Cathay, 50 km from the battle

Areta Bane saw even more of the back-breaking work that is the basis of most battles fought and she had arguably the best seat in the house. "Von Schiller" could accept cargo in flight, but unlike earlier Zeppelins which used a hook to snatch the planes from the air this one had a landing platform for helicopters on top. While that meant that the airship had to slow down to a crawl, it did allow heavier loads and passengers with less than hero-quality stomachs.

The platform had an elevator to the cargo room below and a collapsible railing around it that had been reinforced by quickly welded tubes. Each corner of the platform now held a 0.50" machine gun and their crews. She was sweating miserably in a heavily insulated overall and her ears were squashed by a helmet made for humans and not true elves. A crackle went through the earphones that pinched so much.

"All crew, this is the Captain, listen up. We will take off in five minutes and go to 500 meters after that. Find something to hang to people, this is going to be a rough ride.

Areta spent the next minutes checking the rigs that connected her machine gun team to the railing before allowing her loader to check hers. When she turned back to her gun she saw a few black dots growing larger till they resolved themselves into Dragons. She recognized the huge black one that belonged to the Wild Geese and several Sun Dragons when the klaxon woke her up past anything Bertwort could achieve. The floor seemed to push her feet upwards when the ground dropped away and the ponderous airship started to accelerate slowly.

Escorted by a half-dozen Dragons and armed with weapons improvised in the eleventh hour a Zeppelin went to war for the first time in more than a hundred years.

Before the Hashan Pass

Ku`gath normally spent what time he had brewing up the next plague, a better one, one which would give the blessing to the ones unfortunately immune to the others. This was the purpose of his being ever since he had drunken deeply from the vat tended by Grandfather Nurgle himself. Yet here and now he found himself too distracted by the grand vista before him. To lesser beings the air would be a fog of stinking fumes and pestilent insects, but he could see right through it. In all his years in this world and the other one he had never seen such things.

There had been such a lovely assembly of Nurgle south of here. They had welcomed everybody as they were, had made them strong, resilient and nearly immortal like most grandchildren were. That many of them no longer had much of a personality was just a sign that Papa had accepted them after they adapted. Now they were transforming the land as they went, now they brought the blessing everywhere and with such success more and more beings joined that were a bit closer to Nurgle, some even a lot closer. Ranks upon ranks of Plague Bearers wanted to share their gifts and Great Unclean ones waddled towards the enemy.

The far-off ranks of the recently blessed that made up the front started to drop in great numbers, some got up and stumbled on, others would be trampled into a paste that would be a perfect breeding ground for Nurglings. In other places something exploded above ground and the blessed dropped, some of them never to get up. In other places things exploded high in the air and white streamers rained down, obscuring everything from view. Even here Ku`gath could hear the screams of the dying and smelled the odor of burning flesh. It was bad to suffer so far from the enemy, to be unable to give the gift. Other armies might have faltered, have refused to go on into the storm, but this army was one of Grandfather`s and his followers knew all there was about perseverance and going on despite the pain.

Above the Hashan Pass

Wolfgang Böhler had as good a view of the battle as anybody could have. His troops performed as well as could be expected and they put out a staggering amount of firepower Several thousand riflemen, both of his Wild Geese and the Cathayan Auxiliaries fired up to ten rounds a minute or more. Several scores of machine guns had started to fire ever since the enemy had come into range and displayed the wisdom of their water cooling by never ceased firing. Even heavier machine guns and Pom-Poms ripped even the Plague Bearers apart. His mortars and the single artillery piece in his possession created circles of death and destruction. There was a deep belt of barbed wire and nasty surprises before the Cathayan troops so he should feel quite secure. He would feel secure if not for the sheer mass of enemies that approached him, for the way they accepted the firepower directed at them without slowing down any and the fact that simply fighting them would probably convert the Cathayans even if they won. The communications section`s increased chatter behind him warned him before he spotted them himself, there was a great flock of airborne black dots that grew in size quickly. His binox rendered them in all too much detail, the nightmare pair of a gigantic fly and the diseased-looking, sword-wielding Plague Bearer on top.

"Franz, all heavy machine gun sections switch to air defense"
"Yes Sir."

Wolfgang saw the tracers shift to the skies, saw the bursts walk into the flying beasts who started to drop and still winced. He had just taken his best weapons from the main show and while his people shot down scores of Drones he doubted that he could get all before they could land inside his lines. That would take off even more firepower that was needed below. And he was right about that, for every drone killed there seemed to be two who took their places. They died faster now that they were easier to hit but too many would land among his troops. A deep drone and a sickening smell announced that this had happened close to Wolfgang`s bunker. His vision slot did not allow him to see everything, but the Drones he could see came under a lot of fire from the company guarding the command post. The Drones absorbed an ungodly amount of rifle fire, screeched and burned when hit by a Molotov Cocktail, and died far too hard. He could see a couple that managed to close with one of his precious 0.50" machine gun positions which disappeared in a series of explosions.

When the smoke cleared the Drones and their riders were on the ground leaking various fluids from the many wounds the DIY-Claymores had ripped into them. The machine gun resumed firing moments later but this was very much a one-time trick. More Drones arrived and Wolfgang debated going for his rifle when all of a sudden the enemy departed as they came. When he could see the battlefield below the picture was not pretty. The Nurglites had closed with his wire belt and were bodily throwing their lowest tier fighters onto the wire so that the next ranks could pass. This was not good and he needed to gain time. There was a trump he had yet to play and there was no time like now.

"Franz, time for the barbeque."
"Yes Sir."

The order took a very long half minute before any effects could be seen. Some 50 meters before the wire a long series of explosions threw the enemy into the air and cleared the way for burning oil that was distributed all over the next 50 meters or so. The Nurglites had braved rifle fire and mortars, now a huge number of them were transformed into living torches. They did not scream except to express their hate; they did not falter but they died in great heaps. The fougasses buried by the mercenaries did their job and the horror before their eyes would have stopped practically any army where they stood, but not this one. Once the fires had burned out the enemy resumed their march and now the only thing between them and the Wild Geese was an army hardly equipped to stop them. Now the former sniper would learn whether his timing was right and his desperate gamble would succeed or not.

500 meters above the Hashan Pass

Half an hour ago Areta Bane had sweated miserably inside her cold weather gear, as soon as the airship had reached its current altitude and speed she was thankful for every millimeter of insulation and now she no longer cared. She had been put back to the basics:she no longer had to care for a combat group, for logistics and Rules of Engagement. It was now her, a heavy machine gun, her loader, and the assistant; and for the moment she liked it that way. Above her was a sky as blue as any she had seen, below a landscape full of disease and death. The slipstream tugged ferociously at her and she would have been blown off the platform, but for the straps that secured her to the machine gun`s mounting.

The first indication of impending trouble had been the two Dragons that guarded her side of the airship. They had veered off to intercept something that she could not see. She was experienced enough not to watch only the vector taken by the Zeppelin`s escorts, but her whole sector and was not surprised when her earphones crackled to life.

"Drones at 2 and 3o`clock, closing fast. Get them"

There were many small spots in that direction that grew bigger every second. Her hands started to sweat inside her gloves, she remembered these beasts just too well from her last encounter. She used the ring sight to estimate range against the rider, elevated the gun slightly, and pushed on the butterfly trigger when her target was in range. The first shots missed by quite a bit as the wind pushed on the barrel and her range estimate had been rough, but the tracers allowed her to walk the stream of bullets into her first target. It was too far away for her to see any detail, but suddenly dropping in two pieces was enough for her and she shifted targets. The next one was already easier to see and the heavy bullets she used ripped the insectile head apart. The next drone died together with its rider and by now targeting was too easy as the enemy was far too close. Areta was not the only gunner protecting "Von Schiller", there were streams of tracer that emerged from the gondola below the envelope as well as three more guns on the same platform as her. By now every burst got a Drone but there were so very many of them. Several disappreared from Areta`s sight when they dropped below her line of sight. A couple managed a pass at the envelope before they entered the fire of the gunners below. The swords used by the Plague Bearers were pitted, corroded and appeared dull. They parted the high-tech fabric covering the airship well enough and ripped gashes of more than a meters length where they went. Streams of hot air emerged where the Nurglites struck, but not much more. The helium that filled the lifting cells would expand or compress with changes in attitude and temperature, so something had to compensate for that. To keep the envelope`s shape, a pressurized air-filled ballon the ballonet , was usually inserted inside the lifting cell. The new airships had them outside the cells, between the Zeppelin`s outer skin and the lifting cells. Several compressors inflated them and the gashes were far too small to deflate the ballonet.

Areta fired whenever something filled her sight and the jackhammer-like recoil of the machine gun challenged her arms and lifted her spirit. She was so caught up with what she was doing that her loader needed to punch her shoulder twice before she noticed. She turned her head just in time to see a score of Drones climb the platform on the far side slaughtering the machine gun crew there. She pulled her gun around frantically just to realize that her straps won`t let her use the gun when her loader stepped around and got hold of the spade grips. A long salvo hammered into the Nurglites at very close range splattering the platform with bits that tended to move the wrong way. When she got control of her gun again she found herself face to face with far too many enemies to shoot down before they got to her. She still pressed the trigger just to see the bolt stop going backwards after a few shots. She knew then and there that she was going to die when the floor started to press on her feet again and the airship started to gain attitude rapidly.

55 meters below

The room was huge, at least 30 times 70 meters even if every piece of floor was occupied with something. The Cathayans that pushed themselves through the load had been in similar holds, but never when the airship was in flight. It was a frightening experience, there were the many sounds of combat, the screech of firewalled turboprop engines, the cold drafts that ran through the room and the cargo itself. Many of them clutched amulets at times or mouthed prayers to whatever deity seemed appropriate.
When they did not do that they released securing straps that secured the cargo to the airships floor. Most of the time they managed to unlock the catches and whenever that took a second too long sharp knives took care of the problem.

The klaxon managed to overwhelm even the riot of sound that filled "Von Schiller`s" hold and stopped everybody in their tracks. Slowly at first and then ever accelerating a gap appeared in the middle of the floor, revealing the valley below the airship. It had not even opened fully when the floor became really dangerous when the rollers that were recessed into it rose up and allowed whatever cargo was placed on them to move easily. The Cathayans and the few mercenaries who commanded them had only a few seconds to race to their stations when the lights started to blink.
The command somehow managed to get through all the noise.

"Push you dogs, push for all you are worth. Do you want to live forever?"
And with that they did. The Cathayans were part of the Wild Geese`s labor force, recruited to take care of the million backbreaking tasks that were necessary to keep the mercenaries an effective combat unit. The ones now in the airships holds were the stevedores, the ones with presumably unbreakable backs and small minds that would carry their weight in loads all day. None of them had ever trained for combat nor had they any ambitions to become soldiers. And yet they would kill more Nurglites in the next few minutes than the famed mercenaries and the Cathayan army combined.

They used the airships handling gear and their own sweat to push on the cargo that was totally unyielding for a few seconds before it gained speed and made for the huge unloading hatch before it dropped from the hold.
Above the cargo room huge pumps compressed the helium into tanks as fast as they could to compensate for the lost weight but the cargo dropped to fast for that to work so the Zeppelin rose like a cork from a champagne bottle.

The drums that fell from the airship were nothing special, simple 55-Gallon drums used for petroleum products. Thousands upon thousands were shipped through Cathay at any given moment as they powered the barges that plied the rivers and channels, the generators that provided electricity and the vehicles used by the mercenaries. The Wild Geese had siphoned some of the diesel in it and replaced that by several substances that thickened the fuel to the consistency of apple sauce and made it burn even more fiercely. When it hit the ground it was torn open by the impact, spreading its contents in an oval more than 30 meters long. The impact also burst a small glass bottle inside that released a bit of white phosphorous to the air that immediately burned fiercely, ignitingthe fuel. The contents in the barrels would burn for a bit more than six minutes while everything under it was burned to ashes. Grandfather Nurgle could make his children remarkably resistant but their bodies still needed to contain some proteins for him to work. When the barrels` contents had burned themselves out there were none to be found. Ku`gath`s enormous body left him the time to mourn the destruction of his many experiments before it was destroyed to the point where he was ejected into the Warp.
There were 3000 drums dropped from the Zeppelin and they caused an unbroken blanket of fire that covered practically all of the valley from one end to the other. There were a few survivors, mostly those at the extreme ends of the horde, but they now faced a firepower far in excess of what was needed to kill them.

On top of "Von Schiller", resupply point 50 kilometers from Hashan Pass

The heavy box with its 200-round ammo belt slotted well into the heavy machine gun. Loader and gunner worked together to place the belt, close the cover and ratchet the bolt twice to bring a fresh round into the cartridge chamber. This time, as the last two attempts it happened without mishap, signalling that the former "Maxim" crew had made the change to a 0.50" gun as well as Areta Bane could make it in the short time allowed.

The gun`s former crew had been ripped apart by Plague Drones and even the severed parts had started to weep pus before the survivors kicked them off the platform. While she had trained the replacements some poor Cathayan had swabbed at the puddles that remained with something that smelled nearly as bad as the stuff it was to remove and disinfect. That brought a wince to her face, she had been scrubbed with things that made her eyes water and colored her skin red after the battle. One of the drones had slashed at her armored vest and parted it to the very last layer, her helmet had been dented and her gloves smeared with stuff that moved. When she had been cleaned and disinfected one of the Germans who was known by a first name that nobody believed had given her several injections, and had left her with several pills she had to take thrice daily. He had warned her about a diarrhoea that was pretty sure to come in the next days.

"Looks like you got it. You can test fire when we have taken off again. This thing has a kick; you have to fight that or it will spray bullets all over creation. Also remember that it is air-cooled, so fire bursts. Even more importantly, you are guarding my back, so do it right."
"Will do Company Leader."
"You can practise a bit more, if you need me I am below."

Areta was very relieved that there was a working elevator. She had been well pumped up at the end of the battle, jubilant about the result of the bombing as everybody else and had perked up when she had received a decent meal. That had passed some time ago and now she was tired and exhausted to her very bones. Now that she had completed her job she had time to sit down, take another tea and watch the Cathayans who reloaded "Von Schiller`s" cavernous hold with another load of liquid death. She sat up as if she had touched a live wire when something clunked on the table besides her. It was a mug held by Breda Ironridge, her squadmate from her early days with the mercenaries.

"Had a rough ride?"
"Had better for sure. I had to kill my loader on the way back, he was dead and started to move again. Better than the crew of no 3, they are all gone."
"Fuck, this sucks. We fared a bit better, the windows here are pretty solid."
"Good for you. Say Breda, can you tell me why all our chuffs have these strange signs?"
"Officially, no. Scuttlebutt has it that they are supposed to be rebels who have kidnapped the airship."
"What?"
"You could be a bit louder, than I can guarantee Ivil Bloodcrest will hear you. He won`t like that, so you want to hear or no?"
"Yes yes."
"Means kiss my ass, are you still interested in that? Anyway, we needed an airship to burn Nurgle`s pets."
"Yes, actually that is what I told Captain Schwarz a while ago."

"You and a couple of other people or so it seems. Well little problem is that the Germans would not lend one, even if we ask nicely. And the Grand and Mighty Celestial Dragon or however they call the snot on the throne would not just seize a Zeppelin, otherwise the Germans might cut off his Nutella ration. So if what I hear is right our cloak-and-daggers department simply invented a rebel force that just happened to kidnap the airship. Our native Auxilia had some volunteers and the Night Shift company arranged things. Very convenient for everybody including the Germans if we bring that airship back."
"Hope so, if not we are on it."
"Let`s make sure then. Are you up to it, you look like shit?"
"I`ll be ready when the time comes, no problem."
"You hitting the Bertwort?"
"And if?"
"As long as you are boss and not the root it is fine."
"It is, no worry."

Cockpit of Von Schiller

Maxi Jensen was a strong, a highly competent pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft as well as airships and an operative of Section 31. Ivil Bloodcrest was an ally, acted as politely and professionally towards her as one might ask for and had never closed to less than an arm`s length. He still scared her badly. To her well-trained senses it was obvious that Ivil regarded people of all races as targets to be removed once it became necessary for any reason. Here was one killer who did not need to psych himself up for the killing, who would need no distance and no excuses. "It made sense in context" would always be enough and a supplication unto his god to top that of. It made standing her ground harder and more necessary at the same time, she needed to prove her usefulness if she wanted to feel that little more safe.

"Your people are pretty good, that I´ll give them. But even so the glue needs an hour more to set, and yes we need to mend the leaks back of frame 30 as well. Then we can take off and not before."
"You managed to fly us here just fine."
"Yes, with all compressors running full tilt and still slowly losing pressure from the ballonet. This will not work for a flight of that length and not if we want to keep above the cloud cover."
"Every second we dally here will allow the enemy to strengthen his defenses."
"Which will be useless if we do not make the trip at all. Use the time to check your people out with the oxygen gear again, if they mess that up they will become unconscious if they are lucky and dead if they are not. Neither way will they be able to defend us."
"That is acceptable. Get some sleep, we have a city to destroy."

Nanjiang

Nanjiang was a great and important city again. In centuries past it had been Cathay`s capital, had been there to support the emperors and been able to bask in their benevolence. Even when the fortunes of the civil war had shifted and the Mandate of Heaven was moved to Weijin the city was still the center of much trade and industry. The trades brought different cultures with them and while they were all inferior to Cathay`s way they brought inspirations that could improve the center of the world that was Nanjiang. Rich and full of vibrant life Nanjiang had been regarded as a has-been region by the denizens of the north and only important because its taxes filled the coffers of the Throne of Heaven. That had not kept the city from being full of beautiful edifices, grand mansions, temples and statues rested inside carefully shaped parks and roads. The citizens who longer had a huge say in the rule of the realm were elegant, well-educated and living the good life, at least when they were of the right class

Now Nanjiang was seen as important again, had been on the cusp of taking away the mandate of heaven and might do so again when given the time. It buildings were no longer beautiful and full of treasures but monuments to Nurgle`s rot and filled with mold, fungi and all manners of dangerous pests. The citizens were still living the good life, for whatever variation of that was allowed for by the plague god. Normally the citizens slouched about busily in their business of making the world in their liking but now the streets were nearly empty and the city seemed to hold its breath.

Li Hong Mei was in pain. This was not too surprising, he had been in constant pain of some sorts for most of his adult life in one way or another even before Nurgle showed him the way and the blessing. Ever since he had learned the way he had received the most pleasant gifts: smallpox, several tumours, joints and limbs that were deformed by arthritis and gout among them. They gave him pain, but he had learned to accept and see the pain as something that enhanced him. He experienced them like a human who was without the blessings might take aching muscles after a hard workout. At the same time, he got a skin that was far more resilient, more strength through the changed leverage by the deformed joints and the ability to eat nearly any poison one could name without any ill effects.

All of that he accepted and enjoyed, but now he had the sort of pain that seared his soul, that told him in no uncertain terms that something was bad, was hurting and maybe killing him. And he was not alone, all over Nanjiang and the provinces, actually far beyond that, Nurgle`s children were in pain, could often hardly move and quite a few simply died. Most of them believed they had angered their patron deity somehow and this was the punishment. They should have known better, Nurgle accepts just as you are. Their god was connected with his blessed in ways that the other three gods simply did not know. He shared their trials, their changes and their growth. He also shared their pain and the biggest group of his children the world had seen in a long time had been burned to death. Nurgle himself was in the kind of pain he did not welcome and he shared it with the children of his great project.

Both the city and its master`s avatar were hardly able to consciously fight the approaching danger. A body fights many potential diseases at any given moment without any thought about it and while Nurgle`s children would not fight but co-opt the illness they were not so different. The Plague God`s most basic defense mechanism became active when the threat entered range and an enormous cloud of flies rose from Nanjiang`s every corner.

"Von Schiller" 5000 meters AGL, 50 kilometers from Nanjiang

Areta Bane`s suit had seemed so warm and stifling back on the ground. Now was still restricting her movements and chafed here and there as it was not exactly her size. It was far from keeping her warm and the oxygen that she breathed through the mask before her was both cold and bone-dry. It had dried the mucosa in her sinuses to the point where she had a nasty headache and all of that made her irritable and exhausted her badly. She was tired, so very very tired and it was getting to the point where she was n longer capable of doing her job. She waited till her loader looked elsewhere before she pulled her mask off, inserted another piece of Bertwort and placed it back. Its bitter taste seemed to suck salvia out of a mouth she had deemed to be as dry as the desert. Her stomach was queasy for a second and the world seemed to turn for a moment before everything was right again. And how right things were all of a sudden, the chill was suddenly invigorating, her shoulders squared themselves and her hands no longer cramped around her machine gun.

Just in time as her earphones crackled and then Maxine Jensen`s voice was heard by everybody.
"All hands, all hands, we will commence our attack run now. Brace yourselves, we are going in."
And with that airship`s huge bow went downwards a bit and the engines changed pitch. The slipstream that had pummelled Areta increased its assault and the clouds that had formed a vast grey sea under the Zeppelin rose to swallow them whole.

The grey mists around Areta went darker with every passing minute until patches of ground were barely visible again. As quickly as "Von Schiller" had entered the clouds it emerged from them thundering towards the city that could be seen before them. From up here it looked like other Cathayan cities even if few members of the crew had ever seen one from up here. City walls ran around a sprawling hive of houses that seemed to grow into each other, crisscrossed by a regular grid of roads. The only thing off was the total absence of the bright colors the Cathayans loved so much. Greys, browns and green dominated and a grey-green mist hid many details. None of this caught Areta`s eyes, her attention was taken by the huge clouds of black that hovered above the city and which moved in her direction.

1000 meter AGL, above Nanjiang

The fly was one of literately billions. An entomologist might find it mutated and deformed, to an untrained eye it was just a big, black fly. Its mandibles could chew through nearly any organic material if given sufficient time but the real danger it presented to any being not bless by Nurgle were the cocktail of viri and bacteria it was home to. It had risen a few minutes ago and had clawed for height ever since. The altitude it had reached was already exceeding anything that an insect normally achieved but something made it expend its energy in a huge sprint.

Like all insects it could not regulate its own temperature and the air outside became colder with each meter climbed. Normally it would now start to slow, even hibernate but Grandfather blessed all creatures, be they great or small. The cloud it was part of rose as if it was a hot summer day and they would soon meet the speeding airship. Most of them would splash against skin and gondola, many would be sucked into the engines and corrode the turbine blades and a few would hit the exposed flesh of the beings that drove it. With any luck this great threat would become a boon to the revolution.

2000 meter AGL, Cockpit of "Von Schiller"

"I`ve got no idea what this is and I do not intend to find out Herr Bloodcrest."
"So?"
"So we will level off and change course slightly. We will go there and commence our run from the eastern gate."
"That was not the plan."
"These were neither."
"Do you think it will work regardless?"
"The barrels are contact-fused, aren`t they? We will have more dispersion that way but I do not think it will matter, not with 450 tons of that stuff."
"Make it so."
The huge airship turned ponderously and lifted its bow a bit. The clouds that had been closest to the airship were left hopelessly behind and others changed course.

1800 meters AGL, over Nanjiang

The fly had not changed course due to something it saw or felt, it just flew now this way. Something huge was coming its way and fast. Like all the other pests in the vast cloud it moved its wings even the little bit faster and rose far past what it was meant to do. A bit more that way and then it would…would run out of energy. The distance and height that the cloud had achieved had burned what reserves had been stored in the chitin-clad bodies, especially as they had been burned to keep up temperature. Only a few flies started to drop but a steady rain of black bodies dropped to the earth as a side note to the inferno.

2000 meter AGL, Cockpit of "Von Schiller"

Maxi Jensen used the cameras that usually supplied situation awareness during landing approach to judge her progress together with the view through her cockpit. While her airship flew rather slow for anything carrying bombs the barrels would not drop straight down but be carried forward by momentum. They would follow something like a ballistic arc, slowed by slipstream and accelerated by gravity. She was dropping from an altitude not anticipated and at a greater speed than hoped for. She did some calculations in her head, found that she had forgotten about the time to open the doors and hit the button that signalled the drop the very second she realised this. Her airship had barely passed the city wall when the first barrels dropped from the Zeppelin and the first 200 meters of Nanjiang were spared the conflagration that followed. The barrels dropped from a great height and managed to pierce whatever ramshackle roofs were presented to them and started fire deep within the houses they had hit. Rotting wood and mouldy fabrics ignited quickly when confronted with suck temperatures and the individual fires started to merge with those which were burning around them quickly.

A great lot of flammable fuels had been dropped of Nanjiang and ignited within a little more than a minute. They sucked in great lots of oxygen and heated the air around them so that they rose. And while Li Hong Mei and his fellow Jacobites burned to cinders a column of air formed that clawed for the sky. Maxi Jansen`s monitors saw the sea of fire that raced through the streets of Nanjiang, saw the column smoke that grew with every second and applied full throttle. She had read about what was to happen and wanted to have no part of it.

By now a great lot of air was forced upwards over Nanjiang and the same amount of air was sucked from the surrounding countryside. The airflow started to gain speed quickly and the mild breeze that could be felt a few minutes before gained gale-force strength, especially in the city`s burning streets.
The winds that were converging on the fire started to rotate around the city, turbulences and eddies spread the fire where none was before. The firestorm brought lots of air to aid combustion and by now the many tons of Napalm dropped were just a small part of the inferno. Wood, fabrics, foodstuffs, practically anything organic burned in a fire that rose far past a thousand degrees before it burned itself out a few days later. Steel and iron burned, stones split and crumbled and whatever mark Nurgle had left in this city was gone forever, as was any life.

Nanjiang, the city that had been the Mandate of Heaven, the city of trade, commerce and arts had been painfully killed a few years ago over the course of many months and massacres. The travesty that had taken its place went much more quickly
The city of Nanjiang was dead and would stay so for a long time to come. The province around it was a different matter and there were still so many children of Nurgle around. They were in great pain and confusion now but they would be looking for revenge in the not so far-off future.

Areta Bane never had to fire a single shot and while she had felt her stomach rise at the approaching cloud that she could neither figure nor fight had not experienced a single moment of mortal danger. She could retreat into the airships warm interior an hour later and promptly collapsed in the Zeppelin`s lounge.