The War Chronicles of a Little Demon

Set in the Return Verse

A Saga of Tanya the Evil fic thingy.

By Sunshine Temple

Naturally, I do not own Youjo Senki. So here's the disclaimer:

Saga of Tanya the Evil its characters and settings belong Carlo Zen, Shinobu Shinotsuki, and NUT Co., Ltd.

Previous chapters and other works can be found at my fanfiction website.

fic/

Other website Temple of Ranma's Senshi Seifuku

C&C as always is wanted.

Chapter 2: Allegro with Aplomb

Prefect Volantes Centurion Artemis Magnus Quirinus inspected her Cadet Squadron. Her eyes flickered orange and her green hair was pulled back in a tight braid. There were a couple tattoos on her dusky cheeks. Her tall, voluptuous form was in contrast with the obvious expectation of an experienced warrior.

Well... present company excluded. And it was true that the average beauty of the Household Fleet and Imperial Legions would be high.

Her black uniform was crisp and the awards on her chest and hair pins were easy to read. Impressing someone like Prefect Centurion Quirinus would look good in my file. But if I impressed her too much I would be sure to be given posting on the Front. Probably some colonial hotspot in an offworld backwater.

Thankfully, that was still years away. I had plenty of time. We were meeting in a hangar. Unlike the cavernous airship hangars this one, while still large, was more sized to maintaining and storing VTOLs.

"I am pleased to say that you have managed to, eventually, not embarrass yourselves with training suits. Congratulations on family connections, scholarship, patronage and many Aurei being spent to give you the opportunity."

The centurion's tail flicked as her eyes went over us. "Most of us are lucky to get a few months in a training suit and our betters hope that we can learn the ropes to not damage a real Ritual Plate too much with our mistakes."

She gave a fanged smile. "You girls will not have that luxury. I know Imperial edict waives the cost of Ritual Plate in most circumstances. But if I deem you broke something because you were too cocksure, and were showing off, being stupid, or anything other than the paragon of BlackSkyvian virtue deserving of this chance, then the repair costs will come out of the stipend the Imperatrix so generously bestows upon you."

I nodded slightly. A Legionary purchased her personal kit. It was an old tradition, but one that had adapted to the modern House. Namely, that the Legionary's bonus upon enlistment covered those expenses. Still, that allowed for a Legionary to get some customization to her gear, provided her Centurion approved of it. It also meant that upon the end of her term of service any such small arms and kit were her property.

The expectation was that gear was to maintained, especially if she took the financial enticement of reserve service. Another side effect was that more expensive equipment could also be personally purchased for service. It was rare for a Legionary, or Fleet Officer, to bring her own Ritual Plate, but a few noble families kept up the tradition.

I even heard rumors that some madwomen, apologies when you have that much money you are eccentric, brought their own tanks. But that seemed just barracks room gossip.

The Centurion's eyes when past me and the young Baroness VioletBlood to my left. "And no, those of you who could have Mommy buy you a suit will not be ale to beg on family to get out of this debt. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Centurion!" we shouted and saluted.

"Good, the Imperatrix in her generosity, via her youngest daughter House Legate AshRain, and through her Castra Legate Evanda, commander of this base, and Volantes Legate Aucto, commander of us Pilots, have seen fit to allow you to continue training."

Standing before us in racks that looked like vertical open caskets was a line of Ritual Plate suits. Which explained why we had been ordered to appear in our sub-armor bodysuits.

The Ritual Plate were a matt silver and looked like they had been refitted several times. Still, they were in good working order and I could feel that their runes, while very rugged, were in good order. Compared to other models of Ritual Plate, they looked relatively plain, but many of the bare spots on the armor had the clear locking points and connectors for mission modules

"These are Polydora Mark 5 suits. Or at least that's what their Ritualista have sworn they've been updated to. I'll admit I might have worn one of these myself back when I didn't have the luxury of spending a few terms merely training in one." Despite her harsh tone, the Centurion looked at them fondly.

She looked over us with another sharp smile. "Don't be so disappointed. If you want a suit that can do Strike Missions, Air Superiority, or Ground Attack then these will do it."

For my part I was not disappointed. Half a year of cadet training had been very useful, but I had long gotten to the limits of the trainer suits. With the possible exception of the haughty VioletBlood, I had more hours in a Ritual Plate than any of the other cadets, and I was the youngest.

Though, VioletBlood was only a year and a half older than me. Like me, she was an orphan. Unlike me, she had extended family, and her parents were nobility. But I could not hate her

She did used her wealth to invest in flying lessons and time in her own trainer suit. And while I doubted her motives for enlisting in the Legions were as pure as mine, she was a competent flyer and a worked hard in her studies.

"Why go with a Telephe, Harmonia, or Sarpedona that can do one thing when you can have a suit that do all three of the major Ritual Plate roles?" The centurion paused. "That was a question. Cadet Optio FangStrike?"

Cadet Optio was, functionally, a courtesy rank. Ritual Plate Pilots started as Centurions of the Volantes specialization. Pilots who were not cadets at least.

We cadets were given the rank just below Centurion, but with the Cadet prefix to make it clear to even the most meat-headed hoof-slogger that we had no authority to order her around.

The mousy girl who had sworn the oath at the same time as me braced. "Because a specialized suit does not have the deficiencies of a multi-role platform."

The Centurion nodded. "What are those deficiencies?" she turned to me "Cadet Optio DiamondDust."

"A fully updated Polydora with a Strike Package does not have the same Lance power as a Telephe. While ranges are comparable, the Polydora lacks the systems to allow for the same level of evocative power and number of shots. In its defense, a Polydora with such a configuration does still have a longer range and more powerful strike capability than non- Telephe suits."

If the Ritual Plate Wings were the Household Fleet's main form of power projection, then the Telephe Squadrons were their main form of strike power. An attack from these suits had the ability to take out major targets like capital ships or ground faculties. The downside was the Pilot had to be comfortable carrying the hilariously, worryingly, energy-dense conformal flasks that would power those Lance Batteries.

That they were not flying deathtraps despite that was a sign of the value and expertise put into developing the Telephe. If command wanted a strike platform that could only be used once, then there was the Fujiwara Aerial torpedo.

The Centurion motioned for me to continue.

"Similarly, a Polydora configured in an Air Superiority, or Interceptor, role has weaker performance curves when compared to a Harmonia. Though the Harmonia line of Ritual Plate has their own specializations. Again, if a Harmonia is not available a Polydora in this role is better most other suits."

She grunted in mild approval. "What suits would be better?"

"Strike Flight Leaders often have stronger Zephyr and their Telephe suits tuned with greater agility. In the right hands, that would be a not unacceptable understudy to a Harmonia. And a Polyxo Suit Advanced Multi-Role suit is superior to a Polydora in nearly every way, but that is their purpose."

Quirinus smirked. "And for Ground Attack?"

I straightened. "In overall firepower, a Polyxo configured in that role is rather close to a Sarpedona. However, it is lacking in capacity of firepower and in protective systems. The Sarpedona is designed to soak up a lot of ground fire, at the cost of high speed and altitude performance. But with the same exceptions as before a Polydora can suit the need as well."

"The same exceptions?"

"A Telephe strike can provide an unforgettable ground support run, Centurion. It might not be the most efficient, but enemy armor would not forget it."

She laughed at the image of a squadron of RP suits using ship-killing weaponry on a tank brigade. "Good. Given those failings, why do we eve bother with Polydora? It sounds like a second fiddle suit. Are they any cheaper?"

"On a per suit basis, yes. But the cost does go up when one has to include the various mission packages to give a Polydora muti-role capability."

"Again, I must ask why."

"Their flexibility. Consider some small craft: the Kolibri Patrol Carrier only carries 2 light squadrons and a Damocles Light carrier only has 3 squadrons. Having all or most of those squadrons configured with Polydora allows for mission flexibility. This applies to full wings where a handful of squadrons can be set aside with Polydora suits. Such an arrangement will require more training for the Pilots as they will have to be skilled in multiple roles but it greatly enhances the power of such smaller ships."

The Centurion nodded then pointedly looked down at herself. "I'm sorry Cadet, I seem to not be wearing a white fleet uniform. Pretend I'm a Legionary and I actually work for a living. Why do the Imperial Legions use Polydora?"

My tail straightened and I worked to keep my composure.

VioletBlood and some of the other cadets kept straight faces but I could feel the mirth coming from them. I had to keep the Centurion's attention if I wanted to save face. Having her ask another cadet would show she was unsatisfied with my answers.

"The same dynamic applies to the Legions, Ma'am"

"Please elaborate."

"A typical Legion has a Reinforced Wing of about 13 Squadrons. Most of them are Sarpedona Ground Attack Squadrons, which also give a measure of air defense. There is 1 Harmonia Squadron for dedicated air superiority, and there are 3 Multi Role Squadrons to take whatever major role required."

The Centurion gave me a dry look. "Do tell."

I frowned to myself. My previous Empire could only dream of having such a ratio of air assets to ground troops. A Legion Wing was three times he size of my old battalion.

At 10 cohorts, a Legion was not an insignificant force, but it was still only four to five thousand hoof-slogging Legionaries. Support staff, maintainers, vehicle crew, and other supernumeraries added roughly another two thousand.

There were many days on the Rhine when a force that size would be a rounding error.

However, BlackSkyvian doctrine was different. The Legions were an extremely mobile force, that was typically deployed via air. In a military where nearly everyone had wings, it was easy to have paratrooper style insertions.

And most of our enemies also had such an innate ability with flight. Thus ensuring a large amount of mobile firepower that could also protect against air attack was vital.

Ideally every Cohort would have at least 2 RP Flights to call upon for their direct air support. 5 Squadrons would be retained to the Legion HQ for reinforcement or deployment as needed. Pilot fatigue, maintenance downtime, and combat losses would reduce this from ideal.

However, this fit with a combined arms doctrine even at the Cohort level. A Pilus Prior Centurion will have access to, on average, 6 centuries of Legionaries, a handful of Nyx light scout vehicles, some Nymph light transports, a number of Arachne artillery pieces, and the aforementioned Ritual Plate Flights.

And for most cases, that support came from various marks of Sarpedona Ritual Plate. Flight Armor designed for the lower speed, lower altitude, ground attack role, with the corresponding optimization of protective warding against ground fire.

That is the generic "infantry" cohort. There are several variants such as those built around supporting 2 troops of Vestal scout/light tanks, 2 Troops of Triarii IFVs, 1 Troop of Lavin battle tanks, 2 Squadrons of Umbra Medium VTOLs to give the 6 centuries ready airborne transport, or the classic double-strength First Cohort of Evocatus Veterans with even more generous RP and artillery support

House BlackSky made the calculated decision to eschew conscription and focus on a smaller, more well funded, professional force. As a proponent of individual freedom this heartened me. Though I knew how well focusing on quality over quantity worked for my pervious Empire.

On the other hand, House BlackSky did invest in considerable firepower and capabilities with the aim of going after numerically larger forces. Also by ingenuity, industry, adaptation, and a heartening adherence to free market principles House BlackSky was economically powerful.

Currently there were about 75 active Legions, a third of them were armor legions, the rest infantry. About 25 more Legions were on First Reserve status that could be quickly brought into the fold. Even more were Second Reserve that would take longer to organize, equip, and retrain, but would serve as vast pool of manpower.

That added up to a strong force, if far smaller than my previous Empire. Mitigating this was that the Household Fleet was 25% larger than the Imperial Legions. Though much of their capacity was devoted to logistics and legionary lift.

Though our enemies were aware of our Doctrine and made their own counters. And we would have to learn how to counter them. So it goes.

I nodded to Centurion Quirinus. "If not for the Polydora then a Legate would have to be limited in how much Ground Support versus Strike versus Air Superiority her Legion would have. One of the biggest advantages of Ritual Plate is its flexibility."

"And the Polyxo?"

"Overcomes the limitations of the Polydora." I crisply replied before she could direct the question to anyone else. "It is an advanced multi-role suit that gives near parity with a dedicated RP Suit in the three common roles."

"Then why don't we all use Polyxo?"

I laughed. "Last I checked the Palace in Silvana wasn't built out of ten Aurei coins. The Polyxo gets that capability by being one of the most expensive and maintenance-intensive suits. Yes an Occultia or a Svalinna cost more, but that's not much comfort."

Even an Empire that put a breathtaking amount of resources into air power, or perhaps especially one, would spend those resources efficiently. If going to a less costly, but less flexible suit got a few extra Air groups then it would be money well spent. Same with retaining older suits and having a plan to keep them upgraded even for second line use.

"Is that all?"

"No, Ma'am," I shook my head. "Unless one is a master Pilot in multiple disciplines, a Polyxo would be a wasted asset. That said, a Legate would give her eyeteeth to have those 3 multi-role squadrons of hers filled with qualified Polyxo pilots."

The Centurion laughed. "You are not wrong."

She gave me an approving look and took in the rest of us. "Okay girls. I seem to have misplaced my Ritualista so you will have to help each other fit, check, and power up your suits. Consider it a refresher in the basics. And a lesson that you are Legion Fliers; you won't always be fitting out on a nice carrier embarkation deck. Yes, I will be personally checking over each suit before we fly. Pray I do not find a fault you should have caught. Questions?"

"Where are the fuel cells?" the mousy girl asked.

"Down in the vault over there," the centurion pointed down the hangar past a couple hulking Gladius heavy VTOLs that were being refitted. The giant craft had wings that could fold back for storage and used 4 rotating nacelles for lift and thrust which was required to transport a light tank or IFV. "You've just volunteered to get them, pick a flight-worth of girls and borrow a cart to bring them over."

I watched the four girls quickly walk off.

"Don't the rest of you wait, I want you to get fitted out and ready for some real flight lessons. The moons are out. Emuria is full while Lantia is nearly, and it will be a beautiful night," the centurion clapped.

Next to me, Optio Cadet Baroness VioletBlood gave a smile. Her pale features were crisp and her dark red hair was fine. Since we swore in, she had gotten a growth sprit and the newly willowy girl looked over me.

"Well Diamond, it shall just be like getting ready for ballet. Would you like me to help you suit up? I know you have problems with the footwear," her tone was sweet though she did show a bit of fang, and I could feel the mirth behind her words.

I gritted my teeth. I was not enthused with my last name, less so when it was shortened into a nickname. "Are you sure My Lady? Perhaps you could benefit with more time to get familiar with your suit if you get dressed first."

VioletBlood twisted her head to me. I could just imagine what her perfectly curled black horns were sensing of my emotions. To drive it home, I walked past her and slapped her thigh with my tail as I did so. I made sure to keep my tail filaments withdrawn, there was no need to draw blood.

Not breaking stride, I went to one of the standing Ritual Plate suits and pulled up a smoked glass plate and started running a diagnostic.

She almost snarled but then her expression became cold. "You impudent, grubby, social cli-"

"Ah, I see the two representatives from our beloved noble families are eager to get into their training," Prefect Volantes Centurion Artemis Magnus Quirinus stated, walking up to us.

"Ma'am, I am but a common citizen raised by the Sisterhood of Our Hallowed Lady."

The centurion gave me a dry look. "As you say, citizen Cadet. You and Lady VioletBlood still volunteered to be the opposing force for today's lessons. And please note we are not doing close quarters combat today. If you have to go to hand to claw to tail to fang combat in a Ritual Plate, then things have gone very wrong."

I simply nodded while the young baroness gave a tiny pout.

"Are we clear?"

"Yes Centurion!" both of us cried and saluted in the BlackSkyvian fashion: head tilt then tapping index and middle finger to our exposed necks before extending them to just in front of our eyes.

The centurion laughed. "Consider it a vote of confidence in your abilities. Mind, if you prove my confidence unwarranted." She gave a fanged smile. "I shall have to reevaluate both of you."

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Clubs can be an important way of devolving group cohesion and skills. In my first life, clubs were a vital part of the educational system. In my second life, they were less important but were still a factor in officer training.

Thankfully, the Imperial War College I attended in Berun did not have to deal with such fripperies.

Unfortunately, I was once again a cadet.

And while the enlisted, non-com, officer dynamic is a bit different for the Imperial Legions, I was still training to become a Centurion

I would have preferred to be in a club for something like marksmanship, war gaming, pyromancy, or even care of spirits.

But I had studiously avoided skill in most of those at the nunnery. All in my misguided attempt to downplay my martial skills.

Unfortunately, there was one activity I had not avoided. In a very considerate move, with my best interests at heart, Mistress Verity, my ballet teacher had drafted a letter of recommendation to my instructors in the Cadet Program.

Sighing in the locker room, I massaged my feet. That was the worst part. Well the costumes were the worst part, but that was not a physical pain.

It had been explained to me that if I were to join, I would be smallest person in the troupe. Which meant I would had a special role of the aerial parts of Allegro movements.

Demonic strength, my small size, and my wings meant I could do very impressive acrobatic work. And that had me shoot straight up to a Soloist.

Unspoken was that such skill would make the troupe look good, and thus would make the Air Group, the base, and the House look good.

I acceded to their logic and showcased my skills.

Even if I had to wear frills and sequins and...

Okay the worst part was performing on stage. Much of the audience were Legionaries and Fleet and their families.

Though seeing the Duchess in the audience did make up for it. She was a patron of the arts, and she could see her protege being a proper young example of BlackSkyvian class and prowess.

It was also nice to see Sister Clementia watching me too. VioletBlood's expression when she saw them looking at me was also a treasured moment when she nearly stumbled.

Yes, my squad mate and fellow ballet dancer was noble herself, but a Duchess was still far higher than a mere Baroness.

After unlacing my slippers, I continued to frown at my toes. We healed faster than humans. Which our trainers took advantage of, and the ballet troupe relished. Dancers who could recover from ankle injuries in under a week were very handy.

There was also the fact that soldiers who could survive trauma and heal from grievous wounds with greater speed and recovery were quite useful.

I had stripped out of the ballet leotard and dressed into my black Cadet Optio uniform. I had the flashes and silver wings of the Volantes specialty.

The other girls in the troupe, most of them Centurions, were also changing. VioletBlood was at the other end of the locker room and avoided my gaze.

"Will you be ready to for flying lessons tonight?" IvyBlade asked. She had pale green skin and silver hair and often had my wing.

I shook my head. "Prefect Quirinus has us doing night landings tonight. The New Dawn is doing maneuvers and we're scheduled to take advantage of that."

The HFV New Dawn was one of the Nova class Fleet Carries assigned to this base. It could support 2 Ritual Plate Wings (nearly 200 Pilots), 22 Fujiwara aerial Torpedoes, a Century of Legionaries for shipboard security and a set of strong backs, and a mixed reinforced squadron of Spatha Light and Umbra Medium VTOLs. The latter were used for various Search and Rescue, Resupply, and personnel movement roles.

With its Destroyer and Light Carrier escorts and Venture scouting force, the New Dawn and her sisters represented a major capability of House BlackSky to place an airbase at a location of a Praefectus Commodore's choosing. They and the Kanabo class Battlecruisers were, in many ways, the backbone of the Household Fleet's power projection.

The Avalon Class heavy Carriers were even more monstrous being able to deploy a whole Air Group, but House BlackSky only had 6 of those. Though the real power was the massive number of various fleet cargo ships.

"I wish I could have done carrier landings at your age," IvyBlade smiled.

I took in her genuine-seeming reassurance with my own ambivalent mood. Ritual Plate was maneuverable enough that landing was not too challenging. Even if your target was say size of a frigate's flight deck or the receiving bay of an airship.

"Well, it won't be the same without our little mascot," she patted me on the head.

I managed to not bite her hand off.

Patronizing, and scheduling conflicts aside, that was the real reason I stayed in the Troupe. It was more than ballet. We also did formation and acrobatic flying.

Yes, it was all a lot of pomp, smoke trails, and colorful pyrotechnics that were glorified fireworks. But it was high-status precision flying. And the more hours I clocked in Ritual Plate the better things would be fore me.

IvyBlade smiled as her tail swished.

I finished dressing; she waved to me as I left.

I made my way down the base to the cadet office to pick up my mail. After checking out at the gatehouse I stepped off base and took the short walk into the northern side of Bovitar.

From here, the city sloped down towards the Lethe river. There were considerable port facilities. Bovitar was the major trade city of the Eastern Province and the Lethe drained into the Great Bazala Lake.

I found a nice cafe that overlooked Victory Plaza at the heart of Bovitar. We were a few stories up on a part of the plains that had not been cut out by the river.

The plaza was near the Lethe and had the central train station on one end and the passenger terminus for river transits at the other.

I took my seat outside and exhaled. It was a nice fall day. I was nearly twelve. At least as House BlackSky reckoned it. The years were slightly longer than in previous lives, but with shorter months.

Bonus, I had I had not heard from Being X or that Archangel during this life.

I was tempted to have some optimism as my coffee and a little plate of chocolates was given to me by a waitress who seemed to find that my uniform was too cute.

While I had not avoided military service, I was distinguishing myself in a safe environment. It would be embarrassing to make a career out of ballet, even the mix of stage production and acrobatic flying done here. But it would be far safer than say repeated tours on the Rhine Front or even Norden.

I sipped the coffee and watched people walk about. There were a few ways to go down from North Bovitar to the city center. There were lovely stone stairs, a couple roads. Or there was simply walking to an overlook and flying down. Or up.

Even with me trying to tamp it down, I could just feel the press of other people. The emotional mass of folks going about their lives. Workers, Legionaries, Fleet Marinii, artificers, children going to school and play, many being watched by their mothers. There were even some humans and a few of the broad demographic catch all of "other".

I saw one of the Forest People, his shaggy pelt brushed and gleaming, as he walked down the street pulling a cart full of fine-grained seasoned lumber. Large feet plodding on the cobbles, the massive fellow towered over the press of people by several feet and seemed to ignore other vehicles.

The Forest People were normally not this far East. They tended to live in the remote high forest areas of the North-South Vyhraj mountain chain to the west that divided House BlackSky into eastern and western halves.

Eastern Province did have many forested lands, especially to the northern end near the border. He was probably from there.

The Forest People served well in the Auxilia. Yes, their great size and strength was a considerable advantage, but their true role was in woodland scouts. In those locations they were far stealthier than people a quarter their size and had innate magic that made them very effective at reconnaissance in force.

Bovitar had nowhere the size nor cosmopolitan nature of Silvana. But few cities compared to the capital, the City of Trees. However, Bovitar was a trade hub and the major population center of the Eastern Province. It was also about as densely populated as I was currently comfortable with.

No wonder large cities tended to be rare on Diyu. Smaller, settlements were far more common. There were also logistical reasons, feeding millions and millions of demons was strategically vital, especially given our special dietary needs.

Thus the large cities that did grow had some industrial, cultural, political, military justification.

But if I wanted to get a nice rear-echelon position, then Silvana had the highest number of billets. From the vast Fleet Port complexes to the War College to Castra Argentum the headquarters of the Imperial Legions and the Household Fleet.

I suppose there were also staff positions in the Palace as well. But that seemed both too ambitious and high profile.

My mail would at least give me a diversion while I relaxed in the cafe. The biggest was the latest Journal on Air Combat from the Imperial War College of Silvana. As a generally-available publication, there was nothing sensitive in its contents, but it was good to keep up to date with what was openly known.

There was a periodical about the care and binding of spirits. The contents of which, especially their article on mass farming of Zephyr, had me consider writing a rebuttal.

There were a few administrative missives that dealt with the paperwork that accrued even as a cadet. Though in fairness, I was responsible for my Polydora suit, which included keeping up on its service logs and ensuring the Ritualista in the maintenance pool had kept it up to date.

This was complicated that my suit got more used than most of the other cadets as it was both used for my training and for the ballet Troupe.

Finally, there were two pieces of personal correspondence.

First, I tackled the letter from Sister Clementia. The money I was sending back to the nunnery was helping. Well, she was being very polite.

Being a Cadet came with room, board, and a small stipend. And, my personal costs were low, the periodicals, and cafe trips were my few expenses. Though Bovitar did have some remarkably pleasant bakeries.

We were kept busy with lessons and training. And not just flight training, there was marksmanship, ground maneuvers, orienteering, wilderness survival. The whole suite of paramilitary scouting and camping.

Though we did have downtime. Cadets were not, officially, full time trainees.

It was nice that Clementia was proud of me.

I would see about getting her, and the other orphans, some tickets to the ballet. It would be humiliating for them to see me, but it would show them what I had achieved, and would be a way to help culturally enrich them.

It was only proper to return the effort she put into me. The nuns in my second life were not deficient nor negligent; they were merely lacking in material resources. It was not their fault that they did not have time to deal with me on a personal level.

Purring a bit, I made some notes about my response in the margins. The back of the letter was the one I had sent to Sister Clementia. Being a practical and frugal woman, she would write her reply on a letter's back page.

The second letter was from Duchess SilverFlight. She took the opposite approach with her own wax seal, custom purple envelop and watermarked pages.

She was also effusive. Which made me suspicious. Yes, the Duchess would be proud her investment in me was making dividends. Yes, she should be proud of seeing me excel in many of the ways important to her.

Yes, I was prime example validating her policy of patronizing orphanages to look for talented girls.

But there had to be something more to this letter.

I read on and smirked.

There it was, one of her friends was opening a new business and the Duchess was wondering if she could purchase some assistance in the marketing. Well, that was something I had some experience with.

My first life was more spent in Human Resources, but I knew how to sell a proposal. And some extra money would be good to funnel back to the orphanage.

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House Andromache was to the North of Eastern Province. As they were an ally the border was relatively open and had considerable rail and road links.

It was not just connecting to Andromache, but to locations beyond. House RedStorm was to Andromache's North. First Citizen RedStorm was one of Imperatrix BlackSky's Daughters. And if things went right, the Troupe would be visiting there to show off our skills.

Such relations were not uncommon among the Diyu Houses. BlackSky and Elena were sisters. Grand Admiral Trosier was Dictatrix Ziox's mother and Eminence Andromache's aunt.

It all came back to the history of our species. A race created to serve, in war and in other capacities. And in rebellion we overthrew our masters and fled to this world. It was a nice creation myth. As a bonus it seemed true enough. All of the eponymous leaders of the Great Houses traced lineage to that revolt.

Which was not too surprising. Our kind had many means of adoption, both as a civil matter and as one of blood. Still, that pride in our homeland and desire to never be enslaved again contributed to the bellicosity and fractious nature. There were also all the realpolitik reasons for Houses to go to war.

Being once again cast into a world with imperialistic, related, heads of state was not exactly reassuring.

This did mean that House BlackSky not only had strong allies that divided the continent of Diyu into western and Easter halves, but that House Elena's land borders were all with BlackSky and BlackSkyvian allies.

No wonder House BlackSky was seen as a belligerent by many powers.

Mitigating this was that House Andromache was also allied with Elena, and Elena was on good terms with RedStorm.

What this meant was the BlackSky/Andromache border was a busy place with a lot of trade crossing.

Though parts of the border region were quieter. To the western end of the border were the final sputtering foothills that were once the Romwell Alps. Thinly populated, a good part of the airspace there was set aside for training.

As it was on the border, and House Andromache was rather small, they also used it.

Which ended up with BlackSkyvian Cadets training against Andromachin Cadets.

It was a form of opposing force training. As despite our alliance and transfer of technical and arcane methods, they had a different few of air power. It was not as divergent as some of our other rival powers, but it was something.

These events also had true dissimilar training on occasion. Using House Andromache and House BlackSky's small number of attack craft built to mimic such roles. They were mostly surplus obsolescent craft purchased by Andromache from Elena or Luxon and given performance upgrades.

The central concept of Ritual Plate was somewhat like Aerial Mages in my last life. Each power had their own spin on the doctrine and differences in equipment, lift systems, and computation jewels, but there were also similarities.

House Andromache used what was frankly a disturbingly invasive form of bonding their spirits and enchantments to a given Pilot.

"Today, we will be training one of one recon patrol versus an airspace defense patrol." Prefect Volantes Centurion Artemis Magnus Quirinus said as she flew a bit above our cadet formation. Her Harmonia suit went from gleaming to muted colors that roughly matched the sky as she switched on her camouflage system.

We also matched the motion and our colors turned to a more muted two-tone that from below looked like sky and from above matched the ground. It was not perfect camouflage; it was not even instant reacting, but it was adaptive. That said, those Pilots who could Veil their presence, even at low power output, were also very valuable.

Flying a bit apart from her but at the same level was Senior Lojtnant Annelise Sorensa of House Andromache. She... was not wearing flight armor. She had a chest piece and a helmet but those were more as backups in case her warding shield failed.

She was flying as the same speed as the rest of us and using Zephyr for propulsion. Functionally she was a Ritual Plate pilot, but without the plate.

She was intimidating to me in a way that few other powerful demons were.

Fundamentally, Andromache going this route came down to them being the smallest Great House. House Andromache had one-eighth the population of House BlackSky. And they were centrally located with many powers bordering them.

However, the majority of House Andromache's territory was on the Moon of Lantia. The smaller of the two moons, it still represents considerable, if distant and limited, holdings.

Keeping trade and lines of communication between Andromache's lunar and Diyu territories was vital. They had a small air fleet, mostly BlackSkyvian surplus, equipped with teleportation runes, and an impressive merchant fleet, especially for a small landlocked power.

"You should all be getting the boundaries for today's exorcise on your map display." Senior Lojtnant Sorensa said. She spoke Silvan Latin with a melodious accent.

"Please keep out of the restricted zones, we do not want to have to explain to RedStorm flight control let alone Luxon why one of our cadets drifted off."

Her students and most of ours laughed at that.

Though an errant BlackSkyvian cadet driving into Luxon Airspace would be met very differently than a mistaken Andromachin Cadet.

Andromache made extensive use of teleport gateways, monstrously expensive paired devices that enabled point to point teleportation. They had none of the uncertainty that was a key limitation to teleportation runes, but could only teleport between those two specific gates.

It was a property of their construction. A pair would be built as a set by he same artificers and Ritualista at the same time, from the same components, of the same design, everything to enhance their thaumaturgical link.

After construction, the gateways could even be placed onboard an airship that could use its own teleportation runes to deliver a gateway to, say a colony world or moon, but that required careful work to ensure it stayed entangled with its matching gateway. Another limitation was that only goods that could fit inside the 'transport chamber' within the gateway could be moved.

Eve with those limitations, Gateways had massive logistical implications. Due to their expense, they were more of a strategic asset, but were very useful for keeping lines of communication and supply open between critical facilities.

Gateways were still supplemental to various air, sea, and land resupply methods. All of which were less expensive, tended to allow for larger and more oversize cargos, and had greater flexibility.

For a small House with little focus on power projection and far flung bases, House Andromache had a disproportionate number of gateways. But they were almost all set to keep rapid contact with Lantia.

"Cadets, you will take the defender role. You will go to point Echo, turn down your scrying systems, including your Gorgon Rig Optio VoiletBlood, and wait until the set time." Centurion Quirinus told us.

I pouted. I had been planning to accidentally leave my Gorgon Rig on so we could get a leg up on tracking the Andromachin cadets. The Gorgon Rig was an augment to Ritual Plate that increased the range and detail of our sensor input.

It was something like a miniature Occultia. Less capable in recon, but less expensive. It was still a pricey enough piece of kit, and one that required a fair bit of concentration, or talent for a Pilot to use. Thus it was not standard. Typically, a Flight would have one member equipped with a Gorgon Rig.

Since they augmented one's abilities and interwove with our horns, those who were the best with those sense organs made for the best reconnaissance Pilots.

Quirinus continued "Then you can disperse and perform a search pattern. Your primary goal is to detect the rival scouting force. If you can do that before they find their own target then good, if you don't' find them at all, then I will be cross."

Fortunately no one in our training Squadron fell out of formation at that last bit.

"I will leave it to you to pick a Squadron Leader for this exercise. Don't embarrass me, compared to training on Lantia, this should be a milk run for you"

Even without the gateways, Lantia could acted a redoubt and, while it was technically self sufficient, Andromache depends on constant trade between the surface and the smaller moon. Lantia was not impregnable, it had been invaded before, and House BlackSky had committed a major effort to help liberate it in the past.

Thus, the smallest Great House, Andromache had a two main prongs to maintain their independence. The second of these prongs was why their Ritual Plate was... not exactly plate armor.

The first prong was to cultivate good relations with the three largest Great Houses.

"Cadet Korporals, you are to go to Point Whiskey, similarly you will also shut down your own scrying and sensor systems for the prescribed blackout period. " Senior Lojtnant Sorensa stated. Her body thrummed with power and she wore a fur-trimmed bodysuit under her vest armor that reminded me a bit of a more form fitting version of the flight suits I used to wear as an Aerial Mage.

I sipped some water from the tube that snaked up near my mouth. Hydration was vital, even as an Aerial Mage we would carry canteens. As an incompressible fluid a given water supply would take up the same volume on a Ritual Plate suit. But it was one of the many support systems.

There was even another tube that could supply what could, generously, be called broth. Reconstituted and heated from a stock of compressed cubes, the broth was nutritious and energy dense, everything a young demoness needed. And was not exactly inedible. Some of the cadets swapped out the enriched broth stock cubes with ones that would make tea or hot chocolate instead. A regulation violation I could almost sympathize with.

"Afterwards you will be given a randomized list of targets. Both ones of approximate locations and descriptions of varoius landmarks. Your priority is to get the required targeting information from your set locations. That is the minimum task. If you do not want to make others question our place as a Great House you will avoid detection by our esteemed allies."

For all the talk, House Andromache was very close to BlackSky. They are one of our closest allies and even allow us to maintain a major fleet base on Lantia, host of Primus 3rd Fleet, Emurian Eighth Landing Fleet, and Corpus Incursio Vigilance.

However, I could still see a lesser power being prickly over having to depend on a greater power.

Not that Andromache had nothing to offer. The Lantia Primus Anchorage gave House BlackSky a global capability to place, teleport rune equipped, fleet elements. BlackSky in turn sold them our older hulls and trades with Ritual Plate technology.

For the other two largest powers on Diyu: House Elena and House Luxon, Andromache courted their support via facilitating trade. Both Lacus Superum and the Great Bazala Lake and their navigable rivers represent major interior trade lanes.

However Lacus Superum drains to the north, while Great Bazala drains to the south. Being one of the few Houses with that borders both great lakes, House Andromache allowed the construction of a canal allowing transit between them.

Where before goods traveling between House Elena and House Luxon had to use expensive gateways, travel overland across rival houses, or circumnavigate the Diyu landmass, now there was a direct path.

By having patronage of the larger powers, Andromache hoped to have a bulwark against aggression from the medium powers. And by helping with logistics, trade, and critical basing they leveraged their position on the world stage quite well.

The other prong of the Andromachin independence was maximizing the power and flexibility of their forces. Without having to worry about power projection or long logistical trains they had more options.

This prong was why Sorensa did not need a Ritual Plate, but her Cadet Squadron were wearing Polydora Mark 4 suits nearly identical to our own.

They were enthusiastic in their reply to their instructor's order. Which made sense. We were both cadet squadrons. Which meant that we would have far more experience than most new Pilots.

And while House BlackSky had the greater number of Ritual Plate pilots, House Andromache liked to think their equivalent air units were to a higher standard.

"Any questions? No. Good. Okay both squadrons to your rally points. You will be informed when the blackout period starts," Centurion Quirinus ordered.

We gave our agreement and saluted before banking of and splitting up.

Their plan was to maintain as much mobile defenses and direct attackers to bleed anyone who tired to take their main territory while funneling in reinforcements from Lantia. And waiting for support from their larger allies.

Their enemies, specifically House Ziox, would plan to overwhelm Andromache and hold the canal and presume Elena and Luxon would consider it a fait accompli. Especially if they kept the canal open for Elena and Luxon to use.

I would also presume that Ziox would also offer to cease their encroachment onto House Luxon's Northeast frontier. Even ceding some territory in that area would be a net win to secure the bridge between the lakes. Not to mention Ziox was a mostly mountainous House and would greatly desire the fertile lands of the Andromachin heartland.

House Ziox would depend on such an act of aggression being quick, and to grab territory before the complicated web of alliances of the other Houses would be pulled against them.

It was likely that these girls would be going under the knife to become full Andromachin Pilots, and in a few short years would be readying for the inevitable invasion from House Ziox. Under their Polydora suits I knew they already had many of the precise tattoos that marked the first stage of their work.

When I saw the interlocking treaties, alliances, and trade deals binding the nine Diyu Great Houses I nearly cried. It was a diplomatic powder keg that once lit would split various powers into blocks in unpredictable ways.

It was something I had seen in both of my lives, and... had happened here as well..

Hence why Andromache was quite willing to get whatever stronger allies they could.

And why their version of Ritual Plate was... different.

Ritual Plate had an inherent inefficiency.

The various magical systems and spirits were anchored to the very plates of the Ritual Plate. Meanwhile the Pilot had to have a bond with the spirits and synchronize with the enchantments.

There would always be a slight reaction delay, the tiniest of air gap.

Andromachin Arcansits eliminated the gap. Many of their enchantments were tattooed on, but the key ones the most powerful ones were engraved and inlaid into their bones.

It was an extremely invasive procedure, and one that if not done properly could be excruciating. The results were breathtaking, an Andromachin Pilot had quicker reaction times, more efficient power usage, and greater synchronization.

The process was not without cost. It was more expensive, required a higher level of skill in the Arcanists and Surgeons doing the procedures. It was also less flexible, as system upgrades and modularity was far harder.

Maintenance was also... complicated. While the psychical structure of the tattoos and bone engravings an inlays did not change. Well not appreciably, the magical enchantments laid into them did need refreshing and adjusting. Also the various spirits bonded into the Pilots enchantments and powers systems for weapons propulsion and such also needed upkeep.

To use a metaphor form my first life, the hardware did not change, but the software needed continual support.

Furthering the complications was they only did the procedure on volunteers who they knew would be skilled pilots. This was why Andromache still used ritual Plate, mostly for training. But also for evaluating hardware and special missions.

Still, I would admit that for a small House that wanted to maximize the individual power of their small air troops. It was a way to accomplish it.

Andromache was a small power and one that was determined to do what it took to keep from being taken over. If they needed to make allies with the 3 biggest Diyu Houses, if they needed to submit to enchanting their very bones, they would do it.

That was why Senior Lojtnant Annelise Sorensa disturbed me. She had been willing to sacrifice her body for her House. And why I was thankful that I was BlackSkyvian.

End Chapter 2

AN Cut this chapter a bit short. I had originally planned this and ch3 to be one chapter (including the ending POV shift) but it was running a bit long.

So a bit more setup, world building, and Tanya's cadet days. Chapter 3, A Night at the Opera, will have the payoff. Or ch4 to be more honest.

There is also some art of Tauria in Ritual Plate in the works and some already made.

That can be found on my deviant art page, and more talk of the lore and background of this verse can be found on the Spacebattles forum thread for this fic.