1 - A brave new world

"This is… Open plains?"

Merlin suddenly found himself on an open grass plain clear blue sky and waves of green grass that flowed in the gentle wind was all that he could see, well that and the letter-like message icon that floated in the middle of his vision as he looked around

"...This must be a dream"

Quickly deciding that the reality in front of him could only be a dream, Merlin did a fist pump as he spoke

"I finally managed to lucid dream! Now show me some tits!"

Doing what every teenage boy would do Merlin commanded a set of perfectly shaped tits (attached to a beautiful woman of course) to magically appear, a few moments later, however, nothing happened…

"Hmm… Maybe if I click this thing..?"

Merlin brought his hand out and 'clicked' on the letter-like message icon in the middle of his field of view

[Welcome Host!]

[Please select a system!]

Then Merlin's vision was filled with a wide selection of cartoonish icons that appeared in his view, Merlin looked blankly at the wide selection of icons before his eyes were caught on the green tank icon and muttered

"It's got to be tanks, tanks are the best…"

Yes, the only thing this hormone-induced teenager loved more than tits (attached to beautiful women of course) was tanks, Merlin had been a tank nerd ever since he could remember, the stories his grandfather told his war stories in his M4 Sherman during the second world war was some of his earliest memories, having clicked on the icon Merlin saw the interface disappear before a new one appeared

[Welcome Host to: The tank system! The host is able to choose 3 class 1 tanks as a gift from the system!]

"Class 1? I wonder what it mea---"

[Ding! Class 1 tanks were in service before the year 1935]

"Huh… And I can choose any tanks made before that year?"

[Ding! As long as they were in service before the year 1935 anything goes!]

Merlin began thinking as he muttered

"Hmm… The Char B1 is out since it entered service in '36, so is the Panzer 35(t)... Do I have to choose right now?"

[Ding! The host may choose to summon the tanks when he desires]

"What about the BT-5 tank, it entered service in '35?"

[Ding! That tank is available for redemption]

Merlin looked over the open field that spread as far as he could see and showed a smile

"Then I choose a BT-5!"

Merlin looked in front of him as BT-5 tank appeared in front of his eyes, it was a rather sleek-looking design for such an early tank with a length of about 5 and a half meters, a width of a little over 2 meters, and a height of about 2 meters and 25 centimeters this tank was equipped with a 45mm anti-tank gun, as well as one coaxial mounted 7.62 DT machine gun, this tank weighed only 11 and half-ton and was equipped with a 400 HP engine, it was a tank built and designed for speedy assault with its Russian name loosely translating to "fast-moving tank" or "high-speed tank"

"Yeah, baby! Wait… How do I control such a tank anyway..?"

[Ding! Each tank comes equipped with its own crew of MK1 humanoid androids which move according to the host instructions]

Merlin nodded and thought out a command

'Open hatches'

Then the driver's hatch and the gunner's, as well as the commander's, hatch's opened from the inside and revealed 3 human-looking androids Merlin was a little sad that they weren't clad in uniforms but sighed before he walked up to the tank and climbed up on the engine deck before he climbed up on the turret and stuck his legs into the turret compartment of the tank and locked his legs around the cannon breach before he did his best at a Russian accent as he yelled

"Forwards comrades!"

Then the BT-5's engine came alive with a roar and the small tank quickly kicked off and soon reached about 30kph, by now the tank's suspension was rattling something fierce, Merlin was yelling like a madman in pure ecstasy… That was until the right track hit a rock and Merlin was sent flying off the tank and landed flatly on his back which knocked the air out of his lungs and made him pass out from the pain, luckily the BT-5 managed to stop before it brought its 11 and a half tons right over Merlin…

"Ugh… My back…"

Merlin woke up in great pain as he rolled over on his stomach, his back was aching something fierce, though the cold air felt soothing on his back

"Wait… Cold air..?"

Merlin looked around and found it was almost pitch black as night had descended while he was passed out, Merlin looked around in the dark before he quickly found the BT-5 a few meters away, there he climbed up on the engine deck again and laid down on his stomach to try and heat up a little with the residual heat from when the engine had been on earlier, slowly the realization came to him

"...This isn't a dream"

Just then a roar sounded out in the distance Merlin sat himself up and looked in the direction where the roar had sounded out with fear evident on his face, then he slowly climbed up on the turret and made it turn in the direction of the roar, then, just as he had feared the same roar sounded out again, only closer this time, he sent a mental command to the androids

'Load a high-explosive shell'

Then he covered his ears slightly and opened his mouth before he sent a new mental command

'Target the location of the next roar…'

Then as the next roar sounded out closer than the others, Merlin quickly sent a metal command as he covered his ears completely

'Fire!'

A roar sounded out as the 45mm anti-tank gun fired and the muzzle flash lit up the surrounding area, revealing a giant reptile the size of the tank only half a meter off to the side of the tank with its maw open about to swallow Merlin whole, luckily for Merlin the muzzle flash, as well as the roar from the cannon, seemed to stun it for a moment, which allowed Merlin to discover its existence and stumble into the turret of the tank in pure fear as he yelled

"Close hatches!"

The androids quickly closed the hatches before Merlin that had only just managed to stumble inside the turret yelled

"Turret 45 degrees to the right, load HE, FIRE!"

The BT-5 opened fire once more as soon as its turret turned to face the reptile that still was stunned, the blast rocked the entire tank as the high-explosive round detonated closer to the tank than it was ever intended, then a roar that was mixed with anger and pain sounded out next to the tank

"Full reverse, load armor-piercing! Give me fire control"

Merlin intended to take over as the gunner, instead, he felt his vision change as he now saw out from the gunner-sight, under the countless starlights was the giant reptile chasing after the tank, as soon as the sound of the cannon breech closing echoed out inside the tank Merlin quickly yelled

"FIRE!"

The 45mm Anti-tank shell fired from the barrel of the tank and hit the center mass of the giant lizard where the shell penetrated the hard skin of the lizard before it exploded inside it, turning the giant lizard's insiders into a bloody mush as it instantly went limp and slid over the field a few meters before it stopped moving entirely, inside the tank Merlin found his ears ringing as he was a little dazed he muttered

"Is it dead..?"

A cold glint flashed in the eyes of Merlin as he became clear-headed before he sent another command

"Full speed ahead!"

The BT-5's engine roared as it steamed ahead before it rammed into the giant lizard, the sounds of the impact echoed out over the open field along with the sounds of bones snapping, Merlin that had braced for impact but still managed to hit his head against the inside of the current gave another command as he rubbed his head

"Reverse… Drive back about 200 meters, then turn the engine off…"

Merlin sighed, the inside of the tank was cramped with the two androids in the turret along with himself, he leaned his body on the android in front of him and closed his eyes as the engine was turned off as he muttered

"Grandpa always said that if you found yourself in a survival situation, you should rest as soon as you secured a safe place…"

Merlin figured that the BT-5's armor would be able to take some amount of beating before it was penetrated and that the process of the armor being broken was enough to wake him up, so he closed his eyes and attempted to get some rest

'I can't see anything out there right now anyway, might as well get some rest…'

Merlin listened to the distant roars and sounds of fighting as he slowly drifted off to sleep again...