Druchii Galley

Paul Müller scanned his part of the Galley hold again but found again nothing threatening. The industrial size pepper spray had done it`s job rather well and the marines had not been in any mood to give much quarter. All "Spitzohren" which had been still clutching weapons (or had been sufficiently near them, in some cases probably on the same ship) had been shot. The very few survivors had zip-ties and would not be a threat for anybody until the medics got along to clean their eyes with some oil.

The water flasks near some of them showed that they had tried to clear their eyes on their own before they encountered the marines-that had just made things worse. Without an oily detergent clearing out the aerosol was nearly impossible.
Paul did not like his protective mask any more than anybody else, but presently he was positively grateful for it as both the rests of the Pepper Sprays would doubtless be a problem as well as for the protection from the stink in the hold.
Behind him he heard the medics working on the slaves, establishing transport priorities, giving water and generally calming them down. Together with some mechanic ratings they did their best to get rid of the chains the Elves had riveted shut to fix their rowers for the duration of the journey.
Both hydraulic cutters and simple sledgehammers and bars were used. Acetylene torches and similar were rules out because of the fire risk.
He felt the ship shake as if in a gale when a CH53 took the next batch of slaves to one of the ships. He had already heard that some slaves would end up on "Seeadler" and that their living area would become smaller-he was so enthused about that-NOT.

Sachsen

Captain Schmaeling watched the approaching Druchii fleet from the bridge. He should have been in the CIC, but if his Admiral had gone bonkers so could he. This was his first opportunity to study the Elves ships personally up close. Normally they should never have been able to get that close, but Command thought it clever to try something new.
The view of the approaching ships nearly made up from that. Compared to the imperial ships he had already seen the seemed better made, showing an elegant menace that was just tempered a little by the knowledge that this fleet could be matchsticks within 10 minutes if he so choose.
He heard rather than saw the 4 Sea Lynx Helicopters first which overflew him and dropped 4 depth charges each in even rows rather close to the Dark Elves. Set to detonation at low depth they pushed up impressive waterspouts which were higher than the masts of most ships.
He did not have to look but heard that Bremen and Köln lit off their seldom used Gas Turbines to play their part.
Well, looks nice enough-lets see if the Admiral is on to something or we have to pay for his inspiration.

Kar`s Spear, Flagship of the Kar Karond fleet

Admiral Malik was experiencing something like a mental overload. He did not even feel the spray that was wetting him from the huge waterspouts that had erupted all over his fleet. The even distance and obvious lines along which the explosions were placed showed that these were not misses, but deliberately placed.
The Dark Elf fleet was always one of the more dangerous on the Ocean. That they were among the fastest and most maneuverable meant that even if confronted with a superior enemy they usually could cut their losses and fight another day, if they were not cornered.

He knew he was just an hour behind the first fleet as they wanted to pincer the brash invaders at about this place and all he could see of these ships were burning wrecks or the flotsam that indicated the resting places of others. To say that this sight was a shock to him was an understatement-this was attacking the very foundations of his worldview.
Flying machines of huge size were making their way over the wrecks and smaller ones over his ships. The enemy ships seemed to be huge as mountains. What made it doubly bad was that two of them started to accelerate like a well driven Chariot and quickly attained a speed at least double of what his better ships could do. In a show of precise seamanship they rounded his fleet in mere minutes and arrived square on his route of retreat.
Over all of this the flying machine which approached went nearly unnoticed and he had a hard time understanding the speech which issued from it. It took 3 repetitions before he made the mental connections to understand the Reikspiel: "Parley"

Seeadler, 1 Hour later

Admiral Maliks mental overload did not get any better. He had agreed to meet his enemy on his flagship-it was clear that the Germans could kill him whenever they wanted anyway. If he were to come back to Kar Karmond any little bit of information he could gather would be valuable.
But where to start? In many cases he lacked the framework against which to compare his findings. The ship he was on was of immense size and the only thing he could compare it to was a Black Arc. But they were a huge piece of floating rock that the elves had tunneled and build on like maggots on a corpse. Here the whole size of the ship seemed to be utilized.
Everything was amazing-all rooms seemed to be magically lit and were actually heated. Whatever drove this Leviathan was well hidden. The ship seemed to be constructed from Steel-but how could anybody amass so much steel and shape it?

Over all this grandness he still saw that the Germans did not spend much energy to shape things in an elegant way or to adorn such their surroundings. Everything looked plain and utilitarian.
The Germans themselves looked similar-no gaudy colors, bright armor or flashy jewelry like their imperial counterparts would have shown. Everybody seemed to show more or less the same clothing except for the soldiers who escorted him and his entourage. Even there the human who had been presented to him as "Admiral Lerbs" showed the same clothing like his sailors, just some markings seemed different.
He seemed tired but determined to him. He was experienced enough to work his way through the introductory formalities "on autopilot" while he still tried to take everything in. Bu then it became time to apply all his resources on the Parley.
"So, Admiral Lerbs - you deny the will of Malekith himself by being here in our waters. You have attacked Hag Graef which is under his protection. So what more do you want to load upon your shoulders before your fate catches up with you?"

"We have done what we came to do and are on our way back to Germany. You are in our way -be elsewhere. If you can do that both of us can leave unscathed. The only thing we require is that we take the slaves from your galleys and then you can go."
"What!? You come here, raze one of our cities, sink a fleet, kill untold numbers of Druchii and then ask me to handle over my slaves and I can go my way if it pleases you. Who do you think you are?"

"Admiral-you are remarkably frank. Let me return that: You can take the deal I offer to you. I can even sweeten that a little: We took some prisoners during the recent skirmish-you can take them. But if you decide to fight, then your ships will be sunk in the next 30 minutes AND I will be taking off the slaves you consider yours. I would be unpleasantly surprised if you manage even to scratch the paint of any of my ships during the fight.
Now what is it going to be: Sail home or swim?"
In the hundreds of years of his life Maliks could not remember hating anyone more than this tired human, but still there was only one answer he could give. He just hoped that the prisoners he would bring back would be enough to save his hide from the wrath of Malekith.

Top Secret

For internal use only

Plan "Marine 2530"

The Weltensprung last year was a turning point of enormous propotions for all Earth Humans, known or unknown, shifted to this world. The tasks of the Bundesmarine changed very much with the geological and political landscape. Different nations, differing tech levels and vastly greater distances.
Local tech level makes a "low" tech solution possible, but this has other dangers inherent. Expertise once lost has to be regained far harder than keeping knowledge alive. This plan is made with the underlying assumption that Germany will not return to Earth in the next century, if ever.

Basic guidelines
- The tasks for the Marine are the following: Coastal and River Defence, Control of the local sea (in this case the Krallensee), Convoy duty for the merchant fleet, Power projection around the globe and fighting enemy shipping.
- All units will be equipped with high power active Sonar arrays due to local threats
- All units are to be equipped with Frau Meikles Magieindikator
- Local fleets make optical camouflage viable again, all surface units and if appliable due to mission type U-Boats too
- Depth charges for surface units
- The Marine needs warlocks and war witches of her own to fight enemy spellcasters
- Main Naval Bases are Kiel (Kommando Krallensee) and Wilhelmshaven (Kommando Hochsee) Both bases will be rebuild to the fortification status akin the Reichskriegshäfen of Imperial Germany
- Additional Safe Haven harbours for both civilian and military ships will be Hamburg and (when the channel is completed) Wismar
- SAR and Naval Zeppelin stations will be build in Papenburg, Tondern and Stralsund
- Fast Response half-flotillas will be stationed at Papenburg, Emden, Norderney, Cuxhaven, Heligoland, Havneby, Flensburg, Eckernförde, Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Stettin (Kiel, Wilhelmshaven are special cases and can react with forces above that level)
- Docks for wooden ships are to be erected at Stettin, Rostock, Kiel, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, Bremerhaven and Papenburg. This is a temporal measure until allied nations have changed over to Steel ships.
- The vast distances make long range ships a must. U-Boats and capital vessels are to be equipped with Rune-Turbines, emergency march Diesel for back-up.
- Use of Drones is encouraged, saving ressources and lowering the danger for human personal
- It has to be understood, that on Earth the composition of the Navy following this plan would be incomplete, but the situation here makes a compact or condensed version of ship classes not only viable, but financially cheaper too.
Shipclasses:
U-Boat types U 212A and a long range version U 218
Frigate types 124 and 125
FAC type 148 in three variants
Small Patrol Ships KFK-class
Corvette type 131
long range combat escort re-designed Admiral Hipper class
Battleship type re-designed Bismarck- or H42 class
CV types have to be examined until 2525, for now they are not needed and too expensive both monetary as infrastructural

Berlin, Office of the Chancellor, 1 day after the parley on Seeadler

The Colonel the Bundeswehr sent for briefing the German government about military developments had a lot more to say these days than a little more than 1 year ago. He finished his briefing with:
"….so now Task Force Stein has completed their mission and is now back on it`s way to Germany. They are past most threats that the Dark Elves might offer so this part of the operation went as smoothly as can be expected.
As planned the assault on Hag Graef took so much attention from the Druchii that Task Force Hardenberg went in unobserved. They have met their target and are currently unloading. Here too we do not foresee any difficulties. Are there any question Mme. Chancellor?"

"No, thank you, that will be all."

Seeadler, several days later

They layout of the Seeadler was the maze to end all mazes. Ralf Winkler was counting corridors and stairways when he made his way, all the while keeping lookout for hammocks that some poor "hotbunked" soldier had rigged up to spend some rest time.
Finally he arrived at a his destination. Formerly a room to house a Squad of troopers it now held 12 Dwarves rescued from the slave pens.
He had been saddled with keeping an eye on these and some other "stumpies" as his experience in their rescue gave him more traction with the stubborn Dwarves than other medics would have. "Morning folks, how are you?"
"Same as yesterday and same will be tomorrow.". A couple of days had only passed since their escape and the Dwarves were already sliding into a quite grumpy mood. Not that they had no reason for that.
The Dwarves had talked about their future prospects and that had not been a happy occasion. The Dwarves which had not been slaves so long as the rest were pretty sure that their respective clans would no longer accept them. Being a slave instead of dying heroically had a very bad reputation. The Dwarves which had actually been born in slavery had probably an even worse status.

Ralf had assured them that they could get asylum in German (that had been cleared up even before Seeadler set sail) but of course a life in exile held less attraction than going back home.
"Well, I have a little bit of good news for you: They had the second operation on Ulf on "Papenburg" and it went well. He is out of it and already asks for Ale, so he should be well. And no, infection is not a problem –so far our medicines can kill all of them.
Snorri is so well that they will probably fly him over tomorrow. The bad news is we will have to find room for him in here or the next room. As some more people are exchanged between Papenburg and Seeadler the lunch and dinner shifts will be moved: You now have lunch from 1:00 to2:00 and Dinner from 7:00 to 8:00."

"Did the arrangement with the armorer work out? He promised me you could use his workbench and some of his tools?" Ralf had arranged some "workshop time" for the Dwarves in the hope it would settle some of their uneasiness. Björn Olfson, who had emerged as a speaker for the better-off Dwarves
"Thanks, yes. He was very helpful and nice. He even rigged a forge for us so we could make something."
"You still seem unhappy?"
"Ah - one of the mechanics showed us the engine of a "Wiesel". When he disassembled parts of the... the fuel injector we learned how good you are. Don`t get me wrong but for all time the best metalwork came from us - even the Spitzohren have to admit that and now you show us metal parts which are so precise that even our language does not have a good word for the size of the tolerances."
"Come on guys, from what I know you get to be very old. You can learn to do as well or better." "Thanks, we will see about that. But be that as it may be, we have a small gift for you"

He handled the medic a flat bundle of cloth. He unwrapped a slightly curved small plate of metal which showed a rune on it`s surface. The rune seemed to reflect light in a slightly wrong way. "Sorry for my ignorance, but what is this?"
"This is an plate for your armor vest. We compared the size to the witness plate in your vests and it fits. The rune is a mage breaker-it protects you from magic."
"Wow, thank you. I can certainly use that!"

When the medic left the cabin he was still holding the plate and made his way through the corridors again when he rounded a corner and squarely collided with the breast of a huge human. Looking up he recognized one of the mages that accompanied the task force.
"Please excuse me Herr Flammbach, I should have been more careful."
"Nothing happened young man. Actually, you could repay whatever guilt you feel by pointing me the way to the doctor's office."
"Certainly, you need to go up one deck. Let me show you the way."
"Thanks, I`ll gladly accept that."
"Ah, sir, one question if I am allowed. I just got this plate which is supposed good against magic. Is it any good? It at least looks like that."
Hannes Flammback stopped himself laughing just in time, many Germans had similar questions and had usually bought some worthless trinket. The plate the German handled to him looked different from these though - not enough flash, just a plain plate. Concentrating on the Winds of Magic for a second he was quite astonished.
"That is the real deal, my friend - a rather potent anti-magic ward. A good work."
A little while later Ralf Winkler was whistling tunelessly while he made his way through the ships. He was debating with himself whom to approach and how, but his doubts about the future of this dwarf group was mostly gone.

Pfeildorf, Wissenland, the Empire

The number of people ringing one restaurant terrace at the city´s main market was not as large as when the two Germans first came to Pfeildorf, half a year earlier, but still substantial. Franz and Inka Siebert had eaten well, once again with some exotic ingredients, unknown to Earth cooks until now.
Franz was busy hammering away on the laptop, writing down additions to their report before the last of the reserve akkus would be out of power. Inka patiently answered questions, while asking some of her own. Like so many times before, the people in the Empire wanted to know about theirstrange cousins from Deutschland. The first time the couple was in Pfeildorf, rather early after the Weltensprung, they had been inofficial ambassadors, making sure to paint Germany in a positive light, but at the same time warning about the impossibility of Germany to take in all persons.
Now on their second trip to this part of the Empire, Franz and Inka could concentrate more on their main work, writing for Baedecker. The Weltensprung had been an epochal event, especially among the makers of travelling literature. Within eight minutes, their books and DVDs became nostalgia of a lost home.
Still, Baedecker, one of the pioneers of travelling books, was eager to rise to the challenge. Nobody believed that mass-tourism outside Germany would start within some years, that would take longer, but Baedecker on Earth had begun to write about other lands before the advent of the real tourism industry as well.

Nevertheless, there was a big problem. Their new home was more dangerous than Earth was. While Earth had enough hotspots of crime, war and other dangers, on Warhammer only few regions could be called halfway secure. So only volunteers went out. Franz and Inka had been among the more cautious. Only travelling to cities and using the best river boats and wardened roads. Others were more brave or foolish in the couple´s opinion, but that sometimes boldness wins was seen during Christmas season, when Baedecker brought out the brandnew "Norsca - The Skaeling Lands" book. Still, nobody could overlook the dangers and it was only a matter of time until one of the bolder voyages would end tragical.

The Sieberts were amazed at the changes the time between their visits to northern Wissenland brought. During the first voyage the people were awed by even the smallest things and the couple was saved from zealous witchhunters mainly by the reputation that Germans were as magical as stone.
Now in the really rural areas not much had changed, but in the cities and bigger towns changes could be seen. Be it a craftsmen using a modern tool (mostly the only one in the pack or a small selection), expansion or building of sewer systems, paving of roads, small steps, yes, but the beginning of a new age in the Empire.

Stuttgart Stammheim, High Security prison

482-the number of Wire meshes in her Window.
1202-number of Squares in her current bed cover.
2:32-time her wash basin needed to fill itself from the slightly leaky faucet when she plugged the drain.
The fact that she knew all of this showed that the Germans had found a way to hurt her - boredom.
The Germans had not allowed Jasla to mix with the other Druchii and meetings with the rest of the prisons population had not come to a good end. Showing her ability and willingness to attack the German guards again and again caused her numerous hematomas and provided some entertainment. The ultimate result unfortunately was that her food was delivered to her through a slot in her Prison cell door so even this small contact lacked. She had been provided with German books, which she could not read well and could not relate to, the cultural gap was too big. The times she was allowed to watch television made her wish for more boredom.
That the collar she wore and some of the trinkets cut her off from her magic senses made the boredom even more unbearable - the human equivalent would have been incarceration with plugged ears.
Into her boredom recent events mixed despair. So far she had hoped that the Germans would sooner or later loose battles with her kind and that they would try to exchange prisoners. The news she had been shown about that battles had taken even this slim hope away. In her blues she had gone for an interview with a psychologist.
Before that she had always rejected such proposals, but by now anything which made her day any different was good. Now she was sitting in an interview room at a desk with her hand and feet secured to a heavy chair.
The woman which entered her room was still prattling with the guards about confidentiality and no observation before she turned to her and locked eyes with her. In a flash she knew that boredom was over.
Petra Heim was desperate, this interview had to succeed. She had been studying long enough and her doctoral thesis supervisor had made it very clear that he expected her to do her thesis about the Dark Elves if she were to finish her studies at all.
That old fat pig had approached her a couple of months before. The thought of his clammy hands touching her was making her shudder, not that the thought of being touched by any other man was much better. Her rejection had soured the relationship to the supervisor considerably. She had at first wondered why he had assigned her what could be a prestigious project, until she heard that all Dark Elves so far had rejected interviews at every opportunity. Now she was in a trap and was not sure how to get out of it.

Trying to hide her nervousness she sorted her papers on the desk while looking at her subject through her eyelashes and trying not to stare too obviously. While she had seen pictures before they had not done Jasla any justice. She was tall, slender and even after one year in prison obviously of a wiry strength. She still had enough curves not to look androgynous. Her high cheekbones, slightly slanted eyes which lacked the fold which humans with such eyes normally showed and sharp lines made her an undeniable beauty. That it was the beauty of a well forged rapier and not of a less dangerous kind was equally obvious. That mere human could capture and hold such a perfect predator seemed incredible to Petra.
Finally she pulled herself together.
"Good morning Frau Jasla. I am Petra Heim and here to interview you. The warden told me that you agreed to a series of interviews about you and your kind."

The pause in which nothing was said seemed to last for hours, even if it did not. When she was about to say something stupid Jasla finally addressed her.
"Certainly I will talk to you, child. I keep my promises always. But there is one small condition: For every question I answer, you will answer one of mine."
That was of course not possible. It was unprofessional and would both violate her ethics code as well as the guidelines she had been given by the prison. There could only be one answer.
"Yes, mam."
She left the prison a couple of hours later in a daze. During the interview she had bared her soul to Jasla like she had not done for any human she had ever known.
Driving home she was so deeply in thought she never even realized that she had creamed her pants.

Bückeburg, Army Aviation Training Center, Same day

"This, meine Herren, is you new steed, provided that you successfully complete your training. Yes, this is the first fixed-wing plane our Army Aviation uses after many years. No, It cannot take off and land vertically and it has no provision for laser-guided missiles.
But it can take-off on a unprepared runway of 50 meters and land on 25 meters even if there is no wind. It has a 300 hp diesel engine that takes less than 10% of the fuel of a helicopter per flight hour and is so quiet that you will not be heard from more than 300 meters.
You can take 5 passengers or their equivalent weight in sensors. Any of you have an idea on which plane this might be based on? Nathan Alpers had was still gazing at that fragile seeming wonder when the answer presented itself .
"It seems to be based on the Fieseler 256 of old, Herr Hauptmann."
"Hey hey, somebody knows his planes, new and old. Spot on, this is the modernized version of the never build successor of the "Storch". Made by a joint-venture of Grob and Dornier. It is constructed from modern materials, mostly reinforced plastics and it can do everything it`s predecessor could do and more. Let me show you some details…"

Nathan thought it just as well not to have mentioned that he had that knowledge from a flight simulation he had co-developed in the old days and tried to concentrate on the info their trainer demonstrated on the plane. A beauty this was not, but it promised lots of flight hours in the old school way. He already started to fall in love with it.

Papenburg, House in the suburbs, same day

Wolfgang Böhler was bored. His wife had died of cancer before the Weltensprung and his job, while moderately well-paying, was mostly routine these days.
His former joy in life, hunting, had unexpectedly paled after the Battle of Papenburg. At that day he did not just have to stalk prey which would elope if he did not approach right or made sounds-here he had met a capable enemy and had met their measure.
His precise calm shooting had certainly helped to decide the battle. This was not only his own feeling, but the After Action Reports had made it quite clear that this was so.
All of that did not matter if he was honest to himself. A "Spitzohr" in his sight and the feeling of godlike power when he decided to pull the trigger was a drug he had been immediately hooked on and could not be replaced by anything else.
He was idly scanning what was left of the internet for everything about this battle when he found a "Never seen before" picture in an obscure platform. He was computer-savvy enough to check it with a virus scanner and mentally prepared to be disappointed when he opened the file.
To his surprise, it was what was promised. It was remarkable how good the cameras in modern smartphones were. The picture was obviously taken by an amateur and the lighting was not that good. It still showed in remarkably clarity a scantily clad Dark Elf woman lying half on her stomach and half on her side. Her hands were handcuffed behind her back and a ring gag held her mouth open. The bruise on her chin could not disguise her beauty and her eyes promised bloody revenge to everybody.
This did to make this sight one iota less erotic.
He instantly recognized the mage that had been arrested in such an embarrassing situation after the Battle. He started to laugh in memory but then found himself wanting more. A short internet search showed him that a lot more people were interested in Jasla. He considered if it would be a good idea to get in contact with some of them.

The Warp, sometime-anytime

As this was the Warp no mortal could "see" the being as it was. The few which ever got a glimpse of it had to interpret their input in terms they could understand, so their descriptions did not have a direct bearing of the truth but nevertheless showed what the being wanted them to.
The descriptions all differed but most spoke about wings the size of mountains and a beak bigger than a ships prow, about wild colors and swirling patterns.

The emotions of it were much more complex than those of a human, but the feeling of elation and frustration at the same time was a very close analog of its present state of mind. It`s realm were the plots and intrigues, the complex long range plans and strategies, the calculation of a butterflies wing beat and the movement of continents.
And "now" most of the plans were in disarray, their probable and desired outcomes changed beyond recognition.
Mostly, the being was happy and fascinated with Germany being on Warhammer. That new comer nation with her funny little people was a fresh wind on a planet where his brothers Nurgle and Khorne wielded far too much influence. Just arriving here with their alien ways of life had strengthened him. In a way, the being had developed "fatherly" feelings towards this nation. Not only did her actions curtail the influence of his siblings, no, the unexpected arrival revealed a whole new tasty world named Earth. That it was in a different universe, was nothing to a being of his power.
But Germany could become and already was part of his frustration all the same.
The Weltensprung could be the Wild Card to diminish the influence of the Chaos Gods to such a degree that this world would become useless to them - an event that would touch everything and mutate results in ways not fit to the wishes of their designer. New plans had to be hatched and implemented, but the frustration was great- as were the dangers. If sufficiently provoked the Germans might do things which could change the patterns…terminally.

Before he started the real work it seemed prudent to move some small pebbles to see which shape the avalanche would take. Here seemed to be a good start. His plan needed a focus-and here she was. It needed participants-there they were. Changing the quantum processes in some brain cells here-changing the brain chemistry there-inhibit the blood flow at a third place…
When he was done he was sure that some Germans which would otherwise be frustrated would find a target for their feeling-a goal and an aim. Lucky them…

When he was finished he watched contently the consequences of his meddling unfold like a bunch of yarns unrolling into what humans called the future. He started to follow the threads one by one to see if this had the required results. Then he would "travel" to that new planet Earth, ahead of his "siblings". Hmm...maybe he would give Slanesh or Khorne a hint, maybe even Nurgle. That new world could be fun for all...
He was the Changer of Ways.