Preparations to Advance
40 Years after the Great War
Londinium
One of the most often overlooked aspects of the Great War was the profound effect it had on the technology of the age. Throughout the war, there were huge advances in engineering, aeronautics and countless other scientific fields. It would be no exaggeration to say much of the technology we have today would not exist if the war did not happen. Many of today's comforts were paid for by those who gave their lives on the fields of Europa.
It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention and the Great War brought the world many revolutionary breakthroughs, such as Operation Orb that advanced magical technology significantly and Project Ultra that created the computing machines that were able to break the Empire's codes.
In late May of 1925, however, the Empire had an invention born from another necessity, the necessity to pierce the Republic's near-impenetrable lines. It was here that the Empire proved how far ahead they were scientifically, with the advances they achieved in Rocketry. The very advance that made operation revolving door possible. – Andrew WTN Special Correspondent.
May 22nd Unified year 1925
Berlun
They say a thin line separates genius and madness, no being in the universe encapsulated that maxim more perfectly than Doctor Adelheid von Schugel. This didn't mean he wasn't a brilliant engineer, far from it, during her time working for the technology department it was often said that his genius was his only redeeming feature.
This was an appraisal that Tanya agreed with wholeheartedly, there was a reason he had been nicknamed the walking disaster by those who had worked with him after all. Tanya had dearly hoped that she would never have to work with him again, testing the mad scientist's devices had been terrifying enough but the barrage of verbal abuse that often came with it was infuriating. It had been bad enough that she had worked to get his project shut down and requested front line duty again. She'd reasoned that it would be safer, at least it would only be the enemy that would be trying to get her killed.
It wasn't that the good doctor's ideas were bad per se, in concept they were brilliant. Tanya wasn't the most technically minded individual but with the wealth of knowledge she had available from her past life, she knew that many of Schugel's ideas were years ahead of their time, perhaps even decades. The problem with the chief engineer was that he was obstinate, cantankerous and wouldn't accept that just because a theory can be proven on paper didn't mean it could work reliably in practice.
The development of the type 95 had proven that without a shadow of a doubt. She'd argued with him for months that the orb was unstable and had been blown up innumerable times for her trouble. Meanwhile, he did nothing but yell at her for being careless, while scheduling even more absurd tests that had no hope of success. He claimed that theoretically there was no reason that the orb should be unstable, he'd even shown her the equations to prove it, logically it must have been her fault that the project was failing. Except of course it wasn't.
All empirical evidence had shown that the orb was fundamentally flawed, ultimately the technology to make the orb stable did not exist. They had still been struggling with dual cores at the time, synchronising 4 was insanely more difficult by comparison, even a slight desynchronization was enough to overload the jewel turning its user into a fireball. If not for the safety measures, her life would have come to an abrupt end several times over during the testing. The truth was, the type 95 was too far ahead of its time. Everyone had tried to tell the doctor this, but he stubbornly refused to accept it, considering he was a scientist, he went to great lengths to ignore any evidence he didn't want to hear. Then, of course, Being X had to interfere.
Due to what the good doctor called 'a divine revelation,' she'd been forced to test the type 95 once again. Unfortunately, by this time Being X had completely brainwashed the already unstable scientist and somehow convinced the man that his experiment would work if only they had faith. In Tanya's opinion, any venture that required you to beg a would-be god for things to work the way you wanted, could hardly be called a scientific breakthrough but that was precisely what had happened. In order to survive, the type 95 required her to surrender her consciousness and praise the fake deity. The power was incredible, but it was humiliating to surrender her free will to that jerk, and worse still she later found that the effects didn't stop when she ceased using the thing, Being X was using it to corrupt her mind too.
It was because of these experiences that Tanya felt more than a little trepidation as she sat in a reception room of the Elenium Arms laboratory with Lieutenant Colonel Rerugen, waiting for the scientist to return to show them his latest creation. It was very rare that Tanya doubted the judgment of the General staff, but part of her couldn't help feeling that any plan that hinged on the efforts of doctor Schugel was a little ill-conceived. She did her best to hide her unease however, the new device had been commissioned by General Zettour, she knew he was a sensible man and surely wouldn't have demanded anything too crazy from the Doctor.
It seemed the information that she had gleaned from Major Ugar had been right on the money, she'd now been briefed on the full operation and her part in the upcoming battle. Her recent missions had indeed been to cover for the huge redeployment taking place across the Rhine and to make the enemy believe the Empire was preparing a desperate offensive in the wake of Arene and Letzenbourg. They'd even leaked false information through neutral countries that the Empire was in trouble and needed to end the war quickly. The bait had been laid at the Republic's feet, now they were just waiting for them to take it.
The next phase would be the tricky part and would need precise timing to pull off. They were going to blow the lines in the north and obliterate a sizable portion of the Republic's army, or at least throw them into disarray. At the same time, an armoured spearhead assisted by mages and mechanised infantry would breakthrough in the south and encircle the entire Rhine front, the republican Rhine army group would be cut off and destroyed. The Republican command wouldn't just sit and let this happen however, they needed to be dealt with first to disrupt the chain of command and prevent the Republic from countering them. That is where Tanya and the 203rd came in.
Tanya and a small team were being sent behind enemy lines to destroy three likely locations of the enemy regional command centre. With the chain of command disrupted, the confusion caused by the explosion and simultaneous assault from the south, the Republic would be unable to respond and would be utterly crushed. What she didn't yet know, however, was how they would penetrate so deep into enemy territory without being intercepted. Apparently, Doctor Schugel's new invention had something to do with it and her superiors thought it would be better to show her the device rather than simply explain it.
She had been more than a little alarmed when the doctor had interrupted her briefing with Lieutenant Colonel Rerugen, bursting through the door declaring, "What a glorious day that God has brought us together again!"
Glorious was not the word that Tanya would have used and invoking the name of god did little to calm the disconcerting feeling of relying on a device designed by a mind that was poisoned by Being X. Soon after, he practically dragged her and Rerugen to one of the Elenium Laboratories run by the military in Berlun, all the while praising the divine providence that had led to his latest breakthrough. If this wasn't annoying enough, as soon as they arrived, he deposited them in a waiting room and disappeared immediately afterwards. Did the man have no concept of basic manners? They hadn't even been offered a drink! She had been forced to abandon her coffee in strategic command and she would have preferred more caffeine before any extended interaction with Schugel.
She looked to Lieutenant Colonel Rerugen, hoping to see him similarly vexed by the Doctor but he sat impassively, quietly reading some files while they waited for the doctor's return. She could only conclude that he'd had dealings with the doctor before and knew they would just have to put up with his manic behaviour.
She let out a small sigh of frustration, she knew the Doctor well enough to know it was doubtful he would accept any responsibility for his ill manners, the man was a law unto himself and did more or less whatever he pleased, expecting everyone else to work around him. Unfortunately, many believed his 'genius' made up for these deficiencies and he was allowed to get away with it. He was like a certain diminutive colonel she knew, in that regard.
She found her hand move automatically to the silver hair clip keeping her hair safely and neatly in place at the back of her head as she thought of the boy. She would have preferred to use her old one, she wasn't used to the extra weight and it pulled on her hair making it slightly uncomfortable. Visha had insisted she wear it after finding out about the gift however, she said it was magnificent and suited her perfectly, her adjutant had practically begged her to try it on. She found herself unable to refuse her after the unpleasant feelings she'd experienced a few days before when she feared she had lost her on the Rhine. She had been listening to Visha prattle on about how good it looked when she received orders to meet the Lieutenant Colonel and was already on the train to Berlun before she realised she was still wearing it.
Not that she particularly disliked the accessory, the discomfort would likely fade if she wore it enough to become accustomed to the extra weight. She had been surprised but quite pleased to see it was emblazoned with the insignia of the Imperial knights, it made it look quite elegant in its own way. She had always been dimly aware that most of the other top students of the college wore the insignia in one way or another. Initially, she had assumed it was something that would be presented at graduation, it wasn't until later she found it was traditionally gifted by family members. She, of course, had no family and she couldn't exactly the nuns at the orphanage to buy it, they often didn't have enough money to feed themselves, let alone buy anything so frivolous. Buying it for herself also didn't seem quite right, and it was too much of an extravagance while she was on a captain's wage.
It wasn't even especially feminine, something she was quietly grateful for now she was stuck wearing it. Despite now living as a young girl for 11 years, she had not developed any interest in the adornments usually associated with her new biological sex. She still didn't feel especially comfortable wearing dresses or skirts and was thankful that the army provided uniforms with a unisex design so she didn't have to worry about being dressed up like a doll, as long as she stayed out of the way of the propaganda department at least.
The silver and ruby clip seemed styled almost like a medal, however, she supposed in a way it was a badge of honour. It was proof that she had been in the top of her class at the war college and she'd noticed that many of her peers habitually wore something to broadcast their success. Even Colonel Rerugen was wearing a small badge with the knight's insignia on his collar, and if she recalled correctly both Rudersdorf and Zettour wore rings with the same symbol. It seemed despite numerous other achievements, many still consider their accomplishments in the war college as one of the most important. She supposed it wasn't surprising, the Imperial War College was the envy of the world.
Due to her personal situation, she had ignored the tradition and eschewed the badge. It wasn't until she thought about it later, that she realised she was quite possibly the only one who did. That could be an oversight, people place a great deal of importance in tradition, the salaryman's life in japan held plenty of memories to prove that.
It was because of this, she found herself feeling slightly pleased about seeing the Insignia in the small box that it had been sent in. The only real problem with it was where it had come from. Much like with Schugel, she had hoped she wouldn't have anything to do with Wilhelm again, but like a cockroach, he kept coming back.
She'd calmed down enough that she didn't really hold all that much ill will against him, if anything part of her pitied him. His life seemed to be increasingly complicated in comparison to her own, although how much of that was his own fault, she couldn't be sure. She'd begun to think that this was the reason for his often-irrational behaviour, sure he'd proven to be reasonably competent, but he was struggling with the pressure. The Salaryman had seen people like him before, eventually, they'd break down and step out of a window. Being X was just bullying him, Wilhelm obviously didn't have her mental fortitude, eventually, he'd crack.
As long as she was far away from him when that happened, she didn't care. True she didn't really hate him but equally, she knew her life would be much easier if he wasn't around.
She'd been on near-constant deployment since that mess in Letzenbourg and upon her return to her new HQ, she had been surprised to find a number of gifts and a grovelling apology letter from the little colonel. She wasn't quite sure what his game was, perhaps his paranoia had healed along with his wounds and he was worried about his secret again, but at least he didn't seem to be trying to rope her into something this time. Unusually for him, he seemed to be doing the opposite, promising to do all he could to keep his distance for the moment aside from his efforts to make sure her career was unaffected by the loss of the city. He went on to ask her to accept the ornate hair clip as an apology for his actions and as a late graduation gift, before asking after the rest of the battalion.
She hadn't had time to answer the letter and didn't know whether she would even bother when she did find the time. She'd even considered throwing the gifts away but couldn't bring herself to let the coffee and chocolate go to waste and Visha had intervened with the hair clip. Besides he had sent gifts for the whole battalion, she couldn't send it all back, her troops could do with a morale boost and had earned a little treat after all their hard work, Wilhelm might as well foot the bill. Besides she could always send the hair clip back later.
She and the Rerugen rose as they finally heard the booming voice of Doctor Schugel approaching from back down the corridor, boasting animatedly about his new triumph of engineering. Apparently, someone else was being shown the new device, either that or the Doctor was so pleased with his achievement he was talking to himself, with Schugel it was difficult to tell.
"So your work on this V1 thing is why Project Shroud was pushed back?" A new and familiar voice cut in as two figures appeared in the doorway.
What the Hell! Does just thinking about you make you appear? Tanya complained internally, doing her best to keep the surprised annoyance from her face while wondering exactly how this constituted staying out of her way as much as possible. Wilhelm glanced over to her from the entranceway and began a greeting before falling into a stunned silence.
"T…Tanya?" he questioned in a quiet and confused tone as he began rubbing his wrist absently. Perhaps he hadn't been aware she was going to be here, she had become quite adept at spotting when the boy was faking and judging by the quick loss of colour in his face, he hadn't been expecting to see her. To his credit he recovered quickly, covering his shocked expression with an exaggerated bow before speaking again.
"Major Degurechaff, what an unexpected surprise, I was under the impression that you were still on the Rhine. I'm glad to see you are well," he greeted her more formally this time but still with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
Tanya stared at him with a slight look of suspicion for a few moments, why on earth was he here? Was he up to something again? Last she'd heard he was supposed to be in hot water with the brass, why exactly was he wandering around a top-secret imperial facility?
"Colonel," she said coldly, nodding slightly. "You look better than when I last saw you. I hadn't expected to find you here either," she finished with a questioning look, feeling a little cheered as she saw the boy squirm slightly under her gaze.
"Prince Wilhelm is a great patron of science!" Declared Doctor Schugel, raising his arms dramatically before the little colonel could offer any explanation. "It is with his generous contributions we have been able to continue funding a great many projects that would otherwise be lost! I thank God that there are visionaries like him, to counter the naysayers that would let a little thing like financing get in the way of scientific progress!"
Tanya ignored the Doctor's tirade, knowing it would be a few minutes before the man started making any sense again. Instead, she returned her glare to Wilhelm, she could at least count on him to give a coherent explanation, even if there was a good chance that it would be part of some deception. The boy shifted uncomfortably under her questioning gaze, he was still rubbing his wrist she noticed, it was the one she had snapped on the rooftops of Letzenbourg, but he didn't seem to realise he was doing it.
Wilhelm also looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable as the Doctor continued his rant, usually, she would expect a smug grin from him in this situation, the boy usually seemed to like when people sang his praises. Instead, he wore a slightly nervous smile and winced slightly at the Doctor's frequent mention of God. She remembered that Wilhelm also had a connection to Being X but unlike her, the mention of the deity obviously made him apprehensive enough that he was struggling to keep it from his expression. It seemed even Wilhelm's social grace was no match for the Doctor's Zealotry.
"I believe the Doctor is trying to say that I own a stake in Elenium Arms, and I've been invited for a tour," Wilhelm explained quietly as the Doctor continued his rant about certain narrow-minded moneymen obstructing God's will.
"I was under the impression that Elenium Arms was state-run and under the direct control of the military technology department," Tanya frowned in confusion looking to Lieutenant Colonel Rerugen for confirmation.
It had been when she was a test pilot at least, it was something she'd had mixed feelings about at the time. On the one hand, state-run institutions went against free-market principles, so it ran opposed to her ideal world view. On the other, she could understand why the military didn't want just anyone messing with this kind of stuff and it was slightly terrifying to think of what Schugel might create without proper oversight.
"Unfortunately, around the time you were working with Doctor Schugel, the Technology department developed a rather large budget deficit," Rerugen began explaining shooting a quick glance at the Doctor. "It was decided that certain trustworthy parties would be allowed to invest in some of the arms companies to relieve some of the burden. All are still overseen by the military of course."
It made sense Tanya supposed, the type 95 project had been massively over budget while she was testing, it had been one of the arguments Tanya had tried to use to get it shut down. As a relative of the Emperor, Wilhelm was probably considered trustworthy at the time. If only they knew what he was really like Tanya thought sardonically. It also explained how the boy had managed to get hold of so many of the Type 97's, no doubt Schugel would have been so pleased to keep his funding, he'd put them together himself. Still, it must have been pretty expensive, she wondered just how wealthy the brat really was.
"If you could show us to the V1s, Doctor," the Lieutenant Colonel added, putting the doctor back on track.
Cheering once again, the Doctor broke from his rant and ushered them out into the corridor before boasting once again how revolutionary and world-changing his new breakthrough would be. Tanya fell into the familiar routine of filtering out any useless information from the man's bluster and keeping an ear open for anything that might be useful. It had become a practised skill during her time working with the engineer and meant that she never had to give the man her full attention.
It was perhaps because of this, she noticed Wilhelm had fallen slightly behind. She turned her head, wondering what was keeping him and was surprised to see him smiling back at her, it seemed something had rekindled his confidence.
"It suits you," he said quietly before picking up his pace to rejoin the group.
Crap! Of course, he'd have to notice it, she thought resisting the urge to rip the trinket from her head. He'd obviously seen it and assumed she'd accepted it along with his apology, she just hoped he didn't take it as a licence to cause her problems again. She expected to see another of his smug smiles, along with a snarky comment but to her mild surprise, he said nothing more about it and instead asked Schugel some questions about his work, no doubt subtly designed to stroke the man's ego.
Soon they reached a pair of double doors with an armed guard stood outside. The guard saluted and began unlocking door but soon found himself the target of the doctor's ire for his failure to have it open for them. Tanya felt a pang of sympathy for the man, she too had been on the receiving end of the doctor's displeasure and knew how unreasonable the engineer could be. Unfortunately, the guard found himself bewildered by the unexpected abuse and ended up breaking the key in the lock.
"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong eh Doctor?" Wilhelm grinned, saving the guard from any more abuse for now.
"Surely Major Degurechaff hasn't poisoned you with such ludicrous thinking too?" the engineer exclaimed, looking genuinely hurt that his favourite benefactor might not be as insane as he was. Wilhelm returned the look with one of his sickly-sweet smiles and a slight chuckle.
"I just quite like the saying," he returned cheerfully. "You were the one who told me that proverb remember? You were complaining that one of your test pilots had said it when you showed me around the airfield a few years ago."
Tanya found herself raising an eyebrow, she recalled the boy quoting that phrase to her when they had first met. It struck her as odd at the time as nobody in this world seemed to recognise it, along with a few other phrases that she'd let slip from her past life over the years. Later, when she had found out that he too had been brought here by Being X, she had assumed it had been a phrase he'd picked up in his past life. Now it seemed he'd heard it indirectly from her, via Schugel before they had even met. As if sensing her confusion Wilhelm glanced over to her with a strange smile.
"It certainly rings true on the battlefield, doesn't it Major?"
"Blasphemy! That's pure confirmation bias! You must stop listening to cynics like Major Degurachaff," huffed the mad scientist, while Tanya marvelled at how the man could be so hypocritical and seemingly not notice. There's another famous saying about a pot and kettle that you should be aware of too, Doctor.
By now the beleaguered soldier had managed to force the door open and quietly stepped aside with another salute in an attempt to avoid any further trouble from the Doctor. Once again, the scientist ushered them through into a large room with a tall ceiling, within it were several objects that looked eerily like the missiles that had existed in her old world, although the salaryman had only ever seen them in movies so couldn't be totally sure. Tanya began to feel a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach.
"These are the future of warfare!" Schugel exclaimed excitedly, "they're acceleration booster rockets developed for incredibly quick long-range deployment. Code named, V1!"
"Using these, our recon units will fly too high to be intercepted and too fast to be pursued by planes or mages. You'll utilise the V1's to cross the enemy's defensive line and attack their HQ" Rerugen explained.
"You're going to put people inside those?" Questioned Wilhelm with an uncharacteristic hint of concern. "Couldn't you just load some explosives in there and take the enemy out at range?"
For once she and him seemed to be on the same wavelength, although it seemed odd to hear the little colonel suggesting a ranged attack seeing how his preferred weapon was a sword. Using them as unmanned explosives would be infinitely safer for her at least, she didn't exactly relish the idea of being strapped into a tube and launched at the enemy like an artillery shell, however, she knew she wouldn't have a choice. Rerugen wasn't the kind to joke around and his expression remained impassive, clearly, they meant to go through with this madness.
"Unfortunately, that won't be possible, the enemy HQ will no doubt be fortified, and we will need to be certain their chain of command is disrupted," the Lieutenant Colonel explained. "In order to be certain of that fact we will deploy Major Degurechaff's team, once they give the signal, you and the armoured spearhead will breakthrough in the south and begin the encirclement."
Wilhelm was leading the vanguard of Operation lock pick? How exactly had he managed that? It seems he must have been busy while he was licking his wounds, then again, she could hardly be surprised, she knew from bitter experience the lengths that the boy would go to, to get himself deployed at the front. Still, he wasn't a bad choice to lead the spearhead, she knew his preferred close quarters tactics were ideal for breaking through enemy positions and his presence on the battlefield tended to be good for the ground troops morale.
"Oh, so I won't get to try one of these? That's a shame," Wilhelm said with what Tanya could tell was faux disappointment as his concern melted away. It seemed he had no more qualms about the devices now he knew he wasn't going to be in one and he seemed infinitely more confident as a result.
"When did you even build all these?" Asked Tanya staring at the rockets with resigned dismay, she hadn't heard about anything like this being developed. If she had she was sure she would have advised against it.
"General Zettour requested their development relatively recently, we needed innovative equipment to break through heavily defended areas and strike the enemy's heart," Rerugen explained as Wilhelm made a show of listening to the Doctor babble about some revolutionary advance that had made it possible.
"And so, you called on a mad scientist, who somehow managed to create something that exceeded your expectations," Tanya stated dryly. She wondered if Being X had somehow had a hand in all this, it seemed a little convenient. She was expected to be strapped into a new invention, created by a mad scientist that had been corrupted by the fake deity, who worked for a company part-owned by a troublemaking brat that also had ties to the ethereal Being X. They say truth is stranger than fiction, but this is ridiculous.
"It's still in the initial testing phases, but this could change the way that we fight, it's fortunate we got these few prototypes built," replied Rerugen.
"It's not fortune, it's a miracle," the Doctor cut in, waving his arms excitedly and causing the little colonel to jump back in surprise. "These V1s are truly a blessing from God! Just look at them, those huge boosters contain 5 specially made engines that run on hydrogen fuel. There's never been anything like them before." Schugel finished reverently.
"Hydrogen? Like that Zeppelin that exploded?" Wilhelm asked innocently while shooting a mischievous smile at Tanya. The boy had no doubt picked up on her own misgivings about the rockets and was endeavouring to make her feel worse about her situation, she wouldn't let herself be baited however, so ignored him. The Scientist also seemed not to have heard him, the question was likely too close to criticism for him so the madman's mental filter would no doubt have blocked it from his mind.
"That's great an' all, but how are we supposed to adjust their speed and direction? Do these rockets come with a flight yoke or steering wheel or what?" Tanya asked without all that much enthusiasm. If she was to have any hope of succeeding in using these things without bursting into flames, she needed to know how to work them at least but that didn't mean she expected to enjoy it.
"Of course not! There's no need for such clutter in there!" Exclaimed the scientist, sounding slightly insulted by the question. "Just make sure you launch in the right direction, then all you have to do is sit back and fly right into your target."
Tanya felt her eye twitch as a wave of stunned disbelief washed over her. This was getting better and better, they literally were being fired at the enemy with no navigational control over rockets whatsoever. She knew she was no longer hiding her feelings of dismay from her face anymore, a feeling that was made all the worse by Wilhelm who was struggling to cover his snickering with a sudden 'coughing fit' in the corner. Her expression had not gone unnoticed by the Doctor however as he turned and regarded her thoughtfully.
"Hmm? That look on your face, you're a clever one, I bet you're worried that these vessels might be too heavy right?" Asked Schugel, as usual completely missing any of her true fears about the project. He clearly didn't understand that no sane person would want to be placed in a tube filled with a highly flammable liquid and shot into the sky without even an iota of control.
"Never fear, I've thought of everything," he continued raising his hands theatrically. "The used fuel tanks for the boosters can be jettisoned immediately after they're spent. By lightening the weight, the V1's top speed will be even higher! Sending you rocketing through the sky!"
Tanya could feel herself getting airsick just from the thought, although it could have been the feeling of dread that had been growing in the pit of her stomach since seeing the doctor.
"Its final velocity will surpass Mach 1.5," the scientist continued, un-phased by her complete lack of enthusiasm. "Congratulations, you're going to be the first humans to break the sound barrier. This is truly monumental, a scientific victory!"
I couldn't care less about being in the record books! She complained feeling her eye twitching again. She looked to Rerugen for help, but again the man's face remained serious, it seemed the military was completely taken in by Schugel and was committed to this insanity.
"Question," Tanya cut in raising her hand. "Have you factored in the additional drag and shockwaves that'll be caused by breaking the sound barrier?" She asked remembering some of her lessons on aeronautics she had learned during her academy days. Truthfully, she was hoping that the engineer had somehow not considered it so they could call the whole thing off, but she doubted she was that lucky.
"Oh, I believe a little turbulence is something you mages can easily manage with your protective shells," the doctor replied confidently confirming to her that there was no getting out of it. "Your men are supposed to be elites, it would be embarrassing if you couldn't handle it."
"I think he means he has great faith in you," Rerugen added diplomatically before moving to confirm some details with the doctor, leaving her staring at the death-trap she was going to be lumbered with.
"Yea I can't wait to be blasted into space," she grumbled sarcastically to herself as a still chuckling Wilhelm sidled up to her. She groaned inwardly, she really didn't want to put up with his antics today as well as Schugel.
"I wouldn't worry, the General staff wouldn't use them if they didn't believe they worked," the boy said with a grin. "And if it doesn't work out, I'll see to it the Doctor tests the next prototype himself."
She doubted even Wilhelm could manage that, but it was a strangely supportive sentiment to come from the boy. She glared at him with suspicion, he was being nice, by his standards at least,she couldn't help but feel that he was up to something.
"I'll be counting on you," he continued looking back at one of the rockets with a serious expression. "The spearhead is striking part of the Maginette line, it won't have been undermined with explosives, so it'll be in one piece when we attack. If you fail, that's where they'll counterattack, so my attack will probably bounce off if the enemy command isn't disrupted."
At least there's a silver lining if it all goes wrong, she grinned sardonically. That explained why he was being friendly at least, he was obviously worried about his own skin. Still, she'd learned something new, the breakthrough was attacking where the enemy was strongest. It seemed the General staff wanted to neutralise any chance of the enemy recovering, if they were to reorganise and mount any sort of counterattack, it would definitely originate where they were strongest and most dug in. Striking the Maginette line with the breakthrough force would prevent this, but they would have to act quickly in order to make sure the encirclement would be completed, if any of the enemy command survived to send reinforcements, the whole operation could fail.
"It's a good thing we're being deployed separately, it would be bad for you to be close to me for the moment," the boy said eventually before turning to leave and Tanya's eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked quickly. If he was up to something again, she needed to be sure he wasn't going to do something that would cause her or the operation any trouble. He stopped and stared at her for a moment and saw the tiredness in his eyes, he clearly wasn't looking after himself again, not that it was her business anymore of course. He bit his lower lip and looked like he was considering something for a moment.
"I'm not exactly very popular right now," he said slowly before drawing his sword and frowning at the blade. She wasn't so sure she believed him, the fact he had been assigned to a mission at all was more than a little fishy, there was more to this than he was letting on.
"Looks like I've got a lot of work to do," he said eventually before returning the sword to its scabbard while frowning pensively. "I do have some important business with you regarding a member of your battalion while I'm here."
Tanya raised a questioning eyebrow, what could he possibly want with one of her soldiers? He'd always got on well with the 203rd while he was deployed with them, for a while she'd even been worried he might try to turn them against her.
"It seems one of your men has been in regular contact with a member of my staff," he began seriously before breaking into an amused grin.
"Tell Wiess that he'll have to try a little harder than love letters if he wants to win over Christina."
XxxxxxxX
Captain Sophie Zerbist knelt before the ornate altar of St Hedwig's Cathedral and prayed while she waited for one of her contacts from within the Abwehr. The church was an ideal place for clandestine meetings, it was public enough that none of those gathered would fear a double-cross and quiet enough that any information could be shared without too much risk. So far, she had met with a few other contacts within both military intelligence and ministry of internal security, in an attempt to find out exactly how loyal they were to their overall superior, Vice Admiral Canaris of the Abwehr.
She wasn't an especially pious woman, but she had always believed in God, how could she not when she worked for someone they called the Saint? For her and her sister, the boy had more than lived up to his moniker with his actions to help and support them over the years and with the intelligence and charm he inspires those around him to push past their worries and fears, even as he battled against his own. What else could he be, but a gift from God? It was for him that she prayed, she was worried.
Since Arene, everything had fallen apart for the boy. The shock of the massacre, however legal it claimed to be, had been enough to shake the boy to his core. What other explanation could there be for him trying to take responsibility for the bloodbath? Soon after, his brother had proven the prince's suspicions of treachery correct and turned his back on the Empire, plunging their home into civil war. The timing couldn't have been worse but at least the prince had been prepared for that eventuality, he'd suspected Ludwig believed the Empire wanted to overthrow him and that was partly why his brother wanted the boy dead. She knew the prince had hoped to never fight his own people and had worked hard to try and persuade as many as possible to stand against Ludwig.
Then it had gone wrong for him again, despite the support he gained, the imperial reinforcements had never arrived, Canaris had seen to that. Letzenbourg city had fallen to the Republic and the prince had seen Captain Dietrich Hausmann die in front of his eyes. These two tragedies had affected the boy far more profoundly than he would ever admit, even to her and Christina. Publicly he had vowed that he wouldn't return to the city until the war was over but privately, he had already admitted to them that he never wanted to go back, he feared the people would demonise him for abandoning them.
The loss of Hausmann had hit him hard too, much harder than any of them had expected. They had suffered losses in the volunteers before, it was inevitable in war, but the prince had always accepted them with the resigned sadness expected of an officer. Hausmann was different, however, he was one of the few the prince had begun to trust and for her and her sister one of the few they knew they could trust the prince with. The loss seemed to have hurt the boy much more than his physical injuries had.
She felt a twinge of sadness and mouthed another silent prayer as she thought of Hausmann, she had been the one to recruit him into the Letzenbourg volunteers and felt what she knew was an irrational feeling of guilt for his loss. At the time Letzenbourg had no mages working within the military, she had been helping test for potential recruits from the small country with little success. She'd met Dietrich in a small beerhall near the imperial border, he'd fallen on hard times having lost almost everything in the market crash of 1918 and had been unable to recover. He and his family had been on the verge of losing their home and he felt great shame at being unable to provide for them.
She'd felt sorry for him, but the unexpected meeting was a great stroke of luck for both of them, he was an ex imperial mage who had left the empire after his conscription was over. After his misfortunes, he had been on his way back in the hope of being allowed to reenlist so he could support his family. During his service he had become a second lieutenant and had led a platoon in his service before the war, he was an ideal candidate to bring into the prince's new mage wing and had snapped up the position. All the man had ever asked was that his family be provided for and that his son receive a good education, in the hope that he would never be put into the same situation as he had been in.
Hausmann proved himself to be dutiful and hardworking, he may not have been as strategically or tactically savvy as some of his contemporaries, but his loyalty and resolute attitude had impressed the little prince. So much so, that the prince quickly chose him as his deputy, as both she and her sister had other duties to attend to, so it was a relief to have someone else the boy could count on. He'd even considered including him in his scheme to get shot down and rescued by the 203rd, but in the end, there hadn't been time to brief him. She still felt bad that the captain had carried around the guilt of allowing his superior to be captured, especially since she had been the one to pull the trigger. She'd never asked the prince how he felt about it.
She didn't think that the prince realised how much Hausmann had meant to him until he was gone, and now he felt personally responsible for his death and the loss of Letzenbourg. The boy wouldn't accept that he had done everything he could to prevent it, even after he had pushed himself so far that his little body was left broken.
Unbidden, the memory of Major Degurechaff carrying the broken and bloody form of the prince into the Letzenbourg command centre forced its way into her mind and she experienced a measure of the panic and fear that she had felt that day. The room had fallen silent as the major entered with the unmoving boy in her arms. Nobody dared move, everyone had thought the boy was dead and she remembered feeling tears form in her eyes as her heart had filled with despair.
Fortunately, the feelings of sorrow were quickly dispelled as the girl barked orders to get a medic while complaining angrily about their inaction. He was alive! They all had so much to thank Major Degurechaff for, even the usually prickly Christina had softened towards her after the prince told them how hard she had fought to retrieve him after they were separated by a powerful mage's attack.
The Prince may have felt responsible, but he was in no doubt as to who had caused the disaster that had befallen him, and she was in complete agreement. He had vowed swift revenge on Canaris and was putting himself in the dangerous position of defying some of the Empire's most powerful to achieve it. She knew the boy well enough that he would never back down, so she had decided to do everything she could to help him, just as she always had. She felt she had to, she had known Canaris couldn't be trusted but she had done nothing as the prince formed his secret alliance, she should have tried harder to dissuade the boy from placing so much trust in him.
What infuriated her more was that Canaris had persuaded most of the high command that the loss of Letzenbourg was the prince's fault. They hadn't been there! They hadn't seen how hard they'd all fought and how close they had been to success before the treacherous admiral had snatched it away from them and handed the city to the enemy. They were trying to punish an injured child, who was far more talented than any of those old bureaucrats, all the while forcing him to create a puppet government to take everything away from him. Worse still, Canaris's actions had driven him from his home and made him feel unable to return, even if they did retake the city. She swore the man would pay for what he had done.
She was broken from her contemplation by the sound of the large oak door of the church creaking open and quiet footsteps gradually increasing in volume as they approached. Soon after, she sensed another entity arrive at the altar and kneel next to her. She smiled inwardly and resisted the urge to glance to her visitor, she knew who it was anyway but in this sort of game, it was polite to act like you didn't. Instead, she looked up at the large golden statue of St Hedwig framed in an ornate arch with crimson curtains behind it. The statue held a large bejeweled cross and the face stared back down at her with a serene smile while the sound of the choir practising echoed softly around the chamber.
"They don't make saints like they used to," the figure whispered quietly.
"No, now they are better," she answered uttering the code phrase. The figure quickly reached into their pocket and slid a folder in front of her before getting up and walking away. She grasped the folder carefully and waited until the sound of footsteps faded away, before rising herself and crossing over to one of the pews on the far side of the chapel. Gingerly she opened the folder and studied its contents with a slight smile. It was a list of high ranking Abwehr agents that it was said had grievances against the Admiral.
As she and the Prince had suspected, the spymaster had developed quite a few enemies within his own organisation and those it supervised. She knew from her brief sojourn with the Abwehr, while the prince was studying in the War college, that the Vice-admiral was not pleasant to work for. He was a control freak and allowed very little autonomy within the organisations he supervised. He guarded the information he obtained as if his life depended on it, demanding all information pass either through him or a select few members of the organisation before deciding whether it would ultimately be shared with the relevant government departments. Even Military Intelligence had to seek his approval before sharing with the General staff and it was rumoured that this policy had led to the failure to predict the François surprise attack that had opened the second front.
She knew from her own dealings with him, that he often used the information that came into his possession for his own interests. Aside from using his knowledge to control and blackmail several members of the Diet and Government, an operation she had been part of, he also used his power for more personal pleasures. He'd had trysts with several women who had no choice but to comply with his wishes if they didn't want their secrets getting out, all under the nose of his own wife. Even some of his agents hadn't been safe, she herself had felt his eyes on her and it made her skin crawl, he reminded her of the handsy butler all those years ago.
Additionally, he was incredibly adept at 'persuading' others to accept the blame for his managemental failures, leaving many senior agents fearing for their futures. Meanwhile, others were arbitrarily punished for failing to spot patterns in the files, despite Canaris's own procedures preventing them from seeing the whole picture. All this, and with the fears that the Allied Kingdom had infiltrated the Abwehr, meant that many wished for a change in leadership. Unfortunately, the Admiral was trusted by both the Chancellor and the Emperor, so it was unlikely to happen, at least not yet.
Suddenly she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she felt the presence of someone sitting on the pew directly behind her. She hadn't heard anyone else enter, or even approach, how had they stayed hidden? How long had they been there?
"It's peaceful in here, isn't it?" a calm male voice said softly.
It's Canaris! Thought Sophia with a hint of panic, he'd found her already. She had expected him to pick up on her poking around, but she hadn't expected to be found out so quickly. He must have had her under surveillance, it was hardly surprising considering how determined he seemed to be to bring the prince down. She pushed down her momentary panic, calm down, this is exactly what we planned she thought stuffing the folder into a pocket.
"I wouldn't worry about hiding that, I already know who's on that list," the man said confidently. "It's been a while, Sophia, it seems you've gotten as sloppy as your master of late," he finished with a slight hint of disapproval.
She bit back a retort at the insult to her and the prince and focussed on calming herself down, they'd expected him to make contact sooner or later. The Prince was being stubborn and causing problems for the spymaster in the High command while doing his best to win over the Public and the General Staff. Meanwhile, she had been poking around in Abwehr business and compiling a list of enemies in a much less subtle way than she would have preferred. All this was designed to force the Admiral to act.
"You were much better when you last worked for me, you should come back, I'd love to have you around the office again," he continued.
I bet you would, bastard! She thought through gritted teeth, feeling her anger boil in her stomach. She felt like she would need a shower just from the few words the man had shared with her. She wanted to draw her pistol and shoot the man where he sat, screaming that she had never worked for him. She'd always been working for the prince, she had requested to train with the intelligence services while he was at college, her allegiance had never wavered. Shooting him would get her nowhere however, even if it would be tremendously satisfying. He was too high profile for them to cover up his death, she'd be arrested for murder and even the prince's influence wouldn't save her from the consequences. She swallowed her anger, she was doing this for the prince and if all went well, they would destroy this filthy old man.
"I already have an employer, Sir," she replied levelly. "What can I do for you, Admiral?"
She heard the man huff, obviously annoyed at her flat dismissal and she couldn't help but feel a small piece of satisfaction at not letting him get his own way.
"It seems your master is having you cause trouble for me here too, it would be safer for you if you stopped this now," the admiral said darkly.
Sophia felt her lips start to tighten into a grin, threats Friedrich? Have we got you worried? It looked like the plan was working, still, it was a little strange that the admiral had come himself rather than send one of his goons. Perhaps there were more than those on the list that Canaris didn't trust.
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," she said using all her willpower to keep the amusement from her voice. She obviously wasn't going to admit to anything, even if he had seen the list. It seemed they'd rattled the admiral, and much more efficiently than they could have ever hoped.
"Of course you don't" he began with an annoyed sigh, "if you did, you'd obviously back down, wouldn't you?" He finished with an implied threat.
"That would depend entirely on the will of my employer," she answered bluntly.
"Yes, your employer," the man sighed again. "It seems he's managed to curry favour with the General staff. I understand he is going to be leading the vanguard, I'm sure he'll enjoy that."
She hid another smile, the General staff were another organisation Canaris had little control over, at least in wartime. The man must be livid that the prince was using their goodwill against him, if there were a great defeat, Canaris could turn the high command against them, but the Admiral had lost that chance when he covered for them after the loss of Letzenbourg. Is Prince Wilhelm annoying you Admiral? Better get used to it, she thought spitefully.
"It would be better if he would resign now, but in deference to the General Staff's decision, I see no reason why he can't do it after the operation is complete." He continued with slight annoyance.
"Again, that would depend entirely on the will of my employer," she repeated struggling to keep the satisfaction from her voice. She hadn't turned to face the man during the entire conversation, but she was almost certain his face would be priceless by now.
The Admiral was silent for a few moments and suddenly so was the church, the choir had stopped and had begun filing out of the church. She felt her nerves rise as she realised they would soon be left alone, he could kill her now without witnesses. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing, don't panic she thought, he's too high profile to commit his own murders without causing himself major problems, I'm not that much of a threat, that he'd risk that yet.
As she finished the thought, she heard the click of the hammer of a revolver being readied to fire. She felt another wave of panic as she felt her hair yanked backwards smashing her head painfully against the wooden pew and Canaris's face and gun filled her vision.
"I'm done playing games with you and that impudent child!" The man snarled spitting slightly on her face, "I know full well he's not the innocent little cherub he pretends to be."
"Please stop" Sophia winced, risking a glance across to the altar.
"This is a warning" he began angrily, "for the good of the Empire you are to stop your snooping and the prince is to resign and surrender full control of Letzenbourg to the High command. He can have his moment of heroism and then he will stay away from Berlun!"
"If you know what he's like, you know he won't do that," she replied, trying to struggle free. The Admiral yanked her back again and stared at her menacingly.
"If he doesn't start doing what he's told, I'll take something important from him" he warned darkly.
With that he let her go and began marching away. She turned and watched him leave while massaging her head, once he was sure he was well out of earshot she turned and nodded towards the altar. The curtain behind the golden statue opened and Christina emerged with a frown and a rifle in hand.
"You had me worried for a moment, I thought we'd have to use plan B," her sister said with a hint of concern. "Are you sure you want to do this? He said we could find another way."
"It's fine" Sophia smiled back reassuringly, "I know you and the prince would never let anything happen to me."
They both glanced back at the door and Sophia frowned thoughtfully. The prince had been right, Canaris couldn't act against him directly, so he would go after those closest to him, that meant either her or her sister. Since Canaris seemed to have an interest in her, Sophia was the most likely target and that is what they had planned for. They still needed a way to get a few things into Canaris's home however, she had some ideas about that but with the Admiral already making threats they would need to work quickly.
"We should head back, the prince will have finished his meeting soon. I can run you a bath when we get back" said Christina, reading her mind.
"Oh? I thought you wanted to get back for the mail?" she asked innocently earning a glare from her bespectacled sister.
"Fine run your own bath," her older sister replied stalking away. Sophia chuckled to herself as she followed her out, her sister was so easy to tease. As she reached the door she paused and found herself turning to look at the altar one more time. She couldn't help but worry that something would go wrong again. We've done all we can, for now, she thought, all we can do now is pray.
Authors Notes
Hi all and thank you as always for reading.
I'm sorry updates are a little more sporadic now, but I'm trying to keep with longer chapters, and I can't get away with sneakily writing at work any more lol. I'm still trying to keep to a chapter about every 2 weeks and aim for 8000-9000ish words, hopefully, the length is ok for everyone.
I enjoyed writing Schugel in this chapter, although I wonder if he comes across as more of an asshole in my story than in the canon. I also got to reveal a few little extras about other characters and give Hausmann a bit of a backstory (even though he's been dead for 5 chapters).
In a review it was asked:
A question: Neither Tanya or Wilhelm read Ludwig's letter, only the title of it correct?
And about regent... Sure, Wilhelm is too young to be crowned... but is there any rules stating how old the regent has to be? it's the quick way to the rear lines for Tanya and will further spark the rumours of them liking each other... While to them it might seem like a way to have a sway over each other.. plus, it seems the kind of loophole that both of them love to use!
I answered in a PM but I know the notification is still broken and I thought others might wonder the same so I'll answer here too:
Tanya didn't see the contents of Ludwig's letter (aside from the title) but Wilhelm did. However, Will thinks of it as his hated brother making fun of him, hence why he says: "He knew I wasn't the real one, I'm sure of it, still the bastard managed to mock me one more time before the end."
Neither one knows that the switch never happened. Sorry if that wasn't very clear :S.
As for the Regency, I'm basing it off of what I can find about the laws for it in our Europe. Mostly it seems to be you need to be 18 and mentally/physically fit to rule without a regent (It might be 16 in some countries but don't quote me on that). So, unfortunately, Tanya is also too young too. Which may seem a little strange, given that she is allowed to fight in a war, but the rules are a bit weird at times anyway. I mean they are very strict about not letting her have alcohol for instance, which is a bit silly when you see what else they expect her to do.
Besides, if she gets to be regent she won't get sent to beat up communists and meet Mary, I can't let her miss that :p.
Again, thank you for reading.
Xanen