Council of 13, Skavenbight, 17. Angertag, Ulrichszeit
Lord Paskit led a huge procession down to the vast cavern that housed the pillar-the 13-sided-pillar made by the Horned Rat so Skavendom would know its wishes and commandments. He was followed by thirteen Grey Seers and an assortment of the best troops, the most gifted engineers and best warlocks of Skavenblight. All of them were surrounded by a double line of council guards resplendent in their white fur.
Gleepk was marching in the back of the "Group of Heroes" as it had been called and watched an old much-bandaged Warlock in front of him clutch a strange-looking rifle.
All of it would have been far more impressive and reassuring if all of them would not have been chained and the Guards have their spears pointed inwardly. When the procession finally reached the chamber among much acclaim the Torturer-Priest were already presenting their tools.
Hexoatl, Lustria, about the same time
The pyramid-shaped temple was built from granite blocks of immense size and rose from the jungle like a small mountain. Together with the lesser buildings around it it was protected by a dome of shimmering energy.
Inside younger Slann and Skinks looked at each other with alarm. Lord Mazdamundi had been in a coma since nearly three years and now was moving in small amounts. That in itself would have been good but it was obvious that the greatest of all Slann was agitated.
Mirror Hall, Versailles, France, same evening
It was assumed by the networks that at least a billion people would zap in this evening again. "Glimpses from Beyond", as the report was now called, had developed into a blockbuster on TV.
It had been a big surprise, when Magister VanderSchanz, the Marienburg-based sorcerer was now Earth foremost expert on magic, declared one day that scrying onto their homeworld would be possible more often than thought before.
Neither he nor any other sorcerer in Marienburg could explain why. The Winds of Magic blew as weakly over Earth as before, but for some reason getting some contact to Warhammer in France had definitely become easier. But VanderSchanz had quelled other ideas the Earthers brought up.
Trying for more than that had proved fatal to one mage, he explained. When the Magister and his acolytes first found out about the better connection, in their happiness they tried to send a basic message back home, but the Magic on Earth would not allow that. Henk Valtens had died during the try, but luckily the medics on site had been able to revive him before it was too late.
So they would monitor the situation, but for now Earth had to be satisfied with what was possible. In this case it meant the Magister and his collegues could connect with the Warhammer World roughly every three months. And they could keep this connection for about 20-30 minutes. There was some variance every time, but it became more regular each time.
So now Earth tuned in every time to see what happened on that other World and Germany in special.
Skavenbight, Level 600, 17. Angertag, Ulrichszeit
The cave around the German tank commander was huge, had mostly natural wall and was lit by a lot of provisionally rigged lamps. Distributed all around the armored vehicles in it a total chaos of running men, small carts bringing consumables and personal making last-minute preparations. Ulrich was currently restocking the remotely controlled weapons station on top of the tank while his crew was changing part of the main gun ammo.
"42-that`s it Sir."
"Thanks Jochen." Ulrich Stoiber watched as his loader put the last round into the ammo rack and then got on the Horn.
"Oberst Stein, this is Wolfpack 01, we are ready to roll"
"Ackknowledged Wolfpack 01, report to the meeting room immediately for a briefing"
The "room" was denoted by tarpaulins that otherwise would have formed a couple of tents and was used for everything from taking meals to briefings. When the tank commander arrived it was not nearly filled to capacity but the variety of participants made up for it. The Bundeswehr was providing the bulk, but the bulk of several dwarves and the colorful headgear worn by Imperials and Tileans added an exotic flavor.
Behind the bench Oberst Stein could be seen talking to several civilians, mages by the look of their robes. Ulrich Stoiber was used to the hurry-up and wait routine of any armed forces but the sudden alarm mixed with the sound of heavy fighting that was transmitted through the rock below them indicated that the balloon had gotten up for real.
Finally the normally unflappable Oberst Stein climbed the lectern while everybody got at attention.
"At ease Gentlemen. I have alerted your units and called this meeting as a grave threat is emerging in the deeper levels of Skavenbight. Less than an hour ago nearly all mages at our disposal went into seizures and only the most powerful and experienced ones were able to shield themselves in time. It seems that the rats are trying to summon something extremely powerful to aid them.
The mages that are still functional all agree that whatever it is it has to be stopped right now or we will all regret it. The problem is that whatever the Skaven try to call up-they do it at level 1800 and we may have not very much time to stop it."
Ulrich saw a Landwehr Major lift his hand.
"Sir if I am allowed-how much time?"
"A few hours at most Major Gerber."
That caused a second of silence and then a persistent murmur even in a group of normally disciplined leaders. It was the Tilean Prince who broke the buzzing.
"With all due respect-we needed more than a month to get us down to Level 600-how should we do 1200 meters down in a few hours-and why?"
"Count von Carstein, you wanted to say something?"
"Gentlemen, I exist now for many centuries and have experienced beings that humans normally count as myths and legends. I have caught glimpses of the real powers of the warp. I have never ever seen the summoning that is attempted under our feet. The Warp Storm that devastated the Great Forest was more powerful-but this is more…insidious. It harbors a potential for destruction that seems nearly limitless. Whatever we do, however we do it-we have to stop this in time or every being in this world, living or undead will regret it. Oberst?"
Ulrich Stoiber heard the Vampire, but it was not the words that convinced him. It was the look in the age-old eyes of Carstein. Whatever the Necromancer had seen, it frightened him. What could terrify a being that had died several times and had been resurrected?
"What you can just hear are parts of the Pionierregiment 100 and the 7th Panzer Division who just blow a hole through the closest Skaven defenses for you. From drones and echolocation we know that the passageway continues its spiral down from here to a place very close to whatever the Rats are doing there. It is roughly 10 kilometers long and at its end there seems to be a big cavern-we do not know what it is.
Your orders are simple-once the breakthrough has been achieved you go down that passageway and stop for nothing. Break into that cavern and kill anything moving and get back here when you are done. You will have one advantage-the Rats will not expect us to move now and quickly-they will presume that we either continue like we did and attack again in four weeks or that we hold on to the Pump Rooms. Past the defenses that are currently cleared there should be no organized resistance. Go fast and overwhelm the bleeding Skaven, then it can be done. It must be done, no matter how difficult or dangerous, the alternatives do not bear thinking about.
The Assault will be led by the 183th Tank detachment-the Wolf Pack- together with two Badgers from the 100th Pioniers. They will be followed by the Cave Raiders including the Armored Infantry, the Prince`s Own and two mage tanks with whatever mages are able to function. The 1st Landwehr will take the rear. There will be no supply, and you will have probably more intelligence than we have.
Gentlemen, get to your positions-you will advance soon."
Ulrich Stoiber went from the briefing glassy eyed and mused what he could tell his crew in the remaining time.
Cavern of the Pillar, Skavenbight, same time
Gleepk was so overwhelmed by what he saw that he could not avert his gaze, even when it frightened him witless. The great cavern was lit by countless warplights and their reflections upon many symbols and pictograms etched into the walls. The middle of the cavern was a huge, 13-sided pillar that seemed to radiate cold and darkness like a fire radiated head and light. Green-glowing script repeated itself on any of the 13 faces and denoted the rules of the Horned Rat for Skavenkind. Normally a lowly Clanrat like the former driver would never see this wonder made by the God itself but Gleepk doubted that anything good would come to him from this occasion. He helplessly watched as the priests of the Horned Rat made sacrifices taken from his group. They were suspended head down so they would regain consciousness as long as possible. The acts performed on them would have been even horrible for Gleepk if he did not have to fear he would be subjected to them all too soon himself. Green-glowing probes were pushed into nerve centers, body cavities opened and arteries cauterized to prevent premature deaths, limbs, skin and organs removed…
Above all that a shadow formed at the top of the cave, darker than anything had a right to be. A strange pressure could be felt by all and the sound of immense claws that scratched on the walls of reality.
Level 600, Skavenblight, same time
Ulrich Stoiber had no need to tell his crews that some serious shit was up. When he got back to his platoon the runes on his tanks and the painted wolf eyes on the muzzles glowed red while the flags had elms fire attached to them.
An upraised arm turning got his men together for a quick briefing. "I do not have to tell you that the balloon is up. Down there the bleeding rats are trying to summon something major-we have to keep that from happening. In 15 minutes or so we will go down the passageway and will not stop till we are at Level 1800. We shoot anything that is not human or a Dawi and we kill everything we find down there-then we get back. We have to do this right-no room for failure. Scan me?"
"Yes Sir."
A few dozen meters away Joakim Vos watched his men climb into two Boxer transports. These were the standard IFV down here as the standard Puma were too high at 3.6 meters. It was a tight fit but he doubted they would stay mounted for long. He got seated across the newest members of his platoon.
"I thought that I was done with this doom business Lieutenant, might have been wrong"
"I hope it won`t be that bad Gotrek."
"Dunno, this gives off a pretty bad feeling. But you know what they used to say when we took the oath?"
"No, I don`t"
"You have to go out-you don`t have to come back"
"The guys on the other side don`t have to-we are still needed"
Same place, 5 minutes later
Oberst Stein watched the last of the vehicles roar down the tunnel that would lead them to victory or oblivion. Things were out of his hands now-mostly.
"They might as well fail you know"
"Yes General Wolf, I am aware of that. We have sent the best we have."
"Still, this might be more than humans are able to do."
"So, do you think we can do more than pray?"
"We will do that, yet did you not hint at another plan?"
"I did, but that decision is far above my pay grade."
"UNODIR?"
"Unless otherwise directed? I would if I could and consequences be damned. But I am physically unable."
"I could contact the Emperor, he could help expedite…."
Both men were interrupted by a soldier who brought a fresh print to the Colonel leading the Cave Raiders.
Scanning the short message the Imperial General saw the eyebrows of Oberst Stein rise.
"Will ye wonders never cease. Our esteemed leaders have moved in time. Let`s do this then and hope it is not needed.
Level 1800, Skavenbight, same time
By now Gleepk was far too close to the center of things. The first couple of ranks in front of Gleepk were already subject to the tender mercies of the torturers. For the simple warriors the really inventive tortures that had been inflicted in the Grey Seers-not to speak of Lord Paskit -were out of the question. Simple skinning and well-applied red-hot irons had to do.
Now that he was closer he could not just see the even more ugly details but also air that seemed to simmer like the air above a hot street. There were lines of these areas that led from the sacrifices to the darkness above.
Level 800, Skavenbight, a little later
Tank combat has rules. Advance from cover to cover in short bursts. Have a part of your unit in overwatch. Scout the area of advance. Cover your ass with infantry. Avoid combat in build-up areas if at all possible. Today Ulrich Stoiber was breaking them all. Driving at a nasty speed on a tunnel between two warrens that ever spiraled downwards he had no cover, no overwatch and next to no intelligence. He did not like this but had no choice-and it was quite a rush. It would have been nice if it was not so likely to get him and too many comrades killed. He flew his quadcopter drone as far forward of the tank as possible without losing control. Currently the monitor in front of him displayed a barricade made up from various debris backed up by enough Skaven to satisfy even the Dawi`s Book of grudges.
"Loader-cannister. Gunner-Infantry behind cover. Driver, lower dozer blade and warp speed" It was against all rules, it was rather dangerous, it was the only way to do it and it looked and felt damn good. The canister round converted the 120 mm gun into the world`s largest shotgun and many of the defenders into offal. Machine guns and grenade launchers killed most of the others when the tank collided with the barrier. The Skaven did not have the time to fix the machinery and carts to each other with chains so the breakthrough was as clean as it was spectacular. The following vehicles enlarged the gap, fired badly aimed salvos at their packed enemies and sped onwards.
The German tank commander regained command of his drone and directed it along the tunnel-looked good for the next kilometers. He started to believe that the task force was outrunning the news of the assault and started to hope they might make it.
Level 600, Skavenbight, same time
Heinz Albers watched the two soldiers drill another hole in the ceiling of the passageway with a coring drill. He had already prepared the last two and now waited for the rest to be finished. Nobody had told him why he had to prepare the major tunnels for demolition, just to do it and that this was to be done as fast as possible. He would have put that down as a severe case of paranoia if his Sigmar pendant would not have started to glow in an orange light.
Level 1200, Skavenbight, 30 minutes later
Ulrich Stoiber waited till the crosshairs had settled on the Rat Ogres chest before pushing the button for a second. A score of 40 mm grenades sailed above the half-collapsed ruin of a warren and half of them hit. The detonations ripped the beast apart at the seams left by Clan Moulder during its creation, the rest found enough targets in the teeming mass if Skaven around it. Some openings of the warren were illuminated by strobes-the Cave Raiders trued their best to keep the rats from the Badger tank that used its shovel to move the rubble aside. Couldn`t they move a little faster-every second allowed the Skaven to make better defenses farther down.
Ten eternal minutes again the cavalcade got rolling again and mashed everything in its way.
Level 1800, Skavenbight, a little later
It was Gleepk`s turn now, that was for sure. The ranks before him had died, taking far too long to do so and had given their all for-what? By now the sounds of something scratching were overwhelming and he did not hear any orders to step forward nor would he have obeyed them if he had. They pulled him forward along his chains, many strong paws forced his limbs where they wanted them-and then they stopped.
The sounds of something clawing had changed-now they were tearing. Even in his limited view Gleepk saw something the size and shape of a small ship`s prow move along the ceiling-from above where nothing could be. In its path it parted the darkness and left a gash that offered a view into something for which the former driver had no words but knew it was very important to look elsewhere.
So instead of looking into the Abyss Gleepk looked to the floor till the Abyss looked back at him-and them Gleepk, the driver and Gleepk the hero were no more.
Level 1800, Skavenblight, 10 minutes later
Joakim Vos watched the widening gap of the opening hatch. The space beyond it was filled with flickering light and smoke and spoke of bad tidings. Releasing the straps that held him to his bench he started for the exit. "Armored-on me"
He emerged into a scene right out of some prophets vision of hell-a huge cavern lit by green lights and fire, the ceiling hidden by smoke. Openings of strange geometries and sizes dotted some walls, glowing symbols and grizzly trophies at others. The cavern`s floor was filled by debris from the first minute of fighting, half-finished barricades, the allied combat vehicles and the enemy. There were Skaven of any description-small weapons teams that fired Ratling guns or sported the small pilot flame of Warpstone Flame throwers. Huge muzzle flashes indicated where Jezzalis took potshots and the wreckage of a Warpstone cannon explained the glowing flank armor of a Leopard tank.
"Paladin one from Kaiserliche actual."
"Paladin one hears"
"Joakim-we are to clear the rats from that barricade over there, the big boys cannot reach there. We can get till those pillars over there and then lay down suppressive fire."
"Done-wait for my signal then."
Checking behind him he saw that his Platoon had assembled and waited for the word.
"Platoon-target is the Barricade over there. We will be supported by the light tanks, first stop are the pillars over there. Armored."
"Up and at them."
For the next 20 seconds Joakim could have been on his own, sprinting from the cover provided by his APC to his first stop. Tracers from the tanks behind him ripped into the Skaven and forced those they did not hit into cover. Autocannon shells exploded in midair, timed so that they exploded behind the cover, shredding those who thought themselves safe.
None of this mattered at this moment as Joakim was concentrating on running in the right direction, of avoiding obstacles and keeping his head down. Twice he felt the impacts of something, yet the armor prevented injury. When he reached the pillars he dropped into cover and had the luxury for a quick look. All of his Platoons had made it-thank god. So now to wait for the tanks to catch up and repeat..
That was when the far wall of the cavern collapsed. Something inside had impacted so hard on the boundary that human-sized stones were ejected clear through the cavern, killing humans and Skaven alike. When some of the dust settled the first thing the Lieutenant saw was something like a huge tree with immense roots-no it had to be something else what the fuck…
More and more of the wall collapsed, revealing more of the newest threat. At first Joakim simply could not comprehend what he saw-whatever this was was surely too big to be alive and moving wasn`t it? Whether what he saw was alive was open to debate-that it could move was obvious. Huge, covered in the blackest of furs, combining features of rats and goats and being surrounded by a halo of warpfire the Horned Rat looked at those who had hurt its chosen people so.
The Warp
The Warp is no Olympus and still here the Gods reign. No beautiful cup bearer to give Ambrosia to nourish them, no grand architecture to house them as the Gods had moved past such needs. No Zeus to rule them and give direction as they made their own. But rules there were, even for them, ironclad and inviolable as the Multiverse itself was made around them. Never discussed as these beings rarely met, least of all eye to eye, never disputed as it would just highlight the limits of power that ought to be limitless but always obeyed because of the consequences.
There were not so many of these rules but the most important of them was the warp was the realm of the Gods, not what mortal minds called reality. The material plane was their chessboard, the source of their nourishment and power, the place to make some of their moves and enjoy their followers or their pets. If any of them were to move there it might shatter it, change it or open it to the warp-which would destroy its value to the gods in any case. Two of them in the material plane would bring this about for sure, so for many millennia the gods did not walk the Warhammer World but used their vassals and avatars.
Now one of them had violated that rule and threatened to spoil the price, to muddy the clean waters and to cheat the others of their game. This could not be. And yet-what could the others do? The Horned Rat had moved itself totally to the material plane, attacking it in the Warp was impossible, attacking it from the Warp would be close to useless or have dire consequences. And yet, it had to be done-and while the attacks would have limited value there were other venues for the gods to use. Runes made by those who knew the lore, wards laid down in accordance with the rules of some of them or pacts that were made knowingly or unknowingly provided channels through which the powers in the warp could exert their will.
Skavenblight, Cavern of the Pillar
Manfred von Carstein probably had the "best" view of this battle that was to be had from the allied side from the cupola of his mage tank. That he could perceive the disaster best did not mean he liked the situation any or had much control about it. Reaching out to the sources of his magic he found it in a surprising abundance. Knowing that holding back anything was courting disaster even more than now he broke barriers and seals that he had established hundreds of years ago. A small eddy in the warp released its long-held prisoners and dropped scores of undead led by cursed knights against the Skaven. The undead marched towards the Skaven and were destroyed quickly.
At the same time he heard the booming shots from the heavy tanks that were the core of the task force. There were impacts among the Skaven and one on the Horned Rat itself. Rat bodies were flung everywhere but too many seemed to get up again. The hit on the Horned Rat did not even seem to register. The tanks themselves were a sight to behold. The runes cut into their armor had emitted a low glow before-now they were white hot. The flag on each of them fluttered in a wind nobody felt and somehow seemed larger than life.
He felt his student animating freshly killed Skaven while he did his level best to eliminate an enemy spell before it became viable. All across the chamber vicious fighting had broken out and showed no rhyme nor reason.
He still remembered how these newfangled devices worked and pushed the button that would connect him to the German tank commander.
"Major Gerber-von Carstein here. If you have not realized that yet we currently face the Horned Rat, the God of the Skaven. There is nothing we can do here-we have to retreat or we will be lucky to die quickly."
"Von Carstein-ackowledged. We hold till the infantry has embarked again, then we get back. Cover our asses from magic if you can."
"I´ll do my best, but that is a God there you know."
Ulrich Stoiber and his tank platoon had attended a ceremony held by the Priests of Ulric, the War God, after the battle of Middenheim mostly as their superiors had pushed them to score PR points with the locals. They had already realized during the Battle of Sylvania that the ceremony had done more than take some spare time of them, they were far more effective against demons.
Now Ulric had sought a vent for his anger and found the Wolfpack and the bill came due-the War God claimed his own. It was not that the Germans inside the Leopard tanks changed too visibly-if you could ignore the eyes that is-but their minds were helped along by a being as old as time itself.
"Kaiserliche Actual from Wolfpack one-I suggest you get your people out, we`ll cover."
"Godspeed Wolfpack"
"Wolfpack two-with me, three and four back to the sides of the tunnel entrance. Driver-advance advance to the pillars. Loader-I need a triple when we are there-load grudge. Gunner, Target God in the cavern."
With a roar that nearly drowned out the other sounds in the cavern two 60+ton tanks accelerated like sports cars till breaking again after roughly a 100 meters.
"Grudge up"
"On the way"
The loaders in both tanks performed a maneuver which was strictly forbidden as it was highly dangerous. The first shells in the barrels were accelerated to a speed nearly double of that in a rifle. Inscribed with grudges by master Runesmiths they contained the hate of a whole race-and the approval of their god. When the shell passed the guns muzzle decorated with a wolf`s head it picked up Ulric`s indignation and sped onwards present both in the material plane and the warp. It had barely shed its sabot when it hit. The sabot would have penetrated the main belt of most battleships and likely killed anything moving on land. The flesh it met was not of this world and obeyed different rules.
In the two tanks that had opened fire the guns had barely completed the recoil and ejected the cartridge bases when the loaders crammed the rounds they had held in their arms into the waiting breeches. The next shots went out like before and whatever else they did-they hurt. The Horned Rat`s roar shook the very rock around the battle and brought nearly all combat to a short pause. Unlucky Skaven, Dawi and humans alike suffered pierced eardrums or went into convulsions. The tanks armor provided enough protection to keep the loaders functional who flipped up another round they had kept on their feet so far and rammed them into the guns they served.
Ulrich`s gunner made it and the round added to the pain. A torrent of Warp Lightning emerged from the God`s horns and went into No. 2`s armor. The runes on the side glowed even brighter for a fraction of a second before exploding into white-hot metal. Only a tiny fraction of the lightning found a way via the drivers vision block. It converted the driver into a human caricature made of charcoal before entering the fighting compartment. Its last tendril found the exposed propellant of the last round and ignited it.
The turret managed to hit the caverns roof before rebounding.
Joakim Vos found himself in a world of hurt. The Cavern in front of him disgorged an unending stream of Skaven, as did some side tunnels that had been quiet so far. Most Skaven were just that-normal Skaven just that these seemed to be unable to feel pain and injury and needed an ungodly amount of firepower to kill. Yet at the same time there were some figures that looked like a Skaven but that were transparent to a point, showing of bones and internal organs in a eldritch green light. These seemed to ignore most rifle fire completely and ripped apart any soldier they could close with using their bare paws. He fired a 3-round burst from his Mauser rifle into one of them and saw it going down immediately. He was too occupied to see the runes of his bayonet glow an angry red or that the Skaven he had hit had wounds that would normally indicate incendiary ammo.
Picking target after target he had to watch helplessly the approaching flood-for any Skaven he killed two took his place. The efforts of his platoon were like keeping an avalanche away with a fire hose-you will make some impact, but never enough.
Gotrek had the time of his life-as many worthy foes as a Dawi could dream of, a weapon that would kill them and an armor that protected him without slowing him down. Best of all he had two comrades who kept his back clear. To his side Valten killed anything that stepped in front of his hammer, behind him Felix alternated between using his rifle and his sword.
Normally the Skaven would not make worthy foes except for their number, their mad machines or their treachery. These were different, very different and definitely worthy. Some were a cross between a ghost and a real Skaven. They were not even scratched by Felix`s rifle but went down well enough when split by his axe. He learned to respect them when the claw of one managed to tear a deep furrow into the tough armor of his vambrace. Yet still they fell and allowed Gotrek to attack the real enemy-a group of Avatars of the Horned Rat that kept a part of the footsloggers from embarking their transports.
Bigger than any human, looking like an amalgam of human, goat, rat and hate in equal amounts. Studded with warpstone and killing with magic they were dangerous enough alone, groups of them were unheard of. Now that the infantry protecting them was gone one of them deigned to notice them and pointed his staff at them. Fuck-this was going to hurt. The three fighters tried to outspeed their doom, yet the bundle of lightning that sprung from the staff was faster. They would have been powerful enough to kill any of them or at least damage their armor to the point of uselessness. Instead the sorcery reached a point in front of Gotrek-and disappeared. There was no time for a retry and the three were among the Avatars before more attempts could be made. Gotrek hammered his axe into the inner tight of the one on front of him, ducking under the blade that was thrust in his direction. His guess that the Avatar was similar enough to other bipeds was correct-a pulsing steam of black fluid gushed from the wound. The monster dropped lower due to the cut muscles and sinews, offering its ugly head for a second strike that took its life.
Turning to his right the former Slayer faced another Avatar on the ground, still alive but with broken legs and shoulder and so out of it. Damn it, Valten was fast with that hammer. Another flash failed immediately in front of him and even the inhuman physiognomy of the other clearly indicated its confusion at some spell that failed. Never one to overthink the situation Gotrek leapt at one of them and opened a belly that had been held a little close to the ground. Avoiding being tripped in some entails by a hairs breath the dwarf managed to slash of a horn and to bury his blade in the Avatar`s brainpan.
Panting from exhaustion the former Slayer saw the mountain of fur, claws and magic in front of him. Why not-he could not live forever and his axe drew him like his old instincts. He started his run when there was a dome of light around him and his compatriots.
He would never know if he had imagined it or really heard "Oh no, not again you little twerp" and when the dome was gone he found him, Valten and Felix behind the German vehicle that had brought them to the battlefield.
Henrik Gerber was detached enough from the fighting outside of his tank that he even found time to wonder how this could be. This should not be him-experienced as he was a confrontation of this size should have panicked him for a while at the very least, more likely put him into a useless state of catatonia. And here he gave orders with an icy calm that transmitted itself through the wireless and that got a hold on the worst of any panic. He might have wondered less if he would have seen the ward that had been inscribed with painstaking detail into the front glacis of his tank. Being bought by the Empire it had gotten the finest of magical protection by Volkmar, the Great Theogonist of Sigmar. Currently the painting of the Empire`s founder was animated and maybe some of his experience was shared. By now most of his infantry were back at their APC or would never move again by their own violation. The armored Infantry-or what was left of them pulled back by squads firing into the Rats. They seemed to concentrate on the ghostly Skaven that were immune to mundane weapons but for some reason were vulnerable to the Armored Infantry.
His tanks were going after the Skaven, the Rat Ogres and the two Avatars that had shown up after the trio around Gotrek had suddenly disappeared. His 30mm cannon was easily the equal of them-as long as he kept out of the sight of the Horned Rat. Tank 03 had disregarded this for just a second and was now a half-melted wreck.
"Kaiserliche actual from Paladin 01-all present or accounted for, lets blow this joint."
"Wolfpack 01, send one Leo as Vanguard, then the APC pull out then us and then the Tanks. We make a stand at Level 1300-at the big Plaza after the collapsed Warren. "
He got the acknowledgements and watched one of the Leo disappear into the tunnel leading upwards followed by the Boxers.
"Driver-change to the spot behind the third pillar. Gunner-take down that Doomwheel right now."
The light tank had just vacated the last position when a huge explosion vaporized the low wall they had used as cover so far. To stand still in combat is to die-some truths had not changed since Sigmar had walked the Warhammer World. The Doomwheel came apart when several cannon rounds detonated at its frame-and then the last of the APC`s were gone, his 2 remaining tanks went and then finally it was his turn.
He would have liked to feel relived but he was pretty sure he had just delayed the inevitable.
Ulrich Stoiber had kept the remains of his tank platoon alive by moving them a lot and by keeping out of the sight of an angry god. The cavern which still held it was far higher than the one that held the allies and so far the opening between the two was not big enough to allow the Horned Rat to target the Leopards. He had taken two additional shots against the legs of the beast to no great effect apart from more roars and increased demolition-time to go.
"Wolfpack 3 -I`ll pass you into the tunnel, you follow."
Ulrich`s driver was very good and managed to drive the heavy tank backwards at speed, just relying on the picture send to him by two cameras in the back. Ulrich watched the last tank enter the tunnel when something hit its front right quarter and blew the track and cogwheel right off. The tank veered to the right and jammed itself against both tunnel walls, unable to move without a lot of specialized equipment and time.
"Wolfpack 3-get out immediately, we will pick you up."
"Wolfpack one-no, it is too close."
The German tank commander had to watch helplessly as the stricken tank fired round after round at incredible speed at something and then exploded in spectacular fashion, blocking the tunnel for a moment.
"Rest in peace Brothers. Driver-back up the tunnel and turn at first opportunity."
He made sure that his intercom was off before he started into an unbroken litany of "Scheiße, Scheiße…"
