Heimatfront Episode One - The Girl and Her Tank

A World of Tanks

IV

A WORLD OF TANKS

It was a curious assortment of old and wrecked vehicles, seemingly from all over the world, as American-built M3 Mediums stood right beside a German StuG III and a Czech Panzer 38(t). As she stepped into the building Maria couldn’t help but ‘wowing’ at what she had right in front of her. The half-light coming from the ample windows overhead only made the sight even eerier, the sun still too low to properly illuminate the hangar, shadows falling from the railing overhead like ghostly mist.

Of course, it all became much less impressive as she got closer and noticed the state in which those deadly war machines really were. Half of them didn’t have any tracks anymore; some were even missing a few wheels, as well as equipment vaults, engine covers and mudguards. Interestingly enough most of them kept their armament, although Maria could only guess about for how long had those machineguns and cannons remained silent.

Maria walked among the decaying giants of metal with awe until her attention was claimed by the one standing in the farthest corner, a little further away from the others like if it was ashamed of its companions for some reason. In silence, she walked to it, her eyes inspecting every centimeter as she closed in.

It was an old Panzer IV of the Ausfuhrung F.2 model, equipped with a high-velocity 7,5cm KwK 40 main gun. Still a magnificent fighting machine, it was now outclassed by recent developments in armored warfare. More important, though, was the fact that the damned thing was simply awesome to look at. The angular hull was straightforward and yet effective, without a single centimeter of wasted space. Contrary to the tall and bulky M3 Mediums the Ausf. F.2 wasn’t bristling with weaponry and instead only had two MG42s to complement the main gun and the engine was a petrol-fed Maybach V-12, reliable as a Swiss watch. The whole thing screamed German engineering and deadly intent and Maria simply loved it!

 She didn’t even registered she was now smiling, a faint humming rising from her throat.  Her hand patted the flank of the Panzer IV, her fingers feeling each dent in the pain, each blotch of rust, each imperfection in the steel which protected the crew inside during a battle. And when she reached the back of the vehicle she jumped to the top of the engine cover, holding to the opened hood to pull herself up.

The engine itself was rusty, but most of the parts were still there and what was missing shouldn’t be that hard to obtain, she immediately assessed. Then she peeked through the open commander’s hatch in the back of the turret, to the fighting compartment in the heart of the machine. Again, rust was settling in, but everything was pretty much in order.

“So, what do you think?”

Anja’s voice almost made her jump. She didn’t even realize she’d enclosed herself in her little world while her mind registered every detail of the tanks around her. Maria turned at the other girl, who was standing right beside the Panzer IV, arms crossed and glance focused on her. Her smirk almost faded as a more inquisitive expression took its place.

“Everything seems to be in order.” Maria managed to say, giving a last glance at the interior of the tank before jumping to the ground. “With a few extra parts and a small team to work with one could bring at least half of these back into service in a month or so.”

“So they’re serviceable?”

“Yes.” Maria shrugged. “I mean, not yet, but I’ve seen worse.”

Anja’s smirk returned, as well as that glitter in her eye.

“I’m still curious how you got to know those things.” She said. “Is your father in the military, maybe?”