Skavenblight, 12. Angertag, Kaldezeit

The Skaven were back and wanted it badly this time, that was for sure. Kargan had been happy that they had been able to repulse the first assault, yet there seemed to be no shortage of clanrats and other assorted Thagoraki. He even had seen a block of Slaves trying their best to get forward while connected to each other by chains.
Unfortunately the same could not be said for his ammo-that was running out very quickly. Presently a third of the guns in his little group had already fallen silent, something the rats had immediately realized. Now they ran up from the deeps of their fortress as well as well as coming from several openings in the Warrens on the other side of the passageway.

Between his and them was no wall, no wire only the shooting from several Battle rifles and short burst from a machine gun-it was a pitiful defense against the tide. And his best defense was gone-he had shot the last of his disposable flamethrowers-those the rats respected. He could not see if they tensed when they were in range for Bessie as he was too busy placing his shots where they counted and estimating range.
When the Skaven were a little closer he shouted for all he was worth: "Now you stupid fraggers, now" and dropped behind the little cover there was.
Assault groups like the one that were led by Kargan had lots of grenades. Every room they cleared got one or two-that meant dragging a lot of them around.
The humans and Dawi that so far had refrained from battle for lack of ammo started throwing Grenades as if their lives depended on it-and it did.
Arching out from Kargan`s litte fortress were fragmentation grenades. Each with a lethal radius of more than 10 meters they landed indiscriminately in front of or inside the oncoming horde. Ripping grievous wounds, eradicating the little formation and leadership that was there and simply overwhelming the Skaven the grenade attack turned Rats assault into headlong flight-but that the allies had shot their last bolt doing so.

Pushing the button on his mask mike he hoped that the wireless would be able to punch through whatever rubble there was between him and the small scouting party he had dispatched to find a way back towards the allies. The warrens to their rear looked like they would offer such a retreat but it was vital to scout it before so they would not end up in some cul-de-sac.
"Snorri, come in, we need to go. Sonorri, can you hear me." Static and breaks filled his ears together with something understandable.
"...found way, but...wait a minute, then..."
"I could not understand Snorri, repeat"
"...found armored... 2 minutes..."
"Snorri, we do not have 2 minutes to wait, we will pull back to the entrance and meet up with you."
"...less...now."
Kargan turned back to his group to give the orders. He did not like what he had to do-retreating meant paying for the same ground twice, Dawi like retreat as much as the clap and retreating under fire was notoriously difficult and dangerous. Still, there was no helping it and certainly no sense in delaying the inevitable.
Putting his hand on a Dawi shoulder he managed to get loud enough to be heard despite the mask. "Björn, take your group through the door to the right and them keep going up. We will follow in a minute or so."
"Yes Kargan"
Ironbeard watched the group of humans and dwarfs go while trying to keep an eye on the Skaven too. Which turned out to be a good thing as the Rats, as was their want, decided that leaving defenders meant that NOW was the time for another assault.

Kargan managed to fire a full magazine into the oncoming rush, grabbed for the next magazine and found none. Cursing a blue streak he grabbed for his revolver which still had ammo. More than one German had told him that his pick might be excessive and he would be served better with a smaller caliber gun. Yet he still had problems to trust anything with less than a half-inch caliber and he could handle the revolver, couldn`t he. The "boom" from the handgun made some heads turn even in the battle, the muzzle flame did bad things to his hearing and the Clanrats head simply detonated when he 0.50 Casul round hit. Too bad-he had aimed for center of mass, this thing jumped even in his Dawi hands. He acquired a second target when he saw Björn and the other scrambling back out of the door they had used just a minute or so ago. Fuck, the way must be blocked, this could not end well.

He was about to ask Björn where the problem was when the newcomers emerged into the passageway. They seemed a little bigger than a normal human and more bulky. The helmets were curiously without a visor port and they moved like if they were not wearing armor at all.
Most rushed to the cover used by Kargan`s group but two simply stood in a window, presented machine guns and started to fire. And did not stop. This was wrong, as in really really wrong. Not that it was a waste of ammo, there were enough Skaven to provide excuse and targets, but Kargans training told him that by now the barrels of the guns should really really have overheated.
Together with the rest of the newcomers who fought a little more conventionally the next Skaven assault stopped like the ones before them, leaving the passageway in front of the Kargan`s little fortress covered in furry corpses. Two of the armored soldiers released heavy packs that contained additional ammo thankfully. For that alone Kargan would praise them for sure.
One of the soldiers turned towards him.

"Sergeant Joakim Vos, looks like we arrived in time."
"Sergeant Kargan Ironbeard of the Thunderers. Thank you for the assist, I`d be lying if I´d say we did not need it. So you are the Armored Infantry we heard so much about?"
"Guilty as charged. Sorry, we got a little lost in that warren. Your man Snorri picked us up."
"Ha, you should have some Dawi for this."
"That is…"
The roar stopped both of them in their tracks. Not only because of its loudness-it was very loud indeed, but for the fact that it was unlike any sound they had ever heard before. And something gave them the feeling that it was issued by several throats and not just one.
Kargan watched the Sergeant in Power Armor use the underbarrel launcher of his rifle to fire an illumination round up the passageway where it revealed a mass of pale, malformed flesh making its way towards them.
When their brains caught up the mass resolved itself into several Hellpit Abominations, tank sized creatures that had been cobbled together with body parts, perversion and magic. Having the size of a tank, the mind of a Rat driven crazy by pain and starvation and too many claws and teeth the Skaven had unleashed one of the few things that could endanger the allies as long as they were cut off the tanks for fire support.

"Fuck fuck fuck…"
"Bring your guys into the warren-fight from there. We will follow."
"Will do. Björn, Snorri, Jens-back to the Warren., now. Get to the second floor, we fight from there."
Kargan watched the Humans and Dawi clamber from the rubble and pushing themselves through the doorway while pedaling backwards to keep the fight in his field of view. A minute before the power armored Humans had seemed night-invincible, nor they were a thin cloak against the chill of the grave. Like all Dawi warriors Kargan had heard about these monsters. Cobbled together in the Hellpits by Skaven who`s mind was at least as ugly as their products they had the size, strength and resilience of a Dragon-and here they encountered several underground. Wonderful, a good day to meet the ancestors it seemed.
Joakim Vos was a little too busy to be afraid. The fact that his helmet isolated him very well from the environment and offered a synthetic picture on two screens added to the feeling of "not really being here"which kept him and his platoon from freaking out.
"Jens, Gottlieb-keep shooting the small fry. Rest of us-get the big fraggers"
His helmet showed an aimpoint that coincided with an infrared laser at the side of his rifle. It immediately changed to a circle when he moved for the secondary trigger. Pulling it send a 40 mm Grenade downrange that impacted against the Abomination`s chest and filled it with fire and fast moving metal. The screams changed, the beast dropped on its haunches for a second-and then it resumed its shambling run. And it seemed that his comrades were not doing much better.
Well-then stronger measures were needed. Grabbing to the side of his backpack he extracted a Rocket Grenade and attached it to the bayonet holder close to the muzzle. When he looked up he was aghast how close the Abominations had already come. He targeted the farther beast for fear the that closest one would not allow the charge to arm.
The Grenade went of his rifle like a firecracker at New Year`s Eve-trailing flame and spinning like a top it flew in a straight line to its target. One of the shoulders was firm enough to trigger the projectile. Made to breach walls the warhead squashed itself against the beast and then ignited 2 kilogram of explosives. It ripped the beast apart at the many seams that held the parts of the Abomination together.

By that time Joakim fired 3-round bursts into the next one as fast as he could pull the trigger. It was currently dragging a dwarf out of a window he had been firing out of and would not stop for all the small-arms fire it received. It opened its huge mouth to get at the tasty leg it had just ripped of the Dawi when a small object sailed past the wriggling victim and dropped directly into the waiting orifice.
The explosion was muffled by the amount of flesh about it and dropped the Abomination where it stood. Turning to his left Joakim saw the last rush of the third beast terminated by a seemingly unending machine gun salvo to its head, disintegrating it totally.
The machine gunner stepped around the dead beast and reopened fire in the many Skaven that had used the beast as shields. Some actually made it into the warren that housed the Dawi, strobing lights from the windows showed that they had not overcome the Thunderers yet. The others now found themselves in an enclosed space with machine guns and Battle rifles that went through them-and several grenades that exploded in their midst. Joakim spotted a better-armored Skaven in the back of the milling mass and send a burst in its range. He could not see if he had ever hit it but the Rat was gone afterwards.

From there the Skaven attack lost momentum, especially when the Dawi in the warrens dropped additional grenades into them and from there converted into a costly retreat. Joakim saw some movement to his left and to his horror the abomination besides Gottfried had regained life somehow. His mouth was forming the warning when two tentacles went into the machine gunner, and the angle of Gottfried`s helmet left no question that he had just died.
Joakim opened fire on the monstrosity as did all the other members of his team, but all they could do was kill the Abomination again, neither first aid nor magic would bring the gunner back.
In the end the allies had to keep their station for four more endless hours during which the Skaven tried their luck several more times. The sight of the dead Hellpit Abominations seemed to slow them for whatever reason. When the engineers had finally dug through the rubble sufficiently to get more reinforcements through everybody was very exhausted, depressed by the loss of comrades and happy to be alive. Both them and the reinforcements were pretty sure that the Skaven had stopped assaulting as the passageway was blocked by corpses.

Frankfurt Airport, same time

Helga Meier entered the A 400 via its huge loading ramp. Like nearly everybody else she stopped and watched the second Airbus that was on the apron several hundred meters away and offloaded. Even at this distance it was easy to see the coffins that were taken out of the plane and loaded into trucks, one by one. It was a depressing sight and far too common for this airport since the assault for the Undercity of Skavenbight had started. When the allies had entered the Skaven`s domain they had given up many of their advantages to get the job done, so the losses were to be expected, yet they were still devastating to public morale.
Most regional newspapers were offering free obituaries for the soldiers who died in these battles and on the wrong day some of these papers had to run several pages. The NDR reporter knew that there was no real alternative to this course of action, but like many others she yearned for an easy and fast solution. From tomorrow she would be able to see the situation by herself.

Skavenblight, 14. Sigmarstag Kaldezeit

The figure walked down the corridor slowly and carefully, turned the masked face under the coal-shovel helmet here and there in its search for the traps the Skaven loved so much. It avoided two trip wires and stepped deftly across a flagstone that did not seem to fit right. It luck ended when a spear was thrust from above and passed where Ulna and Radius were under the uniform. The figure stopped, turned with the thrust and stepped out of the way again to the front. He nearly reached the end of this particular tunnel when green-tinted flames issued from a small hole to the side and incinerated the figure, leaving only bones.
Several others now stepped into the corridor, careful to dismantle the traps, shooting inside the murder hole before inserting two frag grenades into it and doing the same for the port of the warpstone flamethrower. The last caused another jet of flame that went over their comrades remains again. One of the crouched soldiers pushed the "to-talk" button on his mask.
"Lieutenant Pfeil, the corridor is clear for the moment, you can send the rest."
"Ok, Squad one is on the way, good work. You think we can use it again?"
"Henrik is well and truly toast Lt., we need a new one."
"That is a shame, but this Koch guy seems to have a huge stock. And Corporal-I would not call the undead Henriks if I were you. The Major is known to resent this."
"Message understood Sir."
First squad shielded other engineers, these brought the gas hose. The warren under them needed to be cleared out before the trackheads could pass it, and filling it with explosive gasses might do just that. Especially if they did it twice.

Skavenblight, 14. Sigmarstag Kaldezeit

Henrik Gerber had not been too happy when his current assignment made him into somebody wearing the "Blue-Oyster-Bar-Bedienungslitze", yet presently he would have preferred to be in his tank again, even a light tank. The tank was NBC-protected and he did not need to wear the mask at all times, outside of it he had to. Two hours ago the 1st Landwehr had broken through the last set of Skaven defenses and had reached a huge cave that was broken up by pits, cages and less identifiable structures. Instead of fighting their way through the heavily defended entrances they had used explosives to make their own, catching the Skaven off guard. There had been an ungodly number of Rat Ogres and even two Brood Mothers. The 30 mm Autocannon on their tanks were very very good against such targets.
When the Skaven had retreated his men had advanced into the cavern, reporting no resistance. Yet they had called for him and now he was making his way across the uneven floor of the Cavern. He looked into two of the pits, they were empty save for a lot of bones. He reached one of the cages where his men were waiting. "Have a care Major, this is not pretty."
One of the worst things which can befall you when wearing a protective mask is the need to puke. Henrik Gerber made a heroic effort to avoid that and failed.
The Bundeswehr listed several soldiers as "Missing-in Action" since the Campaign in Skavenbight had begun. The 1st Landwehr had just found two of them.

Blighted March, 15. Brunntag, Kaldezeit

Nathan Alpers went over the small convoy at low attitude. The Hoovercraft below him were making their way to Miragliano for a supply run and as they did not need the road were using a better know part of the March for it.
By now they were well-protected, having received some armor, especially around the cockpit and two machine gun positions in the front for self-help. Especially after rescuing the Phantom pilots and the Dawi squad the young pilot approved heartily. Still this was considered risky and so he flew top cover for the convoy to spot any trouble before it happened. He knew exactly that there were several Phantoms standing at the ready in Mirgliano who would gladly paste any Skaven who showed himself with a liberal dose of napalm and cluster bombs.

Palazzo di Cosimo, Miragliano, 16. Markttag, Kaldezeit

Uwe Meins was feeling well-fed, appreciated, safe and out of place. Like the rest of his unit he had gotten a three-day-pass after the disaster on the 12th as his men were quite too clapped out to be useful. He would have preferred to spend the days with some fellow warrants in a fleshpot he had discovered in Tobaro, but that was not to be.
To his amazement Price Cosimo had insisted that he should instead accompany him so that he might show his savior a good time. Uwe was not sure who had exactly saved whom and if the Price-actually a minor one, roughly the 11th in succession-wanted indeed to thank him properly or make sure he would follow up on his promise of training. The Sergeants superiors were quite happy with that and had put everybody on a returning supply run by hovercraft a day before.

Now he was in a huge palazzo which only showed its recent neglect when you were looking very very hard and had been dined and wined by a host of people who were extravagantly dressed, had impeccable manners and the morals of a Great White Shark. Wonderful just wonderful.
One of the many things he did not get right away was while the food was very nice it was quite light and not so much, the wine well but watered. The Prince guessed his confusion after a remarkably short while. "Don`t fret dear Uwe, we are about to have some serious fun soon-and we do not want to be too full then, right?"
So now he was sitting in another of the palazzo`s halls, this time lit by candles and oil lamps on a chair that could have doubled as a throne and listened to the Princes explanations of the many friezes and paintings that covered most walls and the ceiling. Before he had been subjected to some music and a very nice dancing troupe, but now there was a break in the performances and the next one was prepared. For whatever reason the helpers were placing candied chestnuts on the floor making lines of them that terminated at various points, including his chairs.

He was about to ask when the next performance was announced by a fanfare. Indeed a troupe entered, actually one he had seen before as it was comprised of the dancers he had admired some time ago. Just that this time they very naked and certainly did not dance. Instead they went on all fours and made their way with the grace of cats along the chestnut lines, picking some of them up with their mouth and bringing them to the spectators before going back to the lines.
One of them was making a beeline towards the German Sergeant. A good time was had by all.

16. Markttag, Kaldezeit, Naggarond, Naggaroth

Admiral Malik had always been contemptuous of humans-so short lived, so clumsy and ugly, so free of refinement of any kind and unable to defend themselves. They were truly only fit to be slaves. So when the humans in form of the Germans had sunk one of his fleets and had forced him to relinquish the slaves of another and retreat in defeat he had been hard hit and consequently hated them with all his heart. And to his chagrin now he was forced to work with them and closely. That these Germans were renegades and were helping the Druchii was beside the point-he just hated all of them. As he also hated the vast majority of Druchii he was able to work around this, but the last months had been trying. The German who had practically taken over the Naggarond shipyard had produced quite some results for sure, but did he really have to assume he was Malik`s equal?

"So you say there ships cannot fight Germany`s ships at all Thorsten , son of Breitkopf. Why did we bother to build them then and what have you wrought with all the funds you have been given?"
"Admiral, a single German ship is made from roughly 5000 tons of steel. That is more than the annual production of all of Naggaroth before we came. Not to speak of little things like high-temperature alloys, electronics and many other things we simply do not have. In a hundred years maybe, but not now. So what did we build here-these 4 ships are made to defeat the Elves and whoever else challenges Ulthuan. They are 4000 tons, mostly wood, with 4 cm of steel armor around the citadel and 1500 m² worth of sails. Their high point is something else-first of each of them has a 1500 hp MAK diesel engine that will propel these to 11 knots with no wind needed at all. The "Baerbel" used these engines as auxiliaries so we were able to buy four of them tin Germany without raising suspicion.
The other highlights are the 8 160 mm guns. They may be smoothbore and their range is just two kilometers or so when flat shooting flat trajectories, but whatever they hit will now it has been kissed. They use the same ammo than the mortars we make for the army. You also have one mortar for high-angle fire but will only be able to use them when at anchor for firing at shore targets. Last not least you have some Nordenfelt-type heavy machine guns for small fry. You can fight everybody but the Germans and come out top, more we cannot do at present."
"Only 8 guns in such a big ship?"
"Oh, we could fit a lot more in the battery decks, but presently there are not so many to go around and from what I hear you need these for transport anyways."
"Well then-sounds like you did the best you can do."
"Indeed Admiral, indeed"

16. Markttag, Kaldezeit, Naggarond, Naggaroth

It is said that familiarity breeds contempt. Claus Tolles knew very very well that this would kill him in his current environment, and quickly only if he were exceedingly lucky.
He had met Malekith several times now and the meetings had usually given him what he had expected. Yet he felt like he was walking a minefield where he could not slow down, just walk very carefully. He loved every minute of it, even if he would have preferred not to stay in kotau through most of the meeting.
"So you will give Elrik Straker the services of two of your economic specialists for as long as he needs them free of charge. This "share company" and "stock exchange" thing is really going out of hand and has to be reined in. This is taking too much of my time and binds too many resources that we need to fight mine enemies."
"Yes, highness, we will do so"
"Then this is settled for now. The other thing I have summoned you is the state of your mercenaries. Can you mount an expeditionary force within the next four weeks?"
"We certainly can highness-just how many and where to?"
"It seems our decadent erstwhile brothers in Ulthuan somehow put up a real fight and our army is struck there in a stalemate. You had lots of time and funds to enlarge the Auxilia-are they ready?"
"Yes highness they are. If you want the complete Auxilia and their heavy weapon company of the Black Company we can embark in four weeks provided we have sufficient transport."
"You will have that then. Do well in Ulthuan and your rewards will be considerable. Fail at your peril"
"I will not Highness."

Skavenblight, 18. Bezahltag, Kaldezeit

"Driver, right 10 degrees, forward slowly"
Ulrich Stoiber watched the monitor in front of him with baited breath as it showed the roof of the tunnel they were in coming very close to the top of his tank. Normally there would be plenty of room, but currently their "Iron Pig" was climbing the corpses of two Hellpit Abominations that he had dispatched before. He held his breath when the tank lurched a bit to the side when the "ground" under them shifted but then the tank continued. He was scanning the picture in front of him when the rear cameras whited out.
Swiveling his remote weapons station he saw the remains of two Warpstone Flame thrower teams that were under fire from the two machine guns of Wolfpack 02.
"They just came out of the bleeding wall 01, sorry, did not get them earlier."
"Ok, try to be faster next time 02, I just lost a camera."
Carefully picking their way past the allied infantry that was in front of the monstrous corpses saw another wave of Skaven making their way towards the Germans.
"Loader-canister, gunner, target is troops to the front."
"Canister up"
"On the way" Boom.

One second the tunnel in front of him had been filled wall-to-wall with fur, teeth claws and weapons, the next there was the horror of an abattoir. At the distance between Ulrich and the Skaven the canister shot had dispersed sufficiently to hit literally every Skaven in the front at least twice with stomach turning results. To the German`s amazement that did not keep the back ranks from climbing the corpses in front of them to attack further. The ceiling in the tunnel was too low for the 40 mm grenade launcher to have much range, but now it was about right. Two tanks used machine guns and salvos of 40 mm grenades to butcher the rest.
Watching the back Ulrich had to witness helplessly when additional Skaven appeared seemingly from the walls and the ceiling itself and hacked their way into the infantry. None of them went far and the tough armor of the Germans absorbed most assaults, but here and there soldiers went under before their comrades were able to shoot the attackers.

The next wave of attackers did not fare any better than the last one until a bundle of green lightnings from the back ranks all hit Wolf 02, the tank besides his. The runes on its side went white with heat and slivers of steel were cast of the armor-which held. Yet the dropping barrels on the remote weapons station told the story of a tank who`s electronics had shortened out.
Time to end this and quickly. "Loader-HE. Gunner-troops in front of us."
"HE up."
"On the way"
The projectile had barely time to arm before its fuse told it to explode in mid-air. The shockwave did not have very far to go before it rebounded from the tunnels walls again and again with horrible results. Actually both his tank and the infantry was subjected to a dribble of blood and less savory fluids that dropped from the caves ceiling.
By that time Wolf 02 had reset most of its electronics the infantry had made their displeasure known. The shockwave had been reduced by the distance and the tanks in the way but had still been quite a lot, there was also the stability of the tunnel which was debatable-but had held. Ulrich was very sorry-NOT. Whatever could take out a Leo tank had to be stopped and soon.

Before they were at the end of the tunnel they had to redo this twice and had weathered not one but two hits from a warpcannon. Ulrich had by now fought the Skaven long enough to know that the Rats did run when things were too tight but here they only found dogged resistance to the last. What the hell could motivate the Skaven to do that?
The allies had discovered this particular tunnel not so long ago close to the ruins that remained to the temple of the Horned Rat, but from the echo scans the tunnel was only navigable by bigger vehicles till about one third into Skavenblight but was connected to no bigger caverns. So what made this tunnel so special?
The answer came when they were another few hundred meters down the passageway. The last machine gun salvo from his coax had decimated a ratling gun team and the misses went further downrange where they drew bright green sparks of something. It took the allies more than an hour to reach the bell.
The Bell.
The Screaming Bell-the original one.

The Warp. Time? Wrong question

Every and any process in the observable Universe revolves about Entropy. From and ordered state things get more disorderly, heat differentials tend to level out and potential energy is converted into work and more heat.
Some call this process decay.
The being in the warp had seen this a long time ago when it was not one of the greats. Had seen it and understood it. Had taken it as its path to greatness. Had found suitable beings that needed guidance and that would give reverence in return. Beings that were so low that no power had claimed them and that would help him to steer the forces of decay in ways that were suitable to his goals and plans.
At first there had been a few but soon there were many of these beings. They were weak and cowardly, inventive and cruel but most of all they were now many. When he needed to start he needed a focus that would guide the beings and so he made one. Put a lot of loving work in there, incredible resources and a part of himself.
When he was finished he had looked at the bell and found it good and he had given it his chosen people. It had served well and around this focus multitudes assembled and did his bidding.

The Skaven had overrun Tyros and hade made it into their image. They had further multiplied and learned and had become more useful to him ever since. By now they had literally undermined so many proud cities and powerful fortifications that were still enjoying the illusion of their safety. Oh how rudely they would be awakened when the time was right.
And by doing all that they had made him great also. All the Warpstone they used, all the prayers they uttered, all the sacrifices they made and the cruelties they perpetrated made him great. From his humble beginnings he had become more, so much more.
But now his work, his beautiful creation, his representation in the material world was taken by the infidels, by the enemy, by those who hardly knew what tort they did him.

The Horned Rat looked at the world and the beings that did such injury to him and his people. He had been enraged when the Allies had attacked his city. Now it was personal. The unthinkable became thinkable, the impossible possible and impenetrable barriers lost their resolve.
The Skaven God had such plans for this world, time to make them known to his people.

Camp 200, Skavenblight, 19. Koenigstag, Kaldezeit

Joakim Vos was sitting on a bench that could have come from any Beer Garden inside a small cavern with a mixture of natural walls and olive tarpaulins. The air smelled of rubber like all air that had passed the HEPA filters and the lamps had the glare of unfiltered LEDs.
Currently he was counting his sins as he had been summoned by General Wolf, and for his life could not imagine what this could be about. In the Bundeswehr no general would bother with a lowly warrant, even if he commanded the only Platoon of Armored Infantry, but the Imperial forces often worked differently. For starters personal relationship ran much deeper than bureaucracy and rules. As a soldier pessimism came naturally for him, this was unlikely to be about something good. If he were not chewed out for something he was pretty sure to be volunteered to some madcap mission that had the potential to kill even more of his Platoon.

"You may come in now." This aide was another German-a lot of people wanted to make sure that General Wolf ran the straight and narrow. The office behind the curtain was furnished with some collapsible furniture, a government ugly desk and not much more. Only the sword that was placed besides the chair and the fact that no computer was visible indicated that this was not a German army.
"Sergeant Joakim Vos reports as ordered Sir."
"At ease son and grab a chair. How are you and your men?"
"Tired Sir, otherwise ok. I know we should not complain-we have it easy in the suits and the losses are light, but by now everybody is feeling the strain and we could use some R&R. We also have to make good our two losses and I have not heard anything about that."
"Fair enough. I cannot promise you any real rest before we reach the goals of this operation, but that should take no more than one or two days from now, then I pull you out of the line for a couple of days. For reinforcements-there I have some news for you, but another thing first. I think they did a bad job when they pulled you from the "Officer school" two weeks before the exams when they sent you and your men here. So a question to you: What do you do in a fair fight with your men?"
"Sir, if I am in a fair fight I did not do my job"
"Very good, that is the right answer to this exam. Congratulations Lieutenant Vos"
"Err-thank you sir" Jesus, the Bundeswehr had a lot to do before this guy became a proper bureaucrat.

"Don`t do that yet-I mean thank you. Because I have some task I have to shove on to you, and I do not envy you about it. Looks like Fräulein Meikle and company made some more suits and some clever guy told them they would get more business of they gave some to well-known figures. And the Emperor thinks that if he cannot keep from joining the fight for real this would be the best way to keep them alive"
Oh dear God-do not give me some stupid young nobles to shepherd.
"Sir, I am not sure that…"
"Ah, have a look at them before you tell me yes or no Lieutenant. They surprised me too I have to admit when they arrived today. You can meet them outside when you leave. Still-try to keep them alive, yes?"
"Sir, yes Sir"
Fuck Fuck Fuck
"You contact Oberst Grube`s staff please, he will handle the paperwork and new orders."
"Yes Sir"
"Very well then, dismissed"

Trying to keep his dismay to the faces the alliances newest officer saluted, made an about-face and kept his face straight till he was out of the General`s office suite. Some days it really did not pay to get up.
He met his new charges outside in a separate room. They had obviously travelled long and hard and were now changing into the undergarments worn under the Power Armor. He was about to call them to attention when he was rooted in place by what he saw. Tering! Things were getting better by the minute-not.
„Good evening manling, are you Liutenant Vos?"
"Yes, Gotrek, I am. Mr Jaeger, Valten, an honor to meet you."

Airport Mirgliano, 22. Sigmarstag, Kaldezeit

Helga Meier tried to move again and found she could not. Not only because straps secured her to the slab below, but also as she had no more limbs to move. She was in what seemed like perpetual darkness punctuated by sobs and less identifiable sounds of horror. The air smelled of old sweat, fresh panic and eternal fear.
Then a light approached her and her constant fear evolved into full-blown panic. She could not see much as her swollen belly was in the way, but a small group of beings approached her judged by the sounds. Finally her fears coalesced into group of horrors-rats walking upright, carrying rusty, pitted, dirty but sharp instruments. She wanted to scream, but her mouth was stuffed with something. She woke up when a knife went near her belly.

She awoke to clean bed sheets clammy of cold sweat. The alarm clock to her side announced 3:30 AM and the date of her blessed flight home. There things would get better wouldn`t they? They had to, they really really had to and her newest nightmare was at least better than the last ones. Two of her colleagues were still under suicide watch-she was not going down that path and defended her sanity by the skin of her teeth.

Knowing that sleep was not an option any more the reporter sat down at her laptop and went back at editing the film that she and her team had taken in the Skaven Slave pits. She hated to see any minute of it, but this had to go out. She needed to make sure that her superiors would still air them but also got the message across. She had been to hell and among the shards that had remained of her worldview one thing had remained as clear and indestructible as any diamond. The Rats had to be stopped, by all and any means, no matter what it took. And if her TV network was not going to air it there was enough left of the Internet to make sure that everybody saw things as they really were.