Swamp close to Skavenblight, two days later

Lord Paskit currently the duty to watch the talking box that the Council of Thirteen had used to contact the Germans-if it indeed were the Germans.
He was not happy that the Council had decided to talk to the Germans at all-the Skaven had always tried to remain hidden until ready. He was even less happy about this talk about "peace" as if these Germans were not one more worthless race of humans to be eradicated from the surface when the glorious day came.
The talks had been a spurious thing of no trust from either side. So far neither the parties had neither agreed to a time and place of meeting, nor any agenda. Except for both sides exchanging that they wanted "peace" nothing had been accomplished. The Council had agreed to leave two Council members close to a talking box at all times so that somebody competent was available.
Sneetch, the Seerlord, was attending some private function when the box came alive again.

"Am I speaking to a member of the Council of Thirteen"
"Yes human, you are. And you are?"
"I am Steinmeier, the Foreign Secretary of Germany"
"So Steinmeier, what do you want?"
"I want to know whether you are responsible for the attacks in Germany during the last days. You profess you want peace and you kill the unarmed, the old and our children. So-is that your works."
"Ah-so now you fear and respect the Skaven-good. You have to learn your place, then maybe we stop demonstrating our strength. You are right to fear us."

"Steinmeier-do you have anything to say?"
"Steinmeier?"
"Paskit, you moron, moron-you have damned us all. I have seen the fire from the sky-and because you want to talk big big."

Bundeskanzleramt Berlin, next noon

Angela Merkel needed to freshen up, take a snack and get her head cleared a little before joining the fray again. She had been in nonstop meetings since the early morning, ever since it was crystal clear that the Skaven were behind the latest attacks.
That something needed to be done was more than obvious-not only did the government had a duty to protect the Germans. If she was seen doing nothing she would not be head of government for long, the bleeding video from the hopital alone would see to that. The question was what was to be done. A lot of options were on the table, from bombardments to arming Dwarves that fought Skaven anyway to full-scale warfare. She did not really see what would work best and wanted to test the waters further before she decided on anything. This had been her style since she was a politician and for her it worked marvelously.

Before she was getting back into the meeting room she stopped by her personal assistant, Beate Baumann. "Anything new?"
"Not really except for one thing. You asked me to write a letter of thanks to a fireman, one Erik Schulze."
"Yes, what of it?"
"Sorry, but he committed suicide last night. Shall I write a letter of condolence instead?"
"Yes, please do that."
The German chancellor`s face was set in stone when she went into the room. The options on the table had just been reduced to one and testing the waters were no longer on the menue.

Bundeskanzleramt, Berlin same evening

Angela Merkel was running on a mixture of adrenaline, sweets, coffee and hatred. So far the campaigns that Germany had to wage under her leadership had been distant things, necessary to establish her country in this world or to support the most important ally.
Now things had hit at home and she had seen the face of the enemy in their strikes. She was not given to flamboyant speeches or patriotic furor but found a capacity for hate in her that she found disturbing. The only good news was that there was a clear and obvious target to her hate and containing the threat offered by the Skaven would make this world a better place.

Her intercom lit up for the umpteen time today and she heard her assistant. "I have Emperor Karl-Franz on line one for you Angela."
Ups, that late already? She had nearly forgotten about the call that had been scheduled before.
"Thanks, I`ll take him"
"Hello Angela, Karl Franz here."
"Hello Emperor. What can I do for you?"
"Angela, please let me express my deepest condolences for the loss of your people. The Skaven`s strikes are without honor, without sense and just done to strike terror in the hearts of your nation."
"Thank you Karl-Franz. Yes, the strikes hurt, but the terror they wanted to achieve failed to materialize, quite to the contrary The rats will burn."
"I am glad to hear it. Angela, we cannot offer the same armed might that your Bundeswehr has or the munificence that you helped us with during our plight, but what we have is yours. Please accept our troops and the aide of our mages. I know that very few units in my armed forces would make the grade in your army, but kindly find a role for them, it is a a matter of pride for my people also."
"Thanks greatly Karl-Franz and we will use whatever help we get to the fullest."
"Give the Skaven hell then."
"They do not know hell yet, but they will."

Reiksbund headquarters, Altdorf, 2 days later

Hans-Werner Fritz, the only 4-Star General the Reiksbund had was not sure what to make of Aurelius request for a meeting. He had placed the asur as a buffoon that had been disposed of by his superiors to a place of few importance to the High Elves.
And yet ever since their first meeting where Aurelius had made a fool out of himself the elf seemed to have come a long way and had made good connections to nearly all embassies to the Reiksbund. During the few functions where Fritz had met Aurelius again he had been far from the haughty Asur and had shown signs of learning.

So, while he was busy as a one-armed wall-paper hanger he still made time. The usual pleasantries had already been observed when Aurelius came to the point of his visit.

"General, as much as I enjoy your company, there is a reason why I seek your time. I gather it that the Skaven have perpetuated serious strikes against your country, using diseases as well as sabotage and killed many civilians?"
"Yes, you have heard right about that."
"I further take it that Germany will not leave this alone but will strike back?"
"Yes, you may."
"In that case I will offer you a bit of intelligence that you are currently not aware of. The Skaven capital, Skavenblight, is located in Tilea, close to the town of Tobaro. I can point that on a map if you provide one."
"Thank you for this Ambassador, please do that, I will provide a detailed one. Very interesting-what made you divulge this information now if I am allowed to ask."
"So far you humans have chosen to ignore the infestation in your midst, for whatever reason. Given the multitude of threats you faced that was actually not the worst decision. Now that you take up the fight it is the best for all that you win-and this might help."
"Makes sense Ambassador, thanks again. I`ll ask my aide-de-camp to show you the maps. "I am truly sorry, but..."
"But you are busy as no tomorrow. General, I appreciate that you took the time at all. I would also appreciate if you would be a little discrete about this info and its origin. Because of the time involved I could not clear this up with the Phoenix King beforehand."
"We will keep this classified then, no problem."
"Thank you. I will get to your aide then and leave you to your job."
"Goodbye Ambassador."
The General watched the Asur leave. Would the wonders on this world never cease? The Germans knew where Skavenblight was but had not made that public. Yet the info by the Ambassador was still useful in and by itself-it is good to know who your friends are...

Bundeskanzleramt Berlin, a little later

And one more call. That`s what it was these days, one more call, one more mail, one more meeting, one more interview or one more signature. And she had fought so long and hard to reach this point. Shaking her head Angela Merkel pushed the button for her hands-off phone and the voice of the Dwarven ambassador filled the room.
"Madam Chancellor, we have a connection to Thorgim Grudgebearer, High King of all Dwarves. I have to excuse the quality of the connection, a part of this is shortwave radio."
"I understand Ambassador, I am sure we will have an understanding after all."
The new voice that could be heard was deep and sounded as if stones were ground against each other.

"Well met Chancellor Merkel. I have heard that the Thagoraki have done your people a great harm."
"You have heard right High King."
"This deed had no honor at all, as could be expected from the ratman. What are you going to do about it?"
"We will make sure that it will not happen again."
"What does that mean?"
"That means that we will send an army to Skavenblight. That means we will blast and burn this place till we have their "Council of Thirteen" in our hands and they surrender unconditionally-and if we cannot so that we will leave a crater where Skavenblight was. A crater that will glow in the dark."

Sleep deprivation can have remarkably similar results to alcohol-a couple of days ago the German chancellor would have given a more diplomatic, more meaningless answer.
"Good, very good lass. That sounds like you see things clearer now. So no mucking about with the Thagoraki will ye?"
"Not on my watch."
"You in the market for allies?"
"I am told Skavenblight is very much underground. Yes, we would welcome anybody you could send and would outfit them as best as we can."
"Do you know that I keep The Book of Grudges?"
"Yes, so I have heard"
"The part of the Tagoraki is the longest and with the worst Grudges lass. We were a vast Empire once and now we are few. Yes, there are the Greenskins, the Dandelion-Eaters and our own stupidity. The rats are the worst. So you are really looking for allies?"
"Yes, High King."

"Then lass, I give you an oath. I, Thorgrimm Grudgebearer, High King of the Dwarves will not rest, will neither touch a woman nor drink Bugmann`s Beer till the Skaven submit or Skavenblight is destroyed. To this I pledge all dwarfs that pay fealty to me and that you, Angela Merkel, want."
"Uff-I mean I am overwhelmed High King. I value this highly and we will plan how to make it happen."
"That`s my lass."

Palazzo Grande, Tobaro, Tilea, noontime next day

Lorenzo de Berluscani, Price of Tobaro, watched Reinhard Schäfers with well hidden interest and curiosity. The normally professionally urbane diplomat had acquired a quiet intensity that was fascinating at best and frightening at worst.
"Please convey my sincerest condolences to your Chancellor for the losses of your people. The poisoning of children especially is horrifying and we condemn all these deeds expressly. And yet you tell me there is urgent need for consultation. May I inquire what you want to talk about?"

"We want to go after the Skaven for real. To do so the Army needs a secure harbor, better two. You are the closest harbor to Skavenblight. So in order to secure such a harbor we offer an alliance, either with a bilateral one with Germany itself or preferably within the Reiksbund."
"You do not know what you are talking about Ambassador, not in the closest. I can show you the remains of the last Skaven incursion into Tobaro, even if it is hundreds of years in the past. What I cannot show you are the remains of the armies swallowed by the Blighted Marches. Too many have tried and they all vanished without a trace. And the revenge of the rats is deadly-you can ask any survivor of Miragliano about if you can find any. Why should I shackle my realm to such a mad enterprise?

"Highness I can understand your reservations. Tilea has its own mode of warfare, with mercenary armies, seasons for warfare and changing alliances. We know this mode of warfare well and have used it as well in our past. But there are other ways to wage war. If your precious times allows, let Major Wörner, our military attaché show you another mode of warfare. It is called total warfare and we are good at it.
I am aware that words are cheap and deeds mark the value of a man as well as of a nation. As much as we need an ally and a safe harbor we need safe approaches. The Navy will see to the Pirate Island of Sarasota and the Siren Island soon. If you`d care to appoint a military attaché of your own he might see what we can do and how we do it."

"That might be a commendable course of action. When would you need such a nomination?"
"Next week, we are just outfitting a fleet for this part of the operations."
"You are certainly moving fast."
"Thank you your highness. My Prince, there is another issue that you should include in your calculations. We need a safe harbor, and that means that we will equip the forces of the ruler that cooperates with us with modern arms and will provide training. Also we will upgrade the harbor facilities of the realm in question considerably and the soldiers we send on this venture will have to spend their spare time somewhere. I am told much revenue can come from such undertakings and it would raise the status of a state that were to gallantly stand by Germany`s side…"
"Please tell me more Herr Schäfers."

Blohm & Voss Shipyards, Hamburg, next morning

The Blohm&Voss shipyards have a long and distinguished history, having built some of the most famous ships to enter the seas. During the last decades on earth the yard had started to specialize in offshore supply vessels, luxury yachts and warships, having developed the famous MEKO ships.
As with all other western shipyards the time for building huge amounts of simple ships was over as the yard could not compete with state-sponsored yards from Korea and China.
Times had changed. The yard built some of the 126 class Frigates, the new escort Frigate, it built all kinds of ships for offshore drilling and parts of the drill rigs themselves. Also new freight ships were needed. While Germany had taken the 400-something merchant navy with her with the Weltensprung many of these ships were less than useful under the new circumstances. Draft had to be lower, cranes for loading had to be included and barge carriers were at a premium. So new freighters were built as quickly as they could be with modern shipbuilding methods.
Blohm&Voss had once employed 40000 people. They were still far from that lofty height, but they were getting there again. One reason for that was that the yard had always been open for new techniques and new fields of business. One of these fields was mobility across the beaches. Either to reach harbors that hid behind narrow channels and sandbanks or to go upriver in streams that were navigable for a rowboat if it was not too long Blohm&Voss had started to build new crafts to master this.

Currently there were two very different models available. One was a hovercraft with the capability to carry 2 standard 20" Container. Not as fast or flashy as the old channel ferries they were able to put the load up the beach after traversing even the most treacherous approaches with ease.
The other was based on one of the better pieces of kit built by the former Soviet Union. An amphibious tracked transport called the PTS had provided inspiration for an ugly duckling that could transport nearly 15 tons practically anywhere.
The workshop Claus Mertens supervised held several of them in various states of completion. Now everything had changed with a new visitor.
"Good afternoon Herr Mertens, I am Major Welf. As you may have heard mobilisation has been announced and I am here to claim these vehicles for the Army-and any other you can build during the next year or so."

wiki/PTS_%28vehicle%29

Peenemünde Nord, same time

Nathan Alpers was half-sitting, half lying in an acceleration seat trying to reach button after button and pulling various levers distributed around and in front of him.
The controls he could reach and the ease of operations were carefully noted and videotaped.
"Looks like we got it better this time Lieutenant Alpers."
"Yes, very much so, I am much less restricted this time. And it chafes less than before."
"Only less?"
"Well there is still something left at the elbows and at the left knee."
"Ok, noted."
One of the tasks that the Germans faced was making good space suits. There were several former Soviet and US suits in various museums in Germany and lots of data from the participation in the ISS and Spacelab programs. Still it was a daunting task as such a suit had to be so many things at the same time-provide cooling, provide insulation, provide air, remove CO2, be next to inflammable, not weight too much, not restrict movement, especially when exposed to vacuum…Currently Nathan helped checking one of the prototypes.
Nathan was just out of the new suit and had changed back into uniform when his pager went off. Checking that he had been summoned to his Boss he started to count his sins, of which he knew none-but that did not stop him from being nervous. Candidates were still washed from the Program for various reasons….
Deputy Administrator Merz was looking like he had not slept for days-which was probably true. The German space Program had started with very limited objectives as a service to launch satellites. The discovery of several more or less intact Old One orbital installations made it a much higher priority but neglected to change the organization markedly. The fact that there was also a limited budget with which DLR had to make do did not help either. Practically everybody had an inhuman workload as a result of that.
On the other hand the space program had a lean, "Skunk-worky" feeling about it. There were ups and downs for that of course, but it did get things done, in many ways faster than if more people would be available and bureaucracy had a chance to settle down.

"Good morning Lieutenant Alpers, thanks for coming so quickly."
"Good morning Deputy Administrator. What can I do for you?"
"Well, I`ve got the good news for you and the bad news. Bad news is: Germany currently needs experienced Storch pilots more than astronauts in training. For the duration of the emergency you go back to the army-sorry about that. The good news is that we will keep your slot open, if you survive in one piece. Don`t look at me like that-I mean it. It is not just that you are good, but we would look like assholes when we send you off to a war and get another bloke in. And do not tell me that manned space programs do not run on public relations. So get out, help kill some Skaven for me and come back young man."
"Yes Sir."
When Nathan made his way he was not sure what to feel. On the one hand the time he spent in Peenemünde was the best in his life. On the other hand a Skaven kidnapping close to his home had been the incident that had made him join in the first place.
In the end he had no choice and could just hope that Merz would make good on his promise. The thought that he would probably have a couple of days between assignments and could spend some time with Ermine in Berlin made him smile.

Seeadler, Nordhafen, Wilhelmshaven, same time

Captain Werner watched the coming and going of trucks alongside the quay with some amusement. It looked like total chaos but worked to a surprising degree. Seeadler was currently being restocked for a combat mission into the Tilean Sea, together with the old team from Hag Graef-Sachsen, Hamburg and the other Frigates were being outfitted while the converted cruise ship "Papenburg" was taking on troops again.
There were of course some new ships in the task force, in this case the Barge Carrier "Seesen" and a modified RoRo ship, the "Ark Germania" that had been under construction at Wismar during the Weltensprung and that had been completed for the navy after being intensely modified. This time she carried a lot of heavy building machinery-next trip she`d carry something with more teeth.

Piazza di Cosimo, Miragliano, same time

Rüdiger König admired the huge bronze statue that dominated the Piazza. Cast to the design and under the supervision of Leonardo di Miragliano himself it rose to a height of nearly 15 meters and depicted Prince Cosimo on a horse.
Both from a technical and an artistic point of view it was an impressive sight-and that went for the whole city-until recently. The city`s famous leaning towers were a statement to architectural creativity and beauty-except for the burn marks on many.
The many grand palazzos spoke of a long history of noble and trade houses-except for the ruins and the scorch marks. The piazzas were well placed, clean even today and would allow for a busy social life-weren`t the people so absent.

The Skaven had marked Miragliano for destruction for this year and had worked mightily on that. A plague of the Red Smallpox had struck the city hard. While Germany had supplied a vaccine Miragliano did not have the same extensive Order of Shallya for the medical needs, relying on private healers much more than Middenheim. So the Germans had to fly in medical personal to administer the vaccine and some local priest had denounced the vaccination. In the end nearly a third of the population had either died or was permanently disfigured.
Later the Skaven had attempted to take the city by force. The Prince´s army and the mercenaries might have been more numerous than the Ratman had counted on, the few German weapons put in a part or the food shipment that arrived in time. The German ambassador had also passed the warning that a Skaven army was approaching along when aerial recon indicated that the Ratman were on the move. It had kept Prince Lorenzo and his army within the city when otherwise he wanted to be on campaign. It had made König a very popular man with the Miraglianese government. Whatever it was besides the sheer determination of the citizens-the City had not fallen.
Still Skaven saboteurs had managed to set fire to houses that had spread far. They had poisoned wells and had by that further spread diseases and the threat of the Skaven had kept most trade away. And yet the City was still there and from the way the citizens removed rubble and rebuild König was pretty sure that it would be standing for a long time.

While the embassy car made its way through the crowds the ambassador reflected on the meeting with Price Lorenzo. It had been quite a contrast to his experiences in Afghanistan or other countries he had been stationed in before.
Instead of "why did you not help more before" and "The West/NATO/Germany has caused all of this", even when any connection to the disaster de jour was tenuous at best and an affront to logic and decency at worst. Instead the offer of help at all had been looked at with distrust at first-nobody did such things without payoff. The help that Miragliano had received from Germany was still seen as solid proof that the newcomers were more than a little "touched" but effective.
Now that Germany was looking for allies in the campaign against the Skaven had replaced the finny looks with ones of calculation-and relaxation. That was something one could understand, that was something one wanted as well, wanted it so badly that they could taste it.
Miragliano would ally itself to the German cause. It would not be the harbor of choice as Tabaro was much closer to Skavenbight, but it would do very well for an airport served by a harbor. And if Germany wanted to spare some new weapons there would be an army to make use of them.
All in Rüdiger König liked to be in Miragliano.

Martensen Family Home, Papenburg, next evening

Dinner had been served-German style with Bread, sausages and cold cuts. Lunch had been the warm meal of the day. When the last slice of bread went down Wilhelm Martensen looked at his wife who nodded. Like with his Landwehr company-no sense in delaying then.

"Kids, before you go of to more fun, we need to talk, sorry. We all have been very much looking forward to the holiday in "Club Estelia" but I do not think this will happen this year. The chorus of groans and protests around the table showed that this was about as popular as announcing NBC training at the Landwehr.
"There are a couple of good reasons for doing so. First off with the fracas with the Skaven it is as likely as not that I am called up?"
"But Daddy did you not tell us they can not send you outside of Germany if you do not agree?"
"You are right Jens, but a lot of barracks and depots need guarding. It is possible that they use us to free more regulars for the housecleaning."
"Aw shucks"
"Yes. And then there is the simple fact that Tilea is too close to Estelia for comfort for the moment. That thing might escalate and then we are up shit creek with no paddle."
The kids looked more glum at him than before-a matter of acceptance set in obviously.
We will wait and see how things are next year, if things are better than then we go for sure."
"Ah, that`s too bad. What will we do then?"
"I have called a friend at Fehmarn, looks like we can have a place at the Camping ground there. If the weather holds it will also be nice."
The looks on then Kids faces told him easily that they were disappointed-could not be helped. But maybe a little sweetener.

"We will use some of the money we save to upgrade the security in the house-and that includes a decent shotgun. And as you are old enough I`d say I take you for the Landwehr shooting grounds for some instruction. What do you say?"
The bright eyes of the boys he had expected, but Emily? Well, all the better then.
He was congratulating himself on a crisis well handled when a shot from outside was heard-and the long agonized scream of a girl.

"Herta, call the police. Kids, get upstairs and stay there, no arguments."
Wilhelm Martensen knew that what he did was not all that clever-but he was never one to leave children. Getting his G3 from the safe and loading it was second nature, when he went out he kept low and tried to get a grip on things.
Soon it was obvious that whatever danger was there had already passed.
One of his neighbors stood in his driveway with a gun in his hand with a blank face, mumbling something while Doreen, the daughter of their next door neighbors were hugging the bloody body of Bert, their Husky.
Going to the shooter he gently pried the gun from the trembling hands and put it on safe.
"I was so sure to see a giant rat."
"Bert is no bleeding rat you moron.."
Doreen screaming went up and down the road. Oh fuck.

Neustadt, Naggaroth, early morning, 2 days later

Jasla had made it to the toilet in time-barely. She had certainly not overeaten yesterday evening and the food had definitely not been poisoned. Her regurgitations had a far more sinister cause-Malekith had left her a "gift" at their last meeting.
If the Witch King were to discover this she would be very lucky to die quickly. For about the millionth time she started to think about "doing something" about the fetus in her and for the millionth time she found her mind separated from her body. The voice she heard was neither male nor female but all beautiful allure, enticing promise and deadly threat.
"Now now my child, I told you that this is not an option. And I told you that I would provide for you my child. Your lack of faith is disappointing. Be that as it may, if you look at the main street in 30 minutes you will see it arriving."
He gained control of her body back. She had known this would happen from experience but like probing a missing tooth by tongue she found it nearly impossible not to. Yet now she had something to look at.

She managed to clothe herself in time and was barely out on her veranda to watch several horse-drawn carriages passing down the road towards the city hall. The back benches of the open wagons were occupied by short squat figures with high hats, long curly beards and ugly faces. The Dawi`zarr, the Chaos Dwarves of Zarr-Nagrund had arrived at Neustadt. She had heard about that before, but how the hell could they be part of the solution?
Much later that day she was taking part at a dinner given in Manfred Hartig`s house. The food was simple-mostly a big barbeque. While simple it was actually quite clever of the chemist, as he had to serve a food that fit 3 very different races of predators, so going back to the smallest common denominator worked sufficiently.
Using her small sharp teeth to pry the meat of a chicken wing she passed some morsels to her slave who kneeled at her side. Which made her head about the same height as Drazurgan, the mage that had accompanied the dwarf`s group. From what Jasla heard they had successfully concluded negotiations for a shipment of modern explosives that they had bought from Neustadt with the approval of Malekith of course.

"So you say there is no magic involved with this "railroad"? I mean, I could detect none, but seeing mere horses pull such a load so fast was incredible."
"I am not an expert Drazurgan, but I am told the lower friction between wheels and ground and the better bearings in the wheels make the difference. Also the railroads are laid with a careful eye towards inclines. No magic needed, just technology."
The little face one could see between oily hairs, beard, at and a huge nose wrinkled with amusement. "You are the best "not-an-expert" I have met in my life. And in Neustadt I have met more than usual. How come you know so much?"
"First off I am with these Germans for quite some time now-that rubs off. And a lot of them like to explain things to me if I ask nicely."
"Interesting. We were not shown much here, but what we could see was intriguing. I should not say so, but we really would like to know more about what they are doing here. From what I can see they have wrought large changes with not so much time and resources at hand."
"Yes, they did that, I was here to watch it. Quite fascinating actually."
"Too bad that you are not an engineer"
"Oh, as the Germans say-you do not have to know a thing, you have to know whom to ask-and how to ask…"
"Such a person would be most valuable to know."
"Wouldn`t it?"

Mitting, close to Papenburg, one week later

Jan Petersen could not look at the meadows at the edge of Mitting without indulging in memories-many of them. That drainage trench over there had been used by Lt. Fredriksen of 31st Landwehr fame and the 1st Platoon to stop the Spitzohren incursion.
That Farmhouse was the place where he learned all he ever needed to know about the Druchii when he saw the remains of their victims and the field behind it had been the place where the Landwehr had made their mad charge to save the paratroopers butts.
And now he was here again, in armor with a G36 loaded with real ammo in his hands. The only thing that was lacking was an enemy and he suspected none would be found. These days so many reports of Skaven sightings came in that the Police was running in circles and his SEK was providing armed reinforcements for any sighting that was not totally spurious.
The farmers call had been easy to dismiss and the police had called in the SEK for the follow-up. Jan Petersen walked to the group of two policemen, a local farmer and what looked like a hunter.

"Good morning Gentlemen. I hear that you have sighted a Skaven?"
"Good morning Commissar. Yes, I have seen one of the bleeding rats. It came from my barn and ran in that direction."
"Sure it was not a big dog?"
"Dogs don`t run on two legs where I come from"
"Hmmm."
"Commissar, if I may? Have a look at this?" The elderly hunter pointed at a muddy patch of ground,. When Petersen had a closer look he found two imprints that indeed looked like a rats footprint-if a rat were up to 1,80 meters size.
"Ok, that looks like the real thing. Oldenburg tells me they have sent new specialists for these cases, we should wait for them."

Everybody had to wait for nearly an hour till they heard a helicopter. The Bundeswehr heli set off a rather incongruous group. A man in Kaiserlich-Deutscher Landwehr uniform accompanied two pasty-faced stocky men who wore a combination of imperial clothing and German-issue boots. The two managed a clutch of 5 brutal looking dogs which strained at their lashes after the flight. The two also showed considerable relief from having survived the aerial transport.
"Good morning Gentlemen, I am Lieutenant Harkstrom at your service. I gather you are Commissioner Petersen?"
"Good morning Lietuenant Harkstrom, yes I am Petersen."
"May I then introduce you to Gottlieb and Herm of the Altdorf Sewer Guard? Their dog teams are very good at tracking Skaven."
"Very good. Welcome you two."
"Goodday Ser. You said you have some tracks?"
"Yes, over here."
The dogs had not even reached the spot when they got agitated and strained their lashes. "Yer got some live ones for sure. Our beauties can track them."
"Go for it"
Jan Petersen was pretty sure that he was in good enough shape-if you wanted to be MEK you had to be-and his men even more so. And yet the speed of the dogs which went through meadows, hedges and small copses of woods wore him out like no tomorrow. He was about to call for a halt when the dogs surrounded a small group of trees and barked without getting closer.

"They got one at least Ser."
"Can they take it out?"
"Err-Commissioner Petersen?"
"Yes Lieutenant Harkström"
"At the moment these are the only dogs we have for all of Eastern Frisia-we should spare them."
"And what would you have us do? Use men while dogs are too valuable?"
"CS-Gas worked very well in Altdorf-we used it a lot. They are far more vulnerable to it than a human."
"We`ll try that, thanks for the tip."
A quick glance at the trees and grass gave wind direction. Distributing his men around the copse the MEK man pulled the fuses from 2 CS grenades himself and threw them close to the trees. The prevailing wind pushed the white smoke right through them.
The sounds that could be heard from the copse were definitely not human-or fit to any animal Petersen knew. From the smoke emerged a skittish bundle of fur that thrust a dagger in all directions blindly while trying to run in a straight line. Now that Petersen knew how to handle. Stepping closer he kicked the knife away and punched his rifle butt downwards, catching the neck of the Skaven with enough force to stop all motion.

Making sure that the Ratman was not moving on his own violation but was still breathing the SEK man applied handcuffs while thinking hard on where and when to read him/her the rights-and if at all.