"Visha, shoot that crazy rat that is laughing" I said as I prepared the artillery spell. She asked no questions and prepared her own.
"The best rat killer is an artillery spell" I said and pulled the trigger. However something incredible happened. In a matter of not seconds, but milliseconds a wall of rats intercepted the bullet and exploded. The giant rat laughed even more schizophrenically, surrounded by a banner and large rats in very good armor.
"Keep firing, let's saturate him, at some point his defense has to fail, otherwise let's stall him long enough for the gas to reach him and he'll die."
The artillery shots continued to fall on the particular rat; however, each attempt was stopped by a wall of ill-equipped and almost naked rats.
Appearing on the battlefield at some point were giant rats, not just giants, at least 4 meters of rat. And from the bottom of the tunnel greenish lights were approaching the infantry positions at high speed.
"There are special rats among them, look, some even have anti-gas equipment, we have to eliminate them, I don't like what they are up to.
"To all battalions, prioritize killing the anomaly rats, 203, at the end of the tunnel the rats have artillery of some kind, go and destroy them"
As I spoke into the comm I heard Visha shout almost in my ear.
"On your 3"
I turned quickly to see some rats with shields and a rifle? They were aiming at me?
"Evasive maneuvers. Big Fairy to all units, enemies have ranged shooters that are prioritizing us, I don't know methods and firepower, prioritize evasion while you continue with your assigned missions."
The 5 battalions of mages began moving around the tunnel frenetically to avoid being a clear target and intercepting anything that looked like an anomaly rat. If it had strange equipment, it died. If it was bigger, it died. If it was a different color, it died.
A shot grazed my shoulder but I kept maneuvering.
"Viktoriya, are you following me? We have to finish off his command, forcing his troops to retreat so let's try to attack him again."
"Understood."
She put her machine gun on automatic. And I could have sworn I saw in all the speed a crazed grin. Fucking war maniacs.
As I glided through the air I felt a severe pain in my right leg and began to fall. Visha noticed this and stopped to try to pick me up.
"I'll be fine. Go to the our wolrd and call for more reinforcements. I'll take care of the leader myself"
Always. I always took care of the suicide missions. Why is my life like this? Is it so hard to have a damn comfortable seat and write reports?
Well, that didn't matter anymore. I put the bayonet on my rifle as I fell to the ground for some unknown reason. As if gravity said I couldn't fly.
I saw out of the corner of my eye the banner of the rats. And next to it the praetorian guard of rats next to my target.
Without thinking I accelerated my movement downwards and summoned a magic blade spell to reinforce my bayonet. However as I was about to come into contact with the rat I was deflected by a sideways swing of his mace in what seemed like a reflex action. I rolled and slammed into one of his praetorian guards.
Will I die like this?
However, to my surprise, the rat took two steps back, I looked around to see a circle had formed around the two of us. I stood up as best I could. The drugged and schizophrenic leader rat was shrieking non-stop. He wanted a duel? He'd have his fucking duel.
"What's up, you fucking rat bitch. I can get high too, motherfucker."
I put on all the mind altering and body reinforcement spells I knew and got into a bayonet fighting stance.
"COME ON YOU RAT BITCH, COME AND GET ME IF YOU GOT THE BALLS MOTHERFUCKER."
Note to future tanya. Mixing drugs with adrenaline is bad for your health.
The rat charged towards me wielding both of his weapons however his first attack failed as my mage shield parried his atack.
"I ALSO HAVE TRICKS FUCKING RAT" I charged taking advantage of his confusion and tried to stab him where his heart was supposed to be however he intercepted it with his mace and tried to break my weapon with his sword. A kick separates him from me and knocks him backwards but he quickly pulls himself together.
I did a little hip dance to humiliate him not feeling the pain of my wounds thanks to my drugged state. If he was proud enough to engage me in a duel in the middle of a battle these actions would humiliate him and make him fight worse.
Or so the theory goes.
The rat, contrary to my expectations, laughed lightly and got into an offensive position and started its attacks again. Unlike the first time my shield broke when I came in contact with his mace so I moved to the opposite side to avoid being hit.
I needed a chance to unload all the shots from my gun into his body once I caught him off guard. Yet how do I do that with a rat that attacks like someone with schizophrenia and has enough brains not to attack like a fool. Damn my luck.
At one point as I was dodging his blows as best I could I noticed how my leg failed despite all the drugs I had on me making me fall. My rifle fell with me and the rat noticed that I was unarmed. He got on top of me enjoying my desperate situation. It was now or never. Without him noticing I moved my hand to my service pistol. I felt the metal of his weapons touch my neck. He was about to slit my throat when I pointed the gun at his chest and put the penetration spell on.
I win.
8 shots went through the rat's chest making it fall on top of me and leaving its guns too close to cutting my head off for my liking. I heard the rest of the rats. Screaming in what sounded like a collective cry of terror and hysteria. Would I die here? They didn't seem to be willing to accept my winning the duel.
I was quickly answered when I heard artillery spells sounding all around me. A sword moved by the blast landed on my left arm. I guess that's your thing, isn't it? A leg, an arm. What am I? A fucking voodoo doll? What are you doing firing artillery spells at a VIP retreat? I'M GONNA SEND YOU TO THE MILITARY COURT FOR ATTEMPTED FUCKING MURDER.
The rat on top of me was moved with effort. Weiss, the leader of the 203rd after my departure, grabbed him and his weapons while Neumman grabbed me and we fled the scene. With a rusty sword stuck in my little arm and my leg with a hole in it from side to side for some reason.
"Have you destroyed the enemy artillery?" Neumann who was holding on to me as tight as he could sighed. "Affirmative, although a couple of them destroyed themselves when they fired. The ones that were still operational were destroyed."
I nodded but felt a huge headache, shit, I think the blood loss was getting to me. Slowly I started to lose consciousness until everything went black.
—--
I woke up in a hospital bed. Visha was standing next to me, I looked at my body which was bandaged.
"How bad?"
Visha stood up giving me a military salute. Good girl, she was disciplined, I liked her as a subordinate.
She proceeded to sit down next to me and read a piece of paper.
"Shall we start with the least serious or the most serious?"
I didn't like the sound of that.
"The most serious first, let's see how it goes."
She nodded and continued reading.
"Infection in the left arm, of unknown origin, probably caused by a lack of cleanliness of the weapon that was stuck in your arm and the fact that it was rusty doesn't help. If the condition worsens, your arm will have to be amputated. Minor radiation has been detected in your right leg, similar to uranium but different in some ways. Possible amputation has been discussed due to the unknown effects."
Is there anything else they want to amputate? I don't know. My healthy arm and leg? so they have no excuse to send me to the front!. Don't fuck with me, amputate this, amputate that, what good are our doctors if they can't cure a fucking infection. Although I was worried about the radiation, I could take sodium pills if it would keep them from cutting my fucking leg off.
"Please continue Viktoriya."
She nodded and continued reading. "Broken bones, minor injuries and lastly it seems you won't be able to use combat drugs or drug spells for several months. According to the doctor, if you do it again you could easily die."
Wow, well I wasn't planning on using it anyway so I'll be fine with that condition.
"How many months will I be in bed?" I asked curiously. Third time I've been seriously injured, and I'm still alive. I guess all the bad luck I have makes me have good luck at these things, in a balance of sorts.
"Because of the importance of your activities, the doctors have given you permission to continue working in a wheelchair as long as you are accompanied by a second person".
I nodded, it made sense but honestly. They wouldn't let me rest even half dead. Child protection where you are when you are needed.
A female doctor appeared, lifting the hospital tarpaulin and approaching me.
"Brigadier General Degurechaff, congratulations on surviving, it truly is a divine miracle seeing as how you were brought in".
I tried to get comfortable but the pain immediately assaulted me in a way of telling me not to move an inch.
"Yes, I've heard that. I'm curious though, am I really going to have an arm and a leg amputated?"
The doctor said, "Not for now, we'll be watching how the situation develops. By the way after hearing the battle report the Pope interfered saying he wanted to see you in person, the Kaiser is also coming in person in an hour."
Wow, everyone came to see me, great, now they just need to tell me that I'm going back to the front because I'm too good to be left behind. No way, if they have to amputate an arm and a leg to avoid the battlefield I'm even willing to accept it.
"It is a pleasure to know that their excellencies will come personally".
The doctor smiled kindly and handed me an unwrapped candy. "Open your mouth, it's candy, for children".
I am a Brigadier General, the elite of the elite, I have killed all the enemies of the empire, I have survived things that no one else would. And you dare to treat me like this?
Well honestly I'm in the mood for something sweet. It's a humiliation, but I will accept it.
I opened my mouth and he gave me the candy. I shut up as I enjoyed the sweetness and tried to relax, on the other side the doctor and Visha seemed to be discussing something. I tried to sharpen my ears to hear what they were saying.
"What a cute little girl, how can they have her as a soldier at the front! It's an outrage! Did you see how she accepted my candy? She looked like a kitten".
OK, I'll pass, I don't want to listen to this humiliation. I have enough problems and I dont want to start thinking about the fact that I am a woman now.
—--
Pov Erich von Rerugen.
A complete victory. They ambushed the entire expeditionary force and yet deaths had been almost minimal. Casualties are another matter...
"A simple victory despite the ambush," said the Kaiser as he drank his tea. Zettour and Rudersdorf were with us. I didn't know where the pope was. He said he had a mission here at the gate.
"Yes, although the casualty rate is disastrous, 53%, including Tanya von Degurecharff."
We had few deaths but a lot of injured soldiers. I think it is better this way but still is a problem.
I played with my own cup of tea as I sipped it slowly. Zettour looked worried, which was normal, and Rudersdorf looked angry as usual.
"These rats," said Rudersdorf with a dramatic pause that was felt in the air.
"I am concerned about their modus operandi, suppose at worst they are a martial society with millions of inhabitants, the rats of our world reproduce rapidly and their numbers are uncountable. If their bodily form is anything to go by I would say that we are dealing with a life form that despises its own kind because of the number of them.
In sparsely populated societies there is a great respect for society and every last individual is protected. In societies with a large population, reading a paper saying that you have lost 200,000 soldiers in an offensive does not matter so much. What if we are dealing with a society that sacrifices 20 million is not a problem for them? That's an exaggerated number but you get my point.
His logic made sense, it's a society that cares less about life than industrial societies. That's saying a lot.
"More surprisingly, there have been recorded cases of cannibalism in the midst of the surprise attack," said Zettour.
Zettour said as he showed a recording that was made with an orb. It showed one of the rats dropping dead and being cannibalized in a matter of seconds by his compatriots.
"A society with a large population that can't feed itself entirely. It makes sense, even more so if they don't look like a proper industrial society because of the weapons they use."
The Kaiser pointed to one weapon in particular. "In the report this weapon was the one that took down Degurechaff" He said pointing to an elongated rifle that sat atop a shield.
"It looks modern enough to me, considering it went through the magic shield and has radioactive components."
I took a closer look at the particular rifle, it looked like our sniper rifle however seemingly strange. The green components again caught my attention.
"A lot of their stuff has green components, when they threw those glass balls with chemical weapons in them in the assault on our empire it was green, the weapons shoot a green bullet. What is this green substance? We should investigate it."
Zettour removed the recording and then gave two claps. In came a rather infamous chief engineer. Schugel.
"He has analyzed the weapons we have managed to recover, the reports indicate that they are glorified muskets, nothing to worry about."
The chief engineer interjected bluntly. "Their technology is flawed, useless and as dangerous to their enemies as their carriers. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about their weapons."
I laughed ironically as I thought back to the Type 95.
"Their technology is flawed at best, their numbers are enormous. If they cause us problems it should be if they get into melee. We should send groups of flamethrowers to the portal. Surely a wall of fire will stop the rats in their tracks"
The Kaiser and Rudersdorf nodded in agreement. The Kaiser finished his tea and then stood up. "We have a hero to visit, in the meantime I approve sending 4 reserve divisions. Taking advantage of the withdrawal of the rats we will expand the perimeter as much as we can."
Almost instantly I, Zettour and Rudersdorf stood up and marched to the Kaiser's side.
"Surprising the girl's actions, we should make her the official heroine of the Empire. Remove all the secrecy that has formed around her. She is our best soldier even if it is strange to say it about a 10 year old girl"
Said the Kaiser on the way to our official transport. It was infamous for the rumors that had been spread. Which lifted the spirits but still made a madwoman like Tanya von Degurechaff into a hero. No good could come of promoting a madwoman like her so highly.
Zettour seemed to lift his chest. His meteoric rise in the military hierarchy had gone to his head and he acted as if he controlled the Empire. His key player was Tanya von Degurechaff, so to hear his pawn being appreciated by the Kaiser was surely a source of pride for him.
Rudersdorf as Zettour's loyal ally also appeared proud at such a mention.
Honestly sometimes I thought that I was the only sane one in this world. It would definitely make sense seeing how people behaved around Tanya von Degurechaff once they saw what she wanted them to see.
—--
The Pope and the Kaiser stood around Tanya von Degurechaff who was clearly looking battered. 3 major battles 3 near death wounds. Nothing else but she had more balls than most men. I hate her, she is a madwoman, but she is the best madwoman in the empire.
The Kaiser showered praise on Tanya von Degurechaff, not knowing that this praise did not concern her but the duo of Zettour and Rudesdorf.
The pope interjected at some point in the praise, making a sound of surprise.
"Where did you get that from, my child?"
I looked curiously to see a rosary around his neck, reaching down to his legs, clearly ancient. It didn't look interesting at first glance, however.
"Your Excellency. I don't know where it came from, I only know that I got it from my family, when they abandoned me they left this rosary by my side."
The Pope nodded his head and without asking touched the rosary "More than 1000 years old, incredible, there are few of these left. Definitely an interesting inheritance".
Everyone in the room was surprised. Yet no one did anything. Not in front of his holiness the pope. It was too important to say anything to him or to bother him.
"Well, you are part of God's plan. That much is clear to me."
The pope pulled out a rosary from under his pope's robe and began to pray. Even I, a non-magic user, felt the magic. The magic of his holiness the pope.
I glanced quickly at Tanya to see how her injured arm and leg were illuminated with an intensity of several suns. I averted my gaze momentarily and when it dimmed I looked again.
"God gives his toughest battles to his best warriors. If his best warrior is a 10 year old girl. I will have to watch over her so that she will follow God's path. So be it."
And with that he departed. Leaving everyone in the room speechless.
—--
POV Tanya von Degurechaff.
I was trying to sleep when I heard a phrase inside my head.
"The Eshin clan is after you. You killed the only skaven that the great leader of Clan Mors liked. He will pay whatever it takes to kill you. Be careful, they are the best assassins in the world. I will help you as much as I can.
And with that the mysterious voice of Being X disappeared again. You could give me all the information directly and then I would have to save myself the trouble of investigating. But I assume that will never occur to you. Better to give cryptic messages. Likewise. Assassins after me? That's all I need. Fuck you Being X.
—--
Although the Pope himself cured my infection and the radiation he did not cure the rest of my wounds, he disappeared on the spot without further explanation. Not that anyone was going to ask him questions.
So here I was. In an armored vehicle traveling to a point of interest on top of a wheelchair. In the meantime I readed the report that Rerugen had given me before sending me directly to the point of interest.
"At 14:33, after a routine patrol, some sealed doors were found. They appear to belong to the civilisation that built these tunnels. It is unknown what is on the other side of the doors but it looks like the entrance to somewhere. It is presumed from the routes above the gates that there were other passages that served to defend the gate outside the main tunnel. So it is estimated that it was a defensive point at the very least".
What a report. And why did I have to go in person to see it? I was more than happy to read the report that any sergeant would give me after researching this area.
Visha seemed to look up worriedly. "Are you sure you didn't go overboard with the punishment at 203?"
I raised my right eyebrow as I looked at her sitting across from me. "They fired artillery spells while I was on the ground. I almost lost my arm because of them. If this is how they treat a Brigadier General it means their training is poor or their discipline is bad. Therefore they deserve punishment.
She pursed her lips and looked up again. Instinctively I looked up to see every mage in the 203rd exhausted to the point of almost death. I have kept them awake for over 72 hours assigning them training to resist torture. No doubt a punishment equal to their mistake. If I did not castrate them it was because Rerugen intervened in time. Otherwise I would have punished them accordingly.
"Well, whatever, they are elite troops, they should endure a week without sleep, 72 hours of training to resist torture should be nothing," I said, smiling slightly. Discipline was the way to success.
"You won't punish me like that, will you?" said Visha quietly. I almost didn't hear her.
"What are you saying? I didn't understand you."
She immediately refused."Nothing nothing, I had my head somewhere else".
Silence filled the road again, soon we reached our goal. Visha lifted the wheelchair out of the armored car with me sitting in it, gently putting my chair on the floor.
She did not lose time to start guiding me to the door. An imposing entrance worthy of empires. If it wasn't for the fact that it didn't look like it had been used in centuries.
"Well, who is the commanding officer?" I asked up high, there would be about 3000 soldiers in this area. A captain appeared nearby and gave me a military salute.
"I have been expecting your coming Brigadier General Tanya von Degurechaff."
He was a young man, a von too if I remembered correctly. Surely he had joined the expedition in search of glory. In my work in my former world I had met many bootlickers. He was a textbook one.
"Good, then you will have a report to give me on the changing situation, we have been here for almost a month, the tunnel clearing operations have taken shape until we get here. We must get something of value soon. The Reichkomissar is being pressured by the Kaiser".
He affirmed quickly and began to walk, Visha followed him with the wheelchair until we approached the imposing door.
"We have discovered that the gate, contrary to our preliminary reports, is not made of iron. Or at least not the iron of our world, it is something far better. Let me show you.
He drew his pistol quickly and fired a bullet into the door. Contrary to my belief that it would ricochet and kill the idiot the bullet just hit and fell out.
"Wow, not a scratch!" said Visha surprised
He enthusiastically affirmed. "That's right. It's a marvel of construction, if only we could replicate it. Imagine tanks of this alloy or ore. This alone would more than cover all the costs of the invasion."
A competent bootlicker, right. There's nothing better than a competent bootlicker.
"Well, that will cheer up a lot of faces in Berun, anything else to report?"
He shook his head and started walking towards the camp. However an incredible sound of mechanisms moving echoed through the tunnel. The doors were moving. Visha and the captain did not hesitate and started running. Visha kept up a good pace even though she was carrying me in a wheelchair. In front of me troops were forming up behind the prepared defenses. MGS positions, flamethrowers and the like had been deployed.
When we reached our lines Visha continued to run but I stopped her.
"I have to see what's going on, let me get closer to see".
She didn't hesitate and turned and faced the door. Inside it was incredibly brightly lit for what looked like ruins. The interior was highly decorated and almost new. And there was also a combination of humanoid beings of small stature, with large beards that almost touched the ground.
Someone who seemed to be the leader advanced through the close formation of armour and shields to stand in front of everyone. He shouted phrases that seemed alien, yet sounded German.
"What are you humans doing here, in Karak-Azul and where did you come from?"
I tapped my chair, assessing the situation. The second contact we have had. They speaks something similar to German and they seem willing to talk before shooting at us. This is the things I want and need.
"Visha, advance me"
She sharply started walking towards the front. Over the defensive line of the troops. The tension in the air was palpable.
"I, Tanya von Degurechaff, Brigadier General of the Imperial Army and in charge of the mage forces of the expeditionary force, come in peace to speak".
The sounds of conversation rang out from both sides. What I assumed to be the leader of the force advanced slowly until he stopped at a point. I assumed it was my turn to advance and indicated with a wave of my hand to approach.
The sound of my wheelchair rolling forward embarrassed me, but that was all I could do.
"You come from the Empire? The emperor sends you?"
I looked to the sides, did they know more about us than we knew about them?
"I do not know if you speak of our Empire and our Kaiser."
He looked quizzical, "von, it is characteristic of the Empire, I can't explain where else you would come from."
These conversations were going to test my mental health. I thought wryly and wearily. At least they won't shoot me it seems. That's a good thing.