Red River Valley, early morning
The wail reverberated from the valley's sides, its shriek magnified by the many echoes that sped back and forth from the sheer rock faces. Such was the sound`s fury that small landslides detached here and there and tumbled downwards, noticed by nobody but those directly below as they were masked by the furies who raced above the battlefield.
Seven "Tornado" fighter-bombers made their way towards their designated targets. They had flown a long way to reach their destination, having to undertake a nighttime aerial refueling to make it so. This was a difficult exercise under the best of circumstances and the rush had allowed an accident to happen. While not much more than pilot`s pride was hurt a plane was already missing from the attack.
The planes separated into two flights, one aimed for the western group of Chaos Dwarfs, the other made for the enemy at the far side. The Tornadoes released within seconds of each other dropping more than a dozen tons of steel and explosives into their targets. Shockwaves formed and merged into each other, ripping all between them to shreds. Fragments sped from the bombs cases and ripped any flesh they met apart. Two Mechs were too close to the attack and were toppled by it, only one got back up and that with a limp.
The fighter bombers sped from the valley as fast as they had come and had wrecked great havoc.
Red River Valley, North Valley side
Lord Hrothgar`s ears were still ringing from the bombardment and he had a hard time believing the utter devastation that had been meted out in the area his DawiZharr had occupied. Were a labyrinth of rocks and individual spider holes dug by his warriors had been minutes before craters had ejected tons of soil to the sides, often burying those unlucky enough to be caught by the blast. Whatever positions his soldiers had dug, most were gone now and the few survivors of the attack stumbled aimlessly about, falling to rifle fire ever so often.
This was not what he had expected, he had expected a bombardment by the human mortars and their huge guns he had only seen glimpses of. He could not see them now, but the first ragged line of enemies that formed hundreds of meters away were obvious enough. It was a good thing that he had pulled most of his warriors back into the tunnels as he would have lost the lot of them otherwise.
He would congratulate himself later, for now he had to extract the main body of his forces from too few tunnel mouths. Maybe he could hold the humans off for a while until the majority was in position.
"Persnid, signal to all company leaders, they are to send their machine gun teams out first, followed by 2nd company. They are to take cover in the last row of craters over there and prepare top receive an attack."
Red River Valley, top of the Northern valley side
Skarsnik was on top of a mighty Archanarok Spider, surrounded by a retinue that was as loyal and capable as Goblins would ever be and wielded weapons of might. He also felt as helpless as a newborn in the face of the destruction that unfolded below him.
The humans and the new Dawi had somehow gotten weapons so powerful that anything else he had seen paled by comparison.
Oh how naive his plan had been to promise the humans to play nice with his mighty horde if they would allow his people to settle in the Ostmark instead of laying waste to it. His oh-so-mighty horde would have lasted for a song and a dance and a short one at that.
And now these humans were attacked by the enemy who was even more terrible than he had feared.
His horde was gone, that was for sure, currently they hid in the nooks and cranny of the valley but once a victor of the great battle below him emerged he would either kill them or take them as slaves. Very bad indeed, but where would that leave him?
The battle below was heating up in many ways and Skarsnik was pretty sure he had picked the winner already. If he led his retinue down the slope at the right time he might attack the losers from behind, take their weapons and be away before the winners were any wiser.
Yes, that was what he would do, he just had to wait a little longer while the attackers would kill themselves off.
Red River Valley, Eastern side
Nathan Kerenski watched the enemy approach with the first light. He still wondered why somebody would be so stupid as to build Battlemechs for real. With this amount of steel and weapons something better could have been built for sure. These "Mechs" could not go "hull-down", they presented far too much frontal area to him so they were not armored as well as they could be and their ground pressure must be immense. Not that this would help him if they connected a shot or two or that he would complain if the enemy played stupid. The closest Mech to his position was another Marauder who had a nasty gun on his back. That one needed to go first.
"Loader, Grudge."
"Grudge up"
Nathan settled the reticle on the center of the Mech`s pod and pulled the gun`s trigger.
"On the way" mixed with the concussion of the gun and the recoil that shook the armored car.
"Driver, back to fallback position."
When the car cleared the dust that had been raised by the muzzle brake Nathan whooped with joy seeing the "Mech" on its back and an eldritch fire that consumed the iron itself. Having relocated after the shoot proved to be wise when lots of unguided rockets exploded all over Nathan`s old position which brought a Crusader to the tanker's attention.
"Loader Grudge."
"Grudge up, last shell."
"On the way."
The time needed to pull the trigger was the time needed by that Mech to start dropping forward to cover. It was not time enough to remove him completely and the shell hit the top of the "Mech`s" head instead of center torso as intended. There was a huge explosion combined with something like screaming metal. A cloud of dust and smoke rose while Nathan`s Gunslinger rocked back and then to one side to get cover behind a different set of rocks. Nathan`s sight was restricted by the periscope he used to get an overview of the battlefield. The first thing he saw emerging from the smoke was a slender gun barrel that was partially obscured by a muzzle flash. This time the projectile did not impact at his old position but behind some rocks to the right.
A huge explosion showed where Gunslinger 3 had been and a sooty fire was all the pyre their crew would ever receive.
"Gunner HE"
"HE up"
By now more of the Mech could be seen. Blackened both by design and proximity to the last explosion it was unlike any other of the Mechs Nathan had seen before, yet he immediately recognized it. Both arms did not end in hands but cannon muzzles, a small rocket launcher perched on one shoulder and several smaller apertures indicated where more weapons might be. This was the Mech whose picture had send Nathan playing that game, the Mech which in the fluff had been piloted by a redhead which shared his name.
The Mech was a Warhammer and the cannon which had not fired yet swiveled in his direction.
He pulled the trigger before the sight had really settled. Given the height of the target the mistake in height did not make much of a difference and so an explosion rattled the Mech before him. His Gunslinger still shook with recoil when a concussion threatened eardrums and to overturn his armored car while rocks and fragments added to the din by smashing into the thin armor.
"Driver back."
Nathan hit the switch that he had thought most superfluous for this mission. On both sides of the turret stubby barrels ejected small canisters which produced copious amounts of white smoke when they hit the ground. They hid Nathan`s movements as well as any spell could.
"Driver, get us behind that group of rocks at 7 o`clock. Loader, HE."
"HE up"
Like the Grim reaper coming to claim the souls the huge Mech parted the smoke, turning from side to side in search of the Nathan. The German laid the recticle on the few pieces of glass that might be a cockpit of it were a "real" Battlemech before pulling the trigger. The round flew nearly true but glanced off the prow-shaped torso without ever exploding. The Mech turned in his direction and started to sprint forward.
"HE up"
Nathan fired as soon as he heard the loader. He did not adjust elevation which meat that the round exploded right against a led, nearly toppling the Warhammer that had started to run. The Mech stopped, swayed, righted itself and took aim.
The first shot went wide by a bit and rocked the car again like mad. When it settled back it assumed a new angle and Nathan feared the worst.
"Driver back."
The car started to sway and torn in place but did not move from its place.
Nathan looked down a gun barrel that looked the size of tunnel and saw his very end when a score of explosions wreathed the Mech in smoke and fire, toppling a set of legs to the ground that were barely attached to the mangled rest.
Red River Valley, 200 meters AGL
"Gotcha you bleeder." Eberhard von Roon pushed the throttle far forward now that he wanted to gain attitude again. His feet automatically moved the pedals so that his ascent resembled that of a snake`s path. Given that he was chased by at least two machine guns that was a wise move. Pulling his craft in a wide turn he observed a pair flying disks that were making their way towards the Wolves` position.
"Eagle lead, this Eage three. I have spotted two disks at low attitude, permission to engage."
"Eagle three, this is lead, permission granted."
It hammering of his autocannons would feel good, seeing their AP-ammo penetrate the disks even better. Yet Heinrich`s death had shown the dangers of that and he was not to disregard the lessons his friends had taught by dying if he could help it.
"Eagle eight, this is three, we engage. Take the left disk, we use laser."
"Eagle three, acknowledged."
Heinrich switched to another weapon and placed the disk inside the visor before pulling the trigger about half way. A laser had been mounted in his plane that now illuminated his target with coherent light. A warbling tone rose in his earphones and quickly rose to a continuous wail.
"Fox six" went from both pilots nearly simultaneously and two slender missiles left the pods under their wings. Considered low-cost by the Luftwaffe their were valuable indeed as far as the Empire was concerned. Instead of relying on pure ballistics the heads of the missiles oriented themselves towards their laser points and steered themselves to them.
They had no explosive warhead, just a stainless steel penetrator, but they were doing better than Mach 3 by the time they collided with the "Flugscheiben". The kinetic energy they handed over was far too much for the magitech combatants to endure and so they dropped to the earth below, burning and tilting all the while.
"Clank"
Something touched Lord Hrothgar`s Helmet with an evil whine. It probably came from one of the artillery rounds that the humans had shot into the area his troops occupied. These were really dangerous, unlike the mortar shells that would only kill you if they dropped into the same crater you occupied these exploded in midair and punished anything under them with an iron flail. They had killed enough of his soldiers already and he had to call for reinforcements from the tunnels all the time. Without the machine guns and the solitary BK.108 that had survived so far his position would have been overrun already. Yet the humans could only attack frontally, they had to traverse an area devoid of cover and so far he made them fail.
One assault had reached the point where the feral humans had been in range to drop hand grenades down their hole, but when his autocannon had enfiladed them and chopped the soldiers to bloody bits that attack had failed.
Persnid appraised him of Lord Gholam`s advance. It seemed like they took heavy losses but kept advancing while he made the enemy stay in place. It could not be long now and the humans would succumb to the righteous wrath of the DawiZharr.
That was when he heard the whistling that he started to learn to hate and fear in equal measure. Yes, several planes were coming in again, cannons ablaze and two rows of explosions sprung up among his DawiZharr as per magic.
Hrothgar watched the planes go, saw the machine gun crew that rolled in their own blood and entails and crawled forward.
The gun was unharmed so hen ignored the stink of opened intestines and the squishy feeling under him abd pushed it back into place while bullets whizzed above his head. Pulling the trigger and watching the humans drop under his fire was the most satisfying thing he had done all day. Finally he could take out the frustrations he had undergone all morning himself. The mighty weapon he had been given killed his enemies like god-given thunderbolts and by now he was joined by others as well. More Dawi dropped into the same crater than him, once starting to assist with the loading, others firing as fast as they could with their rifles. The humans were already dropping into cover again, he could easily see this attack faltering as well.
Red River Valley, North face
Skarsnik was no coward, not in the slightest and especially not by the measure of his people. He was in the front of the raid and led. His spider ran down the sheer cliff face at a speed not so far from what he could have attained by jumping down and he led his retinue into hell itself. Below him explosions tore at the ground with neither rhyme nor reason, shots were fired in such amounts that it boggled the mind and the sky above was filled by machines that fought each other. Against this might his people were like mice when the lions were at it and just like the mice his only hope at survival and grabbing something from this mess was at not being seen.
It was sheer madness, it was frightening to the very bones and it was exhilarating as few things the Goblin had ever experienced. He would strike, he would steal and he would get away to become great again. The humans were on the verge of losing, everybody could see that and they could hardly exact revenge if they were all dead, couldn`t they.
And then disaster struck. Something from one of the flying machines struck the cliff face below and exploded outwards, making untold tons of rock slide down the cliff face. His path was blocked and there was no way to stop in time, no way to get back up. The very best he could do was to angle his charge to the right and hope that the cliff would not drop there too.
And then he saw where that would lead them and he screamed.
Red River Valley, close to west exit
Streams of bullets went by Heinrich Hemmler`s head by mere centimeters and he knew he had failed. His last assault had followed the best artillery strike he could organize on its feet and still it had faltered. He could still rouse his soldiers to another push, they had so much heart that it took his breath by thinking on it. But in the face of so much firepower too many would simply die before they could close with the enemy.
He would still lead the assault, he had heard very bad things about the Chaos Drwafs, but the thought of failing such good soldiers was nearly too much to bear. He forced himself to lift his head above the rock despite the flying death there and was treated to the most remarkable sight on a morning that had enough of them.
Spiders the size of ponies were descending the cliff face at breakneck pace, led by a Goblin on a much bigger one. They were in open sight and should have been an easy target if anybody would have noticed them, just that they came from a direction nobody had expected at all. When they reached the broken ground their rides managed to negotiate it with fluid ease and they closed with the enemy in seconds.
Poisonous mandibles closed on barely armed limbs, spears combined the meager power of their wielders with the momentum of their charge, surprise and the horror of the Goblins ride wrecking far greater impact then the few Greenskin warriors by themselves.
Heinrich Hemmler was speechless for a second or two and then he seized the chance the Gods had given him with both hand.
"Up and at them Wolves, up and at them."
And the soldiers rose as if from their graves and charged. This time they would not be denied and were not. There were a few close moments and Colonel Hemmler had to stabilize his left arm with the right when he closed with the paunchy Goblin who tried to push another rifle on his spider.
"Well done Skarsnik, very well done. The Dragoons are in your debt."
"You needed help humie, same as my folks. Think you can carry a few of these bagsticks for us when we skedaddle?"
"Oh I think something might be arranged."
Less than a quarter of an hour later Skarsnik`s spider did its best to follow the humie "truck" that held their wounded and some of their precious rifles.
Behind him a lonely small car shot its gun at huge shapes that could barely bee seen in the smoke and explosions appeared whenever the humie flying machines dipped into the valley.
He started to believe that he would survive this disaster.
Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Bureau), Wiesbaden, Germany
14 new police officers were standing at attention, awaiting their first fast assignment. Most were a bit giddy, having heard rumors they would become part of the now rather prestigious Magic subdivision. Standing before them was a female Kriminalhauptkommisar. The short-haired blonde officer spoke to the young newcomers in a pleasant, instructing voice.
"Hello, I am Conny Niedrig and I know that some of you already heard rumors about your assignment. I can confirm those rumors about the Magic Division. It goes without saying that since Germany stranded here, by a MAGIC accident no less, building up a police force specializing in Magic is important.
Considering what happened in the last decade that is clear for anybody. Magical Storms, Demons, Warpstone, the list gets longer with every year. Naturally we are expanding our forces dedicated to counter magical dangers. You 14 are among this year`s graduates with interest in magic, but no talent for using it. That is not a bad thing, despite it might seem so. Our guest today will explain why. Günter, the stage is yours."
The man who had come to meet the assembled group during Conny Niedrig´s speech was clearly a guest. The young police officers and Conny were wearing their police dress uniforms, while Günter Koch was in his Armed Forces garb.
"Thanks Conny! I know that it must be hard to accept that while one can feel the Winds of Magic, it is not possible for oneself to successfully control them beyond some 'knacks'.
It might surprise you, but on a certain level I envy you. Yes, envy you! You might ask why someone with my level of talent might be envious.
I don´t deny that opening up to the magical world is fantastic as you too know to a certain point, but it is not without risk. You, who are gathered here can sense the Winds and cast some minor spells. you might think fate cheated you, but that is wrong.
You might never throw the proverbial fireball down the street against our enemies, but you equally will never be exposed to catastrophic backlash. If you botch a levitate book spell there won´t be much trouble for you or anybody else. You all might not have the full power of a sorcerer, but you have a safe, if small, opening into magic. And this opening makes you special enough for the job to watch over Germany. While anyone can monitor the magical maps, persons with magical talent are better suited for it due to an intrinsic connection. You can be proud to be chosen for this important position."
The group had entered a large room, which was dominated by an at least 5 meters long and 3 meters wide map table and an even larger map on the front wall. Both maps showed Germany and the bordering regions in a multitude of hues. There were several workstations placed in the room connected with an adjectant radio room. The newcomers were awaited by several senior police officers for their assignments. But before that, Günter had returned the word to Conny Niedrig.
"This is the main map room where it all began. These big maps are still in use as you can see, but over the last years, we made upgrades to these maps, sensor entwork and the whole division. More and broader magical knowledge did not only let us improve the sensitivity and clarity of the sensors, but we created sector maps with even higher resolution, which we now use primarily. The map rooms are in this building wing.
Germany is divided into seven sectors. Northwest, Northeast, Center-West, Center, Center-East, Southwest and Southeast. Two of you each will become part of the sector teams and further instruction will be given in the map rooms by your instructors. Gisela, Rüdiger, please follow me."
The group of newbies split up with their instructors, walking to the map rooms lining the floor. Conny Niedrig, Gisela and Rüdiger entered the room labelled Südwest (Southwest). There they stood in a little antechamber before the main map room. Conny continued.
"As you have learned, events and the Winds of magic are color-coded on the maps, in steps from zero to twenty."
She pointed at the map visible behind the glass wall.
"Unlike at the start of your training, we are now able to filter out the normal magical background amplitudes and shifts, so the map looks 'normal' most of the time, there is just a difference in color intensity based on the general magical background levels. You were not here in the beginning, at the start of this division the maps could at times look like a screensaver made by a LSD addict.
As you see, your map is divided into standard quadrants. You will watch over the Southwest sector, which means western Baden-Württemberg, the southern tip of Hessen, the Palatinate, the Saarland, Nanseitochi and the southern part of Neupreußen (New Prussia).
A tip from me. Your teacher correctly taught you to anticipate and spot magical events and calamities, that is exact what is needed. But what will help you in the long run immensely is to know when you do not need to raise alarm. Every officer working here has his or her own calendar, filled with fixed events and assorted intensity. Or the descriptions of continuous events.
Let me give you some examples. The magical faculties in Heidelberg, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken have regular exams, ranging in strength from 1-10. If they go higher for master exams or major experiments, we are informed beforehand. But it is seldom higher than 12.6 or so. That said, you know that any event of strength 13+, even if announced, has to be observed carefully.
In the main work room, every station has a constantly updated copy of the GMRS (German Master Registry of Sorcerers). It contains the data of every sorcerer who lives in your sector. Name, home town, specialty, if already chosen, typical places of magical work or research and upper limit of safe magical potential. Use it, get comfortable with the general situation in your sector and it will make your job way easier.
Next, get to know the exceptional cases. Take Günter Koch, whom you met earlier. He has a special dispensation for Necromancy, which you might already know since he has become quite famous. Therefore, any necromantic events in quadrant E3 below 5 can be disregarded. Up to 8 as well, except there is something unusual about it. Unusual? You are sensitive to the Winds, you will feel if something is unusual about strong events, the maps channel an echo of it to you.
Günter at times goes higher, the highest I have seen was 14.2, but he informs us before, updated quarterly or by phone if something pops up short term. This is the norm for all sorcerers. Likewise the quarterly update tells us about guest teaching or work, not only by him, but the other magicians in the sector too. We can actually read our own entries.
Like the Universities, there are the parameters of corporations, farmers and the Bundeswehr using magic in the sector.
Every Chaos manifestation, no matter how minor, has to be reported, no surprise there, but before I continue, we should go in and meet the second shift."
Valaya`s Gate
It was a thing of great beauty for anybody with eyes but for a Dawi like Kargan Ironbeard it was special beyond words. The stones before him had to be separate, the small differences in patterns said so but for the life of him he could not see the joints.
The surface of the stones was as smooth as the finest German glass he had ever touched and yet the stones had been cut in such a way that he would swear there was a three-dimensional surface until he tried to touch it and found a totally flat.
The huge cave with was mostly like the forces of nature had shaped them terminated in a wall that was unadorned and featureless except for very beauty of the stones themselves. Its only distinctive feature was a huge gate set into the wall, made from a wood he did not recognize, held together by Gromril bands and protected by runes both mighty and rare.
He took all of that in while he somehow felt standing close to something unimaginably huge and powerful but at rest.
"It is said that Dawi very close to the rock could see the joins when these stones were set yet they have grown into each other over time."
"That must have been a long time ago."
"Oh yes, that was when the Goddess still walked among us. It is a marvel that only few are allowed to see for her sake so that nothing disturbs her sleep. All these aeons she had her rest and now you led them to her."
Kargan forced himself to turn from the miraculous wall and faced Berlit, Priestess of Valaya. Clad in robes of a style no Dawi had seen for millennia, a tired face which bore the crags that the wall would not and a stern mien that he would rather avoid.
"We did not lead the undead here, when we retreated we made for the surface at another direction. Back then we did not even know where she rests. They somehow knew the resting place of the goddess already."
"No not the undead, them..."
The staff in her arm tipped slightly to the right where a number of figures could be seen that were definitively not Dawi. Too tall and too slender they were clad in bulky armor. Some discussed the layout for the cavern, others moved rocks and wire around to form barriers where none had been before.
Some of them moved weights that would have given the stoutest Dawi pause with seeming ease.
"Not my decision Honored Elder, that was King Skalfson. But if I had to make the call I would have asked for their help too. We fought together in Skavenblight, they are honorable and can be trusted."
"You think they can be trusted better than your fellow Dawi? Is that why you carry their weapons and ride their ….how do you call them..motorcycles?"
"I did not say I trust them more than Dawi Berlit, even if the High King has called them "Friends of the Dawi. I carry their gear and would have asked for their help for the same reason: They are very very good."
"Better than what we can make? You remember that you are Dawi, do you?"
"Honored Elder, I understand that breaking the secrecy of this place must be very hard on you and that you have an honored station, otherwise I would not take this. Yes, I am Dawi, but am also not blind. These humans make better rifles than we do, they make better armor and many other things we cannot even touch. They offer these in trade, they offer help and above all they offer our people a hope we did not have for thousands of years. Without them the Skaven would still be a threat to us all, without their weapons we would not own Karak Eight Peaks and Karak Azgal again. Maybe you should give them the benefit for doubt for now."
"You are a…..."Rumble rumble. The ground shook nearly imperceptibly under the feet of the two Dawi and a small gust drove a bit of dust past them. The Priestess knelt on the ground, pushing a palm against it, feeling the vibrations go through the place she called hers for so long.
"Oh my.."
"Did the enemy collapse a ventilation shaft?"
"Yes, why would they do that?"
"They don`t need to breathe, so they think they can win without a fight. They do not know the Dawi well and them not at all."
"Ha, you think they will fight until their last breath for us."
"They will fight to the last undead for us, and they bring their own air when needed."
"What?"
Joakim Vos went down on one knee and checked the gap in the low wall before him. It would allow any weapon stationed here to fire into at least two tunnels and cover a lot of open space between them. The two blocks of Dawi hammerers that formed up before the gate would not restrict the weapons firing arc. Looking good, so this would be the place to employ another of the Paladin`s crew-served weapons.
Punching a few buttons on his vambrance Joakim contacted Lieutenant Witzig.
"Witzig, this is Vos. Employ the 30 mill in the gap at my position."
"Acknowledged."
A few minutes later Vos watched three members of a heavy weapons team carry a low-slung weapon between them. Even at their enhanced strength it took two of them to move it into place and emplace it.
Huge cases that contained the ammo went besides it. The Paladins were at company strength now and as such their TO&E contained some crew-served weapons, this one an autocannon loosely firing ammo normally used the Puma IFV.
Joakim was pretty sure that this time he would not have to take up a hammer that would kill him as readily as his opponent.
Leaving the specialists to their own devices he made his way over to the next emplacement to be when a leather-clad dwarf stepped in his way.
"Hoi Joakim, can you help us out a bit? We are to secure the remaining two ventilation shafts and from the look of things we could use some help."
"Give me a second Kargan." Punching more buttons Vos opened a private channel to his commanding officer.
"Sir, this is Vos. I have a request by the Thunderers for reinforcements as they want to secure the ventilation shafts. If we want to keep the local forces in play I suggest a team each from Altdorf and Brunn platoon."
"Make it so Joakim. Be advised that the first elements of the enemy is expected to attack in about an hour, so pull them back in time."
"Acknowledged Sir."
"Kargan, you can have two fireteams from Lieutenant Pfleil over there. The drones say the enemy will be here in an hour or so, I`d like to have them back by then if possible."
"Thanks lad, we`ll do our best."
The spider drone was made in the likening of a monster, the size of two fists, covered in a fur as back as midnight, its swollen body perched on legs that ended it sharp claws and mandibles that promised a poisons death that most of its kind could not follow up.
Fearsome as it might be it had nothing on the horde that passed below its lofty perch on the apex of the tunnel.
Skeletons so old that had seen the glory of a living Khemri when their former owners still drew breath marched by them, carrying rusty arms and armor. Creaking joints and protesting tendons made them look like they would bowl over at any second, but they marched with the same speed they had assumed when they left the fortress at the South Sea. The many thousand skulls all wore the eternal smile that promised their future to the still living and the fleshless heads had not turned once during the long march.
Between huge blocks of the undead larger, even more sinister things moved ever forward. Knights rode huge striders that were as skeletal as them, scorpion-like constructs were constructed of more bones and statues that should be as still as any other piece of stone marched with the rest of the army.
Missing from the moving undead were war machines, the underground battlefield did not lend itself to their use. Still green-glowing things were carried by creaking bones, held safely in the middle of the approaching army.
No chants were sung by the dead, no curses shouted by their warrants and no orders given by whatever officers commanded the dead. A huge army marched in silence, audible only by the creaking of bones, the impact of thousands of feet and the rattling of teeth.
Joakim Vos watched the march of the dead in a remarkably clear video transmitted by glass fiber from the drone. Something he saw bothered him, something more than the unending ranks of undead that wanted to invite the few Paladins to join them.
Whatever made him uneasy had something to do with the Skavenblight campaign as his subconscious drew forth more than a few flashes of memory. A lot of things had done that for a while and the smell of burning fur would still give him the shivers. He doubted it was one of these things and he put his attention to the green glowing implements carried by the undead again.
He had seen something like this before, not exactly the same but similar. Compared to the masses of undead they seemed unassuming, actually did not look like weapons at all.
Why did his brain then insist that they were dangerous…...oh fuck.
"Hermann, Jens, call back the teams in the ventilation shafts, right now and make them bring the Thunderers with them. Sir Valten, it is possible that we have to redeploy, right now….
Kargan Ironbeard pushed his arm backwards, hand outstretched with the palm to the back which brought his little column to a halt. He could easily say that it made sense to listen for any sounds again, but in the privacy of his own mind he knew that this would be a half-truth at best. Climbing the steep incline of the ventilation shaft with full gear was an exhausting exercise and he had all the reasons in the world to be short on breath. He just did not have an excuse to be out of breath so bloody soon and he knew fully well where the problem was.
Going to battle sitting down in the sidecar of his motorcycle was great, really. It also did nothing for his stamina and not for the first time he promised himself to work out harder.
He used the seconds needed to take the small iron rod he had forged himself so many years ago from its place at his load bearing harness to calm his breath to the point where he might actually hear something and then put the rod in his ear and against the wall.
Usually it took a while to hear anything. His breathing and the urgent flow of blood through his ear had slow, his mind had to attune to the normal sounds of the rock around him and any sane enemy tried to make as little noise as possible.
This was not problem this time, actually there was too much noise. There were many clicks and creaks, probably bones on the rock. There was the clanking of metal on metal but above all there was an evil hiss that combined itself with a low rumble. That stymied him for a second as he had heard that before but could not place it. He moved a little back so he could try to localize the noise. He was about to signal for silence, found that everybody was pro enough to do it anyway and resumed his listening. Louder this time and probably a little more at his level, they had passed the enemy already then.
Kargan stopped breathing when the realization where he had heard the sound before hit him.
"Get ready folks, we get company."
