Weltkrieg: A Youjo Senki Fic

I mused myself, walking across the hallway to supervise some development of the equipment and new technology. Violet as always trailing behind me, Freesia must be working with Eugen to handle the paperwork, while Hai… exploring, hopefully, she didn't blow or poke something.

I thought back again, recollecting everything about the interrogated man before. Holy night of Solace, whoever name this cult, is certainly suffered an Eighth Grade Syndrome.

The man was just some lowly puppets, there are no absolute records of the name or whoever he interacted before, only an order through paper waxed in the cross seal.

Everything… was like erased off records. Nothing, like they did not exist in the first place.

The first plausibility was being, the direct intervention of those worms or they use some unknown or lost Spell of Magecraft. Both are realistically possible, worm being a worm, nothing strange. And a lot of spell and progress of magecraft are lost, and vanishing without a trace.

Though, we know the general outline that they've managed to infiltrate the Commonwealth political and military stage.

Presumably, this is the works of Mind manipulation. A rather mass and intricate mind manipulation, for they erase the records of magecraft, instilling the current magic system is better than before, and no witches or magus are left behind.

I began to lean to the former reason, f.u.c.k.i.n.g worm.

Messing up everything.

We need a counteraction, knowing those worms, if anything happened or corrupting to a member inside this facility.

The preventative measures were to seclude and diminish the presence of religion inside the facility, and currently, everyone and each was being monitored if there's something suspicious were to happen.

Of course, we also noticed a subtle corruption attempt inside Operation orbs. There's a study, that said, almost 97% of Mages in the empire are devout to religion, with three percent as reserves among reserves that rarely used operation orbs.

There's a pattern there, and thus we were using a 'free' Operation Orbs by producing our own materials, and methodology in the making. Complemented with a hidden mechanism inside striker units, it will diminish the corruption completely.

Before I reach the elevator door, to the Lab below, a voice broke off my muse.

"Commander Richard."

I turned behind.

"Colonel Lergen, what a coincidence, come on in, we can talk about it on the way."

I gestured him towards the elevator, knowing the Colonel has become an official supervisor for the Generals to this organization. He needs to talk about something, judging by the grave tone he said.

"Certainly," He lightly cough, before stepping in the elevator.

I pushed a few buttons, leading us down below to the lower facility of this base.

"So?"

"We will launch an offensive operation to Norden next week, Commander."

"Operation to the Norden?" I double-checked.

He nodded in answer.

"How about the Francois, we could end them sooner! Winter is approaching, and the war was supposed to end this year, and we're focusing on Norden?"

He only nodded, "I only relying on the order, commander. The Francois was surprisingly fast in entrenching their position again, and even if we capable to win against them, it will not without a hundred thousand more sacrifice of our brave soldiers."

I sharply take my breath, "How charming, we should make the breakthrough in the last operation. If not for the hesitation of the field commander in the Rhein, our Brave soldier will certainly board the train by now, ready in the warm embrace of their family, not dying in cold inside a trench nowhere."

"I advised to watch your tongue, Commander. I can, and will report anything, and an insult to the order are greatest crimes to the fatherland." He flickered his glasses, sending a warning to me.

"Sigh, please do apologize for my misconduct, it's just been stressing these days. Now, to the matter, what's operation?"

He looked at me in the eyes, before staring back to the entrance of the elevator, "The order will be clear right now, we need a fleet, and mages to guard the coast and escort the main armies until they can safely land to invade."

"And where is this?"

"Norden military and defense district, The Orse Fjord."

"Orse Fjord, the so-claimed the best defended naval base in the entire Europa. I see…" I take a deep breath and look at him in the eyes, "The general staff intends, to mount a surprise attack from behind, while the northern armies were distracting the entente alliance in the front," I grin.

"Truly marvelous! We won't attack without a ship, but something mobile, agile against flak and immune to the coastal battery, but delivering the same destructive capability… Mages! and only after all defenses are destroyed, we can secure the base with northern army detachment."

He slackened, and jaw widened upon the revelation before adjusting his glasses again.

"Yes, that's the gist of it."

"And where's my fleet will take our part, Colonel?"

"We will further debrief later, but in three days you need to organize and assemble the fleet and meet the Imperial North Fleet."

"I understand."

I take a note to prop up the Ship girl manifestation as we're stepped out the elevator to the cold steel floor and the lab section of this base.

As soon as we entered the lab, men working in their piece of machinery, tinkering and arguing over the blueprints, Professor Humbert approached us.

"Commander there you're, and you too Violet."

She gave him a nod.

"We've managed to develop the composite armor, and presumably our engineer will be able to equip the entire base with these marvelous armors within next week."

"That's good news, prioritize the production in three days and retrofit all of our equipment including ship, we have a big day ahead of us."

Composite armor, a mixture of different alloys that could meet the demand of a strong, and protective layer while giving the mobility one need. It's a prerequisite requirement before we managed to produce a main battle tank or simply a modern tank.

"What is it, Commander?"

"Hoho, it's one good news Colonel, light, heavy, medium tank are history with this armor!"

"You'll see it later, Colonel." I shrugged his questioning gaze.

"And oh, professor mind giving us a tour?"

"Huh, not a chance, I need all the time I have." With a wave of dismissal, he returned again to his post, oh well.

Then I turned again, walking side by side with Violet behind, seeing the engineer working back and forth.

"Tell me, Colonel, what is the key to success to win a battle?"

He eyed me, analyzing my question and my gaze, "Tactics, resources, and luck."

"Correct, but there's another specific aspect you forgot… Human. They are fragile, and delicate little poor thing, a single snap may outrightly destroy them. In a battlefield, the most harrowing thing was the wailing, and crying of your friends, who been wounded, bleeding, your only choice is to bring them back to the backline or ignore him and press forward.

Of course, any sane soldier, will bring these wounded, group them together, to create the greatest nunnery inside a battlefield, and imagine, imagine their wail, morale will drop in a fly when they were pouring at a very fast rate, not as dead bodies, but half-dead crying, and begging wreck of a mess."

He critically stared at me, considering whether to pull out a pistol out the holster on his hip and shoot me right here, right there. But inwardly I only smirk, and press on.

I took a single tool on a table, it's a rectangular device with four sockets as opening and had a shape of a box that could be wielded.

"This is our finest device, a hypersonic and motion weapon, though we still haven't had appropriate abbreviation. Nevertheless, this weapon could penetrate any armor or whoever 100m near the device, and if focused, can reach 250m in one direction, capable to destroy eardrums and eyesight once exposed to the radiation it's emitted.

Imagine if such a device, be mounted on a ship, no ship could dare to tread in our path. Imagine, if they were to be mounted on a vehicle, infantry will be shredded once exposed. Imagine if such a device to be fitted inside a bomber, no fighter nor mages will capable to get close to them."

"You're depriving human to the lowest, this is not a weapon but torture. Do you think I will approve the development of such a weapon!?"

"Are you mistaking something, Colonel? War is already depriving humans of the lowest like a savage animal. A weapon is a mere tool, we have the right to use it, and defend our home from the invading armies. Soon, very soon, the Empire will face the sheer might of the world, we need every single development we need if we wanted to protect the fatherland, no matter how much blood is dripping from your hand!

Your way is such a mistake. Tell me, Colonel, have you ever experienced a peal of man laughter between the flickering light inside a filthy trench, knowing their name, their family, their life, but the very tomorrow the man you talked has gone and lost inside a mud? You can't cope with it, it's numbing and cold to know you won't felt anything even soon, you'll forget the man you talked to the next morning."

"That's no excuse! We don't have to lower ourselves for such atrocity!" He roared back.

"Are you so afraid of how we will win the war, colonel? Do you refuse to believe the cold truth, that the frontlines will be no more, once the world turns against us? Commonwealth is manipulating our neighbor and is ready to drag unified states in this war, and Rus union is prepared to pounce once we show them our back. I just wanted you to open your eyes, and cope with the cold reality of war and possibility, that's it."

"You're a madman," He muttered in a tremble, fist clenched.

"We are. And remember Colonel, at the end of the day, people will always see casualties as a mere number, not through romanticism."

I'm leaving him behind, drowning him in his thought. I'm sure the operatives nearby, is ready to escort him out of this lab.

Colonel Lergen, do you think I won't notice the eyes you always give me? Gazing at me like I was a mere animal, but hypocrisy is latched behind your words. Do you think, I don't know what you thought of us? A monster playing dolls, oh, how true your words are.

I hope you'll open your eyes someday, to see the world the same as my vision, and not through rose-tinted glasses.