The Konigstiger 183

Prologue

I'm Leon Stiegler 18 years old, sex, Male. I have blood on my hands and so do my crew. I hate this war, I had taken lives, I made widows, other children with no father, Families broken. I am sadly the commander of Konigstiger 183. My crew is, Rein Lutz, sex Male, age 19, gunner. Allan Heart, sex male, age 17, loader. Alice Schnee, age 17, sex female, driver, and last but not least, Lisa Schnee, sex female, age 17, radio operator. Confirmed kills, 10 Heavy tank kills, 18 Medium tank kills, and 26 light tank kills.

I sat on the turret and sighed. Watching the sky and enjoying the silence for what it's worth. I got my rosary on my left hand and prayed for those who I have killed. For those who I injured. For those who I had scared. I prayed for God's forgiveness.

I finished my prayer and got into the tank. As I sat there I got myself a book and read while waiting. 38 minutes later, I heard Lisa shouting, "We are under attack! Multiple Allied tanks are coming in. I then sighed. "You know the drill, load AP, and fire at the first tank you see."

As Allan was loading the gun with an A.P round I watched in the cupola as the wind was in a breeze. I waited for the Allied tanks and watched. 3 minutes passed and nothing was happening. That was when I saw a Sherman. "Gunner turn the turret to the right by 30 degrees," I said as the gunner got the turret to turn. When the tank was in sight.

The loud booming sound of our gun firing. The shell hit its target and the tank was no more. I then heard a shell bounce off the tank. "Enemy forces are trying to flank us! Alice full reverse! Allan load a second A.P round! Lisa call in some form of backup! Rein Fire at the biggest enemy tank!"

"This is Konigstiger 183! We need assistance in our area." Lisa shouted but the radio was not replying. Lisa shouted once more but still no reply. "Kommandant, no response." I cursed under my breath.

Just then I saw a rare American tank. The rare American M 26 "Pershing". But before Rein pulled the shoot the tank. The Pershing fired and it hit an Ammo rack. To make things worse, it was the H.E ammo rack. My eyes were wide open, my heart felt like it stopped beating because it knew we are going to die anyway. I closed my eyes and said, "I'm sorry my crew. That we did not survive the war."

But I felt a soft touch instead. As I opened my eyes what I saw made the word beautiful an understatement. Her eyes were blue, her hair white, her skin fair, she looked young.

I turned around and saw my crew asleep. I then asked, "Am I in heaven, or hell?" She smiled and said. "You're neither in heaven or hell. And I'm a goddess. I'm willing to give you and your crew to live a life of adventure, and forgiveness. In all honesty, I was bored. I was able to negotiate with your creator. Really. I would make sure that a third world war of yours won't happen in the next 20 to 40 years. The rest is up to your species. In turn, I get to pick a group of 5, for my entertainment."

I bit my lips, but I know this. If she can stop a world war from happening in the next 40 years. "Is that how I pay for those who I killed?"

The goddess thought of it. "You can think of it like that. You and your crew will be able to die and go to your creator's heaven, or hell depending on how you act." I nodded.

"However you are not going to be judged on killing someone, but rather on why you killed that person."

"That is an interesting Point of view. But I beg to differ." She nods to it. "I know, I know."

As I turned I saw my crew slowly waking up, and one by one they were slowly walking around and talking to each other. "Do you wish for me to tell them as well?" I nodded.

With that, I woke up again. She just repeated what she said to me earlier, "... Do you have any questions?" Soon Lisa asked, "We are a tank crew. We do not do combat well." She smiled, "Do not fret about that is all. You might also wanna turn around." When we all turned we saw it was our tank. "You all do not need to worry about the maintenance of the vehicle as well as the fuel, and ammo. I also gave you all the standard Karabiner 98k."

I do not really care about the guns but I cared about the tank. "I hope that your new life can be a little more enjoyable."

Rein then went to her and asked, "What is your name?" She smiled and said, "Liana that is my name." We all went to our tank and I then got a paintbrush, (I always keep one.) and got some black and red paint. I then got to painting a rose. Afterward, I then looked at my crew.

"Life is like a flower, for we bloom and grow. Then spread our seed and return to the ground. We may be going to a new world. Old friends, family, and more are gone. But we shall live a new life. I hope that once we meet our end, we can say this. We did what we thought was needed."