[Y/N] - Your Name
[M/N] - Middle Name
[L/N] - Last Name
[H/C] - Hair Color
[E/C] - Eye Color
I

Back at it again with the Empire, y'all. Didn't think I'd come back so soon, did ya? Well, jokes on you: I did! I don't really have much to say here, besides a fun fact. Did y'all know that Carlos Zen, the creator of Saga of Tanya the Evil, has another mangas? One of them is called "Bakoku Kikan" or "The Queen of the Opera". And my. God...

Rowska Jolanta looks so fucking badass. She's often said to be Tanya's Mother from another world. And, to be honest? I can definitely see it. I'll have to make sure to check out that manga later, it looks just so fucking cool. It's quite literally a Russian, MILF Tanya, bro. I honestly doubt that any will ever top that. Like, no matter what.

Oh, and...

This fanfic may be rewritten in a not-so-far-away future. I'll talk more about it later.

But most importantly: It feels good to be back.

<<<<< I >[--I--]< I >>>>>

->[𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 - 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟓]<-
[𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐧 - 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬]

The night reigned supreme in the Capital of The Empire. It was quiet, but not the scary, eerie type. The type that would let anyone know that they would have a nice and calm sleep. A few people, however, had things to do, and so, couldn't have a nice rest during these times of darkened skies. That was the case of the people inside the Strategic Headquarters, to be more specific, two familiar soldiers, who sat together.

The first one, who had poured himself a glass of water, had blueish-black hair with a long strand of hair that set aside his face. He has a gentle, cool-headed looking face and wears bottom rimmed eyeglasses. His eyes had a light-brown color to them, seeming to somewhat almost glow. He wore his officer attire in casual places and during conference meetings, and even during dinner in the saloon, such as now.

[𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬]
[𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥 - 𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐕𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐞𝐧]

His expression, as always, was calm and collected, but that soon changed once he took a bite out of the pasta in his plate. As he chewed against the food, his eyes closed and seemed to grow in annoyance and displeasure. Not only was this further proven by his sigh of annoyance, but also the words that came out of his mouth as soon as he looked at the other man on the table who had brown hair and green eyes.

[𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬]
[𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 - 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐧 𝐔𝐠𝐞𝐫]

Erich: ["I'm a little tired of this..."]

Uger: ["The railway folk feel the same way"] He said with a shrug ["Every day, the same food. And not good food, at that..."] Erich groaned, poking away at his food with his fork.

Erich: ["The quality of the food has direct effect on morale..."] As he spoke, Uger looked at him while he ate ["In other circumstances, I'd be asking the cooks to exercise their creativity..."]

Uger: ["But we can't ask for luxuries..."] He completed ["The front lines, particularly on the southern front, are probably far worse"]

Erich: ["The Southern Front? The 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion is there, too?"] For a moment, his eyes narrowed, and he fell in silence ["I suppose I can make a suggestion to General von Zettour"]

Uger: ["... What do you mean specifically?"]

Erich: ["Our nominal allies in Ildoa have been making noises about wanting a closer relationship"] Erich hummed, taking a sip out of his glass of water, soon gaining a smirk ["If we drop hints about wanting to share provisions, they might be willing to provide"] And so, with one final sip, and his smirk growing ["I'm sure that those two will love it..."]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭]
[𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 - 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝]

A dreadful and painful heat fell upon whoever stood in this place for a mere instant. It was a desert, after all. Even if they tried to shield themselves inside the improvised shelters or barracks, it was far from possible to get rid of the heat and its effects. Such as the case of two girls, both of them extremely familiar, who laid beneath one of the barracks. Though they were at the same place, they acted very differently.

Tanya: ["I've already drunk half my ration for the day..."]

[𝟐𝟎𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫]
[𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 - 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐟𝐟]

She gazed up with a tired and unsatisfied look, almost as if she was dead inside. Her shining-blue eyes seemed to get lost in her thoughts for a moment before they snapped to the side. A groan of pain and suffering rang in Tanya's ears for what she remembered to be at least the fifth time in the last 30 Minutes. And there, having her head against the table, she saw the brown-haired and blue-eyed girl laying in pain.

Viktoriya: ["It hurts not having enough water, doesn't it, Major...?"]

[𝟐𝟎𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫]
[𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 - 𝐕𝐢𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐈𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐯]

Her state was deplorable, to say the very least. In response, Tanya groaned before she glanced forward on the ground. Sure, both her and Viktoriya were suffering, and in a state like that, anyone would see that the 203rd Battalion were nothing like the rumors... But they weren't the worst. There, laying on the floor, face-first, Tanya could only see and hear the deplorable situation of the strongest person she ever knew...

Y/N: ["I'm having a fucking heatstroke..."]

[𝟐𝟎𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫]
[𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 - 𝐘/𝐍 𝐌/𝐍 𝐋/𝐍]

The man who she considered to be the strongest person in this entire world laid there, defeated. With a groan, he slowly put himself up, fixing his eyepatch on his light-[E/C] eye. Tapping his heat and gently placing it on top of his [H/C] hair, Y/N fell forward, slumping against Tanya's table and hiding his face with a groan. With a sigh, the blonde reached forward, and then, she started running her hand in Y/N's hair.

Matheus: ["Major Degurechaff? Captain L/N? Are any of you two in there?"]

[𝟐𝟎𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫]
[𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 - 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐮𝐬 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐬]

Tanya: ["What is it, First Lieutenant Weiss?"] Tanya asked, retreating her hand from Y/N's hair, causing him to groan ["Please don't tell me it's even more orders..."]

Matheus: ["I have wonderful news, Major!"]

Y/N groaned, pushing himself up and glancing at Matheus before he looked down at Tanya. The blue-eyed girl looked up at him for a moment in confusion and surprise.

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Y/N: ["Wait... Those are supplies from home?! Look at the size of those crates!"]

Y/N's eye widened in surprise along with his mouth opening in awe as he stared at the supplies. Countless crates stood piled up in a big mess, prompting him to swiftly walk past the soldiers in awe. Everyone opened some space for him, and it wasn't long before Weiss and Tanya came after. Keeping his arms crossed, Y/N's eye seemed to almost glow in pure delight at whatever emotion he was going through right now.

It was hard to tell with that psychotic face he was making...

Grantz: ["Oh, Captain! Look at this!!"]

Y/N: ["That's pasta? Huh..."] Y/N hummed, looking at the small box presented to him ["Are all of these crates filled with pasta? I'm feeling like a Italian..."]

Matheus: ["Yes! "We realized it was possible to transport dried short pasta by air"] Matheus started, reading the message that came along with the crates on a clipboard ["The troops who received it love it. I hope you'll enjoy it" So the enclosed message says"] And so, he passed the clipboard down to Tanya, who grasped it with a hum.

Y/N: ["I've gotten so sick of that k-brot bread!"] Y/N cheered with a smirk ["I'm down for it, for sure!"]

Wilibald: ["That's right, sir!"] The man with dark-brown hair replied ["We wouldn't want to refuse HQ's kindness"]

Grantz: ["We should chew down already!"] The blonde comments ["I can't wait for it!!"]

Y/N: ["Leave the cooking to me!"]

Tanya: ["Men... Where do you think we are?"] And there goes their hopes ["Desert battles are harsh. Weapons. Ammo. Parts. Fuel. All that, and even water, needs to be transported in"] All of their excitement was now shattered, as they stood in realization ["I think that the guys at HQ needs to learn what it's like to not have water come out when you turn the faucet"] Tanya sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before she glanced up ["So, did we get any water with this pasta?"]

... Silence.

Tanya: ["Yare Yare, what a drag..."] Tanya clicked her tongue in annoyance ["So the Fatherland wants us to chew down raw pasta?"]

Y/N: ["I believe those aren't in our orders..."]

Tanya: ["If we used up all our water cooking pasta, it wouldn't even be funny..."] Tanya replied while she turned around with a shrug ["It's as edible as a picture of a dumpling, or a pie that's floating in the sky"]

In response, everyone slumped their shoulders with a groan or a sigh. All of them except for Viktoriya, who whined as if her heart was destroyed. Y/N glanced away with his tongue clicking in annoyance, arms still crossed and a loud sigh of clear annoyance escaping his nostrils. Tanya kept her collected and calm expression as if nothing had just happened. And so, raising her head, a smirk crossed her lips.

Tanya: ["Now. Let's back to our mission"] Tanya said with an innocently-evil face ["We do force recon and strike their supplies, like always"] That innocence, however, disappeared as she tilted her head with her classic maniac face ["We'll hit their supply lines and see how they react. I'll bet that it'll be priceless"]

Everyone: ["Yes, ma'am!!"]

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It was far from a new experience.

The wind that blew his hair back along with the goggles he was now using to shield his eyes from dust and sand. It all felt the same over and over again, even if he was flying, something that many can only dream of. But thoughts such as experiencing the joy that would see Lord Kevin, the man who, in his own words, said that: "heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible" needed to be pushed aside.

After all, Y/N was a soldier. Not a good soldier, but an amazing one, on top of that. Even if he was quite the type to crack jokes and just overall quite laid back, he still took his job seriously. Proven time and time again by his actions, and the equipment he carried around. Be it the Trench Shotgun, his MG 42, and the rings on his middle fingers that were used in conjunction with his magic and his fighting knowledge.

The 203rd Battalion flew through the air as they always did in their usual formation. Their eyes were narrowed, creating the sight that won many battles, spreading rumors of just how powerful and fearsome The Empire was. The desert was a nice change of scenery to fly through, but certainly, not for long periods of time. Maneuvering through the irregular-shaped dunes of sand and dirt... Was nice.

Viktoriya: ["This is 02 to 01"] Viktoriya spoke through her comms ["We've sighted an enemy supply depot that looks like our target!"]

Tanya: ["Very well. Follow the plan: The 2nd Company will hit from above, 3rd and 4th Companies, strike from the flanks"] Tanya's voice rang around in the comms of every soldier, prompting smirks of anticipation to spread like wildfire ["Don't fly into your allies' firing lines... All units! Attack!!"]

Everyone was on their way to prove it one more time...

There is no force more menacing than the 203rd Imperial Mage Battalion.

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[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭]
[𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 - 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐭]

Much like the Imperial Base, this one had long ago already been taken by the heat. The ever-present sun that created a heat worth of hell itself proudly stood on the sky, but something caught the eye of a soldier. The man who wore blue and a steel helmet, narrowed his eyes, gently putting his hand on top of his forehead to shield them from the sun. And so, leaning forward, he hummed in curiosity on what he thought he saw.

Soldier: ["What is it? You see something?"]

The man only hummed again as he leaned forward a bit more. In the distance, right where the sun was, he could see something approaching. The small dots of black descended quickly, taking shape just as fast. Once he realized what they were, the soldier's eyes went beyond wide as he took a step back. The 2nd Company of the 203rd went down, creating pure chaos with explosions caused by merely four shots. 

Soldier: ["Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Imperial Mages are attacking!"]

Soldier 2: ["Impossible! Where did they come from?! They appeared out of nowhere!"]

In a frenzy and a panic, the soldiers from the Free Republic scattered, dashing away and equipping themselves. As they picked up their rifles, and mounted their steel horse-shaped flying equipment, they were quick to engage in battle. As they started to fly, they were aided by their artillery, who had their cannons aimed towards the flying Imperial Mages. Shot after shot, however, it only resulted in one miss after the other.

Grantz: ["Enemy mages to the rear!"] The boy informed ["They're panicking and rushing up here!"]

Tanya: ["Copy that!"] Through the comms, she spoke ["2nd Company, draw the mages away!"]

Matheus: ["Roger that!!"]

And so, along with his company, the man turned to the left, flying away along with his soldiers closely following him. In the meantime, not far from there, Tanya and her company flew closely by. Right on top of Y/N's ironsight was a purple-colored aim-like pattern glowing along with an upside-down pentagram on his eyepatch. With a small hum, a smirk spread across his face as he looked forward, and soon whistled.

Y/N: ["Major! Detecting EM waves!"] Y/N chirped up, glancing at three metal towers in the distance ["That's their comms facility over there!"]

Tanya: ["Okay... We've got a present from the Empire for it~!"]

And so, they reached for their pockets, grasping Stielhandgranate, or stick handgrenades, with a smirk. Y/N's smirk stood out for the simple fact of just how evil it looked, as if he was wishing for more chaos and explosions around the place. With a calm giggle and a humming, he reels his arm back before throwing it down with a loud roar. Unlike him, everyone else merely dropped their respective grenades.

A total of seven explosions rang through the place, one followed by the other. The last one was distinguished by the purplish-colored fire that erupted for a small second. Seeing that, Tanya glanced to the side where she sent a look of 'really?" to Y/N, who, with serenity, simply shrugs with a smirk. Tanya sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, lowering her head for a moment before shaking it, much to Y/N's amusement.

And so, taking a deep breath, Y/N started to focus his magic in his MG 42. Aiming it forward, the gun gained a bright-green glow along with its iron-sight. A map-like hologram appeared above Y/N's MG 42 as he took aim. With his smirk widening, he pressed the trigger right after a small glow appeared beneath his uniform. And so, using his magic, Y/N boosted his own strength, allowing him to go into a spree.

How could someone possibly defend against a Full-Auto MG42 whose shots are cursed by Satan himself, and meant to explode? The short is: They can't, much to Y/N's own amusement. As if a storm of green fell down upon the soldiers of the Free Republic, they could only try and run, only for the explosions of his rounds to catch up to them. And even if they tried to border them, their FT-17 weren't spared either.

Viktoriya: ["This is the 4th Company. We see what looks like an ammo storage facility!"] Visha chirped up on her comms, glancing at many wooden barracks in the distance ["You should be able to see it directly ahead of the 3rd Company!"]

Y/N: ["You guys can hit it right, 3rd Company?"] Y/N spoke through his comms ["We'll clear the soldiers around you!"]

Wilibald: ["Yes, sir!"] The man spun around, shooting an enemy soldier before he turned forward ["Huh! Thank you for gathering it all in one place for us!"]

The dark-brown-haired man slid through the desert dunes of sand, aiming his rifle forward. His eyes were narrowed as he took aim, focusing his magic in his gun before going wide-eyed. Still sliding forward, the same holographic projections appeared on top of his iron-sight. And so, he took the shot, leaving behind a loud shockwave of his shots. The magic-infused bullets soared through the air, leaving a green glow behind.

And so, rapidly, the shots kept on moving faster than the eye could follow. Instead of exploding, however, they easily pierced through the barracks, going all the way through them. First, the roofs seemed to heat up, gaining a fierce look before a gigantic explosion rang through the area. The loud booming noise was enough to shake the entire ground, creating a massive cloud of smoke, dust, and gunpowder.

[A/N - For a show that mainly focus on one character, Willibald was pretty badass]

Soldier: ["Gah! What happened?! The ammo's dump is on fire!"]

Soldier 2: ["This place is finished! Retreat, retreat!"]

Soldier 3: ["Get to the evac bunkers! Leave the trucks! They're easy target!"]

Y/N: ["Oho~... Run as much as you can! Make this interesting for me!!"] Y/N roared as his smirk grew along with his eyes ["Ich bin eine Kampfmaschine! Mein Name: Y/N M/N L/N!!"]

Y/N's eye gained a malicious glow before he dashed forward, swiftly putting his MG42 away before grasping his Reichsrevolver and Cold Dragoon. With a loud roar, he dashed forward, leaving behind a loud boom noise while a purple-colored glow surrounded him. Tanya stopped, raising a hand over her shoulder, prompting the rest of her company to stop. Glancing at Y/N dashing away, the blonde groans with a sigh.

Viktoriya: ["Should we... Should we go stop him?"]

Tanya: ["Don't even bother. You know how he is during his manhunts..."] Tanya sighed, removing her goggles and resting her rifle against her shoulder ["Let's loot the place! Y/N will be back once he's done. What the hell was he screaming about anyway...? "]

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It wasn't long before the whole thing had settled down. The smoke, for the most part, had dissipated, and the entire place was now a desertic base, or what remained of one. Y/N walked alongside Tanya, their boots gently leaving footsteps on the sand as they glanced around. Y/N had his weapon strapped to his back, around his shoulder, as he glanced around. And so, once Tanya stopped, so did he, glancing down at her.

Tanya: ["Okay. It seems like we're done here. No enemy reinforcements"] Tanya said, nodding her head ["Pretty good work, for a force recon mission... Hum?"]

Viktoriya: ["Major, over here!"]

Tanya glanced up at Y/n, who glanced down at her before shrugging with a confused expression. Visha had just signaled for them from inside one of the place's trucks, which prompted Y/N and Tanya to walk towards her. Once they got there, Tanya reached up, grasping the entrance to the back of the truck and trying to pull herself up. Y/N stiffed a laugh since she wasn't tall enough to glance inside the vehicle.

Tanya: ["Don't you even think about it!"] Tanya snapped, pointing up at Y/N who innocently glanced away ["Did you find something, Lieutenant Serebryakov?"]

Viktoriya: ["Major, look at how wonderful this is!"] Viktoriya excitedly spoke, grasping a green-colored gallon ["It's filled with 20-Liter (5 Gallons) water tanks! We shouldn't lack water for a while now!"]

Tanya: ["Woaahh~..."] Her eyes widened before they narrowed ["... What are we waiting for, then?"]

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[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 - 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞]
[𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 - 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝]

Everyone stood back at the Empire's base, be it in the sun, or protected by the barracks, as the sun was now setting. Amongst the soldiers stood Tanya and Y/N, with the latter in front of an improvised stove, his uniform's sleeves rolled up. And so, after a while of Tanya looking up at him in anticipation, a smirk spread across his face. Gently grasping one of the penne inside, he gently reached it towards Tanya.

Y/N: ["There you go, Major~"]

Tanya: ["Thank you. Ow! Hot, hot, hot, hot..."] Tanya tossed the pasta around for a moment before putting it in her mouth ["Hum~... Good. It's al dente!"] 

Y/N: ["Of course it is! I'm the best cook in this entire battalion!"]

Tanya: ["You're our only-"]

Y/N: ["Shhhhhhh"] As he pressed his index on her lips ["Let the boy dream"]

◁━━◈━━▷

Y/N: ["I was so tired of that damn bread day after day..."]

Soldier 2: ["I never thought I'd get pasta in the middle of the desert! Good job, HQ!!"]

Soldier 3: ["Even more with such clean water!"]

And so, everyone dug right in while the other soldiers around them cheered. While every other soldier talked with each other, the close groups of friends of the 203rd sat together. Y/N sat side-to-side with Tanya and Visha, between the two of them. In front of them sat Willibald, Grantz, and Matheus. And not wasting a second, they started chewing down the food. However, Y/N's expression of excitement quickly vanished.

Matheus: ["This is, well..."]

Y/N: ["It's toothsome and nice, but..."] Y/N sighed, dropping face-first against the table ["Depressingly flavorless..."]

Viktoriya: ["But... At least it fills you up..."] Soon, Viktoriya sighed, closing her eyes and whining ["It's not what I was hoping for..."]

Tanya: ["This is no different than k-brot. Before all this we could eat whatever we wanted..."] Tanya thought with some sweat running down her face in pure awkwardness ["I know it isn't Y/N's fault, but honestly, this is..."]

Y/N: ["You don't like it either, do you, Major...?"] Y/N groaned, pushing himself up with a bloody nose ["Pasta's only great if you have sauce and spices to go with it, or at the very least an egg..."] Y/N sighed, wiping the blood dripping down his nose with his thumb.

With a depressed sigh, everyone had no choice, but to continue eating...

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 - 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞]
[𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 - 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝]

Y/N: ["I propose an Allied Kingdom Forward Base as our next target"] Y/N said, tapping the small stick he held against the map on the table ["We have limited information about them, but what we have suggests they're moving large amounts of supplies at night"] Y/N hummed, glancing towards Tanya ["We should see what they're stocking up on"]

Tanya hummed, raising a hand to her lips, narrowing her blue-glowing eyes in thought. Her head tilted with a gentle drop, prompting the fringe in front of her face to move a little bit. Currently, the Leaders of the 203rd Battalion Companies stood reunited in a meeting, deciding where they will attack next. They all gathered around a table with a single map on top of it. And as always, Tanya was on top of a small crate.

Matheus: ["Major, I suggest we strike the Escargots, not the Limeys..."]

[A/N - 1: This is what their original line said. Don't come canceling me y'all
2: I have nothing against French or British people. I'm just writing what they said"]

Willibald: ["I'm not a gourmand by any means..."] With a serene smile, Viktoriya calmly reached forward ["But there are things even I can't eat..."]

Viktoriya: ["What about this supply dump?"] Visha hummed, glancing at Tanya ["Given its locations it should have some yummy ingredients..."]

And after a moment of silence, and pondering on what she just said...

For a moment, the room was silent. If one was to concentrate enough, they'd even hear the heartbeat of Visha. If you thought that the "King's Engine" was a loud heartbeat of someone who's scared, just know that it has nothing against Viktoriya's heart at the moment. Everyone averted their gazes, who were either unimpressed or shocked. No one muttered a single word until Viktoriya herself chirped up again.

Viktoriya: ["N - N - N - No! I mean! It has important-looking supplies, and, um..."] Trying to fix her mistake, she continued ["It's a good place to test the enemy's response!"]

And then she gave up. 

[A/N - I have mad respect for Voice Actors/Actresses. Imagine you having to voice characters like Fubuki, Shinobu, Yumeko, Shinoa, and then voice Viktoriya lol"]

As she opened one eye to weakly glance at Tanya in pure defeat, Viktoriya was surprised to find that neither her or Y/N seemed to react. Instead, they had their eyes narrowed, glancing at the map in an intense manner, deep, deep in thought. Glancing up, Tanya looked towards Y/N before she nodded at him, who gained a sharp smirk. Y/N soon nodded towards Tanya, who turned once more to look towards the map.

Tanya: ["I see... If we hit this place, then we..."] Tanya muttered for a moment ["We'll go with Lieutenant Serebryakov's suggestion"]

Viktoriya: ["... Uhh... !"] 

Viktoriya: ["I'm honored!"]

Grantz: ["Well done, Lieutenant Serebryakov..."] He comments with a sweatdrop.

Willibald: ["You've got a good nose..."]

Tanya: ["Of course, the goal of the mission is still force recon"] Tanya said, now gaining a slightly-more serious tone ["But since we're exercising some local command discretion, contact the Southern Front Commander, General Romel"] Tanya said, turning her head to look towards Visha, who still saluted.

Visha: ['Excuse me"] And so, with a stomp of her foot ["Ma'am!"]

Y/N: ["Dismissed!"] Y/N said, prompting everyone to leave along with Visha ["Hum~... It's always best to keep the brass informed"] Y/N said with a small smirk, pulling a chair for Tanya to sit.

Tanya: ["Thank you. I've got to make sure to cover our asses, bureaucracy-wise..."] Tanya sighed, picking up a mug after Y/N poured down some coffee for her ["Fuu... At the very least, it's a good thing that I don't need to do all of this alone"] Tanya said before she leaned back, looking up at Y/N.

Y/N: ["You're one to talk. I would've been dead without you here..."] Y/N chuckled, leaning down as he gently pressed his lips against Tanya's ["But say, what do you think that we should name the operation when Visha puts it in her report?"]

Tanya: ["Hm. We're fixing HQ's screw-up. Just make something up..."] Tanya stopped for a moment, glancing away after gently leaning her head on Y/N's chest ["... No. I just thought of a good name~..."] 

Y/N: ["Been a while since I saw her making one of those faces..."]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 - 𝐃𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞]
[𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 - 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝]

Y/N: ["Attention!"]

Two extreme opposites, and yet, none of the two were good. Either extreme, bone-melting heat, or skin-freezing cold. Both of them come and go with the day and night respectively. But now, during the dawn of the day where their camp was located, now completely empty since all of its soldiers were in a formation, he stood. At Tanya's right with Viktoriya on her left, and the three of them on a wooden structure.

Tanya: ["Men, the cooks at the Strategic command have no idea how food works. Thus, we're forced to find our own water in the desert, as well as our own meals!"] Tanya started one of her famous speeches, something that was always light-heartedly serious ["However, there is no need to take big risks. It would be the height of stupidity to lose talented, veteran mages for the sake of some flavor"] And so, Tanya walked to the left, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

Y/N: ["Major, are we more important to you than food?"] Y/N chuckled, also gaining a smirk ["I feel honored~..."]

Tanya: ["Correct, Captain L/N. Both you and the food are property of The Empire"] Tanya closed her eyes before she gently reached up, tapping Y/N's shoulder ["But, unfortunately, you'll rot slower"] Y/N rolled his eye, breaking into a small chuckle.

Willibald: ["It seems like we're always the ones to get the worst jobs..."]

Y/N: ["Merely because we're the hardest workers!"]

Tanya: ["Aw both of you, now that's not true~..."] Tanya stopped walking, turning to the side with her smirk widening ["When I give you the shittest jobs it's because I care"]

Y/N: ["Well, then I suppose that it is time for us to get to work!"] Y/N comment, and along with the whole Battalion, he broke into laughter ["As we always do..."]

Tanya: ["Regardless, what we need is alway far away from us. To get it, we must keep working"] Now gaining her slightly-more serious tone once more, Tanya continued ["And so I initiate... Operation: Desert Pasta!"]

Y/N: ["Gotta love when they say the title during the Episode"]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭]
[𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞]

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), the heat of the desert isn't selective. No matter the gender, race, or age, all of them are affected by its harsh temperatures that never once seem to cease. And so was the case of the Free Republic Army settled in the Southern Front, be it inside or outside their barracks. And inside, resided two familiar men, who held high ranks amongst this place.

One of them was a tall, mature man who had complex features. His body was large and somewhat chubby just like his face. He had short, black-colored hair and thick, long eyebrows. His eyes had a greyish-green tone to them, and he also dorned a thick mustache. His uniform, much like the rest of the Free Republic, was mainly colored in blue, having golden-colored linings with details in both red and white around it.

Pierre: ["What is going on...?"]

[𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐲 - 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥]
[𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐝 𝐃𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐠𝐨]

At his side, the man who answered, had a non smiling look on both his face and his features. They were narrowed with quite visible bags under them. His hair was neck-length and slightly messy and spiky. Having a greenish-brown tone with fringes falling at the sides of his face and head. His tired eyes held a dark-blue look in them. He also wore the same uniform, except for a few different details along with a hat.

[𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐲 - 𝐋𝐭. 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥]
[𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐭]

Severin: ["The Empire knows the state of our supplies..."]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

Is it a surprise that small bases never stood a chance against the 203rd Battalion? The answer is quite clearly, no. So, neither did this particular base that was raided not even 20 Minutes ago. With the same attack and tactics, the Mages of the Empire descended upon the base, spreading their chaos and explosions through the entire thing. It wasn't long before the place was taken, and they were able to enjoy its loot.

Matheus: ["Woah! Captain, take a look at this!"] The man chirped up, prompting Y/N to glance at him ["I found Tomato Sauce!"]

Viktoriya: ["And it also has chicken in it!"]

Y/N: ["Tomato Sauce which is one of the most-used ingredients in pasta found here in the middle of the desert... Well isn't that convenient?"]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭]
[𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞]

Severin: ["The attacks look sporadic and random, but..."]

Pierre: ["If you look at which countries jurisdictions were attacked..."] The man spoke, running his hand across a map on the table ["It reveals a startling, and dangerous truth"]

Not really.

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

If Y/N wasn't already a servant of the Devil himself, he for sure would go to Hell simply because of all the shit he's doing. Or rather, his entire Battalion are doing, since yet once more, they're terrorizing another Base on the same day. Y/N never knew how much potential he had to Roleplay as an A-10 Warthog until he decided to try it out today. It wasn't pretty for his enemies, but to Y/N on the other hand...

Willibald: ["Wooo! Check it out!"] With excitement, he held up a crate ["Found some Basil here!"]

Grantz: ["And I found dried parsley from Ildoa!"]

Y/N: ["And I found oregano! Which will be awesome for a tomato-based sauce!"] Y/N smirked, tossing up and down a small glass full of oregano ["I'm sure that this is all a coincidence..."]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭]
[𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞]

Severin: ["They're not just idiots who are after our canned goods..."] Spoiler alert: Yes they are ["It's a cunningly-disguised strategy!"] The man spoke with sweat running down his face, as nervous as one can get ["Every base that was attacked was right on the border of another country's operational jurisdiction"]

Pierre: ["Which only makes our life harder..."] The man also had sweat running down his face ["Those disgusting dogs have already sniffed out the weakness in our alliance..."]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

Ok this is just getting repetitive at this point. You know the drill. Empire attacks, boom, boom, base down, everyone gets the loot. We've been through this countless times already, and yet they just won't stop. The third and final of the day, during the night, where they rained terror amongst their foes. And now, inside the massive container for the massive base they just attacked, the 203rd took what they deserved.

Matheus: ["Woah... I got some wine here!"]

Grantz: ["And cheese, too!"]

Viktoriya: ["That's perfect for the pasta!"] Viktoriya excitedly spoke, clenching her fists ["We could also use some side dishes along with it!"]

Y/N: ["Man, I can already feel someone calling me a loot goblin..."] Y/N said after running a finger below his nose after a sneeze ["All of these sneezes are all the proof that I needed..."]

Tanya: ["Or maybe it's because you thought it was a good idea to snort oregano for no reason?!"]

Y/N: ["... Yeah, that wasn't the brightest of ideas"]

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭]
[𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞]

Severin: ["And the worst of all... According to an intercepted enemy transmission..."]

Pierre: ["They're calling this mission: "Operation Desert Pasta"...?"] He gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes ["The bastards are mocking us!!"]

If only they knew...

◁━━━━━━━━◈ - - - ◈━━━━━━━━▷

[𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭]
[𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 - 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝]

Tanya: ["Everyone... Mission complete!"]

Instantly, everyone erupted into a loud cheer, clicking the wine-filled mugs together. In the table in front of them lay countless side-dishes and plates filled with the most eye-catching pasta one may see. Not only that, along with other canned goods, but also bottles upon bottles of wine and other types of liquor. All throughout the place, soldiers cheered nonstop. Viktoriya, with a smile, went right ahead to dig in her plate.

And so...

Viktoriya: ["Hmmm! It's so good~!"]

Grantz: ["This chicken is great!!"]

Willibald: ["So's this potato salad!"]

Matheus: ["It goes great with this wine!"] He said while taking a swing from the entire bottle ["We're eating better than they do back home!"]

Soldier: ["This is so good! When's the last time we had something so good?!"]

Soldier 2: ["It's amazing!"]

Y/N: ["Hahahaha! Yes! Yes!! Praise me more!"] Y/N laughed, throwing his head back with his hands on his hips ["For Y/N M/N L/N is the best chef the entire Empire has ever seen! Wahahaha!!"] Y/N continued to laugh, keeping his eye closed ["It may be a temporary coincidence that we're able to eat so well in the desert..."] Y/N glanced down at the table, seeing everyone else laughing together ["But that coincidence has restored the life and humanity to the troops of this unity. And as their Vice-Leader, I couldn't be happier..."]

Tanya: ["Ahem! Excuse me, Mr. "Oh-so-mighty greatest cook ever!" in case you haven't noticed, I'm still waiting!"] Tanya spoke with her arms crossed, shooting Y/N an annoyed look, tapping her finger against her forearm ["You said you had a "special plate" for me, and I'm still waiting while everyone else is eating!"]

Y/N: ["Ok ok, calm down. Sheesh, what next, you gonna ask to talk to the manager or something?"] Y/N rolled his eyes with a smirk, soon reaching down on the table and picking up a covered bowl ["Here. Since I know that you enjoy it, I made this especially for you~..."] And so, pulling down the cloth that covered the bowl...

Y/N: ["Y/N's Special Gousetsu Udon! I know it may sound stupid to eat a Udon in the middle of the desert, but this is actually a safe method!"] Tanya's eyes went slightly wide as her mouth went agape while she looked down at the bowl ["Maintaining the correct body temperature, both inside and outside is important. Sudden drops in the temperature may cause a thermal shock"]

[A/N - They actually do that in Siberia. Drinking cold water helps regulate the internal body heat, which is naturally hotter than the outside since our bodies are naturally producing and releasing heat at all times]

Y/N presented a fork to Tanya, who rapidly took it from his hand while he sat down, pulling a plate of his own, and taking a long swing from a wine bottle. As soon as Tanya swallowed the food, her eyes started to sparkle and her mouth once more went agape. Y/N shot her the smuggest look possible, crossing his arms and closing his eyes with his head held high in a clear sign of self-satisfaction with his chef skills.

Y/N: ["Umu~... I know, I know. I'm amazing, no need to tell me"] Y/N chuckled, keeping his arms crossed before glancing down at Tanya ["... H - How is it?"] And so, all of his smugness was gone in a mere instant.

But, it was swiftly restored after a moment of Tanya glancing around.

And then giving him a quick kiss on his cheek.

Tanya: ["Truly, only something that you could pull off"] Y/N went slightly wide-eyed, glancing away ["Oh, come on now. If you wanna tease, make sure you can handle being teased~..."]

Y/N gave a small jump once Tanya poked his side with her fork, causing him to glance at her with a face of annoyance. However, as they stared at each other, they soon broke into a small fit of giggles that turned into full laughter, along with the other soldiers. And so, the 203rd Imperial Battalion of Mages cheered, sang, and partied. Even now, the heat of the sun seemed nonexist amidst all of their euphoria.

It was a good day.

<<<<< I >[--I--]< I >>>>>

[Word Count - 6.658]
[Published in - 08/27/21]

And done! I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please, let me know that you thought, since every and all feedback, positive or negative, makes me happy. I'm always up to provide y'all with as many chapters of as many series as you wish, so knowing your thoughts on my histories are always something that I can appreciate!

And, here's a nice artwork I found.

Credits to - u/TheFishFoxGod2

Funny, considering that they're voiced by the same person, too.

... Oh! I almost forgot. There's one more special chapter coming soon.