Catlin sat squat on top of "Shotgun Shine", a confident grin on her face as she stared down Emily from over her hand of cards. Emily's brow was furrowed, sweat beading on her forehead as she stared anxiously at her own hand. Catlin's cigarette glowed red as she took a long pull and blew it at Emily. The sister coughed and angrily waved away the smoke. 

"God dammit, fuck you and fuck off! That shit fucking stinks! Fuck off!" Emily shouted angrily, attempting to snatch the cigarette from Catlin's mouth. Catlin merely shrugged as she leaned back to dodge the swipe, shoving her left foot forward against Emily's shoulder to keep her from getting any closer. 

"Ya hand isn't getting any better, Emmy, so why don't ya just admit defeat before I kick ya off the top of ole Shotgun Shine, eh?" Catlin said, her shit-eating grin only getting bigger. Emily was about to lunge when the helicopters buzzed overhead, unloading their deadly payloads into the poor sods on the beach. At this, Ruth sighed and put away the Persian language book she had been reading, climbing down into the driver's seat of the odd tank. Catlin and Emily hurriedly picked up and stowed their cards before hopping into their own respective seats as well, Catlin flicking the cigarette to the boat's floor before sliding in beside Ruth.

"Hope sure as shit those flyboys don't glass everything on that beach. The fewer targets to kill, the less we get paid!" exclaimed Emily with exasperation as she flipped on the targeting console and generator from her seat. Catlin chuckled and shook her head as she turned on her command optics and computer. 

"Don't worry, Emily, the briefing said it would be a target-rich environment, so we'll be able to save up for that new cosplay outfit you wanted in no time!" Ruth said, her soft but enthusiastic voice now carried over the crew intercom. Emily's face heated up as she began to deny any sort of thing, while Ruth continued to explain the con they were planning on going to. Catlin soon cut through their conversation. 

"Clamp it up! The boat is about to hit solid ground. I want our lovely tin can moving as soon as the lead hits the beach. Stations check!" Catlin barked. 

"Engine is running smoothly, all systems green, generator on, and batteries fully charged. Driver ready," Ruth commonly reported.

"Master safe off, gun's hot, FLIR tracking, CO2 rangefinder online, turret motor operational! Gunner ready!" Emily said, barely able to contain her nerves or enthusiasm. 

Catlin nodded and checked over her station. The command sight rotated and moved as she manipulated the joystick, thermals, and night vision, turning on and off without issue. "Command station is working well. Alright, let's earn our pay today."

Flicking over to the unit channel, Catlin gave a short and curt report. "Shotgun Shine here, we're ready," she said. Soon, a general message came through from the commander

"Drop your cocks and grab your socks, boys and girls. We're about to hit the beach, and I want to hit the ground running as soon as those doors open and the ramp comes down. Move up the beach and hit any targets that present themselves. Remember, our objective is to eliminate any opposition and push into Naserabad. Troops will be following and moving up with us, and we have air support. But we're fighting the ISL on their home turf - and they don't like tourists"

A simple double click on the comms confirmed the message, and Catlin leaned back. Iran was not what she was expecting, but she and the girls wanted to get outside the US for a change, and this is where their work took them. She wondered if there were gonna be any good bars still open after this, before shaking her head. The country didn't exactly strike her as being open and friendly, and their little invasion wasn't gonna help anything either. It was a small blessing that they had brought their own supply of whiskey to this godforsaken desert in preparation for this. 

Catlin lurched forward slightly as the landing craft ran aground. She could feel the rumble of the hull through the suspension as the ship buried itself onto the beach and prayed they'd hit the beach proper and not a sandbar. Soon, the landing ship's doors opened and the ramp lowered, revealing the wartorn beach. Black, oily smoke rose on the horizon as the tank company charged out onto the beaches. 

Scanning through the thermals of the command sight, she quickly spotted a line of hasty entrenchments and, to her amazement, a field piece looking straight out of the last war. She hadn't seen that sort of improvisation since the Great Plains campaign, but it was all the same. Maybe the bigger tanks could shrug a round, but her aluminum tin can could not. 

"Emmy! Target, 130, field piece. Load airburst fuzes and waist that fucking trench." Catlin yelled into the intercom. 

"Acquired! Wasting!" came the response as the 75mm auto cannon spat its deadly payload a round a second. Time HE fuze shells shot forward and exploded over the heads of the dug-in infantry and gun. Within seconds, the position was torn to shreds, the thermals being alight with small, quickly fading signatures. 

"Alright, let's follow the lead in and swing fast to the left. Emily, engage fortified positions at will. I want any bunker that looks at us funny gone. Ruth, keep up with the lead." Catlin ordered. A curt confirmation came from the other two, and Shotgun Shine sprang to life. The strange light tank rolled fast over the flat beach, its autocannon's heavy thumping a constant as round after round slammed into enemy infantry positions. All the while, Catlin scanned the lines for anti-tank threats before spotting what she was looking for. A pair of T-72s lay partially concealed and buried in the dunes; hastily tossed netting and scrubs kept the majority of it hidden. 

"Emmy! T-72s bearing 124, trying to be slick with that position. Toss that turret!" Catlin ordered.

"Copy... acquired!" Came Emily. With a flip of a switch, the belt was switched, and the telescoped darts were loaded instead. Without any orders, Ruth quickly moved the light tank up behind a nearby dune, letting the immense gun depression from their cannon barely peak over the horizon. "Wasting!" Emily announced as the cannon thudded away at the first T-72. The first round slammed into the lower glacis, piercing through the armor easily and spawling the inside. The second round bounced off the front plate and up into the lower turret, detonating the ammo and sending half the tank nearly fifty feet into the air. Emily wooped while simultaneously acquiring the neighboring tank. This T-72 immediately deployed smoke and began reversing in a panic. But it was no use, as with the flip of a switch, the C02 laser rangefinder cut through the smoke without issue, the FLIR automatically locking the armored target. The cannon thudded away again, this time blowing the tracks off the enemy tank and piercing the turret. The driver of the tank quickly bailed as smoke began to pour out of the barrel of the enemy tank. 

"Shotgun Shine here, scratch two Iranian tanks. Will continue keeping an eye out." Catlin said before flipping back to the intercom. 

"Emily, conserve ammo, this is gonna be a long day."