The sprint up the beach was anything but. It was times like this that Darla was happy to have a stabilizer in the vehicle. The M60, though not officially known as a Patton but nicknamed such anyway due to intense similarities, was the last of the old breed. When the Army moved onto the M1, they finally started using composite armor. But the M60 still had rolled homogeneous steel construction, much like the Shermans and Pershings of yesteryear. In the face of peer adversaries, the armor was adequate. But the T-72s, and by extension T-80 and T-90 series tanks, could punch holes right through the armor with ease.

It was for that reason that Darla zeroed in on the T-72 currently showing its flank to her. She pulled the trigger after releasing and watched the HEAT round streak toward it, striking it in the side. The ensuing fireball sent the turret rocketing off the hull to land discarded on the desert floor some distance away.

"Haymaker, load SABOT." Ash commanded.
"SABOT UP!" Roxy yelled after locking the breech.
"SABOT indexed!" Darla shouted as she re-indexed the main gun to keep it from sending the kinetic round sailing over the heads of their target.
"Fangs, battlesight, two tanks, left tank first." Ash said.
"Identified!"
"Fire."
"On the way!"

[i]Click.[/i] Nothing. [i]Click.[/i] Nothing again.

"Shit! FCS down! Stand by!" Darla shouted.

She grabbed the manual firing device, colloquially known as the "master blaster", and twisted it, sending an electrical charge down to the gun that ignited the round in the barrel. The tank rocked. Darla watched the SABOT streak through the air and smash into the engine block of the left tank. It caught fire almost immediately. Before Ash could order Darla to fire on the second T-72, the tank shook as a loud bang sounded inside the turret. Velvet rocked in her seat as Roxy and Darla braced. Ash dropped onto the turret floor on her ass, earning her indignation immediately.

"Status." She said loudly above the noise in the turret.
"Up!" Velvet cried.
"I'm up!" Darla shouted.
"I'm not out yet! Everything seems fine!" Roxy called out before she stooped down and helped Ash back onto her commander's seat.

Ash stared through the viewport and spotted the T-55s running adjacent to the T-72s. One had its turret cranked all the way around and was aimed squarely at them. The other tanks were still cranking theirs around. Ash wiped blood from her busted lip and set her vengeance in motion.

"Haymaker, load plastic."
Roxy looked at her like she had two heads, but shrugged her shoulders and grabbed one of the HEP shells.
"Doll, shift it into second gear."
"Copy!"
The tank lurched forward at renewed speed, pulling out in front of Maddy's tank.
"PLASTIC UP!" Roxy yelled.
"Fangs, tank, you know which one." There was venom laced in her words.
"Identified!" Darla shouted immediately after.
"Re-index."
"Indexed!"
"Relaze. Aim for the turret."
"Lazed!"
"Fire, fire SABOT."
"ON THE WAY!"

The HEP round sailed forward and smashed into the T-55's turret mantle. The other tanks would be made short work of by their allies. But Ash wanted this kill to be hers. Special. Personal. They had challenged Hecate's words in her heart. That was not something she let go lightly.

"SABOT UP!" Roxy yelled again.
"Doll, pull up to the tank and keep it between us and the others."
"Oooookay!" Velvet replied shakily, hoping that Ash knew what she was doing.
"Fangs, take out their track."
"On the way!"

She had to resort to the master blaster again, but sent the SABOT round into the right track and sprocket. Back at Fort Knox, they called it a "mobility kill." But Ash wasn't done.

"Fangs, engage at will. Do not fire on the wounded tank. I'll be back." Ash said, unplugging her CVC headset from the tank's intercom.
"You'll what?!" Darla whirled around in her seat just in time to watch Ash's feet disappearing up out of the commander's hatch. "What the hell is she doing?"

Ash ran off at a quick speed. Her feet carried her across the entire barrel of the Belladonna, knowing that it could be moved at any second. But at the very end of the muzzle, she jumped off and felt it leave her feet. Fangs had acquired a new target. That was fine. Ash sprinted like the wind and reached the T-55 in seconds, grabbing the tank gun and swinging her whole body up to plant her feet onto the engine block. The commander's hatch opened and the ISL tank commander stood turned out of it. Her eyes dilated and she darted toward him. He saw her coming. Maybe it was the striking face tattoo. Maybe it was the gleaming silver dagger in her hand. Maybe it was way she scaled up the turret like a big cat closing the distance on its prey. Maybe it was all of the above. But for whatever reason, he was shocked. Mortified, even beyond any rational thought.

He tried to pull himself out and throw his body over the side of the tank, only for Ash to snatch him up and drive the dagger into his neck. She forced it out and slit his throat wide open before she let his limp form carry on off the side of the tank and onto the sand. She then stepped up to the commander's hatch and drew her pistol, the nickel-plated finish gleaming in the desert sun and engraved with cult iconography akin to her tattooed skin. She disappeared into the turret. Three shots rang out, then silence. Ash pulled herself up out of the turret. The driver, still alive, pulled himself out through his hatch and started to run from the wreck. Ash pointed her pistol at him and fired just as Darla found a new target and sent another SABOT out the cannon of the Belladonna. As the driver fell and sprawled out onto the sand, another tank exploded in the distance.

Ash looked on for but a moment before she headed back to the Belladonna. Much as she would've liked to stay and bask in the victory, there was still much to do. It promised to be a long day, and it had only just begun. She took one of the red smoke grenades off the ring around the commander's cupola and tossed it into the open hatch of the T-55 as the passed it. Red smoke soon poured out from the tank, indicating to company salvage crews later that it could be serviced if repaired. And if not, it would certainly be a nice bonus to sell off to another country.

Roxy popped her hatch open and made a whistle to signify how impressed she was. After all, what Ash had done was nothing short of insane in the middle of a combat zone. Doll had also been observing, but ducked back down when she saw the commander coming back. When Ash sat down and everyone buttoned up again, Roxy was the first to acknowledge it.

"Damn, I'd hate to see you on a bad day."
"No one messes with my crew. No one." Ash replied.
"It's not often we get to bond with the newbies after first light. But...I think we know what to do now." Velvet said from her seat as she pulled the tank away from their most recent kill.
"Yeah. Regular little ritual. Once we get done with this engagement, hand us your helmet."

Ash said nothing in response and waited for orders to come down from Maddy.