Chapter 37 - Advance! (Heavy POV)

Heavy POV

The tiny Deadbeat came tearing around the corner, leaping across the gap into my departing Kodiak. I just stared at her in amazement, she never would have tried to make that jump before, not with that massive pack of medical supplies on her back.

“Comrade Deadbeat you are aware that I’m heading to the front lines, to face the enemy head on, yes?” I asked.

“Of course I know that,” she snapped. “I got permission before following you. Someone has to keep you brainless knuckleheads in one piece.”

“I do not think you should talk about the other bears like that, they’re doing their best, and it’s not their fault they don’t have full AIs,” I admonished my comrade.

“I was talking about you and Bob,” she snorted. “Don’t forget, I’ve seen what kind of situations you two willingly throw yourselves into.”

I chuckled. “Indeed. But I believe that I can take a bullet, jaw, or quill my comrades cannot, I will always throw myself in the way!”

“And that’s why I'm here, to pick up the pieces when you go too far,” she countered.

“There are very few others I would trust with my back,” I told her. The Kodiak lurched, and went into a dive, trying to reach the street as quickly as possible. My link with Comrades Spooky and Bandit told me everything I needed to. The approach vector, the enemy layout, where our support was, everything. “Prepare yourselves cousin bears, it is time for us to go into battle!” I declared as I hefted my ‘Devastator’ coilgun. 

Deadbeat made some sort of comment, but it was lost as the back ramp opened and a rush of air and the sound of screaming engines entered the cabin. I did not hesitate, and simply walked off the back. 

Our dropzone was right around the corner from Helmar’s armored column. I had advocated for dropping me directly on the street in front of the enemy, but was immediately vetoed by the others, and had to accept this compromise. It was fine, it would have been more glorious to step directly into battle, but a few extra feet wouldn’t hurt. 

The other bears formed up behind me, allowing me to stride around the corner and act as a shield for my brethren. 

Even before I saw the street, I knew what to expect. Eight tanks split evenly between each side of the column to protect the weaker vehicles. Three APCs, Six IFVs, Four Anti-Air vehicles, One artillery vehicle, two support trucks, and one Super Heavy tank.

They wouldn’t even know what hit them. I fired my ‘Devastator’ at the tanks the instant I cleared the corner. The shell punched straight through the turret of the first tank, and embedded itself in the turret of a second, disabling the main gun of both vehicles. A second column of bears swung around the opposite corner of the street, perfectly synchronized, and two Moose took out the remaining tanks. A quick check confirmed the attack on the opposite side of the column had managed to disable the tanks on that side too. The remaining vehicles were trapped.

As I advanced on the rest of the column I felt a static tingle of my shield activating, it was time to test it. 

With a feat of strength that would have been impossible in my Class II form, I leapt up onto the nearest tank, ignoring those inside. The little bears were already detracking the vehicles and digging the crew out, it wasn’t necessary for me to get involved. The vehicle creaked under my weight, but comrade Spooky assured me that it would hold.

“Come, show me what you can do!” I yelled at the rest of the armor, stopping on the rear of the tank in plain view of everyone.

“Is that really necessary?” Deadbeat asked from her position hidden behind the tanks.

“Yes,” I replied, a vicious grin growing on my face.

The enemy’s response was swift, and brutal. The turrets on all the remaining vehicles turned towards me, and the infantry dispersed around the area all zeroed in on my location before opening fire. 

My shield flared, absorbing and deflecting most of the rounds. In fact, the only things that hit me consistently were the autocannons on the Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and even those were a mere tickle. Scratching my facade without damaging the armor below.

“Pitiful,” I whispered as I sighted my Devastator on the nearest IFV and pulled the trigger. The pure kinetic force of the round ripped the turret clean off, and smashed it into the vehicle behind. 

As I methodically took out the threats to the bears advancing around me I noticed one of my cousins catch a stray autocannon round. It ripped right through the bear's leg, shearing it clean off. The little one had barely hit the ground when Deadbeat appeared, grabbing both the bear and its limb, before disappearing back behind the tanks.

I really should have been paying closer attention, because while I was watching the triage the mammoth battle tank brought its guns to bear. The impact from the first round knocked me back a foot or two, skidding on my heels, the second sent me rolling towards the back of the vehicle.

My armor was smoking, diagnostics said superficial cracks, but auto repair was already working on them. Those that were closest to me weren’t so lucky. The blast had shattered the head of the smaller bears, and injured some others. Considering how powerful those cannons were, we were lucky the damage wasn’t worse. 

While Deadbeat was busy carrying the wounded to safety I rose to my feet again. I had a job to do. My Devastator had been wrecked by the explosion, so a nearby moose threw me a replacement as I stepped forward again. I stared down the massive tank for several seconds before scoffing, “Worthless,” before I returned to systematically taking apart the rest of the support. 

I really wanted to take my anger out on the larger vehicle, but I knew that wasn’t my role here. The squirrels were recording me dismantling the entire column, ignoring whatever they threw my way.

When there were only a handful of personal carriers left, and their pitiful heavy machine guns, Bob finally acted. The big bear jumped from one of the nearby buildings, landing on the front of the superheavy. 

The front armor shattered under the impact, and I was pretty sure the suspension snapped too by how far the machine sagged. Bob simply reached up, grabbed one of the massive cannon barrels in each hand, and twisted. The steel screeched, as he deformed the barrels, causing them to spiral before slowly bending the barrels inward. It was a feat of strength I was incapable of, but that was ok, I had my place as well. 

With the IFVs disabled the rest of the bears surged forward, disarming the ground troops and ripping apart the vehicles to get at the crew inside. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but it was effective.

While they were cleaning up Spooky gave me the signal to stand down. I hopped down off the back of the tank, landing next to the waiting Deadbeat.

She looked me over with a critical eye. “That was stupid,” she said, “but you don’t appear to have taken any serious damage.”

“That WAS the plan,” I announced proudly.

“Yeah, well, it was a stupid plan,” she said. “The boss didn’t need you to take the equivalent of naval artillery to the face to prove a point, we could have just swarmed the area.” Deadbeat sighed, and glanced towards the back of the battlelines. “I have so many bears I need to put back together.”

“I told you before, I take those blows that others cannot. I am the shield that stands between our comrades, and danger! We may have lost good soldiers today, but our losses would have been much worse if we’d rushed in. I am glad to do my part,” I declared proudly.

Deadbeat just stared at me. “Fine, you did a good job,” she finally admitted. “Just try to not overdo it. You don’t have to run directly into fire every time there’s a fight, only do it when it’s necessary.” 

“For glory?” I asked, jokingly.

“Not even as a joke,” she replied deadpanned. “I can put many of the bears that were damaged today back together, I’m not sure if I’d be able to put you, or our other squadmates back together.”

“I’ll be careful,” I promised.

“Good,” she snapped. “Now go out there and help with the cleanup, so we can get back to the boss.” I watched Deadbeat spin on the spot and stomp away with a smile. 

A lot had changed in the last half hour, awareness, friends, a firefight, it was amazing! I would never change this for anything in the world.