WARHAMMER DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY CHARACTERS ARE MINE, AND MOST OF THEM ARE HEAVILY ARMED. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Skaven? Check. Axe? Check. Grudges? Check times fifty. I think I'm ready!

Honor-Bound

Chapter 28

Bitter Harvest, Part 5

"It felt like the world was ending. Undead in front, Skaven behind. I hated that war more than any other… probably because it was my fault."—General Alexia Shepard

Shepard's arms burned as she hacked through another mob of Skaven. She couldn't remember how long the battle had been going—long enough for night to fall, but that was all she knew—but it wouldn't stop, no matter how hard she fought.

All around her, men fought and died. Each fought like champions, but for every Skaven they killed, it seemed like five more took its place. On Shepard's left flank, Morgrim led his Dwarfs in a stubborn defense; so many Skaven had died that they were able to build makeshift walls out of the dead. On the right, Leitdorf and Khalida's armies cut swathes out of the Skaven horde; the latter with arrows, the former with daring charges into the enemy's midst.

But for all the heroism shown that night, for all the glory earned, the Skaven just kept coming. Rusty swords and daggers plunged into flesh, dragging men and Dwarfs screaming into a living carpet of rats. Skeletons were shattered, reconstituted, and destroyed again.

There was only one saving grace, Shepard realized, and that was the poor quality of the Skaven, even by their standards. At first, the allied forces thought they were fighting only the slaves, but when packs of Stormvermin appeared, emaciated and holding weapons in trembling paws, the leaders began to get confused. Then again, the terrible state of the Skaven was the only thing that kept them from simply rolling over the allies, so no one was complaining.

"Keep pushing!" Shepard's voice was raw from shouting, but she had to keep her soldiers' morale up.

A furious roar echoed overhead, and Stormwing landed in front of her, tearing apart a few Skaven that were too slow to get away. The Griffon had fought so hard that he had exhausted himself; twice, he had been forced back to camp to rest, but the battle had gone on for so long that he was able to come back. Amazingly, neither he nor Shepard were wounded, just beyond tired.

Smiling gratefully, Shepard jumped onto Stormwing's saddle, giving her legs time to rest, even though she continued to kill Skaven. She urged the Griffon into the air, giving her the chance to view the battlefield, as well as rest. What she saw gave her a glimmer of hope; what had once been an endless sea of Skaven had thinned out significantly. One more push would probably send the rats into retreat.

"Gregor!" she yelled, struggling to be heard over the squeaks and screams. "Sound the charge! Everything we have!"

Gregor waved his lance—the fifth he'd used that day—and gathered up his weary knights. Khalida sent forth her own cavalry—Necropolis Knights, skeletons who rode on the backs of giant stone snakes, and Sepulchral Stalkers, an unholy fusion of the top half of a man and the lower half of a snake. Under the rain of bullets and arrows, the cavalry prepared to charge; a horn was blown, and a thin line of man, horse, and undead slammed into the Skaven.

The effect was devastating; hundreds of Skaven were bowled aside, either crushed to death or helpless against the infantry that now advanced. With the last of their energy, the allied forces had turned the momentum in their favor. The Skaven realized this, and began to retreat; as was typical of their kind, they killed even their own as they fought to escape, causing even more casualties. The united armies pursued for several minutes, but exhaustion and the need to keep the Vampire Counts contained forced them to fall back to their damaged camp.

"Reports in the morning," Shepard muttered to her officers as she staggered to her tent. "Stabilize the wounded, Wizards rest, heal tomorrow."

It was a victory, albeit barely, and no one was in the mood for celebration. The war against the Vampires had been bad enough; with the Skaven in the picture, it was about to get a whole lot worse.

To anyone watching, Henrietta appeared almost bored as she studied the map. In reality, she was ecstatic. The Skaven attack was unexpected, but not unwelcome; the Empire and its allies were now tied down fighting the rats, giving her plenty of time to regroup and strategize.

At the moment, her plan was the same as it was: use Stirland as a staging ground, raising the dead there and building up her forces for another attack on Wissenland. Aside from hurting Shepard, Wissenland was rapidly becoming an industrial and economic powerhouse, and destabilizing that province would damage the Empire for years, maybe even decades. Though she didn't really care for anything beyond utterly destroying Shepard, if she had a chance to take over vast swathes of the Empire, she wouldn't pass it up.

Not everything was going her way, however. The previous battles had reduced the number of Necromancers and Vampires at her disposal; in order to refill the ranks of the former, she would have to send agents out of Stirland, through the battle raging all around them, and search for recruits. Of course, she could also help the Vampires grow in power, offsetting the smaller numbers, but also increasing the chance of a potential rival trying to kill her.

Movement in the shadows caught her attention; a moment later, a hunched figure launched itself at her, a wicked dagger held in each hand, along with a third in the tail. Henrietta drew her swords in a blur, blocking one dagger, lopping off the hand that held the second, and leaned around the third so that she could bite down on the tail. The Skaven assassin screeched in pain and fear, but it was cut off when Henrietta drove her free sword into its skull.

Henrietta sheathed her swords and spat out the rancid blood and bits of flesh. "It seems that the mortals are not the only ones being attacked by the Skaven. Interesting…"

As the sun rose over Shepard's camp, many of the soldiers were stunned by what greeted them. Thousands upon thousands of Skaven corpses littered the ground, their blood turning huge patches of earth into red mud.

The allies' own losses turned out to be less than feared; only a hundred dead from Shepard's army, a slightly higher number for Leitdorf's forces, and a few dozen Dwarfs. All of Khalida's fallen had been brought back by Ephokas and the other undead sorcerers. The main problem was that everyone was too exhausted to do much of anything beyond burn the dead of both friend and foe.

"I don't understand," Shepard said tiredly as she joined a council of war. "The Skaven haven't been a problem since we came back from Karak Eight Peaks. We beat them back from under our cities, and we sealed up every entrance we could find. They know we can beat them, so why the hell are they attacking us?"

"They probably didn't have a choice," Morgrim said, then downed a mug of grog, his third in the last hour. "You saw how thin those buggers were, General; the Empire was probably feeding the thaggoraki for a long time, but now that your people know about them and are doing something about them…" Morgrim actually smiled. "Well, between that and the ground they've been losing to us lately, they're running out of food."

Khalida nodded. "This attack might be the last attempt from the Skaven to take over the Empire. If they fail, they will resort to cannibalism, and destroy themselves. At the very least, they will have to move their entire society to another part of the continent, and that will take time that they might not have."

Shepard was not someone given to hoping for the destruction of an entire species, but coming to this world had changed her perspective a little. "Either way, the Skaven are going to die. Good."

"Even if they're weaker, they're still a problem," Leitdorf said, his expression unusually serious as he studied the map they sat around. "If the numbers are accurate, the Skaven outnumber us by more than ten to one, and they attacked us from behind. Should they completely disrupt our efforts, the undead will have ample time to rebuild their forces and attack again."

"Then we need to keep pressure on both fronts," Shepard decided. "Averland's forces are still strong; between the Count's armies and what we have here, we can keep Henrietta busy until the rest of the Empire and the Dwarfs beat back the Skaven."

Morgrim wagged a finger at her, as if he was disciplining a child. "That's assuming that the rats follow your plan."

"I know, but the sooner we crush the smaller enemy, the sooner we can focus all our attention the bigger one." Shepard was reminded of the Reaper War, and how she focused most of her personal efforts on destroying Cerberus in the early parts of the war. "And right now, the Skaven are the bigger problem."

Khalida nodded. "Agreed. The more time we spend fighting the Skaven, the more of a threat the Vampires become."

Morgrim made an agreeing noise, but didn't look in Khalida's direction.

Seeing that the other leaders now had a plan, Leitdorf flashed a brilliant smile. "Excellent! I'll send a letter to the Emperor to tell him of what we intend. My generals shall take most of the Averland armies and fight the Skaven, and my personal forces will join this glorious alliance!"

Shepard grinned; though he was eccentric at the best of times—and a raving lunatic at the worst—Marius was an unpredictable opponent and often a tactical genius. He was just the wildcard that could tip the scales in their favor.

"Well, first things first," she said, tapping a spot on the map that was just north of their position, "I think we're going to need to dig some trenches…"

Karl Franz was not a petty man; as Emperor, his duties required him to rise above such faults. However, as he read one report after another, he felt an almost childlike resentment of Shepard. Granted, it wasn't her fault that the Skaven existed, but a small part of him missed the days when he didn't know that they were real, and he could focus on other, more obvious threats.

Those days were long past, however, and nearly half of the Empire was under attack from the filthy rat-men. Thankfully, the Skaven assault was being met with all the determination the Empire could muster, and the Dwarf armies to the east were lending both their strength and their experience in fighting the monsters.

It was still going to be a tough fight, especially since the northern provinces still had to worry about Beastmen and Chaos incursions from Norsca. Beyond that, there was also the matter of after the war; if the undead and Skaven did too much damage, other enemies could try and take advantage of the Empire's weakened state while it rebuilt.

Karl Franz heard the door to his war room open, and a messenger hurried in; he bowed for a moment, handed the Emperor a few more reports, and quickly left. Karl Franz read the reports, mostly concerning issues of supplies, but the last one caught his attention; after reading it twice, he allowed himself a smile.

"Good news, I hope?" Kurt Helborg asked.

"Somewhat." The Emperor looked down at the map and tapped on the token that represented Shepard's army. "It seems that General Shepard has built quite the alliance. Her own forces, Dwarfs, more undead, and now Count Leitdorf, and they're all heading into Stirland to fight the Vampires."

"Should we send more troops to aid them?"

Karl Franz shook his head. "No, I don't think so. This combined army numbers nearly twenty thousand; any more, and communications might fall apart. Besides, we need to focus on the Skaven. I want you to take half the Reiksguard and head north; join with the Grand Theogonist and lead the charge there." His smile turned grim. "Break the back of the Skaven in the north, so that we might save the south."

The Reiksmarshal bowed solemnly. "On my honor, my Emperor."

"Okay, this is just getting annoying," Shepard growled. "We're trying to get at the Vampires, so why the hell do we keep running into more Skaven!?"

"Perhaps the Skaven have done our jobs for us?" Locke offered. "They might have overwhelmed and destroyed the undead in Stirland before we got here."

The push into Stirland had been harder than anticipated. Five days had passed since Shepard and her allies began their attack, but only once had they run into any of Henrietta's forces. It had been a quick fight, with Shepard's forces vastly outnumbering a pair of Necromancers and a few hundred of their minions. The hard part came when small armies of Skaven began attacking them, usually once or twice a day, and numbering only a couple thousand. These attacks were easily defeated, but they were wearing down the living soldiers. Morale among the Humans was only held up by Shepard's unwavering determination, and Leitdorf's perpetual good cheer.

"Unlikely," Khalida said. "If that were the case, the Skaven would have attacked us from the north and south during their initial ambush."

"I have to agree," Morgrim grumbled. "The rats are just as likely to stab each other as us, but they know an advantage when they see one. I'll bet my beard that the buggers we've fought so far are just the ones that broke through our lines."

Shepard accepted the logic and experience from Khalida and Morgrim. "That just means that there are even more of these guys than we thought. What do you think? A couple hundred thousand? A quarter million?"

Morgrim nodded. "They've emptied their nests for this, that's for sure. If they don't get food back to their warrens, they won't have enough to sustain them."

"The forces on the surface will last longer, though," Khalida said. "They'll eat their own dead to feed themselves."

"It just means that they won't take the bodies underground to feed everyone else," Shepard countered. "The longer the Skaven fight up here, the more of them die down there."

When word that the Skaven might be on their last legs filtered to the troops, they were both encouraged and wary. It was nice to think that the filthy rat-men might either die out or be forced to leave the Empire, but it also meant that this attack would be fierce, and driven by desperation.

"Still, I wish they'd get out of the way," Shepard continued. "We have to stop Henrietta before she rebuilds her forces."

Khalida inclined her head. "I have been meaning to ask, General—how do you know this particular Vampire?"

Shepard resisted the urge to growl. "She hates me, and the feeling is mutual. I killed a Vampire that she called her daughter…" she paused to shudder at the memories. "Anyway, she wants revenge; she tried to sic a Chaos horde on me, but that didn't work. It looks like she's been gathering strength to handle things herself."

"I think I understand," Khalida said. "Revenge is a powerful motivator."

Shepard grumbled under her breath in a way that Morgrim approved of, but said nothing out loud for several minutes. "Come on, let's set up camp for today; we'll start marching again in the morning."

The war spread across over half the Empire, with every attack from the Skaven being met by all the courage the Humans and their allies could muster. A host of over ten thousand Skaven was crushed under the hooves and hammers of the Knights of the White Wolf, only for an entire village to be wiped out the next day, less than a mile from where the knights were celebrating their triumph. Armies from Talabecland fought desperately to retreat from a three-way battle between themselves, the Skaven, and the undead; they succeeded, but not before hundreds of men were killed, and either devoured or raised to serve new masters.

Humans were not the only ones to show strength, nor to revel in victory and curse defeat. The Dwarfs from the east bombarded the Skaven as they tried to cross into the Moot, killing hundreds with each volley of their artillery. Most of the Dwarfs' ancient enemies were sent running, but just as the Dwarfs were letting out gruff cheers, a pair of assassins took them by surprise; two Thanes, each from an ancient and noble lineage, died that day. The Dwarfs mourned the loss of such great heroes, and collectively swore a mighty oath that a thousand Skaven would die for each drop of blood on the assassins' blades. There were many drops of blood, but they didn't care.

Though the Skaven attack initially caught the Empire by surprise, the Humans' own discipline and the Skaven's growing weakness quickly saw the fighting contained in Stirland once again. Within a week, order had been restored, and quarantine of Stirland resumed. Some pockets of the rat-men appeared outside the cordon, but roving bands of knights and hunters either destroyed them or forced them back underground.

The cost of these early victories were immense, however; though the death toll was impossible to accurately guess, it was estimated that nearly ten thousand Imperial citizens, both soldier and civilian, were now dead. Stirland was still being ravaged by the undead and the Skaven that still fought, and some nobles were already whispering that the province would never recover, that it would have to be divided and absorbed by its neighbors. Karl Franz quickly put a stop to these talks; he claimed that Stirland was wounded, yes, but it could heal, given time and aid from its sister provinces.

With the situation once again contained, the Empire focused on preparing to crush its enemies from all sides, while also hoping that Shepard's alliance would pierce the heart of the undead invaders. If that happened, the war would soon end.

That was the hope, anyway, but where Henrietta von Carstein was concerned, hope was easily shattered.

The Mako's engine growled as it plowed through a rotting tree, sending splinters everywhere. Shepard ignored the chunks of wood that pattered against her armor, though Stormwing gave a protesting squawk.

"Quiet, you," Shepard said, lightly tapping the Griffon's head. "We can all get nice and clean once we're done."

Stormwing gave her a look that dared her to go back on that, then huffed. Before Shepard could make another comment, Locke rode up to her.

"General!" Locke saluted, and the smile on his face alone was enough to raise Shepard's spirits a little. "We've found a group of undead!"

Shepard grinned back at him. "Details, man! Numbers, location, types of the bastards!"

"Right, uh…" Locke fished through his saddlebags until he found a map. "They're about eight miles north of our position, at a graveyard outside a village. They were being led by at least one Necromancer, possibly more; it looked like they were preparing to raise the dead there. I saw several hundred undead, mostly zombies and skeletons, though it looked like there were a few spirits as well." Locke shuddered; most of the undead could be taken down by bullets and blades, but ghosts were another matter. "Anyway, if we hurry, we can wipe them out."

"And every Necromancer we kill is a big hit to Henrietta's army," Shepard mused. "Hell, if we retake that village, we could use it as a staging ground, maybe a field hospital." She patted Locke on the shoulder. "Good work. I want you and your men to get some rest, because you're going to be part of this fight. I'll let the others know."

"Thank you, General!" Locke saluted and rode off, leaving Shepard with another burst of energy.

This was the first time Shepard had picked up her enemy's scent in days, and she was determined not to lose it. When she informed Khalida, Morgrim, and Leitdorf about what she had learned, they were just as eager.

"Even if the report was half-right about their numbers, there are going to be too many of us on the field," Shepard said. "We'll need to divide our forces and encircle the village."

"Agreed." Leitdorf was staring at a map of the area with such intensity that it was a wonder it didn't burst into flame. "General, might I borrow your cavalry? With them, I'll be able to completely cover the village's east side. If the Lady Khalida takes the west, we'll push the enemy south, right towards you and our Dwarf friends."

Morgrim nodded in approval. "Catch them in a vice, then squeeze 'em 'til they pop."

"I suggest we hurry," Khalida said. "The longer we delay, the more time we give the enemy."

Shepard smiled grimly. "You heard her, people; let's get to work."

When word spread that the trail had been picked up again, the mortal soldiers' spirits lifted; even the Nehekharan undead seemed to march with a little more vigor. Vengeance, justice, and the desire to wipe out the Vampires and their abominations drove the allies onward.

Still, when the armies arrived at the village, they were surprised by what awaited them.

"It seems that Locke was very wrong in his estimates," Richter muttered.

Shepard couldn't disagree with him. Rather than a paltry force of a few hundred undead, there had to be at least two thousand, and they weren't alone. A horde of Skaven was slamming into the undead lines, the screaming rat-men attacking in a desperate frenzy.

The undead were giving as good as they got, their Skeleton Warriors chopping down Skaven, and Zombies resorting to crushing their enemies with their entire bodies. A Warp Lightning Cannon cut down a swathe of undead, while a line of undead knights bowled over a line of disease-ridden Plague Monks.

While the Skaven had started out the battle with greater numbers, it was the Necromancers that were turning the tide. Their own undead could be reconstituted, and dead Skaven further bolstered their ranks. Within minutes, the undead outnumbered the Skaven, and began to overwhelm them.

"Stick to the plan," Shepard ordered calmly. "The Skaven are a problem, but they're focused on the other bad guys. We'll kill two birds with one stone."

Richter saluted, then quickly relayed Shepard's orders to messengers. Once again, Shepard wished for faster communication, and put it on her mental to-do list, right after reinventing electricity. Bringing herself back to the present, she walked over to Stormwing and climbed onto the saddle.

"Prepare for battle!"

It was the Skaven who noticed the allies' arrival first. A few sharp-eyed Clanrats spotted Count Leitdorf leading a massed cavalry charge right towards them. They tried to warn the rest of their forces—and by that, they ran away, trailing a line of droppings—but the mounted warriors were already upon them.

Bullets heralded the charge, cutting down scores of rat-men before Leitdorf and the Ironrock Knights crashed into their lines. The charge was devastating, killing hundreds of Skaven and sending many more into a panicked retreat. The attack was slowed when the cavalry reached a large group of Stormvermin, who killed several knights, and again when they encountered an even larger mass of fanatical Plague Monks. The diseases they carried killed several men in moments, and the rest moved around the Skaven, leaving them to the Outriders and Pistoliers, who could kill them from a safe distance.

On the other side of the village, the Tomb Kings rained death upon their hated foes with a barrage of blessed arrows. The Necromancers present were unable to replenish their ranks fast enough, and they were slowed down when one of their number was killed by a lucky arrow. Khalida then ordered the charge, her cavalry and chariots sweeping through the shambling undead. The High Queen herself killed another Necromancer with a blast of magic from her staff, causing a number of the dead man's minions to crumble away.

The remaining Necromancers sought to break out of the encirclement and headed south, only to face a line of artillery and gunners. A rain of cannonballs and bullets tore through the first few ranks of undead, and then the Mako opened fire with everything it had. With Shepard guiding its fire with a birds-eye view, the tank's shots landed right on top of the last Necromancers, completely obliterating them. Within moments of their deaths, the rest of their minions collapsed into piles of bones and rotting meat.

Above the troops, Stormwing let out a triumphant shriek, signaling victory. The Humans and Dwarfs alike cheered, waving weapons over their heads. Ever since coming to this world, this had been the closest thing Shepard had come to a bloodless victory, with only a handful of cavalrymen lost. It might have been a skirmish compared to previous battles, but it was a victory that all of them needed. She allowed herself a moment to feel proud of herself, then urged Stormwing back to the ground.

"All right, guys, we can celebrate later." Shepard shared smiles with Morgrim, Leitdorf, and Khalida. "Let's get the bodies out of here and secure the village. Marius, can you send a message to Averland and have more troops move in?"

"Absolutely, General." Leitdorf saluted with his gore-covered Runefang. "If we turn this village into a true base of operations, the undead will have a hard time dislodging us."

Shepard turned to regard the village again. It was on roughly flat ground, with a small river running past. With some work…

"Forget turning this place into just a base," she said. "We'll need a whole fortress."

"It would have to be a place of inspiration, as well as tactical benefit. Such a place would need a good name." Leitdorf grinned at the prospect. "Perhaps we could call it Shepard Keep?"

Shepard looked vaguely horrified. "No! No, no way in hell. I don't need anything else named after me, and I don't want any more titles!"

"You should be proud of your achievements, General," Khalida said, though she sounded amused. "Why not allow something to bear your name?"

Shepard jerked her thumb at the Mako. "Because I already did. Besides, I want people to fight for a cause, not a person. Hero-worship tends to end badly for everyone involved."

"And what cause would you have us all fight for here?" Morgrim asked.

"Protecting the innocent," Shepard immediately replied. "Retribution against those who want nothing short of our extinction, and peace for the next generation." She smiled. "And I like the idea of fighting for each other."

"Well, that gives us quite a few options," Leitdorf said, drawing himself up like he was preparing to make a grand speech. "Personally, I like Retribution Keep."

"Aye," Morgrim said.

Khalida inclined her head. "As do I."

Shepard paused, then shrugged. "It's better than anything I would have come up with, and it doesn't have my name in it. Retribution Keep it is."

"They failed." Henrietta didn't ask for details, and she didn't care to hear them. All that mattered was that her army was diminished further.

"Yes, Mistress." The Undertaker bowed, praying to any gods that might still pity him that Henrietta would let him live.

"You told me that your servants' efforts would yield a great number of corpses for my cause." Henrietta placed her hand on one of her swords. "Instead, I find myself with fewer Necromancers, and no new warriors." The Undertaker opened his mouth to speak, but Henrietta silenced him with a glare. "No matter. Prepare what you can. If we cannot win, then we will make the mortals' victory as bitter as possible. Zacharias!"

Henrietta's second bowed his head. "Yes, my Lady?"

"Gather everything we have and prepare to march south." Henrietta's eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "I want Shepard's army destroyed, no matter what it takes. However, I want Shepard alive; capture her if the opportunity presents itself, allow her to escape if she flees. Regardless, she will be brought before me, and she will suffer!"

Okay, so this chapter was a lot shorter than I expected it to be, especially since it has been a very long time since my last update. I apologize for that, but I have a very good reason: I'm writing my own book and preparing to release it on my own website (a link will be on my profile when it all goes live, if anyone wants to check it out). That has been taking up most of my time, and will continue to do so. From this point on, updates from me will be sporadic at best, but I will keep writing my stories on this site.

Edit: The site is now live, so if anyone wants to check out my book, please go to my profile for the link!

Anyway, back to the summary: not a whole lot went down this chapter, but that's because it was mostly a buildup to the final battle of the arc. That's right, this arc is going to be wrapped up in two chapters, maybe three. I'll do my best to at least reach that point in the coming weeks, but as I said before, my career is taking priority.

Next Chapter: The Vampires charge! Shepard leads her allies in a desperate battle, while Henrietta moves to utterly break her hated foe…

The Tomb Kings build their Ushabti in the image of their gods. They are created with the heads of snakes, crocodiles, and, greatest of them all, Muffins.