On a hill overlooking the main barbecue area laid three girls, one of whom watched movement below with a pair of binoculars.
"Mika," said a short girl with blond hair tied up into two buns. "Look over there. There's some sort of event going on, and there's food everywhere." She passed the binoculars over to Mika, as she peered through them.
"That is a lot of food, Aki, and whoever is running that barbecue has said all schools are invited." replied Mika. The two heard a voice behind them, as their driver, Mikko walked up to them.
"We could borrow an entire week's worth of food, and still wouldn't make a dent in all the food they have there."
"Mikko, Aki, lets go. Get some food and maybe take some home for ourselves." The trio got up from their position, before walking down, eventually reaching the base of the hill, as Wallaby approached them.
"Heyo, Mika, you came just in time. Anchovy just finished cooking the Hamburg steaks. Come on, join us." said Wallaby, excitedly. Mika's driver and loader looked at all the food with glee, their own supplies of food had just run out, as the three followed Wallaby to the barbecue. The sight of the barbecue was paradise to the hungry girls, as Aki and Mikko rushed to get a Hamburg steak that Anchovy had just cooked. Mika scanned the area, looking out for food that she could 'borrow' from Koala Forest. Spotting a stack of field rations, Mika began to make her way towards the stack, before being intercepted by Maho.
"Long time no see," Maho said to Mika. "How is it going back home at Jatkosota?"
Mika looked to her kantele that she carried everywhere, before replying. "We have been blessed with favourable winds, but all wind dies down eventually."
"Huh, still going with the cryptic wind quotes," said Maho, unsurprised. She leaned closer to her, before whispering into her ear.. "I heard you're gonna be facing Pravda soon. I happen to have a few Panzer 4s and StuGs that I need to get rid of. If I give them to you, promise me you'll kick Katyusha's arse. I'd love to see the look on her face when they lose. Beat them for us, and I might accidentally lose one of our Panthers as well."
Mika smiled, before reaching her hand out, shaking Maho's hand, solidifying their agreement. Maho, now satisfied, turned around and began to walk over to Erika, who was watching the affair from afar. Now alone, Mika walked up to the stack of field rations, before placing a few in her bag without anyone noticing. Turning around, she could see the faces of Mikko and Aki, as they stuffed food into their hungry mouths.
Eyre wandered around the field on the outskirts of the barbecue, along with Tanami and Yarra, as they encountered a hill. Climbing it to get a better view of the entire area, Eyre saw a small picnic blanket on the ground, but with no one there and no picnic supplies. Looking up, she could see a massive tank, with a decal on the sides showing a shield in blue and white with 継 printed on the front of the shield. Looking at the tank, she could make it out to be a Finnish BT-42 assault gun. Suddenly, she heard footsteps on the front plate of the tank, as Gibson and Tanami climbed in.
"You girls, this is not our property, and we did promise Wallaby that we wouldn't ruin her barbecue," Eyre said to the girls now inside the tank. Tanami opened the driver's hatch, before fixing it in place.
"It's fine, Eyre. We promise we won't wreck the vehicle or disturb Wallaby. We just want to take it on a bit of a joyride, isn't that right, Yarra?"
"Yeah," Yarra replied, out of breath as she picked up the heavy 35 pound shell. "Whoever has to load these shells, I feel sorry for them."
"Fine," Eyre finally said, as she climbed onto the hull and on top of the turret, before climbing in. "What's the worst that could happen? Tanami, let's get this baby moving." Eyre felt a jolt, as the tank began to move, accelerating the tank incredibly quickly. Within seconds, the BT-42 reached its maximum speed, far faster than what should be achievable, as the tank sped along the open plains. Yarra bumped Eyre on the shoulder, as she yelled at her. The engine noise was so great, that it drowned out everything Yarra yelled at Eyre, before she leaned to Eyre's ear.
"I want to see it drift. Tell Tanami to make it drift!" Grabbing the radio, she relayed the order to her driver, receiving a hail of confirmation, as the tank jerked to the side, throwing an unaware Yarra right into the side of the turret, dropping the shell she was holding. Eyre could feel the orientation of the tank begin to change, as the tank drifted, before stabilising again. Eyre could feel Yarra bump into her shoulder again, as she leaned towards her ear.
"Can I fire the gun?" she asked, as Eyre shook her head, clearly telling her that her answer was no. Despite this, Yarra opened the breech of the 4.5 inch howitzer, before placing a HE shell and closed the breech. Eyre could only watch, as Yarra moved over and pulled the trigger. The entire tank shook as gases and an empty shell case emerged from the breech. Climbing out of the tank, she was almost blown off the turret from the wind slamming into her before gazing out to where the gun had fired. A large crater came into view, with the surrounding area completely blackened from the blast, as the gun discharged again. This shell flew about 100 metres, before falling to the ground. Now lodged into the ground, the shell did not detonate, but stayed there, undetonated. Entering the turret again, she leaned over to Yarra.
"What the hell was that shell?" she asked, having to yell over the engine despite being right next to her loader. "Was it a dummy?" Her loader put back the shell she was holding, before turning to face Eyre.
"I dunno, it says here that it is a HEAT shell. Maybe the fuse didn't work." Eyre considered her options. She could either tell the local Sensha-do Federation personnel about the undetonated shell and certainly get in trouble with Wallaby or she could simply ignore it and hope to god it never detonates. Choosing the latter, she told her driver to increase the speed of the tank to its limits.
Mika placed the last packet of field ration inside her bag, now full of food, before heading back to Aki and Mikko, both full from eating Hamburg steak and their bags filled with food. The trio had declared their mission successful, as they silently slipped out of the main barbecue area and headed for their tank. Climbing the gentle slope, they eventually made their way to where they had parked their tank and placed their liberated loot onto the picnic blanket they had placed down. Mika felt a tap on her shoulders, as Mikko stared blankly into the void. Suddenly, Mika had seen what Mikko saw, or more accurately, what Mikko didn't see, as their prized BT-42 had disappeared. Now, they could hear a faint distinctive BT engine coming from the hills afar. A tall silhouette appeared over the hill, as the BT-42 rushed towards Mika, racing towards them at top speed. The tank was only around 10 metres away from the trio, before rapidly slowing down, its tracks digging into the dirt and creating grooves in the ground 15 metres long. The entire front of the tank had dug itself into the ground, as the gust created from the tank stopping knocked over all the items on the picnic blanket, as well as the three dumbstruck girls. The driver's hatch opened, followed by the turret hatches, as three girls climbed out. The girl climbing out of the commander's hatch jumped off the tank, landing in front of Mika.
"She's a beauty, but get better shells," she said before walking away, the other two girls following her, as Mika looked at them descending the hill. Confused by their statement, Aki rushed to the entrenched tank, before picking up one of the shells. She found a note on the shell storage racks, before picking it up. 'The shells didn't detonate, but they're still pretty neat,' she read, while Mikko fainted on the sight of the damaged driver's compartment. Mika sat on the tank, watching the trio of girls head towards the barbecue area, casually playing a slow rendition of Säkkijärven Polkka on the kantele, wondering about them. They certainly had skill, since they were able to even operate their heavily modified tank. She felt a jolt as the tank began to reverse, before stopping. Climbing off the tank, she walked over to the front of the tank, before opening the driver's hatch.
"Mikko, Aki," she said. "Let's stay here for now. I think this day will become very interesting."