Titan Fall - A Short Story

Present Day.


“Look look! Go back.. there’s the swamp Titan!”.. Mikkel’s nephew exclaimed in Danish.


The nephew swiped the tablet on the game he was showing Mikkel and a swamp landscape appeared on the screen. In it, was a large hulking monster figure gently rocking and swaying and occasionally swinging its large club at the tiny figures below.


A town burns close by on the edge of the swamp on the screen.


A massive 100mm AP shell streaked by Mikkel and he was close enough to feel its blast wave in his bones.


“Fell it uncle... Fell the Titan!”.. his nephew’s voice became a distant echo, lost in the wisps of fog and smoke... and fragmented memories from a fragmented war in a fragmented country long ago, came rushing back to him.. he thought of Vilmar, Jorgen and Asger and their crews.


and of the Titans..


Tears of sorrow and enormous gratitude streamed slowly from Mikkel’s face on to the tablet screen.


———————————————


Bosnia. 1994.


“Stopping for a terrain check. Over” Asger’s voice crackled over the radio and Mikkel commanded the driver of his Pbv 302 armoured personnel carrier to a stop close to the leading Leopard tank of the Danish Jydske Dragon Regiment, assigned to the UNPROFOR’s Nordic Battalion, in support of UNHCR’s humanitarian mission to bring food, supplies and medicine to this nightmare landscape of combat devastation that Europe hadn’t seen since the World War II.


“Glorified Food delivery trucks.. that’s what we are” Mikkel joked to the gunner behind the 20mm cannon.


“...and Mines”.. the gunner nervously muttered and nodded a derisive chin towards the German mine engineer whose head was poking out from the back of the armoured personnel carrier.


“Don’t worry friends! They are all disarmed!” The German sergeant, assigned to the auxiliary mission of clearing mines, overhearing the conversation, shouted with a thick German accent.


Mikkel shook his head slightly and dismounted from the APC and walked towards the lead Leopard tank.


The commanders of the second APC and the second tank, Vilmar and Jorgen, were with Asger, pouring over a map.


“The GPS not working today?” Mikkel quipped with unease.


“Look at the skies Mikkel, this new technology doesn’t work too well when it’s so damn cloudy and foggy”.. Asger replied back with a cool gaze behind his grey eyes..


“You know what that also means”.. the second tank commander Jorgen chimes in..


He continued. “That means our American fly boys won’t be covering our butts”


“Swamp here.. swamp there..” Asger’s fingers traced the contour lines of the map as he glanced up and down from the map to the terrain surrounding them.


“And 10 clicks ahead is our village.. it’s a hostile area.. well the whole country is hostile.. so Leopard 2 will cover our rear as we go into town” Asger finished


“..And you cover our ancient food delivery wagons with your spear of god.. ya?” Mikkel mused.


Asger, knowing Mikkel made reference to his name, spread a thin smile, gently tapped the rifled main gun as he hopped onto the turret and replied.


“All 105 millimeters of it brother..”


A spotter watched the convoy depart through his binoculars and relayed a coded message through the cold autumn air.


“2 Pbv 302’s, 2 Leopards, Danes, heading towards Beslici. ETA 30 mins”


———————————————


The Lead Commander watched the Wolfpack through his binoculars.


Magnificent predators he thought..


He then gazed up at the cold cloudy skies and the thin fog with a smile.


No air cover.


“This night..wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch,

The lion and the belly-pinched wolf

keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs,


...And bids what will take all...”


A passage from King Lear softly flowed through his lips..


The commander was a Soviet trained veteran that had endured the silent rage of the Cold War and now had been turned loose to unleash the fury in the countryside of the fragmented land that the Soviets had abandoned and the civility of the West had not taken its hold yet.


Now he had a special addition to his arsenal of the armoured fist. The Yugoslav JNA had “loaned” him a M-84 tank.


These Russian T-72 variants are vastly superior to his T-55’s but more importantly, it’s 125mm smoothbore cannon can outgun the Leopard tanks of the UN forces deployed to get in their way.


He huddled with the commanders of the 4 T-55’s in his platoon and unfurled the map.


“Beslici.. roads in from three directions.. swamp to the west..”


“Kilo 2 and 3 approach from the South. Kilo 4 and 5 from the South-East.. I will ambush them from the North road that they came in..” the lead commander paused..


“Do not engage the Leopards directly.. your guns are no match for the Danes.. just flush them out..”


“The tin cans are fair game though..correct sir?” One of the commanders piped up.. referring to the armoured personnel carriers with bloodthirst..


“Fair game Gentlemen.. and if the Leopards give you their flanks, roast them..”


The commanders boarded their respective tanks, started their engines..


..and the five Steel Titans of the Drina Wolves armoured regiment of the Vojska Republike Srpske army roared to life..


And headed towards their prey.


———————————————

 

———————————————————


Tarik was dreaming by the roadside woods when the rumble of the UN convoy woke him up.


An inquisitive boy of 12, left behind in town because he was too young to fight in the war that was raging in the countryside, had been trapping rabbits in the woods to help the townfolk and his family.


“Corned Beef!” He mouth started watering as he thought of the food and supplies that the UN soldiers would be bringing.


He thought of running after the convoy with reckless glee but his war weary cautions took hold of him and he glanced up at the sky.


He saw no planes but he crouched and walked slowly back towards the town on the edge of the woods along the road.


He wasn’t far along when he felt a presence in the woods.


A slow and almost silent rumbling of a behemoth in the edge of the forest.


And then Tarik saw the beast lumbering into position. A hulking tank with a massive gun barrel, all painted in the green and black forest camouflage, was blending perfectly into the fall foliage.


Tarik did not know the armour tactics of the Main Battle Tanks but he knew a predator lying in ambush when he saw the Steel Titan now resting menacingly among the trees...


and that the people under the white and blue flag that are now unloading his favourite corned beef cans in town were in imminent danger.


He scurried back as fast as he could while staying out of sight of the titan in the woods, and as he entered the village, he saw the vibrant streaks of the 100mm tracer rounds followed by the violent shrieks of the high velocity shells driving into one of the armoured cars and blowing it to pieces.


Tarik ran with all his might towards the Tanks of white and blue.. to warn them of the Titan in the woods.


———————————————————


Mikkel was finishing with the unloading of the supplies when the autumn air around them was streaked with the tracer rounds of the T-55’s approaching from the south east.


In one violent flash later, he felt the concussed air of Vilmar’s parked APC, taking a direct hit and blowing up in a ball of fire, and knocked him down off his feet.


The convoy was not parked closed to each other to damage each vehicle and sheer terror and adrenaline brought Mikkel and his crew back to their knees. The gunner of his APC, knowing that they were being fired upon by large caliber shells, most possibly of hostile Tanks, and that his 20mm cannon would do no damage, was loading and firing smoke canisters to cover their position.


The town folk had fled into their basements in terror.


The driver jumped back into the APC and fired it up as they had done in many drills and waited for Mikkel to jump back in.


The lead Leopard of Asger boomed a shot off its main gun in the south east direction as his voice crackled over to Mikkel and the Leopard 2 behind him.


“Hostile T-55’s.. Azimuth 110 and 115.. range 1000 meters and closing.. Lima 2, cover fire. Engage”


Almost simultaneously, Mikkel and the German mine Engineer, a battle veteran who was scanning the surroundings with his binoculars, spotted additional movement on the south edge of town.


Mikkel radioed in..


“2 more hostiles.. T-55’s.. Azimuth 180, range 1800 meters.. and closing”


A shell shrieked by them and struck through the house behind them. Mikkel deduced that they were armour piercing as opposed to high explosives due to the lack of heavy explosion on contact.


“AP! AP! They are hunting for us!” He gripped his radio..


“Check the road in.. If clear, back out! Back out! Face your front to the hostiles” Asger gave orders to his convoy under siege.


Jorgen and his crew scanned the road in and seeing no activity, started backing out of town.


Mikkel and Asger followed and just as they cleared on the edge of the village, Mikkel spotted a young boy running towards them with arms waving and pointing up the road.


“Tenk! Tenk!” The boy screamed in Bosnian.. Mikkel understood immediately and screamed into his radio.


“Lima 2, Turn! Turn! It’s an ambush!”


Jorgen closed his hatch and the Leopard turned to face the road they came through in..


The Titan in the woods unleashed its fury and the 125mm HEAT round came crashing into Jorgen’s Leopard in the middle of its turn..


The explosive force blew the entire turret off the Leopard as Mikkel stared in shock.


The boy nimbly climbed onto the APC and tugged Mikkel and pointed at a direction west..


“Mochmaga! Moch!”


Instincts took over on Mikkel and primarily driven by the fact that they were being hit from 3 directions, decided to follow the boy’s pointing down a laneway between the barns..


Onto the edge of the swamp..


Asger followed him, with covering fire being discharged from his main gun periodically.


The boy pointed to a faint path in the swamp and Mikkel pointed to the APC they were in and the Tank that was following them and pointed the path to the boy..


“I hope it can take the weight of our vehicles”.. Mikkel prayed..


The boy seemed to understood the gestures, nodded and repeated “Mochmaga!”


The APC drove with speed on the path into the swamp and Asger backed in his Leopard behind them.


“I need to buy some time for us” Asger thought and he spotted an over zealous T-55 barrelling onto the path from the town..


“Fire!” Asger ordered to his gunner and the superior turning of the turret on the Leopard bore down its main gun on the T-55 at close range.. and fired.


The T-55 stopped in its track as the Leopard’s AP round tore through its front armour.


The Leopard and the APC retreated into the swamp as the 4 remaining Titans crept up to the edge.

 

——————————————————


The two Dane Commanders, the German Sergeant and the Bosniak boy huddled on the thin strip of hard land in the swamp. The tall rushes and moss covered the boggy areas surrounding them.


“I took one of them out and blocked the path.. they should pause before chasing us in this swamp..” Asger scanned at the faces around him.


“But they will be pausing more to devise a plan and hunt us down”


The Viking heritage of Asger seeped in..


“Let take a moment to honor our fallen friend and warriors”


Mikkel and the German took off their helmets and they all knelt in silent honor and prayer for Vilmar and Jorgen and their crew.


“Let’s ask the boy if there is a way out.” Mikkel started gesturing the boy by pointing towards further in the swamp with his limited Bosnian.. “Izlaz? Izlaz?”


The boy shook his head, gestured a series of hand signals towards the swamps while talking rapidly... but eventually pointed back to the town.


“We saw 4 T-55’s of which you took one out.. and whatever that ambushed our Leopard” the German assessed.


“That makes at least four guns between us and the road back home”



“Four guns between us and Valhalla”



Asger quipped.. a plan slowly forming in his mind.


He approached Mikkel and spoke softly in Danish.


“Mikkel.. my brother.. you will be the Lokkemad ya?... Tell your driver Uffe to drive like hell ya?” Asger put his hands on Mikkel’s shoulder


“..and when I am done.. no matter what.. make a break for town brother..” Asger then stared at Mikkel and asked..


“Is all of this worth it brother?”


Mikkel pointed Asger to the boy on the edge of the swamp.


“I see the new republic rising in their eyes.. a republic of freedom and equality.. we are here to help them sort it out brother..”


Mikkel stood attention and gave Asger a salute. Asger saluted back with respect and gratitude, and walked over to the German.


“Pionier ya?.. say, do you have any good ones I can use?”


The German Sergeant, grinning, replied..


“I have 5 TM-62M’s that I haven’t done full deactivation yet, I can get them back in action..”


“Are you telling me you have been carrying live Mines in my APC all day!?” Mikkel interrupted, shaking his head..


“They are Tank Mines.. you are not that fat to set them off..” the Sergeant replied.


———————————————————


The Lead M-84 and 3 T-55’s crept to the edge of the swamp. The commanders stood up on the open turrets and conferred.


“It doesn’t look like there’s any other way out”


The Lead Commander savoured the hunt..


“That one Leopard is still a dangerous prey..” he pointed his other commanders to the burning tank and shouted..


“That’s what happens when you are too eager.. I want more care in this hunt..we will go stagger two into the swamp..


Kilo 5 take the lead left, cover 10 to noon, I will follow right and cover noon to 2 o’clock. Kilo 2, stagger left and cover left... Kilo 3 will be vanguard stagger right.”


“Now push that wreck out of the way and let’s go hunting!” the Drina Wolves Commander ordered..


——————————————————


Asger explained his plan to the crew who were loading the shells from the hull into the turret.


“Snorkel and fully submerged!?..” the driver inquired.


“You do know that the snorkel is just for the engine right?”


“We will have enough air in the turret for the wait” Asger replied


“You know we’re not air tight right? We’re not a submarine commander” the driver protested.


“So we get a little wet.. it’s better than getting blown off by VRS Tanks”


“Great.. we’re being chased by other tanks and we’re all gonna drown..” the driver shook his head..


“But we will get a fighting chance..” a smile broke on his face slowly and he gave a salute to Asger.


Asger surveyed the terrain for his plan, picked a firm spot in the swamp off the trail near a spur path and slowly backed his Leopard to submerge.


Mikkel and the APC crew saluted him as he closed his hatch and the Leopard slipped beneath the murky waters and its engine turned off.


———————————————————


“APC spotted” Kilo 5 announced


“Weaving like a scared rabbit”


“Keep you guns on him.. I will look out for the Leopard.. forward and engage” Lead Commander ordered.


The two left T-55’s rained their fire on Mikkel’s APC as it zagged and weaved in the muddy swamp.


...and the armoured fist of four Tanks followed him.


———————————————————


The water was dripping down inside the turret and hull of the Leopard as Asger and his crew waited in the dim glow of the red light in the cabin.


They heard the sounds of the guns and prayed for the crew on the APC.


“I hope my engine starts” the driver moaned


“I hope my gun fires” the gunner joined


Asger glanced at the other remaining crew member.. and the radio operator who also acts as the loader piped up..


“I just hope it’s all worth it”..


Asger smiles and replied.. “it’s all worth it brother..”


The rumble of the Tanks passed by them soon and Asger counted..


“1... 2.. heavy tank.. 3... 4...” and the rumble began to fade..


Asger was soaked as the cold water dripped over him and he counted the seconds..


“Ready everyone?”.. the crew nodded..


“Start the engine..” the driver started the engine and with a slight sputter, the 10 cylinder Maybach Diesel engines roared to life..


“Full speed ahead.. Charge!!!”


The waters of the swamp rippled.. the 105mm main gun poked through the surface, followed by the 42 Tonnes of armoured fury.


The lone Steel Titan of Jydske Dragon Regiment rose from the swamp..


But this time, it rose as the hunter..


—————————————————

 

——————————————————


A massive 100mm AP shell streaked by Mikkel and he was close enough to feel its blast wave in his bones.


The boy was brave beside him as he gestured the firm grounds of his homeland.


Mikkel related the general directions as Uffe, his driver, was tossing the Pbv 302 like a Rally car. Changing directions, cutting and even drifting on the muddy surface.


Then he started to hear the explosions behind them.


———————————————————


The flanks of the trailing two T-55’s came into Asger’s view.


“Fire! Load.. Fire!”


Countless drills done in their Danish homeland came to fruition as the gunner and loader worked in unison to let loose a two round salvo into the T-55’s.


The Drina Wolves Commander felt the explosions behind him as he was scanning for the Leopard in the swamp.


“We’ve been flanked!.. back up quick and hide behind Kilo 3.. and Pivot!!!”


His experienced driver backed up the M-84 quickly in front of the blown T-55 right behind them.. and started the maneuver of Pivoting, spinning its tracks in opposite directions and turning on the spot.


Kilo 5, the leading tank, did not have the better transmission of the M-84 and as such, was doing a small arc’ed turn when Asger’s 105mm HEAT rounds found it.


Now with his front armour facing the Leopard, the commander of the M-84 darted out from among the three burning T-55’s and fired a round at the Leopard.


The front hull took a glancing hit with no lethal damage but Asger and his crew were momentarily stunned by the force of impact.


“Back up! Back up... to the kill spot” Asger cautioned to the driver..


“Be very careful with your driving!”


The driver glanced away from his instrument panel briefly to nod at Asger with a nervous smile while the loader and gunner were furiously firing at the oncoming beast emerging from the burning wrecks ahead of them.


The swamp fell eerily silent, save for the slow and methodical grinding of the tracks and occasional booming of the cannons of the beasts..


———————————————————


The Leopard was backing up methodically and carefully around the terrain, sparingly using its smoke canisters, but its muzzle flashes were still giving it away to the commander of the M-84.


The commander kept a careful distance to keep his 125mm gun advantage and urged his gunner to wait for any angles for a “mobility kill”.. his plan is to disable the Leopard from range and then go in for the kill.


The smoke lifted briefly and the gunner saw the Leopard made the mistake of a slight turn.. the M-84 Titan bellowed a shot at rage and the Leopard stopped in its tracks.


The Leopard ejected its smoke canisters and kept firing back in its last stand..


“Brave till the end.. but your aims are off..”


The Drina Wolves Commander inched closer, fired into the smoke, the Leopard’s guns went silent.


“Kill time..” the M-84 Steel Titan surged ahead to its mortally wounded prey..


Two TM-64’s clustered close on the dry land path exploded underneath the Steel Titan.


The combined force tore through the underside of the hull of the tank and the Steel Titan stopped dead on its tracks.


Mikkel’s APC roared by approaching the wreck of the two titans, embraced in their mortal farewell.


They stopped near the Leopard and as they approached it on foot, Mikkel heard a howling of a wolf..


The howl was from Asger.. he was covered in mud and weeds from the swamp and he and his crew crawled up from where they disembarked and hid.


The two crews hugged with joy.


Mikkel saluted Asger as the Mine Engineer and the Bosniak boy approached them.


The Engineer has given the boy a corned beef can and the boy showed to them with glee..


“It’s worth it ya?” Asger returned the salute


“It’s all worth it brother..” Mikkel replied.



—————————————————-

 

Hey Everyone!

Inspiration struck me to write this short story down while playing this game and “hunting” for the Titans..

Both the Danish Jydske Dragon armoured Regiment and the VRS Drina Wolves were involved in the Bosnian War but this is a work of fiction. Enjoy!