Infinite Stratos Plot Bunnies Collection
Chapter 9: Infinite Stratos x Schwarzemarken Challenge
AN: I had watched Schwarzemarken during the Winter 2016 anime season and I have got to say it was definitely one of my most favorite mecha anime of the year. It was the best military anime I have seen in a while and a realistic considering the setting of East Germany. While I couldn't get myself into the Muv-Luv: Total Eclipse after the third episode (as I was disappointed how quickly the story and plot quickly degenerated into a bland harem anime after the amazing first impression of a first episode with little to no development in story with any relevant importance to humanity's desperate war of survival against the invading BETA aliens) I was attracted to the more serious, dire, and desperate grim plot and story of Schwarzemarken taking place in the Muv-Luv world in the earliest years of the BETA invasion in 1983 German Democratic Republic (commonly known as East Germany). Theodor Eberbach is just a better protagonist than that constant bitchy self-hating Muv Luv protagonist Yuuya Bridges whom I just couldn't stand his hatred of his half Japanese side. Just loved the opening, the characters were compelling and their developments important enough that you become attached to them considering the stakes and challenges they faced.
The setting and the factions in the story peaked my interest in East Germany especially since the story is from the perspective of the elite Tactical Surface Fighter pilots of the GDR's 666th TSF Squadron Schwarzesmarken. Schwarzesmarken is an elite special forces unit of the NVA (Nationale Volksarmee; translation: People's National Army) whose mission is laserjagd (meaning "laser hunt" in German), the eradication of the BETA's laser, which is central to the GDR's Combat Doctrine and survival in the face of the BETA onslaught and slow advance into the GDR. The ending of each episode always had me in suspense as I couldn't wait until next week for to see what happens next. I came to love the main cast characters of the Schwarzemarken, but I absolute despise that horrible bitch Lise Hohenstein; anyone who seen the anime knows why she deserves all the hatred she's garnered from the anime fans, especially after she killed the squadron's older sister figure Pham Thi Lan. I could never forgive her for that. BTW love the GDR's national anthem Auferstanden aus Ruinen, it is way superior in that it is patriotic, powerful, beautiful, touching, heartfelt and enduring. I feel like it speaks to the heart and soul of the German people more than Deutschlandlied ever could. Listening the anthem made me care for the GDR in the Schwarzemarken anime as many of the characters eventually fought the Stasi so that they could make East Germany a better place and give it a better future.
I proposed this kind of crossover as it hasn't been done before and I haven't come across a lot of dark themed IS fanfics that has Ichika tackle grim dark issues and aspects of fighting battles, let alone a war. Especially a setting that has a lot of blood, suffering, and despairing grim darkness as Schwarzemarken. As the setting of Schwarzemarken takes place in East Germany, naturally the advantage in such an environment goes to ISA's resident supersoldier and Germany's IS Representative Candidate Laura Bodewig over any of the other girls in the IS harem. Even though I ship is Ichika x Houki, even I have to admit that Laura is the only practical choice in such a crossover fanfic between IS and Schwarzemarken as she was raised and trained in the German Army. She has a far higher chance of surviving (or lasting longer) in the 1983 East Germany being invaded by the BETA aliens and Stasi agents, soldiers, and informants all lurking in every shadow and corner compared to all the other girls in Ichka's harem who would no doubt all die gruesome deaths by the BETA. But that doesn't mean Ichika would only have Laura as his only love interest, not when there are many female characters on Schwarzemarken side that he can be paired with.
Plot Premise:
Ichika and Laura get caught in the blast of a powerful explosion from the Silver Gosphel's last ditch suicide attack on the Byakushiki, the two disappearing within the flash of the explosion that sends them into the world of Muv Luv during the Schwarzemarken story. It isn't long before they discover that they are no longer in the Pacific a few distance away from Japan but in Germany, more specifically East Germany in the year 1983. Being sent to a Cold War era time period would the least of their worries when they finally do encounter the menacing alien species that is invading Earth, the dreadfully feared BETA. Ichika and Laura would learn early on that their Infinite Stratos are largely useless in combating the BETA threat and more so if they try to fight the BETA in close quarters combat, which is extremely suicidal (AN: Anyone who sawSchwarzesmarken anime and the first episode of Muv Luv: Total Eclipse anime would know why). Plus both of their IS units' energy was mostly spent from having fought the Silver Gospel, so it would be a long while before they would be at full optimal power again. Ichika and Laura would struggle to survive in this new grim and turbulent world and time they are in, Ichika more so because of his limited proficiency in speaking and understanding the German language. But even as they wanted to go back to their own world and timeline, Laura felt that she could not abandon the East German people to their doomed fate. Even if they were East Germans, it still doesn't change that fact that they are still Germans. They were her people just as much as the West Germans (the predecessors of the modern-day German nation that created her) were. As a soldier of Germany she was obligated to fight, to protect and defend the Vaterland (German world for "Fatherland") against the BETA threat that was invading her country. After all, wasn't that the very purpose of her creation and existence? To defend and fight for her homeland.
But she also wanted to look out for and protect Ichika as she knew that East Germany would not be kind to people like him and he would struggle a lot to survive in East Germany. An internal struggle takes place inside Laura as she trying to make the right decision for herself and Ichika. It is because Ichika had such a heart that he would fight if it meant he could save people's lives from being killed by the BETA that Laura was able to decide for the both of them to fight the BETA. While they try to figure out a way to get home, they could fight the BETA in the meantime while trying to survive. It would be a difficult trial to survive as they had no official identity in this world and East Germany is notorious for Stasi spies and informants being everywhere and there was no one they could depend on, or trust to turn to for help. Laura was determine to see to it that both herself and Ichika survive and make it home. After acquiring some abandoned Tactical Surface Fighters of their own, Laura and Ichika would fight a guerilla warfare against the BETA hidden behind the cover of shadows of the terrain outside of nearby cities, towns, and obvious military fortifications away from eyes and sensors of any potential witnesses. When people spoke of them, they would refer to them as the "Winter Ghosts of Hannibal" When the two weren't fighting the BETA, repairing and upgrading their TSFs with scavenged weapons and equipment and parts, or gathering supplies essentially to surviving the cold winter weather in the woodland and upgrading their customized TSFs, Laura was teaching Ichika to be proficient in speaking basic German and cramming that knowledge into him as best she could under the limited time she has. It was limited in a sense that the two knew that they could not hide and avoid human contact forever. It was only a matter of time before they would be found. When Ichika and Laura are finally discovered will diverge into two scenarios depending on which route the author chooses for them.
AN: Their custom TSFs are baseline MiG-21 Balalaikas that over time have weapons, equipment, and parts mounted on them from downed MiG-21s and on occasion, the European F-5E/G/I Tornadoes. As such their colors are a mix of blue from the F-5 variants with the original NVA camo green color scheme. Laura was able to rig dual artillery cannons on her TSF while Ichika's mounts multiple Assault Cannons to cover all angles of his TSF and dual-wield while fielding an Assault Cannon that was modified into an Assault Cannon Carbine. The Assault Cannon Carbine were created as a means of conserving scavenged ammo and fighting BETA at longer and safer hidden distance. To complement their combat doctrine of fighting long distance, they had jury rigged a few Assault Cannons and some artillery canons into improvised yet practical Sniper Cannon Rifles.
Schwarzemarken Route:
Taking place in the first episode of Schwarzemarken, Laura and Ichika were fighting the BETA and scavenging off of fallen TSFs when they head a UN TSF's distress call from Polish territory. After hearing distress call, Laura was pondering if they should even bother responding when Ichika rushed to save the distressed known TSF pilot. Reluctantly Laura follows in behind, assuming that there were no survivors at least there may be something they could scavenge off the fallen TSF. They soon arrive but at a safe distance from the down UN TSF Squadron. At first Ichika and Laura were content to shoot the BETA from their sniper position, but when Katia Waldheim became the last survivor, Ichika rushed out to clear out the BETA away from her downed TSF. It was at this time Captain Irisdina Bernhard and 2nd Lieutenant Theodor Eberbach arrived to mop up the remaining BETA, finally responding to the UN TSF Squadron's distress call. Laura warns Ichika to get out of sight and sensor range quickly but they had already been detected by the two Schwarzemarken pilots. Ichika who had been near Katia's TSF tries to flee when he was stopped by Irisdina, prompting Laura to fire some rounds at Irisdina to get her away from Ichika. However Irisdina proved to be the better pilot when her MiG-21F was able maneuver around Laura's shots, grabbed onto Ichika's TSF and hold him down in front of Laura, effectively holding Ichika up as a shield against Laura's range attacks. Irisdina asks them to identify themselves; Laura replies that she and Ichika were mere civilians left behind in the European retreat when the BETA invasion started its push into Europe and were just surviving on whatever they could scavenge. Both Schwarzemarken pilots were suspicious at first as how could civilians get their hands on TSFs and modify them to such extent. Irisdina requests that they come with her peacefully as she has no real reason to fight them; they had been fighting the BETA when she and Theodor arrived. As a sign of good faith, she releases Ichika and allows him to regroup with Laura.
Laura and Ichika ponder the decision whether or not to come along with Irisdina. Laura didn't really want to as she had heard about Irisdina and her 666th TSF Squadron Schwarzesmarken from discarded German newspapers. But their options were limited living alone in the cold woodland being afraid of when they will be taken by surprised by the Stasi, captured, tortured and killed. Plus they were dangerously running low on food supply and the woodland forest had nothing left they could eat and survive off of. Reluctantly Laura and Ichika decided to come along with Irisdina just as Theodor had gotten Katia out of her Tornado TSF and back into his TSF. At the Schwarzemarken's base, Laura and Ichika talked with Irisdina and Gretel regarding their peculiar situation. They had no official identity in this world and they had scavenged military equipment from the NVA, even if technically it was off of fallen NVA TSFs. It also appeared that the Schwarzesmarken have heard of rumors of the two "Winter Ghosts of Hannibal" (referring to Laura and Ichika) who initiate attacks on the BETA and save lives before melting back into the thick winter cold mist.
Laura was able to negotiate official GDR citizenship for Ichika and herself in exchange for joining the 666th TSF Squadron Schwarzesmarken as to rill the TSF role as marksman/sniper specialists. Laura had been paranoid enough with the fear the Stasi being everywhere that she had brandish her gun at Katia when Katia got too close to Ichika for Laura's own comfort. Meanwhile during the introduction to the Stasi thugs from Schwarzemarken episode 2, it was unfortunate that Ichika happen to catch the eye of possibly the worse person in the Stasi organization he could attract attention from to himself, Major Beatrix Brehmer of the 101st Werewolf Battalion. Laura's attempts to conceal Ichika behind herself away from Beatrix's eyes in their first encounter only sparked Beatrice's interest in Ichika. Laura was extremely unnerved when Beatrix questioned Ichika for a bit, almost losing all composure and control when her instincts told her to go for her gun, tempted to shoot Beatrix then and there. Both Ichika and Laura were unnerved by Beatrix's presence and interest in the two IS pilots rumored to be the "Winter Ghosts of Hannibal"; for some reason the aura Beatrix gave off was similar to Chifuyu's but yet was it was very maleficently dark and dangerous compared to Chifuyu. As much as Ichika hated to admit it, Beatrix was a "bewitching" and "glamorous" beauty, even more beautiful than his own older sister but possessing a ruthless, ambitious, and possessed a sadistic streak a tinge of danger that screams of a fate worse than death. Laura had thought that Chifuyu was the strongest woman she ever met; she was wrong as there was someone here in this world that she could say without a doubt is the strongest pilot she had ever encountered and probably one only two best pilots East Germany ever had, the other being Irisdina.
Both IS pilots would integrate fairly well into the Schwarzemarken. They had a comrade in Katia who was also a new recruit of sorts into the squadron. Ichika quickly gets along well with Pham Thi Lan as the two were only Asians in the entire East German military and quickly came to see her a loving, caring tender older sister he could turn to and trust without being afraid that she might have ulterior motives. Furthermore he found a new best friend in this world in the form of Anett Hosenfeld. Laura finds herself drawn in by the charisma, courage, and ideals exalted by Irisdina, especially when Irisdina tells Laura of her ideal to see that her brother Jürgen Bernhard's dream of West and East Germany putting aside their differences and work together for the greater good of the German people be fully realized. It was a cause that she could support as it would unite the two German countries together. Likewise Ichika came around to being supportive of Irisdina and the cause of a better future for East Germany championed by her and eventually Katia. Before long the two IS pilots become attached to the new friends and swept up in the turbulent events of the many struggles waged over the fate of East Germany that thinking about returning home was placed on the back burner. For Ichika, even though East Germany could be best described as a hellhole, his new squadron were like his new found family and he would fight to for their sakes and protect them whatever the cost.
Werewolf Route:
A dark alternate route where Laura and Ichika end up on the Stasi side once they have been discovered. Starts off similar with Schwarzemarken but diverges when Laura and Ichika got away from Irisdina and Theodor. They continue what they have always done before, although with more caution than before since their existence have been discovered by the NVA. However their isolation world not last long as they are hunted down by a Stasi TSF unit and not just any, but the elite 101st Werewolf Battalion under the command of Major Beatrix Brehmer. Laura and Ichika put up a fight and on few times manage to slip away from them. However the game of tag would come to an end when one of the IS pilot's TSF goes down and the pair is surrounded, forcing them both to surrender. The duo would be interrogated by Beatrix as the Stasi had no information on them. It was like they never existed, that they just appeared one day out of nowhere. Seeing as the Stasi had nothing on the pair, Beatrix was willing to recruit them into her group as her own ghost operatives in exchange for them not being tortured in horrific ways and killed off as trash. The two IS pilots had no choice but agree to Beatrix's terms if they wanted to live and not suffer terribly before being killed off; Laura could take comfort in knowing that as part of the agreement Beatrix would fix them both identity papers. When Laura asked why they were spared, Beatrix replied that she had an educated guess that Laura was some sort of enhanced human pilot, though with which faction is unknown, and a skilled one at that. Plus Laura's weak point was Ichika as he would be helpless just surviving in East Germany without Laura to guide her. Plus Beatrix was fascinated by Ichika, the pure innocence in his eyes that still remained despite the horrible stuff that is happening in East Germany whether it be by the BETA or Stasi.
Laura would take it upon herself to protect Ichika's innocence and purity as much as she could, knowing full well what dark, cruel, and evil inhumanities the Stasi were capable of and what Beatrix might order them to do. However Ichika feared that such actions would turn Laura into a monster and one that the Stasi would make full use of. And if the Stasi got their hands on IS tech, then East Germany and perhaps the entire world would suffer greatly and more so in the face of the BETA invasion onslaught. Being in the Werewolf Battalion made the two of them extremely paranoid as they were rightfully afraid that they would be quickly double-crossed by their fellow Battalion members. They were grateful that for now they were given reconnaissance missions and any missions where they had to kill people were rival Stasi personnel part of the Berlin faction under the command of Oberstleutnant Heinz Axman in covert actions. While they would like to isolate themselves from the rest of the battalion, Beatrix took that small miniscule freedom away from them when she was always with them whenever the two were on base off-duty. In time Ichika was slowly beginning become attracted to Beatrix as for some strange reason she reminds him of Chifuyu. Laura easily sees Beatrix as the ideal soldier and military leader who inspires loyalty in her men and women, a powerful dominant and beautiful champion and pilot like she saw in Chifuyu. Ichika and Laura's individual times with Beatrix without the other would spark suspicion (with Laura it is also jealously) that would drive a wedge between the two. Especially when Ichika had a bad habit of easily lets his guard around Lise Hohenstein. The last straw that broke was when Laura saw Ichika in a sensually compromising position (with either Beatrix or Lise). Relations quickly sour as Ichika and Laura accuse each other of slowly being brainwashed by the Stasi, causing the two to separate for a while.
At some point Ichika would encounter the 666th TSF Schwarzemarken again when assigned on a recon mission separate from Laura, having ditched his assigned team and instead rushed to help the NVA forces repel the BETA assault. Ichika's TSF was downed and he was about to be overrun by the BETA when the Schwarzemarken came to his rescue after seeing his heroic attempt to provide cover for retreating NVA TSFs. Ichika would stay with the Schwarzemarken unit for a while and while the squadron was suspicious of him, Ichika made it clear what he truly felt about the Stasi and wasglad and grateful that he was away from Beatrix and the Werewolf Battalion for a while with his TSF is under repairs. He makes a plea with Irisdina to help get him out of the grasp of Beatrix, promising to give her any information that could help them out. He volunteers the first free information; that Lise Hohenstein, Theodor Eberbach's adopted little sister, was alive and is a member of the Stasi and of Beatrix's Werewolf Battalion. Irisdina promises to help Ichika in any way she possibly could as the information he could provide to her was invaluable. From the information exchanges with Irisdina, Ichika learns a bit more about Beatrix and the tragic past Beatrix and Irisdina share because of the death of Jürgen Bernhard, Irisdina's brother and Beatrix's fiancé. Inevitably, Ichika would be picked up by Beatrix herself when Lise infiltrates the Schwarzemarken as an undercover Stasi spy. The information Ichika now has and had shared with Irisdina would ultimately change everyone's fate as well as that of East Germany, especially when Ichika plans to confront Beatrix about the circumstances of Jürgen Bernhard's death and Jürgen's dream that both Beatrix and Irisdina claimed to carry the mantle of Jürgen's ideal. But seeing the cold, soulless eyes in Laura upon returning to the Werewolf's base tells him that things for him will take a turn for the absolute worst. Especially when Beatrix has hinted of her attraction to Ichika, though whether it of the romantic kind or just one out of lust is uncertain. Either way Ichika will be playing a dangerous game and one that he is largely inexperienced at compared to any Stasi member, acting as a double agent for Irisdina within Beatrix's Werewolf Battalion.
As to what happened to Laura for her to have such dull lifeless eyes? That is for anyone wanting to adopt this route to decide.