This is just something to spark people's interest, but it just had to be done. Like my other stories, I'll get to more when I feel like. Until then you're free to use this fic to gain ideas.
It was the same as before. First, with complete darkness with nothing but herself. Then came the same room that became her private quarters. Finally, there was that thing.
Once again, Tanya von Degurechaff was another of these dreams. She couldn't count how many times she's been having such dreams, but the amount and frequency were starting to become annoying. Meeting with that thing, a little Nutcracker that called itself a God, was more than enough. Even if it the thing was indeed a God, nothing was going to convince Tanya, or rather the person inside him, to devote any faith to him.
"You've been doing this very frequently, Being X."
"If you have nothing to discuss, then there's no point in me talking."
"I am aware, for there hasn't been anything could convince you well enough."
"Don't expect me to come crawling for you," Tanya stated, still reeling over that battle the man she thought she killed earlier. "I will not be bound to your laws, no matter what obstacles you put in my way."
"Is your will strong enough to overcome all obstacles?"
Tanya raised one eyebrow while lowering the other.
"Even if you show resolve, your will relies on what most people call logic." Being X went on. "You destroy your enemy because your commanding officers order it. You instated your special force because it's more mobile than a standard army. You eliminate comrades who are too replaceable by someone stronger or competent. You've even allowed the death of civilians because even as such, they attack innocents out of scorn. Am I wrong?"
Being X stated all of Tanya's achievements throughout the current war. Thanks to her ruthlessness in combat, she has been promoted high into the Empire's ranks and gains influence within the military's top brass. And while all of her efforts were disdainful as even her comrades would put it, all of that was through mere reason and nothing else.
"And what of it? Are you telling me that it's not logical?"
"No, all your efforts are reasonable enough. However, not successes come from reason alone. Something you know well."
Tanya was about to glare at the toy, expecting him to say 'faith,' but stopped of a different answer.
"It's passion. Even if it's not faith in me, humans can never do something well without putting all their energy and devotion it. It's what drives even the most insane to do the most absurd and most spectacular things ever devised. Through your words about logic, even you are not an exception to this rule."
You're still guilty of this, Tanya wanted to say that in front of the Nutcracker. The thing's influence gave the Empire's scientist insane ideas after his intervention, not to mention bringing Tanya there in the first place.
"The question is...what happens if you run into someone who's passion far outstrips your own? Someone so mentally passionate that you cannot reason with him, yet so pure and dignified like an honorable man? What will you do when that happens?"
"Like what always do," Tanya finally gave the glare and turned around, indicating that she was done talking.
"Well then, we'll see how that plays out once you meet him….and when we meet again."
The annoying part is that Tanya would expect some evil laugh after such insult to her pride. Yet the nutcracker disappeared without a trace or even a sound. The dream was over.
After the dream sequence, Tanya woke up from her bed. Instead of the usual wake up routine, Tanya was distracted by her phone ringing. Not wanting to miss an important call, Tanya fell off the bed and rolled for a few seconds before heading towards the phone.
"Major Tanya here."
"Major, we need you to come to HQ as quickly as possible," the person on the other line was none other than Erich von Rerugen, Lieutenant Colonel of the Army and Vice Director of Strategy and Operations.
"State the purpose," Tanya demanded, seeing how it's was barely sunrise. Not only was getting enough sleep best for her mental health but, "Military conferences are too early for this time."
"It is an emergency, Major. I need you to meet me at HQ and I'll brief you of the situation."
"...Understood."
It wasn't long before Tanya made her way back to the main headquarter in Belrun. Being a Mage in the military had its perks when it came to transportation. However, it was far from perfect considering the time for daily necessities and the distance to get there.
As Tanya arrived at the main headquarters for the army, Erich was already waiting for him. But instead of taking him to the conference room, the Vice Director took him to his private quarters to her annoyance.
"What is this, sir?" Tanya spoke up. "Was the emergency meeting a lie?"
"Do not be alarmed. The conference is real and the officers have already gathered here. But before you go in, there are some points we need to discuss before to part in the new meeting. Consider the circumstances and your exceptional war record as a Mage, the top brass, and even His Excellency believe that you are granted access to some classified information."
"I'm listening."
"First, I want you to see this video that was taken a few days ago by some of our ambassadors," Erich went up to an old movie player. "Though you'll be excused for now, please refrain from any unprofessional behavior."
Tanya was left curious as to what Erich meant. Why would he be so concerned about unprofessional behavior in the likes of her? She then focused on the projection board, starting like an old movie from the 1950s or 1960s during her original time.
The first slide showed a dark palace that looked like a lair for some evil empire from a medieval fantasy world. Tanya could easily picture the details on the flag on top even by the movie's standards with a black background and white fangs of a wolf or another vicious creature as its symbol. Surrounding it were several rows of what looked like humanoid machines with spiked shoulders and arms holding rods onto their backs.
In the palace, three figures dressed up like royalty from the Middle East or Ancient Eastern Europe stood, two males and one female, stood before their army. The central one then spoke clearly.
Stand proud, my valiant Black Knights, you are the pride of our great kingdom of Zaloudek!
Zaloudek...Tanya heard of the name before during her school time in the Empire. As one of the major changes from her old world, Zaloudek was one of many smaller kingdoms found in the lower section of Eastern Europe, mostly located on the western half of the Ovine Mountains where the majority of nations in that area were located. That is all Tanya learned from her school, but what occurred there was a complete mystery for her until now.
The moment she saw those bulky machines by the palace, the first thing that came to mind was mecha, humanoid robots too big and slow to be effective military weapons. Yet, this kingdom decided to have a whole army based on them in this kind of setting.
Tanya could only see the hilarity over the concept, despite Erich's warning from earlier. Even so she held it in as their royal leader continued his speech.
I am thrilled beyond measure to share this moment with you! Remember it well! These western lands were once ruled by one nation, with one king residing over all. The name of that Kingdom was Fhada-abahden. Today, we are all that remains of that great legacy. Which means the West is our birthright!
The mecha raised their fists and long maces into the air as the pilots cheered.
The time has come! We will reunite these lands, and any who oppose will be crushed underfoot!
As the operators roared with bloodlust, the machines broke their formation to headed to a nearby unpaved road. The scene shifted to a different angle as they marched in rows of three or four.
Glory to Zaloudek!
Those were the last words spoken by the pilots before the film ended. Silence filled the room as Erich briefed the bewildered girl.
"The royal family of Zaloudek has been close friends with our own Imperial family for a long time. At first, we merely entered a non-aggression policy, leaving the kingdom alone as long as they didn't attack us, not that it mattered too much."
"Indeed, with those large robots, they would be useful even in a war like this."
"As a note, be sure to call these their automatons Silhouette Knights, or SKs for short. That's at least what the people of those nations call them. And yes, we've already tested these weapons long ago against our Mages and tanks, which were more than enough to outmatch these giant machines. The only reason they keep them around is for tradition and convenience against some other big threats, which is unfortunately still classified for the time being."
As Tanya made a note of the name, she approached the movie projector.
"May I see the footage again, sir?"
With Erich's nod, Tanya rolled the footage back to the beginning. After the Zaloudek prince's speech, she stopped back at the last scene with the Silhouette Knights.
"What is it, Major?"
"In the past few meetings with General Zettor, I've noticed that we've been moving my supply units to the North African and Eastern theaters. But the number of supply units heading towards that theater is more than enough for our forces stationed there, and even His Majesty knows we have a non-aggression pact with the Union. There could be only one other option."
Erich knew she'd figure it out. All those supplies were not heading to Imperial forces, but rather Zaloudek itself.
"Tell me, when did the Empire start sending mass amounts of supplies to Zaloudek? Why would it be giving so much aid to a country that would have no support in the war effort?"
"That is something we are figuring out ourselves. It all happened a couple years ago when His Majesty indulged Zaloudek's requests. Most of the cargo was mainly metal ores and minerals in equipment for our Mages, the same materials used to construct Silhouette Knights. But why so much they requested so much was puzzling until recently."
"Did they know they'll be joining in to start a war?"
"No, but the other officers are talking about it right now. We'll need you in the discussion for our reaction to these recent developments. Please, this way."
It wasn't long before they reached the main conference room of the military's HQ. All the main officers were already in the meeting, including General Kurt von Rudersdorf and Hans van Zettor. In front of them was a map consisting of Eastern Europe and the Middle East, including all the nations between the Empire and Rus Union. Many tokens were also placed on the board showed all forces and conquered territories on the map.
It wasn't long before Tanya and Erich joined the group.
"Ah, you made it, Major," Rudersdorf welcomed the general to the table.
"The Major has already been addressed about Zaloudek and our long-term alliance. She'll be taking part in this new for our new plan."
"Yes, of course," Rudersdorf let the two officer sit down before they continued the meeting. "As of now, the Zaloudek has recently entered the war, pledging their allegiance to the Empire as they launched a large-scale invasion of the nearby nations."
"Is there any reason why we weren't warned about this before?"
"We weren't that concerned about Zaloudek considering the medieval equipment they've been using," Zettor addressed. "However, His Majesty demanded that we provided vast amounts of materials to the nation. It was clear that they would start a new war, but for it happen so soon."
"When was their declaration?"
"About four days ago, not long after the proposed ceasefire with the Allied Kingdom."
Tanya clenched her fists over the development. How was she not told about this before? At this rate, Zaloudek will easily drag the Empire into a war they did not have the resources for at the moment.
"Has the Union taken any action?"
"Considering our non-aggression pact, they have none. However, that's the not the alarming thing about Zaloudek," Erich showed Tanya the table that all the territories conquered by Zaloudek. "As you can see, the nation has already conquered most of the territories within the Occident. We knew that they would start a large scale war on its neighbor and eventually conquer them, but…"
"It feels too quick for them to acquire so much territory that easily," Tanya concluded with Rudersdorf following along.
"Take the Locar Federation, for example, a collection of smaller nations neighboring Zaloudek. They had no means to win a war against its might, but with their current technology and weaponry, it should've been able to hold out for at least a month. Yet, like all the other nations, Zaloudek as conquered them in less than a week."
"We also had reports about Zaloudek troops attacking Allied forces by the North African region," Erich continued. "Although our forces didn't get there until later, we found a few encampments leveled near the borders of the Occident. Images showed at they were attacked by at least one or two Silhouette Knights that completely destroyed the garrisoned forces, which included tanks and Mages."
"With these sudden developments, Zaloudek has become something far more dangerous than we ever anticipated."
"Yes," Tanya agree with Zettor's statement. "Something big must have happened in Zaloudek if they acquired this much power…So what is the current plan to handle this?"
"As part of our non-interference policy, we have little detail about Zaloudek's capabilities. Thus, we have no real plan to handle them without detailed intelligence. However, now that the kingdom has entered the war as allies of the Empire, it would be reasonable to send forces to assist."
Erich turned to Tanya as if she'll play a part in this operation.
"It's already been decided that the 203rd Mage Battalion will be relocated from the North African front, and will be transferred to the Eastern European region where you'll be assigned information gathering.
"What about the Free Republic forces in North Africa?" Tanya mentioned the original plan.
"For now, the Free Republic is more concerned about reorganizing their forces and waiting for more troops to show up," Rudersdorf answered as he laid out another report. "Besides the sudden attacks from Zaloudek forces, the new Free Republic is waiting for volunteer soldiers coming abroad from the Unified States. However, their convoys have encountered a massive thunderstorm and their ships have either sunk or ran aground on scattered islands. The damage has amounted to the point where it'll take them months to recover before they establish a dangerous presence in North Africa."
Tanya took a moment to sink the details before responding.
"So where will we be needed?"
"Currently, Zaloudek's forces are encroaching upon the kingdom of Kuschpercha, the last of the great nations within the Occident. This is currently their declared stopping point for all of their conquests, but there's no telling how the other nations will respond."
"So you will need us to do intelligence gathering?"
"You will be meeting with Cristobal, the Second Prince of Zaloudek who'll be leading his forces toward the Kuschperchan capital of Shildtrider. Your orders are merely to observe until the battle has concluded. Then, you will head to their main palace and report to us from there."
Tanya remained silent as Erich gave him her instructions.
"Do you object to this plan?"
"No, I understand."
"Very well," Rudersdorf nodded nonchalantly. "You'll have until tomorrow to prepare. Make sure your battalion is ready before then."
In North Africa, a few hundred miles north of El-Alamein, a Mage Squadron of horse-like machines flew into the vicinity.
Leading the unit was Séverin Bientôt, the leader of the Free Republic's new Special Mage units. His men were dispatched in response to the distress signals coming from the nearby encampments. The signal went dead moments after, so it might already be too late.
"The call came from this area," Severin told his men. "Be sure to look out for anything that might present a threat to us."
"Sir!"
One of his soldiers pointed down as the sky cleared below. On the ground was a camp razed to the ground and already burning. Two towers built there were smashed apart like they were attacked by a wrecking ball or gigantic mace. At least four tanks that were deployed easily gets destroyed and no survivors seem to remain. The level of destruction was more than enough to make Severin glare as they descended to see more of the details. including a set of large footprints.
"Imperial bastards...what happened here?"
Another explosion that attracted the Mage unit's attention. Before their very eyes stood a black, humanoid machine with two rods on their back and spikes on its shoulders. As the machine turned around it, deployed the two rods as it blasted another small watch tower into molten scrap.
"Sir?"
"All forces, ready your weapons! Fire all at once on my signal!"
The Mages obey his orders as they charged their weapons. Once Severin gave the hand signal, they shot a barrage of empowered shots at the machine. However, most of the bullet instead deflected off the machine's armor with only directly impacting its left shoulder. Severin's own shot impacted the very center of the machine, creating black smoke from the resulting blast.
When the smoke cleared, the machine was clearly knocked back, but it recovered clearly. After analyzing the machine, there was not even single scratch to its armor.
"Damn, what is this thing?"
Severin cursed as the black machine deployed two large arms and started firing back.
Again, feel free to comment and review. And I hope you enjoyed the read.