Close to Soreil, Bretonia
„Allez"
"Gauche, droite, Gauche, droite.."
Pierre stepped forward through mud and snow making sure he kept pace with those around him while the sergeant counted the steps. He had not understood at all why that and keeping precise distance was so important until the sergeant had told them of their failures in colorful terms and all too loudly. It had not really been necessary as the new recruits had realized themselves that stumbling into each other and not getting forward was not a good tactical move. That had been some weeks ago and by now the former serfs could march in formation, could perform swings, about turns, changes of formation and charges so well that the sergeants swearing had receded to background noise.
Pierre had not been part of the first battles, he had been one of those who fled their village when the Knights "foraged" anything edible and left them to die. When he arrived at the camp he had been given the same choice as all the others, stay and fight or recover and continue to Germany. It was a no-brainer, he and Marie had two daughters and he would neither expose them to the den of immorality that Germany was supposed to be nor to the mercies of some noble when the time for a "first night". He had not believed any serf could stand up to a noble but the last battles had proven that this was not so. He had trouble believing the tales he had heard from the veterans of those battles but after enduring six days of ten hours drill per week drills for months on end he saw how it could be done. Individually he might not be able to best a knight but as part of a team he could and would. Last week his pike unit had been tested. He had known that the knights would not overrun his square, but that knowledge did nothing to keep the fear out of his mind when the Green Knight was at the point of the wedge charging them. He had been on the point of running when his mind could no longer see how the horsemen might break off their charge when the voice of their sergeant reached his ears. His body had become so used to do what that voices asked immediately that he remained rooted to the spot despite the madness of it. And the knights had managed to break to the left and right and his unit had reformed in time. What a day.
Today the drill was cut short and the pikemen were called to the edge of their exercise field for a demonstration. They went as much at ease as holding a seven-meter pike allowed while their sergeant and some men they did not know stood before one of the straw men they used for drills. Interestingly enough this target was fitted with what looked like a padded jacked with a metal plate up front. Pierre`s sergeant did not shout but his voice was loud enough to get to the last man.
"Tercio, at ease. Men, you have proven that you will not run if the Green Knight charges you, that makes you all right with our leaders. They have seen fit to give you a new piece of equipment, one that`s you will like. Jean Dubois, your turn."
"Bonjour fellow soldiers. I have called you to show you your new armor, one called Gambeson. Gambeson armor is made up from many layers of cloth and in this case a bit of sheet metal. So you think it is not as good as mail or plate? Guess what, you are right. Question is, is it good enough? Let`s find out together. What I have here is the standard longbow used by the archers stupid enough to work for the Lady. You may have heard that they can`t hit the broad side of the barn, which happens to be true, but there are usually a lot of them. So let`s see what happens when we shoot these arrows at this "inferior" armor, shall we?"
And with that this Jean walked some 20 paces and started shooting at the straw man. One armor missed but the rest flew true. One was deflected by the plate, the rest struck into the armor and stayed there, albeit the shaft sagged so they could not have penetrated too deeply. Jean took the armor off the target, turned it and walked towards the front rank.
"So, here you can see for yourself. Only one of the points has penetrated and that sticks out by half an inch. That will hurt but it will not kill you. But enough of these bows, how about a sword?"
The armor was cleared of the arrows and went up the target again. This time the sergeant took up a longsword and started hacking and stabbing at the target. Cloth flew about in small bits; the sheet metal gave off strange sounds when the sword pint penetrated it and small holes appeared. After half a minute of assaulting the inoffensive armor the sergeant ceased and the Gambeson was presented again. There were two small penetrations again but again nothing that would have been immediately fatal.
"Don´t get me wrong here folks, a spear could get through here, a halberd or a longsword has a decent chance and a lance will go through every time. But arrows will keep out normally and you can take a sword stroke or two. And it will beat having no armor, will it? And for the time it was not good enough we will teach you something new, called first aid."
Jean did not think it was necessary to tell the pikemen that their armor was made from used used cloth the Resistance had bought wholesale in Germany. An army would march into the field protected by former towels, bed sheets and shirts, 20 layers deep, plus a whole lot of zinc-plated steel normally used to make air-conditioner shafts. It was rather interesting what one could make from stuff the Germans regarded as harmless enough for export.
Nordstern, Orbit around the Warhammer World
Nathan Alpers watched three different pictures of Sage 29 through various monitors in front of him. The old KEW satellite was a little more than three kilometers from the German spacecraft. They were taken in several wavelengths but care was taken that no active sensors were used on the Old One weapons satellite. Given its infrared radiation and the calls in several radio frequencies the low-power AI inside the weapon was paranoid enough as it was.
The AI had sent several calls for orders to operator's dead for more than 20.000 years but could do nothing but place its few weapon on standby as the primitive spacecraft before it had not exceeded any of the parameters that would allow the AI to attack it.
Nathan waited for the two halves of the picture before him merge. He had to do this by hand the first time when he attacked a Sage satellite in the older Polarstern, now a computer matched the two picture halves by a pixel, giving the range down to five mm at this distance.
"Crew, this is Nathan, station check."
"Nathan, Eric here. Solution set, all weapons are ready."
"Nathan, Manfred here, all systems nominal."
"Nathan, Bashurr here. Reactor is at 60%, all banks fully charged, radiators retracted, engines primed."
"Nathan, Irina here. I am ready and hope not to be needed."
"Don´t we all. Control, this is Norstern. All stations ready, waiting for the go."
"Nordstern, this is Command. Engage at your convenience Major."
"Nordstern copies free to engage. Eric, open fire."
On two pallets more than a few meters behind the command capsule weapons made their final adjustments. When Eric Bär pressed the button a number of computers analyzed whether the user knew what he was doing and relayed the command milliseconds later. "A" mount had two 30 mm RMK cannon modified for space use and a higher rate of fire. The old satellite engaged its anti-meteorite system before the first round was even close to the dome that housed it but before it could kill more than two projectiles a score of rounds hit the synthetic sapphire, broke it and smashed the laser below. At the same time a 700 kw laser mounted on "B" pallet stabbed coherent light into Sage 29`s RCS thrusters, one of them made a small flash, the other simply stopped working. The Old One platform still turned ponderously on reaction wheels but it would be five or six minutes before the second laser would bear on the German spacecraft.
Nordstern`s guns engaged the links to the KEW surrounding the satellite next, ending any possibility of a strike on the inoffensive ocean below before the cannon and the laser worked in tandem on an armor plate indicated by the plans analyzed years ago by Nathan the AI. The composite material was remarkably strong for its weight, but age and heating from the laser brought it to the point where the cannon would penetrate. There was no flashy explosion , the satellite did not drop from orbit or anything, but it stopped radiating, stopped rotating and became cooler by the minute.
"That used to be a lot more exciting the first time we did that Nathan."
"I`ll take this over excitement every day of the week Eric."
"You got it."
An hour later a small drone detached from the German spacecraft and crossed the distance to Sage 29. In its manipulator claws it held a small packet that it pushed through the hole left by the cannon. A few seconds later the hole shone briefly with a yellow light, indicating that a thermite charge had killed any nanite on board.
12 hours later a few drones, Eric Bär and Mafred Betting went on EVA and managed to dismount a KEW`s seeker head. Another mission a day later netted a drive and with that bounty "Nordstern" made its way back to "Kopernikus" station.
Close to Castle Atrois, Bretonia
Gaston had been known as Gaston of Piney, he had lived there for all of his live, as his his parents and those before them. Now he had been forced to move to a different village, something which had disturbed him at least as much as the other Pineyans, They had been brought closer to Castle Artois, to Tonnere. Tonnere was no better and no worse than Piney but for the fact that it was closer to the main road and therefore more easily reinforced than Piney. It also had no extra hovels for the newcomers who had come from Piney and two other villages and that brought problems. They needed to build new huts for the families quickly, this was winter after all but the serfs were forced to build the walls eight hours per day. Only after that could they see to their own accommodations which was doubly difficult as all available materials also went into the walls. And now he was witness to the worst waste so far when firewood was burned on the ground so that their wooden shovels could pierce the frozen earth and form the foundations of the next palisades. The extremely basic lean-to that he could make for his family now needed every bit of warmth he could get and here all the wood the serfs had collected through the last evening were wasted so that the palisade was finished in the time the foreman had promised that strange knight. Not that Gaston would have said "non" to that man, if he was that, one could not do that. But at the same time that meant that his family would have another night huddled together under any piece of scrap they could find and freeze together. His wife had started coughing last night and his daughter had been too warm this morning. He could only hope it was a simple cold that went away. Maybe there was some way, any way to get some chicken broth? But he might as well wish for the moon and a knights armor to boot.
Gaston was right to worry about these things, but he did not know about those that could hurt him nearly as badly or more. He did not know, for example, that the totally overwhelmed latrines had started to leak downwards and that they were currently very close to the well that gave the village water.
Or about the little treats the Dame Poignard gave some of the children.
Castle Drakenhof, Sylvania
Manfred von Carstein was back in the former dungeons and they were the same intriguing and bewildering sight they had been the last time. He had already watched the additional map that his specialists had assembled from the undead mice`s movements. There were more tunnels, more caverns, many more guards and wards. Manfred had been in Skavenblight, knew the ins and outs of subterranean fighting and was pretty sure that this would have been an extra-hard nut to crack. The Paladins could no it probably but even they`d have their work cut out for them, especially as there was no way their armored support could have accompanied them.
Now he watched video after video. They were even stranger to watch than the ones made by the skeletons given that they were filmed from such a low perspective. He had been promised "something interesting" but currently all he got was the back sides of undead legs who marched through the tunnel in formation.
"After we had established a preliminary map the programmed them to follow such formations. They had to go somewhere and we think we have not been spotted doing so."
"Good thinking. But what is the point of this video."
"Let me go to 19.45, then it will become more obvious I believe."
The video made a jump and even the huge knights before the undead rodent could not occlude all of the huge gate that opened with a deep groan. A sickly green light emerged from the room beyond and the gate swallowed row after row of undead. The wall through which the gate led was meters of granite and it lead into a cavern that was as big as it was frightening. The walls were covered by lines and graphs that formed patterns that would make a mortal observer queasy from just looking at them. Their green, slightly flickering light made them warpstone and von Carstein could just guess at their function. They would greatly aid the master Necromancer, that was a given but the how and why of it a riddle even to the vampire`s deep lore.
The undead knights followed a meandering path through the cavern, uncovering all corners of it eventually. It took more than a few minutes that von Carstein used to ponder on ways to punish his specialists to inflict such suspense to him. And then the column turned the next corner, row after row went to the right and finally the chamber`s center was exposed to the vampire`s sight. More patterns in the ground, more columns and a mound of bones in the middle. It was on top of this mount that a dais rose to the chamber`s high ceiling. It seemed to be made from black and green warpstone and was of a stark, simple beauty. None of these features were so interesting as what was not there. There was no Nagash on this throne, no ruler to observe the doings in his fortress and to threaten all who lived. The dust that had settled on the seat bore mute testimony that this was not a momentary absence, Nagash had left his fortress to an unknown destination. Manfred had not the slightest inkling what could have made the master Necromancer do that but he doubted he would have liked the answers. He still had to find them though.
"Thanks Herr Kopka, very good work. And you were right, this is indeed interesting, very much so. One question, do you believe the undead have learned of our spying."
"I have no idea Herr von Carstein. Our recon team has not been attacked so far and they believe not having been spotted. On the other hand we are missing three of our iRats, they could be detected at any minute. Sorry, but this is the risk that we told you about."
"Yes, you did. Still you and your people will be suitably rewarded for this. I will probably need your services in future."
"We will be ready then, Sir."
Black Spire mountains, Naggaroth
The Black Spire mountains were an impressive mountain chain, easily in the league of the Alps or the Rocky Mountains. Its age-old heights was home to huge glaciers, forests wonders and monsters but below it was a much more interesting marvel. The Underground Sea was an ocean under the sea. Most parts were on the same level than the ocean outside but some were were much deeper. Some of its tunnels and caverns were filled with black, cold water but in most parts there was lots of air above the waters. This was the way the Druchii pirates had evaded the Asurian blockade again and again, their secret access to the world`s oceans. The Black Spire mountains were like an enormous rood above its main parts.
Those Druchii given to such speculation thought it the work of the Old Ones. Nathan the Wise, AI in German employ could have told them different, the Old Ones had studied the ocean intensely as it was obviously not of natural origin and whoever had formed it had goals and means alien and impressive even to their race.
The Druchii usually sent Black Arcs through these ways, their magic kept them moving while they sheltered the lesser ships. Their sea monsters made the way by their own, even when they were often strangely reluctant in some passages. And besides these pirates the Underground Sea had not seen others for some millenia. Now a different ship made its way through the darkness. Angular, low and obviously well armored and armed with cannon it was propelled by unknown means. There was a phosphorescent wake that hinted at a screw and sometimes arc lights illuminated the way.
There were few people on deck of that strange ship, there was few need for more and the surroundings did not invite star-gazers. The few who had something to do were stocky, broad, well muscled and heavily bearded. They were even less seafarers than their cousins but these were new times for the DawiZharr and they had to learn new things. Things like the layout of the Underground Sea and its exits for example.
Arena Synchron Studios, Berlin, Germany
"OK...and the last movie stuff from these Data Transfer is another season of 'The Mentalist'."
"Yes! More work!" Nobody around her could hear Vera Teltz´ joyous inner voice.
The small conference room of the Arena Synchron studios was filled to capacity with representatives of the German dubbing studios and free agents.
One of the German industries hit hardest by the Weltensprung was the dubbing industry. While the German voice actors had more roles to fill, dubbing foreign movies and series was an important part of the job and money maker.
Especially among the free agents the first years on Warhammer had been quite frugal and this was a change from before. Since the semi-regular data transfers with Earth began, things were not really normal again, but closer to normal.
Most nations on Earth simply subtitled foreign movies, a minority, among them Germany, France or Japan, dubbed the films. There are a lot of pro and contra arguments concerning dubbing. While some purists say only the original counts and bad dubbings are an annoyance, good dubbings can add to the quality of the movie.
A famous example of the latter is the series "Die 2/The Persuanders" with Tony Curtis and Roger Moore. The original version is a very average series. Rainer Brandt, in charge of making the German version, creatively reworked the texts, e.g. adding better fitting wordplays with the result that the German version became a big success. The French actually bought the German version for their own dubbing. Tony Curtis himself contacted Brandt and told him that should the series be continued, he would be called in to write the texts for the English version as well.
Another bonus of a good dubbing is that you can fit voices to the characters. You have not seen the old Star Wars triology until you saw the German language version. Especially Heinz Petruo´s iconic interpretation of Darth Vader. James Earl Jones is a good actor, but Heinz Petruo wins hands down on voice work. His Vader is one of the zenith points of dubbing
When Germany was ripped away from Earth, new foreign movies were logically not available. Most German voice actors are theatre actors and had to make do with their engagements and audio books. Some more known voices were working for TV reports and advertisments as well. Hardest hit were the few free agents who did only voice work.
A lot of them were banking on the first movies coming out of Nippon, Cathay or Tilea.
#The Northern Campaign — 2022/2530#
The Northern Campaign was reached the end of its third year, and an end was still nowhere near. In the beginning, the media had proclaimed the beginning of a glorious crusade against Chaos, the rightful reclamation of true Kislevite territory. But in reality, for most of the ongoing operation, it had been far away from these honorable goals.
For one, there had been the misconception that everything beyond the North Lynsk was enemy territory, infested with an innumerable amount of dangers and threats, only awaiting a single moment of distraction to sweep over the entirety of Kislev. However, this was only true during Chaos incursions as the Lynsk was the last line of defense. Several orc tribes lived beyond the Lynsk, many raiding parties from Troll Country had traveled down South in the past, but as rumors of military buildup had spread beyond the river, the smarter groups of enemies had retreated North, bidding their time until the situation return to normality again.
The isolated encounters with orcs and trolls were met with great vigor, fought by waves of soldiers aching to display the results of rigorous training with modern equipment and tactics. The media, whose presence dwindled with each passing month without glorious battle, was eager to spread the news of the combined might of Kislev and Army of Light. But the monotone sweeping through inaccessible territory, protracted negotiations with the next settlement in the middle of nowhere, and the many in planning or tactics had no place in the headlines. Since the second year, coverage of the Northern Campaign had been reduced for the most part to monthly reports about gained territory, fought skirmishes and everything even vaguely interesting events of the last month.
After three years, regions of the size of France had been liberated. From the initial training grounds in the north of Praag up and even beyond the Tobol river. But in this context, liberation was a tensile term. For the most part, it had been undefended, empty countryside and many nearly inaccessible forests. The armed forces had swept through these lands a few times, killed anything posing a potential threat and then continued onwards, leaving the newly conquered lands empty again. Following units would repeat the same pattern from time to time. Troops remained only where railroads had been constructed as the main supply and control routes.
For the outside world, the Northern Campaign had soon turned into nothing more than just another peace-keeping operation that was only of interest for Kislev.
And while similar opinions soon also appeared within the lower ranks of the Army of Light, for the people in the know matters looked entirely different. It was true, until now the campaign had failed to live up to the envisioned dream of glorious crusade against Chaos. For Torben Treumark, the common folks saw things from the wrong perspective. Direct combat was simply the result of all previous preparations, the outcome something that had to be created beforehand. He needed the boring routine, the many failures, the various distractions and misconceptions that were revealed during these short three years.
The first year, in estimation of few and isolated enemy confrontations, was always been scheduled to be a giant experiment. More than a dozen different types of unit setups had been tested. How many officers and NCO were needed to efficiently lead squads, platoons and battalions? What gear was needed as a minimum, how many second and third-rate units could be supported by a single first-rate unit? What were deployment and transfer times between units? What problems appeared when individual soldiers were transferred to other units? Where and how could logistics and organization be streamlined? Should AoL and Kislevite units closely act together, even exchange smaller units, or act separately, only cooperating on a higher level of command? Was train traffic on schedule and how fast could damaged tracks or trains be repaired in the field?
All of these and many more questions had to be answered at some point. And while troops were still on the Southern side of the Tobol river—the nominal border to Troll Country—the mistakes and error that would bring answers to these questions were way more tolerable than later on.
When the common troops had crossed the Lynsk, they had received a few weeks training, and were led by leaders that had undergone a few months of training. But when they crossed the Tobol more than two years later, many soldiers had the experience and knowledge that they had gained in the field, from other soldiers that taught their own experiences back in the training camps. Their leaders had also accumulated experience, could follow protocols in their sleep, and saw many mistakes with an experienced eye before it could turn in bigger problems.
At the time that the Tobol was being crossed for the first time, many things had already changed. Several specialized unit setups had been finalized, being deployed based on the operation needs on-site. The rotation timetables and organization and general procedures had been improved, replacing front troops after six months of ongoing duty or earlier if they had been part of longer-term combat operations. The contents being taught back in the training camps had changed no less than seven times, the front postal service completely overhauled. The need for a system of political officers had become apparent, often being accompanied by battle-hardened troops whose loyalty had been proven.
For the public and the simple soldiers, the war was already going on for three years. For Treumark and the other strategists, it had been three years of rigorous training and testing under real combat and operational conditions. Everything between Lynsk and Tobol had only been the next phase of operation for the real war.
The past three years of the Northern Campaign had been the most difficult for Kislev itself.
The railroad system allowed a massively increased amount of goods, troops and information to be transported throughout the kingdom. Boyars living literally in the middle of nowhere had to warm up to the idea that entire divisions might reach their dominions within weeks or even days. The introduction of airmail allowed regular consultations with the Frozen Court. Sometimes, the advantages of doing so had to be emphasized by short chekist visits when anticipated mails had gone missing or had never reached the post offices.
Many batches of recruits, returning from their initial conscription or their military service beyond the Lynsk, had brought home new ideas. After the first Druzhina had been hanged publicly for seeing it appropriate to behead recruits because they wanted to use their knowledge and skills for the good of their homes—and not only for the good of the Druzhina—the death toll under recently returned recruits was reduced remarkably. However, this was just another sign that the political balance within the kingdom was shifting. Druzhina and Boyars, having exploited the great achievements of their predecessors, soon realized that the eyes of the Frozen Court saw a lot of clearer these days. And that they or their children had to prove their allegiance and usefulness by showing results if they wanted to keep their positions in the future.
Beyond the Lynsk awaited further problems. During the past centuries, many dissidents had attempted to flee the righteous rule of the Frozen Court. Only few succeeded but it was clear that enthusiasm of continued regular presence of military forces were often met with at least skepticism. Estimating that there still would be enough time to filter out the more persistent opposition in the future, negotiations and compromises had to be found so that isolated settlements or nomad tribes would see the benefits of returning under Kislevite rule.
Another difficult task also fell into Kislevite hands: The continued occupation of the liberated territory.
So far, AoL units had displayed great discipline, coordination and unbreakable willpower to continue pushing forward. But they saw no necessity to serve as occupation troops in territory void of enemy presence. It was not their duty to hold land in the name of the Kingdom of Kislev. This duty was reserved for Kislevite units. And with each liberated square kilometer, the number of Kislevite units at the front shrank as the number of units sitting around idling in the middle of nowhere increased.
To keep a high-profile presence at the front, smaller special units consisting of the proven scout snipers—Kislevite hunters that were well-versed trackers and highly capable with their sniper rifles—ice mages and other individuals with highly developed skills would be attached to normal units, ready to be transferred to units or places they were needed on short notice.
Construction of railroads and streets, their maintenance and the continued military presence all cost money. The costs in core Kislevite territories could be managed with the advantages they brought with them. But beyond the Lynsk, things looked different. At the time that the Kislevite border and last line of defense against Chaos could be pushed from the Lynsk to the Tobol, the costs would already amortized themselves. But until then, opportunities had to be found to additional profit to prevent that the entire campaign would turn into a money sink.
Prospectors soon began to search for natural resources worth tapping into. The hope was to find large gas or oil deposits, jewels or anything else worth selling. In certain circles of the high society in Germany and Empire, the usage of century old, slowly growing trees from the Northern Oblast had already found increasing interest.
Regarding the occupation forces, loyal settlements and nomads might be recruited to serve the kingdom more closely and take over certain duties in their home regions, but this would take further years.
Another source of income was the emerging trend of crusade tourism. Smaller groups of nobles, warriors or smaller orders had shown interest in participating in the Northern Campaign on multiple occasions. In cooperation with AoL and Kislev, these groups were soon transported near to the front—in heated trains—and, accompanied by nearby troops, allowed to participate in the glorious crusade. Many were satisfied after a few weeks in the cold North, having conquered empty territory for the glory of their gods of liege. Others were given the opportunity to fight against orcs, trolls or hostile nomads. The conquered territories already had reached places with increased Chaos presence, where troops encountered corrupted wildlife and other Chaos servants, but even if the tourist crusaders demanded to fight against such enemies, the heavy lifting was reserved for the real troops, having undergone the training necessary to correctly cooperate and to handle higher profile enemies.
About three years after the begin of the Northern Campaign, a novelty happened. The first Kislevite—an Ice Maiden too boot—had requested the royal approval to join the Army of Light. Even if founded as Knightly Order of the Empire, it had always seen itself as melting pot uniting all those willing to oppose Chaos. But until that day, not a single Kislevite had joined the order as they had been seeing this as betrayal to their Queen for whom they fought up in the North. Rumors were, that even if some had thought about applying for membership, had decided against this when they heard how the Frozen Court handled people that were against the new ways that the kingdom had introduced in the recent years.
