Youjo Senki: Falling is like Flying

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The combat knife sank into flesh, a thick stream of crimson ichor leaking from the wound in the mans carotid artery, a wound he feebly tried to apply pressure to. The next stab found the joint under the ear and he stopped moving.

Tanya stood up from the body, retrieving her rifle from the grassy ground nearby. The man she had just slain was an elite mage, one who she had slammed into the ground at the end of a 500 meter dive. It was mercy more than combat to her.

Her little reminiscing about the Graf Spee incident had ended abruptly, with a sortie being ordered to engage mages harassing Luftwaffe bombers. This had been accomplished far more easily than before, with the Francios mages so focused on the bombers that it was hardly even a threat to her.. that didn't mean Tanya was just going to let them be, however.

The young woman stumbled a bit, falling over, giving a slight groan as she looked at her strained ankle, grabbing at in in an attempt to jar it a little bit to numb the pain, only succeeding in sparking more pain. "Fuck...."

Muttering an impressive slew of profanities, Tanya jumped ever so gently, allowing herself to take to the skies, checking her magazine for ammunition. Finding a sufficient amount present, she began to move in to engage, speeding through the sky as she slowly wrapped her energy around the injured ankle, attempting to heal it at a faster rate.

The mage presence had been decidedly weaker than first thought, with very few veteran mages present, the force attacking the bombers was mainly comprised of rookies who could barely manage two spells at once. And even then the WM 1 outnumbered this force by 20%

Tanya sighed, giving the weapon a once over before returning to her squadron, looking down over the beachhead present ahead of her.

The battle was won, but the outcome was not decided. The damned Reichsministry didn't want the army to push any harder on them. 'Let the Luftwaffe deal with them'

It. Was. Infuriating.

They could be mopped up in hours. Instead they were loosing days, weeks of time. If they got away... it would be a catastrophic tactical and political defeat for the Kreigsmachine

She thought, floating in midair. If she could convince the OKW to allow her to advance, she could clean up the enemy within hours.. but how to go about it without raising suspicion..

Well there was always von Rerugen..

Funnily enough, it felt more than a little dirty going behind the backs of the OKW, almost like it bordered on treason. Who would have guessed.

She glanced up at the Allied beachhead, raising her rifle. Perhaps she could time this well enough...

She watched as the lumbering bombers soar overhead, waiting for the first explosions to start. Once the bombs began to impact, she lowered her gun. Nowhere near a chance of doing that discretely.

Her orb pulsed against her chest, and she knew it was time to withdraw back towards the forward operational base nearby. She could already feel her stomach unsettlingly churn as she touched down on the grassy knoll, almost ripping the orb off her chest and holding it in her hands.

Rest time She decided, walking inside the headquarters, milling with military personnel. The war had put a strain on the logistics of the whole operation, and Tanya had been forced to institute rationing to prevent her soldiers from out eating their supplies.

And god knows she hated those damned protein bars, tasted like turnips, and she still had nightmares about the turnip winter, but they had a hell of a lot of protein, vitamins and nutrients packed into a small package.

And then again, there was always the amphetamines that she had given to Visha to look after. She was the one Tanya trusted most to not take them for a kick when not needed.

She had warned about logistics the last war, and she had been proven very correct throughout the whole thing mind you, but of all people, she had out run her supply chain. They had spent the best part of the last month scavenging from the French country side for food. Shaking her head, she looked around her command post, examining the battle maps on the table before her.

There was a lot to do. Tanya had a lot of options. She could always pursue the diplomatic course with her superiors, but that would take too much time. Then there was the option of attacking without permission, possibly facing repercussions. Also unfavourable.

So that left just making a calculated assault. Follow her orders of supporting Guderian, and potentially exploit the orders he had. Simple. Right..?

Perhaps not so. Guderian would follow Berluns orders, and with that, the orders of the Fürher, and would object to any moves she made on her own. If she could, say perhaps.. no, no, would not work with Guderian

Rommel perhaps, but he was detached elsewhere, getting his tanks labelled as ghosts, a far more suited commander to the modern warfare, not to say Guderian was not leagues ahead of most of his contemporaries internationally.

Tanya stared down at the war table and thought. Their next move would have to be carefully planned, and it would take her all goddamn night.