Hmm, I need a break. What should I write about… hmmmm.
Ah, I Know!
K-I-R-B-Y!
Chapter 1
The Comet
.
.
.
It may be played out but I'll say it here…
To the ancient fools who say "War, War Never Changes," or something to that degree, have clearly never set foot in a 20th-century battlefield. Throughout my second life, the only constants about war were blood, sweat, death, and me constantly being the guinea pig for something new and untested.
For I, Major Tanya Von Deggurechaff, am in charge of making something new, something deadly. Thanks to my ideas and constant pressure from the brass, I believe we've achieved in that task. Because if we share anything, it's our shared view on the importance of aerial mages in the future of combat.
But…
This pressure that makes them strong, also makes them lacking in true battle experience. I only said a month because I needed Zettour's approval, not because I actually thought some basic spartan training in the Alps would turn those rookies into true aces.
No, it would take longer, much longer. Six months at least, maybe even longer if they didn't adapt well to Schugel's Elenium Type 97. Ugh, just mentally replaying Rerugen's orders gave her a migraine, instinctively causing her to reach for her brew on the table.
"It certainly is interesting," I mused, delicately turning to face the map on the office wall. "The Entente Alliance, The Republic, and now the Dukedom of Dacia want to tear us down. A three front war certainly is troublesome."
I used my other hand to pick up the report, examining the date again. "September 24th," I muttered out loud, feeling a smile inch up my face. "Well, what do you know…"
"It'll be on my birthday."
Five Days Later
Garrison 5 Of The Imperial Southeastern Theater
"ATTENTION!" barked First Lieutenant Weiss, "Our commander has an important message for us all!" saluted the 2nd Company Commander, taking a long step back as I took the stage.
"Alright maggots!" I loudly projected, "It's time to prove your worth! Today we go to war and after everything you've been through I expect this to be a piece of cake! Why cake you may ask? Why it's because today is my birthday and it seems the Dukedom of Dacia must've known this because they've sent me a wonderful present! They're basically throwing me a surprise party, and the people on the guest lists are going to be your targets," I announce with an ever growing smile.
"And I am grateful to the empire for giving us all the freedom of choice. The choice to either shoot them or destroy them with spells, whichever you need to improve upon. Intelligence says we have total air superiority so I expect this to be an enemy bloodbath, yet unlike you're training, they'll attempt to shoot back. But, it's not like any of you are actually stupid enough to be hit."
I lower the rim of my hat slightly before concluding, "Now then, that's enough talk, we take off in ten soldiers. And when we do, it'll be our time to hunt. Understood!"
"YES MA'AM!" roared my troops, giving me a crisp salute as they scattered to collect their gear.
"Major!" I turn to my right and see Vischa giving me that gleeful smile. "I didn't know it was your birthday!"
I frown slightly. "It's merely the one on paper, I don't actually know my birthday Visha," I say bluntly as I watch her smile falter.
"Well at the very least Major, I wish I would've known. I could've at least bought some chocolates for after the battle."
I sigh, "While that would be a great gift, the brass has already given me a gift that would please me more than chocolate…"
"Which is…?" muttered Visha with a nervous sweat.
"Target Practice," I say with a genuine grin.
Dacia Territory Hours Later
I stood in the center of it all, Visha by my side as my men scurried around the enemy camp, plundering, capturing, and boobytrapping the entirety of the Dacian camp. She knew it would be easy, but still…
"It mystifies me that they had the gall to invade us without provocation," mused the small Major, watching her men throw the enemy bodies in a heap, "And do it with no understanding of the ways of modern war. I guess birthday wishes do come true," I scoffed into my hand.
"But, how much further could I push them…" I pondered. I saw one of my soldiers run out of the communication tent with his hands full. "Soldier!" I yelled at him with a pointed finger.
He froze for a moment before his training kicked in, dropping some of the papers as he stood at attention, his arm giving off a clean salute. "Yes, Major?"
"Sigh, At ease soldier. Do you happen to have a map of Dacia on hand?" I asked cooly, receiving a curt nod. "Well then bring it here," I beckoned him as the soldier ran over to us with the open map of the enemy nation.
I bid him off as me and Visha pinpointed where we were. When we did, a glorious idea popped into Tanya's mind. "Weiss!" I shouted in no particular direction.
It took only a few moments for the First Lieutenant to stand before her, hitting a clean salute. "Yes Ma'am?"
"Have you heard word of our imperial back up yet?"
"Ma'am, the 7th Air Fleet is said to arrive shortly. As soon as they've reloaded their bombs, they'll launch a full scale assault on the enemy."
I gave a pleased nod to this. "Excellent. If that's the case we'll begin our advance once you regroup the rest of our battalion."
He gave a nod to her. "It shall be done Ma'am. If I may, where exactly are we going?"
I couldn't help but feel a cheshire grin creep onto my face. "Why, their capital of course," I replied gleefully, hearing Visha gasp by my side.
It also seemed to have caught Weiss off guard as well as he blinked a few times at that. "T-the Dacia capital?"
"That's right Lieutenant. Their capital is only a mere sixty kilometers so why should we stop? The Empire could always use some more land, and after this mess, I'm wondering how far we can go with this advance."
"Of course Ma'am. I will begin regrouping right away," replied the Company Commander, saluting me before he ran to complete his task.
Midnight
The Capital Of Dacia
"Me?" I ask, feeling the chilly night air whip through my hair. I look at my battalion as we hover several hundreds of meters in the air overlooking the defenseless ancient capital city of Dacia. They're all looking at me expectantly and I can begrudgingly tell what they want me to do.
"Sigh, You've got a point. Maybe I should be the one to do it. Receiver," I motion to the communications specialist as he hands me the receiver to speak into the open channel. "My battalion better not spread the details of what's about to happen…"
"Attention please!" I announce in my natural voice. "In accordance to international law, it's my job to inform you that you're about to come under attack. Consider this your grown up warning," I feel my ears start to grow hot, knowing in my gut they're all getting a real good laugh out of this.
"This is your only warning, the imperial army is about to attack your weapons facility. Evacuate the building!" I say, turning off the channel and shoving the receiver back into the specialist's chest.
"This is amazing Major. Your childish voice has them all thinking this is just a prank," says Visha in awe, looking through the binoculars and seeing no one leaving the factory.
I glared at her.
"What a believable performance. I didn't know you had acting lessons Ma'am," says Weiss in equal awe.
I glared at him next.
I glare at my whole damned battalion as they shy away from me.
"Listen up troops, we've fulfilled our part under international law. Humph, It's not our fault they didn't listen," I grin as I look down at them all.
"All companies! Match your firepower to the Major's," barked Weiss as they all followed the order.
I feel my computation jewel shine a brilliant yellow as I begrudgingly pray to Being X. "Lord, I call upon your aid. Bring down your wrath down upon all those who aim to harm us." I aim my rifle, "Show them how terrible god's miraculous power is."
The tips of all our rifles glow with power. "OPEN FIRE!" I shout as we all fire an overwhelming volley down upon the earth. Streaks of green and yellow hit the factory squarely, causing an explosion to go off not once, but twice as the secondary explosions send out a shockwave that even we can feel from the heavens.
I smile as my battalion cheers, all of us admiring the fire and the billowing collum of smoke streaming out from the building's corpse. It was a great birthday, possibly the best I've had in both of my lives. I couldn't imagine it being any better…
"Look, up in the sky!" shouted Neumann, pointing up above them. I tilt my head in confusion before I, no, all of us look to the sky.
"Well, what do you know…" I mutter.
"It's a comet, no, a shooting star!" exclaimed Visha.
It really was a shooting star. It was the first time I'd ever lay eyes on one. It flew high in the atmosphere, giving off a faint pink glow that left a red tail streaking behind it. I couldn't help but leave my mouth open. It was truly beautiful, so beautiful I wished this war took place in the twenty-first century instead so I could take a picture of it.
I felt a warm touch on my jacket sleeve and looked to my left to see Visha so very close to me. "Major… would you like to make a wish."
I couldn't help but blink a few times. "Wish?"
"Of course Ma'am, it's tradition to make a wish on a shooting star," chimed in Weiss.
"Really… hmm," I hummed to myself as I gazed up at the pink comet. "You can have my wish."
"Nope."
"Of course not."
"That'd be rude," and many more comments rang out behind me. I turn back, looking at them as they all smiled at me.
"Please, it wouldn't be-"
"Sorry Major, I can't take your wish away," said Glanz.
"I'm not taking a wish away from a lady, even if you kill me over it," joked Neumann.
Koenig just shrugged while nodding his head, same with the First Lieutenant as well.
I looked at them all more than surprised before finally turning to Visha, still close by me. She was so close that I could clearly see her breath in the air. "It's your birthday Major, you have more of a right than any of us. So… go ahead…" she said lightly.
I looked at Visha, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. I move my gaze back up to the sky, the pink glow seemingly growing brighter as if to beckon me. "My wish… I don't even know what it could be at this point. If this was earlier on in my life I would've wished to have my old life back, my old comforts. But now…" I think back to training the 203rd and smiling at how far they've come.
"I think I'd wish for something else, but what…" my mind was blank with ideas until a memory played. The one of the morning of the test day for the new computation jewel she now possessed. I grasped it through my thick jacket, realizing what I wanted. "Heh, I know what I want now. My wish…"
"Is to truly be rid of you, Being X," I mentally wish, closing my eyes to hopefully will it be.
"Major!" yelled Visha, pulling away whilst sounding alarmed. I opened my eyes and saw something I almost couldn't believe.
"Vischa, how close is the comet!?" I order out, seeing it closer than it was just a few seconds ago.
Visha hurriedly puts her eyes onto the binoculars. "Less than 1,000 meters above us! It's tiny but it's approaching fast! Now 500 above us!" she shouts.
"Everybody shields up now!" I order, almost feeling silly as everyone already had their shields up to their maximum magical output. I put mine up as well as well, staring at the comet right in front of us. It let off a shockwave as it whizzed past our elevation, crashing right into the fire and smoke of the destroyed weapons factory causing a third explosion to sound off.
Yet, it was a much smaller explosion than the second and maybe even the first one. "Everyone lower their shields!" I order cautiously. It didn't make sense how something so high up going that fast could make such a small explosion. I turn back to her, "Visha, were you able to determine how large the comet was before it crashed?" I ask with a raised brow.
She was still looking at the spot where it crashed, not seeming to hear her. "Vischa?" I repeated.
"Oh! Sorry Major!" she yelped, snapping out of her daze. "Well… it only seemed to be a couple of feet long at most."
"Really?" I say confused, quickly doing the math in my head. "Even if it was only two feet by two feet, if it made it this far down it should've at least been comparable to the second explosion."
"Nobody move unless fired upon, I'm going down into the wreckage to see what I can find," I say as I begin my descent. I hear a few protests, but I'm already in the billowing smoke and soon the building proper before any of them could physically stop me.
I landed down on the debris of metal and burnt wood, my rifle at the ready in case any Dachians somehow survived the triple explosions and chose to surprise me. I begin to scan the area, seeing nothing but more smoke, debris, fire, and corpses on the ground. I kept going, squinting my eyes to try and block out the smoke and heat from entering my eyes.
After scouting the area for a few more minutes, I almost left when I saw something sticking out of a pile of rubble. I approach it, rifle still at ready as I soon stand over the pile. It looked to be a laceless shoe of some kind, its color red. I tentatively reached out to touch it, feeling not coarse leather, but something soft like silky smooth skin.
Before I could be confused, I heard shouting off down the end of the ruined assembly line, seeing dark silhouettes lit up by the flames. "This is the Dacian Fire Patrol! Are there any survivors!" shouted a firm, yet desperate voice.
"Crap," I cursed, holstering my rifle as I got a better grip on the object. "You're coming with me meteorite," I mutter, yanking the surprisingly light object out of the rubble and held it in my arms. I don't even look down as I watch the figures get closer. Before they could see me, I took off out of the exposed roof, coughing as the cold clear air stung my lungs.
Thankfully, my battalion was still standing by, and even more thankfully hadn't been fired upon. "Cough, Cough. Alright, I'm back," I wheezed out as I stayed at the same altitude as my Battalion, with them looking grateful that I came back. "I managed to find the meteorite, let's take it back with us and return our asses back to our garrison for the night."
"Yes of course Major," said a thankful Visha, looking from me to the meteorite cradled in my arms. "I didn't expect it to be so- OH GOD!" she screamed, aiming her rifle at my arms along with many more in the battalion.
I look at them all with wide eyes, being so surprised that words failed me for a moment. "Ma'am, that thing in your arms! It's twitching!" shouted Weiss looking terrified as he too had his rifle trained on the thing in my arms.
"T-twitching?" I sputter out, my heart pounding out of my chest as I look down at what I brought up from the hellfire.
It was round, its body entirely pink besides the soot covered on its body. It was also small, being even smaller than her, probably only being half her size. Its eyes were struggling to stay open as it stared at me.
I sneered at it, but it still gave a weak smile back to me. "~K-k-konnichiwa," it introduced weakly before passing out in my arms, its eyes going into comical spirals.
"H-hi?" I ask out loud, completely in shock as I automatically translated the foreign word yet familiar word.
"M-major, you understood that thing?" asked the terrified Vischa, shaking with fear as her rifle was still trained on the thing.
My brain struggled to find something to say. "We, let's. Ugh, I can't think like this! Lower your goddamn weapons!" I yelled, frustrated at all this madness as they obeyed the command. "I don't know what's going on, but let's head back to camp so we can all get some rest. We've all been up for almost a full day and none of us are thinking as well," she began, getting some nods from her Battalion.
"I know at least before I nod off, I'll be informing the brass about everything, including our… visitor. And no one else is allowed to let even a single syllable out about what happened tonight. Is that understood!?"
"YES MA'AM!" saluted her men.
I nodded. "Someone give me a damn jacket to cover this thing."
"Here," said Vischa, holstering her rifle to take off her jacket. She helped Tanya cover the weird alien as best as she could. Once it was done, they took off into the night, leaving the wreckage of the factory behind.
Little did they all know that this day would go down in not just their history, but the history of the world. For on this day: September 24th, 1924. The Empire's Imperial 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion… encountered a warrior from beyond the stars.
Author's Note
Hold On Before You Leave! I Am Not Your Enemy.
I am simply your average run-of-the-mill writer.
If you like this tale and would like to see more, make sure Fav, Follow, and Comment.
We writers are but simple creatures, and these actions provide us with what little nourishment we need in order to survive.
That…and uh, coffee. :)
Editing Number: 8/14/2024-8/14/2024
