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Post by flightoficarus on Jan 19, 2014 12:41:54 GMT -6
“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” - Arthur C. ClarkeSince humanity gained the ability to think, it has stared up at the sky in wonder. What might be up there, many ask. Philosophers and storytellers could only guess. We lacked the ability to explore beyond the boundaries of Earth. However, regardless of what people thought, we were not alone. A race many times older was carving an empire in the stars since humanity was in it's infancy. A probe from this empire found Earth when humanity was in the dark ages in 1141. This other race started to make its plans to add Earth in its orbit. Over the centuries The Race prepared its fleets. In humanity's 1920's the fleet set out from Tau Ceti 2. Over the decades the fleet crossed the inky black void of space. They felt confident humanity would fall. After all, eight hundred years is only a blink of an eye. How could a species change in such a short time? They were shocked to discover humans had indeed advanced. This barbaric sword swinging race had radio and armored fighting vehicles of all things! Regardless, Earth was invaded. Humanity's view of the universe was irreparably shattered in May 1942. CS: Name: Age: Gender: Race: (human, or The Race) Faction: (Germany, Russia, The Race, etc) Physical Appearance: Clothing Appearance: Rank: Role: (infantry, tank commander, pilot, etc) Bio: (optional) OOC Thread: galacticconquests.freeforums.net/thread/12/terror-skies-oocPut CS's here.
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Post by flightoficarus on Jan 29, 2014 19:54:06 GMT -6
May 14, 1942
1600 hours
Somewhere south of Kharkov, Russia
Matthias' tank company was in a Russian village. The company was somewhere south of Kharkov. The company was resting after a thrust into Russian territory. The mess truck, an Opel Blitz was pulling into the town. They likely had some borscht or shchi, or both. The former was a soup made from beets and sour cream while the latter was cabbage soup. Both sometimes had meat in them. It wasn't the best food, but it was warm and was better than rations. Matthias was sitting up on his panzer IV. He was looking over the assorted tanks and crews. It was a rag tag group made up of older Panzer IIIs that were being replaced by newer Panzer IVs, and the newer Panzer IVs in question.
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Post by Sliprunner on Jan 29, 2014 20:02:27 GMT -6
Jarak was standing out the hatch on his tank, just giving casual watch of the surrounding terrain. Otto was doing some personal maintenance on the engine, always nitpicking about the acceleration speed. From the smell in the air though it was eat to tell the mess truck was entering town. He gave a call for Kurt and Henri to clean up the card game they had started considering the truck was here now. Even though they had the village he didn't feel to easy about it, considering there had to of been a T-34 that got missed.
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Post by flightoficarus on Jan 30, 2014 19:39:23 GMT -6
The truck came to a stop in the moderately damaged village. The serving window on the side opened up. Panzer crews went up to the truck and received bowls which the truck crew filled with borscht or shchi. Matthias stepped off of his tank and got into line. He soon got his warm meal. As far as taste went, the borscht was rather bland, but it gave energy which was what mattered.
(after this the company will head out, probably. I just didn't want to jump into the action right away.)
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Post by Sliprunner on Jan 31, 2014 11:55:50 GMT -6
As soon as Jarak had his crew together they went up to the truck for meal. Jarak grabbing a bowl of shchi as he headed back to his tank. Asking henri "How many shells we got?" Henri responding "mostly full load, down twelve rounds on the AP" "See about making it six down, or restock. you can probably swap some of the HE shells if needed, Kurt doesn't use them" Henri gave a nod, just finishing up his bowl before dealing with it. Jarak started heading over to Matthias, giving call "Whats orders from command?"
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 1, 2014 14:16:49 GMT -6
Matthias finished his bowl just as Jarak called out. "We're supposed to head East to a town called Izyum. It's a crossroads of sorts on the river. I heard we almost had it last year, but then the winter hit, and then you know the rest," he replied.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 1, 2014 17:59:44 GMT -6
"Any idea whats going to be waiting for us there? I'd rather not get surprised by a KV twice in the same movement" Jarak glanced to his tank when he heard Otto shouting something, only to realize his shouting was dropping his wrench in the engine bay again. Jarak looked to Matthias "Ah never mind, if there is suppose to be a heavy resistance I'd rather just hear if you got any special field orders"
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 1, 2014 19:58:05 GMT -6
As they were speaking some ammo and fuel trucks rolled in. "We'll probably get support from a couple of other companies there. Izyum is at a crossroads and several rivers connect right next to it. Other than that, the town isn't that important. Regardless, we should expect the Russians to have some tanks waiting for us. Also, after we restock, we're rolling out," Matthias said. He turned to the others, "Get back to your panzers! We're heading out after we get restocked!" he called out. Replies that consisted of "Jawohl!," or "Ja mein kommandant," followed as the men returned to their vehicles.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 1, 2014 20:18:29 GMT -6
Jarak shook his head as he ran back to his tank, giving a shout to Otto "Wrap it up, we got to roll out in a few moments and I want the engine running SMOOTHLY this time! not all that clanking from last time" He gave a shout for the rest of the crew to assemble, Kurt and Henri rushing to pickup ammo from the trucks to restock. Felix already had the radio on and fine tuned for the area. Jarak felt it at least meant something that one of his crew already had things ready to go.
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 1, 2014 20:32:39 GMT -6
Matthias gave similar shouts to his crew. They quickly assembled at their panzer IV. Matthias helped with picking up the ammo. After that was done they got to their stations. Konrad had the radio tuned already. The rest of the crew was fine. Matthias waited for the other crews to get ready. The Maybach engine at the rear roared to life.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 1, 2014 20:50:56 GMT -6
No sooner did Jarak start to climb in did everyone else finally pile in, the shells being quickly loaded in the rack as Otto started the engine. Felix gave the call over the radio once they were ready, Jarak just propping himself up out of his hatch to give a glance at who all else was ready. He really didn't expect much of this push, considering what happened last time this kind of push happened.
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 1, 2014 20:56:39 GMT -6
The ready signals started pouring in. After a few moments the entire company was ready. "Form up outside of town. Panzer III's in front, Panzer IV's in rear like usual," Matthias said in the mouthpiece of his radio headset. The tanks, including his started moving out. Some infantry half tracks followed the armor.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 1, 2014 21:15:27 GMT -6
As soon as they begun heading out Jarak made comment to Kurt "When we get to the fighting this time, Do me a favor, don't start muttering nursery rhymes under your breath again. That was seriously unnerving" Henri gave a slight caught at that. Jarak though kept himself propped out of his hatch, he rather preferred the more open view of the surroundings even if the airflow was an annoyance.
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 1, 2014 21:48:14 GMT -6
The tanks quickly got into formation. "Head east to Izyum. If you need to, use the river as a landmark," Matthias said. He kept himself out of the hatch. The tanks swiftly moved across the Russian steppe towards Izyum. However before long Matthias heard a peculiar roar from the heavens. Suddenly a bright red glare of a rocket breached the clouds. It slammmed into a panzer. It ripped right through the armor and the tank exploded. The crew was incinerated instantly. Matthias dropped into the turret. "I think a Katyusha got a lucky hit on us," someone said on the radio. As he said that another panzer exploded. For a second agonized screams were heard on the radio. After that a sleek aircraft burst through the cloud. It bore neither a propellor or a red star. A nose mounted cannon barked and sent shells at the company.
"My god. What have the Russians unleashed on us now..." Matthias muttered. Little did he know, it wasn't the Russians. It was something altogether worse.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 2, 2014 11:10:44 GMT -6
No sooner did the first tank get hit did Jarak give orders "Break from the formation NOW! Get some low ground now, I don't want to be sticking out any worse then we already are" Otto gave a smirk as he shoved the engine to full, it giving a distinct roar as the Panzer broke from formation and immediately went for the lower ground. This was when Jarak saw the second tank get hit and the aircraft rush through the clouds, Jarak took only one look and ducked down his hatch before slamming it shut. "Where's the damn Luftwaffe, I don't want to be dealing with aircraft!"
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 2, 2014 11:19:37 GMT -6
"We need fucking air support, there's some kind of rocket aircraft attacking us!" Matthias gave a shout to the division radio. "Get to cover now! That fucker is going to kill us," Matthias yelled to his driver. Frank shoved the engine to full. The Panzer roared after Jarak's panzer to low ground. "Sorry Hauptsturmfuhrer, we're dealing with this all over, but we'll see if we can spare some aircraft," someone replied on the radio. The aircraft took another pass and two more panzers were reduced to flaming debris. Fortunately neither Matthias or Jarak were part of the casualties.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 2, 2014 12:03:52 GMT -6
Once they were down to the low grounds Jarak started looking around for anything that might help for cover, unfortunately considering where they were, there was nothing of use. Jarak gave order "Alright, we are dead meat in the open, Blitz to Izyum! Flank speed!" Otto gave a nod, kicking the engine into gear as they begun moving towards Izyum, Jarak shouting right as they were about to move towards the road "Keep us OFF the road!" He knew they'd likely be on fumes once they reached Izyum, but it was at least a town and there was no way he was going to double back.
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 2, 2014 12:10:22 GMT -6
"He's got the right idea, go towards Izyum!" Matthias said. The two panzer IV's roared east. "To any survivors, go to Izyum," Matthias said over the radio. He received replies from the rest of his company. There were only eight tanks now including Jarak's and Matthias'. They all went towards Izyum. The surviving infantry halftracks followed behind. Konrad looked terrified and looked to Matthias, "That didn't sound like anything the Russians have. Some kind of prototype?" he asked. "I don't know Konrad. I didn't see a red star on that aircraft. Maybe it could've been the Americans," he said shrugging. He thought of how those missiles struck the panzers with pinpoint accuracy like a lightening bolt from god. He doubted the Russians had guided missiles.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 2, 2014 12:17:26 GMT -6
Jarak signaled to Felix, Felix stated over the radio "We're pulling ahead to keep an eye out for things, we'll alert if we spot that aircraft" Otto gave a slight grin as he shifted gears, his own work while not much did get just a little extra horsepower out of the engine. Enough so to make up for the loss of speed moving off road, at least partly. Jarak just tried to observe as best he could from his position inside the tank, not wanting to expose himself given that he hadn't seen any luftwaffe aircraft yet.
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 2, 2014 12:26:11 GMT -6
The lack of Luftwaffe aircraft unnerved Matthias. That was very strange. They did say it was all over. Was the Luftwaffe in that kind of disarray? The implications of that were terrifying. Still, going towards Izyum seemed the best thing to do right now. The other companies might've gotten there already. They might know what the hell was going on. He popped out of the cupola of his panzer and looked around. He could see the other tanks of his company. They were all off-road right now.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 2, 2014 13:25:43 GMT -6
Jarak finally popped out of his hatch, giving a look to surrounding area. Just a moments search though had him say in a grim tone "Give me the radio Felix" a quick change of settings and Jarak spoke of the radio "Might have a slight issue heading to Izyum, I see smoke in the distance, more importantly, I just passed the wreck of a T-34, at least, what MIGHT have been one, watch you don't get parts stuck in the treads" Jarak looked around the sky, trying to see if he could spot anything
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 2, 2014 13:45:02 GMT -6
We go to Izyum or we go back.... Either way we'll be low on fuel, Matthias thought. "Keep heading towards Izyum. A T-34 wreck might mean friendlies already came by here," he replied to Jarak. He hoped he was right, and he also knew that aircraft might've returned to the area behind them. The company kept moving to Izyum. Matthias pulled out his binoculars and looked East. He saw T-34 wreck after a moment and then the smoke. He looked over the T-34. The turret of the vehicle was blown off and the wreck was still smoking.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 2, 2014 14:19:53 GMT -6
Jarak just shook his head, saying to Kurt "This is why I hate not knowing whats going on, if there was going to be some sort of test aircraft in the area, I'd of rather know that we were going to see it just rip us apart!" Kurt muttered "Five marks says its british" Jarak just gave a smirk "I think I'd rather see you EAT those five marks, the british having that kind of equipment would be a nightmare for the guys in the west"
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Post by flightoficarus on Feb 2, 2014 15:07:49 GMT -6
Jarak would see German troops as he got closer to Izyum. There would be both German and Russian vehicles destroyed nearby. Some vehicles on both sides would appear to have been hit by the same weapon. The rest of Matthias company would continue moving up. Some of the Germans would wave to the approaching tanks.
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Post by Sliprunner on Feb 2, 2014 16:56:45 GMT -6
Spotting the troops was a bit of relief, Jarak said over the radio "We've already hit Izyum it appears, from signs of wreckage nearby though, it would seem that aircraft went through here...You'll need to see this though, it doesn't exactly help maters" Jarak just gave a wave towards the troops as they approached, giving a slight tap to Otto's shoulder to slow down. The Panzer reducing speed as the situation didn't seem quite as bad here, which was further relief. Jarak dropped down in his hatch all the same though, considering this was a combat zone.
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