Divergence

Thirteen

They were travelling in via plane, both to save the mages energies and to keep them from being detected going in. The mages and the valkyrie unit were being briefed as they flew in, to maintain operational security.

'WHAT IS UP WITH THIS CRAP PLANE THOUGH?' Hilde thought as they rattled along.

"Are we going to crash?" Gertrud muttered, sitting nearby. And it was freezing too! Legadonia was awful...

"Our fleet is moving into position to attack the northern bases," Tanya said, "but we need to make it a surprise attack. Before they go in, we need to take out the guarding forces to stop them from getting a message out."

"Sentry mages," Aoi murmured.

"Exactly. We need to sweep them up, to prevent them either escaping or otherwise getting a message out," Weiss added.

"And in addition we need to hit the gun emplacements," Tanya continued, "or our fleet will get blown to hell getting in there."

"Which is our priority?" Mary asked intently.

"We start with the gun emplacements, since it'll take time for the mages to respond to our attack," Weiss noted.

"Work as teams, I do not want losses today," Tanya added.

Mary looked sheepish, as she had been chided for rushing in again.

"I feel sorry for whomever is defending," Hilde noted.

"Worry about yourselves," Tanya said forcefully.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Back in the Empire's capital, Anson Sue paused as he was getting ready for work. He was still lecturing at the War College.

"Dear?" his wife Rachel asked.

"I just had the oddest feeling," Anson admitted, "like I had avoided a horrible fate."

Rachel came up to him and hugged him as she smiled, "I feel that way often, now that we're here, happily together."

Anson was going to say 'a horrible fate where I got killed in pointless battle' but decided not to say. It didn't REALLY matter.

"Me too," he hugged her. "We should take a day off together," he added, smiling down at her.

Rachel kissed him lingeringly, then pulled back with a sigh. "Best get going," she noted, "you'll be late for work."

"Yes dear," Anson chuckled.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The gun emplacements were all wrecks, and the local mages were in a wild dogfight above the snow covered fjords.

Visha looked around, taking a moment to see where everyone was and how they were.

Tanya had blown up two of the gun emplacements on her own, and was now bobbing and weaving as she was chased by a group of enraged defenders.

The Valkyries were mostly working as a unit. Mary Sue was restraining herself, as Aoi tried to look commanding. It was clear the Public Relations officer wasn't a leader type, but she at least was trying hard.

Weiss, Grantz, Neumann and the others were chasing down any mages trying to flee. It looked, barring a surprise, like things were well in hand.

"AAAAAAH!" a berzerk mage tried charging Tanya. She zipped by, then went him, surprising him. "Wha," he started.

Tanya shot him, not even using a explosion spell.

"Weiss! Any injured?" Tanya demanded.

"All present and accounted for. No wounded," Weiss replied happily.

"What next, Major?" Visha asked, reloading her rifle.

"Let's save the fleet some work," Tanya said briskly, "there's a base where troops were headquartered to run the gun emplacements. Let's take it out, long range fire."

"Aye!" the troops chorused.

Visha flew up beside Tanya, "We're going to run low on magic soon."

"I know," Tanya conceded, "but this was a rough fight. We need to give the troops something easy, if only for a few minutes."

Once again, Visha was impressed by how much Tanya cared for the troops.

The group used explosive spells and bombarded the base, as well as driving troops into fleeing inland. That would, hopefully, make it easier to offload their own troops.

"And here they come," Aoi noted, filming the ships coming in for another newsreel.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"They did WHAT?" Colonel Vianto of the Republican army blurted.

He was having a staff meeting about a week later, out on the front not far from the Rhine. The republic forces were steadily being pushed back into the Francois Republic, but they were trying to rally against the Empire.

Lt. Pierre, his subordinate, reported grimly, "The Empire launched a surprise attack on the north coast of Legadonia."

"How bad?" Captain Garret, a volunteer from Albion, asked grimly.

"Extremely," Pierre said, "unless a miracle happens, Legadonia will fall."

Colonel Vianto nodded, "I understand Degurechaff lead the surprise attack?"

"Yes. They smashed their way from the coast into the interior, wrecking vital infrastructure on their way," Pierre pointed out on the map.

Garret frowned, "And the army?"

"They were caught by surprise by the initial attack," Vianto studied the map, "and were either overrun or surrounded and made to surrender." He looked over at Pierre, whom had the complete report, "Is ANY of their army left?"

"A small force managed to retreat to the mountains," Pierre pointed, "but unless they get reinforced, they're doomed."

Garret looked at Vianto curiously.

"No," Vianto shook his head, "no ground troops could make it, and mages would almost certainly be shot down."

"Nor can we really spare the mages," Pierre added.

"And what does this mean for the war?" Garret wondered.

"I suspect that's being discussed by high command as we speak," Vianto sighed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Brigadeer General Hans von Zettour sighed, "So, we've taken Legadonia?"

"I wouldn't say that QUITE yet," Erich von Lehrgen cautioned, "but we're close."

Kurt von Rudersdoft snorted, "We should be celebrating! All that is left in Legadonia is a remnant in the mountains."

Zettour nodded to him but said, "A remnant that could try hit and run attacks against our forces unless we take steps."

Rudersdoft scowled. "So eliminate them," the other man said.

Lehrgen cought quietly. "Where they're holed up is very inaccessible," he said.

Zettour saw Rudersdoft about to yell and noted, "We're sending a representative under a flag of truse to ask for their surrender."

Rudersdoft nodded, "They'll refuse, of course. Then what?"

"Arial Mages," Lehrgen shrugged, "using explosive spells. I suspect they surrender after the first bombardment."

"That'll do it," Rudersdoft agreed.

"So the next question is," Zettour said, "how do we finish this and finally defeat the Republic?"

"Concentrate our forces and smash through," Rudersdoft declared.

Zettour said, "We might need to approach it with a bit more finesse than THAT."

"Plus there's the Russians to consider," Lehrgen added.

"They haven't acted against us," Rudersdoft scowled.

"Our sources say Albion and the Republic are both in talks with them," Lehrgen pointed out, "and war makes strange bedfellows."

"Bastards," Rudersdoft grumbled.

"We need to make sure we have enough forces on that border to convince them jumping us would be unwise," Zettour said, "which will limit our ability to hit the Republic."

"AND we need to end this before Albion and or the US decide to get fully involved," Lehrgen added.

"Hmph," Rudersdoft grunted. It was a puzzle...

To be continued...

Notes: In canon, of course, Anson dies in that battle. Just a little nod.