Chapitre 14: M1A2D
7 years later
"What do you think of my stew," Cecile said while stirring the pot containing the dinner.
I sip the stew with a spoon, "Not bad, but add more pepper and some beef stock."
"Ok," as she ground the black pepper then added a glass of beef stock.
Suddenly, Garth with his dirty overall barged in while he was holding a lot of potatoes still covered in dirt, "mentor, what should I do with this potato," he asked.
"Clean them up then peeled them," I said while monitoring the kitchen.
Cecile had grown up so much. Now her white hair grew until it almost reaches her waist. Her other body part like her hips and chest had grown as well. She was a beautiful teenager now.
Garth had grown up as well. Now he was taller than me, and his body had grown muscular. His abdomen had that six-pack shape, and his hands had built muscular as well.
Me? My characteristics were the same as Garth, the only exception was I was shorter, and I didn't have a pair of the ear on my head. My horn didn't grow. The main difference between a beastkin and a human is beastkin is usually has a tail and pair of the ear on top of their head. Other than that the main features of their body are the same as a human.
"Mentor, I had peeled the potato," he said from the back of the kitchen.
"Great, now tossed them in a separate pot filled with boiling water then change your clothes!" I told him.
My father and my mother have already retired 2 years ago. They were like 45 years old when I was born. So the household job was inherited to me. Sir Alex had hired another servant to replace them, though, but they hadn't come yet.
Maria opened the door to the kitchen. I could hear sniffing sound from his nose.
Maria was shorter than me in terms of height, but at the same time, she is more beautiful than Cecile. Her grey hair was growing until it reached her waist. Her other body part like her hips and chest had grown as well. Needless to say, She is beautiful.
"Smells good, what is it?" She asked.
"A stew with mashed potato, young miss," I answered her while testing the potato.
"Sounds good, may I ask why did you tell me to take a nap this afternoon?" She asked enthusiastically.
"Everyone, have you done what I have told you?" I asked the rest of them in the kitchen.
"I've taken a nap, but I wonder why did you tell me to do it?" Cecile asked.
"Me too," Garth added from behind Maria.
"It's a secret," I said while putting my index finger in front of my lips.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that's our mentor. Always keep everything in secret," Garth said sarcastically as he stirred the pot containing the potato.
"Ok, dinner time, Garth will help me with the plate, Cecile please clean the dining room," I said as I mashed the potato.
"Ok," Cecile left the room together with Maria.
Garth helped me with the plating while Cecile and Maria left the room. I instructed him so he could make the plating as beautiful as possible.
I placed the plate to the silver cart. I told Garth to push it. I opened the door to the dining room, "Dinners Ready!!" I shouted.
The whole family was coming out in all direction. As usual, they took an interest in my food.
I stand beside the table while serving the food, "beef stew with mashed potato, your favorite sir," I said as I put the plate.
"Now excuse me, sir," I said as I left the room, but I got stopped by sir Alex, "Wilson, please call the others here."
"As you wish," I said
I headed to the kitchen and found Garth and Cecile were sitting on the chair that I purposely place.
"Guys, let's go to the dining room," I asked them.
"For what? We aren't going to eat there," Garth replied.
"Maybe it's something interesting for us, let's go," Cecile said while grabbing Garth hand.
We left the kitchen afterward, I led them to the dining room and saw the family had already finished eating the dinner.
"Wilson, your food is magnificent as usual," Sir Alex complimented me.
"Thank you, but Cecile was the one who cooked it," I said while pointed my finger to her.
"My compliments to the chef," Sir Alex said.
"Thank you, master," She said.
"Now for the real news, are you ready?" Sir Alex said while opening a letter.
Sir Alex opened the letter and Maria, Cecile, Garth and I listened to it. I didn't catch most of the content. The point was that we are going to study at the academy.
After dinner, we changed into our woodland fatigues and used our loadout then headed straight to the jungle with a horse. I had my SCAR-H CQC on the back and a Glock 18 on my holster. Garth and Cecile brought an HK416C on their hip and an MP7 on a holster on their thigh. Maria brought her P90 on her hip and an M4 carbine on her back.
"Wilson, take care of my daughter," Sir Alex told me.
"I will," I said as I left the mansion gate.
The horses ran through the cold night. The city already went quiet; everyone had gone to sleep. The light leaked from the windows of the house illuminated the dark street of the town.
After we left the city gate, Maria asked me some question.
"Wilson, what did you say to my father?" She asked while on top of the horse.
"I convinced him that you need more training in pitch dark and that's all," I replied while inspecting my weapon.
"Really?" She responded with a surprised face.
"Yup, but today we are going to have some fun before we enrolled at the academy," I said.
"Hurray!!!" Everyone shouted.
We continued our ride to the forest. The surprise would surprise them all. The surprise was located on the edge of the woods. I tied the horse to a nearby tree and placed a bucket of water and food in front of it. There was it standing. A big greenish war machine.
"Maria used to call it a big brown monster," I teased her.
"Whatever you say, Wilson," She said.
"The M1 Abrams, we use it a lot aren't we?" Garth said.
M1A2D Abrams is the main battle tank that is mainly used by the united states of America. Heavily armored with explosive reactive armor and trophy active protection system, this battle tank is one of the pride of the USA. The main armament is a Rheinmetall Rh-120 125 mm smoothbore cannon. The secondary weapon is the remote-controlled Browning M2 machine gun turret for the commander, An M240 turret with a shield for on top of the loader hatch and two coaxial machine gun; M240 and M2 browning.
Cecile just went agape just by seeing the tank.
"You guys know the drill, right?" I asked them as I stood up from the top of the tank.
"Roger that," everyone said.
I had trained them on how to use a tank. Everyone had been taught how to be a loader, gunner, driver, or commander. After the further experience I conclude:
Cecile was the driver. She was a hardworking girl. Although she didn't have any unique qualities. Her endurance was something to be proud of. She could drive for straight 36 hours without sleep or rest.
Garth was the loader. His high strength was the main reason why he was chosen as the loader. He could load 18 rounds per minute. The main reason why he couldn't load faster was that technical issue. His record was 35 rounds per minute, and the hammer broke down afterward.
Maria was a gunner. Her accuracy was astoundingly remarkable. She couldn't lift the shell as fast as Garth and couldn't drive as long as Cecile. She is also terrific using the ballistic fire-control system.
I was the commander, my 30 years experience provided them with better logistics than the other. Besides, they had fallen in love with their role.
I wore my helmet and the others too. Helmet for Cecile and Garth had been modified to accommodate their ear.
Cecile: "Where are we going?"
Wilson: "There is a bandit encampment 80 km from here, how about we go there?"
Garth: "Nice idea."
Maria: "I got no problem with that."
Wilson: "let's go, then."
Cecile turned on the engine. Garth and I went for the MG turret. The ones that Garth use was the M240 and mine is the remote-operated M2 browning.
The tank roared through the silence of the night. We started our journey to the bandit encampment.
Garth and I were looking around the perimeter. The road was pretty rough since we used the grassland instead of main roads.
Wilson: "What is the status on the left side?"
Garth: "Grassland as far as the sky goes, only grass, grass, and grass. Occasionally some magical beast."
Cecile: "The infrared doesn't show anything to suspicious."
Garth: "Do you have any snack, Wilson?"
Wilson: "No, I don't."
Garth sneaked back into the tank then closed the hatch. He searched for food in the compartment.
"Garth, what are you doing?" I said with a confused look.
"Looking for nourishment," as he searched every square space of the compartment.
"MRE?" I asked him.
"Yes, that poutine that we made only dirtying my teeth," He said.
"Garth and his big appetite," Cecile quip him.
"Hey, it's not my fault," He said as he still searching between the shell rack.
"Here, I found it. The MRE from 3 days ago," Maria said as she handed the MRE to Garth.
"Only the crackers left?" He peeked to the package.
"Well, it's better than nothing," I said.
Garth opened the back of the hammer then he opened the shell compartment and then loaded a round into the cannon then close the hammer. The cannon was loaded by Garth using Cartridge rounds.
"Well, I will eat outside," he said as he opened the hatch and ate in the machine gun port.
The bandit's encampment was far enough for a horse, but for a tank, the distance didn't affect too much to our combat capabilities. I talked to maria to kill some time.
"What is the academy?" I asked her.
"It is a prestigious school for noble and talented people," She answered.
"Is there any commoner in that school?" I asked.
"I don't think so, but ...," before he finished her sentence, Garth interrupted.
"There is the encampment, prepare for battle!!!" As he went down and closed the hatch.
"Maria, aim at the camp! Let's start this show," I said.
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