Haus Sonnenhof, Berlin roughly same time
The Gestalt formed of the 5 healers had a "look" at the first child. He senses they gained when the worked together like this showed them what had been clear before. Cells that should have produced red blood cells did not do their job, instead more and more white ones were made. While they were great for combatting infections they did not transport oxygen or carbon dioxide-therefore the children were about to die a long comparatively painless death.
The Gestalt saw all of that and had gained the knowledge that allowed him to interpret his findings against the regular bodily functions-and not only to see, but to do.
Some of the countless lessons the medic had crammed into his head had been about apoptosis, the process by which damaged cells learn that they are no longer functional and commit "suicide". This was an important process that took place in about 50 billion cells in a human body-a day. If this process was disturbed cancer often results.
And so the former medic had asked for cultures of skin cells with and without cancerous growths for testing-and after a little experimentation was able to differentiate both. It had taken some more of his rare spare time to ask the cells without apoptosis to die now-nicely and without taking the healthy cells with them. After some nasty failures he had mastered even that and the petri dish had been the first proof of that they had made inroads to the process. The next step had been a couple of knock-out mice who were gene-manipulated into getting cancer. The first two had died before their time, but by now they were pretty good in killing the growths while leaving the host alive.
All of that had been looked at by the medical staff and the doctors who were responsible for them with mild interest. By now most cancers could be treated by more conventional means and for now the route was "keep up the good work in nerve regeneration. This thing needs much more research and it will get in the way of what you already do."
Having shelved that project for the time being it had been resurrected by a desperate doctor and healers who did their best.
After making certain that the child in front of them suffered from leukemia indeed the 5 went after those cells who had forgotten that there is a limit to multiplication. In the end it was a matter of giving these cells the information: you are beyond the pale, be nice cells and suicide. Identifying these cells was not difficult, finding the molecular switches that were no longer functioning and switching them on to make it so child`s play-copying it roughly a hundred million times was not.
Still the Gestalt composed by the minds of five was more than the components, so much more. Starting like a small glowing ember the change ran through the child`s body like a fire. The advantage of using this path of going after cancer was that the cells would not just suicide but dispose of themselves in natural ways. Stimulating the surviving marrow cells to multiply within reason and produce as much red blood cells as possible capped their work-on this patient.
The apparent success of the first treatment had bolstered the confidence of the healers and their treatment of the next was less hesitant and more straightforward. It was during the next patient that the Gestalt slowed-the treatment was taxing to the minds and bodies of the healers. While the Gestalt had no body of its own it felt the great strain placed on its component bodies. The awareness that this would be the last patient they could treat tonight gained hold of the Gestalt-and even that would be a chore. Still every one of the healers did their best and refused to give up in the struggle.
They had all experienced it before-the strain of never ending shifts when an epidemic struck, the fire in the lower back from an hours-long CPR on a patient they refused to give up, the holding of concentration necessary to work a spell for far longer than one thought they had been there and they woukd not give up.
Bit by bit they held on and the treatment worked again-and then it became easier. The amulets gave more energy for far less coaxing and their minds held the necessary pose with seeming ease. The sky was suddenly the limit and it was clear that the patients they had set themselves to heal would be just a beginning.
Christine Winkler watched the 5 at work with a mixture of awe, gratitude and trepidation. What these did was taking her husband away than she liked and it had opened a universe to him to which she had no admittance. Ralf did his level best to cushion the impact of that but she saw his under the twin strains of doing something few others could and keeping her-and hi-happy.
He did his best and together with what she did it worked. But she always feared that whatever her husband there did could be dangerous. When he had told her what they were about to do she had made less a fuss than he had feared and when she insisted to accompany them nobody had raised objections. She had been watching the healing together with doctor Heinitz, who checked on the patients who had been finished by the Shallya healers. Unable to ascertain that the cancer had indeed been banished on the quick she could at least make sure they were no worse off than before.
Nobody but Christine watched over the healers themselves. That they were under great strain was obvious-if they were really badly off was a different matter. She had been warned not to touch any of them so not to disturb the concentration but something bothered her. Bringing the back of her hand close to her husband`s brow she was aghast at the radiated heat.
"Doktor, do you have an infrared thermometer handy?"
"Yes, left lowest cupboard, why?"
Taking the pistol-like instrument out and shining it into her husbands before answering she read off the display. "Because Ralf is at nearly 42 degree-and it seems to rise"
"What-how can that be."
"He told me that he saw an elven mage die like that-overheating as he handled more power than he safely could-we have to break this off-now."
Gripping shoulder and upper arm of her husband she pulled his hand from the grip of other Heard. The shimmer that had hovered through the room disappeared at once and the eyes of all 5 focused again-in some cases showed something else then white.
"What-why did you break us up we were about to.." Ralf Winkler was far heavier than his wife could hold up, but she could cushion the fall to the ground so he did not injure himself further.
"Seems like Brother Ralf still has problems not to put more power into healing than he should" The voice of Mother Herad rasped like she had not drunken anything for days.
"Look who does the talking" the answer of Serena sounded like dried leaves turned by skeletal hands. "We need to cool down-and not just Ralf. And we need Glucose-quickly."
Doctor Heinitz and some of her staff relearned the joys of moving very very quickly to save a patient-when you have a decent chance.
Inside Cave, Norsca, close to local noon on Christmas Eve
The German-made sleeping sack had all the bells and whistles, a Gore-Tex liner kept the inside dry, hollowfibre stuffing made sure that insulation was good and kept that way even if it got wet despite the Gore-tex. It could also be coupled with a similar one into a really big one.
The raven-haired head that plopped out of the bag into the open of the cave had the hairdo of a mop and the grin of a cat which has just come out of a goldfish glass. "Now that was pretty amazing soldier boy, you really have to show me what you did there."
"Later Sliv, later. Yes, go ahead, call me wimpy and decadent if you like."
"You are…no, I`ll take that back."
Paul Müller extracted himself from the sleeping bag, showing the confidence that having survived a long and nasty fight and having laid a beautiful woman will bring. He was aware that this was not so very clever for many reasons, but the unspent adrenaline had needed a relief. So when he and Silv found that after making sure all the wounded were taken care of had found a quiet corner for their sleeping sacks and a round of two what could best be described as sex between predators.
Getting back to the main cave-and making sure that they arrived 30 seconds distant from each other they found that the preparations for the day were well enough along. The Sami had come back from their part of the caves and they decorated at least a part of the main cave together with some paratroopers. Is was not much, but at least candles were not in short supply and the some enterprising souls were using their gas cookers to convert the diverse supplies of the Sami and Norsca plus the German EPA into something you wanted to remember having eaten.
Their "Guest of Honor" vacillated between looking at the preparations for the evening with amusement and writing down …things into the ice at his feet with a knife before erasing them again. It was no surprise that he got lots of breathing space around him.
The lunch and dinner of this evening went into each other and the beer that had been flown from the German ships mixed with Meade provided by the Norscans. There was singing-but most was not for general consumption, it was a good thing no children were around.
Everybody looked in awe when the Space Wolf emptied a German 5 liter keg of beer in one go-and flinched when his belch broke records for sound. Nobody could speak to the Giant, even when some of his words were tantalizingly close to the Scandinavian languages spoken by the Sami and were related to the German tongue.
Things were very well along when their guest stood up and went over to the German Sergeant and the Norscan hetwomen. Looking long at both he pull a large dagger from his belt and presented it handle first to the paratrooper who accepted with thanks. Next came one of the fibulas that held the Wolf`s cape together, that went to the Norscan. Cuffing both on their shoulders the Giant went back to his musings.
The singing went, of course, back and forth as nobody knew the songs of the other groups but some idiot had to start it anyway:
1. Stille Nacht! Heil'ge Nacht!
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hoch heilige Paar.
Holder Knab' im lockigen Haar,
|: Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! :|
2. Stille Nacht! Heil'ge Nacht!
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund'.
|: Jesus in deiner Geburt! :|
3. Stille Nacht! Heil'ge Nacht!
Die der Welt Heil gebracht,
Aus des Himmels goldenen Höhn,
Uns der Gnaden Fülle läßt sehn,
|: Jesum in Menschengestalt! :|
4. Stille Nacht! Heil'ge Nacht!
Wo sich heut alle Macht
Väterlicher Liebe ergoß,
Und als Bruder huldvoll umschloß
|: Jesus die Völker der Welt! :|
5. Stille Nacht! Heil'ge Nacht!
Lange schon uns bedacht,
Als der Herr vom Grimme befreit
In der Väter urgrauer Zeit
|: Aller Welt Schonung verhieß! :|
6. Stille Nacht! Heil'ge Nacht!
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Alleluja,
Tönt es laut bei Ferne und Nah:
|: "Jesus der Retter ist da!" :|
1. Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright,
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child!
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Sleep in heavenly peace!
2. Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight!
Glories stream from Heaven afar,
Heavenly Hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour, is born!
Christ, the Saviour, is born!
3. Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, loves pure light
Radiant beams from Thy Holy Face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth!
Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth!
4. Silent Night, Holy Night
Here at last, healing light
From the heavenly kingdom sent,
Abundant grace for our intent.
Jesus, salvation for all.
Jesus, salvation for all.
5. Silent Night! Holy Night"
Sleeps the world in peace tonight.
God sends his Son to earth below
A Child from whom all blessings flow
Jesus, embraces mankind.
Jesus, embraces mankind.
6. Silent Night, Holy Night
Mindful of mankind's plight
The Lord in Heav'n on high decreed
From earthly woes we would be freed
Jesus, God's promise for peace.
Jesus, God's promise for peace.
Haus Sonnenhof, Berlin, same time
Ralf Winkler was afraid-he was not sure if he could do what he had promised to. He was still feeling quite faint from the exertions of the previous day, which might be a charitable excuse for why his hands were still shaking and his belly gave signals as if it wanted to void. It would have been a lie, he had a rather nasty bout of the stage fright.
But in the end it was one more duty the medic had taken up, so there was no avoiding it. Adjusting his beard, the sack on his back and the damned cap a last time his gloved hand pushed the door open into a beautifully decorated room full of parents and their children.
"Ho Ho Ho"
It went much better than the medic had feared.
Sitting close to the tree the Medic and his wife held hands and were about as happy as they could be-even when Ralf was exhausted as he could be.
"Happy Christmas Herr Winkler, Happy Christmas Frau Winkler." The child had approached them from the side and so they both saw it only when it appeared before them.
"Happy Christmas Mirco…Mirco was right?"
"Oh yes, that's right Herr Winkler. Nice to have you here."
"Thanks, nice to be here too."
When the child had gone again Christine saw the tear in her husband`s eye. "He is one of those…?"
"Yes, one of those where we could not do a thing. And what he has is not curable-yet. At least he has this Christmas, but from what I hear it will be the last."
"Oh…"
"Yes-and now we look both happy because pity is the last things the kids and their parents need."
Norsca, next morning
"Boss, you should come here." Paul Müller shook his head in a doomed effort to shake the cobwebs. He found Leman Russ bend over a small plinth that had risen out of the caves floor to the side of the mosaic. Fingers that seemed too big for such delicate manipulation went over a small screen and changed something here and there.
"Since when is he doing this"
"Since about 5 minutes-when I first sent for you."
"Seems like our Guest has more memories back and wants to phone home."
"I do not think that is a good idea-if he is really the Leman Russ of Warhammer fame then calling his pals is about the last thing we need."
"If he is really the Leman Russ we both think about then we have to way to stop him. We simply have to see what happens I am afraid."
It was then that the Giant stopped doing whatever he was doing and went to the middle of the mosaic. Giving and arm-to-chest salute to those who watched him he took out a knife an slit his lower arm. Blood started to seep out in a trickle and fill the runnels. Before the blood went for more than a few centimeters the flow stopped and the blood coagulated at superhuman speed.
The space Wolf frowned, went closer to the hole in the center and repeated the process-nothing. Judging from the look in his face the Primarch became quite agitated.
"Sani….." The Paratrooper Sergeant called his Medic over.
"It seems out Guest has a problem bleeding out as much as he would like-can you help?"
"No problem boss, a cannula and 50 cm of tube and he will bleed to your hearts content."
"Get it."
It took not too long, they just had to show Leman the equipment and the clouds that had darkened the Primarch`s face went away. Taking off his vambrance he showed a lower arm that would have looked good at an upper leg in a body builder. The veins were so big and visible that the medic did not have to apply a tourniquet-simply putting it in was not a problem.
Everybody but the Primarch stepped far back while Russ applied his blood along the runnels till it hit the middle-and then the fireworks started.
When the special effects were over no Patriarch could be seen and everybody breathed easier.
"How are we going to explain this….well that is for later. Sani, you still have the steel core of the cannula?"
"Yes Sergeant"
"Please store it very well and cool it, that should be no problem in this icy hell. I think some people will be very interested."
Charite`, Berlin, next Morning
The medic was sitting in the former Chapel and looked at the Statue of Shallya without seeing much, there was too much on his mind. As such things went, he had a mental conversation with himself to clear up the confusion and doubt in his mind.
"Did we get there fast enough? Yes obviously."
"Did we diagnose right? Yes, could not be better"
"Did we follow procedure? What fucking procedure-but we did what we could. More would have killed us."
"What can we do better in future-good question. Maybe lay a glucose infusion? Fine but what for the heat? That would have been a killer. Having heat problem, what can we-wait isn't that Battletech center still in Berlin, they might have something for a test."
"And what else-learn more of course. Oh Mother, how much I would like to have eidetic memory to learn these volumes better, it would make things so much easier."
"Granted"
"What-who is…" Before the medic could get his thoughts in gear there was a knocking on the door.
"Come in"
Mother Serena went into the quiet Chapel. "There are a few people who want to partake in the peace of the goddess. They said you told them it would be ok."
"Hu, whom did I…" And then he saw besides the smile of Serena`s face Doctor Heinitz and a few people of her staff-and quite a few people he had not seen before.
"Good morning Herr Winkler. You told me I could come back and bring people who can use the peace of this place."
"Err, yes, you are welcome, please take a seat."
The look Serena gave him showed that she was amused by this turn of affairs. "It is customary that we say a few words to people that first come to us Brother Ralf."
"Yes, you are right. I will look to Mother Herad and.."
"Mother Herad is soundly asleep Brother-let`s keep it that way. I do believe you are much better suited to do this."
"Thanks a lot Serena-not"
Making his way to the small table in front of the Statue he found he could think of nothing to say besides platitudes-simply wonderful. When he reached the table he found a sheet of notes-in his own hand writing. Shivering he had a look and found something indeed that he could say.
"Welcome at our place of rest, we hope it will give you the peace of mind that you so rightly deserve. Mother Serena reminded me that I should give you a little Introduction in what we are about here. In not so many works-we do not do faith here and we do not ask you to believe in anything. There is no membership in the Church of Shallya and the right belief will not bring you to heaven-and the reverse will not damn you to a hot place.
We simply know there is a noncorporeal being in the warp, one of many. It is accessible under the right circumstances and it has discrete measurable effects. There are things this being likes us to do, and other she would really have us not do.
We do not do prayers-our work with the beings who needs us is what makes the deity happy, not ritual words or the way we clothe, the sexual partners we take or our birth.
And for those of us who do her work she gives gifts: help with healing, better insight and sometimes even the sheer physical strength that it takes to do our jobs. But the greatest gift is peace of mind. All good healers, indeed all sentient beings I want to know have empathy, the ability to feel what our opponent feels. It is a great gift and it makes us different from those whose work we try to cut short. And at the same time for a healer empathy is the greatest curse. Too much of it and we cannot do our job, too few and we lose our humanity. And so we follow religious dogma, or we become cynics or take in substances which we should better not just to cling to the rests of our empathy and still to do what must be done.
The Goddess allows us both-keep empathy with our patients and keep our peace of mind. And isn`t that a gift to be grateful for?"
It was an interesting morning that saw a lot of lively discussion-and a lot of people that simply stared at a simple statue and smiled. A very good way to spend a Christmas morning.
The Warp-what is time?
Shallya looked at what she had wrought-and was satisfied, very much so. It seemed that she had given at least one gift that was at least as much for her as for those whom she had given them to. Very good. There was one last gift she had given to these Germans, but that had to wait for a little while to show effects-roughly nine months to be precise.
The Fang, Fenris, date unknown
The feast was the one of the more important for the Space Wolves. Once a year they celebrated and mourned the departure of their Primarch. So many millennia before he had gone on a quest, taking most of his closed allies with him, promising to return.
Loren Grimmar, Chapter Master, the Great Wolf, the Wolf that stalks the Stars, looked at the assembled brothers and toasted them with a tankard of Meade that who`s contents would have killed ten ordinary humans easily.
The feast was held in a hall that resembled a Viking Long House-done at the size of an aircraft hangar. Raucous laughter, the telling of tall tales and the calls of challenges filled the air and the smell of mountains of good food made the mouth water.
The Space Wolves were proud and strong and the morale was good-and yet the Chapter Master had heard the tale that their Primarch would return so often-and had been disappointed so often-that this was going through the motions. It was just another occasion to have a feast, nothing more.
He was out of his throne and had readied his axe before his mind had really realized why he did all of this. His brethren did likewise, their festive mood gone in seconds.
A part of the back part of the Great Hall was suddenly bathed in lightning and a dome of light came forward. The Wolf Priests were still trying to make sense of that when the dome dropped down and revealed a single hulking figure that stared at the assembles Wolf Brothers.
Nobody could find any words or any deed fit to the occasion, so the newcomer had the start.
"Well met brethren. What has one to do here to get some meade?
Landstuhl, Germany, same Date
Despite the room being heated to a nice temperature, Günter Koch was sitting in his favourite armchair, a blanket spread over him, but the wizard in training was still shivering. Which was something he did for the last 30 hours. Still, despite this Günter was rather happy.
As one of a few Germans of the first batch with seriously larger than average magical potential, he was packed into what on Earth would count as an accelerated apprenticeship. Like in the "normal" classes, the Imperial magisters and the German pupils learned much from each other, which hastened the development of both sides. It was not unusual due to the rapid growth in magical might and research, that wizards like Supreme Patriarch Balthasar Gelt or Masterseer Vybor participated in the training as trainers and observers.
But no matter how much raw potential a pupil had, there came the day when he or she had to deal with magical backlash or commonly known as Tzeentch Curse. A user of magic had ways how to wield the Winds. One thing that was early learned was fettering, the Art of willfully holding back. In exchange for an acceptable loss of power, the spell attempted would not bring forth the curse, no matter how good or how abysally the casting went.
On the other end of the spectrum was something non-chaotic magic users feared and respected. Pushing. Casting a spell with as much power as you could channel without burning out yourself. The potential effect could be a devastating success, but the downside was you always created magical sideeffects with it, up to really nasty variants of Tzeentch´s Curse if it went wrong.
As such, Imperial mages only casted in this way if the situation negated every other option. And the training to survive such a casting was gruesome. Whil several Master wizards were on station to contain larger manifestations of Tzeentch´s Curse, smaller effects had to be endured by the pupils themselves. This was both meant as a lesson of the responsibility the coming magicians were trusted with and as a survival lesson, so that the pupils learned what they could and should do to bear the pain and not let themselves be destroyed by the unleashed Winds.
Not surprisingly, the more potentially gifted students learned it earlier than most others. Günter, as did two other students, surprised several magisters with hisfell for the channeling of the Winds, but as always, pushing did not leave out even the truly talented.
As training for pushing always was dated just before important holidays, so the students could recover (if they survived) from the neccesary ordeal, Günter had been transported back home to Landstuhl. He was happy that he came so well through his first pushing attempt, even if the magical energies ran tolerable, but still painful havoc with his temperature nerves. And wuld do so for about six hours more.
He was reading a book to take his mind off the situation, when a "thunderbolt" vibrated through the Winds of Magic. A truly major magical event happened, feelable to any magic user in several thousand kilometers around the event horizon. Günter on instinct let his magical senses follow the sensation a bit, then he grabbed the telephone.
Berlin, Germany, same day
"So"? Bloch asked. He knew that there would be a huge expendature if the band and their support staff decided to go ahead with the project. With an accountants eyes he could see the bottom line flying far into the distance and the inevitable invoices that would keep his accounts team busy for an age.
They looked at each other, looking each other clearly in the face, there was no doubt, the 6 Germans and the Imperial citizen.
"Yes".
-
Close to the new year
For Immediate Release
From: Pilgrim Management DE
This Morning, Rammstein and Imperial playwrite Detlef Sierk confirmed that they will embard on a multimedia project worthy of the ages.
More than just a Staged Play, More than a Rock concert, this will combine Sierks incredible theatrical story telling with Rammstein's epic stage show.
Till Lindermann is quoted as follows "We are greatly looking forward to this project, it will be a blending of the Old world, the new world, the Empire and the Bundesrepublik, it will be the forces of six combined the the mind of one"
Detlef Sierk is quoted as follows "From the moment I saw their show I knew that they could be the only possible ones to match the vision I have, and they have done so beyond words. This show will be utterly like nothing seen on either world before".
The projected due date for the show is September by the old Calendar, and will be held at an especially constructed venue on the border of Germany and the Empire.
We are expecting to release both an album and DVD with the option of cinematic screenings at selected venues.
The show has moved into the pre production phase and casting will begin immediately.
Please forward all press & publicity enquiries to
For all non publicity show related queries, we have 2 addresses for you - and
Ende
Brandenburg, later that morning.
"Good Morning, my name is Sebastian, how can I help you"?
"Sebastian, Alex, I've had the most insane call from Chris, I mean REALLY insane, what time do you finish"?
"2 today, I have to take Emmi to the dentist"
"OK, ring me afterwards, you are NOT going to believe this"
"Chris"?
"Lorenz"
"oh shit. Oh shit, this line is recorded. fuck it, personal call, swearing, I think I may be fired anyway. Scheisse, OK will call you later".
Tunnel deep below Altdorf, between Christmas and New Year
The explosion sent shockwaves through the soil, being absorbed differently by loam, sand water and stone. It shook the stones that made up the tunnel the being was standing in. At the end of its shockwaves arrived smaller waves that were probably from another explosion farther off-and then more of them, even less noticeable ones. The being was very sensitive to such vibrations as they made up an important part of the sensorium this far below and knowing them could make the difference between life and death.
The Warlock technician was sure that this could not be a good thing and decided that it was worth the risk contacting his clan superiors. Not reporting it might be punished – so would he if his superiors thought he was alarmist. Decisions, decisions.
Reiksbund Headquarters, Altdorf, shortly after New year
The Engineer was used to speak in front of audiences, but usually not so high-ranking ones. He still managed to give a workmanlike performance by working along his Power Point Slides.
"As you can see we have established a comprehensive picture of the geological situation under Altdorf by a series of drills where we removed a series of drill cores which were analyzed. This gave our echolocation attempts far greater accuracy as we can adjust for known materials.
We have taken an extensive series of explosions and measured the resulting shockwaves at several stations. As different materials absorb the shock waves differently we can establish a rough pictures of the structures under Altdorf. Comparing this picture with known structures like the viaducts allowed us to improve on that model with the last set of detonations.
This is the best picture we can give you by this method.
The new slide showed a roughly pie-shaped 3-dimensional body that was crisscrossed by various tunnels and other features. The deep channel of the Reik was immediately recognizable, as were several known tunnels and viaducts. There were several other smaller tunnels below the city in places. The most remarkable feature were a series on tunnels which led downwards from several places and led into a warren of smaller and bigger caves, connecting tunnels and less identifiable features.
"What the hell is that-looks like a rat warren written large."
"We cannot tell you what it is Marshall Hellborg, but we can tell you what it is not. It is not filled with water, that is easily discernible on this kind of picture. So deep under the ground and in this soil means somebody must maintain these structures and actively pump them dry-and this is a major effort. We do not know who undertakes this effort, but it is worth investigating."
"Thank you Herr Salovska, this was very interesting. Major Grube, please call a meeting of the Reiksguard City Detachment and the 1St Landwehr-I think we have some housecleaning to do."
1St Landwehr Barracks, same time
Joakim Vos looked at the rifle in the hands of the Mauser representative with interest. It had a "spacey" futuristic look to it with very smooth lines and a bullpup layout. The magazine seemed very short and stocky and there was a lot of plastic and mounting rails throughout.
"Gentlemen, this is our proposal for the new Bundeswehr service rifle. As you know there are two other proposals about, the now-produced G-62 and another proposal using caseless ammo from Heckler&Koch. As you have seen a lot of combat recently and are probably about to see more we value your input highly and therefore will give you a couple of prototypes for testing and evaluation.
We use a Bullpup layout to shorten overall length. While we have a longer barrel the rifle is 15 cm shorter and weight the same fully loaded in spite of holding more ammo than the G62.
We use a new 7 mm telescoped round in an aluminum case. The 7 mm bullet is slightly lighter than the 7,63 mm ones you are used to, but they are faster so energy is mostly a wash.
As you can see the rounds are not perfectly circular in cross-section but have a slightly triangular one. That way we can put more rounds into the magazine. We have taken the old French 4-file magazines and improved a little-you now have 40 rounds. We went for telescopic rounds with case as they are easier to seal, leave less heat inside the weapon, are less likely to cook off in a hot weapon and stand water and general damage better. The telescopic case means we get away with a design where the new round pushes the old one out of the chamber-this cycle can work very fast.
You get single shot and full-auto at 600 rounds-per minute. But if you think a target is worth it, give it a 3-round burst. In that mode the rifle will shot at 1900 rounds/minute and the barrel/lock assembly will slide down inside the casing. You will feel the recoil only after the last bullet has left the barrel. The 3 bullets will hit within a Minute of Angle and drop a metric shitload of energy into your enemy. For most targets being hit like this is the equivalent to been hit by a 0,50" HMG round and in terms of internal ballistics even worse. As The Hague and Geneva are places in another universe you get a choice of ammo from ball via armor-piercing to frangible-the telescopic rounds allow them all.
We have two accessory rails on this one, so you can mount your choice of sighting devices. Below there is space for either a 40 mm grenade launcher or a shotgun.
Now let me show you….
The Landwehr Feldwebel was already looking to give this thing a spin. It looked like it had the same firepower as his current G8 but with far less weight.
Naggaroth, a few days later
Wolfgang Böhler had taken to riding like a fish to riding, which meant that he hung on his horse like a sack of flour, had anxiety attacks whenever a gallop was asked for and was always grateful when he got off. His posterior whished it would end all soon and he had not found a cure for the sore legs yet. And still he had to ride, it simply was a requirement to his duties as an officer of the Auxilia. So in his own fashion he clung to it and tried to improve which was hard and slow but had to be done.
He rode at the van of the marching column which was the Druchii Auxilia, a German heavy weapons platoon, some supply wagons and a small band. They went down the main "road" of Neustadt to the cheers and tears to the countrymen, slaves and spouses they left behind. Ludenka and her son waved a lot, other cheered or catcalled. When Wolfgang saw the children waving to Heiner Bruchmeier who handled their one-gun arty train he gripped the reins till the knuckles were going all-white. Most of the time he could ignore this, but when he was reminded of it his mental crosshairs were superimposed about his sight of the gunner.
Areta found that she was actually grateful for the band. They provided everybody with a marching rhythm that allowed them to eat up the kilometers. When the Germans had scheduled the first marches she had been pretty sure they would be cakewalks, everybody knew that true elves had more stamina than humans. True-until you load both up with roughly 30 kilogram of gear, then the greater strength of the humans came into play. She had puked on her first training march-twice-and the blisters on her feet she had gotten herself were of legendary size. At first she had not understood the reason for the heavy gear and the forced marches, but when things went along she realized that without a long supply train and slaves they could march a lot faster and in terrain that Druchii troops normally would never have used. She had not understood why the sniper and their sadistic drill sergeant called them "Marius` Mules" and was pretty sure that like a lot of the things they were called by the sergeant it was derogatory.
But after many marched miles she no longer got blisters, was able to pitch tent and erect field fortifications after a 30 kilometer march and do it again the next day. She was sure that she was so strong and fit as never before in her life and justly proud of it. Three days ago the Germans had ended a series of field problems and then had told the exhausted survivors that they had passed the training. They were no longer recruits-they were soldiers again. They might be mercenary-supporting soldiers, but soldiers. And after seeing what the German mercenaries could do she was not sure if supporting them was such a hindmost-tit task. In short-the Auxilia was proud of itself like hell.
They were able to march along one of the roads the Druchii used to connect their cities for now which allowed for a fast, easy march-for now. Their commander stopped at comparatively early hour as to get them into the march, so even after erecting camp there was at least some energy left. She was getting asleep inside her tent when she heard a quiet "Could you please grab my tit like pulling a trigger please-that is much better.." from the back. She tried to chuckle quietly while dozing off.
Charite`,Berlin, next morning
"You want me to disinfect what?" Berend Bruns, the male nurse responsible for the surgery No. 2 looked at the garment in the medics hands skeptically.
"This is a water-powered cooling vest. Look, we have two replantations today and two spinals-that is taxing as hell. And as I have reason to know-one gets mighty hot during that. I want to try if this helps, especially if we have to go full throttle. I checked the materials with the manufacturer, it should stand up to Incidin just fine-and if we trust that stuff to disinfect the stuff in direct contact with the Patient it should be enough for the vest I am going to wear under the garb anyway. Yes I´ll look like Quasimodo, who cares."
"Ok, I`ll wipe it down then. If nothing melts you can wear it."
"Thanks. I`ll get distilled water for the cooler then."
"Oh Jesus."
"Do you know where Dr. Manfred is?"
"What do you want from the Anesthetist? Cannot sleep?"
"Not my problem no. But we want to try a glucose infusion on me."
"What`s next, Epo or Steroids?"
"Now there is a thought…no, just kidding. See you later and thanks."
Reiksbund Headquarters, Altdorf alittle later
This time the presentation was held by Major Grube who had no problems at all presenting finding to the high muckety-mucks.
"We checked on the hints that we got from the Echolocation and we made a couple of rather astonishing discoveries. For example we found a number of very active ventilation shafts along the Reik`s banks where nobody was looking too closely. There are some shafts with considerable downdraft and several others are used as an exhaust for spend air.
That indicates a large, technologically active community down there. We also found two gutter outlets into the Reik which release considerably more water than the gutters themselves should produce."
"Do we know who is down there?"
"Currently we only have leads Marshal, nothing definitive. I spoke to all Dawi ambassadors and they are adamant that they have nothing to do with it. As there are no substantial ore deposits down there it would make no sense either. On the other hand both the exhaust from two vents and the waters from one gutter contain minute amounts of Warpstone. That would indicate the Skaven"
"Oh Sigmar, the Rat-men. We cannot allow them under Altdorf, they are a terrible risk."
"Indeed. Yet at presented we do not know enough, so I suggest a recognizance mission by the cave raiders so we have more information. We should be a little discreet at first."
"Why?"
"Well, we are not sure that we have all ventilation shafts, but from the amount of methane and carbon dioxide in the exhaust we can give a rough estimate of the population in that Warren below. The number are not definitive, because we do not know the exact consumption per individual, but.."
"How many?"
"Well, within the indicated inaccuracies: We are pretty sure that there are more beings in that warren than in aboveground Altdorf."
