The Dark Saviors
Averland, Empire of Man
"Stand your ground, men! Those Greenskins are coming towards us! Stand your ground, and together, we will banish them back to where they come from!"
After the short speech was delivered, the men of the Empire raised their weapons and shouted in agreement and excitement. The officer immediately went back to his position. The Empire Handgunners and Crossbowmen prepared their weapons and ready to fire at the slightest hint of the approaching enemies. The crews of the Empire Great Cannons, Mortars, Helblaster Volley Cannons, and Helstorm Rocket Batteries loaded their artillery.
Observing the battlefield as his men and him wait for the arrival of the Greenskins was a young noble with the name of Leopold Leitdorf, the distant nephew of Marius Leitdorf, the Mad Count of Averland. Despite being young, Leopold already proofed himself to be an expert fighter and military tactician. However, he was still too young to lead several thousand men.
The reason for that was because the more experienced and older commanders were killed or tasked to another army. Even more problematic was that the Empire was currently also fighting the Dark Elves raiders, the Norscan, and the Beastmen in various places. Then the Vampire Counts decided to join in the party. Due to that, the more experienced commanders were busy at other places.
Thus, the responsibility of defending Averland from the invading Greenskins fell to the hands of Leopold and other younger officers.
"WAAAAAGGGHH!"
The sudden shout of the Greenskins alerted the men of the Empire that they're coming. On the hills at the horizon, waves upon waves of Orcs ran towards the lines of the Empire soldiers. So far, none of them saw any Giant, Troll, or Arachnarok spider. This caused most of them to let out a breath they didn't realize were holding.
When the Orcs were on the effective range, the artillery crews fired their weapons. The bombardment managed to took out large numbers of orcs. When the Orcs were closer, the Handgunners and Crossbowmen joined in. More and more Orcs fell before their blades can touch even a hair of human.
When the Orcs were really close, the ranged fighters retreat behind the lines of Halberdiers and Spearmen. The latter two braced themselves as the Orcs charged to their positions. When the blades of two armies met each other, all sense of calmness evaporated.
The Halberdiers and Spearmen prevented the Orcs from pushing forward to the vulnerable ranged fighters and artillery crews. Almost the entire Orc forces committed themselves in breaking the lines of Halberdiers and Spearmen. Seeing this, Leopold ordered the Swordsmen to flank the Orcs while the Greatswords assisted the halberdiers and spearmen.
Some of the Empire soldiers got killed by Goblin Archers. With this, the Pistoliers and Outriders moved through the flank to attack the archers. The Goblins, seeing this, diverted their arrows to the riders, managed to took some of them. However, the riders managed to reach their target and started to massacred the Goblins. Seeing this, several of the Orcs ran away from the fight and chased the riders.
The Empire had predicted this. When those orcs broke off, they sent their Empire Knight regiments through the same way that the Pistoliers and Outriders used. Seeing the incoming Knights, the Orcs got confused on whether to keep chasing the riders or the Knights. Some of them decided to do the latter. Many Orcs fell when the Knights either impaled them with their lances or trampled them with their horses. The Pistoliers and the Outriders turned around and assisted the Knights in killing the remaining Orcs. Soon after, they diverted their attention to attacking the main Greenskins forces at their rear.
The battle continued for several bloody hours before the Empire managed to pushed the Orcs back.
Several hours later…
Empire Encampment
In the encampment, Leopold wandered around on his horse as he looked at the condition of the men. While the morale was fine, they were tired due to the lack of proper rest. Make sense since they were ordered to hastily march towards Averland when the news of the Greenskins attack reach the high-command. They marched from Ostland and on their way to their destination they came under attack from the Beastmen. Then, they came under attack from the Vampire Counts when their army marched near the border of Sylvania thanks to the mistake of their now-deceased commander. He was killed by the Vampire.
On his way to his own tent, he could see some Priests of Sigmar calming down some of the soldiers. They might be brave, but it's better to make sure that those bravery doesn't break at the most crucial time. He could also see the Priests of Morr gave rites to the deceased soldiers. There were also few Witch Hunters who joined the army when they pass through the border of Sylvania.
When he reached his tent, he disembarked with the help of Albert, his squire. His other errand runners also coming to his help.
"Are you alright, Sir?" Asked Albert.
"I am fine, Albie. Just make sure my steed gets her rest." Replied Leopold.
"At once, Sir."
As Albert took care of his horse, Leopold walked inside the tent, sat down, and let his servants help him taking off his armor. Now, dressed in a simple pants and shirt, albeit more luxurious than anything his men have, he lied on his bed and closed his eyes.
Walking around the encampment were two soldiers with mug of mead at their hands. Both of them were also talking to each other when they realized something. They turned their heads to their left and saw something that caused one of them to drop his mug.
"W-W-What is that?" Asked the soldier who dropped his mug as he pointed at the thing.
"I-I-I don't know." Replied his comrade as he drew his sword. "We should…"
"Stop!"
Both soldiers diverted their attention to look at the approaching Witch Hunter and some of his attendants. One of them was carrying a wizard who was wounded during the battle against the Vampire Counts. Which was rather strange since while the Hunters tolerated the Wizards from the Colleges of Magic, they would love to be as far as possible from them.
"Something wrong, Sir?" Asked one of the soldiers.
"This anomaly is caused by some kind of unknown magic. We need to keep away from it as far as possible." Replied the Witch Hunter. "At least according to what that wizard said."
"It is true. I do not recognize the flow of the Winds that might cause this type of anomaly." Replied the wizard.
Said anomaly was some sort of swirling energy. The swirls created what appeared to be an oval of sort.
"Could this be a result of witchcraft?" Asked one of the soldiers.
"Maybe. But I can't detect any sign of corruption…"
Before the Witch Hunter could finish his words, the energy condensed into a ball. The men of the Empire looked at each other in confusion before the ball suddenly explode.
"What the…?!"
"Sigmar help us!"
The energy enveloped the entire encampment. Both the men and the animals with them started to become panicked.
Unknown Location
Slowly but steady, the energy disappeared from the encampment. When it finally gone for good, the Witch Hunters immediately checked everyone, including themselves, for the sign of corruption. The Wizards however stayed calm since they know that there wouldn't be any corruption found.
The magic energy that enveloped the entire encampment was not something they ever see. Heck, they were actually wondering whether or not that magic was related to the Winds.
After half an hour, the entire encampment finally calmed down and activities returned to normal. That is, until someone managed to realize something.
They weren't in their original position anymore.
Inside the command tent, Leopold was attending the meeting with several other officers. They were young nobles just like him who got breveted because no one else above them that are still alive.
None of them were wearing any kind of armor due to the meeting being created in haste. That didn't mean they were unarmed.
"So, when the magic ball exploded, it sent the entire encampment to Sigmar knows where and there's no clue on where we are?" Said Leopold.
"Indeed, Leitdorf. The Wizards also told us that they don't know what kind of magic that was used to do so." Replied Karl von Richthofen. "At least the topography of this area is similar to the ones on where we were."
Leopold let out a sigh as he massaged his forehead. He then looked at his fellow nobles with eyes that indicated anxiety.
"I know the rivalry that exist between the families that existed between the families of the Elector Counts, minor nobles, and each other. But, we've fight against the Greenskins, the Vampire Counts, the Beastmen, and even the Norscans side-by-side. So, please, I need your honesty now more than ever." Declared Leopold.
None of them replied his declaration. Soon though, one of them let out a sigh and fell to his chair. Others followed and everyone in the tent now knew something; all of them were worried and have no idea on what to do next.
Most, if not all of them, weren't the eldest child of their houses. Therefore, they need to make their own way in the world. Many of them were talented fighters and tacticians. As strategist and leading an entire army like the other nobles? That's not something they've learn and they didn't have enough experience as well.
"Well, there's always the first time for everything." Said Franz Pfeifraucher.
"Anyway, what kind of action should we take? Any suggestion?" Asked Karl.
"We should send a scout party to find and make contact with nearby settlement. Preferably being accompanied by a Warrior Priest and Witch Hunter." Suggested Wolfgang von Bildhofen.
"Good idea. The party will consist of Halberdiers, Swordsman, Handgunners, Pistoliers, and of course, Warrior Priest and Witch Hunter. Some of them should be able to participate." Said Leopold.
"But what if the population of the settlement don't speak Reikspiel?" Asked Franz.
"We're going to cross that bridge later. For now, let's start with the scouting." Replied Leopold. "What's your voice?"
The other nobles thought about it for several moments before all of them agreeing.
The next day…
Marching from the encampment was the scouting party. At the front, they were led by Karl von Richthofen. Behind him were a Warrior Priest of Sigmar and a Witch Hunter. Behind those two were several pairs of Pistoliers. Following the cavalry were the Imperial Halberdiers, Swordsmen, and Handgunner. Their rear was protected by the remaining pairs of Pistoliers.
They have one simple task; find out where they've ended.
And the story is complete.
For the Warhammer side, it actually leans more towards the Total War: Warhammer rather than the Tabletop.
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