Line 400, Skavenblight, 2. Königstag Ulrichszeit

The air in lower Skavenblight was always the same: humid and at roughly 15 degree. The immense mass of the rock around the warren made sure of that. Despite that Major Ulrich Werner was sweating already and he had not moved much yet. It was a combination of him wearing spidersilk body armor, a protective suit on top, a Mauser assault rifle across his back and diverse bits and pieces in his webbing. That, as he was honest enough to admit to himself was only half the problem: the other half was that he was surrounded by a bunch of stone-cold killers and in an hour or so about to storm the next part of Skavenblight still held by the rats. That said Rats had the last weeks to prepare of this onslaught was part of the deal.

Currently he was looking at a tablet held up by a Paratrooper Sergeant who currently was part of the Cave Raiders. "We got these pics from the Spider Drones. Even the Skaven have a hard time seeing the little buggers. See here- there they have some bunkers, looks like with ratling cannon. I`ll be disappointed at the Rats if they do not have a warpcannon in that one, and here, close to the entrance I would think they have some sally points where they can try to get into our back when we advance."
"This looks like ramshackle construction, even for the Skaven-they made this new and we let them do it?"
"Can`t be helped. We have advanced so far as we could from Camp 200-any further down and we would have spent too much time getting to the fight or back to be useful. Now that the NSD`s have removed enough Warpstone that we can establish Camp 380 we can resume the offensive. But we will still not play into the Rats hands. Oh-there is a Tank Platoon that will assault the main passageway and we will start to blast the warrens on both sides but that will be a distraction-at least that is the scuttlebutt. Our job is to blast through the walls here and here and then take these tunnels-see there-and take the Skaven from behind. We will use drones and NSD`s to detect the traps the spiders did not show in a hurry and we should catch the Skaven by surprise."
"NSD`s?"
"Not Sufficiently Dead, formerly known as Henriks or the Undead. But please do not call them Henriks in the video-Major Gerber is actually a swell guy and his idea has saved countless lives."
"I won`t, no problem."
"Ok then, you and your cameraman stay with me. Don`t touch anything in the warren unless I tell you too and then things will be all right."
"Let`s do it then."

Five minutes later everybody was to don masks and gloves which made everything even harder and seemingly less real at the same time. All but a few lamps were switched off. The German officer just got to see the backs of a lot of Cave Raiders who stood and waited again-until the explosions got everybody awake. A dust cloud at the end of the cave they were was the only visible sign of the breach that had been made. The tablet that was still in the Paratroopers hands displayed the clutch of drones that rumbled forward on tracks and wheels, closely followed by a file of shuffling skeletons.
One of the drones simply disappeared in a suddenly opened hole, one was crushed by a falling rock as were two of the NSD. Spears sought the undead as did bullets leaving green trails. The drones fired upon unseen targets from their machine guns, one launching grenades from a fat tube. The row of backs in front of Werner grew thinner when a lot of them went into the opening. The Sergeant and his charges followed more cautiously and the low-light camera recorded the squads that branched off into rooms and tunnels that went to the left and right. Even these highly-trained soldiers had huge problems moving fast under their protective gear but one could still see the great amount of coordination the veterans had acquired.
Each room received a trio of grenades-one flashbang, one frag, one CS-to subdue the defenders long enough to enter the room and shoot any of them before they could regain their facilities. Twice while Werner accompanied the assault, soldiers were carried out of rooms, one swearing with a bloody gash on his leg, the other horribly still.

The action seemed chaotic and incomprehensible to the Major most of the time. He could see only for a few meters, the caverns and tunnels were mostly the green-on black that his low-light vision showed or sparsely illuminated when some lights were brought in. Both kinds of vision suffered severely when muzzle flashes strobed.
Still-the Germans were making their advance and while they suffered losses they were low compared to the Skaven. They had to close to inflict damage and either they were often too stunned to act quickly or had to advance down corridors that were covered by automatic fire. The officer could only hope that the fight`s recording would amount to anything.

The Sergeant was stopping his small party in a T-Crossing that offered a small space in a niche for a rest. "Let us see where the action is now…" when the wall opposite to their tunnel collapsed and spit out a flood of Skaven. The paratrooper dropped his computer and got his rifle up at roughly the same time Werner had. Both men unloaded their 20-round magazines into the approaching enemy in several short bursts which threw several Skaven back and slowed the rest. Two of them attacked the paratrooper with their halberds while he changed magazine. One was unable to penetrate the solid carapace armor above the soldiers chest and earned himself a bayonet into the throat for his pains. The other weapon was deflected between the Sergeant and the Major who punched the wielder with the buttstock of his rifle. By that time the paratrooper was shooting again and fire from other ended the Skaven ambush.

Werner was pushed in the back and saw to his horror that the Skaven had managed to put his blade between the collar of the armor of his cameraman and the helmet. Blood was ejected from the wound with each heartbeat. He did not think and could never remember dropping his weapon and clutching his gloved hand around the wound, closing his fingers with more and more force till the bleeding stopped.
He did hear the shouting around him, but nothing registered in his brain which was reduced to one task-not to let go. When the Sergeant shot across his back at unseen enemies nearly blowing his eardrums he did not move and he did not relinquish his grip when other soldiers passed him by unrolling thick hoses. Even when the medics finally arrived he could not let go till they had stuck their needles into the wounded soldier, had put a tube in his throat and prepared a clamp.
Then he could not make his fingers open, they were totally cramped. The Sergeant helped him with that and led him out of the combat zone.
"You did well Sir, come back when you have another cameraman and we will show you around."
They were still in the tunnel leading upwards when a deep rumble shook everything and made dust and pebbles drop from the ceiling.
"Now that will show them-we just flamed the warren below us."

Skavenblight, the deep levels, same time

"Blam Blam Plink" Irklit Rodsnap screamed wordlessly in frustration. This was the tenth or so time that this had happened.
He had assembled a prototype of the new weapon out of the junk left by the machine guns explosion and his own ideas and things. He had already learned a few valuable lessons. The barrel had contained a useful section that could be sawed off and had then shown how hard and resilient it really was. This was interesting: Steel was either flexible-then it was not very hard. Or it was hard, then it was very brittle, but Steel was not both at the same time. Both sawing it and cutting a new thread into its back end had been a hard chore that had ruined many a good tool. He had given the ruined parts of the barrel to a different Warlock who was good in alloys-maybe he would get a few ideas from it.

The next lesson had been that the chain that so handily delivered the ammunition was harder to copy than he first thought. The sheet metal that made up the links had to be very even and remarkably strong or they would fail again and again. Currently the ammo was supplied by a drum magazine similar to what fed the Ratling Guns. Hardly ideal but better than total.

He had been able to salvage enough of the gun lock that he could replicate it's working. The cartridges that his helpers had reloaded with Black Powder and new igniters fed well enough. After the first shots he had found that the reloaded ammo was not strong enough to work the mechanism and had started to shorten the springs until the bolt and bolt carrier moved again under their own violation. Yet the gun refused to fire reliably. The best he had achieved so far were 10 shots in a row-and most other salvos were worse-and kept getting worse again.
From what he saw the cartridges with Black Powder had different power and some of them would just not supply enough recoil. Pulling back the charging handle he also saw the fouling left by the propellant-fuck, this was not going to work that way.

Warren 445, Skavenblight, next day

"They make a desert and call it peace" Ulrich Werner followed Uwe Meins through the Warren that had been emptied of the Skaven yesterday. After he had left the battlefield the warrens below him had been filled with propane that had been ignited when the concentration was right, filling the termite-like warren with flame and overpressure. The Cave Raiders had stormed the morgue that had been left and had made sure that no new Skaven could reoccupy. Together with a similar operation in the warren on the other side of the passageway that had allowed the tanks to fight their way down the spiraling tunnel without the danger of being cut off by collapsed buildings.
The officer walked by large groups of Rats that looked like they would just be sleeping but were totally and utterly dead without displaying outward injury. Their lungs had been ruptured by the explosion and any armor they had worn had been completely useless. The Skaven had tried to make compartments in the warren that would not allow the gas to pass but had been thwarted by the allies flanking them and introducing the explosive at points the Skaven had not anticipated.

Nothing showed the losses incurred by the Cave Raiders-not as they had none, but simply because all casualties had been evacuated. The dark, empty rooms and corridors of proportions that were just wrong to a human were just depressing as was the need for protective equipment. Hastening not to lose contact with his guide he arrived at a rally point where the Warren ended into a large plaza that featured a huge tunnel at its far end. The plaza also had a number of mounds made by rubble and hasty construction from which fire was poured in the direction of the Germans. Several soldiers lay motionless in the empty space before them. From two sides the Germans fired back to the mini-fortifications but seemingly without much effect.

The paratrooper and the Major huddled behind a low wall watching the proceedings.
"We got us a problem here Major-see the Skaven over there?"
"Yes."
"They have to go and soon. And the trackheads will not join the party in time, there is a constriction at level 420 they need more time to clear, so we are it."
"Anti-tank missile?"
"Bunkers took a couple of them so far-the walls are too thick in most places. We only got the bleeding Bunkerfaust at present, piddling 90 mm warhead does not cut it. And the rubble is loose enough that it won`t spall well when hit with HESH. Looks like an opportunity for some hero types."
"That is going to be nasty"
"Maybe. Way I hear it this will be the best chance for you to film something nice to show at home?"
"Why"
"Watch and see. Show will start any minute now."

Werner had to wait for another 15 minutes before things got going. The assault started when massive fire was poured into the bunkers apertures from several German positions. All of a sudden a platoon rose from cover and ran towards the bunkers. There was something wrong about that run-the troopers were too fast for men under protective equipment. The masks were also highly different-Power Armor. So these were the guys he heard so much about. There were several wildly different opinions about them running from them being the greatest thing since sliced bread to Superhero Wannabes. Here they moved much like any infantry assault he had seen so far, but the occasional hits on them did not seem to slow them. They went to the sides of several firing slits, one of them fixing the barrel that protruded from it by a hand while another fired a magazine into the bunker behind, holding his assault rifle one handed.
In another place an armored figure shorter but thicker than the rest loped off weapons by an axe, leaving glowing stumps in his wake. Another soldier systematically pushed charged through the slits that had the assault rifle treatment, causing flame and smoke to emerge from the apertures.

Things were progressing nicely when one of the buildings on the far side of the plaza just collapsed to reveal a group of Rat Ogres and far too many Skaven. The groups contained at least one mage as green lightning emerged to strike at the Armored Infantry. The squat figure with the axe was closest and hit by several-without them having any effect. Instead the axe-wielder ran forward towards the Ogres towering over him, being joined by another one that used a hammer. It seemed totally senseless and a waste till the axe went through a log as if made of cardboard while the hammer-user smashed a kneecap.
The Skaven following the Ogres drew so much rifle fire from the Armored Infantry and the Cave Raiders that only a few made it to the allied positions on the other side of the Plaza-none made it back.
"Hey the Armored Infantry, Gotrek and Valten in action-tell me you got that filmed for the upstanding citizens at home."
"Oh got it and will use it-thanks greatly. But believe me that is not the only thing we will show.

Bay of Corallis, Ulthuan, 4. Festtag Ulrichszeit

The late autumn left its mark even in Ulthuan. The great forests were partially bare or displayed a riot of colors in the sunshine. Even more color was lent to the scene by many tents that dotted the landscape, banner which flew over them and ships that had beached to unload even more troops. Less colorful and stylish was the mud that existed between the tents and that tenaciously clung to everything, spoiling the looks. It was studiously ignored and ruthlessly removed when out of sight.
Tyrion was looking as clean and dapper as freshly unpacked, displaying annoyingly good spirits for the long hours everybody put in. He sat on top of his charger and watched the unloading of additional troops and supplies that were put ashore from countless Elven ships. There were a great lot of ships, from the nimble Hawkships that guarded the convoy to the comparatively fat-bellied grainships that made up the bulk of the vessels and were the real reason of the sailing at all.

The lands of Naggaraythe had never been rich, had been ravaged by the Elven civil war and the subsequent Druchii incursions and populated by a nomadic people for whom improvement of the countryside was as alien a concept as pacifism. In short it could never supply and army of note for any length of time if it was not supplied by a substantial fleet. Given all the commitments of the Asur it would have been difficult to impossible to assemble such a fleet without neglecting something important elsewhere. The solution to that had come from a most unlikely source. The Asurian ambassador to the Reiksbund, considered a Buffon by some and touched by those who knew him better had chartered a number of German vessels which now plied the trade routes between Tiranoc and Yvresse, Eataine and Charce or wherever Asur needed to ship something except for the war zone. They shipped cloth and grain, wine and wood to whomever had need of it without taking part in the war. And yet they freed the ships that the Phoenix King needed for this campaign and more besides. Even when they passed Druchii ships the pirates knew better then to attack them and in the few instances someone tried the merchant ships were remarkably able to either outrun their would-be captors or sunk them with ruthless efficiency. They did not need Ausurian escorts and freed even more ships for the elven admirals to use. That so very few German ships were able to transport so much was discussed by few but resented by many High Elves.
Disgusting as this might be it allowed Tyrion to amass an army that soon would march between the Bay of Drusilla and the Dragon Gate, cutting of the besiegers supply lines. Let Marcus Darkblade see how much being besieged suited him.

Close to Neustadt, Naggaroth, at night, 5. Sigmarstag Ulrikzeit

It was unclear who had dug the tunnel under the Sword Mountains. The walls were chiseled and showed traces of tools no human had ever wielded. The proportions were slightly off for human aesthetics and the floor showed a smooth wear that somehow suggested that the users had worn it smooth by means of locomotion devoid of feet.
It was cold, damp, dark except for the feeble light of a single lamp that made the shadows flicker in ways that made the eye see movement where none was and revealed shadows deeper than any pit.
Petra Heim would have preferred not to have entered the underground passageway at all and certainly not alone. As in so many things-in all things-her wishes counted for next to nothing and the will of her mistress reigned supreme. The only good thing about this state of affairs was that besides Jasla ire there were very few things left that could frighten the former German student.

Moving as quietly as her hast allowed she tried to take in everything about the walls and floor of the tunnel. Occasionally she stopped and covered her lantern to hear, but besides some running water and her breathing there was nothing. Pulling the sheet with her instructions for the umpteen time and trying to make sense from them she felt something lithely touching her behind.
Supressing a shriek she pivoted on her left leg coming face to face with a hat. The high garment sat atop a shock of curly, greasy hair, a broad coarse face that showed vaguely oriental features in the few pieces not covered by a bushy beard. The strong right hand of the creature pressed a broad blade against her midriff and the only thing that detracted from the threat was the slim dagger that she held against his short neck.
Both woman and Dawi Zarr watched the other wordlessly for an eternal 10 seconds before Petra Heim stepped back.

"I am supposed to say Subway"
"I have to say Ticket then"
The German slave made sure her dagger no longer pointed directly at the Chaos Dwarf`s throat but still was between them.
"My Mistress wants to know if all is arranged."
"You can assure your Mistress that all is as it should be. How many are you?"
"21"
"Good good. Bring them here and we will lead you"
One hour later Jasla, her German Slave and 18 of the Black Company`s engineers and chemists met up with the Dawi Zarr. The Chemists included Manfred Hartig who sported an eye patch above his right eye and his Druchii slave who even at cursory examination showed signs of a broken mind.

Skavenblight, Pump Station 8, 600 meters below, 10 Königstag, Ulrichszeit

Harat Aequifit had been of Clan Skryre once, but that was a long time ago by the way Skaven counted such things-at least 5 years or so. Utterly incapable to keep up with the ruthless competition and intrigue of Skaven society but a thorough engineer with a gift for maintenance he had been nominated by his clan for the holy duty of Pumpmaster. This job usually made sure that you did not see an ripe old age because of the dangers of working so close to warpstone-powered machinery but it was guaranteed to be free of internal warfare and assassination. All he had to do was using the slaves and other resources wisely to maintain Pump Station 8, one of the 13 main pump stations that kept Skavenblight from drowning. All of the Bighted March and all of the waters in the soil around the Skavenblight undercity wanted to flood the unnatural hollow space inside them. Besides waterproofing the Skaven incorporated into their construction where possible the powerful pumps in this room collected the waters from a many a bilge and runoff and pushed it upwards against its own terrible weight and forced it away. If these pumps would not exist Skavenblight would flood in mere weeks. Keeping them working was a holy responsibility and the neutrality of the station and its wardens was kept as sacrosanct as the Skaven were able to.

Of course Aequifit had heard about the great battles fought above him, but like many of the skirmishes and battles that filled life in the Undercity he felt disconnected from that. However won the Battle he still wanted to keep Skavenblight dry, wouldn`t he.
The happy feeling of not being affected had suffered during the last days when the sounds came closer. At first there were only occasional deep rumbles, like a slow explosion of such a thing were possible. Then there were smaller cracks that were transmitted by the rock and then shots and a strange crackling sound. The last new sound had been the screaming-first only the screams of the Skaven pushing themselves into battle-then their excitement about being in Battle-and then the strange human voices. They were like the voices of the human sklaves he used-and at the same time they were somehow different. And then there was the most frightening sound-silence.

The great door that led to the main pump room had been closed when the conflict came near and now it resounded with deep booms till they split in the middle and the door was pushed open. The first creature to emerge from the darkness was not a human or Dawi, but a strange cart that trundled along on small wheels while pointing something like a fat pistol in any direction.
Then came the human and Dawi warriors, hardly recognizable from their strange masks and clothing.
And last came the big human who marched into the middle of the room and boomed loudly in the Reikspiel some of them understood.
"I am Major Gerber of the allied forces. Who is boss here?"

Level 630, Skavenbight,

Heinz Albers watched the soldiers that walked back the corridor he had worked on the last 30 minutes. They were walking deliberately watching their surroundings and steps. The moved in groups providing overwatch for the movers. All of this was to no avail-there were no enemies at present but it was the reality of Skavenbight that they could appear at any time. This time they did not, only some corpses he could see from his vantage point indicated that there had been defenders of this place at all.
A Sergeant counted all men that came back from the tunnel, did it again and then addressed Heinz. "All men are accounted for Captain, you may proceed"
"Thanks Sergeant. "

Turning back to the small box he had wired up in the last minutes he opened a small flap and put his finger on the button "Fire in the hole" was just a formality, but blasters believe in routines and set procedures. They have been written with the blood of those who did not adhere to them.
Pushing the button brought a series of deceptively small explosions, a sound of groaning and rumbling and a dust cloud emerged from the entrance of the tunnel they had just vacated. When the dust settled a solid mass of rubble had closed the passageway and it would probably need months for the Skaven to clear it. One avenue of attack less for the rats and his schedule for today had to more demolitions.

Council of 13, Skavenbight, 13. Sigmarstag, Ulrichszeit

The Council members seemed to be the epitome of watchful relaxation and attentiveness. None moved, none interrupted the Warlock engineer, nobody played the age-old game to jockey for position. Only the cramped claws that clutched staffs of office, whiskers that moved at high frequencies and eyes that darted here and there betrayed the agitation and desperation that had gripped the Lords of Decay with icy fingers.
The Warlock engineer that currently spoke to them was displaying at least the same distress. He was speaking to the only beings that could legally threaten him and had to be the bearer of bad news, never a good thing in Skavenblight. Yet, this was not the chief reason for his exasperation, even if he had a vial of powerful poison hidden on him in case the council`s displeasure became overwhelming. What he had to report meant that the very basis of Skavenblight was under attack.

"The humans humans have taken Pump Stations 3,5, 8, and 11. The Stations 12 and 2 are under attack attack and will fall soon soon of we find no way to stop the thrice damned Germans Germans. At present the pumps are still working and we think our crews there are still alive alive. But if the humans kill them or even dare to destroy them them then we are doomed doomed. Even with less water coming from the blight blight these days we could not keep us from drowning drowning. If the humans take the stations they currently attack it will be worse. It is an affront, these Germans are uncivilized beasts beasts worse than any slave-they attack the pump rooms."
Lord Kritislik was the first to find his voice.
"The Horned Rat will punish them for sure sure, valued Pump Master. Can we use emergency systems or build new pumps to replace those currently occupied by the Germanss"
"We already use all systems systems and building new pump rooms would take many years years. We would also have to lay new pipes through the areas held by the humans. We have to retake the holy pumps pumps."
"Then we will retake the holy pumps that the treacherous humans insult with their presence presence. We will consecrate them with their blood and will feed the fires with their entrails. This I, Lord Paskit swear swear."

It was an impressive oath by the Lord of the Warrior Clans. It would have been more impressive if any of Lord Paskit`s plans would have worked in the last months. Still, he had just offered his life and that of his troops as collateral to his goal. It would have been more impressive if he would have believed himself that he could make it work.
Eleven Lords of Decay screamed their approval of Lord Paskits announcements and adoration of his oath.
One Lord planned for a series of Skaven assaults like the world had never seen.
Eleven Lords had a different plan and it included Lord Paskit.

Skavenbight, Level 630, 14. Brunntag, Ulrichszeit

„Here they come again"
Henrik Gerber knew that this was not the most correct report he had received so far but could hardly criticize the sentiment or the speaker. The broad passageway before him filled itself up again with fur and claws, rusty arms, lethal intent and hate. The Skaven again tried to storm the Landwehr line that was between them and the Pump station 8 which they so fervently tried to recapture. It was the job of him in his light tank together with another one and a company of the 1st Landwehr to make sure that the rats would fail again.
This time the barbed wire would not hold them-it was smothered by the dead of the last assault and his troops did not have the opportunity so far to replace the Claymore mines that had worked so handily during the last attacks. Well, the old fashioned way should work as well then.
Switching his intercom to the command circuit he pushed the to—talk-talk button. „All Landwehr elements, this is Landwehr actual. Fire at will"

There was no need for acknowledgement as everybody started shooting immediately. From assault rifles that send 3-ound bursts downrange to machine guns used by squads or the ones mounted on his tank and no 2-at the few hundred meters they could hardly miss.
He held the 30 mm autocannon back. Its APERS ammo would have added to the carnage decisively but in the close confines of the passageway it made more sense to keep this firepower back for emergencies. The Rats were not making any headway by their enraged rush, being killed nearly as quickly as they could emerge from the tunnels. It probably would have surprised their Skaven superiors if the result would have been different. Yet they still fulfilled their purpose to mask something more dangerous.
The optics in front of the Landwehr Major showed the first signs when green tracers ran down the tunnel and impacted too close to his heavy weapons teams. He looked for the shields that usually covered the Jezzail marksrats but failed to see any. Instead he spotted a Skaven on his belly who aimed his long weapon on a bipod. A short burst of his coax machine gun ended this, but another place among the Skaven corpses sported the characteristic muzzle flashes of a Ratling gun and the armor if his tank rattled under the impact. That would not do, the Rats might damage the sensors.

Taking turret control he centered the crosshairs on the source of the tracers and punched the trigger of the cannon. The burst shook the vehicle and shredded the weapons team on the other side. A couple of salvos with the coax reduced the rest of the Skaven to a panicked mob that tried to push back against those Stormvermin that wanted to get out of their entrances and join the assault. The resulting pileup only provided more target for Henrik. Things were about to calm down when the pile of dead was thrown apart as an anthill might be destroyed by a willful child. The figures that emerged were too big, had too many limbs and claws that at least looked as if they could damage his tank. Behind the Rat Ogres and at least one Abomination something like the biggest rat in the world bore a rider that seemed to crackle with energy.
These beasts would have been very impressive to any infantry, even German-equipped and trained at close range. The duo of light tanks used weapons that had been built to take down 50+ton tanks clad in thick armor. The "Spike" missiles ripped them apart quite handily before more canon shells finished the work.

Skavenblight, Level 640, same time

Gleepk was as frightened, hungry, angry and out of his depth-situation normal, all fucked up for the recently promoted pack leader. He had been part of an assault on the human lines when the Skaven had found that all major tunnels had been blocked for many meters. The warren they were in allowed many ways to bypass these, but it would only allow a few Clanrats to pass at a time as they had to make their way through countless dwellings, storage rooms and workshops. The warlock engineer was anxious to call the attack off-Gleepk thought that wise-and had split his party into many smaller groups that should look for a way through as best as they could. There was a larger hall at the end of the warren, there they supposedly had to meet. This Gleepk thought madness, but he was not desperate enough to protest. Taking his pack through a roundabout route he felt himself depressed by his surroundings. The small corridors and rooms that should be lit by oil and warpstone lamps lay in darkness that might hide any number of enemies. The rooms that should bustle with innumerable Skaven were as empty of life as a tomb.

When he made his way forward he heard only intermittent and distorted sounds by the other packs or even more worryingly the booms and shots of human weapons. The labyrinthine nature of the warren kept him from making any estimate of the enemy`s distance or numbers. He did not like this business a single bit. Even he could see that it was better to lure the humans into warrens controlled by the Skaven so they could set up traps and ambush the humans when they advanced. This plan here was not worth a spit.
He saw his point Skaven walk through the next door and bump backwards, heard the human babbling from the other room and knew he was dead. Time seemed to slow down around him and he was able to see, hear and smell everything with an intensity he never had experienced before. He wanted to live a minute longer with an intensity that hurt and knew he would not. He saw the small black ball emerge from the doorway that would land exactly at his feet to claim him. It had probably been meant for him to die like this ever since the day when the humans bombed his cart. And then his claw moved as if by itself and caught the deadly missile. He threw it back in fear and disgust and saw it flying back through the opening it had just come from. It had barely reached the other room when it exploded with eardrum-shattering results.

He wanted to live-so much that he took his only chance and his feet drove him forward as fast as they could, in his confusion right through the door that was still obscured by smoke. He dropped over a body lying in his way and rolled forward till something stopped him. He hacked about himself with hysterical strength, managed to push his dagger into the human leg in front of him and then the groin above him. Pushing the wet body on top of him aside he saw the other Clanrats that had followed his mad charge, hacking into the humans they had surprised with all the madness borne by fear.
His pack never reached the meeting point as the warren was even more destroyed than they had though. But the human heads and even more importantly the human weapons Gleepk`s pack brought back made up for everything and then some.

Skavenbight, Level 635, 16. Bäckertag, Ulrichszeit

"Shoulder arms-aim-open fire"
Prince Cosimo was pretty sure that his friend Uwe would be unhappy at this display, yet for his life he could not find how to apply his teachings here besides what he had already done. His company was at the end of a hall fed by several tunnels that in disgorged Ratmen from time to time. Besides having erected barriers as cover for his men and some barbed wire few of the paratrooper`s lessons applied to this situation so he had arranged his men in a neat row behind the barriers and had them blast away at the distant foe. Uwe had not been able to secure them assault rifles but the last version of the K98 had 20-round detachable magazines so the rate of fire laid down by his men was still ferocious. So far he had been able to keep the Skaven from his men and accomplish the mission.

Yes not things were different-the last bunch of Clanrats had hidden a warpstone engineer or two and they had taken down some of his soldiers besides getting some obnoxious smoke started that reduced the sight. The company fired blindly into the smoke at chest height, yet the Price knew this was not going to be overly efficient.
And then the moment came when the Rats emerged from the smoke, far too many and too close to shoot them all before they reached his men. Lifting his epee he shouted as loud as his blasted mask would allow him "Up and at them" and slashed the sword downwards.
All along the line more of his men rose behind the barrier behind which they had crouched unseen. Two dozen Uzi submachine guns opened fire at the same time, converting the Skaven assault into a massacre.
Keeping a hidden dagger was something the Prince had learned shortly after he had learned to walk.

The deep levels, Sakvenbight, same time

"Pang Pang Pang Pang" The iron plates in Rodsnap`s workshop were not penetrated this time but bounced the lead shot into more plates before they dropped harmlessly. Irklit`s experience told him that he had probably somewhat less power than the rifles that had been delivered the last days, but still plenty to kill an unarmored Skaven or human. That had to do it for now. The rate of fire was also less than before but largely depended on how fast he could turn the crank on his improved creation. Whenever he did a pawl pulled a round from a cloth belt that was transported forward by a ratcheting ring. The round dropped before the barrel and was pushed in by the bolt head which then was locked by a cam curve. The firing pin dashed forward to push a small pin into the base of the iron cartridge. It smashed a small vial of warpstone inside the water contained in the round. Converted into high-pressure steam it pushed the projectile down the barrel and then the turn of the wheel extracted the cartridge again. He had roughly one misfire in a dozen rounds, but as these were extracted just like a fired cartridge it did not matter at all.

Now this was a weapon he could present to the Council. Dreams of rewards filled the engineers head when a round fired at much reduced pressure, pushing the round only half-way down the barrel. The next round worked perfectly, just to impact on the back of the first one. The back pressure vented from the freshly opened barrel`s back end to shower Rodsnap with fragments and hot steam. His helpers needed nearly 20 meters of bandage to cover all the small wounds.