C.1 | "That Degurechaff Blood.

23 July, Unified Year 1914

Imperial Capital, Berun Outskirts

St. Anne Convent

Andrei Degurechaff

The old woman gazed down upon him with warm, worried eyes.

Fit into her well worn robes, her motherly aura seemed rightfully glaring, more so than the sun nestled quite high in the sky.

The orphanage, fit for those whose family lost themselves in uniform and with sickness, loomed over him, the shadow of the cross covering his being.

It wasn't an endearing sight, but he knew better than to walk away.

He wasn't sitting there looking to pray for a return to a more comfortable life, one that had been long foregone.

He wasn't there to kneel before the divine beings that gave no grace when his father of sorts faced a barrel on the border.

He didn't care to bow his head for the figures who stayed silent when his grieving mother coughed her last.

But for what it was worth…

He would pray, for once, if it meant that they would be kind enough to the last light of his current life.

His last… only sibling.

Tanya.

"Please Sister. I ask that you take Tanya, at the very least. One of our parents is buried beneath the Francois, and our other has departed from us just a few days ago. I can't take care -"

A weary, bony hand rested upon his shoulder, his voice falling apart at that exact moment as he peered up into those brown eyes.

A pair of doors that gave way to overflowing kindness.

"Child… We would never turn away the young in need. Why don't you stay as well?"

Andrei almost believed it.

But he had seen the Nunnery, its cracked windows and bleary walls.

He saw the burden already put upon these all too kind individuals before him, those who truly wanted the best for those they dared to care for.

He already knew that Tanya alone would be almost too much to bear.

Knowing his answer, the weight of the bag he bore over his back seemed to weigh down ever more on his shoulders.

"I can't, Sister. I have… a greater purpose, for our nation."

The woman took Tanya into her arms, her face touched with a deep, profound sadness as she heard his words.

She was quick to read between the lines.

"A mage, then."

Andrei Degurechaff, a thirteen year old boy just barely nearing his fourteenth, with a mental age around thrice that, could only nod.

A silence filled the air between the two.

He felt bitter, more than anything.

He hadn't always been a scrawny Germanian kid deep in what would probably be the death throes of the last Colonial nations, considering the time period.

He had been a modern man once.

Prime of his life, he had graduated from the college of his dreams.

A doting brother, a loving husband, and a proud father to his infant daughter.

A competent accountant, more often than not.

And he had been robbed of his life.

His child would grow up fatherless.

His family would be broken.

He would never see them again.

All over a stupid necklace.

He limply glared at the ground with weary eyes.

He had quite a while to come to terms with the fact that he would never go back.

If there was a heaven, a hell, or even divine lords of those respective realms, he didn't know.

It's not as if they stopped by to explain why he had suddenly fallen into consciousness a little under a decade ago.

They didn't think to give him a notice of eviction from his last Earth or anything.

It would have been nice, if they could have at least muted his emotions just a little bit.

Instead, all he had to his new name was knowledge of a future he couldn't use, an intense anger and feeling of injustice, and a sanity only held together by decades of bittersweet memories.

But he digressed.

Because now, it seemed as if his very own personal hell was simply going to get worse.

It was not enough that this world's version of the French ripped away most of his new family, whether directly or indirectly.

Apparently, the peculiar continuation of a German Empire had made it law that anybody who could so much as fly would be conscripted in the case of a war.

Because somehow, this world was magical to top off absolutely everything.

And his excellent luck must have followed him through the great beyond, because of course, he was one of the lucky few who had the honor of having enough to break physics.

He had dodged the testing that was done every five years beforehand for several reasons, but there wasn't really anywhere to run when you were suffering up in the Berun tenements.

The rolled, yet carefully maintained paper inside his bag, burned into his back as he felt his body shake, his glare intensifying.

It didn't matter, really.

He wasn't going to wait until they forced him into conscription, considering the first world war hadn't even started yet.

He would rather snag himself a better position and higher pay for Tanya… But that wasn't the only reason why he was volunteering.

It wasn't particularly for honor.

Not for glory either.

He didn't care much for those, really.

He had always been told that war was hell.

He understood that, truly.

Once, he might have even said that he was simply 'not cut out for military life.'

It was true.

That is, before a bullet left him choking on his own blood in an alleyway.

Before he woke up crying, screaming, and grabbing at his throat for all but four weeks.

Before he understood that he'd been kindly ripped from a perfect life and dumped into the 20th century!

So give him the benefit of the doubt, when he says he simply has a bit of anger he needs to let out.

A small, meager amount amount of fury really.

It was a shame, that therapists didn't particularly exist in this era, and that he had never perused one himself in before his last life ended.

They would have been quite horrified by his thoughts.

Because he just really, really wanted to shoot someone.

Years of repression, after all, had his hands itching, twitching for a trigger.

So honestly, the military was an excellent option!

What better place for an angry, just slightly angsty teenager with more power than they know to do with, right?

So there he was, with gripped hands.

His sister in the hands of a nun.

His only belongings in the small bag attached to him.

And his legs, ready to walk towards the nearest recruitment office.

The silence seemed to have reigned for long enough, as the old woman rearranged her arms into a much more comfortable position that spoke of experience, speaking softly to him.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

The woman didn't speak to him as if he were a child.

Not a hint of pity in her tone, not a tinge of persuasion in terms of emotion.

It was a pure question, one that truly made him think…

…for all of two seconds, that is, before spouting back the most nominal answer that one might accept.

"Yes, Sister. I will avenge my father. I will come back for Tanya, but this is something I must do."

The woman simply looked upon the boy with a growing sadness behind her eyes, before turning that gaze towards the infant in her hold.

With a slow rock of her arms, turning the small figure side to side, she finally spoke with a tired understanding.

"We will keep her safe. I cannot guarantee that she will be happy, or that she will find grace for however long you are absent..."

Her brown eyes turned towards his once more.

"...But she will be safe."

Andrei nodded.

That was all he could hope for.

He paused for a moment, before shuffling his bag to come underneath his arm, opening it slightly.

He pulled up a small stuffed bear, and held it out for the nun to grab.

The woman silently took the bear, raising it up a few times before gently placing it over the infant in her arms.

"Be safe, young one. May the lord bless you… We shall pray for your safe return."

Heh.

"Thank you, Sister Heide."

With a closed bag, and a refurbished determination that hadn't cracked for even a second, Andrei turned.

And sauntered off towards Berun once more.

He would come back in uniform, that much he promised.

Whether he would be in a coffin though, would be left to the whims of whoever sat above.

The Francois, after all, awaited him with open arms…

19 January, Unified Year 1917

Eissen, Imperial Countryside

Hagen Army Air Corps Testing lab

Magic Warrant Officer Andrei Degurechaff

…Or not.

How did this happen?

It made no sense.

He had spent two years ensuring he was the perfect Imperial soldier in all but experience.

He excelled in Cadet school, graduated with honors.

He took charge and did much the same through Candidacy, writing an entire dissertation on combat efficiency regarding Frankish mages while he was at it!

Every step he took was to get his feet posted on that border.

Every word he spoke, to generalize himself as a well taught and rational officer of the Empire who was absolutely ready to fight.

Yet here he was, his probationary period posting him to the rear because they needed more practical testing personnel in the Rear instead.

Like everything else so far in this life, it seemed like the world itself decided he would not get what he wanted.

Andrei swallowed his rage once more as he gave a standard salute to the man before him.

"Doctor Friedemann. Warrant Officer Degurechaff, reports as ordered."

The older man waved it away with a haphazard smile.

"Be at ease, Warrant Officer. Welcome to Hagen Laboratories… Now, can I assume you've read into the work we've been doing on the way here?"

He had, in fact, done so.

The Hagen Laboratories was less a lab but more of... A sort of Development group for magi tactics.

In specific, they were heralding the Close Combat Aerial Mage Program.

A complete lost cause, and the subject of insanity to Operations.

A probable money laundering scheme in the making, to a few others in Logistics.

A waste of magical officers and a destined failure to those in Service and Personnel.

Not a single kind word could be said whatsoever regarding it.

Andrei could read through the lines after all.

He could also understand exactly why everyone seemed so dismissive and hesitant on the matter.

After all, mages were notoriously horrendous in close quarters for several reasons.

From the top of the list it became rather obvious.

Getting to them in the first place was a veritable pain considering they were long range assets with high mobility.

Such mobility would then be used against attacking mages, and most close quarters combat techniques are ineffective when there's no dirt beneath your feet.

This renders fighting face to face to just… Ramming your opponents and waving around mana blades hoping to slice the other before they slice you.

It just wasn't viable.

"Of course sir."

He wouldn't say that to the man in charge of the project though.

From what he had read, Friedemann had been quite well known in the community for his work on magical physiology.

He supposed that was the reason they put him at the head of the project, if not to simply ensure the platoon under the laboratory didn't kill themselves.

However, with the face he was making, there was no way he didn't know it was all a lost cause.

The man nodded in acknowledgement as he glanced over a few files at his desk, rubbing across the bridge of his nose as he took off his glasses.

"As a member of the training platoon, you and your peers will be carrying out the theoretical work put to the board by several experts."

Andrei met his gaze with a blank stare.

"You're all the best graduates, taken from the cream of the crop. I'm confident we'll have at least some sort of breakthrough."

His confidence was largely misplaced.

However, that begged the question, would this failure affect him as well?

Andrei mulled over his thoughts at the question he forwarded towards himself.

This rear position would most likely only last for a handful of months if anything, and its failure is all but obvious.

However, considering war isn't raging in the background, he could expect that he might simply be cycled to yet another laboratory in terms of development.

Outside of observers and the hallowed border response units, it wasn't as if every single mage needed to be at combat ready at the moment, after all.

He just needed to make it obvious that he wasn't someone who was scientifically inclined, or really intellectually inclined towards coming up with viable new ideas.

Aerial mages weren't just game testers and bug testers, they were a sort of developer in these sorts of groups as well.

Andrei felt his eyes sparkle as he just barely held himself back from slamming his fist into his hand.

He would bide his time for the first week, going through whatever hogwash their instructors deemed might make them some sort of Mike Tyson of the skies.

Then, he would start 'recommending' new ideas.

Crazy ideas.

Not enough, of course, that they may think of him as some sort of insane person, but enough that they'll see him as someone much more inclined to be put to combat.

Then, as a matter of course, they would place him exactly where his skills would prosper.

Andrei let his lips turn up slightly as the professor before him finished speaking, snapping to attention and giving a sharp salute.

"Understood, Doctor Friedemann. God with us!"

He was so smart.

28 January, Unified Year 1917

Eissen, Imperial Countryside

Hagen Army Air Corps Testing lab Grounds

Magic Second Lieutenant Armin Dietfried

"...Could you clarify, Warrant Officer?"

Armin was tired.

He had been stuck in this unit for the past year, and at this point, he was itching to get reassigned literally anywhere else.

Even the Border was better in absolutely every way.

Instead he had to sit here, discuss something near improbable with dozens of supposedly intelligent men, and put some new, poor officers through trials they all knew wouldn't work in actual combat.

They had tried basically everything by this point.

Swordsmanship.

Grappling.

Using physical enhancements to manhandle yourself into shield range, and mag dumping with a secondary… Which actually did make some headway.

But they were quickly coming up dry.

What else could you really do when so many techniques used the ground as leverage?

Armin had long thought they were quite honestly, out of options.

Until the youngest mage in the unit spoke up rather normally, as if what he said wasn't absolutely unbelievable.

Now, Degurechaff wasn't particularly the most outgoing kid.

If he were to have detailed the boy in just a few words...

Stoic, yet approachable.

He didn't smile much, but when he did it seemed genuine.

In all honesty, he had been expecting rampant patriots in the group, and while he got that with the other two under his command, the image of such a calm face really shocked him.

That's why he really hadn't been expecting it.

"Well… If we were to graze over the altitude limit for a short period of time, burst several speed formulas careening ourselves downwards and halt flight and shields while strengthening physical enhancement formulas, wouldn't we be able to become human meteorites of a sort?"

The boy had looked at the rest of them with a shrug as he finished his proposal.

"Pair it with an interference formula and they probably wouldn't see it coming, or even just shooting upwards and erratically coming downwards would be enough. Halt the speed formulas half way through and play with the flight formula to change our direction might also work."

Their young face pinched slightly as they dumped their finger into their palm, shaking their head flippantly.

"I'm sure our enemy would find a way to circumvent it at some point, and it probably wouldn't work in every situation, but one of the biggest issues with close combat is getting up close and personal in the first place without giving them a moment to react."

That finger turned into a fist as a slight smile overtook the mild frown.

"This would allow us to sidestep that, while also turning ourselves into a weapon as well. Even if they have shields, we could probably enhance our bayonets with the blade formula if the sheer speed we have doesn't do the trick. Our sheer force would take care of the rest, right?"

Armin hadn't expected something so clearly insane to come out of his mouth.

It was absolutely irrational.

No one in their right mind would ever think of it in terms of magical combat.

In fact, no one sane would try that whatsoever in the first place...

…Which is why it was absolutely genius.

No one would expect it.

Not only that, but it would more likely than not be extremely effective, just as he said, for a good second.

The physical enhancements and the use of shields in the last moments would stop Imperial mages from becoming red mist while ensuring the others were less lucky.

Using flight in bursts to direct their movement in free fall while allowing gravity itself to pull them down with multiplied speed.

Even the added blade enhancement.

Looking at the calm visage of Warrant Officer Degurechaff before him, he quickly understood that this unbothered boy hid behind that face a grand amount of creativity, something they deeply needed at Hagen Labs.

Something he needed to get out of dodge, as well.

The boy finally came to a stop in his discussion, noticing the silence around him with a slightly tilted head.

Armin decided to intrude upon the silence at that very moment, pushing away his somewhat selfish thoughts with a smile.

"That could actually work. Excellent work, Degurechaff. If this goes well, I'll be sure to list your name down."

He placed his hand on the shoulder of the young boy, looking into his blue eyes with all the kindness he could amass.

"We'll always have a need for such imaginative minds in service to the Kaiser. I see many accomplishments in your future."

The boy's eyes widened, no doubt shocked that Armin wouldn't keep the honor of finally coming up with something else that was even close to viable all to himself.

His mouth seemed to open and close, as words of gratitude undoubtedly failed his tongue, but Armin didn't need to hear his words.

It was obvious what he wanted to say.

Armin let his grip harden as he nodded towards the young officer, his smile widening.

"No need to speak. Let's make history."

And make history they would.

14 August, Unified Year 1917

Fraufurt, Imperial Countryside

Western District Headquarters

Magic Second Lieutenant Andrei Degurechaff

"Second Lieutenant Andrei Degurechaff."

Unbelievable.

"For your valuable contributions to the Close Combat Aerial Mage Program under Hagen Laboratory while attached to the Fourth Platoon of the 253rd Research Mage Company."

Absolute lunacy,

"Where your knowledge set the standard for several new specializations in combat for members of the Mage Corps across the nation."

Andrei stood before the beaming Colonel with a twitching eye and a strained smile as the man took his hand and gave it a strong shake.

"You are hereby awarded with the Imperial Order of Excellence under the grace of the Kaiser."

The black and gold medal was pinned to his chest by another officer, the circled cross separating four separate symbols that he didn't care to detail.

"You have made the Empire Proud. Congratulations, Lieutenant. God with us."

Andrei sharply saluted with a carefully blank face, digging his fingers into the seam of his pants.

"God with us!"

A damn lie that was.

Wherever 'God' was, they definitely weren't paying attention to him or his most recent prayers to get him out of this hole he somehow stuck himself into.

He had somehow become one of the foremost observers of practical close combat while in air.

Everything he had said, of which soon became what he would only register as the thoughts of a genuine lunatic, had for whatever reason gotten hard pressed into reality!

Not only that, but it worked.

It worked too well, in fact, to the point where he wondered whether he was the only 'rational' individual in this damn world.

That human meteorite gambit he had been so confident would be a failure? Suitably lethal, shocking, and unbelievably effective so far when practiced as a unit against target blimps.

Spouting mage blades from your calves and making like a human Beyblade via propulsion? Also possible, and mind numbingly effective as well.

Hell, he had literally just told them to push the Franks off their horses from below, and they looked at him with respect.

There was no way no one hadn't thought of that before!

What was going on?

Sure, some of them were shocking, as they should have been, many being the source of many sleepless nights for one Andrei Degurechaff, but to say his ideas were revolutionary was just too much.

Except, here he was, because not a single other nation had apparently taken the thought of putting mages in short range seriously beyond the use of bayonets and otherwise as an actual strategy or field of tactics to be taught.

Honestly, neither did the Empire, considering they should have put him in a padded room instead of boost him up on a pedestal.

Unfortunately, his 'successes,' if you could call them that, meant that despite putting his best foot forward, he would more likely than not be kept on the Rear.

Damn it.

Wishing he could drink, Armin quietly began to sidestep his way towards the exit.

"Ah... Second Lieutenant Degurechaff, the man of the hour!"

Damn it more!

"Doctor Friedemann."

His salute was quickly waved away, and as he came to rest, the good Doctor chuckled with pride and joy in his countenance.

There was no doubt his happiness was due to the successes of his once thought to be failed project, and his continued reputation.

Maybe even malicious at his obvious failures.

"Well done Lieutenant. You know, I just knew the moment I saw you, that you would be special. You were basically itching to cut through the meat of our problems, weren't you!"

Sure.

Despite his skepticism, Andrei did nothing more than let the corner of his mouth rise with a simple nod, speaking humbly in response.

"It was nothing, sir. Anyone could have thought of it, really."

The man shook his head jovially as he pat his shoulder, the weight adding to the rest of the mental burden of being the only sane person in an organization of lunatics.

"So humble. Truly the pinnacle of what an officer should be, you are... Now, don't you tell this to anybody. I've prepared a surprise for you, you see."

The man leaned in slightly, winking as he spoke in a much quieter tone.

Andrei didn't need to lean in to hear the nonsense leaving his mouth.

"I've already put in my recommendation to send you back to Berun to another research unit under one of my friends, as I'm sure you'll appreciate. You'll be closer to the War College, and most importantly, the Imperial Academy of Sciences."

What?

When?

How?

Why?

"Aerial Mages are already rare enough as it is, but someone with a robust mind such as yours with a penchant for innovation? Well that's just about perfect for the Joint Program up in the Capital!"

No.

No he couldn't be serious.

This just couldn't be, right?

"You don't have to worry, with your experience already in practical research and development here, especially with your work on the augmentations for the blade formula, you're already well on the fast track!"

Andrei felt his mouth twitch once again as he struggled to keep a neutral facade.

"Really Lieutenant, Hagen Laboratories is proud of you, the Empire much the same. You deserve this."

Deserve this my ass!

Reeling back his growing rage was difficult.

Andrei took that moment to catch his breath as he regulated air through his system at a slow pace.

It didn't make sense to get angry, he told himself.

What's done is done, he coped quietly.

Now he just needs to figure out a way to somehow dodge going into whatever Joint Program he was talking about while not insulting several bigshots who laid him up for that path.

All the while, he needed to figure out a way to make himself more combat viable, a new way, considering coming up with ideas only a combat junkie would think of nearing the end there didn't work at all.

Easy.

As Andrei found himself floundering through several more conversations with associated parties, he barely held back a sigh.

At least he would be able to see his sister again.

His last correspondence with Sister Heide spoke of her third birthday and her rather peculiar behavior recently.

Maybe he would be able to take her in with his new pay, hire a caretaker when he's out on the field, and make sure she's well and healthy.

Maybe he could bide his time in the Capital caring for her and ensuring a hardy mindset.

Maybe he could try other ways to tamper his rage rather than holding in it and just waiting for someone to cross him...

He snorted.

Yeah right.

He supposed he would cross that bridge when he got there.

But first things first?

He needed to come up with some new plans.

'I mean, how hard can it be to get put on the front?'