An hour later, the sound of a tank’s engine roared within the apartment complex. Its rumbling traveled through the building frame, warning everything of its presence.
[ Training Completed: 1x Vanguard Main Battle Tank (MBT) ]
Hans barely had time to sit when he felt it.
"It’s here!"
He rushed out of the door, brushing past Callum’s wooden stillness.
His footsteps echoed in the stairwell, taking the first flight fast—too fast.
The concrete under his feet cracked with a sharp tch. A thin line split across the edge of a step, puffing dust up as if the building coughed.
Hans didn’t slow but instead, pushed harder.
Air whipped chaotically behind him, a brief gust that tugged at loose grime and made the stairwell vents rattle in response.
Still not used to this body, but it will do!
He hit the ground floor and burst through the entrance.
Callum followed without hurry, but somehow, he was never far behind.
Hans raised his Radar and swept the display. "Show me where that Vanguard is."
A signal blinked in the map—a rectangle with a small stick protruding out in the middle.
He sprinted across the courtyard and cut around the first apartment block.
The rear opened up into the parking lots, with the guard posts centered on each entrance.
The first lot was the one he remembered the most.
The same place where his first three vehicles had appeared back when everything still felt like a cheat code.
It was the same cracked curbs, faded yellow paints, and rusting dead lamp posts that leaned on giving up.
Only now, the space wasn’t occupied by cars but surrounded with crudely built wooden-walls and almost empty watch towers.
The Vanguard sat there, belonging to a different era. It parked so cleanly on the slab, the ground being measured first before it was allowed to exist.
Wide and low.
Composite plates layered along its hull in angled segments, built for the kind of city fighting where corners hid the aura of death and streets turned into inescapable kill lanes.
Thick tracks latched on the concrete, heavy enough that the parking lot wanted to complain just by supporting it.
Above the hull, the turret rested forward—stabilized, calm, and disciplined. Its main cannot was anything but decorative. A weight of purpose spirited it.
One-twenty millimeter, Hans guessed, eyes narrowing.
A smoothbore meant for punching through anything that thought it could stand in front of it.
Whether that was an armored infected, barricades, hive structures, or whatever nightmare decided to spawn next, Hans felt a strange confidence coming out of that hole.
Beneath the cannon sat a coaxial gun, slimmer and meaner. Above it was its big brother, mounted near the commander’s cupola—a heavier machine gun with an unlimited arc, positioned to warn anything that tried to get close.
The engine growl wasn’t loud like a car.
It was deep and steady—a restrained beast forced to idle itself due to the lack of commands.
Heat shimmered behind the concealed exhaust vents. Dust at the edge of the lot trembled, feeling no different from the building that rumbled.
A few soldiers had already gathered at a distance, instincts telling them not to stand too near something that could crush them without noticing.
Friendly fire could be avoided, but to be overrun by an ally tank was worse.
One could only blame their own lack of attentiveness to not notice a large hulking object behind them.
Hans slowed to a walk.
"So this is ten thousand Gold," he muttered. "Well-spent? I’ll see about that in a few days."
Callum arrived behind him, eyes sweeping the rooftops and corners even while a tank sat right in front of them.
He trusted his own vigilance more than anything. The Commander’s well-being was that important to him.
Hans’s gaze caught small details the old him may have missed.
Smoke launchers were tucked near the turret’s edge. Optic housings that didn’t look glass alone.
They were thermal or infrared, something that would allow the Vanguard clear vision regardless of the situation.
Hans collected all the information he could get. His conclusion?
This wasn’t just armor but a complete system. One that might work better than he expected.
He lifted his chin toward it. "System," he muttered, "the crew?"
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[ Vehicle crew of any unit built by the War Factory, Airfield, Shipyard, and other similar structures are automatically created. ]
[ Crews have limited combat and operational ability when isolated from their vehicles. ]
[ Any surviving crew can join another vehicle if needed. ]
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"What if the vehicle is damaged?" Hans asked another.
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[ Vehicles can be repaired by the Field Support Vehicle or Engineers. ]
[ Damage threshold applies to vehicles before they become unrepairable. ]
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"That’s what I like to hear," he grinned.
What he really liked about the Crescent Federation’s unit composition was the ability to create Repair Vehicles by letting an Engineer sit on an IFV.
Unfortunately, the system has changed a lot of things. Nevertheless, he should still be able to find a way with that so-called Field Support Vehicle.
"System, show me the tank’s info."
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Tank Name: Big Rhino
Unit: Vanguard Main Battle Tank
Star Promotion: 0 - 0 / 30000
[ Primary Weapon ]
120mm Smoothbore Cannon
Shell Capacity: 50 shells (auto-restocked every 24 hours)
Effective Range: 3 kilometers
Fire Rate: 1 round / 4 seconds
[ Shell Types ]
Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot / APFSDS (Armor-Piercing Rounds)
High Explosive (Anti-Personnel / Explosive / General Purpose)
[ Secondary Weapons ]
Coaxial 7.62mm Machine Gun, 2000 Rounds
Commander’s 12.7x99mm HMG (Unlimited arc, 1500 rounds, anti-medium threats)
[ Countermeasures ]
Smoke launcher (6 charges, restocks every 24 hours)
Basic infrared / thermal optics
[ Vehicle Systems ]
Fire Control Computer
Thermal Imaging
Stabilized turret for firing on the move
Composite Armor Plating
[ Crew ]
5 Personnel: Commander, Co-Axial Gunner, HMG Gunner (replaceable with any standard infantry), Driver, Assistant
[ Crew Equipment ]
Standard Infantry Kit (no SMGs; Pistols only)
Crew Intercom link w/ embedded System targeting assist
2 Field Rations + 1.5 L canteen each
[ Traits ]
None
[ Remarks ]
Standard frontline main battle tank designed for urban combat, breakthrough operations, and armored support.
Balances firepower, armor, and mobility to counter dense zombie formations and light hostile forces.
Extremely effective against hive structures, armored zombies, or slow zombies in general.
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