Chapter 1: Prologue.
The Tiger tank stood motionless with its' tracks thrown, in the middle of a field, full of burning T-34 wrecks. The other Tiger tanks were pulling out, their engines roaring; exhaust gases rising high above the tanks. At the lower left side of the hull, there was a small puncture hole, where the metal armour plating was curved inwards. There was a T-34 tank positioned straight in front of the side armour; its cannon barrel smoking. It slowly reversed, and drove into the smoke filled landscape.
Inside the tank, it was a mess of humans, blood and shrapnel. Maho was slumped over the cannon breech, her head and side bleeding heavily. Her black sidecap was hanging askew, and it slid over one of her eyes.
"Is everyone alright?" She asked weakly, praying for a response from her shattered crew members.
"Aye, ma'am." Came Erika's weak reply. She was laying on the floor of the tank, just underneath the cannon breech, her arm weakly resting on her gunners' chair; blood dribbling down from her neck. Some tank shells were scattered along the floor.
"Christian… Tell the rest of our company that we've been hit."
No reply.
She looked down, and saw the decapitated body of Christian, his black uniform slashed open, with blood dripping down onto the floor steadily.
She looked round weakly, desperate to see any sign of life from her crew. Suddenly, she heard a quiet moaning sound from Ernst, who was slumped forward at the front of the tank. He coughed, and blood came spilling out of his mouth, as he slowly became still. He was missing an arm, and the arm was on the floor, with a pool of blood around it.
Maho herself was bleeding out, her hearing distorted, as the explosions outside and the sound of war travelled very slowly through her ear; making each explosion take an eternity to pass. She glanced at her hands weakly. They were pale, shaky and bleeding. She suddenly noticed Felix, who was sitting straight in the loaders' seat, with blood down his side. He had a shrapnel piece the size of his thumb embedded in his neck, with blood slowly dribbling away from the wound.
She frantically tried to reach for the radio, but her strength slowly ebbed away. Her arm fell limp, and she coughed up blood. Maho let out a quiet sigh. It seemed like the Tiger wasn't as 'indestructible' as she thought it may be.
It seemed like she would die in this metal coffin. She took a short raspy breath, as darkness flooded her vision…
Notes:
Whenever there is a word (apart from the chapter title), it is a technical term that will be defined in a glossary chapter later on.
If you've enjoyed reading this chapter, and want to know what happens next, don't hesistate to follow and favourite! It helps me know that what I'm writing is enjoyable too!
