The Streets of Berun were packed full. The day was, after all, one that marked Germania's greatest feat under the still ruling Sankt Kaiserin, the day the world came into being ruled by Germania's hero, leader, and now the closest to a living God. Earth was now entirely governed by one ruling body, and the head of said body was very much said Sankt Kaiserin. The streets were packed. Stalls were selling all kinds of foods, trinkets, or games you would see in any typical street event, the mood in the Capital of Earth and everywhere that wasn't where the former Republic of Francois or Kingdom of Albion once resided was the same.
The quietest place in the city was the grounds where the residence of their great leader stood. In there, one solitary lit window could be seen, and in that very room the window belonged to, a person was sitting, slumped, head on the desk, and clearly not sharing the superbly festive mood the whole world was having.
"Why…? Why…?"
It was a female voice, one a handful of mages would feel instinctive fear from, but most would just fight to even listen to, even if she spoke gibberish. The golden blonde locks of hair, receiving the warm light of the desk lamp, could almost make someone mistake them for golden threads of silk.
"HOW DID THINGS COME TO THIS?"
That person lifted her head, letting such a howl of anguish out, to no one's ears. The sparkling blue eyes in the face some once described as that of a doll, now would be best compared to that of a Goddess. Not to mention that her body, at 1,70m tall, with average but balanced curves where they should be, had a faint, but easy to see in the dimly lit room, shine on her skin.
Taking a deep breath, she fixed her posture in the chair, gently got her hair back to a more presentable shape, then let out a very unbecoming sigh before downing her latest bottle of the strongest spirit, imported from a Sybryan distiller.
"Get a seat in the Diet, Tanya, it would be just a paycheck smooching job I said, you would NEVER get into ever so higher positions of power I said….. I hate past me."
Yes, the person in the room looking to be the most miserable person on Earth was the Sankt Kaiserin, Tanya von Degurechaff. It was quite a change from her younger adult years, from a woman that would be carded even in her forties, to the closest of a living example of Godly perfection in physique.
"For f*cks sake, first that crazed Schugel gives me in his dying breath that absurd concoction, then the world keeps deciding to get crazier and crazier, and a stormy global landscape somehow earns OZEV, under my lead, MORE AND MORE members….. And now I have to manage both a ONE WORLD ORDER and a damned be CULT of worship of me! f*ck you, Schugel and Being X!"
Opening a new bottle, this time a Francois spirit, she takes a beer mug, a relic from that beer hall the GWP used for their speeches way back then and fills it to the brim before downing the contents in one go.
"I can tolerate this body becoming Immortal and stuck at a biological mid 20s…. but f*ck Schugel's serum making me an EVEN STRONGER MAGE and IMMUNE to poisons, including alcohol!"
As she rants, memories come back, all about how things came to this.
"I just have to wonder how the Frogs, Albion and the Ispagnian forces managed to trip so hard on Aegyptus and lose the Suez Canal for good….. their sole success was that lucky hit that got Nasser for good…. Just when I had decided to amp up support to the Aegyptian resistance forces…."
Framed in an armored and bulletproof casing slated to be proofed even against a Germanian mage's artillery spells used in an Anti-Tank 20mm Rifle was an Ankh made of gold, a gift from Nasser a week before that atrocious mass bombing strike. Next to it was a medal, a Nordic swastica-styled medal from Legadonia.
"As the mess in Aegyptus, the Middle East and the Republic was going on, the Rus, backed by that madman Li Lisan and his sympathizers, kicked AGAIN at the Nordic region's doors…. And they just wonderfully deployed that damn Ekranoplane or whatever it was called to do a Nordic Revolving Door 2.0: Osfjord Boogaloo, forcing me to get OZEV to intervene there… at least I shot more commies. It was nice bombarding those CSR mages into dust."
She gently flips the pages of a book where journal excerpts that she liked had been preserved, with several physical and digital copies for safety. One in particular showed her using tactical class super spells with the Elenium Type 106 K custom orb in the photos.
"That the aftermath had the entire Nordic Council sending in requests to become OZEV members was just the tip of this awful iceberg. Right away, Kieva, Caucasus and even the Magna Rumelia and neighboring region as a whole sent in requests…"
Another journal page had a photo of Ildoan, Dacian and Germanian Troops in Kieva, building fortifications, with another showing Dacian and Pulskan troops cooperating in Europa's doorway to the Middle East to repel CSR backed Qajarian forces that somehow had trampled most of the Turkmenish forces, if you discount how they were worse than the Ispagnians in Weaponry, with f*cking TRAPDOOR SINGLE SHOT RIFLES as their infantry service guns and no machineguns whatsoever, which was the very spotlight of the journal's next page.
"Then the Asian fiasco came striking. Akitsushima held the door bravely, but needed our Asian Fleet's help when the US chickened out of countering the CSR mage subs outside Hawaii. Shu ended up assassinated in that whole warzone, but Formosa ended up liking the Germanic style of leadership more when I passed there on my way for a visit to the Emperor…. And they also joined…"
The katana she had been gifted way before the second great war was there on top of a dresser in an Akitsushiman wooden stand. Right behind it was a Naginata she had been gifted during that visit. The Akitsushiman journal she was flipping through had a photo of her cleaving two CSR mages and one Francois mage in two halves with said weapon.
"As if things couldn't grow any worse, Afghanistan exploded. Rebellions lit up like a christmas tree there, crippling the CSR's railways. Then the commies' abuse of South Bharat created an excuse to kick their Northern nemesis back into the Mongolian Mountains or Burma, where they got eaten alive by the Buddhist extremists there… in fact, the troops that did such a complete job were all once part of the volunteer forces I had raised into shape…."
She keeps flipping more pages of the book, remembering more and more events….
"Malagasy joining, the Arabic nations, Brasillian and Granada…. The US and Kanata…. One by one, things got nations to join OZEV…. All caused solely by anyone but me and OZEV, who were just doing our own thing…."
Time went by, as she remembered just how things went, one by one, continent by continent…. She was finally snapped out of her rambling by a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Her senses already told her who it was, but she behaved as if she didn't, for reasons.
"Mother."
"Addie? Something the matter?"
"Yes, mom. Come on, let's get some fresh air."
Tanya frowns.
"Addie, you know I'm not a party person."
"That's a lie and we both know it. My source is Aunt Anya and all the things her grandmother spoke of you."
"You know that Elya was…. a bit biased about me."
Yet it was no use, Adelaide Degurechaff grabbed Tanya's hand and dragged her, although of course the Sankt Kaiserin was not resisting. She unfortunately had a rather soft spot for her daughter, and no one, not even Being X, would know who, if anyone, was the father, especially given Adelaide was born years after Visha's death.
"Mother, just because you are embarrassed about today being a date about you, doesn't mean you should lock yourself in that room, last year when I was doing my job as Chancellor during this period, I returned to reports of you having locked yourself in the closet."
"Your point being?"
"You never come out of that room by yourself without being depressed, a societal anxiety mess or the next incarnation of the Bloody Valkyrie. I am telling you to GET A DAMN HOBBY OR LIFE."
"Sure, sure, is space exploration still stuck? Maybe I will go take a walk on the Moon or even Mars…"
"The Pixie 13 vessel carrying the drone to Mars seems to have self-destructed, but the Viktorya 2 manned trip to the Moon has returned, and they found something interesting."
She stopped for a moment, taking out a case from her hyperspace inventory, a spell only she and her mother somehow could use. Tanya took it and opened the box. Inside was what looked like a slightly oversized version of a computation orb of old.
"A jumbo orb?"
"Dunno, Arthur Schugel analyzed it and admitted he knew sh*t about it."
Tanya touched it and suddenly, it lit up with a powerful shine for a few seconds before returning back to normal. Both shrugged at the incident, leaving it for the next workday.
"Mom."
Eating dinner in the open garden of the house, under candlelight no less, Adelaide spoke.
"Yes, Addie?"
"How much of all that was just accident and how much had SOME planning?"
Tanya stops eating for a while, pondering the question.
"Honestly, nothing in the first three fifths was planned or even considered, almost all past the Death of Shu however, I did plan and act for that."
"Why?"
She shrugs.
"I got fed up with all the sh*t everyone was causing me and OZEV. If they wanted to blame all their misery on me having such grand plans, so be it. Or so I had decided back then."
Adelaide suppressed a laugh.
"To think you became a Living Goddess and Ruler of Earth mostly due to accidents…. How many would be rolling in their graves?"
"I would probably not have to worry about the energy department if that was the case. If the good late Secretary General Lergen who understood me so much is proof, all those Frogs and Albish idiots would solve our energy issues in one go."
[In the Lergen's Memorial Turbine, its output rose by 16.5 MWh].
Once dinner was over and they got the dishes washed, they talked over a glass of wine from Platia and a mug of Brasillia selected coffee grains. It was just past midnight when they went to sleep.
It was barely six in the morning when both were woken up by BND's director Anya Muler, who brought reports about a weird gigantic structure embedded in the moon becoming active, three hours later, a human looking thing had landed in Berun and whatever happened afterwards was kept top secret between the Sankt Kaiserin, Chancellor Adelaide, and BND director Anya.
Albish Island, formerly the lands of the Kingdom of Albion, in the basem*nt of a building located at 10 Downing 10
The little that remained of those who swore to resist the tyrannical rule of the accursed Devil had called for an emergency meeting. Francois, Albish, Ispagnian, even the Chinese and Americans had people in the Resistance, a generic name to avoid infighting due to the diverse backgrounds of its members. On the worn but clearly a quality desk used for the meeting was a printed copy of an online journal and a photo that was printed on another paper, enlarged so the details can be seen with clarity.
"KNEW IT, that damned Devil isn't satisfied having Earth only!"
Charles du Cul, former member of both SCE and later Le Main Bleue, was now the one responsible for keeping the Francois cells in order, his fists threatened to slam at the desk, but he controlled himself, if barely. Many of the dents in that desk were his doing after all, and good desks or tables for such an organization were hard to come by, just like ammo and resources as a whole.
"Have to give her credit where it's due, her plans are as devious and complex like no other genius."
The Albish representative was tapping at the paper with the news article, the heading said it all, "Civilization of Versia on Mars opens talks with the Sankt kaiserin". The photo in the other paper showed Tanya, Adelaide and a mysterious human looking woman, with long blonde hair tied in a bun, dressed in a weird kind of maid dress with a head ribbon that gave her the look of having rabbit ears.
"KNEW IT! THE KAISERIN IS AN ALIEN INFILTRATOR!"
'SHUT THE f*ck UP JIMMY! No one cares or wants to listen to more of your ever increasingly insane theories against her, go see if James S. T. Udent needs help with the surveillance system."
As Jimmy left in a sad manner, former Colonel Campbell refocused.
"If anything, things just became worse, now even civilizations outside Earth or even the Solar System will fall prey to her. If she can charm the remains of a super advanced civilization, what of those with still living sentient beings?"
Nods all along were given by the other members.
"That witch has ensnared the Chinese with her damning promises, but while the CSR rulers clearly failed, the fate of the people with Xing's blood must stay in Xing's people's hands, not a foreigner!"
'Agreed, we all here want our nations ruled by those from OUR lands. But what can we do? Attacking either the Kaiserin or that Versian representative would be suicidal and useless…"
At that, one person enters the talks, coming in late.
"If a direct attack isn't possible, why not make clear things aren't as safe or stable as she would surely want to show to her guest? Enough chaos and terrorism in one go could do the job, and casualties would be minimized despite the method."
Tom Sioux, while only a third-degree cousin to Anson Sioux, still bore a deep hatred for the Devil who ended the main Sioux family, but he wasn't blessed with superb magic, hence his style of doing things with excessive amounts of explosives, hostages and outright terrorism that made even many of the already deranged Francois SCE and Le Main Bleue shiver in fear at how extreme he went to achieve the Resistance's goals.
"And give her more fuel to make us the villains? As if having former SCE war criminals, CSR psycho mages and even that weirdo Bharatian guy who called himself the Evil Ghandi wasn't enough."
The American and Albish representatives opposed the idea. One reason was that their public image was poor exactly because of the Legadonian himself, the other was very much that they suspected he would use dirty bombs or outright nuclear warheads in his terrorist act if they greenlit the idea.
The talk went on for a few hours, ending in an Impasse. Most knew that the Sioux guy would do what he proposed no matter what, so they all just quietly made notes to notify their agents to NOT help him whatsoever in any way, shape, or form.
Berun, Tanya's home
'Of all things, that damn orb HAD to be some kind of unique device, huh?' Tanya sighed at the thought while behind her, the Versian followed.
"Something the matter, Mother?"
That made Tanya flinch, but she kept herself under control.
"No, nothing."
'And now an autonomous super advanced robot and all of the technology buried on Mars is under my control….. I just KNOW everyone will think this is yet another step in my Quadrillion Years Plan.'
The Versian robot in question was the human looking figure following Tanya closely, while she had a human appearance to a close T, a few discrepancies still showed, such as her 2.4m of height or the abnormally excessive flexibility even in areas such as the feet or head. The image of her turning her head over 105 degrees to face Tanya haunted the memories of the Kaiserin and her daughter.
"And I thought just Earth was all I would end with…"
Without realizing, she spoke such a thing, which the Versian robot surely heard loud and clear….
"Mother."
"Y-yes, Allusia?"
'Is she happy?' wondered Tanya. 'That ribbon on her head is an accessory, right? So why are those bunny ear sized flaps acting like that? Did she like the accidental name?'
"Do you hope for humanity to expand past this planet?"
'Hm, yes, of course…."
"Then…. How long do you expect that expansion beyond this solar system will take?"
'How curious, is she hoping us to expand like her mother civilization or even exceed it? As if! Hopefully by then I will be having a comfy time just enjoying my life.' thought the Kaiserin.
"Dunno, hopefully that happens within a Millenia. And who knows… maybe ten thousand years would be enough for the whole galaxy. But that's just a daydream."
Unknowingly to Tanya, her comments would haunt her dearly in the future…
