"Reichland, Reichland…"

I fought to keep my face still. Instead of a poker face – which would loudly broadcast that I was trying to hide something – I was wearing an 'easy' smile to show that I was enthusiastic about this whole affair. I needed to appear happy.

Besides, the person sitting across from me could probably spot a crack in my poker face from a mile away.

Half of my considerable will was focused on that.

The other half was trying not to panic.

The moment I realized, all those years ago, that I was in a magical version of Europe, placed in the heart of a magical version of Germany, I had panicked.

I knew what horrors awaited the nation in the coming decades – fascism under a megalomaniac for some time and division for over twice as long.

A bit of history had once calmed me down. The Empire was different from the German Empire.

It was not dominated by 'Prussia,' but it was born from the marriage of the Prussy-Neiderlandia Empire and the Oustro-Hungorian one. The name had been simplified to simply 'the Empire,' instead of the hilariously long 'Prussy-Neiderlandia-Oustro-Hungorian Empire.'

The name change had also been to ensure that the minorities weren't upset and that the political bigwigs of the time were proving that they were earnest in trying to promote equality.

My entry into the army had shattered the calm of the different history. As I rose through the ranks and was given power and loyal troops and stardom via the Empire's propaganda, I promised myself, with my knowledge of the future, one simple thing:

I would not become Hitler.

That would just be a terrible, horrible idea. In the first place, that Germany had failed in their attempt at taking over the world. In the second place, they were horribly racist, wasteful, and only a small, insignificant, and insane portion of modern people thought they had the right ideas.

I might employ their tactics when trying to persuade people, but the kind of wanton waste that came from their kind of governance could, at least, be safety called 'idiotic,' especially with the lens of hindsight.

"Über Alles…"

I even did this world a favor by making sure to try and track down anyone bearing the name 'Adolf Hitler' and using my not-so-inconsiderable pull to have them put somewhere dangerous.

However, I had found no one with the name or something similar to it, so I moved on to the few Nazis I could remember from watching movies, Himmler and Goering and the like.

Way back then, I had found a similar absence of notable figures, though I don't claim to have looked for them all.

Japanese schooling did not have a large amount of focus on the west, and I didn't allow myself to surf through Wikipedia enough to become well versed on the subject of Nazi leaders.

Still, I was sure Being X probably wouldn't push me into doing something like that… unless he was anti-Semitic, in which case…

I shook my head and banished those thoughts as I sipped a bit of the wonderful coffee in my hands. I made sure that they weren't shaking in the slightest. The barest hint that I was terrified of the person in front of me and what they represented in the coming decade would probably have me sent somewhere… intolerable.

The war ended before I could do too much searching for other anti-Semites or similar people that might try and take over the world on the idiotic basis of race. The Empire might have been able to beat the Federation eventually, but Albion didn't waste the time that the Federation provided it using millions of bodies.

The Kingdom of Ildoa and the Ispagna Collective had been promised large swaths of the Republic's former colonial territory in exchange for helping with an invasion, and with all of the Empire's army in the East…

The war had ended in a little over a month as the two nations to the Empire's south invaded over the land and Albion launched three consecutive invasions across the sea and air.

The Republic and the Entente were given their land and a bit more, the rest was carved up into the other nations that preceded the Empire, and the Federation was forced to accept that it got nothing out of the deal thanks to the rebellions the Empire had incited within it.

With the end of the war and my dismissal from the army, I had, for the briefest of moments, thought about trying to enter politics. I knew all sorts of marketing techniques from the future. I could appeal to a small minority and use their support to earn a nice wage and never be held accountable.

Then, memories of what the Type 95 had done to me, and what Being X might push me into doing had come to mind. He wouldn't force me to do anything as bad as Hitler had, but he could force me to make the same mistakes and find myself in a bunker with a gun and no way out besides to kill myself or pray to him earnestly.

After considering all that, I immediately did what any sane person would if they found themselves in Hitler's position:

I went to Oustria, got myself a stable, out of the way job, and ignored anything and everything that had to do with politics.

Hitler had gone to Germany and preyed on people obsessed with fighting old battles and pseudoscience-backed racism. I did the opposite of that.

Things had been nice and calm, for a while. The Oustrian military couldn't employ any more mages than the 'Republic of Germania' could, but I had found a job for myself testing civilian-grade Computation Orbs. I thought that nothing could go wrong, as long as I stayed away from politics and Being X.

Unfortunately…

Rattle, rattle.

I winced slightly as the marching grew nearer and began to shake the coffeepot and the teacups and the small table in my living room that both were on, but I let no other sign of annoyance or fear slip out.

Unfortunately…

"Über alles in der Welt!"

I continued to hide my nervousness as I smiled at the two women sitting across from me. "You really have come a long way from being my adjutant, Viktoriya…"

Viktoriya smiled at me sweetly. "I know! I never would have imagined this for myself, but I was shocked to find out what you have been doing. It's a far cry from being a Battalion Commander in the Empire's prestigious military."

I smiled back at her and checked, once again, that I did not appear nervous in any way.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot about the 203rd in the wake of the Empire's collapse. I assumed they would find nice, quiet jobs away from anything important. I assumed my talks about how peace and freedom were paramount would stick with them, and how the speeches I gave under the effects of the Type 95 should be ignored no matter what.

I assumed that Viktoriya – sweet, slightly naive, unable-to-take-a-compliment-without-blushing Viktoriya – would find a job that involved something magic-related – engineering or testing or something. I assumed she would find a husband, settle down, have two kids, and leave all the fighting to people who signed up for the horrible waste that was war instead of conscripts like herself.

I took another sip of coffee to stop myself from sighing tiredly or screaming in horror.

How in the name of existence itself had she become a fascist dictator bent on killing religious and ethnic minorities and fighting old fights that really didn't need to be fought again?!

Still, despite my thoughts and fears, I never allowed them to see the panic attack I was trying not to have. My face remained pleasant, my smile wide, and my tone level.

Viktoriya put the cup of coffee she had made – and it was still as good as ever and hadn't changed in the slightest, which was a small mercy – down on the table. She looked at me with her beautiful and wide open eyes, and she leaned forward.

"Now that Oustria is a part of the Reich, I was wondering, Tanya, if you'd… like to come work for me?"

I set down my own coffee and tapped my chin as if I was considering.

As if I had a choice.

In reality, the clothing of the woman at her side – an old friend I hadn't ever met named Elya Roth – told me what a 'no' would mean.

The trademarked, taboo lightning bolts on the black armband on her shoulder told me she was part of the SS. I was either joining Viktoriya, or I was going to be killed.

There was no second option.

I gave her a calculated smile. "Viktoriya, there would be nothing I would enjoy more," I said, pouring on as much joy and happiness as I could without seeming like a brown-nosing intern.

She allowed herself to blush a small bit – she was obviously pleased to be getting such a well known and useful subordinate – and our conversation turned to lighter topics.

And, as the hour passed by and Viktoriya and her friend had to leave – she had speeches to give to the thankful people that had recently joined the Reich…

As she told me who to contact and where to go in Berun for my appointment…

As I waved at them both as they left my small house in Viena in a brand new car…

As the guards that had been posted around my house entered their own vehicles or even took off into the air to showcase their true jobs as Aerial Mages…

I wondered how the hell had this happened!?

-OxOxO-

A/N: Well, hello everyone! This plot bunny attacked me a week ago and has been nibbling on my head for just as long. I've still got another plot bunny nibbling away – hopefully I won't have to address it for a while – but the idea that, instead of Tanya, Viktoriya becomes the ruler of not!Germany is hilarious.

Things will be explained – how the hell this managed to happen, the differences and similarities between Nazis and Viktoriya's group, and what Tanya's goals will be – in the next chapter, but after that…

I warn you, I'm not going to update this story regularly. I've got another project – check out Third Time's the Charm, by the way – that I'm much more invested in. Still, if you're willing to wait a long time for updates, then, by all means, wait around.

And, to anticipate comments again, Prussia is now Prussy. It's a headcanon, but it also makes sense, since the Russian Federation is the Russy Federation. You also may get history as to how Prussia and the Netherlands unified, and you might not. As I said, this was a plot bunny. It might be something tangible, and it might also just be made of dust.