Incognito74: Thank you very much.
Cat Eyes In The Night: I agree with you. It's not like I take pleasure in the details and the technical descriptions and I'd rather tell stories... but every time I simplify the technical and other canon descriptions to focus on the story... I have readers writing to protest. For example my description of the Gellar Fields... yes, I simplified their description and effect, but because I had no intention of showing (at least in this chapter of the story) that they do not offer perfect protection and what could happen when the Gellar Fields were not working properly. But I was still blamed. So, I continue to write tons and tons of technical details, as this is what most readers ask.
Amon34: My pleasure (as Slaanesh would say).
Jctherebel: This is precisely the subject of this chapter.
Agonizing Turtle: yes Stubber, I had to make a typo the first time I used this word in the chapter, and since I use copy/paste precisely to avoid typos... I reproduced this fault throughout the chapter. My Bad!
Apeljohn:
1a) Fully agree... except that English is not my native language and I only learned plain basic common English (not American). I have no idea how English was spoken a century or two ago or what vocabulary is specific to high society. I'm already trying to be understandable... which requires a lot of effort. And despite much proofreading, I continue to make many mistakes... especially in sentences that use the grammatical structures of French (my native language) or literal translation.
1b) Probably because we don't have the same opinion about Tanya. To me, she hates the idea of someone saying he's a god. So, that justifies her behavior. Now, I agreed that between the Emperor and Being-X, the first one is certainly far less unpleasant to her.
2) Not all the characters appearing in the official work have very gothic names either (Colonel Gaunt for example). Otherwise, as I have already explained elsewhere, Tanya's Psyker's powers mainly are matter manipulation (Telekinesis and pyrokinesis), and her telepathic abilities are weak. Second, it's not that shaking someone off is particularly upsetting to Tanya... but she's not stupid. In the 40K millennium people fear and hate psykers... she doesn't particularly want to face an angry mod eager to lynch her on the spot.
I appreciate constructive and polite criticism. Thank you for your encouragement.
DeathFrown: Correction, this is the Salaryman second life. He didn't reincarnate as a poor little girl in Germania. This Fanfic is a What's if. What if the Salaryman was reincarnated in W40K instead of Germania? But he was also reincarnated as a poor little orphan blond girl named... Tanya Degurechaff because... If I changed the name and appearance of the reincarnated Salaryman, it wouldn't be a crossover.
Shin1gam1: Happy you like it.
Force and Intellect
"... and this is how the Emperor fought for all mankind at the end of the Age of Strife. Unparalleled, unparalleled, He sets His throne of splendour under the highest mountain on earth."
The small and feeble man had his eyes illuminated by a mystical fever. Standing behind a lectern, he was dressed in a dress of grey, white and black habit, edged with parchment strips sealed with wax seals. Cybernetic implants formed a kind of a crown around his skull. He walked waving a stick that ended in a metal skull. Besides a thick holy book attached to the belt, the holster of a bolter pistol was hanging from his hip. It was a Preacher of the Temple of the Saviour Emperor, the state church of the Imperium of Mankind, also known as Adeptus Ministorum or Ecclesiarchy.
The vast tent was furnished only with prayer benches and a painting showing the God-Emperor dressed in gold armor and halo, floating in a blue sky and without clouds. Around him lightning struck a red magma of entangled bodies where we could recognize here an Eldar helmet, there an Ork and further from the armor of Chaos Space Marines.
The benches closest to the lectern were occupied by officers, but the soldiers could hear the mass thanks to the speakers hung on the posts that supported the fabric roof.
Among the officers in the front row, the Iptissimus Telekinete Tanya Degurechaff focused on the Preacher... not that she particularly appreciates listening again to the history of the unification of humanity, but to not fall asleep. How many times had the Preachers repeated this same text to him since his birth? 200 or 300 times, no doubt. After the Heresy of Horus, it was the favorite subject for Preachers and Confessors.
Her mind wandered, despite all her desire to remain attentive.
The WAAAGH! has been going on for five months now.
The main front saw the Astra Militarius and the Orks clash on Armageddon Secundus (The eastern half of Armageddon's main continent).
And the news was bad. The Orks had landed at both ends of Armageddon Secundus. After securing their support points and repelling several counter-attacks, the Orks were on the offensive. Over the past three months, the Greenskins had advanced nearly two thousand kilometers on each side. Above all, the Greenskins had taken Hive Helsreach and Hive Infernus... the latter having fallen at the end of a confrontation that had seen six Titans and eight Orks Gargents destroyed. The Orks were advancing to make a junction, threatening the three Hive Cities that form the main urbanization network in the center of the continent.
Tanya bit the inside of her cheeks and tried to focus on the Preacher's voice.
"United under one government, Mankind was able to survive the attacks of countless evil forces from aliens, Chaos, Traitors, Heretics, and mutants that lie within the Imperium's boundaries."
Nevertheless, the words of the Preacher quickly became unpleasant background noise. She couldn't help but think about her own situation.
She landed on Armageddon Prime at the beginning of the invasion.
This part of the main continent had only three Hive City: Volcanus, Tempestora (1), and Death Mire. Only Volcanus was still completely under the control of the Imperium. Tempestora was contested while Death Mire was taken after a fierce battle in the Anthrand plains.
Over the past three months, the Orks had launched a major offensive to capture Tempestora but had failed with heavy losses. They had also launched two counter-offensives to retake the Santander forges, but they had failed and had obtained only minimal territorial gains.
Again Tanya drove away these stray thoughts, striving to focus on the Preacher who was now walking by waving his prayer book.
"The Emperor chose to sacrifice His immortal life at the end of the Horus Heresy in the service and protection of Mankind. So great is His love for us. Because He loves us. We are His children. His People!"
But Tanya repressed a yawn. Hell... that damned Preacher would ruin all the sleeping pills dealers, just listening to his rambling made you want to sleep. Counting sheep to fall asleep was as stimulating as a cup of coffee by comparison.
Since Santander's victory, the Steel Legion had taken the lead in this sector. With the loss of the foundry, the Orks can no longer locally manufacture planes or armored vehicles. Despite reinforcements from other sectors of Armageddon Prime, the sky was now dominated by Aeronautica Imperialis aircraft that could bomb almost with impunity all Orks positions in the Santander sector.
General Batisco wanted to immediately launch a new offensive and "sweep away the green vermin". But Tanya offered him a better plan. First, drive the Orks out of the mountains, then land on the coast simultaneously with a tremendous artillery barrage, which included improved techniques for counter-battery fire against enemy guns, would smash Orks' positions and isolate enemy troops in their dugouts.
At first, Batisco had been reluctant but Imperial Commissar Konrgoff had supported Tanya's proposal.
Once these preparations had been completed, twelve days of the offensive had caused the collapse of the Ork resistance. At that moment, any intelligent opponent would have understood that the battle was lost, he would have evacuated his troops before General Batisco finished his encirclement maneuver. But the Greenskins were as stupid as they were stubborn. Convinced that they were stronger than their enemies, little concerned about their losses, they fought without any idea of retreat. In a sense, it was a chance. Nevertheless, the Orks had fought hard and the 281st Regiment of the Armageddon Steel Legion had spent the last two months in clean-up operations.
Finally, two weeks earlier, the Orks had launched a massive counterattack. Leaving the rubble of their fortresses ruined by weeks of siege and bombing, the Greenskins had attacked from all sides. A stupid opponent was a blessing. This huge battle ended with a general massacre in which more than 200,000 Orks were killed.
After this victory, only a few pockets of isolated troops remained. The last two weeks were summed up as fighting poorly organized guerrilla warfare. Almost a vacation compared to what had preceded it.
After readjusting her gas mask, Tanya left the pressurized tent. The camp was set up in a plain of ashes where only a few mosses and climbing plants grew had adjusted to the pollution of Armageddon.
When we thought of the Imperial Guard, one of the first images we had in mind was the bunkers they occupied when defending a sector of the front. It is true that the Guardsmen excelled in static combat. But sometimes they participated in wars of movement or had to repress guerrillas. In this case, building bunkers would have been a waste of resources... assuming that the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus had time to build them.
The temporary encampment resembled tents that served as dormitories, cafeterias, or infirmaries. Stacks of crates everywhere disturbed the geometric regularity of the organization of the camp. Here and there, piles of sandbags formed nests housing an anti-aircraft heavy Bolter or a Heavy Stubber. Trenches dug into the ground were used as anti-aircraft shelters. From here it could not be seen, but the camp was surrounded by a prefabricated rampart, formed of thick metal plates, and surrounded by watchtowers.
Like the Roman army, the Astra Militarium set up camp every night and dismantled it every morning before leaving. In fact, the dismantling of the facilities was underway.
Tanya rushed along, lining up like a Kangaroo troops transport crossed one of the streets which divided the camp into square areas. A little further away the Guardsmen were taking down their tents, while others were loading a Trojan with crates stamped with the Imperial Aquila.
She arrived without major problems at a group of tents in the center of the camp. A wall of metal plates isolated this part of the camp from the rest. It was necessary for the Iptissimus Telekinete Tanya Degurechaff to show her identity plate for the sentries - Carapace armored Storm Troopers- to let her pass.
The tents housed the members of the staff, the Regimental HQ, but also the HQ of the Commissars.
The Iptissimus Telekinete Tanya Degurechaff had joined the other members of the staff around a large table where a map of Armageddon Prime was unfolded. With a long wand, General Batisco showed different sectors. Next to him was a servo-skull, one of his eyes contained a holographic projector and the robot materialized arrows on the map. The red arrows were the Orks' offensives in the last two months, and the blue arrows were the imperial counter-offensives.
After summarizing the current situation, General Batisco explained that the relative calm on the front was a sign that the Orks were preparing for a new offensive. After this promising start, the general hastened - once again- to demonstrate his incompetence.
From his point of view, the Orks were going to attack Tempestora and the High Command should strengthen this area. Fortunately... General Batisco was not responsible for this front because it would have been a disaster. Even though he had been regularly beaten by the Orks, he continued to underestimate them.
It is true that Santander's victory had been attributed to 'his' ingenious battle plan and that the High Command had congratulated and decorated General Batisco for 'his' victory.
Tanya was not upset that a superior was taking her ideas. In fact, for an employee, it was better to share the responsibilities with his direct superior... he made an excellent lightning rod in case of failure. And if a plan of action inspired by a subordinate turned out to be effective, the direct superior often took it upon himself to promote this promising subordinate... if only to keep him close to him.
In the companies where the Salaryman had worked, he had often seen promising young executives who were too eager to bypass their superiors to communicate directly with the Jomukai (2), hoping to receive all the benefits of their ideas. The ambition was not in itself reprehensible, but one did not reach a stable position by a single burst of brilliance. There was no substitute for long-term effort and cordial relations with his direct superiors.
What bothered Tanya was Batisco's arrogance. It was not very correct to denounce the mistakes of his superiors before his subordinates... especially to show off.
The Salaryman knew - from experience- that the disgrace of a Bucho (3) could affect his Kacho (4) and block their promotions.
If, at least, Batisco had been right and pointed out a real mistake in the reasoning of his superiors! But the High Command made no mistake. After two Orks assaults pushed back into this area, there was no reason to strengthen Tempestora. The Orks were smart enough to look for a weak spot to exploit. The front needed to be strengthened in areas where the Greenskins were most likely to attack.
The Imperial Commissar Konrgoff and Tanya exchanged a look as Batisco continued to babble, explaining how he would treat the Orks if given command. Konrgoff had an imperceptible nod of the head.
This reaction relieved Degurechaff. In the Astra Millitarum, it did not really matter who had the title of general. What mattered was the Commissars' opinion of you. After all, they had the power to execute without judgment, on the spot, traitors and cowards... and frequently exercised this right.
In the last few months, Tanya had realized that staying in Batisco's staff would freeze her progression... and she wanted more than anything to get away from the front. And that was the best case because the general's stupidity could cause her death. Batisco believed only in force and forward attack.
There were three methods to win a battle: shock (the infamous bayonet charge), fire (the use of artillery or bombing aviation), and maneuver.
It was like playing stone-paper-scissors with three cards that he fluffed combine to defeat.
Batisco mainly used the first method, more rarely the second, never the third...
The great military theorist Carl von Clausewitz noted, "The maximum use of force is in no way incompatible with the simultaneous use of the intellect."
Napoleon Bonaparte - the instigator of Clausewitz's military theories- was an artillery officer, thus trained from the outset in the use of fire. However, it was through the daring military maneuvers that he had dominated Europe for nearly fifteen years. And it was by gloriously and vainly sacrificing the cavalry of Marshal Ney, in a frontal attack against the English infantry squares, that Napoleon had lost the battle of Waterloo.
If she stayed in Batisco, it would end badly for Tanya.
A river of metal was slowly advancing into the ash plain.
In this landscape of dead earth and putrid mud, the armored vehicles of the 281st Regiment of the Armageddon Steel Legion were advancing hood to hood along a road drawn in the ground by the incessant back and forth of vehicles.
The advance was slow and arduous. The tracks of the vehicles lifted clouds of brown dust as the sun warmed the shields.
Inside the vehicles, the place was measured and the smell... a mixture of sweat, badly washed body, gun grease, and hot plastic... was disgusting.
Tanya was seated against the interior separation between the Chimera's crew and the soldiers' cabin. The most unpleasant was that she had her eyes up to the soldier's boots sitting at the multi-laser turret-mounted.
As a Psyker, she was used to being feared. Men whispered when they thought she didn't hear them and made signs to ward off the evil spell when her back was turned. However, as Tanya had not said a word since the morning, the Guardsmen had gradually forgotten her presence. It was better than looks of terror and pure hatred but she would have done without having to listen to their conversations.
In all the armies of the world, the troopers had only a limited number of subjects of conversation: women, the food of the canteen (infect), women, their captain (a moron), women, war, and, most importantly, women!
In times like this being stuck in the body of a little girl not yet nine years old was particularly... difficult.
The young girl closed her eyes, hoping to escape this promiscuity in the world of dreams.
Most people think war is glorious.
Most people imagine that to wage war is courageously to charge the enemy or defend a bunker attacked by hordes of adversaries.
The statistics of the 'modern' wars contradict these clichés. 40% of soldiers succumb to shelling, without seeing the enemy, sometimes miles from the front.
The truth about war is that soldiers spend 90% of their time waiting for the attack, getting bored, or doing the same kind of tasks they would do in their barracks in peacetime.
And then suddenly, without warning, death is upon them...
Both Dakkajets Orks were painted dark brown with alternating black and white tile stripes. They looked vaguely like twentieth-century MiG-21s with their V-shaped wings, their barrel-shaped fuselage with the engine inlet in front. The thruster vomited black, oily smoke. Wearing a leather headband, his eyes protected by glasses, the pilot of the first jetfighter pointed to the armored column with a gesture of his hand.
Immediately, the two Dakkajets plowed down to the ground. Weapons of all kinds crammed into the hull of the two piles of rusty sheet metal began to fire.
A hail of bullets struck the Chimera.
Awakened with a start by the sounds of the impacts and the cries of terror of the soldiers, it took a few moments for Tanya to understand the situation.
They were under attack.
A smell of smoke assailed his nostrils. The Chimera had stopped and was burning!
As the roar of the reactor of the second Dakkajet sounded louder and louder, the Iptissimus Telekinete raised her hand, clenching her teeth and concentrating.
The second Dakkajet plunged towards the ground, spitting out bullets from its multiple machine guns. It went down the armored vehicles' column, tearing the light armor of the Salamanders and Chimeras. Several explosions sounded below him and columns of black smoke rose to the sky.
However, all the projectiles he fired at Tanya's Chimera were repulsed by a Telekine Dome.
Advancing on both sides of the armored column, Hydra Tanks were tasked with protecting the 281st Regiment from air attack. The Machine Spirits of the Hydra Flak Tanks were taken by surprise. But now their hunger had awakened. Their four-linked autocannons threw long bursts of anti-aircraft shells into the smoky sky of Armageddon. Rains of smoking cartridges bounced around the Flak Tanks.
One of the Dakkajets exploded immediately. The second had time to describe a vast arc of circle and to return to the armored convoy.
But even before the surviving Dakkajet came within Big Shoota's range, a hunter-killer missile turned it into an ephemeral flower of fire and smoke.
"Get out of here fast before the Chimera explodes. Take the wounded. And don't forget to put on your gas masks. Don't forget to put the gas masks on the wounded, too!"
Despite her little girl's voice, Tanya Degurechaff's orders brought some calm to the panicked Guardsmen.
Obeying her orders, they quickly left the armored transport.
In front of them, Tanya would run towards the plain, turning frequently towards the Chimera. When flames appeared in the back of the vehicle, she screamed.
"On the ground, lie down."
The explosion occurred a few seconds later, a rain of steel fragments bounced off the armor of the other vehicles. This deadly hail would probably have injured or killed some of her group if, once again, the Iptissimus Telekinete had not created a Telekine Dome around them.
Panting, Tanya sat down to look around her. More than a dozen vehicles were burning. She heard calls for help, orders, and counter-orders. Panic had spread throughout the column. Under her gas mask, she grimaced with disgust and frustration. With a leader as inept as Batisco, the 281st Regiment of the Armageddon Steel Legion behaved as a temporary gathering of conscripts from the contingent rather than as a regiment of veterans.
A cry made her head turn.
"Denarius, he's choking, he can't breathe."
Two Guardsmen had laid one of their comrades on the ground. They watched him without knowing what to do and their comrades did not even move. Behind their gas masks, it was impossible to see their faces. But Tanya could easily imagine their fatalism, their acceptance... For them, the God-Emperor would save or abandon Denarius and there was nothing to do if it were not to pray.
Tanya gnashed her teeth when she saw several Guardsmen kneeling down and clapping their hands, hoping for a miracle.
The reincarnated Salaryman hated this future world.
People were born ignorant, it was true at all times. After all, knowledge was not innate, it had to be acquired. But education in the Imperium was not intended to teach more than was necessary for the usefulness of humans for their true masters, the Lords of Terra. On the contrary, the primary goal of imperial education was to make citizens stupid. Because stupid people did not ask questions, they were obedient, As one trained an attack dog to bite on order, the citizens of the Imperium of Mankind were conditioned to react to certain keywords like 'God-Emperor' or "Chaos".
The Guardsmen did not receive any first aid courses, not even the most basic training. Apart from medics and the few military doctors, no Guardsman had any medical knowledge. After all, what if Guardsmen died? They were there for that, right? They were easily replaceable. The Lords of Terra weren't going to waste valuable medical supplies to 'fix' a disposable element of their army, were they?
"Get out of here."
Tanya had made her decision without even realizing it.
The Iptissimus Telekinete was next to the wounded before she even realized what she was doing.
Opening the man's toxic-resistant raincoat, the young Psyker examined him. He was breathing, she saw his chest rise. Yet he was choking. Something had to stop the air from reaching his lungs.
The young girl examined the throat... purplish... Tanya was not a doctor, but it was not difficult to understand what was happening. Crushing of the larynx.
"Your knife!"
"But..."
"Hurry!"
The Guardsmen's combat knife, the mono knife, was a blade with an incredibly thin edge, the thickness of a few molecules. Able to easily cut through just about any type of material, it was a particularly effective short-range weapon. Some ironically even said that it was the most effective small arm of the Guardsmen... given the small length of the blade, it meant that one had to be in close contact to use it... This left little chance of giving a second shot if one did not kill on the first attempt.
No scalpel of the 21st century cut as well as a mono knife.
Biting her lips, Tanya incised precautiously the man's throat. Although unconscious, the Guardsman struggled.
"Hold on to him!"
The two closest Guardsmen grabbed Denarius by both arms, immobilizing him. When Tanya cut deeper into the skin, black blood gushes out. The color of the blood reflected the oxygen level... a level that must have been very low. The man was dying.
With a concentration and a seriousness normally impossible for a nine-year-old girl, Tanya pushed the mono knife deeper... it was horrible... a real butcher's job.
But when she incised the larynx, she heard the whistling of the air. Immediately, Denarius fell back, ceasing to pitch up. Despite his injury, the Guardsman seemed to calm down. His breathing became deeper... he was really... frantically breathing in the air. Obviously, leaving the wound open like that was not ideal, especially in the highly polluted environment of Armageddon, but Tanya had no medical knowledge and no equipment to do a real operation. Using telekinesis, she pinched and then released the trachea, then started again, replacing the crushed larynx in its role as a respiratory valve.
The young girl turned to the spectators and shout out in an angry and impatient tone:
"But you called the medics at least?"
"Yes," replied a Guardsman, "they are coming".
And indeed two or three minutes later, two men wearing the armband of the paramedics arrived with a stretcher.
While one of the Guardsmen explained what had happened, a paramedic examined Denarius. He nodded his head.
"You probably saved his life. By the time we got there, he would have choked."
There were some whispers among the other Guardsmen. Under her mask, Tanya smiled mockingly. The reincarnated Salaryman didn't care if they were grateful. She didn't save Denarius out of kindness... it was just that... She couldn't stand waste.
"I could save him. It would have been stupid to let him die. I can't stand stupidity."
Kneeling near Denarius, the paramedics had placed the Guardsman under a pressurized tent and were now intervening on his throat.
Looking around her, Tanya saw the tanks on fire, the tech-priests armed with fire extinguishers who were trying to save what they could, the burnt corpses, the dying, and the Preachers distributing the last sacraments. The young girl shivered... it could have been her. The war was like Russian roulette and 'being in the wrong place at the wrong time' could be inscribed on most of the tombstones of fallen soldiers.
Courage?
Talent?
Experience?
No, the factor that determined a soldier's survival was luck, chance, whatever you want to call it... just a stupid statistical story.
Being-X bitch... she wouldn't die in the middle of that insanity.
(1) I previously called this Hive City "Tempestus" but it is a mistake on my part. Its exact name is "Tempestora".
(2) In Japan, the name is given to a company's management committee.
(3) Head of a department
(4) Chief of sub-department
