The horizon warped like molten glass as the Panzergeists phased into existence.
Translucent tank hulls shimmered with a sickly iridescence, their treads tearing through the ash without sound.
Skeletal crews manned rusted machine guns, their hollow eye sockets blazing with cerulean fire that cast jagged shadows across the wasteland.
The lead Panzergeist's barrel glowed crimson, a low hum building in its core that vibrated in Alex's molars.
Hostiles confirmed, Valkyrie's voice cut through the static in his mind. Summon protocol recommended: Armored Division.
Alex's palms burned as golden light erupted around him.
The air itself seemed to tear, reality buckling under the weight of the Sherman M4 as it materialized with a metallic scream
The tank's steel hull gleamed under the alien sky, its 75mm cannon angled defiantly toward the spectral horde.
Corporal Samuel "Red" Callahan slammed the commander's hatch shut, his voice booming through the intercom.
"Driver advance! Gunner load HEAT! Let's show these Nazi bastards what REAL armor looks like!"
Grinder Malone, the driver, white-knuckled the steering levers.
His face was slick with sweat, a faded tattoo of a pinup girl peeking out from his rolled sleeve.
"Movin' up, sir! Hold onto your teeth!" The Sherman lurched forward, treads crushing rubble and bone alike.
Deadeye Vargas, the gunner, pressed his eye to the scope.
His hands moved with mechanical precision, the turret whining as it locked onto the lead Panzergeist. "Target acquired! Five hundred meters!"
Quick Torres, the loader, slammed a shell into the breach.
His arms trembled, veins bulging. "HEAT loaded! Light 'em up!"
Red's cigar glowed in the dim cabin. "FIRE!"
The Sherman thundered, the recoil slamming the crew against their stations.
The HEAT shell streaked across the battlefield, a comet of molten metal, before the Panzergeist phased sideways, the round tearing through its afterimage and detonating a rusted halftrack in a fireball of shrapnel.
"Reload!" Red barked.
"They're ghostin' through solid cover!" Grinder shouted, swerving the Sherman as a Panzergeist beam seared the air where they'd stood.
The cabin reeked of burnt paint and scorched metal.
From outside Kid Callahan ducked behind a shattered wall, his Browning Automatic Rifle spitting fire at oncoming goblin scavengers.
His baby face was streaked with soot, eyes wide as he watched the Sherman rumble past.
"SAMMY?!" Kid screamed, recognizing Red's silhouette in the commander's hatch.
Red glanced down, his grin sharp and fleeting. "Keep your head down, squirt! I ain't savin' your ass twice!"
A Panzergeist phased through a collapsed watchtower, its machine gunner raking the ground with spectral tracers.
Pvt. Delaney propped against a wrecked Panzer IV with his bandaged leg, lined up his Springfield.
His scarred cheek twitched as he squeezed the trigger.
CRACK.
The bullet shattered the gunner's skull.
The Panzergeist veered wildly, its beam slicing through a pack of remaining goblins.
"Still got it," Delaney rasped, reloading with trembling hands.
Lena Sato dragged a wounded GI behind cover, her pastel cardigan soaked in blood.
Her hands glowed faintly as she pressed them to his shrapnel wounds. "Stay with me! Look at me!" The soldier's screams faded to whimpers as her healing energy knit flesh and bone.
Jake Wu crouched beside a magitek husk, his drone sputtering to life. "C'mon, c'mon!" He jammed the salvaged battery into its port.
The drone's LEDs flickered, projecting a holographic terrain map. "Riya! They're flanking left!"
Riya Patel sprinted through the chaos, her trench coat billowing.
She skidded to a stop beside Alex, clutching a stolen Nazi field manual. "Their sigils! Aim for the hull sigils. they're powering the phasing!"
The Panzergeists adapted.
The two ghost tanks phased next closely to each other's side, their beams converging on the Sherman.
"Grinder! HARD RIGHT!" Red roared.
The Sherman swerved, treads screeching.
A beam grazed its side, melting steel into glowing slag.
The cabin filled with acrid smoke.
"Engine's hit!" Grinder coughed. "We're sittin' ducks!"
"Deadeye! Sigil on the turret! NOW!"
The gunner's hands flew. "On target!"
"FIRE!"
The HEAT shell struck the lead Panzergeist's glowing sigil.
The ghost tank imploded with a shriek, its crew dissolving into ash.
But the victory was short-lived.
The remaining Panzergeists charged their beams in unison, the hum rising to a deafening crescendo.
Red leaned out of the hatch, cigar clenched between his teeth. "Kid! MOVE YOUR ASS!"
Kid froze as Red hurled a grenade into the last Panzergeist's barrel.
BOOM.
The explosion tore the ghost tank apart, but not before its final beam lanced out.
The Sherman's hull screamed.
Fire engulfed the cabin.
"Little Bro!" Red shouted to his little brother, smiling with sad eye's. "Tell Ma I-!"
The ammunition cooked off.
The Sherman erupted in a fireball, shrapnel raining down like hellfire.
Kid crawled through the dirt, ears ringing, his brother's name a silent scream on his lips.
Alex staggered through the smoke, finding Red's dog tag fused to a piece of smoldering tread. Callahan, Samuel. 1922–1944.
Combat efficiency reduced by 18%, Valkyrie intoned, her hologram flickering. Sentimental attachments impair.
"Shut up," Alex snarled, clutching the tag.
Nearby, Lena collapsed beside a dead refugee, her hands still glowing uselessly.
Riya decrypted a map revealing Eisenpyre's silhouette, a fortress crowned with jagged spires.
Jake's drone hovered erratically, its camera fixated on the horizon.
The sky split.
A dragon with jet engines fused to its ribs blotched out the moon, its roar shaking the earth.
On its back stood the Dark King, Klaus Vogt, his SS uniform pristine, his face a grotesque fusion of rotting flesh and magitek steel.
"You seeing this, Valkyrie?" Alex whispered.
Affirmative.Her voice crackled with static. Target acquired.