Armoured Testing

TO: The Nations of the METANK Project

You are invited to send Representatives of your respective nations to the testing of the T-78 "Finaliser" Main Battle Tank at MLS Biton base on the 7th of June 2018.
The testing will involve urban, woodland, and grassland tests of movement and turret capabilities. The tanks will also be available to be inspected by your representatives.

The afternoon of June 6th, Col. Hadrien Sabatier stepped out of an RLAAF jet and on to the tarmac of a military base in Trinster. Close behind was Lt. Georges Laraque and behind him were several lower ranking officers and aides.

The lieutenant and the colonel returned the salute of the party sent to greet them and were each led to their assigned officer's quarters for the night and perhaps, the lieutenant thought, the duration of their trip. At a desk in his room, the lieutenant opened a briefcase, pulled out a photocopied paper, and re-read it.

FOR: COL. HADRIEN SABATIER, 1ST ROYAL LANCERS, ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS
FROM: ROYAL LANCERIAN ARMY COMMAND

BRIEF: METANK TRIALS IN TRINSTER​

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The METANK project continues in Trinster. Field testing and trials will begin in a few days. We're sending you to observe the trials and note their success or failure. At the conclusion of the trials, you will compile a report of your notes and present them to command. Accompanying you will be Lt. Georges Laraque of the 2nd Lancerian Expeditionary Legion. He will be evaluating the vehicle's capabilities for that specific role.

Please report to Halliet AAFB for transportation to Trinster at 0800 on June 6th.

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General Josip Lazi? stood with his entourage at the testing grounds of what they all hoped would be the replacement to their well-worn and aged battalion of tanks. Josip cast a sidelong glance over the empty field - prestaged with various targets and other obstacles in order to prove and test the tank's abilities and show them off to the META military delegations. He pulled at the collar of his dress uniform, silently baking under the beating sun and humidity of the Trinnish summer. He was sure that the rest of his entourage were also cooking just as he was. It was one of the things that he hated about their dress uniforms - there simply wasn't a 'summer alternative' like those bastards in the Navy had the pleasure of being issued. Though with the President pushing for more international cooperation and operability with their META partners, he might be able to convince SECDEF to fun the prospect of a new variation on their dress uniform. He'd have to remind Colonel Vedran Grizelj to make a note and present it to Secretary Radulovi?.

MLS Biton was generally exactly what Josip would have expected a military base to be like. The only notable variation was the considerable amount of... automation. To be honest, it was a little overwhelming, and Josip was glad that his President had signed alliance treaty with Trinster and the various nations of Meterra. He believed Mouxordia to be very tenacious, but in the face of overwhelming technological might even the highest degree of tenacity would crumble - and Trinster could very much take Mouxordia if it had wanted to with their armaments, he was sure. Thankfully, META was there to protect, strengthen, and level the playing field, so to speak. This first meeting of META military leadership was a prime example of that, and all of their commitment to do so.

Plus, it never was a bad idea to get a leg-up on a potential adversary or rival, and boy did Mouxordia have to step up its game.

Colonel Yayi Houngbédji sleeps very little. Famously, the Colonel led the defence of Togbata, delaying the Demescian advance in the Togbata War long enough to allow the government to evacuate, then using a small force of armoured vehicles broke his way out of the encirclement of the city. He played a major part in the latter stages of the war, helping to reclaim the city he defended three years later. The horrors of the campaign known as the March of the Mortar Brigades stuck with him. His tank brigade approached Togbata from the south, where the mortar brigades were largest in number.

During the campaign, Colonel Yayi Houngbédji saw firsthand the failings in the equipment and doctrine of the Naizerri armoured corps, so when, decades later, the testing of the METAnk began, Tsubo Tsango himself asked the retired colonel to attend. And that was how, on very little sleep, Colonel Yayi Houngbédji found himself on a plane to Trinster, leading Naizerre's delegation of soldiers and technicians to observe the METAnk's testing and performance.

At last, it was General Alzen Vaisel's turn to step out of his plane. The flight from Sasten had been quite short, though the delays in taking off still caused him to curse the air force flight crew. Behind him was Dr. Sedt Ilver of the Army's procurement bureau, a rather insufferable egghead the higher-ups had insisted be brought along to lead the technical team, as well as Kolonel Azi Izedt, a brilliant young Marinkorps officer who had been tacked-on to the roster at the last possible moment - the marines couldn't very well let the Army have everything. The rest of the team followed shortly after, a collection of military, political and industrial officials and experts from various branches of the military bureaucracy.

Alzen himself was a grizzled veteran of Sasten's armoured forces; twenty years previously, he had lead the Sastennic Army loyalists in relieving the Royal Guards besieged in the Great Coup Attempt of 4.49, then had commanded a large mechanized force in slowly retaking the east side of the city from the rebels; there was probably no-one in the Sastennic Army who understood the value of the tank in urban warfare more than he did. Dr. Ilver was an expert engineer from the procurement bureau with nearly forty years of experience; he had been on the teams that designed and developed Sasten's three previous main battle tanks, and was easily the most knowledgeable person to ask about all the technical details that were to be tested; his penchant for throwing these details around greatly annoyed the military officers, much to his enjoyment. Kol. Izedt on the other hand was a much younger face, still playing with toy plastic tanks when General Vaisel had shattered the rebels in Azarsodt; she was no less capable however, leading her armoured battalion to set new records in speed and casualty reduction in exercises, and widely considered to be among the best battalion commanders in Sasten who had never seen real combat experience.

Alzen had to wonder though what this huge team was really there for. Sure Sasten was contributing to the vehicle being tested, but nobody in the military was actually planning on buying it - at least not that he knew of. It was a radical departure from traditional Sastennic design, the KT-67 in service weighed nearly seventy tonnes despite having a similar layout to the T-78; at only 40 tons, the new tank was just over half the weight, and far more mobile at the cost of not having much protection beyond its APS and stealth systems - a point that Alzen was not particularly fond of. No matter, he had a job to do, and he was here to do it. Gazing around the tarmac, he took note of all the other META members sending representatives; the T-78 was the first vehicle design Sasten had participated in cooperatively with other nations since the end of the Fascist War. He couldn't help but notice a few of the other META officers chafing in even the relatively modest heat; he silently thanked the the Army for designing uniforms that could keep a man as comfortable under the hottest Meterran sun as it could on the coolest mornings. Perhaps this would improve his mood enough to give the tank a more positive review that he'd planned...

Guslantis wasn't a huge fan of tanks, especially after the many wars endured by the small nation. However, the Ministry of Defense and the Guslantis Armed Forces knew that these tanks had a ton of beneficial features, and it was worth checking out, in the event Guslantis needed to purchase some in the future.

The team sent was small, consisting of Major General Joseph Fields and a Ministry of Defense Hand, Ashley West, accompanied by a few guards. The flight from Guslantis was not very long, and the team quickly exited the plane upon landing. "This should be a good test," said Fields. "Indeed, it should provide us with good information to report back to Guslant Command," replied West. The two worked their way down the airstair of the craft, followed by their team.

As they stepped onto the tarmac, they heard a voice from behind them. "Let's watch these tanks do some damage!" said the voice. They turned around, and emerging from the plane was none other than Supreme Commander Akerman. "You know boarding a governmental plane without authorization is something we can arrest you for," said West. "Apparently you weren't one of the people she's thrown against a wall...it's a pleasure to see you Emily, though next time let's avoid the whole stowaway part," said Fields, smiling.

Akerman walked down the stairs, and joined the group at the bottom of the stairs. This was going to be a great day, and the group, especially Akerman, was excited to see the tests and get the results.

Sinjor' Apers, a Demescian representative, stood by the testing grounds as well. It was in Ilioraza's, and thus Demescia's, best interest to get the military up and active again, especially after it was downscaled following the Invasion of Togbata in the late 60s and early 70s.

He readied his pen and notepad, a camera hanging from his neck too. He would see what these tanks had to offer.

Commander Jake Lewis of the 1st 'Steel Talons' Armoured Regiment was doing the final checks on the T-78 designated for his arrival, alongside her crew, hoping she would perform well in the tests to come, despite a large amount of META wide investment and development on this tank, she was his project, and he would be damned if she didn't give a good showing today.

"Exa, how's it going in there?" He asked the tank's current resident EVA.

"Excellent Sir, targeting functionality has been improved by 15% since last internal test" She replied

"Right, fire her up Exa, its show time"

"Affirmative, Commander."


The engine of the machine roared into life, crew boarding as Exa ran final power checks, satisfied, Jake clambered onto the tank and entered the commander's chair, oddly in the main body of the tank, rather than the automated turret, as the hatch closed, the tank began to move forward, ready for its debut.


Pulling in front of the delegates from the META nations, Jake left his seat and exited the tank.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, and others, I would like to be the first to introduce the world's first complete T-78 to you 'Eagle's Fury'!"

Marcus could not help but chuckle when he heard the name of the T-78. "Eagle's Fury" he said aloud. "The Emperor is going to love that." As he watched the tank undergo its trials the nature of Peregrine combined arms was on his mind. Peregrine doctrine was built around the use of highly mobile artillery intended for use in a variety of terrains, from the heartlands of Peregrinum, to the mountains of Brusk. In a normal campaign this artillery sits just behind or sometimes even forward of the main line, relying on armored and infantry support to keep the guns firing. During the most recent Brusken rebellion however the Peregrine Armored Corps proved ineffective as the old "Gigas" class tanks were too heavy and cumbersome to operate in the sharp angles of Brusk. The T-78 however was far lighter and more mobile, and Marcus saw a place for it immediately in the forces currently in Brusk. "If we could get one into a mountain trial then I think we would be golden." Marcus said excitedly to his aid.