A Saga of Tanya the Evil/The Irregular at Magic High School crossover.
I do not in any way, shape, or form lay claim to either of these works.
This is just a work of admiration from one fan, to those others that share the same interest.
The only characters or places I lay claim to are those solely of my own creation
Chapter 35, The Seven Schools Competition: An interlude during battle.
The two sat quietly for a bit before Visha asked the question that was on both of their minds. "Tanya.. how could they have been here? I.. all this time, I was sure it was just us."
"It's possible they had followed us, and just happened to be on the edge of the effect, I suppose." Tanya states in her usual calm manner. "We need to find out when that picture is from, when they arrived here, and how they managed to not only get by, but fitin as well."
"Do you… Is it possible more of them came through, as well? Maybe some of them ended up closer to when we ended up?" Visha said hopefully.
Tanya sighed and shook her head. "They had been observing the bubble since, what, at least the forties or fifties? It's not likely they missed anyone. We won't know any more unless they left a journal or something behind."
"Well, what do we do about what is happening?" Visha asked as she looked at the picture again.
"The foreign plot to assassinate you, the fact someone we consider a friend might be involved, at least one or two people we associate with are likely descended from soldiers we fought side by side with. That?" Tanya said with a sigh.
Visha chuckled a little and leaned against her companion for a moment. "Yes?"
Tanya chuckled at that, unable to keep up a proper funk in the face of Visha's joyful optimism. "Well, we will have to talk to Willa, see if there was more than just the picture passed along. One or both of their Type 97's might have survived. And it's possible they kept a journal of some sorts, and that could prove invaluable." Tanya paused as she drank her coffee.
"We use the Project to find out if they have leverage on Jane, and we see what she does, and what they do with what they are getting from her. She seemed genuinely concerned about us, and happy we were okay. So no, I won't liquidate her. Not yet, at least."
Visha smiled hopefully and Tanya sighed. "We keep doing as we have been, but keep a better eye on things. And remove any other problems like they were a Dacian army." Tanya said as she smiled ruefully at Visha. "You are going to be the death of me yet."
Visha smiled warmly at Tanya. "I certainly hope not! It'd be horrible for you to have survived the Great War to have something like this be the end of you."
Tanya chuckled ruefully. "At least I'm not expected to single handedly handle armies any more."
Visha pouted at Tanya. "You were rarely asked to handle armies by yourself."
Tanya nodded and relaxed slightly. "That's right, when it was anything larger than a company I had you and the rest at my back."
"I can't believe that Willa is related to Rhiner…" Visha said softly.
"I can't believe he found a woman that wanted him." Tanya said with a chuckle.
"I don't know, he always seemed nice enough, " Visha said as she placed a fresh cup of coffee before Tanya.
Tanya tensed and glanced at Visha out of the corner of her eye. "So, Rhiner was the kind of guy you would be interested in?"
Visha laughed and shook her head. "He was nice, but not the kind of person I would settle down with "
Tanya nodded as she chewed on her lip for a moment. "So, what kind of person would you think about settling down with?" Tanya asked as nonchalantly as she could.
Visha paused as she sat down with her cup of tea. "I honestly don't know? It's not something I ever really gave a great deal of thought to. There were always much more pressing things to think about, and honestly? As nice as some of the boys were, they never sparked my interest? I always just saw myself serving at your side. I guess I never thought past the end of the war." Visha said with a smile and a shrug.
Tanya relaxed and nodded as she took another drink of her coffee. She almost choked when Visha looked at her and asked a question that, honestly, Tanya should have expected since she broached the topic.
"What about you? We're there any of them that interested you? What kind of man sparks the interest of the Argent?" Visha asked without any artifice, even as she found her heart in her throat for some reason.
Tanya tugged at her collar and hedged for a moment before she squared her narrow shoulders. "I could never partner up with someone who didn't meet my high standards. Who could not stand as my equal, my partner. Someone I could trust with my life. Someone I have trusted before."
Visha nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. "First Lieutenant Weiss?"
Tanya choked on her coffee and looked at
Visha with an incredulous look on her face. "In what world could you ever see me with someone so inflexible and set in his ways? Honestly, there is no man for me."
Visha nodded as she wondered at the lighter feeling in her heart, then pressed on. "I'm sorry to hear that, Tanya. I really think you would make a good wife someday."
Tanya laughed at that. "Sadly, I think I'm already married to my work."
Visha pondered that, then nodded sadly. "To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have you to take care of, Tanya .. I've gotten a bit used to being at your side."
Tanya blushed and smiled, then cleared her throat. "So, we need to figure out what we are going to do about the various problems that have landed in our laps. As I see it, we need to determine what Jane's role in what is going on is, and how we can best handle that. One option is to feed her false information, if we assume she is hostile to us. Another is to see if we can subvert her, if she is neutral. The final, and riskiest option, is to bring her back over to our side and make sure of her connections, whatever those might be. The last two are making a lot of assumptions."
Tanya waited for Visha to nod, then continued on. "It might be a good time to bring the Project in, but we can't guarantee that they will not just liquidate her as a hostile asset. So, we will need leverage that we can use ourselves to sway them. We will have to find value in making use of her, if we are going to protect her from both sides. Honestly, Visha, I really do miss the days when we only had to worry about the enemy and our superiors trying to kill us." Tanya said wryly
"I'm not sure I quite agree with your idea of what is better, Tanya…' Visha hedged as she watched her companion.
Tanya chuckled as she looked at Visha fondly. "I know that you have always prefered knowing exactly who is an enemy and who is a friend. I will admit, it does make things much easier when the lines are clear."
Visha nodded and sighed. "I hope we can help her."
Tanya nodded and looked at the picture again. "We will also have to talk to Willa, and see if she knows anymore about her ancestor."
"Lisa Neumann as well, right?" Visha said as her brows furrowed.
Tanya nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. "We will need to talk to them. Both of them, and see what we can learn about how those two ended up here, and what they did after they arrived. It might help us understand what happened better."
Visha nodded as she gave Tanya a soft, sad smile. "At least we know that they made it out of the war."
Tanya paused then nodded. "Made it out of the war, and started families. I guess that is not a bad legacy for a soldier."
Visha sighed and nodded as she looked out the window. "How do you think they are going to handle this little bit of news? I mean, we can't really keep it from them… Right?"
Tanya sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "As much as I would like to, no. They could find out, and if they find out we knew and didn't tell them, they are much less likely to trust us. And if we are going to do anything about the situation with Jane, we need them to trust us." Tanya chuckled dryly. "I almost miss getting shot through the sky strapped to one of our Doctor Schugel's metal death machines. It was much easier to handle."
"Once again, I think that your idea of easy and hard might be a bit… Different, Tanya." Visha said with fond exasperation.
"Well, nothing we can do about these right now. I will send a coded message to the project, and we can go watch the newcomer crowd ball tournament while we wait. It will be interesting to see who's watchers are still about. Should prove quite informational." Tanya said as the pair left their room and made their way towards the contest venue. They nodded to the technician and the guards as they passed them.
"Why didn't you just pass the information along to one of them, Tanya?" Visha asked as she glanced back.
"Because this information is far above what their need to know is, Visha. I don't think the project wants it known yet that we might have dragged others into this world by accident, and dropped them willy-nilly throughout history." Tanya said as she tried to wrap her mind around that concept herself.
"I see… That could be… A bit disrupting." Visha said as she paled a bit.
"Exactly. Ahh, here we are. After you." Tanya said as she held open the door for Visha. Visha, for her part, found the oddly gallant gesture endearing and slightly embarrassing.
"Tanya.. You really didn't have to hold the door open for me." Visha said as she walked in, red faced.
"Let me satisfy my occasional wim." Is all Tanya said in counterpoint.
Visha smiled bashfully and took her seat near the others. She can't help but notice the worried look that Jane gave her. Visha felt herself relax and she smiled back as she gave a very pointed look to Tanya, who just sighed and gave a minute nod. Hopefully they would get a good response from the Project, and the mysterious Oracle system that they seem to have so much faith in.
The group settled in to watch their classmates compete, knowing that they had best pay attention. Tanya would expect a thorough postmortem on the day's events, after all. And if they had learned anything, it was to not disappoint the Beast of Berlin.
Shortly before the event ended, Tanya glanced at her handheld and gave Visha a look as her hand made subtle movements. "Results. Brief later." Tanya signed.
Visha bit her lip as she looked at Tanya, then nodded and tried her best to relax and smile. She had learned that her smile could help a fair amount in defusing most situations from dealing with the boys of the 203rd for as long as she had. The fact it even seemed to work on the Argent at times was a bonus, as far as she was concerned.
Two birds with one stone. Tanya would be proud of her.
After the event, Tanya grilled them on what they had observed, what they thought had worked, and what could be improved. She even agreed with some of their assessments. Progress being made, as far as Visha was concerned. She had noticed that the balance of observers had shifted, two of the ones that they had spotted previously were gone, possibly recalled or reassigned. It was quite possible that the Americans were trying to establish new protocols to handle the shifting situation that they, themselves, had managed to create.
There did seem to be a few more Chinese in the stands today. Something to discuss with Tanya later, Visha supposed, after she had been updated on what the Project had determined.
Once they were back in their room, Tanya sat and motioned Visha over as she displayed her handheld. The response from the Project was short, but spoke volumes.
"The Oracle has given favorable odds for the success of your plan. We will investigate Jane Donner and determine the leverage being used. Dr. Schugel is en-route to discuss further plans. No projected house guests for the next 24 hours."
Tanya looked at Visha and nodded. "I guess they found the idea of flipping their agent agreeable. It is nice having competent superiors who are willing to listen to suggestions."
"Does this mean they are going to help Jane?" Visha asked hopefully.
"It means that we get the chance to convince the good doctor of the merit of the idea. That, as usual, is up to us." Tanya explained as she shook her head ruefully. "I'm just glad that this Schugel is a reasonable person who doesn't like strapping us to rocket propelled missiles."
"No… She just likes dropping you from airplanes without a parachute." Visha noted.
"That is the least helpful comment you could have made, you know that?" Tanya groused with a slight smile on her face.
"I was trained by a master of understatement, after all." Visha countered.
Tanya shook her head and sighed. "I trained you too well." She said dryly.
Visha just smiled in response.