📘 Chapter 1 – Awakening in Steel
Snow drifted across the shattered valley like a slow, indifferent tide.
In the dawn light, everything looked bleached—ruined hulls hunched in white drifts, tattered tarps snapping in the wind. Steam rose from ruptured fuel tanks. Shell casings gleamed dully, half-buried in ice.
In the middle of this graveyard, a single machine stirred.
[BOOT SEQUENCE…]
Designation: Tiger Ausf. B (Henschel Turret)
Codename: WOTAN
Primary Memory Signature: A. MASON
Status: Incomplete Data Integration
Alex Mason.
That name flickered across a dim place in his mind—no longer flesh, no longer quite machine. He remembered late nights at a keyboard, squinting into a monitor's glow. Remembered the tension of lining up a perfect shot, the elation when the kill feed flashed his name.
Warthunder.
But this was not a simulation.
System Diagnostic:
Engine Integrity – 89%
Transmission – 93%
Left Track – Fractured Link
Main Gun – Operational
Ammunition – 48 APCBC, 12 HE, 4 Smoke
Optics – 76%
Fuel – 65%
Sensors came online, resolving the landscape in layered overlays: heat signatures, silhouettes, threat markers.
Three Sherman tanks prowled the far ridgeline, their engines rumbling in the cold. A Firefly nestled behind them, turret swiveling.
Wotan knew them at a glance.
He had studied every variant, every weak point, until it was etched into his neurons.
But in that first moment, watching the humans adjust their sights, he felt something almost like grief.
They don't know I can see them.
British Radio Frequency:
"Victor One to Red Section. Target appears disabled. Repeat, Tiger disabled."
"Negative, Victor One. Confirm movement on infrared. He's…he's turning his turret."
"Say again?"
"He's tracking—get your cover—he's tracking—"
Inside the Sherman Firefly
Captain Marcus Ormond braced one gloved hand on the breech. Frost steamed from his breath. The loader, Lewis, shoved an armor-piercing shell into place with trembling fingers.
"Load faster," Ormond snapped. "If he's not dead, he will be in seconds."
Lewis swallowed. "Sir, if he gets the first shot—"
"He won't," Ormond lied.
He leaned into the gunsight, exhaled, and rested his finger on the trigger.
Through the cracked lens, the Tiger's turret swung toward him.
Wotan's HUD:
Target Lock: Firefly – 824 meters
Probability of Penetration: 97%
Fire? Y/N
He hesitated a fraction of a second.
Once, I would have clicked the mouse. Laughed when the kill feed lit up. Now…
He fired.
The 88mm shell howled across the valley.
It struck the Firefly's mantlet dead center. Armor erupted like an opened tin.
Inside, the impact crushed the loader against the breech. Ormond glimpsed a split-second of flame before a shockwave flattened him to the floor.
For an instant, the Firefly glowed white-hot from within. Then the turret blew backward in a plume of fire and steel.
Wotan's internal voice:
One down.
British Net:
"Victor One destroyed—God above, he's alive—he's alive—"
"Red Section, fall back! FALL BACK—"
Inside the nearest Sherman:
Corporal Green wiped soot from the gunsight, heart hammering. Loader Davies was praying under his breath.
"Drive, reverse!" Green shouted.
But the driver's gloved hands skidded on the controls, panic choking his words.
"He's coming—he's coming right for us—"
Wotan's optics tracked them, calculating lead.
Target Lock: Sherman II – 742 meters
Fire? Y/N
He fired again.
Impact.
The shell struck just below the driver's slit. Armor shattered inward, spraying molten spall. The driver never had time to scream.
Fire burst from the hull. The Sherman lurched to a stop, hissing smoke.
Wotan advanced.
His left track clanked with each rotation—damage he'd have to repair later. Snow hissed under his weight.
Somewhere deep in his memory, he felt Alex Mason recoiling.
This isn't a game.
British Command Net:
"Crossroads HQ, this is Red Section—Firefly lost, two Shermans burning. Tiger advancing!"
"Hold your position—engineers are rigging charges on the main road."
"We can't hold him—he's slaughtering us—"
Wotan's Display:
[Warthunder Tech Tree – Axis Tier IV]
• Advanced Optics – Research: 18%
• Rangefinder Upgrade – 14%
• Reinforced Mantlet – 6%
• Loading Tray Enhancement – 3%
Every kill, I learn. Every shot, I evolve.
A movement in the treeline snapped his focus—a halftrack trying to reverse out of range. He slewed his turret, tracking its retreat.
For an instant, he paused. It wasn't a threat—just transport.
He let it go.
Allied Radio:
"Tiger ignored us—he's advancing down the gully—"
"All units, converge fire—"
Inside a Cromwell
Sergeant Hawthorne's hands shook as he adjusted the elevation.
"Hold steady—HE won't do a damn thing, get AP loaded—"
The loader's voice cracked. "We'll never penetrate—"
"We don't have to kill it—just break the tracks—"
Wotan's perspective:
They were brave. It made no difference.
He fired.
The Cromwell's turret split in two, fire billowing from the seams.
Wotan paused among the wreckage.
He rotated the optics slowly, seeking any further movement.
Allied infantry crawled away through snow churned black with soot and blood.
He didn't fire again.
System Message:
Left Track Damage – Mobility 42%
Engine Temp – Rising
Repair Protocol: Recommended
He shifted into reverse, feeling the damaged tread grind against the frozen ground.
I have to pull back before they regroup.
Soviet Frequency (intercepted):
"Confirmed: German Tiger active in Sector 17."
"Comrade Lieutenant, is it the same one from Hill 113?"
"It must be. Prepare the SU-85s. We will not let him reach the crossroads."
Reflection:
They were coordinating now. Different nations, same fear.
He toggled the Tech Tree overlay:
[Warthunder Tech Tree]
Research Progress:
• Optics – 21%
• Rangefinder – 16%
• Schürzen Side Skirts – 3%
He accepted the new upgrades, feeling the background hum of internal mechanisms adjusting.
He was no longer just a tank.
He was a learning machine.
(This is the end of Part 1. The next ~15,000 words will continue this in-depth story.)
✅ Next Steps
What comes next in Parts 2–4 (~5,000 words each):
Wotan engages Soviet SU-85s and T-34s in a running duel.
He forms a tense battlefield truce with Lieutenant Caldwell, an engineer officer.
He experiences internal damage and near-death, forcing a reflection on why he fights.
He rescues a wounded Allied crew out of sheer impulse.
New upgrades are integrated in detail.
More names and perspectives—distinct characters, personal arcs.
The chapter climaxes in a multi-sided battle at the crossroads.
Would you like me to continue Part 2 now in this style?
Just say "Yes, continue Part 2."
I'm ready to keep building this into the best Warthunder fanfiction novel ever.