《Saga of Tanya the Tanker》
The Orphanage
Tanya slowly opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to the beaming sunlight that shined through the window. Slowly sitting up, she looked around the creaky wooden room. Rows of children slept on the floor, mainly the older ones, as the younger children got to sleep on the mattresses, though they felt no better than hay.
It''s been a few years since she''d been reborn into this world, though she''d not learn a lot about it, other than some gossip she''d eavesdropped on from the nuns.
Tanya sighed inwardly, as she pondered on what to do forward. She''d heard from Sister Elizabeth that a magic specialist would come to the orphanage to test their magical capabilities. She hoped that she''d at least have a high magic capability, as she thought having higher capabilities meant more jobs to choose from.
Nevertheless, she waited until the Sisters entered the room before leaving the room, and towards the kitchen. Often the Sisters find a loaf of bread missing from the already meager amounts they made, and Tanya was the culprit all those times.
Tanya sneaked into the kitchen when the Sister managing the kitchen left for a brief moment. She took one loaf and scurried off into a relatively dark corner of the dining hall and discreetly ate the bread.
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Tanya watched the children with hawk-like eyes. They''d often punched one another if it meant they could steal a small piece of their portion of food. She rubbed her cheek after remembering the hard lesson.
As the hours passed, the magic specialist arrived, bringing a couple of men and some weird-looking knickknacks. Tanya waited with belated patience as the older kids went, and then finally the younger ones.
Finally, her turn was up. The specialists placed the weird-looking bowl on her head and started pressing buttons on it. Tanya closed her eyes, expecting an extravagant result.
"Well, the results are in," the specialist said, writing on his clipboard, "You have no compatibility."
Tanya blinked multiple times as if she couldn''t believe what she heard, "No compatibility?"
The specialists glanced at her before taking the bowl off her head and ordering the next person forward, ignoring her entirely.
Tanya sat on the rough mattress, trying her best to fall asleep, but was disturbed by the results of the test. She couldn''t quite determine if magic was rare or not in this world. If it was, then she''d be royally screwed, if not, then it wouldn''t be the end of the world. But the truth was, this world was still completely unknown to her.
After tossing and turning on the mattress, Tanya finally got some shut-eye, albeit an uncomfortable one.
Basic Training
Several years have gone by since Tanya''s magic evaluation. In those years, Tanya ran away from the orphanage on her tenth birthday, growing sick of the religious teachings that were shoved down her throat every day.
She managed to find a storekeeper who let her stay with him as long as she worked for him. She didn''t find any problem with this and worked with the shop for a few years before she grew sick of that as well.
Luckily, Tanya''s 16th birthday has already passed, and she found out the military would accept anyone over the age of 16. She didn''t really want to join the military, but she didn''t figure anyone would hire an orphan. Nonetheless, she applied and was accepted without any issues.
Tanya''s new life in the military began with a strict training regiment that pushed her both physically and mentally. She endured grueling drills and exercises, but her determination never wavered. She knew this was her chance to escape her past and forge a new identity.
As she progressed through basic training, Tanya found herself drawn to the idea of commanding a tank. The sheer power and maneuverability of these armored vehicles captivated her. She threw herself into learning everything she could about tank tactics and strategy.
One day, during a live-fire exercise, Tanya caught the eye of a stern-faced sergeant who watched her with a critical eye. As the exercise ended, he approached her.
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"You''ve got potential, recruit," he said gruffly. "I hate to say this, but I''ve seen your scores. If you keep this up, you might just make a damn good soldier."
Tanya smirked at his words. And replied with fashion, "Thank you, sir. I''ll make sure not to disappoint that assessment."
As the months passed, Tanya''s skills grew by leaps and bounds. She excelled in both the classroom and on the training grounds. Her peers began to look up to her, and even the most hardened drill sergeants took notice of her dedication and natural talent.
But Tanya''s life took an unexpected turn when she was approached by a high-ranking officer after a particularly impressive display ofcombat skills. He offered her a chance to join a special unit with a focus on armored technology, promising her a path to become the tank commander. Starting with an instant assignment as a panzersh¨¹tze.
Tanya hesitated, unsure if she wanted to leave the world of conventional warfare behind. But the promise of the chance to command her own tank unit proved too enticing to resist.
Finally, basic training ended after about 10 months. Tanya stood at attention in the office of the high-ranked officer. He was Colonel von Schwarzholz, as Tanya found out after that day.
"Congratulations on your passing, Degurechaff. But that''s not why I summoned you here." Colonel von Schwarzholz said as he puffed his cigar.
"I''ve taken the liberties of assigning you to armor training prior to your graduation from basic. So you''ll be reposted soon. After that, well, you might be able to join as a tank commandee in a panzer division of you do well in training." The Colonel sat up and handed Tanya some pieces of paper.
Tanya accepted the papers and read through them. They were the details of the armor training and what they entailed. After she was done reading it, she handed them back.
"Thank you, sir. I''ll make sure you won''t regret assigning me as a panzersh¨¹tze." Tanya saluted and left when the Colonel dismissed her.