There are plenty things that happen in times of war and combat. People die, move up the chain, or disappear if they choose. The crew of the Belladonna had been tightly knit until a month ago. The commander had lost her head to an incoming round while turned out. She had been trying to vector on a target and was suddenly decapitated by an enemy tank. They never got the one who did it, but the contract was completed anyway. Times like that reminded the survivors of the solemn reality that anyone could die at anytime without warning.

But the Belladonna and its crew were still needed. So instead of quitting, they had decided to stick it out. For each other, and for the money. A week ago, the boss transferred them a replacement commander and told them to "be nice to her." Even after one week of familiarization training, the girls had no idea what to make of their new commander. She was subtle, quiet, and spooky. Her facial tattoos gave them all the creeps, but they never admitted to it aloud. Now they were about to do their first contract with her in the turret. The real deal.

Ash Vale had been trained as an assassin in her former life. Part of a doomsday cult that saw the Heavenfall as a new beginning and the heralding of the death of the old world. The Veil of Ash cult was small-time compared to the Eternal Church, but they still kept up with their own ways of subterfuge and cunning. Ash had been sent to hunt down escapees from the cult and kill them to preserve their secrecy. It was during one fateful assignment that she learned what truly waited beyond the walls of the cult's compound that was secluded in the middle of the western part of the United States.

It was then that she decided to leave her life behind and make a new one. She had no name beyond what the cult had given her: Ashen Wraith. So when Armoured Fist asked for her name, she merely adopted her old cult's name into her being. Ash Vale, though the last name was misspelled by the administration clerk. Still, she made herself useful as she could. She had been bumped off many crews in her time for the same reason given by every one of them. "She scares the shit out of me." Now she was commanding the crew of the Belladonna, an M60A3 TTS that was supposed to be one of the rougher assignments, but she took it in stride as she only knew how.

Ash sat upon the top of the turret. Inside, Roxy "Haymaker" Mitchell was going over the ammunition loadout and assisting Darla "Fangs" Stray with the pre-combat checklist. Velvet "Doll" Harrow started up the engine to test operations of the turret, gun, optics, and so on. With the exception of Ash and her East German button-up coveralls, the girls were wearing US GI tanker coveralls, all in various states of being unzipped. From Darla's modest neckline to Roxy's tank top show, but neither could hold a candle to Velvet's full cleavage lace bra ensemble with midriff exposure to boot. Even after getting out of the brothel, Velvet couldn't stop being a tease.

"That covers everything. Hopefully the FCS doesn't shit out on us again." Darla groaned.
"Only if you don't treat her right. You know what Doll says." Roxy shot back.
"Yeah yeah, I know. Doll sure does love reminding me."
"Cause you keep forgetting." Velvet added.
"Can it, Doll. Hey boss, we all set?" Darla asked.

Ash brought her mic down in front of her mouth and spoke in her usual eerie calm tone.

"Dismount and meet me on the turret."

The girls all traded looks before they all popped out of the hatches and gathered around. Ash had her tarot card deck sitting on the roof of the turret, next to a mortar and pestle and a bundle of sage. Again, they traded looks and shrugs.

"What is it, bosslady?" Roxy asked.
"Our immediate future is in question. I look to Hecate now for her guidance. Fangs, your lighter please." Ash replied.

Fangs pulled out her zippo. It was engraved with her confirmed kill tally of seventeen and the words "MEAN AND UNSEEN" underneath. She handed it to Ash, who flipped it open and lit up the sage bundle.

"Stand at the side of the tank. I will get to you when I am done." She instructed.

Once again looks were traded with suspicion, but no one said a word against her. Their commander was their commander, no matter how weird she was. The three of them stood down at the side and watched Ash disappear into the turret. Smoke from the sage plumed out of the commander's hatch as soft prayers to Hecate echoed inside. One minute later, she reappeared and climbed out. The sage was sufficiently burnt, allowing her to crush the end into the mortar and pestle, grinding it into a finer ash with some other things mixed in. Once she felt it was enough, she jumped down to the rest of the crew.

One by one, Ash went down the line. She smeared her thumb into the ashen mix she made and marked each of the girls on their forehead, just above the area between their brows.

"The battlefield is full of the strongest emotions." Ash stated, "Hate, anger, sorrow, fear. All these and more at their most raw and powerful. We must be protected against the spirits who wish to cling to us and not let go. Every one of us carries ghosts, but no more passengers are welcome on this journey." She ended the prayer by smearing ash on her own forehead to match the rest of them. "Come. Let's see what Hecate has in store for us."

Ash climbed the turret with the crew in tow. She picked up the tarot deck and began to shuffle the cards. She shuffled and shuffled, over and over, until three cards fell out during the movements. Ash lined them all up and turned them over on at a time.

"Ace of Pentacles. Judgement reversed. Nine of Wands."

The crew each stared at the cards and then looked up to Ash.

"What's that mean?" Roxy asked first.
"The cards can be very blunt, Haymaker. Hecate says we will have a lucrative contract." Ash answered.
"But?" Velvet chimed in.
"But only if we accept what has come to pass and move forward with renewed determination."
"How convenient." Darla spat.
"The cards don't lie. We have a lot of work to do, and not just on the contract." Ash said cryptically. She perked up as her headset came to life with another voice: the unit commander's. Ash deftly packed up her belongings and stowed them in her personal rucksack. "Mount up. We're making ready to land."

The crew hustled into their stations, pulling the hatches closed and locking them down. The ship was going ahead full until it got closer to the shore and began to gradually slow until it bottomed out on the sand. The CO's tank was first off the ship, as per tradition. Once there was an opening, Velvet kicked the Belladonna into first gear and sent it forward.

"Doll, get us a wide angle as you come out. I want to be out of everyone's way as soon as possible." Ash ordered.
"Can do, hot stuff!" Velvet said back, jerking the tank to the right as they came down off the ramp.
"Who's turn is it now? Roxy asked.
"It was mine last time. It's Fangs next." Velvet replied.
"Nah, let's make it special. This is the commander's first time. Let her pick." Darla said.
"Pick? Pick what?" Ash asked.
"First song. We always play music in the tank during combat. Helps us focus." Roxy answered.
Ash stared blankly and said, "I don't have anything to pick about that."
Roxy rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine. I think I got something for you anyway."

But Ash was already on her commander's day sight, even as [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBDvwEoqZqU]music[/url] filled the interior.

"Haymaker, load plastic. Make ready." Ash told her.
Roxy pulled one of the few High-Explosive Plastic rounds from the ready rack and shoved it into the gun breech. She locked it closed and yelled, "UP!"
"Fangs, plastic, pillbox. Traverse right."

Darla swiveled the turret right, looking through her own day sight with her hands on the yoke.

"On." Ash called out.
"Identified!" Darla shouted back.
"Fire, fire HEAT."
"On the way!"

The whole tank shunted as the gun recoiled, sending the 105mm HEP shell directly into the mouth of the bunker and blowing it to pieces.

"UP!" Roxy yelled after slamming the shell into the breech and locking it again.
"Fangs, coax, AT. Traverse right. Doll, take us up the beachhead slow so we can cover the troops. Fangs, on."
"Identified!"
"Light 'em up."

The rattle of the M240C echoed inside the turret as tracers danced around an ATGM emplacement, tearing it and its operator apart in a red mist until the missile detonated inside the tube housing. The mission was on, and they were marching on Tehran. Ash made a silent prayer to Hecate to see her and her new crew through this contract, and hoped they weren't being used as expendable assets for a diversionary attack.