Frederik's POV:
After we had all gotten familiar with the tank, sat around in it, made the tank to our liking and all that, we were assigned to a new Battalion:
2nd Royal Armoured Battalion. We painted on our number '211', 2nd Battalion, of the 1st Company, of the 1st Tank, as well as 3 white strips, our kills, on the barrel and Paula on the Barrel as well. We were all sitting around, wondering around, with not much to do since, well, the 'incident'. Soon though, on a rather cold day, we recieved word that we would take part in a Parade through Stockholm. It would start from Southern Stockholm (where we were), we would then drive through Stockholm, until we reached the Royal Palace. From there, we would disembark for inspection by the king himself. Everyone was both excited, and nervous. We had never actually been on Parade before. We didn't come from noble families, or anything like that, we were just ordinary lads, and we didn't know how to act in front of the King, or the Royal Family. In the end, we all figured, act normal. Don't be all stiff, or strict, just answer the King if he asks, and follow orders. What's more was that the Parade was postponed to tomorrow, because the army needs us on the front asap, and since the king wanted to first see us, and apparently "Grant us Luck", we were having the Parade tomorrow. I called for a meeting in the barracks.
When I arrived, everyone was chatting, about things like "What's going on?" and "Is the parade really happening tomorrow?" I shushed everyone down, cleared my throat and said:
"Ok, so firstly, yes, the parade is tomorrow." at this, there was a lot of murmuring. "Secondly, no drinking or parting tonight whatsoever, we don't need any headaches tomorrow." everyone groaned at this. "Thirdly, I need everyone to do an inspection of their tanks, check the engines, transmissions, etc. We can't afford mechanical failure tomorrow" and with that, I freed everyone, and went to the garage with my crew to see how 'Paula' was doing. Paula was as usual, standing out from everyone else in the warehouse. We checked the engine, and since we hadn't even started it, the tank was pretty much good, though we checked the fuses and such. After that, when we returned to the barracks, I collapsed, and fell asleep
The Next Day...
I woke up, the window was open, it was still dark out, but then I checked the time, and it made my eyes pop all the way to Helenski. "Jesus Christ, its 5:40! UP UP EVERYONE!"
Everyone woke up, confused and disorientated, but when they saw the time, they also jumped. Klaus, Karl, Hans, Simo and me ran across the barracks waking everyone up. Soon, the entire battalion was awake, and getting ready. I already had my uniform on, a black coat, with the Iron Cross on it, as well as the Swedish 3 Crowns insignia on my coat, next to the cross. I already had my officers cap on, and was running down the hall, with my crew. We ran and had breakfast, and the chefs asked were the hell were we. The parade was due to begin at exactly 07:00. We had our breakfast, did our business and ran to the tanks. Now this is why I got the battalion up so early. It was already 6:42, and it was cold, -5 Celsius, and due to that, the engines had trouble starting. I grabbed a metal bar, a huge key which is used to start up the engine (and don't ask what its called, I never got the name of it myself, ask Klaus). We had to screw it back and forth, in the engine to start up the engine. The first tank in my battalion to start up was a L-60. Soon the driver was revving the engine, and its crew already ready. Tanks began to start up all around us, but the damned M/42 didn't. Just as the clock hit 06:55 we were about to give up, the engine started. We all clambered aboard, and the engine was roaring. Soon, everyone was ready, and as the Clock struck 07:00, we rolled out, the M/42 in the lead. I was sitting in the Cupula, looking out ahead on the road. As we rolled down the street, people gawked at the sight of these machines. Police had to keep people back on the sidewalks from surrounding the tanks. In the battalion, there were only about 50 in total, which, compared to the BT's and the T-26's, wasn't many, but what we lacked in numbers, technology made up for it. Karl and Hans were looking out out of their hatches, looking at the road ahead. Confetti rained down on the road, people were singing the National anthems of the Nordic nations, it was a blast. Soon enough, we reached the palace. We drove onto the Inspection square in front of the Palace.
"Keep the engines running" I told the other commanders. After the difficulty in the morning, we didn't want that to happen again.
We quickly disembarked from our tanks, and stood at attention, and that's when I saw the Royal Family. The King and Queen were at their head, with the Prince's and Princess's walking behind them, with Royal Guards flanking them, equipped with automatic rifles. They walked down the aisle, inspecting each tank, and asking the Commander a question, as well as presenting awards to each crew. A crowd had gathered around the Palace, everyone looking with awe. The Family weren't looking ahead, and the light tanks/armoured cars weren't that big, so when they reached us, their jaws dropped at the sight of the M/42. We, saluted.
"Wow..." the king muttered. The Family looked at the tank with near disbelief. "I remember seeing tanks as a child, but never something the size of this..." A princess caught eye contact with Klaus. Klaus smiled at her, and she giggled. The king then asked: "What is this tank?" I replied:
"It's the M/42, or known by the Engineers, as the Stridsvagn M/42"
One of the Princes, I was guessing then eagerly asked: "Whet gen does its haves?"
"The 75mm gun, not the best tank killer gun, but definitely the most reliable."
The king then looked at around at the family, and they nodded. "Men, several days ago, you prevented what could have been a serious terrorist attack on Stockholm. Several of our tanks were hijacked, and instead of retreating, you and your men held your ground, long enough for your Battalion to retreat, an act that nearly cost you your lives. For that, I, on behalf of Sweden, am presenting you with the Medal of Merit, as well as the Wound Badge Gold to each one of you for your actions." We stood stunned. The King presented the medals, and hanged them around our necks. Soon the crowd burst into cheering, and we shook hands with both the king, and other members of the family, I noticed the same princess that giggled at Klaus slip something into his pocket. He then walked back towards the entrance of the Palace to see us through. Soon all eyes were on me. At first, I was confused, but then the King gave me a nod, a sign that I was now in charge.
"BATTALION, MOUNT!" I shouted and everyone scrambled back into the tanks. Once we were in, we sat out of our cupulas and waved to the family, as well as the crowd. I soon led the way, through the crowd, and towards the railway station, were the trains to transport us to the front were waiting.
"I can't believe I had actually shaken hands with the King, the King!!" I spoke. Karl and Hans laughed. Soon enough, we reached the station. There were already other tanks on board, a few up gunned M/42's, as well as other equipment. I then spotted Bofors guns on the train, covered with camouflage nets. I then saw a Middle-aged man, maybe in his early 40's, with a beard, wearing some work clothes, running up to me.
"Is this the 2nd Battalion?" He asked
"Yes, it very well is" I answered
"Alright, the tanks can be loaded up here, the ammunition and supplies are on another train" he told me.
Karl forwarded the message to the rest of the battalion as some of the railway workers helped us park. We managed to do it easily with neutral steering, but others had a bit of trouble. Soon enough, the tanks were loaded on, and the train left the station. We decided to cover up Paula, since well, we didn't want to make it obvious that a huge 53-ton tank was heading to the front. We then sat in an accommodation car. We soon found the bar cart (yes, this train actually had one) and sat down at the table. Klaus was acting strange, and I asked:
"What did that Princess do to you?" Apparently, everyone in the cart heard I and burst out laughing, and Klaus tried to somewhat sink below the table.
"I dunno, it's just..." he reached into his pocket, and we found what she had put into his pocket. A handkerchief.
"Mystery solved" muttered Hans Jokingly.
Lunch went on as usual, and the afternoon was, well beautiful. We steamed across Sweden, in between farms, cities, hills and mountains. It was a Beautiful sight. So peaceful, so calm... and what if the frontline collapsed? I tried not to think what would happen to people out here. After about a few hours, we finally arrived at the frontline. We unloaded our tanks, and set out through a forest towards the city that we would be stationed in, Savonlinna.
??? POV:
I ran through the woods, my dress ripping. It was supposed to be a normal walk with my brother, just to visit the Farmhouses on the outside of town. But then we were attacked by wolfs, Black hounds. Rare, but deadly. We are lucky to still be running, but where we are running, I don't know. "Lookout!" my brother Timothy screamed. I ducked as a wolf leaped over me, knocking me over. I grabbed a nearby branch, and hit it hard against the wolf's head. My brother finally was able to draw his short sword, but before he could use it, a wolf leaped onto him, as he screamed:
"RUN HANNA RUN!" he screamed as he struggled with the wolf, I got up and lobbed a branch over the wolfs head, and with that, we ran, ran as fast as our feet could carry us, we could hear the wolfs behind us, and soon, they leapt onto us. We fell down, as they attacked us. I tried crawling away, to shocked by what's happening to even scream when 3 gunshots ran out. The wolf fell down, no arrow through it, nothing. I looked towards where the gunshots came from, and nearly screamed, but managed to hold it in. A huge box like machine stood several metres away from me, it had 2 tracks on either side, and a huge barrel, sticking out of a circular box on top of the bigger one. In it, 2 young men stood, about my age. What struck me was the one on the left. He had brown eyes, messy but somewhat organised hair, and was holding a pistol, smoke now steaming out of it. He wore a black uniform, with medals decorated on it, and had an equally stylish cap. "You alright?" he asked. I looked at my brother, who was now staring at this machine in awe.
"Yes, I'm good, but what is that thing" I asked rather sheepishly.
"Its called a tank my dear" he replied.
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Good day/evening! Here is a long chapter to hopefully make up for the previous short chapters
This story was just about 2000 words (this is biggest chapter I have ever done)
I will post photo of what the tank looks like