Bundeskanzleramt, Berlin several hours later

Darkness had fallen outside of the office used by Angela Merkel, not that this would register in the windowless one she had to use since Germany emerged into a far more dangerous world. New lines had emerged in her face and old ones had deepened ever since the War against Skaven had erupted. Her face color was hard to tell in the artificial illumination, but that it was not healthy was obvious. Unending hours, hard decisions and the burden of having sent untold citizens to an untimely death had taken their toll. Even now that the worst seemed to be over the aftershock of having faced the worst crisis since three years stole even more energy. And still she managed to keep going. And like it was on most days there was one more call.

"Madam Chancellor, we have a connection to Thorgim Grudgebearer, High King of all Dwarves."
"Good evening High King, hope this call finds you well"
"Well met Chancellor Merkel. I could not be better as I have fulfilled the oath I gave you so many months before and in such a fashion as none of us could imagine. And you did keep yours as well which all Dawi give you credit for."
"I am sorry High King-which oath do you mean?"
"That means that we will send an army to Skavenblight. That means we will blast and burn this place till we have their "Council of Thirteen" in our hands and they surrender unconditionally-and if we cannot so that we will leave a crater where Skavenblight was. A crater that will glow in the dark."
These were your words-and by Grungir`s beard, did you keep them. Well done lass, well done. And you did more than you said-a Lady after my taste you are."

"I am most happy that the danger seems to be over. The appearance of the Horned Rat was a terrible surprise."
"Oh yes-but who could imagine that we could kill it-lass you have challenged a God-and won. This had not happened in Dawi memory-and we have long memories. Angela Merkel-the Book of Grudges has lost many many pages, something I never thought possible. All Dawi thank you, Germany and the allies for that."
"Thorgrim Grudgebearer, you and the valiant soldiers that took part in the fighting have the eternal thanks of the Germans. And we will find ways to express these thanks."
"You already did that more than we could expect. I personally thank you for allowing me to fulfil the oath I gave. Warsteiner is very nice, but I have been brought up with Bugmann`s and my wives and me also longed for the end of it."
"I am happy to hear that."

"One question of I am allowed lass. I hear that you will let the Dawi Warriors keep the weapons you issued to them for the fighting?"
"Yes, you heard right-provided you allow it. And we will supply them with ammunition at reasonable costs. We think this is a fitting way to express our thanks for the sacrifices of your people to our common cause."
"Lass-you know that we will use them to reclaim the lost Karaks?"
"I hope so."
"Lass-I do not know what to say. For the longest time I have watched my people barely hold what we have by the skin of our teeth-and what we have now is a fracture of what we once had. Now I see a chance to reclaim what is ours. This is incredible."
"We like to improve the situation of our friends High King, we have too few of them."
"Yes, there is that. Angela Merkel-we pronounce you Friend of the Dawi for all times. And I will give any Clan that seeks entry into the Reiksbund my blessings, including my own."

Naggarond, Naggaroth, roughly same time

Elric Straker had seen Malekith for most days of the last 400 years-he had rarely seen Malekith in such a foul mood. A couple of days ago something had churned the streams and eddies of the warp to such an extent that even somebody like the majordomo who had only the slightest inkling of the arcane for a true elf had felt it. Ever since then the Witch King had been absent, distracted, aggressive and generally abrasive even more than usual.
"Elric Straker, the richest majordomo in history. So nice of you to show up in these modest rooms and attend to your Lord. What brings you to me I wonder?"
"Highness, you have asked me to inquire with the Germans if they have any knowledge about a major magical incidence. They have answered that there were "news" via "Long-wave Radio" about a huge battle in Skavenblight and that the German army has defeated a "Major magical threat" with a weapon of great power. Claus, Son of Tolles told me to mention the "Manhattan Project" to you, but I have no idea what that means."

Elric Straker managed to get out of the room alive-the same could not be said about two courtiers and a concubine, such was Malekith`s wrath.
It took the Majordomo a day during which he alternatively shivered in delayed fear and praised the gods for his narrow escape to come to the point where he mused whether the Witch King might be….afraid?

Lothern, Ulthuan, 29. at night, Sigmarstag, Ulrikszeit

The palace of the Phoenix King is an aesthetically pleasing edifice that used a lot of the creativity of its builders to make it impressive instead of overwhelming, tasteful instead of tacky and that would still get the message across that the rulers of the world lived here. It had many halls and rooms that could hold quite an assembly, chambers for real work and spaces that allowed the rituals of government to be carried out.
And while the meeting in question encompassed some of the highest movers and shakers of True Elvendom it was held in a unremarkable room and according to the complex itinerary of the palace did not happen at all. The room was lit by candles and magical lamps as windows might allow eavesdroppers an avenue for their trade. Resplendent in clothing and appearance a group arranged themselves around a table according to rules and rituals older than human written language while seeming relaxed and intimate by an uninitiated observer.
The servants had left refreshments to the participants and had vacated the rooms. The need for secrecy was such that even the Phoenix King, Teclis and the Everqueen poured their own wine while nobody attended them. At the appointed time a door to a hidden passageway opened itself an released a hooded figure that went to his knees with the grace usually given to a cat.

"You may rise Aurelius of the House of Ethelorne."
The Asurian ambassador to the Reiksbund shoved the hood that had so far covered his face back while getting up.
"Your Highness, my Queen, an honor to meet you again. Teclis it is good to see you again."
"Likewise Aurelius"
No observer would ever detect that all three rulers had held the elven noble in contempt for quite some time and promoted him to their equivalent if Siberia which happened to be the then-newly founded Reiksbund. That said organization had proven to be the most powerful military alliance on planet had thankfully not resulted in disaster. Actually Aurelius had adapted to a surprising degree and forged a good working relationship with the Germans and their allies, something as urgently needed in these dangerous times as it was distasteful for the High Elves.
So in the minds of what went for the Asurian rulers the ambassador had evolved from buffoon to useful and possibly dangerous lunatic as his reports had indicated how impressed he was by the newly arrived Germans.
"You arrived remarkably quickly Ambassador, how was your voyage?"
"I was very lucky and able to book some places on the Friday flight from Berlin to Lothern."
"That way the Germans know that you travelled here-was that really necessary?"
"My absence from Altdorf would be equally hard to hide for months-and it was pretty obvious that I would be called back for information. And I do believe I was discrete enough that nobody in Lothern recognized me. Correct me if I am wrong, but it is more important that my travel to Asur and its purpose remains a secret to our people than to the Germans, isn't it?"
The pause that ensued would have been imperceptible for any human to detect, but the shift in perception of their ambassador by the assembled Asur was considerable.

It was Teclis who overcame his embarrassment first.
"Practically every Asur has felt that something major has happened in the Warp and enough mages have felt that the Horned Rat no longer is. If it were to become general knowledge that the Germans have something to do with it then we would face many questions at the very least. Even now many of the Elves which are aware of the Germans at all think them dangerous upstarts. If they suspect the Germans have in their meddling killed a God, even such a despicable one, there will be questions that we "do something" about them-and I am no longer sure we can. Actually I have a hard time understanding what happened and we hope that you can shed a light."
"I have called in every favor I own and pestered anybody who might know something. Also we scanned the German news services which are remarkably open. While there is a lot of variation the reports and our contacts all agree on a couple of things. First off: The Germans did indeed banish the Horned Rat, maybe even killed it."

The collective indrawn breath stopped Aurelius.
"So they really killed a God-how did these hairless apes…."
"They do not know what they meddle with…"
"Interesting, very interesting."
Teclis was remarkably composed for an High Elf who was confronted with something that he would have had declared absolutely impossible just a few days ago. Such things come hard for a being that lives in a basically static society for centuries.
"What happened pray tell."
"From what I hear the Germans placed a nuclear weapon-a weapon of terrible power-under an artifacts made from warpstone. This artifact may have been the Screaming Bell but I have been unable to confirm this. From what I heard the warpstone enhanced the already great powers of the bomb. When the Germans detected the proximity of the Horned Rat they sprung the trap-for some reason my German contacts spoke of "initiated". By now Skavenblight is a glowing crater and no residue of the Skaven God could be detected."
"What powers did the Germans invoke for such an effect? What fell forces will present the bill and pull us down together with the impetuous humans?"
"As far as I know-none. The Germans talk about a zone of "radioactivity" that will make parts of the Blighted Marsch unusable for humans for a long time to come, yet I have a hard time to see any change in that state from before. Apart from that the Germans have, as far as I can ascertain, not used any magic except to blow up a lot of Warpstone. Instead they used their superior knowledge of the physical world to cause such an effect."

The Phoenix King was heard for the first time.
"I have never heard of such a thing, It is hard to believe the Germans command such power without drawing on the Winds of Magic."
Teclis` face indicated how far lost in thought he was when he replied.
"Some of the lore of the Old Ones can be read in such a way that they commanded similar and even greater powers. They were said to blend what we call magic and what the Germans call technology into an incredible whole-but even that did not keep them from ruin. And now the Germans seem to follow that path, is that right Aurelius?"
"I have already sent reports that the Germans have made the first machines that use simple magics to provide power, like the engines that drive their new tanks. The parts that use the warp are unremarkable, the mechanical ones are not. Yet this might be just a beginning for them."
"Oh Isha, how can we keep them from wreaking havoc?"
"My Everqueen-the only way I see is through cooperation, by teaching them and by warning them of the pitfalls. Trying to force them will only lead to disaster."
"So you say Ambassador and I am sure you do so from a pure heart. Yet Asur is not powerless and some secrets are too terrible to be shared but with a few."

"My Queen-I won`t protest my ignorance in these matters. Yet it is hard to imagine any weapon that can threaten the Germans into submission without endangering Asur with the most terrible of retribution, like the one just inflicted on Skavenblight."
"The Germans will not have a supply of Screaming Bells surely"
"Even without them they command probably dozens of weapons that are able to wipe out even the mightiest fortress and greatest city. But they do not need to take recourse in them, their army is powerful enough on its own."
"And how do you get that impression"
"Let me show you a "video"-a visual recording of the Battle of Middenheim on this device, then it will become clearer Sire."
A short time later the rulers of Asur watched with stony faces the great Chaos Crusade go down in flames on the 10" display of the I-Pad held by Aurelius Etherlorne, ambassador and former buffoon.
"This "Video" must remain a secret Ambassador."
"This "Video" is freely available in Germany and the Empire for anybody who has access an "Internet connection" my liege. It is used to promote the Reiksbund. I will not refer this video to anybody else but there are more than a few Asur that have been to the Empire and Germany and there is no telling who has seen it. I have reported the contents to Osirion but it seems that he deemed this unreliable or not important enough for your eyes."

The Phoenix King was far too cultured to swear, yet the frozen features and the break in conversation made a bigger impression on his audience than the most inventive swearing by an experienced Drill Sergeant.
"Again you claim that this is the truth and that totally mundane means were used to achieve this?"
"To the best of my knowledge-yes. I have been invited to several demonstrations and field problems where the Germans showed their weapons. Neither me nor the mages I employ could detect any shred of magic except for very few items. Actually the dwarves make more use of magic than them. I have also been to the Battlefield in Middenheim and could detect no traces of magic that could have resulted in such carnage."
"Incredible, simply incredible."
"Yes my liege and still it is. We should make sure that nothing comes of "doing something about the Germans" for quite some time or we might not like the results."

"I see. Thank you for your works and advise Aurelius, this has been most valuable. Yet I have to ask you for another difficult task."
"Whatever is required Sire."
"It seems that some German renegades aid our misguided cousins in their invasion, and given what we have just seen this could lead to unfortunate results. Please inquire of these are working with the approval of the German government, and if this were not so what they want to do about this."
"Yes, Sire, with all due dispatch."
"Aurelius, we need to establish a more direct channel of communication to me. Any suggestions on which mage you would like to use?"
"Has your Highness ever considered a mobile telephone? The German embassy is close enough that you might have good reception and I doubt that the Germans speak High Sperenthiel so we should be safe from eavesdropping. The new Siemens smartphones are pretty nice."
"And this allows you to call me?"
"Or vice versa Sire, as long as we are in range of a transmitter. It costs just electricity and money"
"New times indeed Ambassador."

Berlin, BKA building, afternoon, 33. Bezahltag Ulrichszeit

The office was as nondescript as possible. The furniture had the steel and fake wood surfaces that were fashionable in the 80`s and that had followed the BND when it moved to Berlin as many furniture suppliers were no longer able to supply. There was no window, no personal mementos and nothing else to show any trace of the office`s user.
The Laptop on the table was top-notch though, the safe behind the chipboard door a hard-to break model and some drawers contained really interesting things. Ottokar Proktor liked things that way and spent quite a lot of time here like a spider in its net trading and shaping information. Currently he worked his way through a lengthy report about one of the many projects that Section 31 had initiated and shaped.

He had shaken his head in disgust when he read the project name-Projekt Bureauklammer (Paperclip), how very funny and of course it did not give away the purpose at all. Idiots, he would ask for a renaming very urgently. But besides that gaffe the idea behind it had merit. The now-empty Camp Hohenstaufen now held an assortment of Warpstone Engineers of Clan Skryre that were quite willingly teaching the Germans about the ins and outs of handling warpstone. What uses could be had from that if managed properly. That proposal there for example-a warpstone mantle for a B61 bomb…

Bundeskanzleramt, Berlin, 11:00, 6. Baekertag, Vorhexen

It was time for another briefing, one the many that Germany`s government needed to make decisions. If anybody had hoped this kind of thing would slow down with the end of the War they were disappointed. The only, and most welcome change, was that the briefings no longer contained daily loss figures and described dangers that could very well threaten every living being on this world. It did not mean that the briefings were less important as they might contain the info tht might prevent a repeat of the carnage wrought during the last months.
The next man to climb to the lectern was big even by German standards with more than 1,90 meters and his suit did not hide a powerful built. The shortcut grey hair and the erect bearing hinted at a military past, the accent made sure that nobody looked for that past with the Bundeswehr. He was greeted by the German Chancellor whose eyes he matched with blue-grey eyes that looked through wire-framed glasses.

"Professor Trevayne, nice to meet you in person finally. Your analyses have been widely read during the last months and I know nobody who called the shots better than you did. Your help in deciphering the mess left by the Skaven is highly appreciated."
"Ma`am Chancellor, it is an honor to be here and I am glad to be of help. My Staff and me have dug through the info that came off the Skaven refugees that turned themselves in or that were apprehended as well as the intel provided by drones and recon teams. There is much still in flux and many details will remain unknown for some time, but several trends emerge.
The disappearance of the Horned Rat has influenced the Skaven in many ways, most of them destructive. It seems that in all Skaven Undercities that we could gather intel on a major proportion of the Skaven died. The most likely cause seems to be massive infighting and something with seizure-like symptoms.
A lot of these Undercities will no longer be viable as the remaining population will be too small and probably not skilled enough to maintain the complex life support the Warrens need, especially the drainage systems. The survivors tend to migrate through the tunnels that used to connect the Skaven strongholds and come up to the surface and only come up where the tunnels were blocked. As long as they migrate outside of the Reiksbund we should not interfere.
Inside the Empire and Tilea a lot of these refugees are killed on sight and regretful as this is I do not see how we can stop that in time.

An interesting situation has developed with the Skaven prisoners. During the last months Skaven, even those that were initially cooperative usually turned extremely aggressive after a while-"turning kamikaze" was used by a lot of guards to describe the behavior. Immediately after the initiation of the nuclear device many of the remaining Skaven had seizures or attacked each other. A sizable proportion of the survivors exhibited a strongly reduced intelligence compared to their capabilities before, many of them left without speech.
The others have, on average, become much more cooperative and exhibit reduced aggression to each other. It stands to reason that the banishment of the Horned Rat has been the cause of this.
For the future there is a decent chance that the Skaven will rebuild their Undercities with a far greater emphasis on the common good of the community. It is unlikely that they turn into good democrats any time soon, but even an authoritarian government akin to the PRC or Singapore would be a vast improvement, both for the Skaven and us.
It might be possible to come to an agreement where the Skaven stay below a certain level and we above it, but the Dawi and Imperials will combat the Skaven where they find them for the foreseeable future. Whether this influences the relationship Germany has towards them as the Skaven have to see Germany as an ally to these forces remains to be seen.
It goes without saying that we propose a careful monitoring of the situation, but there is a chance to turn the Skaven from an intrinsic threat to a possible trade partner in future."
"Thanks for this enlightening presentation Professor Trevayne."

50 Kilometer from Druchii Railhead, Ulthuan, 6. Baekertag, Vorhexen

Areta Bane was eating dust and hated it. Her heavy weapons platoon by necessity was in the middle of the Black Company`s marching column. The road upon which the mercenaries moved was a well-travelled one and the winter draught had left the road a long strip of dried sand that was churned up by the passing army. It was just one more problem heaped upon the Platoon leader`s list of headaches.
She had been more than just happy when she had been promoted and given her own platoon, especially a heavy weapons one. She had seen first-hand what crew-served weapons could do when she campaigned with the Black Company last year. While these made up less than 10% of the Auxilia they had more than half the kills to their name. While the weapons in her platoon were considerably less sophisticated they were nearly as deadly-and part of her headache. These weapons, while powerful, also need maintenance and spare parts galore and wanted to be treated nicely. They needed ammo in copious amounts that had to be brought about somehow. Their use was more difficult than just pointing a rifle downrange and leting fly too and that meant well-trained crews that did not try to kill each other.

The latter was another part of the problems-she had received a fair share of newcomers who had to be brought into the ways of the Germans. That had been more difficult than originally expected as they newcomers were not the losers of Druchii society but ambitious high-fliers that wanted to be part of the most powerful infantry unit the true elves employed and learn its secrets. Set in their so-far successful ways they had been far harder to mold into the Auxilia`s shape than their original candidates. By now Areta`s skill with a bullwhip had much improved and the relentless drills had achieved remarkable success but there was still friction she could do without.
Then there were the horses-if one would deign to call the animals with such a lofty name. To pull the weapons` caissons and the ammo carts the Germans had bought Hung ponies. They were a hardy lot that could exist on the dry shrubbery of the Steppe which would kill the Druchii stallions in days and keep going after the mighty warhorses had collapsed long ago. At the same time they were willful, stubborn, aggressive and ugly.

Her surroundings did not add to Areta`s mood in any way. The woods had been cut back to some 50 meters or more besides the road they were using and the winter had removed a lot of their foliage, making it harder for the shadow Warriors to hide in ambush. Yet the cold of the beginning Naggarythe winter, the barren trees and the absence of brushwork made for a depressing sight. For Druchii it was light up by the crosses that adorned the road, displaying the Shadow Warriors in various states of decay. That these were still visible meant that the High Elves had not been in this stretch of the road for some time, otherwise they would have been gone.
Whatever her problems and headaches-the Auxilia could care less-she would have to make sure that her Platoon would arrive at the Dragon Gate in two weeks' time. The Army led by Malus Darkblade had fought to a standstill and somebody needed to help them out. The somebodies in question were the Auxilia.
Several flickering shadows and the far-off sound of flapping made Areta look to the sky-she had never seen so many Dragons in one place. The Auxilia would have to help-but they would not be alone.

Winkler family apartment, Berlin, roughly same time

It was one of the evenings the Winklers had set aside for a quiet evening in front of the TV. They had prepared their bread rolls and a tea each in advance as they planned to combine dinner with their entertainment. They had elected to try a new show that aimed to replace an old favorite of theirs that had been taken away by the Weltensprung.
Now Wigald Boning could not replace Adam and Jamie, but he had his own style and had for a while hosted something similar. With no foreign TV productions to be had the relaunch had a better chance and there were so many new opportunities to be had.

"Today we check whether a Griffon can indeed fly faster than an observation plane, if Morrslieb is indeed all Warpstone and if a mage pushing something around by his force violates Newton`s 3rd law. But first let us try the myth that a Griffon is indeed faster than a "Storch". Freshly back from the Battlefield Lieutenant Alpers will fly his plane against Freiherr von Herbst who rides the Griffon "Aufrecht"….
While the bread roles disappeared the Winklers watched the races between the mythical (for Germans) beast race the Storch nearly to a draw, saw the results of the latest satellite scans that had checked the moon for magic and found that the equal and opposite force was applied to the warp. All that was done in a humorous fashion but the experiments were rigorous and designed to give clear results.

Ralf knew from the Cult of Shallya that the series became very popular in the Empire and was often shown before the main movie at cinemas. A generation of Imperials were introduced into the scientific method-he heartily approved.
The name "Mythenbezwinger" (Mythbusters) would have brought copyright problems before, that was a non-issue now. And while Ralf would miss Adam, Jamie and crew the German equivalent had such interesting myths to check…

Naggarythe, Ulthuan, 8. Koenigstag, Vorhexen

Morvael of the House Aethel, 3rd best Knight of Caledor currently led the largest single army Ulthuan had assembled in one place for a very long time. He did this only until Tyrion was back from whatever urgent business had made him go back to Lotheren in such a hurry, but it was grand nevertheless. According to his thoughts the core of the army were the Dragon Princes, the elite cavalry made up from nobles of Caledor. Despite their name they were horse cavalry out of necessity. Malekith had been able to put a spell on the Dragons in Ulthuan that put them to millennia-long sleep long ago. Thus the Princes of Caledor mounted the finest horses in Elvendom, yet managed to keep their superiority on the battlefield-called insufferable arrogance even by other Asur.
That the infantry would be ten times as useful when the army had to relive the siege of the Dragon Gate as cavalry was useless in trench fighting, was several times as numerous and that the Elven bows one of the strongest weapons possessed by Asur-details, just details. Whoever had seen an assault by the Nobles of Caledor had seen war in all its spectacular glory and none could tell of an attack that failed-the latter usually because of a lack of survivors.

Yet currently nobody was planning something as uncivilized as trench warfare. Instead the Ulthuan army was aiming to cut the supply line between the Bay of Drusilla and Malus Darkblade. The latter would hit the Druchii hard as the barren lands of Nagarythe did not have anything left that the traitors could forage. That should force the Druchii general to break of the siege and seek a battle on the open field that Marvael so much preferred.
Currently he moved the army towards the shore not so much to close with the beachhead but to reach an area with still-intact grassland and springs. Fodder for his horses was the thing that took the most space in the carts that carried supplies from the sea and anything that reduced this would be good. His mages had found a small force of Druchii in the location he wanted to occupy, but there seemed to be only a few thousand of them, maybe 4000 or so. Given that he outnumbered them by at least one in 20 that was nothing to be too concerned about. If he were to kill them before Tyrion was back it would add nicely to his reputation.
His helmet effectively hid his scowl when he saw the shape of another Dragon-Malekith could never be punished enough to what he had done to true Elvenkind when he took away their beloved Dragons and stole enough eggs to breed his own.

Hartmut Klawitter was doubly glad about his new flying gear. Now only did the heavily insulated overall make the winter temperatures in Ulthuan at roughly 150 kph survivable at all, but they also insulated his behind from the hard leather saddle that he rode on. And said behind needed more padding than usual as he had lost a bet he had stupidly accepted when it was proposed by Yerena, his Druchii Dragon Rider. He now had some interesting memories of a long night and a lot of welts in nether places.
He saw the unending carpet of woods, tundra and grassland that made up Nagarythe when he looked down, the endless road that wound its way towards the Dragon Gate-and the bleeding big army that made its way towards the Bay of Drusilla.
He had been send to find it as the Druchii mages had visions of something like this and Wolfgang Böhler had his force dig in astride that road. Hartmut doubted that he had counted on an army of this size.