Page 75 of Our Tricks

I raised my hand and saluted. “Copy that, sir.”

“Right, let’s get to training.” Ghost cheered, clapping his hands together.

Once off the plane, I took a look around the place. There were a few fighter jets and other military vehicles parked off to the side. Large hangars with the door shut loomed in the fading light, but the actual building we were going to was lit up from the inside. Then I spotted a truck rushing toward us, canvas sides flapping as it came closer then pulled to a halt before us. A woman in a military uniform hopped out of the truck and grinned at us.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” she said, settling her hands on her hips. “It’s been ages.”

The triplets all stepped up to hug her affectionately, but I could tell from their body language it was sisterly love.

“Savanna, this is Harper, our fiancé,” Magnus shared as he pulled Harper forward. “Harper, this is Sage’s little sister we’ve kept an eye on for most of her life. Although we can’t take any credit for her making colonel this past year.”

Understanding flashed through Harper’s eyes as she greeted the woman. “It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for making this happen.”

“Come on, we don’t have a ton of time, and what you guys want to learn is something that normally takes five weeks of training, not five hours,” Savanna said, waving for us to follow her. “Everyone in the back, the tank program is a little way out on account of, you know… blowing shit up.”

We didn’t need much more encouragement than that to get a move on. As we flew across the tarmac and down a single-lane road, I wondered if she’d learned her driving skills from a retired NASCAR racer. Thankfully, there were oh-shit handles back here for us to hold onto as she whipped the truck into a parking lot and, I swear, drifted it right up to the front door.

“You taught her to drive, didn’t you?” Harper asked accusingly.

Ghost just grinned and shook his head. “Nope, she came that way, the more speed, the better. Why do you think she picked the Air Force? She was an amazing fighter pilot before she decided to shoot up the ranks. Now she helps run this facility that trains specialists in certain types of jets and other equipment.”

Harper huffed, and Jaxson helped her out of the truck, snickering. Something told me this was a long-standing argument with them about driving preferences. Savanna was already at the entrance unlocking the place and flipping on the lights. It was a giant warehouse with these strange metal boxes every few feet.

“Okay, we are going to start with an educational video about what the hell happens in a tank, how it’s operated, and then I’m going to give you all a test. The model of the tank you sent me is a three-person crew, each responsible for one part of the tank. The test will help me see who will work best in each position and as a team,” Savanna informed us. “Once we get through that, I’ll put you through some guided simulations in your groups and see how it goes.”

Savanna was a hard taskmaster and ran a tight crew, but she also knew how to be motivating. Every bit of feedback came with a critique but also something you did well in. It amazed me the math and calculations you needed for two out of the three positions in a tank. The driver had to do everything on a simple pixelated screen with no view of the outside world. As the gunner, you had to do all the calculations of aiming the cannon on the fly. The loader was the easiest in the sense they only had to put in the new shells and ensure everything was locked and loaded—literally.

“Ready for the simulators?” Savanna asked, leading us out of the classroom back to the open space. “Alright, for drivers, I’ve got Jaxson, Magnus, Dax, and Cameron. Gunners would be Cognac, Weston, Sprocket, and Ghost. Finally, the loaders would be Void, Eagle, Alvaro, and Picasso. Split up into four teams, and I’ll get you set up in a simulator.”

“Um… Savanna,” Harper spoke up. “You didn’t call my name.”

“Sorry, my bad,” Savanna said with a smile. “You scored the same thing for being a driver and a gunner, so I figured we could have you jump in with any of the groups and rotate everyone to see who works best together.”

Harper looked shocked. “I what?”

“You did amazing, is what you did,” Savanna praised. “To be honest, you had higher scores than most of them except for Sprocket, Dax, and Weston. Although they only scored higher in one area, not both, so take that win however you want to.”

Harper’s cheeks glowed pink at the praise. I could only imagine what it’s been like for her to be dropped in the middle of this world and trying to figure out where you fit. Clearly, she had a brilliant mind for strategy and figures, which made sense to me with her design skills. If she could look at a flat length of fabric and create a masterpiece, why not drive a tank? Jaxson kissed the side of her head and whispered something in her ear that made her blush deepen.

As we divided up, I started out with Dax and Void. It seemed one of the most logical pairings, but we’d find out if it worked. Savanna stopped in front of one of the simulators, and we climbed in from the top just as you would a normal tank. Dax went in first and dropped to the lowest seat in the hull as I learned. Then Void took the loader’s seat to the left of where I’d be sitting in the turret.

“Put on these headsets. I’ll be able to talk to you, but mainly this is how the three of you will communicate. Void, the tank has an automatic loader, but you’re in charge of running the machine gun up here, and you need to make sure the feed is clear into the gun,” Savanna pointed out. “Alright, this is going to be messy, and that’s fine. It’s just a computer program, so you aren’t really getting blown up.”

“What’s the fun in that?” Void asked.

“You get to do it again and again till you don’t get blown up,” she reasoned. “Okay, I’m gonna close the hatch and get the others set up.”

Once we got rolling, I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun in my life. It was like playing a video game in real life. We had the sound effects in our headphones, and the simulator moved and rumbled like it would if you were driving around, helping you become immersed in the setting. We absolutely fucked it all the way up the first time, but an hour into it, I felt like I was getting the feel for what was going on. Then Savanna called for a switch-up.

Everyone flip-flopped so we didn’t have any of the same people together and went back to it. This time, I was with Eagle and Magnus. For a minute, I was worried they wouldn’t be able to work together, but I was impressed at how well they communicated. Even if we didn’t actually have a tank we needed to use, this was a great team-building exercise. Magnus had been struggling with people he couldn’t control like his brothers, and I felt like this was an awesome way for him to realize Eagle was an asshole.

After another hour, we rotated again, putting me with Jaxson and Alvaro. Not really knowing the kid at all, it was interesting, to say the least. He didn’t have dominance or confidence in him in any way. We struggled a lot during the hour we worked together, and I didn’t think someone in the launcher seat would affect us that much, but he wasn’t thinking ahead. The others always seemed to be ready with the next step or move before we needed them. I’d also noticed that from their vantage point, they could see things in the environment we couldn’t.

The final round put me with Cameron and Picasso, making me grin at how they communicated with each other. Picasso yelled and cussed while Cam just responded to everything in a cool, calm manner, giving me the information I needed while Picasso would wack my arm to get my attention as I was inputting the information. It felt like being on choppy water in a boat that was too small with an experienced captain and a panicked crew member. After about a half hour, Picasso seemed to mellow out and get his head in the game. I don’t know what it was about Cam that got under his skin, but it was sure interesting to watch.

After that hour, Savanna called us out of the simulators and clapped her hands. “I’m damn impressed with all of you. While some need a lot more work, there’s a bunch who appear to take to it like a fish to water. If you’ll indulge me, I’d love to put what I think is the ultimate set together.”

We all agreed, curious to see what that might be. When she called them out, part of me was surprised, but on the other hand, I could see the odd mix working.