Fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes and the once-grassy hills and ground had been churned up into a battlefield of mud, gore, and metal. Much of the trees in the area were either on fire or had splintered into a million pieces as shrapnel rained down from above, flaming wrecks of both human and Vaskran craft crashed and burned. Armoured bodies littered the area, still holding their weapons as they failed to find cover in time. And the sky weeped, crying buckets as raindrops pelted the ground like bullets. But the battle still raged on, each side too focused on murdering each other to care about the weather. Down below, streaks of light tore across the landscape as human and alien fought tooth and nail to win the battle.

By now, both the UEGNC and Vaskran main forces had arrived, and the firefight had turned into a full-on battle with vehicle and artillery support. 8.41x63mm coilgun rounds streaked across the air as Marines scrambled to find whatever they could, unbothered by the rain as their HUD helpfully marked out the terrain and enemies. On the other side, the alien soldiers did the same, popping out of cover to fire their energy beam weapons. From a distance, were it not raining, it would make a magnificent light show, one to entertain children for years to come. If one were to ignore the screams of the dying, of course.

The rain mercilessly pelted the hull of the [i]Rolling Thunder[/i] as explosions covered the Dragoon with mud, only to get washed off by the rain. Relentlessly, the vehicle continued its brutal push. "Bowman! Target, right side!" Carver commanded, and the tank shook as a round shot out and demolished the wreck of a civilian car the Vaskrans were using as cover. Blue-orange blood sprayed everywhere, along with body parts. "Target! Right!" The rain had grown so heavy by this time it blanketed the area with white water. Visibility was low, and advanced sensors were vital for picking out targets. Only faint flashes of light and the vauge outlines of shapes. Undeterred, the [i]Rolling Thunder[/i] pressed on.

Then suddenly, everything stopped. The tank's engine suddenly switched off, along with all of its systems and lighting. 

"What the hell?" Carver switched on his helmet flashlights, illuminating the rather spacious interior of the tank in a bright white light. The other two members did the same. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Fields responded, fear evident in his voice as he futilely pushed on the tank's control pedals and yanked on its yoke. "Controls aren't responding!"

Carver growled as he bashed the control panel. "Dammit! We're dead in the water!"

"Heh, dead in the water." Bowman gave a quiet chuckle in an attempt to hide his anxiety. Carver glared at him behind his helmet.

"Dammit, Bowman! Not the time!" He would have given him a proper reprimand were it not for the engine of the tank whirring back to life, followed by its lights and systems. It seemed as if nothing happened at all, though the exterior holofeeds were still booting up, displaying 'LOADING'. Confused, Carver tapped at his controls and saw that everything was in working order. "What." He said, tonelessly.

"Uh..." Fields agreed, looking around, his feed also booting up.

And then the feed finally finished syncing, and the eyes of each crewman nearly burst out of their helmets.

Because they were no longer in a storm, or a battle, or even a war-torn clearing. No, they were in a forest with trees of red and orange, with great lakes and water bodies and rivers everywhere. The golden gleams of a sun at dawn shone through the leaves, basking the forest floor in a magnificent amber glow. It was a sight to behold indeed, and the crew of the [i]Rolling Thunder[/i] would have basked in the forest's natural beauty were it not for the fact that they were at a complete loss for words. Carver, being the man with a plan, was the first to break the silence. 

"What the fuck."

The other tankers couldn't agree more, and they each shook themselves out of their stupor.

"WHAT?!" Bowman all but yelled, blinking and shaking his head as if to snap himself out of a dream.

"What the hell?!" Fields cycled and refreshed his visual feed, only to get the same result every single time.

Sensing the rising panic, Carver raised his voice. "Dammit, people! Calm down! We've got the solve this in a perfectly rational fashion."

The crew obliged and sank back into their seats.

Carver took a breath. "Alright. First, we've got to find out where we are." He tapped the tank's holographic console. "Wait, what's not right." He rapidly began to type in a series of commands, becoming increasingly desperate. "Goddammit! I can't get a signal! I have no idea where we are!" He sounded absolutely exasperated.

"So what do we do now?" Fields asked, nervous.

The [i]Rolling Thunder's[/i] commander took a breath. "I don't know. Just... drive. Forward!"

And so the tank did, driving forwards to... wherever. It flattened bushes and uprooted trees under its metal tracks as it continued to wander aimlessly, before eventually coming to a stop in a clearing besides a gurgling stream.