Tanya stared at the smirking loli. Did she seriously think that was going to work? 'Fight me and I'll help you'?

"No." She said firmly. Rory 'tsked.

"Spoil sport. For one steeped in such bloodshed I thought you would have jumped at the chance to fight." She gave an uncaring wave of dismissal and sat back down. Tanya was tempted to try and wring out of her exactly what she meant by that, but she already knew. They both had eyes far beyond their age, ones that she saw whenever she looked at her subordinates. The eyes of killers, ones that had done it so often they didn't even blink at the task anymore.

"Are you sure, Miss Deugrechaff?" Myui asked. "The help of an apostle is not something to be taken lightly." Tanya made a noise, not disagreeing, just not caring.

"While I am sure that Rory is considered a formidable fighter, we have enough help now that I am sure we can defend Italica on our own. I am not someone who brazenly wishes to fight everyone they come across. Enough blood was shed in our last war, we don't need to add to it." And that was the honest truth. While Tayna herself had come to like some of the adrenaline and pulse pounding fights for her life, it didn't mean she seeked them out, or was happy with the way the last war had gone. "I will fight if I need to, but I will not go picking ones unless I see good enough reason. I am not here to satiate your bloodlust." Tanya finished, looking critically at the gothic reaper.

If Rory was offended, she didn't show it, merely giving a careless shrug. "Oh well, even if I can't fight you I can still get to see what you're like in a battle tonight!"

Tanya failed to hold in the snort. Shaking her head, she decided to be truthful on her thoughts. "Tonight will not be a fight, it will be a messy, gory, honorless slaughter. The bandits won't even be able to touch us. They will only die when they come. The only question is how many of them we will have to kill before they realize that."

Itami and Kuwahara looked weirded out upon hearing that, but maybe it was just the cold, emotionless, matter-of-fact tone she used. Whatever the case, it didn't matter.

A knock on the door sounded, and one of the maids opened it to reveal Weiss, who quickly saluted before Tanya put him at ease. "Sir! The recon teams report that the bandits are beginning to move, estimates pace their march to arrive around 1900, though we expect them to set up camp a distance from the city in order to attempt a night raid. We've also been able to locate their commanding officers and key targets. What are your orders?" He asked, having spoken in german.

Tanya tapped a pen to her chin in thought. "Rotate the scouts, and keep an eye on their pace. Once the fighting begins we will kill the commanders, but we need to bring them in to kill the most we can. If we shatter their leadership and ranks now we might send them scattering and it'll be a long mess to root them out later when they switch targets to towns and villages."

"Jawohl!" And with that, Weiss headed back to carry out my orders. In truth he didn't need to come to me at all, he knew exactly what I would want done, but this was more for the other members of the room as confirmation that I was indeed in charge here. Plus, it was nice to get confirmation rather than speculation as to the time of the attack.

"Apologies," Tanya began, switching back to Falmarteese. "My second in command was just informing me that we have confirmation that the bandits are moving. We expect them to arrive by nightfall and to camp out just beyond the city to attempt a night raid. Lieutenant?" Tanya looked at the tired man across from her. "You may want to radio your base, tell them to prepare for a possible call for aid around midnight. When they arrive I'll order my troops to remain above Italica to clear the air around it, just make sure they know not to target my people."

Itami nodded seriously, and Tanya relaxed a bit, content that victory was fully secured. "Well, with that settled, all that's left is the wait."

—

Hours passed as Itami and his team set up along the top of the walls, while the 203rd flew patrols around the fortress city. Sometimes the two groups of soldiers would chat a little in Falmarteese, but by and large not too many conversations happened between the groups as they settled in to wait, some taking naps to prepare for the night.

Itami had indeed radioed back to his superiors and had both received a dressing down over not calling sooner and approval at managing peaceful contact with the other army. After explaining the situation, he was also promised air support should they call for it later in the night. Tanya too had checked in with the reinforcements en-route to occupy the city, and had received word that they were due in the early morning.

Having experience with a slaughter like what they would be facing tonight, Tanya put in a request that the troops prepare gas masks and hazard equipment, especially shovels in the face of the dead that would likely need to be buried. Disease was a real problem, and considering how nobody would be there to retrieve the dead of their enemies, they would likely need to be buried in a mass grave.

It would be a disgusting few days afterwards, but they would manage. Wouldn't be the first time they had to deal with it.

Eventually, night began to approach, and the scouts reported back confirming that the bandits had set camp.

The JSDF donned their night vision equipment, and the Mages cast spells designed for low light vision, giving their eyes an eerie glow as they waited for the inevitable.

By the time the scouts returned to the city, reporting the incoming attack, both groups of soldiers were ready.

—

Tanya sat in the air at the head of the first company as she looked out into the fields beyond, watching as the enemy soldiers crept forward through the darkness, torches held aloft as they approached the gates, confident in their superiority. They yelled and clanged swords against shields as they tried to strike fear into the populace, getting closer to the walls.

She waited until they got close enough to see all 70,000 of them spread out and marching forwards to the gates of the fortress city before acting. "They've fully entered zone three. Neumann! Make sure there aren't any stragglers, and set up a perimeter across zone two. Keep them boxed in." She called over the radio. "First company! Prepare artillery spells! Standard yield! Ready, aim…!"

Rifles were aimed towards the back lines of the approaching army, the faint glow of magic lighting up their weapons purple as the mages held their spells. For a moment, breath was held, and the world went quieter.

Then…

"FIRE!"

Thunderous cracks rang out as vibrant purple shots blitzed across the night sky, landing in powerful explosions as they struck just behind the enemy line. Disarray and chaos were had as men were thrown like rag dolls or blown to bits, while the few catapults and trebuchets that were in the bandit's possession were demolished like rice paper.

"Second volley! Incendiary shots! FIRE!"

This time bright orange spells lanced out over the air, sprouting walls of fire wherever they hit, blocking off the army's retreat as their entire rear line was sent up in flames. There would be no retreat for them today.

"Standard fire, shoot wherever you wish. No need to conserve ammo. Neumann! If the wall of fire weakens anywhere, fix it, and make sure they can't escape. The rest of you! It's open season, pick your targets and fire at will."

From there it split into a shooting gallery as squads of mages strafed the vast swathes of enemies, with the JSDF on the wall contributing some of their own fire here and there from the battlements of Italica. It was a complete and utter turkey shoot, and yet even several minutes of sustained fire wasn't enough to make a good dent in their numbers. If Tanya had allowed them to use artillery spells or other, more destructive spells, it would have been much easier, but she didn't want to tip their full capabilities to the JSDF yet.

After about thirty minutes, the sound of rotors began to fill the air as the JSDF's QRF began to arrive, the blinking dots of their running lights shining through the sky as several attack helicopters spearheaded the formation.

"All units, fall back to the city and watch your fire! Our new friends brought their air support to help mop things up, so stick to the space above Italica's walls!" Tanya radioed out. With practiced ease, every squad fell back into formation and returned to hover over the city center, high enough to watch as the JSDF's air force began their attack run.

Tracers and rockets lit up the night as nose mounted mini-guns and rocket pods were fired into the enemy's midst, mulching and dicing men in a sweeping pattern as they unleashed hellfire on the helpless soldiers below. Troop transport helicopters began splitting into a swooping pattern around the battlefield so the door gunners could add their own fire into the mix, tracers zipping across the sky and slaughtering so many men like wheat before the scythe.

Noises of impressed astonishment were had as the mages of the 203rd got to see a live demonstration of the future of warfare, seeing how easy it was for the once massive crowd of enemy soldiers to be turned into red paste on the ground. Tanya even noticed the princess and her cohorts standing atop the fortifications, looking on in stunned silence. She chuckled to herself quietly, taking a shot of Pina's gobsmacked look. It would be nice to frame it on the wall in case the princess ever decided to visit again.

As for the bandits, they were trying to retreat now, trampling each other as they tried to get away from the 'flying chariots' and their 'rain of death'. Some even braved the still active fire just to get away while others were caught in the crossfire and gunned down. What was once a force of 70,000 had been cut down to near nil in less than an hour.

After a few more minutes of fire, the air force finally ran out of targets to pick off, and the battlefield was left in silence. Only the noise of the helicopters and the crackling of fires were left as the slaughter of Italica fell to a close. Several helicopters flew close to the battlements and began dropping soldiers near the existing JSDF personnel, something that Tanya decided to get involved with just to make sure they didn't have any misconceptions about 'who owned what' here.

Tanya barked out a few orders to keep her men busy before taking Visha and Weiss down with her to go talk with the Japanese. Flying down and hovering close to the group, their arrival was met with astonishment and wary looks from the newer soldiers. Tanya ignored them in favor of finding Itami, who was talking with another JSDF member with Rory in the background, squirming around for some reason.

As Tanya got closer, noises of disturbing nature were made apparent, all of them coming from the writhing figure in the gothic lolita dress, clutching her halberd like a lifeline. "What is going on here?" Tanya cut in once she got close enough, eyeing Rory with confused distaste before looking to Itami for answers. The tired lieutenant rubbed the back of his head after finishing his conversation, seeming extremely uncomfortable for reasons that weren't hard to guess.

"According to one of the local mages we've made contact with, the souls of the dead are all passing through Rory, since she's an apostle for a god of death, leaving her like… this…" Itami grimaced as another entirely inappropriate sound came from Rory. Tanya crinkled her nose in disgust.

"Are you telling me she gets aroused by the souls of the dead?" She asked incredulously. Itami looked away, but did not refute the statement.

"It helps if she fights." A voice said to the left. Tanya looked over to see a blue haired girl about the same age as herself, unmistakably a mage from her power signature. "If she gives in to the other side of her god's domain, the side of war, it becomes manageable. Since you refused her help, however, she was quite determined not to give it." The young mage's blank face while standing within hearing range of Rory's… everything… was a bit odd but Tanya found it a relief.

"I see. Now I'm even more glad I didn't get her help. I don't want a murder horny loose cannon in the middle of field operations." Tanya shook her head in disappointment before facing the young mage. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name yet, you are?"

"I am Lelei La Leina. Apprentice mage." She recited in a monotone voice. "What kind of spells are you using to fly? I have never seen anything like it."

"Classified, I'm afraid. Anyways, jailbait over there," She gestured to Rory. "Isn't why I'm here." Tanya turned to look down at Itami. "Lieutenant, I hope you remembered to tell your superiors exactly who occupies this city right now, because I'm seeing a concerning amount of men with your air support that have come down to land in our city. We may have an operational alliance and mutual goals, but we haven't agreed on any mutual occupation."

Itami seemed to sweat. "I'll… I'll check with my superiors about their plans, see what they're doing."

"You do that. The Fatherland's occupational force is set to arrive in a few hours and I don't want any miscommunications causing an incident."

—

Thankfully, it only took a few calls between Itami and his superiors before the majority of the JSDF's Quick Response Force pulled out, leaving a few helicopters and several squads of soldiers to assist with the cleanup.

As the morning light broke over the sky, the sound of diesel engines got close, and the Occupation force finally arrived. Spearheaded by two Panther tanks, and followed by a number of troop transports and supply trucks, they were received well in Italica as the citizens greeted them as saviors, tangible proof that this new nation would not abandon their defense like the Empire had.

Unfortunately for the travel weary soldiers of the fatherland, there was work to be done as half of them split to setting up camp while the other half joined the JSDF soldiers in creating mass graves. Fortunately the JSDF were kind enough to fly over a bulldozer with a Chinook, making progress easier, but even with the 203rd helping with magic it was still a hazardous slog.

Gas masks, air purification magic, and a lot of soap was used throughout the next two days as the fields of the dead were collected and buried, while the metal weapons and armor were separated to be melted down for later use. It was a grueling task that left more than a few of the JSDF personnel without sleep but it was one that had to be done so that Italica would not be consumed with disease.

Surprisingly, Itami and his team stuck around to help, only leaving behind their medic to stay with the locals they had collected. It was a gesture that raised Tanya's respect for the sleepy lieutenant a surprising amount, proving that he did have a spine in there somewhere despite his lax attitude.

At the end of the second day, the dead had finally been buried, and the soldiers from both armies were allowed to relax and mingle, trading stories in Falmarteese as they got better at the local languages. There was a small altercation between some guards and a group of knights that had come for the princess, but that was easily resolved when a guard fired a warning shot and all the horses bolted, throwing their riders off in a heap that was easily overpowered.

It was quite amusing to Tanya to see the young princess berate her insubordinate knight while pacing and pulling her hair out, but as always, there was more work to be done. Italica was theirs, and the city was now secured by their guard, but there remained another objective.

Successful contact had been made with the JSDF, and friendly relations had been started. Now was the time to take it further. A dialogue, and hopefully an alliance or agreement needed to be nailed down between nations.

After a meeting with Myui, Tanya found her way to Itami and his team just in time to see Pina make a plea to come with the Japanese and meet their leaders, trying to sue for peace, despite not having the power to represent her empire in any meaningful capacity.

Tanya rolled her eyes before making herself known to the two. "So the princess is already cozying up to escape the sinking ship?" She remarked. A shiver seemed to run down Pina's spine before she turned to face the blonde girl with a paler than usual expression. Itami at least was happy enough for an interruption as he waved, wearing that signature nervous grin of his.

"Tanya!" He greeted, for once not looking as tired as usual. "It is good to see you again, I wanted to find you earlier to tell you that me and my team were about to head out again, apparently I'm needed back in my homeland to answer questions for the National Diet. I wanted to say goodbye before we left."

Tanya made a noise of surprise. "How coincidental, my own unit is about to leave as well. Now that Italica is secured, my men are no longer needed here, so I can focus on my other objectives. Speaking of your government though, I need to set up a meeting with your superiors soon to make proper contact as a representative of Germania. Perhaps this Diet will provide a good opportunity?"

Itami lost most of his grin as some wind seemed to fall from his sails. "Ehh.. It will probably be more mud-slinging and thinly veiled interrogation than a proper questioning. Everything involving… this…" He gestured to the entire world around them. "Has placed Japan under a lot of scrutiny recently. They will undoubtedly try and drag you into it if you decide to make contact now, especially since you helped us before against the flame dragon. I'd recommend waiting a bit for things to calm down."

Tanya put a hand to her chin in consideration, looking down. "As much as I would like to agree with you, I think if my nation is to be introduced to your world at large your Diet will be the most useful place to do so. How soon are you going back to your world?"

The lieutenant scratched his chin. "Ehh.. I'd say maybe three days from now, we still need to be debriefed and handle some things before we can return." Tanya nodded at that.

"Good, that gives me enough time to prepare. We already know where your base is, I can join you before you return, I just need to get some paperwork and some proper clothes before then."

"E-Excuse me!" Pina stuttered out, looking almost as pale as paper. Unknown to Tanya, but Pina had become rather afraid of her, especially the nonchalance with which she dealt death. Now the idea of Japan allying with the scary little girl against the Empire was churning in her mind, terrifying her. "What about my request?" She forced out.

Itami blinked, as if just remembering the earlier conversation. "Oh! Right, probably, I'll have to ask my boss but they'll probably let you meet with them." Pina let out a breath at that but refused to relax in the presence of the young german girl.

Tanya eyed Pina for a second, noting her obvious fear before dismissing it as unimportant. "Anyways… I need to gather some things before flying back with my unit. I will arrive on the morning you leave, so just save us a seat on the trip back." She turned to leave, waving back. "Bis später."

—

By the time Tanya returned to Lichterfelde with the 203rd, the place had undergone even more change in their absence. The beginnings of the new town had spread and built, thankfully along the plans made to allow this city to become massive in the future. It wouldn't do for poor planning to ruin what promised to be a major city.

Even the train tracks had been expanded, now leading to the beginnings of an industrial area off to the side of the developing city as well as a developing passenger station. Lichterfelde was growing fast, promising to be a major asset in the future, requiring increasingly major defenses.

Something that seems to have been taken in mind as spaces for a few concrete bunkers were visibly being dug out in a few spots for the city, as well as a number of guard posts on the perimeter of the developing town. Already life was visible on the streets as a number of refugees had started settling in, giving a surprising sight as demi-humans and regular humans lived side by side.

Returning her attention to their flight, Tanya led the 203rd as it returned to base, landing in an area of the airfields dedicated to mage deployment. Beginning to strip out of the flight gear with ease of long practice, she let her mind wander as her hands did the work, becoming distracted as she reviewed some readings she had recorded during their mission in Italica.

It was because of this distraction she didn't notice until it was too late.

"YOU'RE FINALLY BACK!"

"WAAH!" Tanya whipped around, pistol in hand as she turned to face the sudden threat. A pair of crazed eyes met hers, entirely unphased at the weapon leveled at them.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING? THERE ARE TESTS THAT NEED TO BE DONE!" Spittle flew from the mouth of the man who snuck up on her, raining on the grass as once again this particular man was proven to have no volume control or common sense.

"Doctor Schugel??" Tanya huffed incredulously, lowering her weapon as she tried to calm her heart.

"WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE?"

Tanya groaned. "Of course. Nobody else would be stupid enough to surprise a trained soldier with a weapon. When did you get here you madman?"

Instead of answering, he grabbed her arm and began dragging her off the field. "I'VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH! I HAVE SEVERAL INVENTIONS THAT REQUIRE YOUR HELP IN TESTING!"

"Woah, wait, HOLD UP, DAMMIT! SCHUGEL, LET ME GO! AT LEAST LET ME TAKE THE DAMN FLIGHT GEAR OFF!" Tanya yelled ineffectively as the crazed scientist kept going.

Behind her, the entire 203rd looked on in silence, shivering as they prayed for the wellbeing of their commander. Schugel's inventions were infamous amongst the R departments, and thus the rest of the military through gossip and horror stories of failed tests and experiments gone wrong. Not even the 203rd with their intense loyalty would get in the way of a determined Dr. Schugel.

Tanya's protests would fade as she was dragged towards her doom, earning a prayer from all who saw them pass.

—

After several hours of yelling, screaming, and more than a few explosions, it was a tired and soot covered Tanya that made it back to her barracks that night. Worn out, weary, and more than slightly singed from the ordeal she reflected on the various inventions Dr. Schugel had dragged her over to test.

While a large majority of them had failed at some point or another, often with spectacular results, it was surprisingly interesting to see what had been developed recently. Schugel's inventions may not have worked fully but it was easy to forget Schugel had teams of scientists working with him to take his crackpot creations and turn them into useable, workable inventions.

One of the few prototypes that had worked well enough was something she took special interest in- A set of combat boots for mages that offered modified assistance with the flight spell. Instead of all the equipment needed for high altitude flying, it was stripped down to have very little vertical assistance. Trading high altitude capability for speed and maneuvering, it was designed to help a mage blitz through an urban environment faster than opponents could react. It was essentially like strapping a pair of rocket boots on, all forward thrust and little else.

In testing, Tanya had been able to use it to make 90 degree turns on a dime with just a flick of her feet, and the inertial dampeners made maneuvering a cinch! It was something that certainly needed practice to use since the controls were based so heavily around the direction of your legs, but it wasn't too different from the evasive maneuvers she'd been forced to pull with traditional flight gear during wartime. Twisting and turning in the air at high speeds was actually rather fun, and while Tanya wasn't able to enjoy it at the time, she would love to see if a mage racing circuit would ever be made in the future.

Despite the relative success of those boots, however, a number of other prototypes still failed with alarming regularity. A mana-fueled gun blew up in her hands, a prototype magic grenade exploded too soon after she threw it, and even a set of magical goggles overloaded and cracked. There were far too many failures but at least there were some successful things that had been rendered safer by the science teams.

Several new spells had been developed by MR for both data collection and combat, a few of which would come in useful when she went to Japan. Magical communication had even managed to advance far enough that dedicated and enchanted crystals could act as relays, like a veritable handheld QEC as everything sent to one crystal was transmitted out of the other one, allowing Tanya to send live video footage back to the homeland when she went to the other gate.

Other than that, they had finally created a spell that allowed for last resort magical weapons for unarmed mages. Combining the hard light shielding used with the mage blade enhancement, a mage could now create a hardlight melee weapon with mono-molecular sharpness. Currently they only had one spell for a spear and one for a dagger. Each faded the moment they left the mage's hand, but they were a step in a very interesting direction, and an absolutely vital tool should a mage be disarmed.

Tanya sleepily greeted a few of the members of the 203rd that were still awake before going to wash herself off, cleaning the soot and ash from herself before heading to her quarters to finish up paperwork for the day. She had a lot of work ahead of her tomorrow.

A full debrief of the mission needed to be conducted as well as a few meetings with the Strategic Command before Tanya could leave things well enough alone to take her trip. She didn't look forward to it, but at least it would let her relax tomorrow and sit down.

—

As the morning rose in both worlds, Tanya found herself back in Berun after a quick train trip. Walking up the steps to the strategic command headquarters, she read the most recent newspaper, ruminating over the change in politics. Seems as though the pot had been stirred heavily with the events of the gate. All of a sudden every nation that they hadn't fought and several who had were attempting to cozy up to Germania in hopes of a slice of the riches, and so far only the United Commonwealth, (the counterpart to the USA,) and their ally Akin, (the counterpart to Japan,) were making any progress.

In all honesty this had come at a fortuitous time for the stabilizing Empire. The Fatherland was still a bit shaky after the wars, trying to recover both their economy and grip on the new nations it had conquered. It needed the help trade and commerce would provide to get back on its feet and grow again. Some strategists and nobility were concerned about other nations using this to stab them in the back, but Tanya was able to see further past that.

The Great War was the bloodiest conflict in the history of this world, and Germania hadn't even started the conflict, nor fired the first shots. What it had proven though, was that the Fatherland could more than stand up for itself. None of the nations that had initiated conflict with the Empire had come out unscathed, and none of them had won.

Tanya estimated that soon the Empire would rise into its inevitable status as a continental superpower, and it would be prudent for them to gain ties with other superpowers like the United Commonwealth while they could. Now, with control of the Gate, they had a draw for people to come and make nice with them.

Things were looking up for her country. Tomorrow, it was time she made sure that continued beyond the gates.

She put the paper away and finished climbing the steps, nodding to a soldier who opened the door for her before making her way up the stairs to another meeting room. Briefly controlling the wish to cringe at the scent of smoke, she pushed her way into the room and sat down at the table next to Zettour.

"Ah, Morning, General Degurechaff. I trust the trip was pleasant?" He asked politely as he finished sorting a few papers.

"It was fine. If nothing else, I'm glad our usual logistic efficiency has proven to show up in our railway networks for the gate, I imagine it will be seeing a lot of traffic in the future." She commented as she settled in.

"Indeed. And with you here, it seems everyone has arrived." Zettour commented, looking to Rudersdorf across from him. "Are we ready to start?"

The mustached man grunted before tapping some of his cigar ash into a tray. "Alright, we are here today to discuss the meeting with General Deugrechaff and the… 'JSDF', that occurred after the takeover of the fortress city Italica, and the subsequent contact between this other military group. Miss Deugrechaff, please begin recounting the events that led to you contacting the JSDF, and then we can get to discussing how we're going to handle this… diplomatic trip."

"Of course. It all began shortly after we pressured the Italican government into…"

—

Itami yawned as he walked out of the main headquarters building, tired from standing in place while his superiors talked his ear off and questioned him about the events in Italica. All he wanted to do now was go to the barracks and get some sleep, but far be it for him to get a break in the military. Now he needed to go check on the local refugees to make sure Rory hadn't killed anybody in his absence.

The gothic reaper had been in a rather touchy mood ever since Italica, and he wasn't sure how to fix it. After her… episode… during the defense, she had seemed rather put out over something and had ramped up her teasing of him, complaining about not being "satisfied". It had made both himself and a number of his squad unsettled to hear such a young looking girl speak like that, no matter her true age. Especially when they recalled the reasons for her previous… excitement.

Rory also seemed to have developed some kind of grudge against Deugrechaff after the incident, eyeing her with a look whenever she was around before they had left for Alnus. She hid it well during the original meeting, but being refused a fight had obviously ticked her off a little. He was scared to find out what would happen if that ever escalated. He hadn't seen much of Tanya's ability during the defense, but the fact she had magic spells capable of explosions and the ability to fly was already a promise of a deadly battle.

Rory had only shown off her own supernatural abilities once to kill off a group of bandits, but he shuddered to think what would happen if the two girls ever went at it for real. It simply could not be allowed to happen, especially if they both took the trip with them back through the gate. He could only hope they both had the sensibility to not involve civilians in any conflict they had.

He was shaken from his musings as he came to the end of the path, meeting a curious Tuka who had apparently been waiting for him. A slight smile graced his face as he greeted the meek but cheerful elf. She had come far since they originally found her as a cold, shivering waif at the bottom of that well. When she first woke up she had been skittish and reserved, but ever since they watched the Flame Dragon die she had been coming out of her shell a lot more, often talking and finally smiling again. "Tuka! Nice to see you, how are you doing?" He asked in Falmarteese, happy to see her up and about.

"Hai! Lelei was telling me something about how you planned on bringing us to your world soon? Is it true? Do we finally get to see what your world is like?" She asked exuberantly. Apparently she was rather excited to see Japan. He only hoped that as a creature of nature she didn't take offense to the pollution and trampling of nature.

"Yes, tomorrow we plan on bringing you and some of the others back with us to our world! My nation wants to ask questions to help learn about this place, so they wanted us to bring a few of you back for a visit." He replied, walking with her as he talked, entering the refugee zone.

As Tuka chatted with him about the visit, he let his eyes wander over the other refugees they had taken in, happy to see how even with tents and basic amenities they were all content with life, able to live without fear of attack. The standards of living in this day and age were appalling in this world. People had shacks outdoors for the bathroom still, soap was a rarity and expensive. They rarely took baths, and the knowledge of disease was nearly nonexistent.

He hoped they could help elevate people's standards of living while they were here, as well as end a few… 'practices'. Thoughts of people in cages and collars rose in his mind before he quashed it so Tuka wouldn't pick up on it. It wouldn't be fair to drag down her mood with thoughts like that, it was their duty, not hers. It was a sobering reminder of why exactly they were here though.

He wondered if it was the same reason that Alternate Germany was here as well. Did they have people taken too? It would explain some things. He just hoped that when the time came to bring down their mutual enemy, conflicts didn't follow after it. They were the JSDF, the Self Defense Force for Japan. They literally couldn't conquer without breaking their agreement with the US, so he had to at least hope that this "Fatherland" would take care of things fairly.

Maybe he could ask Tanya about her nation's plans tomorrow.

—

Tanya sighed as she sat down on the train back through the Gate. They had spent the entire day going over possible agreements and concessions, as well as what they wanted from their meeting with the Japanese. Given the similarities between the Japanese and the Akinese of our two worlds, Tanya proposed making contact with Germania's counterpart on the other world to set up relations and maybe an alliance. It only made sense, as if you met an alternate of yourself you were much more likely to both be curious and probably trust them.

It also helped that Germania had never fallen to the lows of Hitler, and Tanya would make sure to give herself the excuse to make that argument by reading some world history books during her visit. She would also need to grab a lot of books that might be useful for the Fatherland, especially if she could manage to buy a laptop, camera, or a phone. Her original world might not have magic, but advancements in technology would only help her nation.

During her meeting with the strategic command they had also convinced her to take a pair of the new prototype boots, freshly refined after her testing. They didn't have to convince her too much, as they were a valuable tool that didn't need any supporting gear, and were discrete. You wouldn't know they were different except for their design unless you looked at their soles, where the main propulsion components were.

Tanya wanted to bring her rifle, but she knew she would have to leave it with Visha while she was visiting. It simply wasn't in good taste to bring a rifle to a peaceful meeting. A sidearm, however, was a different story, as it was an understandable personal protection. Hers was a gift from the Emperor for her service in the war, a Mauser C96 chambered in 7.63. Etched in silver leaf with wing motifs featuring the design of the silver wings assault badge, her sidearm rested in a holster at the small of her back. It wasn't the most powerful handgun, but it was certainly one of the better ones with very good penetration for its era. Even Prime Minister Churbull owned one.

She wasn't expecting to use it, but she felt rather naked without a weapon these days. Hopefully the Japanese wouldn't put up too much of a fuss about it tomorrow but she simply wasn't going in unarmed where she could be held hostage against her country.

Tanya leaned back as the train pushed into the Gate, the outside becoming dark while the gas lamps in the carriage stayed lit, making the entire area look sort of peaceful, like a train ride late at night. She closed her eyes for a short nap, letting the movement of the carriage lull her to sleep.

Tomorrow needed her very best.

—

A/N: Well, what a surprise! An early christmas gift for you all! I can't lie I had just fallen out of ideas and motivation to write this for a long while, but after reading some newer fanfics of SoTtE I've gained a bit of the mojo back.

After revisiting my own fanfic to reread and then taking a look at what I had started writing before putting it on pause, I ended up just tossing the entire thing away. Really, what was I thinking? Tanya is a rational, (in)sane human being. Why would she want to fight Rory if she doesn't have to? She doesn't want to tip her hand to the capabilities of the Type 95 so easily, and the JSDF's assistance would be more than enough. The only reason she didn't take care of all the bandits herself is because she was roping the JSDF in for political reasons and to develop a working relationship.

I'm not sure how my update schedule from here on out will look for this story, since I simply don't have as many ideas on how to handle it, but I am looking forward to trying to write out Tanya traveling to japan. Especially the ensuing chaos that would probably follow.

Anyhow, enough rambling- Onto reviews! I can't remember the last ones I responded to so I'm just going to respond to a fair few of them.

Saik0Desame- Tanya's official title and renown went up, I'd say. Rusted silver and Devil of the Rhine were the less flattering names given by the enemy. However, History is written by the victors, so they'll obviously make them more palatable for the public, less menacing.

Anthony(guest)- I have no idea what you meant when you said "everything was good until the end of chapter 5" did you mean the Doomslayer side story that wasn't cannon at all? You didn't mention anything about what it was! Everything else looked fine to me.

BloodLord Uzumaki- while I'll admit the fight of Italica didn't cover the JSDF's reactions too much, I hope it was at least satisfying in its depiction. The real reactions will be found when Tanya visits Japan.

Eliptic- Glad to hear you enjoy it, and if some parts seem rushed I apologize but I'm not the most patient writer, I like getting to the meat of stories, writing all the fluff between the meat usually drags my roll down and if my motivation is weak it sometimes grinds it to a halt for a while.

Kegila- Germania and the Fatherland might work together but I doubt they will become best friends. They will have a military alliance, however, as they share a mutual goal. I'm not a fan of needless conflict but rest assured they will have things to fight.

Anapgod1- I'm in my 20s, I'd be horrified if I had salt and pepper hair. Suffice to say no, the Librarian is not my self insert. I just had to make some way to tie this idea together and that's what popped out.

Guest- We'll have to see about Zorzal when we get down the line to that point, but your suggestions are welcome. Not sure about the Fatherland capturing dragons but that would be a cool symbolic thing for them to have, I'll look into the idea.

Kitsune Obsessed Freak- What a name for starters, I feel like I've responded to you before but while I am not as open about it, I too am an appreciator of kitsunes. They are the best mofu. Anyways, I do have a discord and have been thinking about opening a server and perhaps a pay tree on to help with IRL funds, but I'm not sure if thats something people would be interested in. If yall are though, let me know, and maybe I'll set something up where people can give feedback and suggestions or ideas for my ongoing stories. Might help me to have more audience engagement.

Allright, well, that's all for now but I'll be around. As long as my momentum keeps up for writing I'll be working on the next chapter for maybe next month, or longer. I'll have to see how life pans out, a lot of stuff has been hitting all at once at the end of this year for me.

As always, comment, fav, follow, all that jazz. Open to suggestions for what Tanya does in Japan, and what chaos might ensue. Inspiration is king for my writing.