Chapter 24

Imperial-German training Center, Altdorf, next day

"Come on come come on-see told you there was one more in you". The 120 kg weight
clanged down into the brackets of the bench used for bench presses. "9 repeats-not
bad for the 3rd set and I did not have to help but for the last one"
Henrik Gerber still got his breath back, wiping of the sweat from his beet-red
brow. "Yes, it is getting better-and finally I am pressing my own weight. Ah lets
hurry to the butterfly machine, it is just free"
Sitting inside the machine Joakim Vos had a good view of the bright black, red and
Gold banner with the Imperial Eagle on it. "1st Kaiserlich-deutsche Landwehr"
indeed. If anybody would have told him he would join such an outfit two years ago-
even one year ago he would have laughed-now he was working out like mad to keep up
with all the other hand-picked members of a special force.

The Imperial railroads had become THE most important project of the Empire. It
transformed everything-society, economy and the military. While the changes were
not to everybody`s liking the positive effects were just too big to be ignored-and
a Nation which so often was on the brink of collapse could not afford not to take
full advantage. As such the Railroad needed an armed force-and that armed force
needed a special force for the problems that the part time Landwehr could not
handle.
With a set of tasks ranging from freeing hostages to relieving railroad colonies
under siege the 1st Landwehr was already of Battalion size and growing quickly.
Training was hard and the rate of rejection was high-consequently the prestige of
being in this unit was astronomic. So far Vos and Gerber had formed an effective
partnership, helping each other with training and classes.
"Ok, your turn-let`s see if you still have it in you"

Great Forrest, Bank of a Reik Tributary, 2 days later

The tributary of the Reik in front of the Chaos army was just one more barrier on
its convoluted way to Middenheim, but a formidable one. Harbinger was watching the
progress of his troops with barely controlled anger. If he wanted to salvage his
part of the Great Crusade he had to move quickly and decisively. The more he
thought about it the angrier he became-both at Garek and himself. The Doombull
seemed to be perfect for his role-intelligent, creative, aggressive and always
seeking for validation. His Charisma and swagger worked well with the beastmen-he
was able to attract them by now in huge numbers. Garek had seen that his Beastmen
needed to wage war differently if they wanted to be more than high-class scavengers
and he had offered him the tools to become better-a marriage made in heaven, wasn`t
it?
That the price for this would have been to soak up the arrows, bolts and heated oil
that the defenders of Middenheim would dish out so that their better could
gloriously slaughter the exhausted Middenheimers. And then this overblown Ox got
the idea he could dictate strategy to Archaron-arrogance did not come any bigger
than that.

The only course he could see out of this was to kill the Doombull quickly and
install a more malleable figurehead instead. Hoping to steal a march on the
beastmen he had decided to cross the river not at a ford but at a place where the
river was normally not passable.
The Chaos Dwarves who were attached to his army had built a pontoon bridge over the
river while some scouts he had send over had made sure that the crossing would be
uncontested. From here he could march quickly to the Herdstone and Garek and do
what was necessary. One of the amulets he had given the Bull did not just protect
him from magic but also showed his position to those with access to its
counterpart. The Dwarves had finished the bridge about an hour ago and ever since
the scouts gave the all-clear he had pushed his army across.
As there was now a substantial bridgehead on the other side it was time for him to
move across himself. His horse had no problems navigating the undulating bridge. It
was built from many small boats the engineers had assembled days before some
kilometers away from the river. Anchoring them in the river in one row and covering
them with planks and dirt was a relatively quick operation aided by the night-
vision capabilities of the dwarves.

His guards were the first to spot the huge tree trunks that were rapidly pushed
along by the river. He tried to move faster, something not easy on the undulating
bridge. He still managed to have a look at the logs. They showed no twigs-which
meant they had been prepared and pushed into the river on purpose. Some of them
seemed to show crude designs cut into them he could not focus on. His warpsight
showed them not to be magic at first, but a closer look revealed a cleverly
disguised spell. He was about to do something about that when the first log hit the
bridge. The flames which erupted from the log seemed natural enough in shape-but
their green color and the speed with which they spread over wood and warrior alike
made it totally clear that they were anything but normal.
Harbinger died covered in Flames when his mount was pushed into the river by
panicked Chaos warriors who wanted nothing more but to flee the inferno. He never
saw the Children of Chaos who emerged from the woods at the far side.

Garek Brightfur did see them. Harbinger had obviously thought that the few scouts
he had send into the Forest would be able to find his troops. The Great Forest was
the realm of the Children of Chaos-this was a lesson Harbinger`s troops would learn
at great cost. The line of Beastmen which stepped from the forest was an impressive
sight-So many strong Gors and nimble Ungors bearing Spear and shield stepping
forward to their enemies in orderly blocks-formations where each Beast protected
not just himself but also his neighbor-this was his work, his creation. Here lay
immense power for all to see. The Chaos Warriors who had already crossed the bridge
formed their own lines quickly enough. They might have less warriors than the
Beastmen and were cut off from the rest of their army-but nobody could accuse them
of being cowards. Powerfully muscled barbarians formed shield walls, Chaos Knights
who had left their horses behind for this mission wielded weapons which seemed too
big for any human to use with ease and formed blocks. They might die-but they would
not die alone.

The armies took a few moments to straighten their lines-then Garek lifted a horn he
had cut from the head of his predecessor to his lips and blew-hoping against hope
that everything would work out as planned.
The Beastmen and the Chaos army both started to run at each other and collided with
a crash which could be heard for miles. All thoughts of refinement of tactics and
strategy were gone, just the struggle against the immediate opponent counted. Axes
and sword, spear and claw, teeth and flail were used in their bloody work to rend,
to cut, to maim-to kill the hated enemy.

Garek had to use every ounce of self-control not to join this glorious slaughter
but to watch for the right moment-NOW. Both lines were fully joined; all attention
was on the immediate fight-so now. Lifting the Horn again he blew again-a long,
long note this time, discordant ugly and shrill and to no end. At first nothing
happened but then another group of Gors emerged from the right side of the field
where they had waited for their call. He had to put his best Doombulls into this
group to make sure they would not go off prematurely-but wait they did. The managed
to close to the left flank of the enemy before they were noted for real and in the
backs of some units before any action could be taken.
The left flank was always under the highest pressure, just trying to hold until the
stronger flank carried the day. Now under attack from the front and rear
simultaneously it broke like glass dropped on stone with incredible speed. This
allowed his Beastmen to attack the long line of Chaos warriors from the flank-no
longer a costly frontal attack.
It became a notable massacre.

Altdorf, Imperial Palace, same date

Angela Merkel knew she would look like a fool but saw no chance to see it through.
Presently she was doing something that should have been done some time ago but had
to wait till after the elections: A Treaty of Alliance with the Empire. Both
Nations were already sending mages and soldiers, weapons and raw materials,
scientists and advisors back and forth-but there was no formal treaty to regulate
it all. How ungerman-how very very ungerman.
Now there was such a treaty, consciously and meticulously negotiated by teams from
both sides and written in a long document of precise and illegible legalese she was
just signing. She had even given a Montblanc pen as a gift to the Emperor so she
could avoid signing the treaty with a goose feather-this was not the part she was
dreading.

When both sides had signed the document-among a lot of flashes of cameras and
polite applause the document was seen as binding in Germany. Unfortunately for the
Empire a little more was required, and that was the part the German Chancellor
would have liked to give a pass.
Both rulers went in front of Volkmar, the Great Theogonist of Sigmar. Angela
spotted Frank Walter Steinmeier, the new Foreign Secretary in the crowd of German
onlookers and mentally promised them grave retribution if they so much dared as to
smile.
Standing on both sides of the Cleric both rulers drew their swords from then
scabbards and crossed them over Ghal Maraz, the Hammer of Sigmar-it was time to
swear an Oath of Alliance:

"For the Love of God and Christendom and the salvation of us both, from this day
on, as God will give me the wisdom and power, I, Angela Merkel, shall protect the
Empire, as one ought to protect one´s own country, so that it may do the same for
me, and I shall never go along with anything that, by my will, would harm him."

"In Sigmars name, from this day on, as He will give me the wisdom and power, I,
Emperor Karl Franz, shall protect Germany, as one ought to protect one´s own
country, so that they may do the same for me, and I shall never go along with
anything that, by my will, would harm it."

The Oath was hailed loudly by the nobles of the Empire and the Reiksguard-even a
lot of Germans could find their voice for such a loud acclamation. It was
impressive enough to drown out the declaration of Volkmar who declared the Oaths
valid. Angela Merkel didn´t feel half the fool she feared she would seem to be.
Now it was binding for both sides.
Frank Walter Steinmeier was an old pro-he would never smile in such a situation-not
where his boss could see him do it.

Excerpt from the press conference half an hour later:

This treaty will be called the "Reiksbund" as the Reik is connecting both of our
great nations. It gives a framework for the common defense against all external
enemies. It is open for all Nations not aligned with Chaos who want to join a
common defensive pact….

Great Forest, between Altdorf and Middenheim, 3 days later

Asul Hellebore, Champion of Chaos, Blessed of Tzeench was a highly capable Chaos
mage and had no need to rely on others when he wanted to contact his Master from
afar. This did not reduce his dread of doing so in any way, but it was something
which could no longer be safely delayed. After setting his wards he relaxed his
limbs and Tentacle in a position he could hold without conscious effort and
released his mind from the restrictions of his physical form.

He found himself on an endless desert plain under a shifting sky of many colors. In
front of him he saw a huge figure in a dreadful black suit of armor, wearing a
weapon which was obviously alive and radiating a power which was nearly
overwhelming. Having his mental image assume a kneeling position he waited for some
sign of recognition. He had to wait for what seemed to be a long time. Feelings of
heat and cold, of being subjected to vacuum and great light showed him the scrutiny
he was subjected to-not a pleasant feeling as he was sure that he had few things
that escaped notice.

"So Asul, what do you have to tell me"

"Oh great Archaron, Everchosen and Cham.."
"Cut it-I have no time to waste on the prattle of those who want to tell me they
cannot do my bidding"
"Yes Master. Master I have come to tell you that I have consolidated the forces
that you gifted to Harbinger and have assumed their leadership. We are now camped
about 20 Kilometers from the site of the Battle against the treacherous Beastmen"
"And why did you not attack these misguided Children of Chaos again. So was my
command-why do you not execute it?"
"Your greatness, Harbinger lost nearly one third of the forces that he brought to
this Battle. The element of surprise, if it ever existed, is surely gone now and we
would have to confront the Beasts in their own environment. Also the Horde we
battled was much bigger then assumed and they had much more magical power then we
were led to believe. Furthermore…."

"Silence you miserable wrench. I can see clearly enough that you are unable to
fulfill my original command. The question is if I can find something for you to do
at which you might possibly not fail."
"If I may be so bold my Lord, the Beastmen will move in the direction of Altdorf if
we do no longer challenge them as they want to fight the human "Railroad" and their
installations are in that direction. Even if they will not take the role you have
envisioned for them they will be in the way of any reinforcements that the Empire
wants to send to Middenheim.
"So…"
"So my Lord I suggest that I take this army to Middenheim to aid you in the siege
when it will come."
"Can you be in Middenheim in 2 Months' time?"
"Yes Highness. We can make the way much quicker, but there is one small Fortress we
have to raze as not to leave enemy troops in our rear. It is just a small castle-
Wolfenstein…err no Wolfenfels my Lord."
"Then make it so Asul. Do not fail me….."

Naggaroth, Tower of Malekith, one week later

Elric Starker was a Dark Elf with no important family connections, no huge
household, no personal troops, no magic and no impressive magical weapons. He had
never fought important battles or slain important enemies, his talent at subterfuge
and intrigue was seen as low.
He did arrange the meetings in Malekith`s throne room as majordomo since 443 years
and that made him a very powerful Druchi. He made considerable income by coaching
applicants and functionaries before they went into the Hell that was the Witch
Kings domain. As this increased the likelihood of survival markedly his services
were a much asked for commodity. That he would still tell all the things he heard
to the Witch King was something everybody but utter fools assumed, but the fact
that the foolishness would not be uttered in full court might still save careers,
dignity and lives.
His current customer was like all the others before them, arrogant, full of
himself, aggressive and irritable as they would go to a place where displaying
these attributes in the wrong way would get them killed quickly-if they were
exceedingly lucky.

"Make me understand Straker-make me understand why I should not suggest taking

these "Deutsche" prisoner, why we should not put them to the question about their
secrets, why we should not take their weapons. Tell me why we will give them
trained slaves, specie and alloys. And most of all-tell me why we give them the
Valley of Dread for a domain, to be ruled by the Claus in the name of Malekith
instead of a true Elf. I am not ashamed to state that I do not understand your
reasoning"
"Ah Bloodcrest, once I was like you, full of piss and vinegar. So, why is that so:
First off, when the Germans arrived they arrived in a steel ship with cannon? If we
would have attacked them then what do you believe would have happened? Did you hear
what happened to the fleet from Karmond Kar or Hag Graef? Currently we cannot allow
to loose more warships. And the Germans stated that this ship will be back and
bring the supplies needed for their mighty weapons-it might cease do so if we
torture and kill them, don`t you think? And what will the German weapons you want
to seize be worth when they do no longer have "bullets" and "grenades"?

And ever since it has left the Germans provide good services to us as you have seen
personally. For each slave we give them we got two untrained ones from the Hung
camp-and without their help we would not have cornered these savages so handily. If
we could do better with their weapons if they have to teach us in their use under
torture-I do not know.
But what I do know is that they already start to erect workshops and manufactories.
There is so much to be learned from that just doing that-and how much more when
they have finished and start working for real. It would be a fine thing to capture
the German weapons-but how much more interesting would it be if we could make them
on our own.

Then there is their healer, this Corzilius. Nobody could have saved Lord Silverhawk
but him-perforated intestine, severe inflammation-we could have just watch him die.
The Germans managed to save him and two members of his household. Do you think he
would have been as good if he works in Chains? Especially if he is cut off the
medicines the Germans want to get from their former home from time to time?
Also the Germans have promised to train and supply a regiment of true Elves-I
believe they will do a better job of that if they think they are free. And these
Druchii will be a real boon in the time to come.
The humans have a fairy tale about some idiots who slaughter the goose which lays
golden eggs-don`t be too quick to sharpen the knife. When you go up there I
guarantee you that Malekith will charge you to work with the Germans-and if you
want to stay in his good graces then I advise you to do so. It would also do you
good if you would pledge some of your armsmen to the regiment the Germans are to
train.
"Hrrrrrrrr"

Great Forrest, Castle Wolfenfels, one week later

"If my footmen would have realized that your gift of boots would mean that you make
them do so many forced marches they would have been less happy. But I can see what
you are doing-"the art of the maneuver is in the legs" and the men have hardened
considerably. How do you rate them now?"
"Count Heinrich, they can shoot 12 rounds per minute and hit a target 300 meters
distant 8 out of 10 times. They can do a forced march of 20 kilometers and then are
still fit to fight. They are able to do basic maintenance of the gear they have
been given, can perform first aid satisfactorily and their field and hygiene skills
are much improved now. I do believe we could camp them in any decent place for 4
weeks or more and have no undue sickness in camp."
"That sounds quite impressive."
"Even by our standards it is. I am very happy with the cooperation we got and even
some of the Cavalry begin to see the light."
"Don´t be too frustrated there-Altdorf was not build in a day, you know"
"Yes Count. I suggest that from coming Sigmarstag we start dividing up the recon
group into two and send larger patrols with mixed personal from the wardens, the
footmen and my soldiers. That will increase the efficiency and number of patrols."
"You will have my blessings about that. Good work Lieutenant, it is a pleasure to
have you here. Another totally different question: Who is Baron de Montesqieu?"
"Err what-I mean he has written an important book about government ethics,
separation of powers and government theory a long time ago. Why are you asking
about him?"
"Ermine read this book obviously and ever since then she is plastering me with
questions and suggestions-it can be quite annoying you know."
"I can see that sire. I wonder where she got that old tome though."
"Come on Lieutenant, you are not that thick. She got it from that flyer of course,
this Lieutenant Alpers. This brings me to my next subject: Can you give me some
information about him? Is he from a good family, where are their holdings? Any
cases of mental illness in the family?"
"Oh fu….is it that bad already? I will talk to the Lieutenant then"
"You do that Hermann, please. Otherwise we may see developments even more
complicated and less pleasant to us all then some footsore footmen"

Howaltswerke Kiel, (Shipyard) one week later

The engineer carefully put a two-euro coin edgewise in the running machine. If it
wavered in any way it did not do so in a way detectable to human eyes and it
remained stable where it was.
Thomas de Meziere raised his eyebrows slightly-he had been promised something new,
but here he found a degree of sophistication rarely shown by prototypes. The
machine that was presented to him by the shipyards staff came in two distinct
parts. A big block of something inside a stainless steel sheath was connected by
cooper tubes to something which looked like a flat case. On top of this the coin
still stood. This engine sported something like coolant lines leading outside of
the workshop they were in.
While the machine was obviously working from the dials and the screen monitoring it
it was virtually silent, it just gave off some heat. The engineer waited for
another second before he went on with his presentation to the German defense
secretary.

"As you can see the new power pack gives off very few noise and vibrations which
are desirable characteristics for a proposed submarine AIP(Air Independent
Propulsion) drive.
The block on you right contains a two-ton block of high-grade steel into which a
dwarf master rune smith had put a rune of fire. It is always at 800 Degree Celsius.
We are transferring the heat by cooper heat tubes to a flat stirling engine. It has
2 sets of diaphragms each so it is totally equalized in terms of vibration. The
working pistons are directly moving inside the magnetic field of the generator. As
no gas leaves the engine and it is virtually vibration-free it does not give up
noise but provides 400 KW of electrical power. The maintenance needs are very
small.
Compared to the fuel cells we installed before into the 212-Class submarines we can
do away with the hydrogen storage and a lot of the oxygen, the plant itself is
smaller. We suggest two of these plants for each of the 212A-Class subs that are
discussed. They will provide much more power than the AIP system before, so the
submarines can make headway, charge their batteries and have enough reserve for a
hefty hotel load."

"At first glance this is very impressive. How reliable is this setup?"
"The steel core seems very stable, it has lost less than 0,2 degree during the last
4 months when it was active and gives off no radiation except for heat. The
Stirling engine needed some modifications but has passed a 1500 hrs test at 80%
load so far and we see no reason it should not do much longer. We recommend to
place the steel core below the pressure hull in submarine construction so if
something goes wrong it can be dropped as emergency ballast."
"This surely has an interesting future ahead, I can see lots of other uses."
"Yes, we actually have a team working on other applications. For a road-mobile
vehicle this will be too heavy, but for stationary power generation or similar it
should do fine"

Great Forest, airspace between Castle Wolfenfels and Altdorf, 2 weeks later

"Castle Wolfenfels from Storch Alfa 4-do you read me"

"Storch Alfa 4 from Castle Wolfenfels-5 by 5-go ahead"
"Castle-please be advised that I have infrared signatures which indicate a large
group of individuals coming your way at the following coordinates:…... I tried to
get a closer look but was attacked by magic-I have to keep distance but assume
hostile intend."
"Storch Alfa 4 understand hostile intend. Can you estimate the group`s size"
"This is difficult due to the dense Forest, but the Computer indicates something
upwards of 30.000 individuals. Better numbers have to wait until evaluation in
Lager Middenheim"
"Understood Storch Alfa 4. Thanks for the warning"
"Just doing my job Castle Wolfenfels. Storch Alfa 4 out"

Lieutenant Hermann was wincing a bit at the last. Nathan Alpers had become rather
formal after his attempt of a man-to-man talk about the fact that Ermine was off-
limits. The fact that the pilot had denied any inappropriate behavior and Hermann`s
expressive disbelief thereof had not helped much. Still both were professionals
enough to keep a working relationship going.
Now-what to do with the info given? If in doubt-study the map, it will provide
answers. The KSK officer did not have to look for long to spot another KSK team
that was along the route of march if said group was indeed coming here. Time to
contact them and his superiors to get some recon.

Meinigen Railroad Works, same date

"Christ on a Crutch-this thing is truly massive" Henrik Gerber was looking down at
their new Train-and it was different from anything they had ever seen before. They
had studied it at the training center in Altdorf and had been in some prototype
carriages that had been provided for tests and training-but to see it assembled in
one place was a totally different thing. The two men were looking at a train that
seemed to be as long as the ICE supertrains which run Germany`s railroads, but
these do not sport armor, artillery and machine gun towers and their own escort
tanks.

"Remind me-what the hell is this monstrosity supposed to fight"

"Everything that comes into its range. More interesting-who could challenge it but
us"
"That is true Joakim-but would a little smaller not have been sufficient?"
"From what I hear they had case of capability creep set in when they designed it.
Originally it was just supposed to be a train for a couple of machine guns and a
155 mm gun or two. Then they got the idea it could also transport the 1st Landwehr-
so carriages for 500 men. A couple of cars for some accompanying tanks went in and
wouldn`t a sickbay be nice. Some air-defense too and a room with a copula for the
mages. So by now we are talking about 4 M109G 155 mm turrets, a demolisher cannon,
two turrets which should still be sitting on top of a Gepard tank, and more heavy
machine guns than you can shake a stick at plus a close-in-defense system. Nothing
of this is high-tech, quite deliberately so, so there were no problems producing
it, but that way it became quite bloated by now."

"Bloated does not begin to describe it. It is so big that there are 3 056 Steam
Engines to push it around plus 6 tenders for water and coal and 3 condenser
tenders. This thing weights nearly as much as my old frigate and it better armed
artywise-better armored too."
"Yes, up to 5 cm of steel would not be much on my old Leo, but here it should be
enough. The good thing is that you can send half the train or a third, depending on
what is needed-but here we have the whole enchilada."
"Well, he who pays the piper gets to call the tune-and the Emperor himself is said
to have ordered this"
"Yup and the keeper of the privy seal is probably still having ulcers because of
it"
"Ok, let´s see where the meeting room is in this warren-we have 20 more minutes"

Boostedt Barracks, Close to Neumünster, same date

Ulrich Stoiber watched critically as the driver slowly maneuvered "his" tank onto
the railway carriage. There was not much space for error, but the many cameras
around the tank made the job easier for him and the driver than ever before.
The 183 Tank Battalion had finally completed their TO&E and had shown that they
knew what to do with it. Unit cohesion was coming along nicely. As the 183rd had
some of the most modern equipment of the German army they had been chosen for a
huge combined maneuver on the plains before Altdorf together with the Imperial
Army. Tagging along would be an arty battalion and additional mechanized Infantry
as the Exercise was meant as a show of force for the Reiksbund enemies-and
potential allies.

Hauptkanal Links, Papenburg main Road, 2 days later

Jan Petersen was looking at a situation which was nicely shaping up as a major
clusterfuck. His MEK was called up to take care of an attempted bank robbery. Four
camouflage-clad assailants had assaulted the bank just when a transport van with
the cash from the local hypermarket arrived. Using a fragging RPG they had taken
out the driver. The two guards in back had opened the aft compartment when the
robbers had shown them the second warhead. They did not even trigger the color
bombs which would have rendered the money useless for fear of retribution.

Having packed the money into a stolen Q7 SUV they had sped off only to ram a
crossing delivery van a couple of hundred meters later. Having been spared serious
injury by the solid construction of the car and it`s many airbags they had holed up
in a nearby clothing store who`s attendants managed to flee before the robbers
could take any hostages. Jan Petersen would have been content to wait them out-they
had probably no food and his negotiator was quite good at talking armed idiots out
of whatever fantasy world they lived in. Just that this would have taken days-and
shut down Papenburg for the duration for good as most of the city was along the
bloody road the bloody idiots were blocking. Which in turn made his bloody
superiors insist that he should do something and be bloody quick about it.

That this would endanger the lives of his men needlessly was of less importance to
his superiors than their need to look decisive on TV. That the robbers had so far
refused any communication had not helped his case any. Bad bad bad.
Even worse was that the building the Robbers had chosen was quite old-which meant a
very solid brick construction and comparatively small Windows. There were only two
ways into the store and the Robbers had already shown they had access to some sort
of assault rifles-and were not short of ammo.
His explosives expert had rules out to blast a way in-the building-like most North
German ones had two separate outside walls inside each other, both from solid fire-
clay bricks. A charge fixed to the outer wall would not open an accessible hole
unless a huge amount of explosives was chosen-which might bring the whole building
down. He had thought about using CS gas next, but the pictures he got by telescope
and endoscope showed the Robbers to have some sort of Gas mask ready-so that alone
would not be the solution either. Still fighting with a Gas Mask on would still
reduce their effectiveness, so this and flash-bangs seemed to be the way to go.

He could now just watch his men creep up to the left and right of the shopping
window while a monitor showed him a single file approaching the back door. Seeing
that all was in ready and getting the appropriate signs by his team leaders he gave
the "go"
A small charge placed on the bottom part of the shopping window blew it
sufficiently to allow the passage of several CS-Grenades and flashbangs. Their loud
report served as the signal for both assault teams to storm the shop. Going from
bright daylight into the dark, smoke filled store littered with merchandize and
fallen sales displays slowed their assault fatally-it gave the robbers time to
shake off the daze caused by the flash-bangs.
The MEK leader could only helplessly look on when strobing lights and the sharp
reports of automatic gunfire from the store indicated the failed assault. His MEK
men did not retreat-that would have been too dangerous and they were too fired up
to do so-but a battle with automatic weapons at distances of 5 meters or less could
only end as a bloody shambles.

The normally unflappable Petersen had to announce the death of two of his MEK men
and the serious injury to 3 more of them at the press conference several hours
later. He also could report 3 dead and a seriously wounded Robber who`s survival
was not ensured. About the identity of the assailants he could not provide any
info. That they had a surfeit of military weapons and some training let speculation
run rampant in the media.
To all onlookers of this conference it was obvious how shaken the MEK leader was
from this costly battle.

Road from Middenheim to Altdorf, Great Forest, Sigmarstag

The Sigmarite Priest was praying for an answer to his question. He had planned to
lead his regiment of Flagellants to Middenheim and beyond as he did foresee a Great
Battle between Good and Evil coming. It would be a cataclysmic battle that would
decide the fate of the world-how could he not take part in that-and how could his
Charge fail to battle the arc-evil that would be there.
But now the circumstances had conspired against his chosen fate and he had to
decide what to do next. The first part of the pilgrimage of his small army was
remarkably fast as the railroad had transported them to their current terminus-a
Quarry in the middle of the Forest. This trip had been uneventful and fast beyond
all of his expectations. The march from that Quarry also had been a uneventful
affair-as much as any March of Horde of motivated but less well trained fighters
without much equipment could be.
All of that had stopped 2 days ago when more and more refugees were fleeing in the
other direction, all telling the same tale-a beastmen incursion. Not just any raid
which devastated some farms or villages-a virtual flood of beastmen which was
advancing towards Altdorf along the Road. Tales of great brutality, of vicious
losses were to be expected, but the tale also spoke of parts of the Beastmen flood
which behaved much more disciplined and like human armies.

This was disconcerting news. Yesterday evening they had encountered the Caravan. A
mixture of a traders caravan, some Strigany and lots of small groups of refugees
they had sought safety in numbers-but against this threat this safety was an
illusion. So he could now march onwards, hoping to be able to penetrate the
beastmens line and continue to Middenheim-or to protect the Caravan and lead it to
the Quarry which had been transformed into a Fortress in incredibly short time.
What to do-protect the innocent or follow what he had seen as Fate.
The Priest knelt for an hour before he stood up and slowly walked to the camp his
followers had made. He was greeted by a huge blonde man who crouched by his tent
while playing with a 6-year old girl. Standing up and sending the girl off to her
parents he turned towards the priest.
He was a strange sight as he was obviously young, his fair skin and the eyes that
saw the world with too much unalloyed wonder attested to that, but the movements of
his strongly muscled limbs showed nothing of the lanky awkwardness that was normal
at this young age.
"So Luthor, what is it going to be"
"We protect the innocent from the evils of this world Valten, that's what we do.
Assemble the Caravan leaders-we will escort them to the Quarry."

At the Sea of Sorrows

The being leisurely walking along the beach had once been human, but now it was
beyond that. Having died several times and always been resurrected had made him/it
stronger. The centuries and, well, even the millenia of his "life" changed his
outview on life in general.
But unlike the Chaos gods for example, his thought processes still had a shred of
human thinking in it. While his plans were unbelievingly complex, in some
exceptional cases there was still a hint of human aims and goals present. For a
normal human, even many elves and dwarfs, a lot of thoughts of this being were
unrecognisable due to the different scope. A seemingly random action by him could
give wished for results 600 years in the future.
On the outside, the being looked like a super version of a Lich. and in a certain
sense, it was so. His name was Nagash, the creator and most prominent user of the
dreaded magical school of Necromancy. Many people, including quite a number of
scholars, believed Nagash to be a creature akin to a Chaos god. But that was not
true. While his schemes could be equally destructive, there was a distinct
difference. Chaos wanted to make the world an everchanging miasma of chance and
violence. Nagash´s eternal stasis was anathema to that.

It had taken time, but now the Great Necromancer knew about Germany, sending out
minions to observe more. One of Nagash´s plans needed a meetig with an Old One and
a another needed a ritual which had to be done at a less Chaos-infused place than
one could generally find on the WH-world. The newcomers might be useful...