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Posted on Feb 9, 2007 in Armchair Reading, Front Page Features

Interactive Combat Story: The Calm Before The Storm

By Brandon Neff

24

You and Pvt. Bernson take the last of your grenades and prepare for what may well be the end of your life. The ground trembles beneath you as the hulking Panzer slowly advances, trees bending and breaking beneath the thick hull. The main cannon lowers towards your position and you and Private Bernson nod a quick goodbye to one another before you each lunge out of the trench towards minimal cover provided by recent treefall, dragging Pvt. Luker behind you.

The concussion of the cannon blast rattles your whole body and the trench you recently occupied is rent by the explosive round. Private Luker’s body is torn and mangled from the blast, killing him instantly. The din of battle around you now sounds like nothing more than a high-pitched whine reverberating through a hollow tube, and you grit your teeth against the disorienting sensation. The tank continues to advance, assuming your defenses compromised and begins to roll over the remnants of your trench.

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It is at this moment that you arise from your concealment and deploy your grenades against the vulnerable segmented tracks. With a sharp ping, the track is breached and the tank immobilized! Private Bernson thrusts the muzzle of his rifle into one of many small vision slits in the armored hide of the Panzer and empties his last clip, wreaking havoc and death inside the tank.

The German grenadiers, waiting in the distance for the tank to clear a path, rush forward and you seek cover near the tank, your ammunition spent.

Go to 22.

[continued on next page]

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