A Saga of Tanya the Evil/The Irregular at Magic High School crossover.
I do not in any way, shape, or form lay claim to either of these works.
This is just a work of admiration from one fan, to those others that share the same interest.
The only characters or places I lay claim to are those solely of my own creation.
Chapter 28, The Seven Schools Competition: Life is a game, and the world is nothing but a chess board. We are but pawns, moving at an unseen hand.
Monday, August 2nd 2094 1:00 PM
Tanya had to admit, the committee in charge of the competition was organized and on time. A fact that mildly surprised her, considering the usual mess most parts of the civilian government made of things, even in a technologically advanced society.
Though, considering that many of them were going to be put to military or other high-profile jobs, then perhaps it was better to consider this a technology display, or even a weapon test. It was true that the young mages could be considered, in many ways, a product. The number of natural mages, such as Visha and herself, were minute. Almost all of their fellow students were the product of a lab more than nature, of that she was certain. It was perhaps a good thing that the world they had fled from did not have that technology, or who knows what kind of hell it would have truly been? Well, something to think about another time when she hadn't tasked herself with carrying out surveillance on the opposing teams and schools.
As the first competitor stepped onto the field and entered their shooting box, Visha looked over with obvious glee. "I can't wait to see how they compare to your performance, Tanya."
"I highly doubt that most of them will be going the route I chose. After all, most of them are running some sort of field or area affecting magical sequence, I doubt many are going to rely on reflex enhancement and seeking magics to achieve a higher degree of operational efficiency." Tanya replied in her usual dry manner, then glanced aside at Visha. "That said, I am looking forward to seeing how they choose to handle these trials, and see if I can't incorporate them into my further training for the other first years."
Visha laughed and gave Tanya a fond look. "That is one of the things I always respect about your dedication to duty, you always are looking for a way to improve the conditions of those under you in the field."
"Well, what kind of officer would I have been if I didn't try to ensure that my baby ducks didn't die on their first outing?" Tanya replied, then that devilish smile gew on her face as she nodded. "And one must never overlook an opportunity for further training, after all."
Elsewhere, the other first years gave out a collective shudder as a sudden chill seeped over them.
Each competitor is carefully critiqued, catalogued and analyzed. Their strengths and weaknesses laid out in brutal clarity. It's an almost surgical dissection of who and what they are, and the results stored for later use in the fine analytical minds of the two young women who watch like crows over a battlefield.
All in all, it served as a rather refreshing experience for the two veterans. A pastime from training far too many new soldiers over the years of the war. A habit from having seen far too many old faces lost, and new faces set to replace them.
A sobering moment shared by the two veterans.
Tanya jerked a little as she felt a warm, surprisingly soft despite the calluses from far too many engagements, hand gingerly slide over and give hers a gentle squeeze. The two ladies lock eyes for a moment, before they both look away. Their hands remain locked together though, a fact that neither one seems all too quick to point out to the other.
As the first of their upper class girls step up, they both fix their attention on her and begin their analyses annew. Tanya, for her part, is also paying particular attention to those in the stands who are watching, that she knows are not from their school.
"I have five." She says softly to her companion.
"Three for me." Visha responded, as always on the same track as her former commander.
"We will compare notes later, then." Tanya added, to which Visha nodded briefly before they turned their full attention back to the competition at hand.
The display of speed, accuracy and magical talents was a splendid cross section of solutions for the particular problem that they were presented with. Tanya, of course, couldn't help but create a pro and con list for each competitor, one that she was sure she would be sharing with the young woman that she was still holding hands with. A fact that had some part of Tanya panicking, just a bit. She didn't remember being THIS hormonally unbalanced as a teen, but then she was hardly your typical teenage boy in her first life, either.
Best to not dwell on it, since it didn't seem to be bothering Visha as much as it seemed to be bothering herself. With that thought in mind, Tanya continued her dissection of the competition, and her watching of the watchers.
Meanwhile, Visha kept stealing glances at their joined hands, and tried to keep calm and not betray the wild swirl of thoughts that had occupied her mind. It was one of the more daring moves she had made, as far as she was concerned. Sneaking… No, carrying out a covert operation to infiltrate the base of operations of a wary ally was one thing. Especially when you hoped to carry out what could be perceived as a humanitarian operation. Overtly engaging in what could be seen as an unwanted intrusion, or at worse as a land or asset grab into the territory of the same wary ally could be considered the height of folly. That said, she was glad that it looked like she would be able to keep the offending appendage. Well, if she ever wanted to retrieve it from where it was now, that was.
That was not something that Visha found herself in any great hurry to do, though.
All in all, the event went well enough. Their school made a good showing for itself, not stellar but definitely about the middle of the pack. Not that it boded well for them to take the overall title, but it was a start. More importantly for the two veterans, they had several ideas and tactics to discuss with the other first years. That, and a few notes to compare about the six, they concluded, watchers that the two of them had found.
Two seemed to be local, more than likely journalists. They carried themselves with a level of familiarity and moved with confidence, and seemed to know a few of the others that were likely locals. Another three were almost certainly government, the clothing tended to give them away. Too new while looking worn was a sure sign that it was issued to them. Of them, two looked to be European, and one was almost certainly American. The sixth one was the one that had them both on guard. A Chinese woman who wore very casual clothing and carried herself with just the right amount of indifference to not really stand out.
Almost certainly an operative of some sort, and with the visitors they had had at the Facility, it was too much of a coincidence for the two war-scarred veterans.
It seemed that they might have to do a little snooping on their own.
Well, once they got the first years sorted out, that was. It was tiring, being the only responsible ones at times.
As the pair headed back towards where they had already instructed the first years to meet them, they went over the suggestions they were going to pass along to the newcomer participants in speed shooting. Their tactics were already set, but there was nothing wrong with reinforcing what worked.
An instructors job was never done, after all.
That night they had a good, if quiet meal after they had grilled the other first years, and accessed what they had observed for themselves. Sadly, most of them didn't go into the event with wanting to observe, critique and learn. They wanted to watch, have fun, and cheer on their senpai's. All fine and dandy, as Tanya was concerned, if they didn't care about winning and improving their overall operational efficiency. If they didn't care about perfecting the skills that would one day almost certainly keep them alive.
Remedial courses would be needed.
Their own observations were what led the two temporal refugees to be moving quietly along the rooftops under the cover of optical camouflage spells, and taking advantage of the fact that most people never thought to look up or down. An understandable habit, if you had not been trained in three dimensional combat theory from being an aerial mage.
A covert recon was the task for the night, establishing if and where other teams were likely to be inserted, and if there were, in fact, teams already on site. Fairly standard fare for the two of them, down to the fact it was the two of them doing it.
The spells they were using would hopefully not be recognizable for what they were. Tanya and the good doctor had converted some of their old spells into the new format, and it was serving as a good field test for the formula. The CADs, with some work, could function as multi-core computation jewels, at least for a period of time. The biggest challenge was not overloading Visha's. Tanya did not want to risk Visha suffering any lasting damage from their covert operations, no matter how she insisted she was fine.
Not that Tanya would admit to it being any more than a good former commanding officer worrying about her subordinates. At least, not anywhere that wasn't that loud, obnoxious corner of her own mind.
They stopped on a high corner of one of the complexes and checked the surrounding lower roofs carefully, using passive means as much as possible so as to not give away their locations. So far, they had found a few good observation nests, but little sign of them being occupied as of yet. Perhaps they were just being overly cautious? But such caution was a big part of why they were still alive after the hell that was the last half year of the war.
They nodded to each other as they moved to the next position, Visha providing cover as Tanya knelt down and examined the corner they had spotted earlier. Tanya looked carefully for a moment, then nodded as she spoke to Visha without looking up.
"Looks like we found one. There are a few marks on the roof here, and I see what looks like a bipod was set up here. There is a clear line from the drainage here at the base of the wall to the window in the cafeteria. Looks like we found one of their sniper positions. Now, I can't tell if it was a gun or maybe a camera, but definitely worth keeping track of." Tanya said as she moved slowly, being careful not to leave her own traces.
"Why all the effort, though? It's just a bunch of students. I don't see why they would go to such lengths, and what's their goal?" Visha asked as she tried to sort it out.
"Any number of reasons, I would imagine. They could be trying to find potential miles, or watching over ones they have already turned. They could be looking for potential threats, hoping to eliminate them before they are established. Nothing like defusing a potential weapon before it has a chance to be deployed. I can think of any number of reasons.". Tanya calmly answered as she brushed herself off.
Visha shook her head as they moved on to check the next spot. "I will never understand how you think, Tanya." Visha confided ruefully.
Tanya glanced over at her and frowned for a moment. "You say that like it's a bad thing. Honestly, sometimes it's good to have someone who takes things closer to face value. There are times when your ability to look at a situation without as much artifice can be valuable. Sometimes the simpler answer is the better one."
Visha smiled, as she accepted the statement as a compliment. "I'm just glad I can be of use to you."
Tanya smiled as they finished their patrol, thankful for Visha's presence. There was no way that she would have made it through the war without the members of her battalion, and there was no way she would have been able to make it through the hell of the war with some shreds of her humanity intact without the grounding presence of Visha to keep her from sliding deeper into that abyss.
"So, what is our next step?" Visha asked as they made their way back to the hotel.
"Now, we wait and see what their next move is. We have an understanding of where they can move their pieces, and some ideas of what their objectives might be. We see what route they go, and we make sure that we are the ones that control the outcome." Tanya smiled that evil little smiled that evil little smile of hers. "The game is about to begin, Visha. Time to show them how it is played."