1958 Tank Biathlon

[Markus Wilding]

"Well, shitfire," Beckenbauer said, smirking as he watched the Chinese tank roll. "They actually landed that 2000-yard shot. Hey, boys, what d'ya say we go over and give them Chinese boys a pat on the back?" Following suit as the Swedish crew unloaded the Chinese tank and began to prepare the Korean one for its run on the lap, Beckenbauer and his crew headed over, smiling and waving. "Hey, y'all did damn well on that run! And with an honest-to-god Sherman, too, hot damn! Name's Sergeant Beckenbauer, this is my crew!"

[Cataphrak]

"Captain Yue," the head of the Chinese team replied as he sat perched atop Ship of Theseus' glacis, "though the ones you really should be congratulating are-"

"Bugger me sideways!" came a voice from under the hull. "The ruddy track pin's been worn out, again!"

Sergeant-Major Oldroyd crawled out from under his tank, his face covered in soot and grease. "Hong! It was the number eighteen pin, just like in Guangzhou! I've a mind to write a strongly worded letter to whoever made this bloody piece of shite, and then beat it into his skull with a tire iron!"

"Lao ye," Yue interjected reproachfully. "We have guests."

Oldroyd sprang to his feet as he noticed the American team, wiping the grease from his hands and face with a cloth as he did, before pounding his fist against the side of the hull. "Tidy up lads, we've visitors!"

Only then did he extend his hand to Sergeant Beckenbauer. "Sergeant-Major Oldroyd, 3rd Dragoon Guards. How d'you do?"

[Markus Wilding]

"Damn fine, maybe a little worried after that shooting we saw from y'all. Oh, my mistake - Third Armored Division "Spearhead." Been a hell of a long time since we seen any shooting like that, y'all some of them fellas what got stuck over in China?"

[Cataphrak]

"I was," Oldroyd replied. "The rest of the regiment's mostly Chinese now, ever since the originals all went up and died - the lazy layabouts. As for the gunlaying..."

A head popped out of the top hatch, an eager look on its face. "Did someone say guns?"

"Corporal Liu, our gunner."

"Nice to meet you all," Liu chirped brightly as he clambered down from the turret. "Sorry about the messy shooting. I was having an off-day. Must be the weather." He looked over to the other side of the pavement, where Blockbuster sat awaiting its turn on the track. "That big one yours?"

[Markus Wilding]

Beckenbauer grinned, a certain fire lighting in his eyes. "You bet your HVSS it is. Standard-issue M48A2 Patton, built fresh off the production line in Montgomery in 1955. 90 mike-mike, .50 cal, .30 cal, and my personal favorite, a V12 that'll put any other engine to shame. Tell ya what, we're tickled to see them Koreans go up. We've been hearing stories about some fancy new tank, but ain't never seen one that wasn't some foreign Sherman before."

[Cataphrak]

To tell the truth, Liu thought the new tanks looked a bit too heavy for his taste. He supposed they'd have to be wider and longer, just to get those big guns in. The one in The Ship of Theseus needed a counterweight just to keep it stable. He supposed that the roads in America were probably strong enough to take vehicles like that, but he had no doubt that one of those fifty-ton monsters would quickly find itself throwing a track on what passed for a side road in Guangzhou.

"I'm wondering how fast it'll go. Zheng - he's our driver - said that they have some kind of big engine, bigger than the one we've got, but given how much larger their hull is, that might not be enough..."

[Markus Wilding]

The second entrant to the international portion was an unexpected dark horse in Korea. Swedish judges anticipated the relative greenness of the crew could be a factor against, but rated their tank's technical ability high owing mostly to the new design and use of new advancements in technology.

Regardless, the Korean team performed well, admirably even, coming just before the Chinese team with a 19 minute flat time, though with a penalty lap levied upon it for missing the 1,800 meter target.

[Alucard Tobor]

"Don't look at me like that." duVall muttered.

Kuan continued to stare at the back of the gunner's head accusingly.

"Goddamnit, quit." said gunner groaned. "Yeah, I missed it, deal with it. It happens. We still did not bad."

Kuan merely sighed, sitting back. Popping the hatch, he stood, nodding politely to the other competitors as the Centurion trundled into its parking spot. As duVall popped out his own hatch, he side-eyed the crass man. "I do believe I have found a new training method for the armoured corps, back home."

Laughter drifted out of the turret from the loader and driver as duVall banged his head off the hatch ring.

[Markus Wilding]

And thus, with a loud whoop and a cheer, the SRA's tank was up next. Recent combat experience had informed the Swedish judges to expect a good, competitive result, especially given how aggressively the SRA's armored corps was rumored to have acted in recent campaigns.

As it turned out, this aggressiveness was the key in their time. An impressive shot on the 1,800 meter target came almost immediately after moving, with an almost improbable dead stop at speed with the gun firing not even two seconds later. Watching the SRA's tank run the first lap, it seemed more like chaos than an actual display of military prowess. But, regardless, the SRA's team had the best time after the Swedish, at 18 minutes, 42 seconds.

Thus, following the end of the first lap, the placings were:

1. Sweden
2. SRA
3. China
4. Korea

The second lap would, with luck, be easier on the competitors as long-ranged shooting was not the sole factor at play. As per usual, Sweden set the pace with a solid 15 minute flat time.

China's run on the course proved excellent, despite qualms the Swedish judges had over the coaxial gun arrangement. Regardless, biases proved to be broken when the Chinese team hit a 16 minute, 26 second time on the second lap.

Korea's attempt on the lap did not prove as disastrous as the first attempt, with no penalties applied, but a jam in the coaxial machine gun left the tank - and range - silent for some time as the issue was rectified, which left the Korean team in third place with a time just shy of 17 minutes.

Finally, the SRA stumbled, rather unfortunately. The tank's actual performance was excellent, but firing with machine guns on the two targets proved difficult for some obscure reason, with the tracers falling alternatively short and high above it like some sort of hellish see-saw. In the end, the SRA's team ended their run with a 18 minute, 31 second time.

For the standings, China moved up one to dislodge the SRA from its second-place position. Korea and Sweden remained unmoved.

The third lap would truly prove the mettle of the various tank crews. Sweden once again set the pace, ending the event's proceedings with a new Swedish military record of 19 minutes, 27 seconds.

Which is precisely where the three foreign teams fell apart, unfortunately.

China's turn on the course ended with two penalties levied upon it, first for improperly traversing a series of log obstacles, and then again for missing the anti-tank gun target with the turret-mounted machine gun, leading to a 10 second penalty and a 500 meter penalty lap. Prior to penalties, the time was 20 minutes, 10 seconds, later turning to 20 minutes, 37 seconds after penalties.

Korea managed to do one better, but also found a penalty lap incurred upon it for missing the target. Korean final time, 19 minutes, 59 seconds.

The SRA, however, managed to rack up three full penalties for improperly traversing and missing obstacles, apparently a record among the Swedish judges. Of the foreign teams, the SRA was the only one to actually hit the target, but this proved pointless following an abysmal 22 minute, 27 second time before penalties.

In the end, Sweden once again walked away as champions, beginning to reconsider the difficulty of some of its events.

Final rankings:

1. Sweden
2. China
3. Korea
4. SRA

China has been invited to set up a similar contest of its own in four years.