SoTtE Arc - 3

Tanya was sitting in her new temporary office. Looking with total disbelief at the piles of applications for her new mage unit. Khan had told in advance that her every attempt to stall would end in failure, but she wanted to test that. In the flyer she made it clear the assignment would be a straight up ticket to Hell.

Khan was leaning against the back wall, a small smirk could be seen creeping along his face. Before she could say anything however, Khan held up his hand and started counting down. When he reached zero, there was a knock at the door, then it opened. A familiar woman stepped through. The woman gave a crisp salute and said, "Second Lieutenant Viktoriya Serebryakov reporting for duty!" Tanya responded, "At ease. Oh, and belated congratulations on your promotion."

The conversation then immediately turned to the task at hand. Serebryakov immediately told Tanya about her preemptive measures to speed up the task, much to Tanya's annoyance. Khan was trying hard to suppress his desire to laugh when he said, "You know the funny thing is in your old world, you would have killed to a assistant like her."

The frown on Tanya's face deepened as she realized he was right. She let out a sigh as two things became apparent to her. The first was that the lieutenant couldn't see Khan, and the second was she would have to think of another way to delay things.

...

Aisha Schubert was being led down a hallway next to another hopeful. They both were hoping to join the new special unit. The flier did say it would be hard and beyond dangerous, but that just meant when it's all over it will be medals and a hero treatment until she's dead and gone.

As they entered the room, Aisha was caught off guard by a man just casually leaning against the wall. He was looking them both over, he smirked and then seemingly walked through the wall opposite of her. Then the man next to her said, "First Lieutenant Klein Balhiem, ready to fight the enemy!"

Aisha was flummoxed but she immediately recomposed herself, as she thought it could've been an illusion. She activated a spell that would allow her to see through it. That was when it hit her. The man at the table wasn't real, nor was the wall that the an just walked through. Immediately noticing who the real commanding officer was she said, "Mam! First Lieutenant Aisha Schubert, ready to serve my country!" The girl in the back raised an eyebrow, then the illusionary Puppet said, "Lieutenant Balhiem, these soldiers will escort you to your new assignment. Lieutenant Schubert, stay I have some questions for you."

Aisha noticed a slight smirk coming from Balhiem as he left. As soon as the door closed the illusion disappeared. A young girl stepped forward and said, "I am Captain Tonya Von Degurechaff, and welcome to 203rd aerial mage unit, call-sign; Pixie. In a moment, lieutenant Serebryakov will show you to your quarters, but before they let me tell you one thing. Everything you've witnessed in this room is considered a military secret, so, if you tell anyone about anything that you've witnessed, you will be punished accordingly. Understood?!"

Aisha saluted and said, "Yes! Mam!" She was immediately escorted to another part of the base. Once she arrived, she was told that this room would be her temporary quarters until Pixie was fully assembled. She was told she could relax, but to keep in mind that she could be called to assemble for their first assignment at any time.

As Aisha unpacked, a thought crossed her mind about the man she saw. No one else reacted to him, and her new commanding officer stated she shouldn't ask. Just then there was a knock on her door.

She opened it and to her surprise, the man from earlier was standing there. He said, "Aisha Schubert, I believe you and I need to have a conversation." Unsure why, Aisha found herself letting the man in.

...

Tanya found herself sitting in a meeting, several top brass sitting across from her. They were wondering why she had rejected so many talented mages. The situation was not unforseen. Tanya was expecting something like this eventually. She had in fact through the screening process already reject more then half the applicants so far.

She showed them the screening process, and they understood, but General Zettour told her to lower her standards, and she responded that she would need a month to train them. The General agreed giving her leeway to get rough if she had to.

She filled the rest off the open slots with whoever was left. Then she began a hellish training ment to encourage them to drop-out. She started it with a 36 hour non-stop barrage.

As she watched from a safe distance, Khan decided to tell her the next part of his story. She had 36 hours to kill, so, she figured why not. Khan started by showing her the notice he got at the end of his last life.

[Congratulations, you completed the first trial. Your actions have been noted. For the second trial you must survive until V and Silverhand make their decision. Please pick one of the following:

Fixer's Intel or MacGyver Intellect]

Khan then described the world where he ended up, and how he had to change his plans, because he figured he would still be around after the goal was met. As he told her how he met then used the merc called V, by the end of the tale, Tanya noticed a pattern.

Tanya said, "One moment please, I have a quick question." Khan answered, "Yes?" Then Tanya said, "Between you taking over the gangs, and you using phrases like laundering money, and dealing with snitches. I have to ask, were you running a criminal empire?"

Khan looked thoughtful for a moment then he said, "Huh, you know I didn't really think about it till now, but I guess you're right. It was technically a criminal empire. I mean, I probably should've realized that when I started doing stuff that required me to actually clean the money."

Tanya then said, "The change was subtle. So, just to make sure I understood everything, let me spell out he highlights. First, you used your connection to V and the "ripperdoc" to implant several programs and viruses into V while she was recovering from her botched job. One of which you had previously tested on the net-runner T-Bug. Another one prevented Silverhand from reacting to you or what you were doing."

"You then used V to unintentionally help you take over or eliminate the Night City gangs, a Nomad clan, and two major corporations. Where finally you transferred her into a brand new body, with a hidden neural program that caused her to believe that everything she did for you was in pure gratitude. Did I miss anything?" Tanya asked with a bit of skepticism in her voice.

Khan answered, "Nothing of importance." Tanya sighed, and said, "I don't know whether to be impressed or disturbed. You went from a small personal business to a international financial empire."

Eventually Tanya resumed the training of her recruits. Before she knew it, the month was completed and to her dismay. No one dropped out. She was sulking in her office, she asked Khan, "Where did I go wrong?" Khan smiled and said, "After the avalanche, when you beat that guy back to life. They were under the impression that if they tried to quit, you would've actually killed them, bring them back to life, and kill them again."

Tanya reflected on the attitude she took to encourage them to quit had worked against her goal. The door opened and Second Lieutenant Serebryakov walked in with a message from strategic HQ.

...

Khan was leaving Lieutenant Schubert's room at the new post at border of Grand Duchy of Dakia. Since so far she was the only one besides Tanya, who could see him while he was in his spirit form. He made it a point to spend quality time with her during moments of downtime.

He and Tanya were on occasion discussing when or if to reveal him to the rest of the battalion. For the most part he was finding it difficult to alleviate his boredom. He had already given Tanya the useful info on Dakia. Like how they won't use mages or any real tactics other then marching side by side into to the enemy's front door.

He let out a sigh, when the combat gets started, he won't be able to really enjoy himself, outside of combat. The upcoming battle would be more akin to a live fire exercise. Where only the foolish and the careless would be injured.

As he entered Tanya's HQ he heard the message. The Dakians were invading. It was going just like he said it was. With Dakia broadcasting their battle strategies on unencrypted channels. Tanya gave a quick nod at Khan to acknowledge the help he's given.

The battalion was called to assemble, orders were given, and they left for battle. Khan left with them, if only to more practice with his Arcane Rifle.