Chapter 23: Fall of Letzenbourg Part I

+ To All Imperial and Allied forces in the Letzenbourg theatre, you are hereby ordered to withdraw from the Letzenbourg defensive line and Letzenbourg city. All forces will regroup at coordinates Lat 49.83 Long 6.25 and await further orders. Glory to the Reich +

Order to withdraw, authorised by Major General Kurt von Rudersdorf, Imperial General Staff, operations division.

21st December Unified Year 1915

Letzenbourg City, Ducal Palace

Prince Ludwig von Hozollern had a reputation as a cold and emotionless man, combined with his hard-facial features, this made him seem intimidating to many. Although many would praise him for his hard work and diligence, having already been forced to fill in for his father's poor health at times, he knew most thought of him as an unfeeling and unfriendly person and claimed he was difficult to work with. It was in part an act, he knew he couldn't risk aligning too closely with any of the parliamentary factions. Mostly though, he was simply not good at expressing himself in that sort of way, he kept his true thoughts and feelings hidden, and that made him seem aloof and unapproachable. He wondered if his detractors would still think that way if they could see him now cradling his sickly baby brother, while desperately fighting off the tears in his eyes.

Ludwig truly loved and cared for his family, even if he struggled to show it. Although he had disagreed with his father's remarriage for political reasons, he'd privately been ecstatic to see how much the pair seemed to truly care for one another. Even in this day and age, many marriages amongst the aristocrats and the elites were rarely motivated by silly notions, such as love.

He'd been even more pleased when news of his stepmother's pregnancy had been announced and had vowed to do everything he could for his new sibling, despite the 20-year age gap. Soon, however, tragedy struck the royal family, Ludwig's stepmother, Princess Hermione, had died giving birth to his brother. The resulting shock had triggered another bout of mental illness in his father, it was the curse of their family, and had plagued the man throughout his life. Fortunately, they had been able to hide it from the general public for the most part, and he had not yet deteriorated enough so much that he couldn't fulfil most of his royal duties.

It had left poor baby Wilhelm without a mother, and with a father, that was unable to really fulfil his role as parent and mentor. Ludwig could relate, he too had grown up without a mother and with the Duke often busy or incapable, he had not had the most loving of upbringings. Worse still, Wilhelm seemed to have inherited the worst parts from both his parents, it was already clear that he had the weaker constitution of his mother and the doctors believed that it was likely Wilhelm would inherit the same illness his father had.

Ludwig felt heartbroken for his little brother, Ludwig had been fortunate and had shown no signs of the mental instability that afflicted his father. He had been unfortunate enough however, to see the symptoms and the effects of the new medications that the doctors had started giving the man. The side effects made his father increasingly frail and confused, while his sharp mind became dulled, they avoided giving him the drug when they could.

Wilhelm would need to be tested as he grew, if there was any sign of the disorder the doctors claimed they would have to treat it quite aggressively in the hopes of curing him in the long term. They stated it would be necessary to give his little brother the same dosages as his father took, and for a longer period. The boy would spend his youth in a state of near-constant sickness and confusion, to Ludwig it sounded hellish. There was even talk of medicating him even if he didn't show signs, just to be safe. With their father's deteriorating condition, it would likely fall to Ludwig to make that decision when the time came.

If Wilhelm survived that long.

The Ispagnian flu had recently swept through the continent like a biblical plague, thousands had already died in the epidemic. At first, it seemed the little country of Letzenbourg had been spared the disease as it seemed to find its way through the republic and up into the Northern Empire, without touching the little country. They weren't that lucky however, it almost seemed like the devil himself was trying to target the weakened baby Wilhelm as the first recorded outbreaks in the country were servants in the Ducal Palace and at only six months old the young prince soon started exhibiting symptoms.

Ludwig had prayed for his brother to get better, what more could he do? The best doctors had already written the boy off, they were almost certain that baby Wilhelm would not survive the night. The survival rate for the illness was depressingly low and with Wilhelm's poor constitution the doctors held out little hope of recovery. His father, Duke Henri, was still able to mostly hide his condition and was away on a state visit to Magna Rumeli, so Ludwig was the only family member left to comfort the frail little child.

He had dismissed the nannies and nurses for the night, despite their protestations, and opted to sit and cradle his brother in a sitting room along the corridor from the nursery. If he really was going to die, he would be with him at the end, he wouldn't let his little brother be alone in his final hours. The baby had been quiet for some time now, at first, he had screamed to communicate his discomfort as babies do, the screams were broken by vicious bouts of coughing, that there was little he could do to ease. Eventually, the child's strength began to fail him though, and now the room had fallen almost silent.

He listened to the baby's ragged breathing, half expecting every intake of breath to be his last, the baby breathed out and it seemed like an eternity went past before against all odds the child struggled to take another breath. This continued on late into the night, Wilhelm was still fighting, every breath was an act of defiance against the hand fate had dealt him. Ludwig marvelled at the resolve the child seemed to be able to find, and he began daring hope that his brother might yet survive, it seemed his prayers were going to be answered.

Would that be for the best? A dark thought crossed his mind even if he survives tonight you know how low the survival rate is, even amongst grown men.

He felt ashamed at the thought, but he knew it was true, it was said that 1 in 5 people who caught the Ispagnian flu would die, even if they were strong and healthy before. What chance could a sickly little baby have? Even if he pulled through, he'd have to contend with the same illness their father had, he'd spend his life drugged in the name of keeping him well. Either that or he'd slowly deteriorate like their father. He'd spend his life miserable, no matter what Ludwig tried to do for him.

Wilhelm's breathing had become shallow and slow again and his face had begun turning a blueish colour, the boy was suffering. He gently caressed the baby's forehead affectionately, feeling the warmth escaping the feverish child, while Ludwig felt the helpless sadness of watching a sick loved one. Still, he seemed to be fighting with every breath, fighting a battle he surely could not win.

"In another world, maybe you would have been a brave and noble warrior," He said to the baby as he rose to his feet, clutching the child in his arms. Perhaps there was something he could do.

He wandered over to the doorway towards the adjoining corridor and up towards the nursery. It was dark and empty, he didn't bother switching on the lights, he knew his way well enough and he didn't want to cause the baby any further discomfort. Unusually the corridors were empty of servants and guards, even at this time of night, there would usually be someone seeing to the business of looking after the royal seat of power. It seemed they'd taken his order to be left alone with his brother to heart, that was fortunate, he wouldn't want anyone to see what he was going to do. He knew he'd never forgive himself, but he was sure this would be best for his brother, he didn't want him to suffer anymore.

He found himself stopping partway along his journey, an antique cavalry sabre hung on the wall, illuminated by the moonlight from a nearby window. It wasn't anything special, it was one of the many martial decorations that littered the palace. He didn't particularly care for that sort of thing, but it was the sort of clutter that was expected in royal residences. No doubt it dated back before the treaty of Londinium when Letzenbourg had been considered a fortress city and foolishly thought its meagre little army could stand against the millions of men everyone else could throw at them.

Still, despite its simple and unadorned design, it was beautiful in its own way. A strange fancy came over him as he looked at the sword, he carefully shuffled his beloved brother into one arm, he was so small he could easily be held that way. Then he picked up the blade and examined it closer, somehow it felt right. He took it and continued his journey towards the nursery, shouldering the door open carefully so as not to disturb his brother, who was now coughing violently once again.

He entered the unlit room, once again eschewing the lights, this was the sort of evil thing that should be done in the dark. He took a few moments to comfort the struggling Wilhelm before crossing to the crib. He looked down at his brother with dismay, the baby looked even worse, he wished he'd resolved to do this earlier, to save the child the extra suffering. He reverently lay baby Wilhelm in his bed before placing the sword next to him, it looked almost comical, the baby was only a fraction of the size of the weapon, but it was the best he could do.

"Wilhelm you don't deserve such a terrible life, I'm so sorry" He whispered quietly with tears in his eyes as he picked up a pillow. "The northern pagans believed a warrior couldn't get into Heaven without a sword in his hand, this is the best I can do," He finished positioning the pillow above the child. "You are my little warrior."

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, he was committed, he would happily go to hell to save his brother from having to live in it. He braced himself, he was going to do it, he'd end the boy's suffering.

Suddenly there was a noise by the door behind him and his eyes snapped open. Had someone seen him? He hastily turned around, dropping the pillow as he went and stared nervously towards the door. Through the gloom the eyes of another man peered back at him in surprise, the shadowy figure seemed to be carrying something. The two of them froze, unsure of how to react to their unexpected companion, until Ludwig heard a gurgling of a baby coming from the man's arms.

"Shit" The man exclaimed as Ludwig's eyes widened in surprise and behind him, baby Wilhelm began to cry.

xxxxxxx

May 5th Unified Year 1925

Temporary command centre of Prince Wilhelm's forces 05:00

The atmosphere in the command centre was tense, to say the least, the communication problems persisted, and they were now struggling to contact the forces within the city as well as western command. Even units in the city were having problems, with many only being able to communicate with the others closest to them. Visha couldn't help but feel slightly worried about the Major and the Prince, they'd been out of direct contact for some time now. She knew the Major would no doubt be fine but was worried about the lack of contact, the Major wouldn't like not having all the information and Visha worried without the Major's input they might miss something important.

They had heard reports from other units about their most recent position but had been unable to contact them themselves for some time. They'd also lost contact with Captain Hausmann and the Akitsushiman Lieutenant Tenkubashi, and none of the ground troops seemed to have seen them. Despite having most of the information about what was happening on the ground, they were struggling to pass it on to the officers that needed it, it felt like they'd been cut off.

The last orders they had received from the two commanders was to advance on the Ducal palace and supply depot, but the situation had started to change since then. The latest reports were that the Regent's forces were regrouping for a potential counterattack in the east of the city. Visha may not have been to the war college but she had enough experience on the battlefield to know they couldn't let this force go unchallenged. However, the Letzenbourg Captain that she'd been assigned to liaise with was adamant that they should follow the last orders they had been given until they heard differently.

"I don't know how you Imperials do it, but we Letzenbourgers follow the orders we are given!" The captain spat indignantly after she'd suggested sending forces to intercept them. She found herself sighing, she now understood how the Major felt when she saw one of her allies or subordinates doing something stupid.

"But Captain Lacan, we can't get in can't get in contact with the commanders, they'll be surrounded if the enemy counterattacks now!" Visha pleaded. She didn't like confrontation, but the Major would never forgive her if she didn't do everything she could to stop this man from making such a huge mistake.

"Major Degurechaff said to advance, we were told the Major's orders were the Prince's orders, I will not disobey his orders!" The man replied stubbornly before adding quietly, "Besides, I've heard the stories of what your Major does to people who don't follow orders!"

Visha sighed again, so that's what it was really about, sometimes the Major's reputation for being so strict could be a pain, she wasn't as bad as all that. If he'd known her even a little bit, he'd have realised she'd be way angrier at him for allowing the enemy to seize the initiative. She wished her commander were here right now, this guy outranked her, what could she do?

What would the Major do? She thought to herself considering the situation. Then it hit her, although the Captain outranked her, she didn't technically have to follow his orders. She was part of the Imperial army, whereas he was a Letzenbourger, they had a different chain of command, she could order a force out herself, couldn't she? She felt her confidence grow despite the nervousness of doing something like this, she was sure this is what the Major would do.

Then she felt herself deflate as she realised she'd be ordering Letzenbourgers, they could ignore her just like she was going to ignore the Captain. Plus, there were plenty of the field officers that outranked her too, there was no way they'd listen to her, she wasn't the Major. I guess I have no choice but to try and talk him round, She thought with a frown.

The conversation was like talking to a wall, no matter how much Visha pointed out the danger their troops were in, or how much she tried to assure him that both the Major and the prince would approve of the action. He flatly refused, while becoming increasingly more frustrated. It seemed like things were going nowhere while the man was becoming angrier and had now begun yelling.

"What is going on here?" Cut in a friendly, feminine voice from the doorway to the command post.

Both of them turned and to see Captain Sophia Zerbist peering into the room with a smile and polite interest. The rest of the support staff, who until now had been busying themselves and trying to ignore their bickering superiors, had now fallen silent and stared on with interest. Obviously, they felt the interjection of one of the prince's confidants, was going to break this stalemate, or at least make things more interesting.

"I came down to see if we'd heard from the Prince, I didn't expect to find such a heated debate, I thought most of the threats were neutralised." She said with a smile cocking her head.

Visha hadn't worked much with Captain Zerbist, the prince always seemed to be sending her on some sort of errand, but it was no secret amongst the battalion that he trusted her completely. She was beautiful and mysterious, and always seemed so confident and professional but despite that, she was friendly and always wore a cheerful smile. When she had been around, she always made a point to thank Visha for looking after the prince and offer to help out with her duties, Visha wished she'd had more time to get to know her. In many ways she reminded of her friend Eyra, maybe that's why she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of her, just like she had her friend.

Visha had always considered herself fairly plain and average, compared to all the pretty girls in the Empire she always felt like the ugly duckling from the East. Eyra had always laughed at her for that, once proclaiming her the prettiest girl in their class. Visha was sure she meant well but it wasn't much of a compliment when they were the only two girls in the class, and Eyra was far prettier than her. On top of that, she wasn't smart or talented like the Major or Eyra, so she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by a woman like Sophia Zerbist.

"I'm glad you're here captain, maybe you can talk some sense into Lieutenant Serabryakov, she wants us to disobey orders." The arrogant Letzenbourg man cut in before Visha could speak up.

Oh, Shoot! He got in first Visha thought to herself with disappointment, she'd hoped to gain some support from Sophia. She was sure she'd see things her way but if Captain Lacan made it seem like she was disobeying orders she might not listen to her.

"Really?" Said Sophia in surprise, "That doesn't sound like something someone the prince trusts so much would do, why don't you explain Lieutenant" She continued with her unwavering smile, and Captain Lacan began to look a little worried.

Yes, she's going to listen! She grinned in triumph while explaining the situation. She hadn't realised the prince thought so highly of her, no wonder she was always thanking her. As the woman listened, Visha saw the smile begin to fade from her face for the first time and it soon changed into an angry frown.

"You see, she wants us to…" The other captain began before he was cut off with a glare from Sophia.

"Captain Lacan, you are relieved, if you can't see the sense of Lieutenant Serabryakov's concern you don't deserve to wear a uniform." She began with a harsh tone that somehow didn't seem to fit with how Visha had always seen the older woman. The captain opened his mouth to protest but Sophia interrupted him once more.

"I'd resign now if I were you, the Prince is merciful, but I guarantee both myself and Major Degurechaff will be recommending a firing squad if you're still part of the army by the time they get back." She finished fixing him with a glare. The man went white and slunk away, a few moments later Captain Zerbist chuckled slightly and flashed a reassuring smile at Visha.

"The look on his face was priceless," She giggled heading to the map table, gesturing Visha to join her. "Honestly, every time I drop Major Degurechaff's name, it sends people into such a panic. How did such a cute girl develop such a fearsome reputation?" She grinned with a hint of mischief in her eyes before looking at the table and sighing slightly, "I suppose I should take over from that idiot, could you fill me in please?"

Visha nodded and explained to the captain the state of their forces around the city and the communication blackouts they'd been suffering. Then she went on to suggest where she thought they could pull some forces to break the counterattack, using the experience she gained while serving with the Major. She didn't want to seem too forward with her suggestions, she was sure the lady captain would know better than her what was best, but knew she was expected to make recommendations.

"Honestly, you seem to have it all under control, I should just leave you in charge!" Sophia said approvingly with her perpetual smile. "I see why Major Degurechaff relies on you so much."

"Erm…Thank you Captain" She replied blushing slightly, unused to such enthusiastic praise before they got to work trying to get the troops to move despite the communication problems.

Visha was actually enjoying working with the woman, the atmosphere had completely changed in the command post. Suddenly it felt more like they were sisters doing chores than soldiers organising an assault. Sophia also had lots of ideas about getting messages out to the troops they were struggling to contact. She sent a runner to the civilian telephone switchboard and they started using the citizen's phone lines to pass on messages where they could. She also started sending messengers down the sewer system, so they could use the passages to reduce the risk of being intercepted by enemy patrols. She also gathered a few 'contacts' that Visha thought were a little shady but seemed to think they could help deliver their communiqués.

Soon their work was interrupted by an excited radio operator, they'd finally got through to someone outside the city and they were asking to speak to the Major. Better still it was the rest of the pixie battalion, Visha could finally found out how the rest of her comrades were doing. They rushed over to the operator's station and Sophia gestured for Visha to take the receiver, quickly greeting her teammate.

"Visha, is that you? Where's the Major?" Neumann's voice crackled through the receiver and Visha felt relief that he was unharmed.

She quickly explained that the two commanders were out in the thick of it, so they were having a hard time getting in contact, before asking if they'd heard news of the reinforcements General von Hans had promised. The radio went quiet for what seemed like an eternity and for a moment Visha thought they'd lost contact again, but finally, Neumann's voice finally returned sounding unusually serious.

"That's what we wanted to speak to the Major about, no reinforcements are coming, we've been ordered to fall back and all friendly forces are to abandon Letzenbourg city" He reported glumly. "The orders are straight from the General staff, Prince Wilhelm is to evacuate immediately and meet up at western command, Colonel Rerugen is on his way from Berlun to collect him."

The room erupted with shouts of protests from the assembled Letzenbourg personnel. They screamed how they'd been betrayed by their ally and how they refused to surrender without a fight until Sophia snapped at them to be quiet before scowling at the radio as if it would somehow change the message.

Meanwhile, Visha stared at the receiver with disbelief at what she was hearing, they'd all worked so hard, there had been so many sacrifices, yet they were being told to abandon the city. They were so close to winning, anyone could see that it would have been over once the reinforcements arrived. But if the orders came from the General staff there really wasn't any arguing against it and with no reinforcements coming they wouldn't be able to hold out once the republic got here. She thought about the prince's impassioned speech and his broadcasts to the people of the city and felt tears reach the edges of her eyes. They were all counting on them, but it felt like they were betraying them instead.

"We also need to report that Republican forces are approaching the city, there aren't any mages yet but the first of their ground troops will reach the city within an hour or so. We're heading in to help you guys pull out" Neumann added.

The Major had said if the republican's got here first it'd be all over, it seemed that they had lost, they'd have to start a withdrawal soon if they wanted to get everyone out. Visha sighed heavily, she wished the Major was here, she knew she'd be doing the right thing ordering the retreat but she would feel better if she heard it from her.

"Get in contact with Western Command to confirm this now!" Sophia ordered the radio operator with an angry frown on her face before falling silent and crossing back to the map table. It was like a dark cloud had descended on the room and the tension that Captain Zerbist had so recently dispelled had returned tenfold.

"Is this your doing?" She heard Sophia whisper as she joined her back at the map table. The woman still wore an uncertain frown as she studied the map, it seemed odd to Visha to see the woman like that, she usually seemed so confident. Visha found herself shuffling uneasily, she knew what she had to ask but it felt cruel to ask someone to abandon their country.

"Erm…Captain" She began nervously but stopped when Sophia looked up at her sadly for a moment before forcing a smile.

"I know what you're going to say, but I can't do it, not without the prince's permission," She stated sadly.

"But…" She began to argue but was cut off immediately.

"Lieutenant Serabryakov let's step outside," She said striding out the door, obviously expecting her to follow.

Visha looked around the room and saw several of Letzenbourg personnel glaring at her with undisguised hostility. Until a little while ago they had been professional and friendly, now they looked at her as if she'd personally offended them. It looked like she was right, they were blaming the Empire for abandoning them and she was the only one around wearing an Imperial uniform. She felt her stomach tie in knots as she suddenly found herself the most hated person in the room and reluctantly followed the Captain out of the door.

She found Captain Zerbist leaning on a wall outside and staring up at the sky with a frown, her usually beautiful features seemed pained and sad. Visha knew Sophia wasn't stupid, she must see that they didn't have a chance if they stayed. Worse still they might end up endangering the civilians too, they had to get out before the republic's forces arrived. But at the same time, she knew if the situation were reversed, she wouldn't want to accept it either. They were silent for a few moments, Visha knew she had to persuade the Captain to evacuate, but she couldn't think of the words.

"You're asking them to abandon their home" Sophia began still staring up at the sky, "The Prince got everyone so fired up for this operation, he hoped if he stirred up enough support they'd just give up." She explained as Visha listened on unable to think of anything to add.

"They won't leave because the Imperial general staff says so, and they won't leave if I order them, they're far too riled up now," She continued closing her eyes and clenching her fists. "They'll only listen to that order from him, and even then…." She finished trailing off leaving the rest unsaid.

Visha could sympathise, she too had once been driven from her homeland. She was young when her family had fled the Russy Federation, but she remembered the pain-filled and humiliated looks of her parents as they were forced to flee the communists. When they told stories of the old country, the happy memories they shared always turned bitter at the end when the remembered being driven out. Now it was happening to the Letzenbourgers, Sophia shared the same look as her parents did.

"You know where Prince Wilhelm and Major Degurechaff were last sighted," Sophia said eventually, breaking the silence and shooting Visha a serious look. "I'd like you to go find them and let the prince know what's going on."

"Me? Shouldn't you or Miss Christina go?" Visha replied slightly flustered, she wasn't sure about abandoning her post and she didn't know if she could persuade the prince they had to retreat. The boy had seemed so determined to take back the city, he'd no doubt be heartbroken when he found out no reinforcements were coming.

"If we're going to retreat Christina will need to prepare a broadcast for the citizens, and I'll need to do everything I can here to prevent a mutiny" She began explaining with a sad but forced smile. "You better get going, we don't have much time," She finished before striding back into the command centre.

Visha rushed to grab her gear, Sophia had basically admitted they needed to retreat, but they needed the prince to do it. She had to find the officers and fast, even if the Prince refused to withdraw the Major could persuade him to, she was sure of it.

May 5th Unified Year 1925

The Skies above Letzenbourg city 05:00

I can't believe I was so sloppy! How'd I let this guy sneak up on me like this? Tanya chastised herself while dodging a hail of SMG fire. Sure, she had been busy dealing with the bratty colonel but that was no excuse. They were on the battlefield, it was no place to get complacent, if it had been one of her troops that had made this mistake, she'd have sent them back to be retrained, that she'd made such a basic blunder was just embarrassing.

Worse still it had been Wilhelm that had spotted him first, that just made it all the more shameful, weirdly though he'd reacted to get her clear. Despite having a gun against his head and being clearly shaken to see his subordinate's demise, he'd still managed to maintain more situational awareness than her. Maybe it was because of his paranoid streak, but if that were the case, why on earth hadn't he moved to save himself instead? He had said he didn't want to kill her, but she never would have expected that he'd put himself in danger in her place.

Not that she was complaining, of course, the blast seemed to have been aimed directly at her and she hadn't been using the type 95 so it could have caused some serious damage if it had hit. As it happened, his shove had enough force to knock her off the roof, she'd managed to quickly activate a barrier and flight formula and had essentially surfed the crest of the shockwave without too much trouble. As a result, she'd suffered nothing more than a bruising to her pride, which under the circumstances seemed to be a decent trade-off. Unfortunately, their attacker followed up almost immediately after, so she had no idea what had happened to Wilhelm.

She hoped he was alive, sure he could be a frustrating and irritating little brat, but she didn't like waste and she'd had seen a glimmer of something useful in him. Now she'd shown him that he couldn't get away with his crap, the General Staff might be able to use him for something. Besides if he's going to start doing things like taking incoming fire for me, it might not be the worst thing to have him around She thought before instantly wondering if she'd gone mad.

It probably wouldn't matter anyway, he had tried to hide it, but Wilhelm had been low on mana since the mission started. She'd been keeping an eye on him, she'd needed to if she was going to follow her orders to bring him back in one piece. She'd noticed he'd been doing everything he could to subtly conserve power, it was likely part of the reason he'd been avoiding combat where he could. Unfortunately, that meant when the blast hit, his barriers wouldn't have lasted long, he'd likely be out of commission. Depending on how much mana he had left at the time, she might end up needing a dustpan and brush to retrieve him.

That would cause her problems, there would definitely be questions asked and she didn't much like the idea of having to present the Emperor with what was left of his nephew in a small paper bag. She couldn't imagine it would be all that constructive to her career, even when dying you manage to cause me problems She complained inwardly. At least she wouldn't likely be trusted to babysit anymore VIP's on the front lines, that was something to look forward to.

She didn't have time to worry about that now, her attacker was all over her and was firing to control her movements and prevent her from gaining altitude, smart move She thought. Judging by how willing he'd been to blow up the building she and Wilhelm were on, and how indiscriminately he was firing to control her movements, he was obviously not concerned about collateral damage. He clearly wasn't holding back either and seemed to have no intention of letting her get away.

She hadn't gotten a good look at him yet, but she could see from his silhouette that he was using the bulkier Letzenbourg gear, that meant if she got above him, she'd gain the advantage. As far as she was aware only Wilhelm and his inner circle had modified the foreign gear to compete with the altitude imperial gear could manage and that was only because they had somehow managed to get hold of some type 97s. Those orbs were rare even amongst the imperial ranks, it was doubtful that this mage had anything that could compete.

Although she wouldn't ever be dumb enough to underestimate any aerial mage, she knew without being immodest, she was considered above average with her skill in air to air combat, her kill count and named status was proof of that. Although annoyingly her achievements with the type 95 had also boosted that reputation, she would have preferred if she could sponge out the credits she had attained with Being X's intervention. But overall, this meant she was usually reasonably confident about fighting another mage one on one.

This guy was fighting smart however, he'd taken the opportunity to ambush her and when that failed, he rightly judged he needed to keep her from gaining altitude if he wanted to stand a chance of dealing with her. If the situation had been reversed, she probably would have done the same, unfortunately for him, once she got into a better position the advantages afforded by her orb and gear would become apparent.

She had to be careful though, he was unusually fast for a mage not using the superior imperial orbs, which meant he was either an extremely skilled or powerful mage. Such people did exist she knew, the Navy often said that almost every member of the commonwealth's marine mages were particularly tough. That was why they had been so keen to have the 203rd conduct training exercises before they were shipped back here to the Rhine. Although the Allied Kingdom were no slouches when it came to computation orbs, the Empire was still the only power to master a dual-core, that the Commonwealth and republic mages could compete at all, spoke of their skill and power.

The mage was doing a good job of keeping her pinned to prevent her gaining altitude, but his strategy was flawed, if he was firing to limit her movement, he couldn't fire a decisive blow. So far very few of his shots had been aimed directly at her, if he had backup, she would be concerned about his friends taking advantage and she'd be forced to take more drastic measures. Since he was on his own, she just had to wait for him to reload, it still could be worth seeing if she could speed things along though.

She dived down towards the buildings below, safe in the knowledge that if the mage fired and caused any damage to people or property, he would be liable, not her. She darted around the corner of a street and used the short few seconds she was out of his sight to cast a few optical decoys. She took up a random position amongst them and had her whole formation of duplicates switch around in what would be quite an intricate manoeuvre if they had been real mages. Since he was trying to limit her altitude, she knew he'd be forced to fire at whichever decoy was highest in the formation, this meant she could increase her altitude as long as her whole group moved gradually upwards.

A burst of fire grazed the top of her shield, it seemed she'd underestimated him and he'd seen through the ruse, most of the mages in the Empire hadn't been able to see through her decoys, this guy is good She thought. She would have been impressed if he wasn't mocking her by putting a few dinks into her shell to show her he wasn't falling for it. She growled in frustration before taking a breath, it didn't matter, he still couldn't risk a kill shot without giving her the opportunity to outmanoeuvre him, and soon he'd need to reload. Most SMG's would have a maximum of 50 rounds per clip, and he was hardly being conservative. She didn't need to do anything drastic, her opportunity would come soon.

He fired another burst over her head, and she knew he'd need to change the magazine soon, that would be her chance. She spared a look over her shoulder as she increased her altitude to bait him to use some more ammunition and was rewarded with another salvo. As the last few shots sped over her, a few impacted against her shield with much more punch than she expected, the mage may not have been trying to be especially accurate, but he wasn't holding back on any of his shots. She'd been right to be cautious. She felt a grin creep up her face, the magazine was out of ammo and needed to reload, now it's my turn.

With a maneuver that she had been told looked graceful, but she simply considered efficient, she quickly rose upward while turning and raising her weapon to fire. Visibility was starting to get better as the eerie light of predawn began illuminating the cityscape, it was still far from perfect, but she'd be able to pick the enemy out without too much concern. She continued to increase her altitude as she looked down to where she calculated the mage would be, he wasn't there.

She hastily searched the sky wondering where he could be, she couldn't have fallen for a decoy, but where the hell was he? Instinct compelled her to snap her head upwards, somehow the mage had got ahead of her and instead of reloading, he had dropped a shrapnel grenade. She recognised the tactic, it was one of Wilhelm's favourites, drop a grenade with a short fuse so it exploded in the air, she supposed the other Letzenbourg mages must have been familiar with it too. How the hell did he get ahead of me? She thought as she veered sideways to avoid the explosive.

The mage charged while she was distracted by the grenade, smashing her back down. She grunted as she reached for her combat knife and swiped at the figure without hesitation. He reacted quickly, pulling back and Tanya's blow sliced through the air with a whoosh and she got a good look at her foe for the first time.

It was the little colonel armed with a submachine gun and solemn expression.

Wilhelm!? It can't be! She thought stunned before her survival instinct pulled her back to her senses and she moved to put some distance between them again while laying down some fire to make him back off. Wilhelm was an expert in close quarters, as much as she thought a sword saw obsolete in modern warfare, it was largely due to the fact he should never get close enough to use it. He was skilled enough with the blade, that if he did get close, she would be at a severe disadvantage, but she was confident that she would always beat him in a ranged fight. But why was he attacking now? And how was it possible when he had been on the roof with her?

The boy began reloading and projecting his voice while following her, she fired off a few shots, but he spun in the air, expertly dodging them.

"We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all evil powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects. In the Name and by the power of Our Lord" The boy began to intone, projecting his voice into the predawn sky.

Was he praying? That wasn't right, she'd never heard him pray before. Besides what idiot prays during a dogfight? Sure she did, but she didn't have a choice when she did it, the orb that Being X jinxed her with forced her to. She'd seen plenty of soldiers pray for Being X, or God as they referred to it, to help them on the battlefield, but they were cries for help. This guy was giving a sermon.

"May you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God, from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb." The boy continued his unnerving preaching as he clicked a new magazine into his submachine gun.

She glanced back at him again while lining up another shot. It definitely wasn't Wilhelm, where were his injuries? She'd felt his wrist snap in her hand, he shouldn't be able to wield a machine gun right now. This mage somehow seemed healthier and more muscular, whereas the Wilhelm she knew was scrawny, apparently because he barely ate or slept due to his paranoid streak. The fake Wilhelm was also wearing a flight suit instead of peacocking in his new uniform, but most tellingly he didn't have the sword, she knew Wilhelm would never be parted from that. Besides the bratty Colonel would never pray, it was one of his few good points.

"Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God's elect and sift them as wheat." Said the fake Wilhelm while firing another volley, Tanya span and returned fire and the boy ascended out of the line of fire once more.

What the hell is this?! Tanya screamed internally while dodging another hail of incoming fire from above. She'd heard that truth is stranger than fiction, but this situation was ridiculous! Being X must be involved somehow, it was the only explanation, this sort of thing simply didn't happen in the real world. It was like she'd stumbled into the plot of a rejected Shonen manga, any decent editor would have thrown out a story with such a trite turn of events in it and fired the idiot that came up with such drivel. Then again what else could she expect from a creature so obsessed with getting people to praise it, the fact that she was even in this universe's knock off World War proved the thing wasn't all that big on originality.

It was the oldest cliché in the book! She had somehow ended up fighting what seemed like Wilhelm's clone. She would have categorised him as his evil twin, but she was sure she would have heard if the brat had another brother. Besides, that would imply that the little colonel was the good twin and after the altercation on the roof, good was not even close to how Tanya would have described him. Although the little idiot did save her from the worst of the rooftop blast, so he wasn't all bad.

"The Most High God commands you, He with whom, in your great insolence, you still claim to be equal. God who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" The boy droned on suddenly speeding in front of her and peppering her barrier with another hail of fire.

How the hell is he so fast? She wondered, she shouldn't be struggling to keep up with him like this. The real Wilhelm had explained that the Letzenbourg gear allowed for greater manoeuvrability but that didn't explain how quickly this guy accelerated. The type 97 should easily allow her to outpace him but not only was he managing to keep up, but he was also somehow managing to overtake her.

It also seemed that she couldn't count on winning a battle of attrition, more speed required more mana to be poured into a computation orb, he wasn't trying to be conservative with that. He also wasn't pulling any punches with his penetration formulas, despite using a lot of firepower to limit her movements, every shot that had struck her barrier felt like an attempt to breakthrough. He was either trying to resolve this quickly or had a lot of power to spare.

"God the Father commands you. God's Word made flesh, commands you; He Who to save our race outdone through your envy, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death" The boy continued as Tanya once again veered upwards to try and gain altitude while firing again to keep the boy at a distance. The boy prevented her, however, as he fired an artillery spell that exploded in the air above her, driving her back down.

That praying is really getting on my nerves, She grumbled to herself as she prepared her own artillery spell, two could play at that game. Wait a second! I think recognise that prayer!

Tanya had never been religious, and until Being X had stuck her with the mind-altering type 95, she would have never considered praying, so usually, she wouldn't be able to tell one set of pointless chanting from another. In her old life, however, she had quite enjoyed horror movies, the sheer ridiculousness of the plots and the over the top gore, made for fine entertainment. To the salaryman, it had been like watching a comedy, although seeing the sort of gore portrayed in those movies bought to reality this new life had changed her perspective slightly. One such film she remembered was about a murderous demon that a priest exorcised. This prayer was the same rite of exorcism the priest used in the movie, it must have been the real deal.

"What the Hell! I'm not really a Devil!" She yelled at the fake colonel, but he didn't seem to care. The way they treat little girls in this world is far too cruel, it's an outrage! Once I'm out of this I'm going to sue for defamation!

She fired her artillery spell and she saw the boy veer away, obviously sensing the danger. She quickly rushed to gain altitude as the explosion distracted the Letzenbourger, once she got the height advantage, she could finally finish him. It didn't take long for him to recover, however, and he was soon following her, accelerating quickly in an attempt to overtake her again.

"He who has built His Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her, because He will dwell with Her all days even to the end of the world, The blood of the Martyrs and the pious intercession of all the Saints command you." The boy continued firing once again.

He didn't fire to limit her movements this time, her breakout had made that tactic unsustainable, this time the full barrage struck the rear of her barrier and to her horror, she felt it begin to waver. These shots had much more mana infused in them than she had expected, and she began to worry she wouldn't be able to gain enough altitude before he bought her protective shield down. She would have to act quickly.

She was almost at the limit of his maximum altitude, so far, he'd managed to keep her wrong-footed, but the tables were about to turn. She fired a cluster of shots, all packed with a small yield artillery spell. Usually, the plan would be to set these explosions off to reduce the enemy's visibility and create turbulent air to slow him down. That would probably be enough to slow him up enough to get her past his gear's limit, but she was getting fed up with this guy, so she poured extra mana into the spells for greater effect.

She saw the doppelganger enter the space just as the spells blew with a satisfying crack and watched the air fill with fire. Time seemed to slow as her opponent was engulfed in the detonations and for a moment, she dared to hope that her strategy would have finished him off. At the very least he'd have to direct less energy from speed and more to strengthen his protective barrier.

Unfortunately, the fake didn't just look like Wilhelm, he also had his penchant for acting completely contrary to any right-thinking person and erupted from the explosion at incredible speed. He looked like a meteorite entering the atmosphere, but in this case, he was heading up into the sky rather than falling from it. His flight suit was ablaze from the explosions but the speed in which he was traveling meant that the flames were already being blown out to reveal a singed but very much alive figure speeding towards her. Against all logical sense, he must have increased his speed, instead of strengthening his defences against the blast.

"Stop deceiving human creatures and pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation. Begone, Satan, inventor and master of all deceit, enemy of man's salvation." The boy continued his liturgy, his voice contained no emotion, it was almost like he was reading directly out of the scripture he'd gotten the ritual from.

Things were getting dicey, it looked like he might intercept her before she reached the limit of his gear. This guy was much more dangerous than she'd ever expected, and she found herself considering the unthinkable, she might have to use the type 95.

The thought sickened her, she feared the corrupting influence it had on her mind and the gaps it left in her memories. When she had used it during the 203rd's training she'd lost three whole days and when she'd used it during the rookies training mission to raid the republic trenches, she had no idea how she got back. She'd later found out she'd been singing a hymn and drawing enemy fire, it was scary how Being X could puppet her and remove her free will.

Maybe that influence is controllable She found herself thinking. If she just used it for a short burst, she could use it without falling under being X's control, right? Just a little bit, a tiny bit of power to deal with this guy and then she could cut it off. No, it's not worth the risk not yet at least, She rationalised, she'd almost started to sound like an addict craving her next fix for a moment, that wasn't her she was sure, the corruption was worse than she thought. She swore she would only use that thing if it was absolutely necessary, she wasn't in that much of a jam yet, was she?

Unbidden, her hand placed itself over her chest and her eyes closed themselves, she didn't know what was happening she had no control over herself. Her lips began to move, and she heard her own voice begin to speak aloud.

"O Lord, Grant thy protection, and in that protection, strength." She heard herself as her lips moved of their own volition.

No this can't be happening! I wasn't going to use it, She found herself thinking in a panic as she desperately tried to regain control of her own body.

"And in Strength, Understanding" She continued without her consent.

Being X, you Bastard! This hijacking! I never gave in, I wasn't going to use it. She screamed internally as she struggled against the corrupting influence of the relic. Was Being X's baleful influence so corrupting that just thinking about using that power could trigger such a hostile takeover? Or was this something to do with the fake speeding up towards her? She didn't know and probably never would, all she knew was that she had to escape being X's clutches before he made her do something she'd regret.

"And in understanding, knowle…." She heard herself begin but her efforts to resist were beginning to pay dividends. She began to feel control returning over her body and she quickly raised her weapon and levelled it at the approaching figure. It was too late, Being X's attempted kidnapping of her senses had bought the boy enough time to catch up.

The boy slammed a knee into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her before grasping her neck in one hand. He must have dropped his weapon as there was now no sign of it and she felt his other free hand rip open the front of her flight suit, pulling out the type 95 orb with it.

"I didn't know the Devil prayed to him too," The boy said while squeezing her throat. He sounded unsettlingly calm, there was no sound of anger or threat in his voice and although it was also devoid of joy it didn't seem emotionless. It was serene, as though he was staring out over a nice view or he was appreciating a particularly beautiful painting.

She found herself unable to breathe as he choked her and drew himself closer to her face. His eyes glowed a sickening golden colour as mana continued to surge through him, and the way he stared into her eyes felt like his gaze was staring into her very being. She'd never been keen on the phrase 'eyes that bore into your soul,' She was still a little uncomfortable accepting the existence of a soul, despite her reincarnation. But she could now understand what they meant when they said it, it felt like he was looking inside her somehow, like an X-ray. When she stared back at the boy, however, he felt empty, if souls really were a thing it felt like he didn't have one.

Tanya, struggled to free herself from his grip. He was too close to shoot with her gun and her pistol had been left on the rooftop. She reached for her knife again but found her strength waning as her vision began to darken due to lack of oxygen. A calm smile drew across the boy's face and he cocked his head slightly.

"Maybe that means you can be saved too!"

Authors notes

Hi everyone, as always thanks for reading.

I'm still not back at my week per update target, but in my defence, half of the next chapter is pretty much done as I had to take it off the end of this one as it was getting a bit too long and there was too many POV's for my liking. So hopefully next update will be soon.

I'll also be going back and revisiting the 1st few chapters soon so if you have any criticisms or suggestions for the earlier chapters please feel free to PM me.

Other things:

· Bit of a flashback to baby Wilhelm, this is only half of what I had planned for it, but I wanted to drop it in before Damian got into a fight. More will be revealed I promise.

· Ispagnian Flu is a reference to the Spanish flu, if you don't know what it is, it's pretty grim. According to some estimates, it killed more people than both world wars put together (50million total). In some places 1 in 5 people who caught it died. You literally turned blue as your lungs filled with your own bodily fluids and mast people drowned, it was truly horrible.

· Technically it's a few years early here but its AU so I figure I can get away with it.

· I'm not sure if I made Visha a little too timid in her bit, she usually comes across that way to me but then other times (especially when defending Tanya) she gets much more assertive so I may have gone a bit too much one way with her.

· Tanya's fight with Damian (Fake Wilhelm). It's been kinda difficult to strike the balance, he needed to be a threat, so I needed Tanya to struggle despite being Tanya. But he couldn't be anywhere close to on par with Mary, hence why he's speedy rather than OP strength. I also realised that I accidentally introduced a Being X infused guy before the cannon, I didn't really mean to do that, but he was already here, so I had o roll with it. It did make me realise that Tanya didn't actually beat the resurrected Anson Sue though, it was Visha, so that's my excuse why she had trouble with him.

Thank you all again for reading

Xanen