Chapter 97: Test Drive – I

Hans’s comms buzzed in the middle of reading through the Vanguard MBT’s system info.

“Big Rhino, ready and waiting, Commander!”

The voice was loud and flowed with enthusiasm and eagerness to be witnessed by Hans himself.

Another loud talker, he chuckled. “Good to hear from you, Big Rhino. Stay still, I want to check things out.”

“The armor’s all yours to see, Commander.”

The line went quiet. In that silence, the Vanguard’s engine idled. The smell of oil and hot steel mixed with dust.

Hans finished the last few lines of the panel and frowned.

“System… I thought the Crescent Federation had quick tanks?”

Hans remembered how the Crescent Federation’s players would commit atrocious hit and run tactics with their swift tanks and air superiority, leaving the other factions frustrated against them.

As the forums had said, only those with speedy hands can the Crescent Federation truly shine its advantages over the rest.

——-

[ Please unlock the Tech Lab, Commander. ]

——

Hans looked at the skyline as if it owed him an entire apartment building. He tapped the panel until it faded, then the chaotic thoughts kicked in.

If the Tech Lab required unlocking such tanks, then what about the Prisms and Mirage ones?

“System, don’t pull my leg when I get there in the future,” Hans pleaded, looking at the not-so-nimble-tank in front of him.

As if sensing the Commander’s disappointment, Big Rhino buzzed into Hans’s comms once again.

“Don’t worry, Commander. Big Rhino’s quick and powerful!”

Hans raised a brow.

“How fast can this thing go then?”

“At best, 90 kilometers per hour, Commander. We can go faster, but our aims will suffer. Does the Commander wish to see it now?”

“No,” Hans shook his head. “We’ll get to that later.”

“Understood… Commander.”

Hans shifted into the enlarged Radar map. Down south, several red dots blinked—clustered but not as large as those in the city.

“Big Rhino, I have a mission for you.”

“Lay it out, Commander.”

“There’s a large group of zombies south of here—isolated but should be good enough.”

“Excellent target practice for us, Commander. Give us the order, and we’ll drive those zeds out!”

“No rush,” Hans glanced at Callum, then raised his head, eyeing the rooftop. “A few units will join you.”

Callum didn’t ask why. He climbed onto Big Rhino’s hull and situated himself behind the turret’s hatch.

Hans turned to the two Missile Infantry and reached for his comms.

“Viktor, come in.”

“What do you need, Commander?”

“Short mission. Rendezvous onto me in the apartment entrance. No missiles unless Big Rhino calls it or you confirm a target worth the cost.”

“Understood, Commander,” Viktor replied. “On our way downstairs.”

Hans switched the channel.

“Kenji, tell the rest we’re on a short trip. Get one Army Soldier down here and that Scout driver as well.”

“Copy, Commander.”

Hans took one last look at the apartment skyline. Cracked concrete and silent windows.

The spiral in the clouds had faded, but the memory of it stayed.

“Big Rhino,” Hans said. “Move slow out of the complex. Don’t damage the structures. Once you’re clear, wait for my signal. You can stretch your legs after that.”

“Roger that!”

Big Rhino’s engine roared. The parking lot trembled and dust jumped from the faded lines.

Hans felt the rumble travel into his ribs and realized something.

Tanks weren’t fast because the forum said so. Tanks were fast when the battlefield allowed it.

“Let’s see what you can do,” he muttered.

Big Rhino eased forward, controlled but fast enough. Tracks rolled over the lot with a heavy grind, but Big Rhino kept the throttle disciplined as it passed the apartment walls.

Hans watched the turret remain steady, cannon forward.

The armored SUV started next. A Scout took the wheel, Kenji and the Army Soldier at the second row of the seats.

Hans rode shotgun, the windshield clear enough to see the world.

“Keep distance,” Hans ordered. “If Big Rhino stops, we stop. No one bunches up.”

“Copy,” the driver replied, his posture relaxed.

As they approached the entrance, Hans raised his hand and signaled to stop.

There, Viktor carried his large and bulky equipment and approached the SUV.

“You two, get further in the back.”

Kenji and the Army Soldier quickly responded.

Viktor squeezed in, making use of enough space to angle his missile launcher and ammunition storage inside.

The SUV creaked in despair, but Hans paid no heed to it.

The Guardian APC wasn’t trained yet—Viktor will have to do what was given to him.

When everything was secured, the armored SUV slipped out of the complex together with Big Rhino.

Once the concrete buildings were behind them, Hans nodded at the open road.

“Alright. Big Rhino, you’re clear to go.”

Big Rhino didn’t wait for a second invitation. The engine deepened its roar.

The Vanguard picked up speed, dust trailing behind its tracks like smoke.

The road used to be cleared but cleared in the old sense that it was scrapped enough for cars, but not enough for a tank’s appetite.

A bus lay sideways across the lane, half-sunk into the asphalt. Behind it, two trucks kissed their metals and died there, turning the road into an almost impassable choke point.

Big Rhino slowed.

“Obstacle ahead.”

The Vanguard may be big, but it knew it cannot crush everything.

Hans didn’t even need to answer. Callum’s shadow had long flown out.

The DASF moved like he didn’t feel the weight of his own gear, or the force of gravity. He approached the bus, placed one hand under the frame where the steel was the strongest, and planted his feet.

No shouts or any warning.

Just the extreme method of pushing a large heavy object out of the ground.

The first second—nothing happened, then the bus suddenly groaned.

Rust flaked off in layers. The entire carcass slid across the road with a long, tortured scraping.

Callum didn’t stop, shifting his grip. Then he shoved again and forced the buss off the lane until it hit the curb with a heavy thud.

Everyone’s eyes widened in the SUV. Even the Army Soldier forgot to breathe.

Callum walked to the trucks next. One hand in the hood, the other on the frame.

He drove his shoulder in once, forcing the metal to cave in. The wreck rolled just enough after a slight force.

The ground shook, reacting violently against the work of a monstrous existence.

“Clear,” Callum said over the comms, his voice flat and unhurried.

Did he even feel pain in that?

Hans’s mouth twitched, recalling Callum’s attributes.

——

Name: Callum “Hayes” Viper

Tier: 0 (60% Synchronization Rate)

Axes: Somatic

——

That’s just a 60% from full synchronization?

He looked at his palm and closed it into a clenched fist.

Do I have that strength as well?

He was eager to test his newfound strength but now wasn’t the time.

Big Rhino’s loud radio answered with enthusiasm.

“That’s what I like to see, my dear brother!”

The Vanguard didn’t slow down after that. It climbed over what remained, tracks chewing through useless steel like it was just another pile of trash.

“Be careful about the leftovers,” Hans reminded the driver.

He didn’t want the SUV to be left behind.

“No worries, Commander. I’ll keep this thing running.”

Seeing the driver’s confidence, Hans brought up the enlarged Radar map. The cluster of red dots sat south—isolated, but not small.

He was unsure how this came to be and hadn’t sent anyone to deal with it.

Now, it was time to clean his backyard of threats.

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