The Saga of Tanya the Evil: Divergence

Three

Brigadier General Hans von Zettour was reviewing various documents, while considering something. He had had a discussion with a young war college student, Lt Tanya Degurechaff, and it had disturbed him.

"World War, huh..." Hans sighed. He didn't want to accept the idea... it chilled him. But he could see the chain of events as well as Tanya. And her insights into the war and how they would fight it were equally chilling.

Hans had requested her file from the college and it made interesting reading. Several essays and reports had caught the attention of department heads... indeed, his own Logistics department wanted to recruit her, along with Railways, and the strategic analysists. But despite all that, Hans felt she was most gifted for the battlefield.

"You disagree?" Hans asked his guest.

Erich von Lehrgen looked torn. "I think she is... remarkable in certain ways, but..." he groped for words.

"She's a monster in the body of a little girl," Hans quoted him from an earlier meeting, before Tanya was nominated for War College.

"Well, yes," Erich admitted.

"Would it surprise you to know I agree with you, somewhat?" Hans noted.

"Really?" Erich asked.

"Hmm," Hans nodded, "but this country... may need a monster, to win this war."

Erich couldn't really argue with that. "Here is the report from the final debriefing of Anson Sue. It makes interesting reading," he put the papers on his desk.

"Confirmed aide to our enemies by Albion and America," Hans agreed. "It'll help us diplomatically, but sadly we can't make it public."

"Do we need to keep Sue's defection a secret?" Erich asked him, frowning slightly. He knew Anson Sue was tired of the secrecy...

"We're using information we got from him in the military," Hans shook his head, "if we reveal that, the enemy would act to make his intelligence useless."

"Understood," Erich conceded.

"I understand he's lecturing at the War College himself," Hans noted, "along with consulting with our trainers. I expect we'll be more effective..."

Erich paused as he realized both the people they were discussing were there. Worriedly he muttered, "I hope Lt Degurechaff is not creating problems for him."

"More the other way around," Hans smiled mysteriously.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I don't think I can face doing that again," Tanya actually groaned at the dining table, resting her head on the cool surface. She was still in uniform, interestingly, mostly because she had less day to day issues as a 'officer' rather than a child.

Viktoriya Serebryakov smiled fondly at the younger woman who was sitting beside her as she noted, "It wasn't that bad."

Tanya just groaned again. "Mary is RELENTLESS. We played board games all night!" she complained dramatically.

"Hmm," Visha nodded. Unlike Tanya she was wearing a modest dress in royal blue. Well, sorta modest... her bust wasn't easy to hide.

"Lets do makeup! We can listen to the radio! And talk about boys!" Tanya imitated the young woman, making Visha giggle.

The two women were getting breakfast at a nearby cafeteria to the boarding house. Visha hadn't wanted to cook, and Tanya was awful at it. It was a day off from classes for them both, and they were recovering from a late night spent with Mary Sue. The younger lady seemed determined to befriend them, tho Tanya couldn't say why.

"Coffee?" Visha offered.

"Please, though it's not as good as yours," Tanya noted.

Visha looked happy about that as she poured for them both. A staffer delivered their food, then they started eating.

"I think she just likes you, ma'am," Visha noted. She teased, "And that promotional film probably helped."

Tanya groaned again at that. The promotional film the government made her do was airing in theaters ALL OVER. Worse, it was apparently causing young women to enlist in greater numbers. Not to mention fans looking for her!

"I think Mary might even be bored," Visha added thoughtfully as they ate. "She is still under watch, after all."

"Well, true," Tanya conceded. As the daughter of a defector she was under watch both for security and her own protection.

Both enjoyed their meal, savoring the food. This was so much better than eating back at the front, where most of the food was canned and 'fresh' was a myth. It wasn't as good as before the war, of course, but it was much better than the front.

'I do miss rice,' Tanya mused silently, 'and sushi. Or even fish in general.' They mostly were served pork and beef, often pickled...

"Ma'am?" Visha jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, I was daydreaming. What?" Tanya smiled sheepishly.

Visha smiled as she said, "My friend Elya Seiber is still in town. She was wondering if she could meet you?"

"Oh, certainly," Tanya agreed. Maybe she could use the woman as a contact, later...

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"And THEN Visha actually fell on the commander as he was trying to get her out of bed," Elya said cheerfully.

Tanya snorted as Visha blushed.

"ELYAAAA," Visha whined.

Tanya and Elya grinned. They had been sharing Visha stories, mostly. It was remarkable how much trouble the good natured young woman had gotten into.

"You two are mean," Visha pouted.

Tanya just smirked as she took a drink,

"So... is she still a cuddler?" Elya asked.

"ELYA, NO," Visha yelped.

"Elya, yes," she grinned then looked at Tanya, "Well?"

"I don't know, and I'm dying to find out," Tanya grinned.

"I and Visha were the only women trainees, so they stuck us in a room together," Elya explained cheerfully then paused.

"Yes?" Tanya prompted.

"So she would get out of bed in her sleep, climb into MY bed then wrap herself around me like a snake," Elya laughed.

Tanya just looked sat Visha.

"It wasn't INTENTIONAL," Visha protested.

Tanya was surprised to feel an odd twinge of jealousy. As well as fleeting mental images of Visha wrapped around... someone.

Elya, interestingly, seemed to notice Tanya's reaction with some amusement. "So she'd just apologize in the morning, but the next night...," Elya shrugged.

"You're so mean," Visha pouted cutely.

"Luckily, we don't share a room," Tanya said neutrally.

"Too bad," Elya muttered softly.

"She DID grab me like a teddy bear when I woke her, once," Tanya admitted.

"TANYA," Visha yelped as Elya burst into chuckles.

"Visha has one HELL of a grip too," Tanya admitted, "and short of breaking out magic, I couldn't get free until she woke up..."

Elya was giggling softly. "So how do you keep it from happening again?" she asked.

"I poke her with the sheath for my dress sword," Tanya deadpanned.

Elya giggled harder. "I hate you," Visha pouted.

"Any interesting Tanya stories?" Elya asked mildly.

Visha sighed, "Sadly, no. Well, she set fire to the communal kitchen where we live..."

"Fire?" Elya looked at Tanya.

"I can't cook," Tanya conceded willingly. Well, she could cook... but only what she remembered being able to do as a Sasary-man. "I joined the army at ten... I never had the chance to learn at the orphanage," she added.

"Awww," both Elya and Visha chorused.

"We should totally teach her how to cook!" Elya announced.

"Yes!" Visha agreed.

'Oh hell no...,' Tanya thought.

To be continued...

Notes: Lighter chapter. You can assume that Tanya has written up the plan for a mage unit at this time, and it's being studied by higher.