Chapter 1

He had yet another of those strange dreams. This time, it was a 5-tank team destroying a Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus by blocking its turret and firing at the exposed top armor of the hull. The shooter was in a Panzerkampfwagen IV ausführung H. What a strange dream this is… A Maus getting wrecked by at least Guderian-level thinking.

The scene switched yet again and he saw the very same Panzerkampfwagen IV destroying a Tiger I by drifting behind it and firing at the exposed weak armor. But, the strangest thing was: the commanders of those tanks were… sisters?! The older one turned to him, opened her mouth and a beeping sound started invading his dream.

Beep beep! He opened his eyes and looked at the annoying, but trustworthy alarm clock. It was Saturday morning. Ugh… Why do I still forget to turn it off on Friday evening?! he thought and smiled. Today was his 16th birthday and his parents said that he will get a special gift today.

I wonder what it is. My parents always try to spoil me rotten, due to being their only child. And as he put on his Saturday attire, he walked out of his room. Surprisingly, (sense the sarcasm) his parents were waiting for him right behind the door. They wordlessly gestured to him to follow them and he obeyed.

My name is Trafalgar "Traf" Jameson. I love history. Especially WW2 (tank battles mostly). But, I have no friends thanks to it. Everyone wants to be friends with me only to get their hands on my father's fortune. My mom wants me to act like a gentleman, while dad wants me to be like him: ignorant about other people.

"Here we are. Open the door, Traf." He nodded and opened the door. It was the garage, but no lights were turned on. Suddenly, he remembered one scene from his dreams. The garage was old and no light, except for the sunlight which came in, thanks to the opened door, was there. But, it was enough to notice the old frame of a Panzerkampfwagen IV ausführung D. A girl with short brown hair walked towards the wreck and gently knocked on the hull. Surprisingly, it didn't collapse.

He reached out with his hand and slowly walked into the darkness. He felt something under his fingers. It was that stupid Ottoman carpet that his mother loved so much. Traf gently pulled the carpet and the lights turned on. The boy gasped and fainted from the shock that he felt, when he recognised what was hidden there.

Little did they know, what would happen really soon.

Traf woke up to a blinding light. Everything was white, but it wasn't a hospital. Where am I? he thought and looked around. Only white walls could be seen. Great. The infamous White room. What will happen next? Will I go crazy or get out from here? "I will get you out, Trafalgar Jameson. Do not worry. Your world is too dangerous for you, so I will send you to a safer one." Traf blinked. "Who is there?! Show yourself!" And in the next second, an old man, dressed in white robes, showed up. "You were killed, my son. I did not expect that. You were supposed to live a long and happy life." Traf blinked again.

"So, this is Heaven and you are God?" he asked. The old man nodded. "You have a sharp mind, my son. Yes, this is Heaven and I am the God himself. And I have an offer for you," he said. "I want to hear it, before I accept it," Traf answered. "Good choice. I give you a second life. In a world, you saw in your dreams. No one will know you, so you could make friends and maybe find your future bride. There will be situations, when you must do some rather harsh decisions, but I can help you with them."

"I… I accept. But, on one condition." The God smiled. "And it is?" the being older than time itself asked. "No helping me in those situations. I want to rely on myself," Traf announced, but before the God could send him away, he grabbed his arm. "And… How did I die?" This question made shivers running down his spine. "The doc, who had you in charge was paid by your greedy uncle to give you a lethal dosage of morphium. You hit your head hard enough for it to be needed."

And with those words, the God gave him one last look. "Bye, Trafalgar Jameson," he said and once again, darkness overtook Traf's vision.

Miho Nishizumi, former student of Kuromorimine Girls Academy, stared speechless at the tank before her. One moment, she, Takebe Saori, Isuzu Hana and Akiyama Yukari informed the Student council about finding a Panzer 38 (t) and the next moment, they all saw a Tiger I blocking their way from the forest.

Most intriguing part however, was not the tank. It was the boy, which was sleeping on it. He had short brown hair and was wearing some sort of 'weekend working' attire, similar to a US technician and Wehrmacht tanker uniforms, if you mix them together. "H-how did he get here?!" Saori asked. "I don't know," Miho answered. "Oh my… This is the legendary Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger I, number 101!" Yukari shouted in surprise. "What? Legendary?!" Miho blinked at that. "How did this one survive? I thought that it was destroyed."

Suddenly, the boy stirred, yawned and slowly sat up. This was when they saw his blue eyes. "Who are you?! How did you get here?! And why is that tank famous?!" Saori immediately bombarded him with questions. "I just woke up…" he answered and looked around. His eyes widened with shock. "God, I'm going to kill you for this," he muttered.

"About this tank… Well, my parents gave it to me as a birthday gift... Ah! Where are my manners! My name is Trafalgar Jameson." This answer did not fully satisfy Saori, but it was enough for now in her opinion. "So, Trafalgar… How did you get here?" Hana tried with a less angry tone.

"I don't know. One moment, I was at home, fell unconscious and now, I am here. And it was morning, when I fainted." That sounded absurd to her and the other girls. "I speak the truth, like when I say, that this was the tank of Kurt Knispel himself!" he immediately continued and Miho felt honesty in his words.

"Will you help me with getting this tank to the nearest garage? It is repaired, but I doubt about its stability, when only one person tries to operate it." Miho froze for a moment, when the flashes of the disaster of a final fight against Pravda. The Panzer III fell into the river and she jumped out from her Tiger to save the crew. But, that one had a different number. And why does he have Knispel's tank as a birthday gift? she thought. There were too many secrets surrounding Trafalgar… His name was one of them too.

But now, they must get the Tiger I to Oarai garages. It will surely gain them a much needed advantage in the fights to come. "And do not expect me to part with my tank," the boy suddenly announced, surprising them all. "B-but we need it…" Saori managed to counter, only drawing a raised eyebrow from him.

And after that, he opened the driver's hatch and dived in. Well, this won't end good, she thought and used the commander's hatch to get in. Surprisingly, the insides were clean as if someone took good care of it. Also, it was really Spartan there. No pillows to ease the pain the seats can provide or blankets to keep warmth for the crew, when it snows.

Miho almost started giving advice on how to start and drive, when the Tiger's engine started. "I'll need a guide to navigate me towards those nearest garages. This job always is done by the person sitting on the commander seat," he stated and Miho gulped. She didn't notice that she picked the dreaded seat. "Well… The articles from Wikipedia and all those books weren't lying about the start button. Panzer Vor!" he muttered, but those last two words were almost shouted, so it broke her from her memories.

It took them two hours riding to the garages, when Traf cursed under his breath as the tank suddenly went to a halt. "I knew it! No fuel left! At least, nothing worse happened…" But, as he said that, the engine started smoking. "I'll handle it!" he announced and hoped that all girls would leave. But, to his surprise, one of the sisters in the dreams he had, stayed in. "It is something with that Maybach 230. I will handle it. Go please."

The brunette nodded and left the tank. Traf grabbed one of the fire extinguishers near his seat, some tools from a box near the commander's, and climbed out towards the plating above the engine. Of course, he heard the gasps of 17 girls, but he ignored them and used a screwdriver to open the plating to get better access to the engine and pushed it to the ground gently.

If it looked bad by the amount of smoke, the fire made it look even worse. This can be used as a dummy tank until I get a new engine, he thought and tried to unblock the extinguisher. The fuse met the ground after a short fight and Traf grinned, when the white powder flew towards the fire and in seconds, it was gone.

Traf sighed in relief, but almost instantly felt anger trying to take over his rational thoughts. His Tiger I was now completely useless thanks to the fire. "Goddamnit!" he shouted and sat down on the hull. He felt lost. Without a group of skilled mechanics (which he doubted were there) he could do nothing, except using the Tiger I as a tent.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and noticed the younger sister looking at him with… understatement in her eyes?! "I heard that there is a club that can repair it. Can you help us with cleaning the other tanks?" she said with a mildly commanding tone. "Jawohl, Kommandant! " Traf responded with a hint of happiness and teasing, but he did not expect her to space out. Luckily, she broke from it in a few seconds and jumped from the hull.

And as he followed her, he noticed the rest of the tanks. All were dirty and with large areas covered in rust. But it was nothing too serious. In the best condition seemed to be the M3 Lee, but that was only the outside hull. It was definitely worse inside. Suddenly, he started grinning like a madman, when he recognised the Panzerkampfwagen IV D variant and StuG III (F variant). Both were infamous and most common German tanks in the WW2 Eastern front battlefields (after Panzerkampfwagen IIIs).

The last two, however, made him raise both his eyebrows. They were Type 89B I-Go medium tank and Lt vz 38 (commonly known as Panzer 38 (t)) light tank. Both were good at scouting and harassing, if the crew was skilled enough and knew what was doing. Traf's vision suddenly changed the tanks from their ugly and not operational states into the (by their own rights) dangerous beauties, ready to go and shoot down some enemy tanks.

He shook his head and wordlessly picked up the buckets nearby. "Where can I fill them with water?" he asked one of the three girls, who were probably the student council of this school. One of them was munching on a dried sweet potato. She was smaller than the rest of the gathered girls (except the tank lover Yukari and some 1st years) and had short reddish-brown hair braided into two ponytails. She was also the one who spoke. "Go to the bathroom and get some water from there."

Traf gulped. He didn't want to enter the girls' bathroom. "I-is there another way?" The girl looked at him and grinned. That grin meant only one thing: teasing was coming. "Anzu-sama, please don't do it. Or, you want to risk losing potential team members that will join his crew?" one of the other two Student council members said. "Geez… Momo-san… You ruined the fun!" the girl called Anzu pouted like a small child. "Don't call me Momo!"

Traf would have laughed, if he wasn't trying to earn the respect of the girls. And help with repairing my tank, he reminded himself. And so he waited for them to stop arguing. Soon, he had it enough and walked towards the tanks, opening all hatches. The stench coming from them was strong enough to start his gag reflex.

"Wait for the bad air to circulate out, or you will face the risk of vomiting. Yes, it is THAT bad," he said and walked back to the buckets. Better find the nearest functioning fountain and get the water from there… he thought and went searching for the nearest source of water (except the bathroom).