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 30, The Seven Schools Competition: No battle is more bloody and fraught with peril than the wars waged over the heart.
Thursday, August 5th, 2094 5:00 A.M. Newcomer Speed Shooting.
Tanya laid as still as she could as Visha walked into the kitchen to begin her morning ritual, one she had done whenever their deployment had allowed it.
The fact that Visha had exited her bed to start this morning routine was a fact that Tanya had not quite come to grasps with yet. It was a revelation that she hoped would make the confession tonight a bit more of a confident bet. She didn't want to have to resort to Exit Plan Alpha.
much out of the fear of death, she had long since gotten over that. It was more the fact that she was positive that her personal pain in the ass, that sanctimonious Being X, would find perverse pleasure in it.
And that was something she could not in good conscience condone. She had spent the majority of a second life proving that she was no self-styled divine beings plaything, and it went against all her rationale and sensibilities to prove him right now.
One did have standards to maintain, after all.
The thought of those standards served to help draw her mind away from the quiet contemplation of her longtime companion and roommate. A series of facts that still baffled her, and made her rather rational and logical mind derail a bit. She mentally shook herself as she got back to the task at hand, and not admiring the backside of her former subordinate.
She mentally shook herself again, and forced her distracted mind back to where it needed to be. So far, the various operatives had not done anything overly overt, it would seem. There had been some odd break ins during the last day or two, but so far nothing more than probing maneuvers, tests of the opponents readiness. Honestly, nothing less than what was to be expected when you were effectively showing off the nation's next generation of weapons. It was also entirely possible it was students pulling pranks on each other, without regard to the larger picture.
It was good to have a reliable asset like Jane here, as well. She was not part of the unit that Tanya was leading at the moment, so she could very well fall out of the operational considerations of any of the operatives that were keeping a close eye on the first years. Tanya had her suspicions, but so far that was all they were. Soon enough she was sure that she would have the facts to better understand what her opponents operational goals were. From that point, it was a simple matter of deduction to trace their best course of operations from that knowledge and to be one step ahead of them at their own game. It was a skill that had served both her and Visha well during the war, and there was no reason it would not continue to do so in this world. In fact, here it would likely be of even greater value, since those involved were more likely to be acting out of rationale and logic, clear objectives and goals over ephemeral things like 'Honor' 'Duty' or ' Belief'. It was the last one that always proved the most difficult to predict, as her run-ins with the Sioux's had proven time and time again.
At least she had not met their analogs in this world, but perhaps it was best not to tempt Being X too much at this point, after all. Neither of them needed a religious fanatic that could level a section of a small town after them once again. Especially one that took those three ephemeral reasons to such a ludicrous extreme. Killing oneself to take out one enemy hardly seemed like a good use of such valuable resources. It was one of the many reasons that she had felt such disdain in her first life at the knowledge of her own homeland's use of suicide attacks such as the kamakazi. Completely unacceptable, such wasteful tactics in an activity that was already fraught with undue waste and inefficiency. But, she supposed, that was the nature of war.
Speaking of inefficiency, the performance of the regular students in the competition so far was not filling her with confidence towards their futures as the next generation of mages that would help shape the fate of this country. Tanya was certain that almost any of her recruits, that was her fellow first year students, would be able to compete on a fair or even unfair field against any of the older competitors.
Truly, the understanding of how to properly motivate students to excel was a lost art in most ages, it seemed. Nothing that soul-shattering fear, exhaustion, and mild trauma could not fix, after all. She did miss the use of an artillery battalion to help properly motivate her pupils.
But one must make do with what one had on hand.
Tanya watched her companion for a bit longer, as she soaked in her presence as much as she did the residual warmth from the cooling section of her bedding. How and when this had started, she was not sure but she admitted that the nightmares had seemed to be much milder and less frequent lately, except for the one that involved Visha herself. That one seemed to have found new fangs as of late. Perhaps it had been her subconscious mind's way of letting her know about the change in her sleeping arrangements? Either way, it was almost time to 'wake up' and stop pretending to be asleep still. One must keep to a schedule, after all.
And if she was to be fair to herself, she had any number of valid reasons to be a bit on edge today. Not only was it her first competition in the games, it was the first of possible chances she thought would be appropriate to confess her feelings to Visha, and see where exactly her companion wanted to see them. If she was happy with the relationship they had shared for years as superior and adjunct, or if perhaps she wanted to see if there could be something a bit more, personal. Not that Tanya had any real experience to go from in either life. Her first life she had been far too focused on achieving her goals at work to ever waste the time to pursue a relationship with anyone. There were any number of ways to handle the physical urges, such as she had had.
It was amusing that her best chance of romance was as a teenage girl with one of her teenage companions. It could even be thought to be ironic. Her first relationship might happen in her second life in the third world she had lived in. Hopefully she didn't manage to somehow add something to fill the number four slot. But, knowing how things usually went she had just somehow jinxed herself.
Tanya knew she was stalking, a tactic that she found unforgivable in others and would not tolerate in herself so she rolled out of bed and landed lightly on her toes as she stretched.
"Good morning, Visha. Breakfast smells good, thank you." Tanya said politely as she walked towards the small table in their room.
Visha laughed as she pulled the lid off the serving tray. "Thank you, Tanya, but all I did was brew the coffee. Other than that, it's the order we had agreed on." Visha said as she blushed slightly and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Tanya coughed and nodded. "Indeed. So, I think that we are doing fairly well, at least the first years are so far. I have not been impressed with the performance of our seniors, though."
Visha paused and shrugged. "I don't think they are doing that badly, Tanya. They are better than the Dacians were?"
Tanya laughed and took a drink of her coffee. "Visha, you are one of the nicest people I have ever met. That is a rather low bar to set, you know. Still, I am hoping that at least our first years make a good showing of themselves. I would hate to think that all of the country would think that everyone at our school is inept. It would possibly hurt our prospects going forward."
Visha pondered that for a moment as she munched away at her breakfast. "Well, I am sure that you will do excellent, at least. Most of the others I think will do okay, but I'm still a bit concerned about the Monolith Code team."
Tanya chuckled as she took another sip. "No concerns about me doing less than excellent, hrm? I am not sure if I should feel flattered or worry that you are possibly setting your sights a bit high, Visha."
Visha shook her head as she finished her meal. "Of course not! I know quite well what you are capable of when you set your mind on it." She rested her hand lightly on her chest. "I'm living proof of that, Tanya. You saved me when no one else could have, and not just that time. Every time before, as well." She cleaned up their plates and placed them back on the tray and thus missed Tanya's blush at the statement from her former adjunct.
Tanya cleared her throat. "I will do my best to live up to the high ideals set for me, then." She said as she finished her coffee and added it to the tray as well. "So, shall we then?"
"Ma'am!" Visha answered as she moved to get dressed, already having laid out Tanya's outfit for the morning, in this case her outfit for the Speed Shooting competition that was slated to begin in a few hours.
"At least they chose to start this off in the morning, I would hate to see what it would be like if they had waited for the afternoon." Tanya said as she collected the gear she would need, barring the gun and CAD, which were being kept in the team's support room.
Once they had left their room, they gathered the other first years, along with a few extras like Jane, to participate in a light jog to get everyone ready for the day ahead of them. Tanya had to admit, Jane was shaping up well. She was not even winded after their morning run, and that was a good improvement already. Honestly, if she was going to rebuild her command and control structure, certain minimums would be expected. Yes, there were a few individuals that would be exempt from the physical requirements but for the rest, a certain level of competency would be required.
Once again, Tanya bemoaned the lack of an artillery battalion to make use of.
Tanya and Visha, along with Jane and a couple of others that didn't have any pressing matters made their way to the support room and retrieved the rest of the gear that would be needed today for those participating in the day's events. They nodded to the other first years that were gathering their own equipment for their practice runs for the upcoming events as Tanya's party made its way to the venue, arriving a solid fifteen minutes before registration was set to begin.
Tanya moved to stand in the line, her gun and CAD ready to be presented to the officials for inspection. She had made sure that the spells loaded into the CAD were fairly standard. Simple enhancement and tracking spells. She had perfected her own style of shooting in the crucible of war, and highly doubted that this competition would require all that much more than the basics for her. It was always best to rely to the bare minimum on gear, and to use skill and expertise instead. Much more reliable, in the end.
Anyone who doubted that philosophy had never witnessed Visha at work with an entrenching tool.
Tanya stepped forward and presented her gear to the inspector, and watched him as he checked it over. No reason to be lax, after all. After she had retrieved her gear, she walked with Visha to the staging area, while the others went to find seats in the stands. "I will never understand the need to watch another person performing a simple drill like this, unless they think it will help them improve their own performance."
Visha laughed and shook her head, her eyes dancing. "Because they want to wish you well, and see you succeed. Just like I do."
Tanya coughed and nodded. "Well, then I will make sure that I succeed."
"Good luck, Ma'am!" Visha said, as she barely stopped herself from saluting before she moved to join the others.
Tanya smiled that predatory smile of hers as she observed the other competitors. This was going to be fun. It was always best to test oneself against your peers, after all. Just a friendly little competition, after all.
In the stands, Visha shivered as she felt an ominous dread spread over the venue. "Oh no…" Visha said quietly to herself, and looked at Jane who was giving her a questioning look.
"What is it, Visha? Did you remember something that Tanya forgot?" Jane asked.
"No… No, it's just… I get the feeling that Tanya might be taking this seriously…" Visha said in a worried tone of voice.
"And, you are saying she hasn't been serious before?" Jane asked as she shared that same odd sense of dread.
"No, she has actually been pretty relaxed about things, in my experience." Visha said.
"Oh my…" A noticeably pale Jane said softly.
A/N: Just a short chapter to set things up for what is to come! Shooting contests! Confessions! Life and death showdowns! Maybe even the Devil of the Rhine, the Beast of Berlin seeing just how far her foot WILL fit in her own mouth!