The Saga of Tanya the Evil: Divergence
Three
Brigadier General Hans von Zettour was reviewing various documents, while considering something. He had had a discussion with a young war college student, Lt Tanya Degurechaff, and it had disturbed him.
"World War, huh..." Hans sighed. He didn't want to accept the idea... it chilled him. But he could see the chain of events as well as Tanya. And her insights into the war and how they would fight it were equally chilling.
Hans had requested her file from the college and it made interesting reading. Several essays and reports had caught the attention of department heads... indeed, his own Logistics department wanted to recruit her, along with Railways, and the strategic analysists. But despite all that, Hans felt she was most gifted for the battlefield.
"You disagree?" Hans asked his guest.
Erich von Lehrgen looked torn. "I think she is... remarkable in certain ways, but..." he groped for words.
"She's a monster in the body of a little girl," Hans quoted him from an earlier meeting, before Tanya was nominated for War College.
"Well, yes," Erich admitted.
"Would it surprise you to know I agree with you, somewhat?" Hans noted.
"Really?" Erich asked.
"Hmm," Hans nodded, "but this country... may need a monster, to win this war."
Erich couldn't really argue with that. "Here is the report from the final debriefing of Anson Sue. It makes interesting reading," he put the papers on his desk.
"Confirmed aide to our enemies by Albion and America," Hans agreed. "It'll help us diplomatically, but sadly we can't make it public."
"Do we need to keep Sue's defection a secret?" Erich asked him, frowning slightly. He knew Anson Sue was tired of the secrecy...
"We're using information we got from him in the military," Hans shook his head, "if we reveal that, the enemy would act to make his intelligence useless."
"Understood," Erich conceded.
"I understand he's lecturing at the War College himself," Hans noted, "along with consulting with our trainers. I expect we'll be more effective..."
Erich paused as he realized both the people they were discussing were there. Worriedly he muttered, "I hope Lt Degurechaff is not creating problems for him."
"More the other way around," Hans smiled mysteriously.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"I don't think I can face doing that again," Tanya actually groaned at the dining table, resting her head on the cool surface. She was still in uniform, interestingly, mostly because she had less day to day issues as a 'officer' rather than a child.
Viktoriya Serebryakov smiled fondly at the younger woman who was sitting beside her as she noted, "It wasn't that bad."
Tanya just groaned again. "Mary is RELENTLESS. We played board games all night!" she complained dramatically.
"Hmm," Visha nodded. Unlike Tanya she was wearing a modest dress in royal blue. Well, sorta modest... her bust wasn't easy to hide.
"Lets do makeup! We can listen to the radio! And talk about boys!" Tanya imitated the young woman, making Visha giggle.
The two women were getting breakfast at a nearby cafeteria to the boarding house. Visha hadn't wanted to cook, and Tanya was awful at it. It was a day off from classes for them both, and they were recovering from a late night spent with Mary Sue. The younger lady seemed determined to befriend them, tho Tanya couldn't say why.
"Coffee?" Visha offered.
"Please, though it's not as good as yours," Tanya noted.
Visha looked happy about that as she poured for them both. A staffer delivered their food, then they started eating.
"I think she just likes you, ma'am," Visha noted. She teased, "And that promotional film probably helped."
Tanya groaned again at that. The promotional film the government made her do was airing in theaters ALL OVER. Worse, it was apparently causing young women to enlist in greater numbers. Not to mention fans looking for her!
"I think Mary might even be bored," Visha added thoughtfully as they ate. "She is still under watch, after all."
"Well, true," Tanya conceded. As the daughter of a defector she was under watch both for security and her own protection.
Both enjoyed their meal, savoring the food. This was so much better than eating back at the front, where most of the food was canned and 'fresh' was a myth. It wasn't as good as before the war, of course, but it was much better than the front.
'I do miss rice,' Tanya mused silently, 'and sushi. Or even fish in general.' They mostly were served pork and beef, often pickled...
"Ma'am?" Visha jolted her out of her thoughts.
"Sorry, I was daydreaming. What?" Tanya smiled sheepishly.
Visha smiled as she said, "My friend Elya Seiber is still in town. She was wondering if she could meet you?"
"Oh, certainly," Tanya agreed. Maybe she could use the woman as a contact, later...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"And THEN Visha actually fell on the commander as he was trying to get her out of bed," Elya said cheerfully.
Tanya snorted as Visha blushed.
"ELYAAAA," Visha whined.
Tanya and Elya grinned. They had been sharing Visha stories, mostly. It was remarkable how much trouble the good natured young woman had gotten into.
"You two are mean," Visha pouted.
Tanya just smirked as she took a drink,
"So... is she still a cuddler?" Elya asked.
"ELYA, NO," Visha yelped.
"Elya, yes," she grinned then looked at Tanya, "Well?"
"I don't know, and I'm dying to find out," Tanya grinned.
"I and Visha were the only women trainees, so they stuck us in a room together," Elya explained cheerfully then paused.
"Yes?" Tanya prompted.
"So she would get out of bed in her sleep, climb into MY bed then wrap herself around me like a snake," Elya laughed.
Tanya just looked sat Visha.
"It wasn't INTENTIONAL," Visha protested.
Tanya was surprised to feel an odd twinge of jealousy. As well as fleeting mental images of Visha wrapped around... someone.
Elya, interestingly, seemed to notice Tanya's reaction with some amusement. "So she'd just apologize in the morning, but the next night...," Elya shrugged.
"You're so mean," Visha pouted cutely.
"Luckily, we don't share a room," Tanya said neutrally.
"Too bad," Elya muttered softly.
"She DID grab me like a teddy bear when I woke her, once," Tanya admitted.
"TANYA," Visha yelped as Elya burst into chuckles.
"Visha has one HELL of a grip too," Tanya admitted, "and short of breaking out magic, I couldn't get free until she woke up..."
Elya was giggling softly. "So how do you keep it from happening again?" she asked.
"I poke her with the sheath for my dress sword," Tanya deadpanned.
Elya giggled harder. "I hate you," Visha pouted.
"Any interesting Tanya stories?" Elya asked mildly.
Visha sighed, "Sadly, no. Well, she set fire to the communal kitchen where we live..."
"Fire?" Elya looked at Tanya.
"I can't cook," Tanya conceded willingly. Well, she could cook... but only what she remembered being able to do as a Sasary-man. "I joined the army at ten... I never had the chance to learn at the orphanage," she added.
"Awww," both Elya and Visha chorused.
"We should totally teach her how to cook!" Elya announced.
"Yes!" Visha agreed.
'Oh hell no...,' Tanya thought.
To be continued...
Notes: Lighter chapter. You can assume that Tanya has written up the plan for a mage unit at this time, and it's being studied by higher.
Four
The recruitment office in the capital wasn't usually busy. At this point most of the able young men had been drafted. Now they only had people who were normally exempt coming in, some older gents who decided to sign up, and more recently young women were asking to apply.
Limping on his cane, the medically discharged officer blinked as he saw the woman waiting for him to open. She was young, with shoulder length brown hair. She was sort of pretty, but there was an strange intensity in her eyes that bothered him.
"Good morning!" the brown haired woman beamed in a somewhat manic way.
"Ah. How can I help you?" he asked.
"My name is Mary Sue. I wish to join the Mage Corps!" she declared.
The name didn't ring any mental bells, and while she was young she was old enough to volunteer. Plus, mages were especially sought after. So he had her fill out the forms, then assured her that they would be calling her.
The completed forms gradually went up the chain of command... then went off like a bomb.
"WHAT," Erich von Rerugen yelped.
As Anson Sue's handler, the papers landed on Erich's desk. Plus while he was a Lt Colonel, that still made him the low man on the Imperial Command. If a miscellanious problem needed to be handled, it was usually passed to him.
Erich officially put a hold on Mary's application, then called Anson.
"What!" Anson Sue groaned.
"That was my reaction," Erich grimly agreed. "Did you know she intended to do this?" he asked his friend quietly.
"No," Anson promptly answered, then sighed. "She's been restless," he conceded, "she wants something useful to do."
"Hmm," Erich replied quietly.
"And she greatly admires officer Degurechaff," Anson added ruefully.
Erich winced slightly at that. He really should have anticipated it happening. A dashing hero who was nearly her same age, and Mary being so innocent looking? Of COURSE she might bond with Tanya. It was a pitty no one could see the monster under the angelic looks. Plus, she probably wanted to help her new homeland.
"Could you...?" Anson started.
"I will stop her application for now," Erich said, "as she is not yet a citizen. But if she continues to apply, I imagine my superiors might support it."
"Understood. We'll talk with her," Anson agreed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Congradulations! You're a 'von' now!" Visha declared excitedly.
Through a combination of heavy studying and subtle political work, Tanya had emerged in the top ten of the entire War College, and would have the title 'von' added to her name. Normally she'd be as excited as Visha, but command had also just hit her with her new assignment.
"And congrats on the new, elite Mage command," Elya cheered. "Major Von Degurechaff has a nice ring to it."
Elya was more Visha's friend than Tanya's, really, but they had spent enough time together that Tanya was growing comfortable with her. And, bluntly, the woman was an incredible source of information. Tanya's new assignment had only been revealed to her hours ago, and she hadn't told either of them. But somehow, Elya knew.
"Congradulations on finishing officer's school, Visha," Tanya changed the subject.
Visha blushed. "Thank YOU for helping me study. I'm sure I'd have flunked the exam otherwise." she said.
"You would have been fine," Tanya reassured her.
They were having a small celebration at the cafeteria they normally ate at. There was an unofficial party the other graduates were at... but it was in a bar and Tanya was under aged. DAMN YOU, Being X!
"There was something I wanted to ask you about," Tanya started, then looked at Elya.
Elya smirked, "Asking her out?"
"ELYA," Visha yelped... but she was blushing too.
"Oh, what the hell, you both know about my new assignment anyway," Tanya sighed. She looked over at Visha, "I'm going to need an aide, but I didn't want to just force you to do it. If you want, I can ask..."
"Of course I want to continue on!" Visha declared.
"It really does sound like a proposal," Elya muttered, but neither noticed.
The three ate a hearty meal, Visha and Elya drank a bit of beer and Tanya had juice, and they celebrated into the evening.
"Do you need help getting her inside?" Elya asked as she helped Tanya get the mildly drunk Visha back to their quarters.
"I think I can lead her in. Thank you," Tanya smiled wryly as she half supported Visha.
"Be careful," Elya called as she left.
Tanya didn't really register that as she manhandled Visha into Visha's bedroom. She kind of flopped on the bed, and Tanya sighed. She got the woman's boots off, then sort of tried to get her in the middle of the mattress.
"Hmmm," Visha reached out and hugged Tanya.
"Eeep," Tanya yelped as she tried to get free.
The (basically) nearly asleep Visha just tightened her grip, rolled over on her side then started softly snoring.
'Shit,' Tanya thought.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Rachel Sue watched as her husband and daughter argued. Anson was determined to keep them safe, while Mary wanted to volunteer for the army. Both were firm in their positions, and seemed unwilling to budge.
"May I ask something?" Rachel spoke up.
"Yes?" Anson looked at her fondly.
"If Mary wanted to join the military, she'd have to be trained as a Mage first, right?" Rachel asked them.
Anson nodded a bit warily, "Yes."
"So why not have her be trained first, THEN have her apply? It would give her time to consider and see how hard the training is," Rachel suggested.
"Yes!" Mary said enthusiastically. "I'd like to know more about what it's like to be a mage!" she continued, eyes sparkling.
"Rachel...," Anson started quietly as he moved them off a bit.
"Anson, she is very determined to do this," Rachel answered quietly. "But she hasn't seen the realities of military training," she added.
He nodded thoughtfully as Anson said, "So hopefully the harsh mage training will convince her not to do it."
"And if she makes it through and still wants to join the military, at least we'll know she means it," Rachel added.
Anson frowned, but he really couldn't argue with that. They turned to a visibly vibrating in anticipation Mary and said, "We'll agree to put you through the Empire's version of Mage training. After that, we'll see."
"Thank you!" Mary Sue beamed and rushed off.
Anson watched her go, then sat down with a sigh.
"Dear?" Rachel asked gently.
"I think that was the best decision to make," Anson said quietly, "but somehow I have a bad feeling about this."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Hilde?" Tanya blinked as the tall, thirty something entered the office Tanya had been assigned to begin organizing the new mage corps.
"It's been awhile," Hilde Schnee smiled warmly. "Congratulations on being a top War College graduate." she added.
Visha looked at the strange woman being so familiar with Tanya, and felt an odd unfamiliar emotion she couldn't quite place. It was a bit like anger, as if she wanted to get the lady the HELL away from Tanya.
"Ah, Visha, this is Hilde Schnee. We met back in Norden." Tanya said, unaware of the undercurrents. "Hilde, this is Viktoriya Serebryakov, my aide."
"Ma'am," Visha nodded a bit stiffly.
"Nice to meet you," Hilde smiled. She continued, "I'm in Communications and Propaganda, now, which is why I'm here."
"Oh?" Visha looked curious.
"I'm working on a notice to send out to the other make units to ask for volunteers," Tanya admitted, "I wanted a professional's opinion."
"Ah," Visha nodded. She added, "I'll get some coffee going."
"Thank you,"Tanya absentmindedly said as she searched for a document on her desk. "This is the draft I'm working on," she passed it to Hilde.
Hilde scanned it, "You realize young men will take this as a challenge and apply to prove they can do it?"
Tanya froze, "I hadn't considered that..."
As Visha returned, Hilde was careful not to stand too close to Tanya. She was certain Tanya hadn't noticed, but Hilde had picked up Visha's annoyance immediately. Interesting...
To be continued...
Notes: I don't think, canon wise, Mary Sue had mage training at that point. We're also jumping ahead a few weeks. Been meaning to use Hilde again, so here we are.
FIVE
"I'm honestly ashamed of our military, considering," Hilde Schnee noted as yet another group fell for Tanya Degurechaff,'s illusions.
As a test of perceptiveness, Tanya was having recruits to her new mage unit interact with an illusion created by her Orb. It had deliberately been created with flaws, so, in theory, a capable military mage should have noticed.
So far, the majority hadn't.
"This is kind of awful," Viktoriya Serebryakov agreed glumly.
Tanya herself groaned quietly. "This is just pitiful," she agreed.
Hilde looked over at Tanya after the two soldiers were sent away by the illusion and said, "Command is going to insist we lower our standards."
'We?' Visha thought, frowning.
Tanya sighed in resignation as she answered, "Agreed. But I intend to go over this with command... a good enough mage could infiltrate our camps easily!"
'Well, it would take a mage of roughly your skill level,' Visha mused silently, 'and you'd need something like your quad core orb to do it, too. On the other hand, we can't assume the enemy couldn't have either.'
"Hmm?" Tanya looked at her questioningly.
"Just thinking," Visha waved it off.
"So what now?" Hilde asked.
"We go through the applications AGAIN," Tanya sighed. "Look for the best out of the lot... and add a remedial course on breaking illusions."
"We'll have to re-train them to our standards. Run them through boot camp again... and fix the training," Visha said, guessing where Tanya was going.
"Exactly," Tanya agreed.
Hilde was impressed by how in synch these two women were. Tanya had a thought, Visha finished it. Visha was also really good at helping Tanya get everything set up... Tanya had the idea, Visha got things organized.
"I hope you'll let me continue to help," Hilde addressed Visha quietly.
The other officer looked at her thoughtfully but nodded.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Mary Sue, interestingly, took to combat training like a fish to water.
The Sargent that was overseeing the group of trainees barked, "You scum! I've seen poop bigger than you!"
"Sir!" Mary Sue ran by with the group doing laps on the exercise grounds, "Yes, sir!"
The Sargent blinked.
Mary clambered up and through the obstacle course. "Faster!" the Sargent cursed as he yelled sat them, "Faster!"
"Sir, yes Sir!" Mary obediently pushed herself.
The gun range was next, where Mary was calmly shooting bullseyes. 'Has she been trained before coming here?' he wondered disbelievingly.
"How...?" one of the cadets asked curiously.
"I used to practice with my father's rifle," Mary explained.
'Still, that's exceptional,' the Sargent thought. Still... "You're the worst cadets I've ever seen! Look at this volunteer showing you up!" he gestured to Mary.
Several cadets looked unhappy, but focused on their shooting.
He moved over to Mary, "Good shooting. But remember you'll have to shoot people eventually. Not just targets."
"Sir!" Mary nodded and put another bullet through the bullseye.
'Maybe I should have her tutor some of the less capable students,' he mused as he watched her easily get 'kills'.
The academic side was a bit tougher, as Mary had to catch up on some stuff. Her teachers gave some allowances, and it had to be said she worked hard.
In magic, well...
"Use the orb to carefully lift off," the instructor ordered.
Each student took off, some more wobbly than others. Then Mary took her turn. The glow of her orb surrounded her... then she shot straight up like a bullet.
"ACK!" several students yelped.
"MISS SUE!" the teacher used his orb to increase the volume, "Stop!"
"Ah. Sorry," Mary answered sheepishly as she descended. "Used a bit too much magic, I guess." she added.
"We are going to have to work with you on fine control..." the teacher sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Apparently Mary Sue is disturbing the trainers," General Hans von Zettour noted, amused, at the informal meeting.
"As much as Tanya did?" Lt Colonel Erich von Rerugen asked.
"Yes, but in a different way," Hans smiled wryly.
Erich snorted quietly. "I did review the reports. She's a prodigy... not unexpected, considering how skilled Anson is," he observed. "Her magical abilities are remarkable..."
"Just imagine... if things had gone very different we could have ended up facing her in battle," Hans mused.
Both men visibly shuddered at that thought.
"Assuming she doesn't quit, which seems unlikely... what do we do with her?" Hans wondered aloud, bringing up the reason for the meeting.
"Anson, understandably, would like us to keep her off the front lines," Erich noted calmly. They didn't HAVE to listen to him, but keeping Anson happy was a good idea.
"Hmm," Hans frowned. "Could always put her under Degurechaff," he offered.
Erich choked a bit, "That's the opposite of what Anson wants."
"You have to admit, they would make a great team," Hans noted.
"Well, yes," Erich conceded.
Both men thought about the situation silently a bit. "The Propaganda department has wanted to use Degurechaff again," Hans mused.
"Oh?" Erich sounded a bit dubious.
"There's been a increase in women enlisting. No one as good as Tanya and Mary, but capable. The Propegandists want to do a film with them and Tanya... something like 'The flowers of the Empire defend us,'" Hans elaborated.
"... With TANYA?" Erich raised his eyebrows.
"We3ll, clearly they don't know her. But I do think it's a good idea for public morale," Hans suggested. "She could do it between missions."
"Her and Mary Sue," Erich echoed. "Somehow... I have a BAD feeling about this."
"You worry too much," Hans chuckled.
"Trust me, I really don't," Erich sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Some weeks later, Tanya was running her new squad through basic training.
"Is she USUALLY this scary?" Hilde had to ask.
"YES," Visha sighed.
Tanya had just finished running her recruits through a grueling mountain training course. In addition to the usual stuff, she had literally had mortars fired at the squads. For nearly a DAY. It had been pure hell.
On the other hand, the unit had really bonded over mutual terror of their leader. And, admittedly, in admiration too.
As part of the training Tanya had a free for all with the top soldiers and her. She even hampered herself by using a regular computation orb. The soldiers had expected to trounce her... instead she had kicked everyone's ass.
Hilde had, surprisingly, stood up to it all too. Visha had expected her to just observe, but she had gone out to the field and survived everything the troops had. She had, grudgingly, earned some of Visha's respect.
Of course, there was a new complication.
"They're doing WHAT." Tanya blinked as they recieved the new orders from General Hans von Zettour and the top brass.
"They want you, Mary Sue and several young lady recruits to do public events. For morale," Hilde said, looking over the papers.
"Me too," Visha said, also not feeling terribly impressed.
"It's not a bad idea. The flowers of the Empire, encouraging the troops," Hilde smiled.
Tanya just gave her a LOOK. "I am NOT wearing that dress again." she said firmly.
"We could always put Visha in a bikini," Hilde teased.
Visha blushed at that idea, then blinked as she noticed TANYA blushing too...
To be continued!
Notes: NO, I am not doing Strike Witches. Though a crossover... hmm. BAD BRAIN. NO.