsights, he pressed a button on the joystick he held in his right hand. in the gunsight's view, a small HE popped up in the upper left corner. He blinked and pressed a different button. AP popped up this time, and, nodding to himself, he pressed another button on the top of the joystick with his thumb. The computerized voice of a young female came on both his and Kurt's headsets declaring "round loading." The auto loader behind and to Johann's right came to life, selecting one of the heavy Armor Piercing rounds, loading it from a magazine tucked far away from the crew into a cradle, carrying it up and into the breech of the gun, where hydraulic rammers drove the round home, automatically closing the breech.
The seductive female voice came through again, announcing "round up." From the time Kurt allowed Johann to engage to the round being loaded, only seven seconds had come to pass. While the round was loading, Johann had lazed (short for laser rangefinding) the target and set up the gun.
"Round away!" Called Johann, who smashed the trigger of the cannon with his foot.
KA-BLAM!
The breech recoiled back and at the same time a burst of nitrogen was shot through the barrel to cool it down, jokingly unnecessary, considering the weather outside.
There was no need to call a hit. The explosion was visible on the thermal and was easily heard above the sound of the tank's engine.
"Target left! 'Round 280! Engaging!" Came from one of the other tanks on the radio net. Kurt turned his head left just in time to see Kodiak 4 fire it's cannon, causing another explosion in the brush beyond. By now the Zug was traveling across snow covered prairie grassland, the grass covering the hulls, but leaving the turrets exposed. Kurt instinctively looked to his right and spotted a shape coming from a treeline. He would have cussed to himself for not seeing the bastard beforehand but...
He grabbed his turret override joystick and swung it over to the right, planting it near enough to the enemy for Johann to spot it.
"Target acquired! Armor Piercing! Fire when ready!"
"Jawohl!"
The loading computer. "Round up."
Johann: "Round away!"
The gun boomed it's response and the round penetrated the enemy's hull midpoint. Nothing happened, but Kurt knew from the smoke starting to pour from the gash in the hull that the round did it's business on the interior of the enemy. Kodiak 2 fired another shot and the turret was blown off of the enemy track.
An eerie silence followed the death throes of the last tank. Kurt reached over to his left and dialed another frequency on his radio.
"Zug Kodiak reporting, Have encountered and neutralized three, repeat, three enemy contacts. RTB if there are no further orders."
Another voice, completely unfamiliar to Kurt and Zug Kodiak responded.
"Well done and congratulations, boys, exercise over. We will send up the cleanup crews to take care of the remote targets. RTB...and.." Almost as an afterthought, "welcome to the 140th Special Arctic Warfare Division."