Phantasm

I stepped out of the shadows and into the only slightly less gloomy interior of the tank. I could see, just. There were thin windows for the driver and a dim lightstone impersonating a lightbulb attached to the ceiling. The first thing I noted was that the tank was empty. No goblin crews, the tank was moving on its own.

There were controls though. From the way they were moving about it seemed that they did control the tank, at least nominally.

I considered my options, painfully aware that my team didn’t have a lot of time. Should I try destroying the controls with a grenade, or see if I could control the tank?

Let’s try the non-destructive option first, I thought and jumped into the pilot’s seat. The cockpit was lacking a convenient Playstation-style controller, but there were two prominent sticks that seemed like they might do something. I gave one a pull.

The tank slewed around, as one of its tracks went into reverse. Mana gathered around the stick I had pulled, and it tried to pull itself right back. I tried holding on, just to see if I could.

I managed it, but it was a struggle and the tank didn’t like it. Not that I’m an expert on the emotional state of tanks, but there were some subtle signs. Other controls started flipping back and forth agitatedly and a machine gun started up in the turret. Firing at what, I couldn’t tell, but that wasn’t great, even if my comrades were behind cover.

I glanced up into the turret but I couldn’t see any sign of shells for the main gun or the smaller one that was firing now. It must magic up the ammo just before it fired.

I decided to cut my losses. Pulling the pin from a grenade and dropping it, I shadow-walked back to my friends. I appeared just before the explosion triggered. Everyone jumped twice, first from my sudden appearance and then again from the crump of the grenade going off. It wasn’t particularly loud behind the tank armour and a couple of walls, but it was distinctive.

You have inflicted 2000 damage!

“No goblin crew, and no kill notification from that,” I reported. “A lot of damage though. Looks like hitting the inside bypasses the armour.”

“So it’s a living armour, then?” Kyle asked.

“I think so,” I said. “It looks like a tank interior, with all the controls moving on their own. We might be able to pilot it, but it would fight against us all the way.”

“What about Theurgy?” Felicia asked. “If the magic is on the inside, you should be able to touch it.”

“That… might work,” I said thoughtfully. “It would take some time, though. Let’s get a bit further away, first. I think I made it mad.”

My second shadow walk into the tank was much less comfortable.

Wow, I thought. It looks like someone set off a bomb in here.

The interior was damaged, but largely intact. The seats had taken the brunt of the damage, which was purely fire-based. Axel’s grenades didn’t have shrapnel. The controls seemed a little wonky, but they were still moving by themselves. I guess tanks built for war were built tough.

Sitting down was out of the question unless I wanted to either cut or burn myself, but the magic was in the smoke-scarred walls so that was where I went. I could see the magic running through the walls, and with my hands against the blackened surface, I could almost touch it.

It was close enough. This time, I tried the destructive option first. There was a chance I could twist the magic enough to let us take control of the vehicle, but that was going to be difficult. It was far easier to mangle it to the point it stopped functioning, and then see if it got better or died.

Destruction was easy. I didn’t have to understand or control the patterns I saw, I just had to get rid of them. I grabbed the mana, and I pulled.

The tank screamed and I jumped out of my skin.

How?

I didn’t have time to consider the question, the tank was shaking wildly, in a way that tanks shouldn’t be able to do. I had to finish this. I pulled the magic out of the steel, accompanied by an agonising screech. Was that the sound of metal being torn? It didn’t sound like it…

For killing a Panzer II, you have earned 4560 XP

Not bad. There wasn’t a party kill notification, just a personal one. It looked like I’d gotten all the XP for the kill. I guess I had been all alone in here, but it was weird how the System decided these things sometimes.

I shadow-walked back to my friends.

“Nice work, even if it sounded a little creepy at the end,” Borys said.

“Tell me about it,” I replied shuddering. “It was much worse on the inside.”

“At least we have a way of beating the tanks,” Cloridan said.

“Let’s avoid them, if possible,” I replied. “Did that… noise attract any attention?”

“Not as far as I can tell,” Cloridan said. “It was loud, but there’s been no sign of anything investigating.”

“Maybe they were scared off by the sound,” Kyle suggested.

“Let’s hope so,” I said. “Where to now?”

“I took a look around,” Cloridan said. “Climbing up as high as I could, it looks like this grid of streets and bombed-out buildings continues as far as I can see in all directions.”

“Could it really be that big?” Felicia asked.

“It could be,” I said. “Lots of time to expand and Spatial Control to expand the space. Or it could be not quite that big but Axel used Spatial Control again to loop it around.”

I expected to have to explain that, but apparently, everyone was familiar with the spatial shenanigans that dungeons could get up to.

“We’ll just follow the mana then, I guess,” I said. “It might lead us into a trap, but it will get us closer to the exit.”

I took a bearing and we headed off that way. With Cloridan scouting, we managed to avoid a lot of the patrols. Then Cloridan found something new.

“You should see this,” he said. “I think we’ve found the other side in the war.”

The other side turned out to be kobolds. Kobolds in British uniforms. I wasn’t an expert in uniform identification, but the Union Jack was unmistakable on their sleeves.

“This is silly,” I said. “The buildings are human-sized. The guns are human-sized. But both sides are half-height races?”

The kobolds in question were all dead. They’d gotten into a firefight with a group of German goblins. It wasn’t clear who had won, but whichever side it was hadn’t stuck around.

“So this is the side we want to join up with?” Felicia asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said, eyeing the lizard-humanoid corpses with distaste. “We certainly aren’t going to be fitting into those uniforms, but I might be able to make a suitable illusion for us.”

The boys were searching the bodies, collecting guns and ammo. Naturally, it turned out that the British guns didn’t take German ammo.

“Annoying as that is, I’m pretty sure it’s historically accurate,” I said.

“I found this as well,” Kyle said, handing me a leather wallet. I raised an eyebrow and opened it. There were a bunch of papers inside, but the important one was on top. It wasn’t in English. I suspect it was in some kobold language; Kyle couldn’t read it, but I had no trouble with it.

Top Secret

To: Captain James Langford, 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment

Date: 15th July 1944

From: Major General Arthur Montgomery, British Intelligence Corps

Subject: Operation Steel Curtain

Captain Langford,

Your immediate attention and expertise are required for a highly confidential mission of utmost importance to the Allied war effort. Intelligence has indicated the existence of a top-secret German project believed to be critical to the enemy’s strategic capabilities. The exact nature of the project remains unknown, but preliminary reports suggest it involves advanced weaponry or communications technology that could alter the course of the war.

The project is reportedly located within the city of Aachen, currently a heavily contested area between our forces and the Germans. Your mission, codenamed Operation Steel Curtain, is to infiltrate the city, gather intelligence, and ascertain the precise details of this project.

You will be supported by a select team of operatives skilled in reconnaissance and covert operations. It is imperative that this mission is conducted with the utmost discretion. Any intelligence gathered must be transmitted back to headquarters immediately via secure channels.

Your specific objectives are as follows:

1. Identify and locate the facility where the project is being developed.

2. Obtain detailed information about the nature and purpose of the project.

3. If possible, acquire any documentation or evidence related to the project.

4. Assess the level of security and potential vulnerabilities of the facility.

5. Report all findings promptly while maintaining operational security.

Be advised that the city is heavily fortified and patrolled by enemy forces. Exercise extreme caution and prioritize the safety of your team. The success of this mission is critical to our efforts to gain a strategic advantage over the enemy.

May fortune favour your efforts, Captain. The future of our campaign may well depend on the information you uncover.

Good luck, and Godspeed.

Major General Arthur Montgomery

British Intelligence Corps

I read it all out aloud to the others.

“This is probably the mission we need to complete,” I said. “We need to find clues to where the facility is, probably stop whatever they’re doing ourselves since we don’t have a central command to report to.”

“None of the kobolds here had a radio,” Borys reported, “But we might find one later.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “The scenario might be that we just find the place and then they come in and bomb it.”

“What would a secret project be for?” Kyle asked.

“There are lots of stories about the Nazis having different secret military projects,” I told him. “Death rays, flying saucers, even…” I trailed off.

“Even what?” Kyle asked.

“Even… there were stories about Nazi occultists calling in entities from beyond our world to help them win the war. Here, that would be… demons.”

“We haven’t seen any yet, but we know they’re down here somewhere,” Borys said. “I don’t think much of Axel’s containment efforts if they’re already this high up, though.”

“Floor seven isn’t that high up,” I said. “We’ll just have to keep a lookout.”

“So what’s next?” Felicia asked.

“Hmm. Cloridan, do you think you can track wherever the winners of this fight went? If it’s British kobolds we might try to join up with them. If it’s goblins, we might try the same. They might have information.”

“Are you going to illusion us? Did you get [Disguise Other]?” Felicia asked.

“No, [Illusonary Terrain] is overkill, but it will get the job done,” I replied. Then, struck by a thought, I asked Borys, “Did the bodies have any identification papers?”

“No,” he said. “Just dog tags. I’m not sure if that was the practice at the time. Not much use for ID when fighting in enemy territory.”

“What about the goblins?” I asked. He shook his head.

“Just the dog tags. You think that’s what both sides use for ID?”

“It does have a computer-gamey feel to it,” I pointed out. “An easily-collectible token to show what side you’re on.”

“Well, we can collect them easily enough,” Borys said. “They won’t fit around our giant human necks though.”

I made an annoyed sound. “I guess we can wear them like bracelets? That will make it easier to show them to people.”

We collected enough dog tags for each of us to have two, one for each side. They weren’t easily confused, the German ones were metal ovals, designed to snap in half, while the British had two, with different shapes and colours. We kept them in our pockets for now, thinking that it made a difference if you were wearing them or not.

Then we went looking for soldiers.