The One Modeled After the Origin of All Tanks part 1
A rhomboid-shaped tank without a turret emerged, climbing over the rubble.
However, its size was extremely big. Its width and height were both over eight meters, and its total length exceeded twenty meters. Its main cannons were mounted on both sides, while it was only equipped with machine guns on the front.
It looked more like a land battleship than a tank. It was somewhat similar to a smaller version of the silhouette’s mobile maintenance base, the Arsenal Carrier.
It had an emblem of a cute anime-style goddess with pink hair, sticking out her tongue in a playful and mischievous manner.
「Hurry up and get on, woof! You can store your silhouettes from the top of this tank, woof! It can hold up to four silhouettes, or two Quattro Silhouettes, so there’s more than enough room for the two of you, woof!」
In a hurry to avoid being shot, the Canary scrambled up the front of the tank. After the Canary was stored, the Epona also climbed in.
The internal structure of the giant tank revealed a massive space.
「Who are you guys?」
「We’re part of the Silhouette Base’s BAS branch, ‘Albion.’ This tank is called Albion Mark I.」
In contrast to the high-strung Border Collie dog-type Familia, the one who answered was the cool and composed Somali cat-type Familia.
「What is this thing? Why does it have this shape…?」
「This is the new generation of rhomboid tanks. This tank is designed to traverse all kinds of terrains and safely deliver silhouettes to the front lines. The rhomboid tank is the origin of all tanks and personnel carriers, and it was also created as a trench-crossing superweapon that could overcome even the most difficult trenches.」
「That’s what the Tea Mask guy said, woof! I think there will be another broadcast soon, woof. We’ve lived with him for a long time, woof.」
The enemies attacking from the sides were picked off by the side-mounted main guns. The large machine gun equipped at the front was also keeping in check the enemies in front of it.
「Tea Mask, huh…」
As soon as she heard the name, the face of a certain man appeared in Blue’s mind. There was only one person Blue could think of, who would use a name like that. She could only smile wryly at the realization.
「Who exactly is this Tea Mask?!」
On the other hand, Palm couldn’t even begin to imagine who this mysterious character was.
「The two side-mounted main guns are 90mm cannons compatible with AK2. Feel free to restock the ammunition for your rifles!」
「It seems this tank has firing ports too. I’ll make use of them.」
The Canary immediately began restocking ammo.
「Isn’t this tank a bit slow?」
「Mark I’s main focus is heavy armor, so yes, it’s slow, woof.」
Despite that, it was tearing through the wasteland at over 30 kilometers per hour, which was impressive enough for its size.
「 There are several seats at the back too.」
「Yes. It’s designed so the Silhouettes loaded in for tank desant, can engage in combat simultaneously.」
「The steering wheel is receiving a lot of punishment, if things continue like this it could break at any moment. Without that, we can’t change direction, right? Should I go outside to protect it?」
Palm, who knew that the tail wheel—the steering wheel—was how the original Mark I changed direction, was keeping an eye on the outside. Even as bullets rained down on it, they seemed completely ineffective. The armor of the tail wheel was apparently quite thick as well.
The Kazakhs realizing that bullets were ineffective drew their swords and started to swing them at the rusty red tail wheel trying to cut the connection to the tank.
「Oh, that. That’s not the tail wheel, so it’s fine, woof.」
The Border Collie type answered Palm’s question calmly but with a hint of sadness in his voice.
「Wait, why do your eyes look so vacant? Don’t tell me…」
「That’s right. That isn’t a tail wheel, it is the new iteration of that giant waterwheel-like thing…」
The Somali type expressionlessly took over the explanation, but for some reason, her words weren’t clear and she seemed reluctant.
The connection point was finally severed, and countless rocket launchers emerged from the tire section of the tail wheel.
A black devil was born at that moment.
「It’s a self-propelled mine, a Panjandrum.」
The Panjandrum hadn’t completely severed its connection to the tank. It was still connected to the body of the tank by a wire. The rockets of the Panjandrum ignited, and it began rolling.
With erratic and unpredictable movements, it flung the Kazakhs out of its path.
「Is… is that thing going to keep moving erratically around the Mark I?」
Blue, reluctant to say the black devil’s name, looked outside as the Panjandrum moved erratically around the Mark I. It looked like a dog joyfully running wild during its first walk in a long time.
「Yes! This tank also serves as the controller for the latest Panjandrum model, the ‘Black Pudding,’ woof!」
「The only downside is that it can’t really be controlled, though.」
「So the ‘controller’ is just holding the leash for dear life, like the owner of an over-spirited dog?」
Palm seemed to have the same impression as Blue.
「We’re using the Merlin System, so in theory, it won’t head in our direction.」
The Somali type Familia tried to reassure them, but she kept avoiding direct eye contact, so she wasn’t as confident in the so-called Merlin System as she tried to sound.
「Merlin? Is that the name of the engine?」
「No. The Merlin System is a control system for self-propelled weapons like the Panjandrum. It’s a type of friend-or-foe identification system (IFF), and once it recognizes us as allies, it’ll keep its distance. It’s also equipped in the Jaridwheel as well. The Panjandrum on this Mark I is tethered by a wire so it works a little differently though.」
「It only looks like it’s going wild though.」
「Well, it’s a self-propelled mine, so its movements are unpredictable, right? If the wire gets cut, it’ll eventually explode.」
「What are we going to do when we arrive at the Third Army’s position? We can’t use it when allies are around.」
「When that happens, we can use the controller to issue a self-destruct command, so don’t worry. And since it’s like this, as long as we’re far away… we should be fine, I think.」
「You don’t sound very reassuring.」
Seeing the Familia’s doubts Palm retorted, his remark cutting and direct.
「It’s their fault for coming to the battlefield without an IFF. We’ll make sure to ram it into the enemy and detonate it before we run out of fuel so don’t worry. For now, let’s head to where our allies are.」
The Somali-type Familia seemed to have her own thoughts on the matter but Palm and Blue decided not to push any further.
「Thanks. You saved us.」
The armor-specialized Mark I deflected the enemy attacks. The appearance of this bizarre tank made the Kazakhs hesitate.
Palm gave his thanks, and Blue reconnected the communication link.
「Kou, can you hear me? We’ve been saved by Silhouette Base’s BAS branch. They call themselves ‘Albion’, and came with a rhomboid tank.」
「That’s great. But hold on a second. This is the first time I’ve heard there is a BAS branch in the Silhouette Base. What’s a rhomboid tank?」
「If you don’t know, then there’s no way I’d know! There’s an emblem that might be a clue about their identity. I’ll send it to you.」
「R-right. It’s great you two are okay, come back safely.」
After ending the call, Kou turned to talk to Asia’s Aimer who was behind him.
「Did you know there was a BAS branch at the Silhouette Base? George-san probably doesn’t know either.」
It was strange that the head of BAS wouldn’t know about one of his company’s branches, but no BAS representatives had ever gone inside the Silhouette Base, and neither George nor Kou had met anyone from this mysterious branch.
「Don’t ask me. Maybe Astraea knows something. They came from the Silhouette Base underground factory, after all.」
「That makes sense. Astraea, can you hear me?」
「I don’t know. I never heard about it.」
「You don’t know anything?」
「Neither I nor any of my terminals have requested permission to use the underground rail network. And I certainly don’t know anything about a BAS branch.」
Her tone was a little angry. It was intimidating.
「Wait a minute. I’m sure there was a request with your signal, wasn’t there? Did I make a mistake?」
「It’s impossible for you to make mistakes, Asia. There’s someone else using my signal. And that someone is probably the one behind that group called Albion. That name is an old name for Britain I think.」
「I just got an image from Blue of an anime-style emblem painted on the rhomboid tank that saved them.」
「Anime-style? Not a marking?」
「I’m sending the image. I’ll forward it to Astraea too.」
When they looked at the sent image, it was indeed an illustration in the style of Japanese anime.
It seemed to be inspired by the goddess Britannia—an adorable illustration of a pink-haired girl with a mischievous ‘Tehepero’ face, wearing Athena’s helmet, holding a trident, and carrying a shield decorated with the Union Jack. At her feet was a comically drawn lion.
「Why would they use an illustration like this…?」
「I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.」
The transmission from Astraea cut off after she noticed the hair color.
「Kou, another broadcast is starting. There’s going to be a public broadcast across the whole Fortress Area.」
「Got it!」
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