Sunrise of relief

Hans ordered Hetzer to protect the militiamen that were still lying on the ground motionless.

Hetzer tried the best she could to keep firing the main gun while reloading the MG. This slowed down her rate of fire.

But still the girl tried her best to keep up a continuous rate of fire so as not to allow the monsters anytime to come near the militias.

They were just sitting on the ground without any movement. Their eyes shut and their ears closed with their hands.

Hans was afraid that the monsters might get them, but Htzer was already keeping them at bay.

Hans kept on waiting patiently as Hetzer kept blowing up the monsters. But then something happened which Hans couldn't fathom.

With a loud noise the vehicle shook violently. Hans hurriedly held the remote handle of the mg to make sure he doesn't hit his head.

But that didn't stop him from shaking himself. As he tried to save himself from a fatal injury. 

Hetzer's aim was also thrown off and the last shell she fired flew into the sky before landing somewhere unknown.

Despite the loud engine noise, Hans could still hear the monsters growling outside. He knew that they were trying to destroy the Jagdpanzer 38t.

Hans looked through the periscope to notice that the ugly monsters outside were actually using their sharp long fangs and claws to make a hole in the armour.

Meanwhile Hetzer tried to put herself back into action, by moving to the target again despite the monsters that were trying their best to stop her from doing so.

As the vehicle moved with a loud noise back to its previous firing position some monsters jumped out from its top.

They seemed to be scared that this unfathomable monster was still able to go on even though they tried their best to kill it.

As Hetzer resumed her firing, all the monsters gathered at the left side of the vehicle to try and tip it over.

The vehicle began to tip to the right side slowly each time a little more than the previous, as more and more monsters continued to hit it from the left.

"How much long before the gun is ready?" Hans asked worriedly.

His main concern at this point was the villagers and the militiamen because he could see that no matter how much the monsters tried, they still couldn't break through the German steel.

"It's done commander, the MG is ready to fire!" The same metallic voice said.

Hans didn't wait around a second. He was already looking at the monsters through the periscope and as soon as he heard Hetzer's words, he pulled the control.

"brrrrrr....." the MG34 again started breathing fire as tracers and leads penetrated into the ugly bodies of the monsters.

Loud and almost deafening cries of the monsters could be heard overlapping the engine noise as one after another monster fell.

Even though many of them died there seemed to be no sign of any of them backing out rather they kept on attacking as if oblivious to their surroundings.

Some of their bodies caught fire from the tracers. But the other monsters didn't show any sign of concern.

"Commander, some monsters have gotten very close to militia." Hetzer cried in a panic stricken voice.

"Understood." Hans replied shortly.

He turned around the MG34 to fire at the monsters that were close to the militiamen on the ground.

The green line was clearly visible from the gun to its target every time a tracer came out amidst the AP bullets from the drum.

It was the standard practice to load one tracer around for every four AP round in machine guns.

This time Hans couldn't hear their growls up could feel that the monsters hitting the vehicle from behind, violently rocking the vehicle throwing another shell off aim.

Soon after clearing the ones near the militia Hans again focused on those that were swarming the vehicle.

As Hans continued to take out the monsters, he heard another concerning voice from Hetzer.

"Commander, I'm out of HE ammo," she said.

"Can you reload?" Hans asked concerned about what would happen if she couldn't.

"It'll take time. More than the time I needed to reload the MG34." She replied.

Hans was not relieved to hear it, but still it was better than nothing. He couldn't ask more from the Jagdpanzer 38t that has been firing repeatedly throughout the night.

It could reload its ammo itself, could move without needing any fuel and even helped him after he was injured in the attack by the Sturmovik.

So Hans thought that asking anymore of this girl would be a crime and God would surely be angry on him.

Thinking so, he started to fire at the monsters that were getting closer to the militia. Mostly ignoring the ones that got closer to the vehicle itself.

However, he couldn't ignore them too much and mowed them down occasionally.

Hans didn't know how much of the night had already passed and how much longer it remained for the first light to come out.

He could only wait and hope that Hetzer didn't run out of MG bullets while reloading the main gun. Otherwise there'd be nothing left to protect the village and its people.

The only good thing was that the monsters got completely drawn in by the vehicle and ignored the village behind.

While the one coming from the front showed interest in the militiamen, they were easily cut off.

Hans couldn't help but feel that this was a never ending night and he would have to live inside the Jagdpanzer 38t until he starved to death.

Hans was too much engulfed in protecting the militiamen that a determined blow from the monsters tipped it over to the side. And a final blow turned it upside down totally.

Hans felt the blow, but it was too late for him to react and there was nothing left to protect the villagers.

The monsters got on the vehicle and tried to cut into the vehicle's softest underbelly.

But the metal armour though thin, was still impossible for them to break. 

Hetzer tried frantically to do whatever she could. This included moving the canon and the tracks though to no avail.

But at that moment inside the vehicle Hans felt that the noise of the monsters gradually lessened. And soon, the noise was gone totally.

"Commander, the sun came out. Th-the monsters are all running away." Hetzer cried out.

Hans also felt relieved and let out a sigh. Hetzer unable to sustain her real vehicle shape anymore, turned back into the cute girl again.

This time, Hans was under her and she was over him in tattered clothings. Both of them were out of energy. Hetzer even more so than Hans.

She totally blacked out while Hans looked at his surroundings. Only to see that the bodies of the monsters were all burning now.

He saw no monster alive in the vicinity and every single one of them were burning and disappearing into the daylight.

Feeling relieved, Hans also gave in to his tiredness and blacked out. Still under the girl in clothes that were torn to apart in many places.