Rhodes Island returned to the jungles of Acahualla after Dr Kal'tsit received word on an originium outbreak, or as the locals called it, "Stone Disease". The Infected in this case suffered from the most bizarre side effects, the Archosaurians claiming that the Infected went raving mad, driven to the depths of insanity. Severe cases of Oripathy typically lead to psychological issues, but this new strain seemed to completely destroy the Infected's minds, as reported.
Rhodes Island brought their greatest medical minds for the occasion, including the blood specialist Warfarin and the top doctor of the organization, simply "Doctor". Gavial also joined the operation, worrying about the state of her homeland despite being ultimately ostracized. Acahualla never took Oripathy, or really anything, seriously when compared to the world powers of Terra. In those "civilized" places, the Infected were effectively expelled from their lands at the near sight of those pitch-black Crystal. Acahullans never discriminated against Infected in the typical sense, but their condensing attempts to take care of Gavial's infection was enough to make her leave her homeland. She still feared for her people, especially with the news of the originium outbreak. Tomimi and Enucetes joined Gavial for similar reasons.
Blacksteel operators Franka and Liskarm were also deployed in Acahulla, along with Blaze and Rosmontis. Even the Doctor himself thought that bringing in many of Rhodes best security personnel was excessive, but it was ultimately Kal'tsit's call. Despite his tactical genius, the Doctor wasn't the actual leader of Rhodes Island, which gave Kal'tsit a convenient excuse to keep knowledge of the "past Doctor" secret. He hadn't seen Amiya since the Feline called her down a few days ago. Something about this told the Doctor that this wasn't about the "past him" for once, but now wasn't the time.
Things didn't seem too bad at first. The camp was just as lively as before, except a few Acahullans built and fought giant machines inspired by the "Big Ugly Thing." They were much more crude than Enucete's mech, but the Doctor thought the scenario was cute. It would make a pretty good tv show in his opinion...
After a brief celebration due to the return of the Great Chief, the Achusaurians led the operatives to the quarantine camp. The Doctor, Warfarin, and Gavial's friends were specifically chosen, while the other Operators investigated for possible causes of the outbreak. The area was essentially a small campsite fenced off by wooden stakes. Two Ticauh Braves stood valiantly at the gates. Instead of greeting Gavial and the others, the guards stepped aside and open the gates, without a word.
There was 13 Achusaurians lying incapacitated on makeshift beds, each attempted by the tribes best shamen. Depending on the Genesee, they were either woman with thick (or thin) reptilian tails, or somewhat monstrous men with elongated jaws. One disturbing detail was true for man and woman, they had large lesions of Oripathy growing on their body. But instead of being pitch black, the crystals were instead a sickly green, cackling with power unknown to Terra.
"Their Stone Disease was already severe." One of the shamen spoke. "They went into the mines to find more Orginium for our machines, but we found them in a frothing state of madness, clutching green stones in their grip. There was no choice but to subdue them."
Enucetes glanced away from the Infected, guilty that her obsession with machinery passed on to the tribe and nearly got them killed. Gavial was quick to straighten the snake girl out.
"Hey, we've got to face this situation head on." She responded with her typical grin. "Are you just going to sit here being sorry while more of our tribemates are at risk?"
"Of course not." Enucetes shook her head. "I was remembering when I was the Great Chief, and the tribe risked catching the Stone Disease to power my machine. I was just as pissed off back then as you were, Gavial."
"You could've sold the idea better. Just saying." Gavial snarked, making Enucetes punch her in the shoulder. Gavial struck back, and the two were in a spontaneous first fight.
In the meantime, Warfarin took blood samples of the Infectees for analysis. The blood was unusually dark, with the same green crystals mixed in. When the sarkaz fed the blood into her machine, it shorted out. The suddenness caused her to jump back reflexively.
"Eek! Well Doctor, it seems like our toys don't feel like cooperating today. It seems that this strain of Orginium has a much higher energy output than what is used for industry. Judging from the visible lesions, their assimilation rate was pretty bad, but when they made contact with the green Originium, they lost their minds just like that?" Warfarin shook her head. "There has to be more to this, Doctor. Infected shouldn't have these kinds of freakouts by merely coming into contact with Origium."
After scratching his head, the Doctor came to a conclusion. "The only way we will be able to understand this outbreak is if we can retrieve this strange Originium for research. I'm already planning an Operation to explore those mines. We will just grab as much of the originium as we can safely secure and get out. Pretty simple."
But in reality, the Doctor knew things wouldn't go smoothly. Why would Kal'tsit force him to bring their best combatants to a mostly passive region? The Doctor didn't know what lurked within those depths, but he was damn sure that nobody would be losing their lives.
What he did find, however, was quite possibly the most repulsive, fanatical foes in his entire career. Even his past self would've agreed.
The Operation started out smoothly. The mines were fairly narrow, so Liskarm and Blaze stood guard at the front and flanks respectively while Franka and Rosmontis stayed closer to the center of the formation. The orginium was collected with metal pliers and stored in sealed containers to prevent further infection among the Operators.
The mineshaft was falling apart after countless years of inactivity, but a cave in was the least of the Doctor's worries once he found the clearing. The first warning was that the area was recently excavated, due to all the pebbles and small chunks of the green Originium. Crude wooden scaffolding was constructed on the walls and despite the lackluster craftsmanship, the wood was much fresher than the material used in the rest of the tunnels. Speaking of tunnels, the area split off into 4 more tunnels, much like a junction. These tunnels were far too small for the average man, or Saurian, to fit through lest they suffer claustrophobia.
The most significant detail was the banners laid on the scaffolding. Their tattered emblems belonged to no nation of Terra and had a terrible, pungent stench. It was dark, sickly green with a monstrous skull, surrounded by a stylized triangle that vaguely resembled that of a rodent.
"The rodent Ancients never formed their own nation." Warfarin started. "I mean, there's of course the Rat King who rules Downtown Lungmen, but he has no interest in illegal originium mining. The design is far too crude for his tastes as well."
"The triangle sorta resembles the Reunion emblem, but what would they be doing in the middle of nowhere?" Franka questioned.
"They never officially disbanded. This would be the perfect place for shady experiments." Liskarm spoke. "Reminder the Watchtower Incident? More of Lev's kind could still be lurking around, and if such a person would work with a local Reunion cell, that results would be catastrophic."
"Hmm, and that would explain the green originium. I guess we are dealing with more crazed scientists after all." Franka sighed.
Warfarin collected on of the mysterious banners for further analysis. She had to pinch her nose just to prevent the smell from making her throw up. Once she did so, the Sounds of hundreds of screeching rodents could be heard from the various tunnels. The Sarkaz took cover behind her more combat caplible Operators, who braced for the worst.
Well, they got the worst.
Rhodes Island's enemies, especially Reunion, tended to desperate themselves into small waves due to their lack of coordination. In this scenario, at least of hundred ratmen came pouring out of each tunnel, armed with crude maces and swords. Compared to the rodent people of Terra, these rats were far more monstrous, each having a huge array of blisters, boils, scars, and chunks of the green originium growths. They wore monk-like robes, their faces sealed by metallic gas masks.
Without Blaze and Rosmontis, the rest of the Operators would have been overrun by the vermintide immediately. The rats had even worse combat discipline than Reunion's grunts, charging the feline headfirst without attempting to flank. The horde was practically walking straight into her motor operated, firey jaws of death. Meanwhile, Rosmontis hoisted herself on the scaffolding via her telekinesis and provided supporting fire by annihilating swarms of the rodents with her clubs.
While the ratmen went down without much struggle, the fiends continued to pour out from the caverns in a never-ending stream. The next rats were much more heavily armed than their lesser brothers, wearing full plate armor that only exposed their black-furred heads, which had a metal crest. They brought with them massive glaves that could easily strike a decisive blow to one of the Operators. Part of their tails was severed and replaced with a similar type of blade.
"What in the hell is wrong with these rats?!" Blaze yelled over the chaos. By now, there were hundreds of mutilated bodies on the ground, some still desperately clinging to life. When the armored rats approached their mewling breathren, they were promptly devoured. It made the feline want to fight harder, since her friends would follow the same fate if they fail.
"Doctor, do you have plan?" Liskarm shouted, blocking a verticle swing from one of the rats. "I can't hold them out for much longer" The black-furred ratman growled, speaking in a deep laccent that was somewhat Victorian. "Drop the warp-stone, horned-thing! And Clan-Pestlins will let you survive-live!" It maneuvered its blade tail around Liskarm's guard, landing a searing cut on her shield-bearing arm. Nearly dropping the shield, Liskarm used her Arts to blind the rodent, giving Franka time to decapitate the rodent. They seemed sensitive to light, but there was simply far too much of the rats for Liskarm to stun.
The Doctor had an idea. The beams supporting the shaft were rotting away, and if he could cause a cave-in...
"Rosmontis! Aim for wooden beams!"
Even though all the madness, the feline's sharp ears picked up the command. Rosmontis sent each of her slabs down the tunnels. The age of the mineshaft was clear, only smashing a few of the pillars was enough to make the tunnels collapse. The sheer weight of the failing stone was enough to drown out the hectic brawl. When the dust settled, everything was dead silent, including the few remaining stormvermin. The rats first saw that their only method of escape was clogged, and when they turned back around, instinct kicked in. In a shocking display of cowardice, the Skaven fled, tripping over their countless brothers to try and dig through their tunnels.
It was the opening the Doctor needed to escape. He could've captured the surviving Skaven, but his operators were spent. The smell of rotten flesh had begun to fill the shaft, and his frontline Operators covered head to toe in blood and other certain other fluids he refused to think about. The best option was to retreat, and they still managed to get a decent sample of the orginium.
On the way the camp, the Doctor realized that Kal'tsit likely knew more about this issue than he realized. But why would she refuse to tell him that hundreds of feral rat people had made their home in Achulla? The lynx was hardly a transparent person, but he could've met his true end by an enemy that somehow outnumbers Reunion. And the Docotr never had the chance to further explore the caverns to find out the Skaven's intentions. Given their clan's name and the modified originium, the implications were horrific. Were they former Reunion members who cracked, and wanted to share their blight with the rest of the world?
He hoped that Kal'tsit would give him some insight into this new foe. But in the meantime, there was another surprise waiting for Rhodes Island at the main camp. The Saurians were kneeling on the ground, worshiping a towering, reptilian monster. Riding the fiend was a blue Saurian in golden armor that reflected the sunlight into their clenched eyes. The only person still standing was Gavial, whose clothing was shredded into nothing but rags.
"You're back now?" She spoke in an upbeat but defeated tone. "It's a funny story, but the gist is that blue guy calls himself Kroq-Gar, and he's our new chief. Oh, and apparently the world is going to end. We just have to follow this Great Plan of his and everything will be fine, hopefully."
Once again, Rhodes Island was dragged into a mess no pharmaceutical company had any business handling. This time, the entire world was at stake and it was all in the hands of an amnesiac Doctor. Fun.
Unspecified Rhine Labs Facility
"These super-soldiers of yours are coming along quite nicely." An executive spoke, eyeing the test vats. In each vat was a green, tusked humanoid with massive muscles. Others held smaller, learner versions of these soldiers with much larger noses. And the largest of the vats held a horned giant that had large plates of metal drilled into its skin, and one of its arms had been sawed-off and replaced with a massive flail.
"We had plenty of slaves to sell, but this cloning technology has given us more Orks than we know what to do with!" A somewhat short, bearded man heaved a laugh, the first one in centuries. His limbs were replaced by metal prosthetics and wore a tall smokestack-shaped. hat "This deal will make up for that unfortunate incident a couple of years ago... The Flame Daemon Incident, yes?"
"Most certainly. The Columbian Army will have an infinite source of green savages that can keep up with the average Sarkaz mercenary. Your artillery pieces put the Ursus to shame. You've mass-produced firearms that even a child could use. And none of your weaponry requires any skill with originium arts?"
"It's an Art alright, just none of that originum nonsense. You obsess over those silly crystals, not unlike the Skaven. Our best machines involve sealing Daemons inside and using their raw arcane power as fuel. It confounds me as to why our weaker cousins ignore this untapped power. Unfortunately, we had little success in binding daemons into humans before, but that Sarkaz girl from the incident showed some promise. Now that we have a greater understanding of your originium, we can finish what we started."
"She lives within Rhodes Island's landship at the moment. It would be unwise to seize her and draw that company into the invasion."
"Do you recall? The hellish fury she unleashed that day was enough to make Hashut smile! We will keep her under tighter control, in a similar manner to the giants. With our refined methods, she will raize Londinium to the ground!"
"That should be the last resort. How will the rest of Terra respect Columbia as its new world power if we are seen as mindless barbarians?"
"How else will the world know the strength of our weaponry? We have to set an example for the rest of the weaklings that populate this world."
"Everything's just got to be all doom and gloom with you dwarves. You can have your boys seize the girl from Rhodes, but don't unleash her until you get clear orders from the generals. They're still highly suspicious about where your true loyalty lies.
"Our master is Hashut, the father of darkness. His plan requires the girl, and when we need to use her is up to His discretion."
"If all you're to do is preach to me, then I'll be leaving. I still have to finalize the deals with the army. We will be the richest men in all of Terra!"
Once the executive left, the Sorcerer-Prophet was already devising methods of torture once his forces enslaved the country. Playing along with Terra's politics wounded his pride, but it was necessary to secure that girl. Once the technology was perfected, the next generation of K'daai will spread smoke and gloom throughout the lands. More of her kind were plentiful in Kazdel, after all.
"Plenty of slaves... Heh..."
Astragoth Ironhand laughed, once again. Rhine Labs tried to bribe him with paper, but Hashut has gifted him with an entire world of slaves.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, just way too many game releases recently, and February was ridiculous! TWW3 is pretty buggy and the Realms of Chaos campaign is a slog, but the game has potential. It would be fairer to give it a year once they iron out the glitches. Canonically, this story takes place near the end of Chapter 9, but I'm not worried when Chapter 10 comes out and contradicts what I right. I haven't even stayed completely faithful to the lore, obviously. Oh, and if anyone wants to help edit my story, feel free to pm me.