Authors note: Thanks again to anyone reading this story, knowing people are looking at it has really got me motivated. This was originally only going to be half a chapter but before I knew it, I'd already written 2000 words so the next scene will have to slot into the next chapter somehow.
Some people have commented saying they think Tanya is too emotional, I was trying to get the point across that she instinctively doesn't like the prince but obviously I've hammered that nail in enough lol. I have tried to reign it back a little bit so let me know if you think she's any better. Any feedback is appreciated.
I hope you enjoy reading
Xanen
A/N 09/12/2019: Cleared up some grammar issues and added a few bits and pieces. Hopefully, it should be a better read now.
Chapter 3 Operation Deliverance Stage 3: Breakthrough
40 years after the Great War
Londinium
As we have discussed before on this program, the Saint of Letzenbourg was known for displaying great acts of mercy on the battlefield. We are fortunate that the following recording has survived the horrors of the war.
"Republic soldiers! Please, we do not want to harm you,"
"Think of your families, how would they survive without you?"
"Please flee, no more need die today! The devil of the Rhine is here and will hunt you down."
"Leave while you can, for your sons and daughters' sakes."
"Please for their sakes don't make us do this"'
As you can hear this recording seems to be that of a child. Historians believe that the Saint purposely broadcast a child's voice to sap his foes fighting spirit and increase the chance of them surrendering without bloodshed. This is one of the reasons he was nicknamed 'The Saint.'
- Andrew WTN Special correspondent-
March 3rd Unified Year 1925
Rhine Front
Tanya glared at him, not bothering to disguise her fury. He returned it with a maniacal grin.
"You said I can't leave your side, so that means you must want to come with me to lead the ground assault, right?"
How had he done it? Somehow, he'd managed to take control of the situation without ever taking command. He'd manipulated the troops into wanting to attack, worse still he'd make it seem like it was her idea, was she the only one that could see through this guy?!
Tanya had had enough, fine if they were committed to an attack, they would wipe them out, then she would drag the prince across the lines in pieces if she had to. I wonder if I could get away with shooting him in the back? She smiled ruefully remembering how he'd got her into this mess in the first place. She imagined seeing that infuriating grin disappear as he fell to the ground and couldn't help but feel a little happier due to the mental image. She quickly disregarded the idea though, he wasn't worth a court marshal and a potential firing squad. But if he keeps pushing me like this, I might not be able to stop myself.
What was it about him? She hadn't felt herself since meeting the Prince, she could usually keep herself well composed in almost all situations, but this brat seemed to be able to push her buttons on a whim. Perhaps it was his unpredictable nature, he couldn't be trusted to make rational choices. She knew from her old life that irrational people shouldn't be allowed to make decisions. Unbidden the memory leapt into her mind.
He'd been taller back then, stronger too but that hadn't mattered. He could feel the pressure on his back as he was flung forward towards the tracks, the shocking realisation of what would come next and the feeling of anger and disdain as he saw that man. That unreasonable man who had succumbed to the demands of unreasonable emotions.
She shook off the unwanted memory. It was time to take back control, she had allowed her disquiet about the prince too much control over her and he had taken advantage of that. She was a rational person she would deal with this problem rationally.
She quickly snapped orders to Wiess to take the other 3 companies and engage the mages, reminding him that anyone dumb enough to be killed in a surprise attack didn't deserve to be in her unit. Next, she ordered the Letzenbourg wing to wait for her orders to assault and had her own company prepare artillery spells. If she took out enough ground units before the prince and his 'friends' reached them, there'd be nobody to shoot him. Except me perhaps she chuckled to herself.
She raised the submachine gun she had acquired in Osfjord. She had discovered she could now fire a burst of artillery fire from her weapon and now was the perfect opportunity to field test the technique. It wasn't usual to fire artillery spells while moving, it drastically affected accuracy but she reasoned that would hardly matter in such a target-rich environment.
She gathered her power and felt bile rise to the back of her throat as she began muttering the prayer, she needed to control the type 95. She despised having to pray to Being X and couldn't help feeling slightly sickened hearing her own voice praising him. If that was the price of survival however, then she would pay it. If for no other reason than to find a way to get back at the self-proclaimed god.
"Oh lord, lend us your power so that we might smite our enemies and defend our Vaterland,"
"Let us send these souls to you so they might face righteous judgement."
"Fire!" She ordered feeling a grin tug at her face "Take no prisoners!"'
Her company let out a barrage of fire at the advancing troops below, the spells landed with a satisfying 'Thwump' before spreading into devastating explosions. Many died in an instant as the magical barrage vaporised their bodies, more were thrown from their feet into the dirt and mud, landing in the toxic filth and grime of the Rhine front. Troops scattered, the lucky ones diving for cover in foxholes in a panic, the unlucky ones getting caught in barbed wire and mown down by imperial machine gunfire.
The surprise attack had caught them in disarray, however, a large force of republic troops had already made it to the Imperial lines and they were in danger of being overrun. They couldn't use artillery spells while they were amongst their own troops and 1 company wouldn't be enough to turn the tide in their favour in those trenches. She glanced upwards to see the remainder of the 203rd still engaged with the enemy mages, there would be no help from them anytime soon. Reluctantly she radioed the Letzenbourg mages.
"Letzenbourg wing, engage the enemies in our trenches, take the pressure off our troops," she ordered. "Colonel you stay here and…..." she began but he'd already gone.
She growled to herself, biting back a curse she should have guessed he'd take the opportunity to join in. He's like a dog that's been let off a leash she thought. She briefly considered going after him but decided against it, it'd be less hassle just to give covering fire from here. Besides I'm done playing nanny for him.
"Lieutenant, cover them before too many of them get themselves killed" she ordered her adjutant with a sigh. Making sure to keep an eye on her charge she began firing off a few shots at the unsuspecting enemy.
He had dropped vertically as soon as he had heard her order, or more likely before she'd finished it. He descended from the 5000-metre limit that his gear could manage, to only a few metres above the ground in seconds. Once there he shot off towards the enemy as if he'd propelled himself away from an invisible wall. As he approached the troops clambering into the trenches, he drew his sword and began to spin, and Tanya could make out the tell-tale signs of a spell strengthening the blade. His speed and spin grew faster and soon he had turned himself into a human sawblade. He swooped over the republicans slicing a squad into a red mist as he flew amongst them. Once past his spinning halted and he began to ascend once again, firing shots into the confused and panicked republicans.
She fired a few extra shots into the group herself for good measure and saw the prince descend into the trench line. He fired at the enemy as he glided along using his mage gear sail speedily along the trenches. Considering his preference for the sword, he was a surprisingly good marksman with his pistol, with every shot landing a kill. Then to her disbelief, he summoned another voice amplification spell as he dove in for another attack.
"Republican soldiers! Please, we do not want to harm you" His voice boomed in a sorrowful tone as his sword slashed through a soldier throat. He was speaking in perfect François Tanya realised, recognising it from her own studies at the War College.
"Think of your families," he continued dropping a live grenade at another trooper's feet before hastily ascending out of the blast radius. "How would they survive without you?" Screams filled the air as the grenade exploded beneath the man's feet.
"Please flee, no more need die today! The devil of the Rhine is here and will hunt you down. Leave while you can, for your sons and daughters' sakes." Two soldiers turned to flee as the prince unloaded his pistol into their backs. "Please for their sakes don't make us do this!"
Tanya caught a glimpse of his face and saw it fixed in a murderous grin, he was obviously enjoying his mayhem. Clearly, he didn't mean a word of what he was he was broadcasting to the republicans, he certainly wasn't giving them any chance to retreat.
He's using psychological warfare she mused. Despite her dislike of the prince, Tanya was begrudgingly impressed. It seemed he was decent enough in close assault but his demoralising them with his sad childlike voice was almost cruel, its effect on the enemy was obvious but it also seemed to rouse the friendly troops too. She'd underestimated him it seemed.
"He sounds like he really wants to stop the fighting," remarked lieutenant Serebrykov. "But didn't you say no prisoners?"
Tanya gave her adjutant a sidelong glance. Surely, she couldn't believe the prince was sincere in his pleading for peace. Had nobody else seen that look on his face? It seemed clear to Tanya that the boy had no intention of taking prisoners. Obviously once again she was the one who'd seen through him.
"I don't believe he has said anything about asking their surrender lieutenant," Tanya stated a wicked grin creeping across her lips, "but fleeing troops are much easier to put down"
"But major…." Serebrykov began to protest
"Open fire!"
At those orders her company began shooting the Republic soldiers fleeing back across no man's land, not hesitating for a moment at their orders. Once again Tanya was impressed by the diligence and professionalism of her loyal war maniacs, thanks to them these Republicans would not threaten the Vaterland ever again.
"Commander! Incoming mages coming your way!" Her deputy radioed down from the sky above.
She glanced up and cursed, she'd just been praising her troops and now this! She would have words with Wiess later about his failure to keep the enemy bottled up. The mages were plunging downward at incredible speed, she was not their target she realised they were heading to support their allies in the trenches. Towards the damned prince.
"Engage those mages NOW!" she yelled.
Her company accelerated towards the approaching mages and began firing into their formation. The fire struck their shield's, but they continued on regardless. With impressive coordination, half the group suddenly veered off and turned towards Tanya's company, returning fire as they flew.
Tanya squared one in her sights, concentrating hard to steady her aim as she flew at speed and unleashed a torrent of magical penetration fire at the lead mage. The first few shots battered against his front shield illuminating him before it shattered exposing him. Soon after she fired a second volley and his torso became riddled with bullet wounds and he fell lifelessly from his metal steed. She saw several others fall as her company passed them and was pleased to see her company had killed so many without suffering casualties.
She spared a glance at the other group, who had continued towards the trench line. It seemed the Letzenbourg troops were too engrossed in their butchery to notice the incoming threat.
"Colonel, incoming mages, company strength" Tanya radioed in warning.
It was too late they had already opened fire on the Letzenbourg mages as they tried to disengage from the melee and gain altitude. She saw four of the mages fall as they were peppered from both the incoming mages and the remaining republic troops in the trench. Their shields fell quickly under the weight of fire and the men quickly fell to the ground soon after, still and lifeless.
The little colonel and two more Letzenbougers accelerated out the trench and ascended quickly followed by a lacklustre spray of fire from the trench. They'd obviously not left many in there to threaten them and exited much more cleanly than the other group. He had been too slow in his escape though and the Francois mages had already turned and began firing on the group. One fell almost immediately, and Tanya cursed, it looked as though she would have to step in if the prince was to survive.
"Lieutenant take the company and finish these off, I'm going to save the colonel." She ordered gritting her teeth in annoyance, at least she knew she could count on Visha and the rest f the first company to finish the job up here.
Tanya dived and began lining up a shot at the 4 enemy mages pursuing the prince. The other Letzenbourger was gone, shot down while she had been giving orders to Serabryakov, she guessed that would mean the prince would be next. She began squeezing the trigger but suddenly the prince stopped abruptly in place in the air. The lead mage had no time to dodge and their shields smashed into one another. The republican shield shattered first, however, and his flight gear exploded against the solid wall of magic leaving its rider to plummet to the ground.
She recognised the tactic, it was known as instant deceleration, it was an extremely difficult manoeuvre, dangerous and used an immense amount of magical energy. Not only did you have to use magic to bring yourself to a stop, but you also had to use it to release the kinetic energy safely and use more to protect your body from the sudden change in G-forces. Only a few mages had the power to pull it off, she had done it herself during flight training, but she'd been one of the few that could manage it and still have plentiful energy to spare. It was utterly reckless and impractical on the battlefield.
The remaining mages split directions desperately to avoid collision. Tanya aimed and skilfully picked off the rearmost warrior and quickly turned to find a new target. Meanwhile, the prince had begun accelerating again but much slower this time. His flying had become more erratic and he was gradually losing altitude. Even from a distance, Tanya could see he was breathing heavily, and his grin had been replaced with a mix of frustration and exhaustion. The manoeuvre had obviously left him tired and near his limits. That's what you get for being reckless.
"Bluebell one, disengage, I've got these two," she radioed to the stricken prince.
"Negative pixie one" he replied panting for breath, "they've separated, and I don't have the speed to outrun them anymore, I'll draw them to you."
He had turned again heading for one of the remaining mages, the second had turned again began pursuing the prince sensing the weaker prey. She frowned in annoyance, she had no choice but to do as the prince suggested if she planned on getting him out in one piece now. She sped towards them firing at the pursuing flier, he swerved to avoid it and turned his weapon to return fire at her. She let it impact her shield as she focussed on reloading her weapon.
Meanwhile, the prince had aimed his pistol and began to fire... Nothing happened. He had run out of ammo. He tossed the pistol in frustration and cursed.
He turned and gestured to Tanya to attack the one in front then readied his sword and decelerated. I should have just done it myself she thought switching her aim to the other mage and letting a burst of fire obliterate the man's shield. He still rode forwards as she approached, she reached for her combat blade and sliced through him as she passed.
She turned to see how the prince was fairing. She saw him slice through his foe's shield with his sword then to her surprise he smashed his boot into the man's face with an audible thud and the mage tumbled from his steed and fell to the ground.
Tanya couldn't help but let out a laugh at what she'd witnessed. It was like the aerial equivalent of a bar brawl.
"Commander the enemy is in retreat" Weiss reported, and she felt herself let out a sigh of relief. She radioed an acknowledgement while watching the prince descend towards the fallen republic mage and decided to follow.
They landed side by side and she was surprised to see the republican soldier still breathing. The prince was breathing heavily and was grasping his side. She glanced a look at his face and saw no hint of the angelic mask he had worn before. Now he wore an expression of anger and pain. He glanced at his sword again and the face turned to a grin, although no humour lay in his emerald eyes.
He staggered forward and pointed his blade at the injured officer.
"Please…." the injured man coughed blood leaking from his mouth "I…surrender."
The prince laughed then modulated his voice back to the sweet innocence that he had been broadcasting earlier.
"I'm sorry, the Devil has ordered me to take no prisoners," he said glancing at Tanya before plunging the blade into the soldier ending the man.
He lifted the blade and stared at it once again as the light reflected off the metal, everything seemed quiet for a moment.
Tanya raised an eyebrow.
"So, you can follow orders when you want to."