South Chaos Desert same time
The mountain was off, there was no other way to describe it. It had changed apparent size when Robert`s party approached it and now that they stood before it the weirdness did not stop. Crags and features seemed to change shape when one did look away for a moment and angles were wrong somehow. And that was not the only thing wrong with it and far from the thing that worried Robert de Grail most.
The most troubling thing was the absence of any guards at the Gate and the fact that the gate could be opened by a simple handle. True, the handle had moved a bit under his hands, but it had opened the gate readily enough. He could not see far into the hallway beyond as there was some sort of curtain blocking the view. It was featureless except for a sign. A ball was connected to two crescents by a small bar. Simple as the symbol was it seemed to flow over the curtain.
"Slaanesh"
"Indeed Sir Robert, this dungeon belongs to the Prince of Pleasure."
"The weakest of all Chaos Gods, one not given to combat."
"And not to be underestimated."
"I will not fail the Lady Dame Louna."
"Certainly."
The Knights, the two Dames and the three scouts who had made it stepped through the curtain into a different world. The last days had been an unending, freezing hell, now they were inside warmth. They had not smelled much except themselves, now the air was filled with fine fragrances and the promise of food. They had heard nothing but the whistling of the wind and their own voices made harsh by the weather. Now soothing melodies reminded them of better times. They had not seen any colors, but white, grey and red for days, now their eyes feasted on a riot of colors that somehow avoided being tacky.
They marched down the single path that meandered past statues and showcases full of art and treasure. Francois, one of the surviving scouts, bent over one of the showcases when a sword sliced through the case a few centimeters from his hand.
"Nobody touches any if this. It might be dangerous, very likely is. And when you are dead you cannot serve the Lady."
"Yes Sir Robert."
Dame Louna looked at the statue, just from the corner of her eye. It depicted a man, a very beautiful man. He looked just a bit like the boy she had fancied before the Servants of the Lady took her. And to her amazement it was no statue, it moved. It was a living, breathing man who turned in her direction and smiled. It was a perfect smile, a smile that rolled acceptance, joy and amusement into an incredible whole. That she did see anything beyond the smile was a miracle, but she could not help to notice the man`s face, a face just perfect and fitting to the most amazing pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. And all of that was on the body of a god. Louna felt things she had thought forgotten for all times. She was obviously appreciated and desired as herself, not as a servant of the Lady, as a mage or anything like that. She was desired and there was a chance for so much more.
"Dame Louna? Dame, what is up?"
When Robert`s hand touched the Dame who had frozen on the spot she dissolved into a pile of ashes.
Robert was not fast enough to keep the next scout from stuffing his mouth with some delicacies that were presented on a table fit for a feast. Nothing seemed to happen for a minute, before something started to eat the unlucky warden from the inside. Robert and another Grail Knight managed to kill the things with too many teeth and claws when they emerged from the dead man`s chest.
The survivors forgot their hunger quickly enough and ventured on the path that beckoned them forward. They walked past miracles they dared not watch, past artistry beyond mortal`s achievements and other things that tried to kill them. They stopped only when they entered the huge room.
It was curiously featureless. There were no great banners, no statues and no embellishments. There were only curves and no corners. Ramps led to galleys at higher levels, but no openings indicated a path forward. Robert was looking around for any clue when a number of doorways dilated open and released beings into the room.
The Royals could just watch the beings that approach them with incredulity. Their upper bodies were those of beautiful men and women. Alabaster-white skin free of any blemishes, slim, defined muscles and youthful faces were crowned by a shock of snakes. Their lower bodies was those of snakes and they propelled them silently. The beings did not talk, they did not challenge but they held slender swords that looked as deadly as they were elegant.
The silence of the room and the Royals awe was broken by a scratching sound. Normally nearly inaudible it was loud as a church`s bell in the silence. All eyes went to Robert de Grail who had drawn his sword from his scabbard. The Grail Knights formed a circle without any further prompting to protect each other while the surviving Damsel mouthed words of power.
Robert tried to keep an eye on all opponents, but they encircled the Royals easily. They kept a distance on all sides and just watched the Royals for a long moment. There was no battle cry, no order and no sign, Slaanesh`s creatures charged as one. They were far faster than any Royal anticipated and the Scout`s bolts all missed their targets. Robert had been fast when he was a mere knight, he had become much better when the Lady favored him with the Grail. Even he was barely able to parry the strike that would have pierced his eye. The blade scraped at the side of his helmet instead. He stepped forward while the weapons were still in contact and punched with his elbow. His armor left a shallow crease in the previously perfect face and his sword struck downwards. It was intercepted by a sword that had moved impossibly fast and Robert had to turn and jump backwards to evade.
His opponent extruded a long tongue that licked over the wound and smiled. He was still smiling when he charged again, this time combining it with a downwards stroke that would have taken Robert`s head off if it were to connect. The Grail knight moved his sword in an arc that was to push that strike to the side and end in a position to strike at the creature`s face. He was in mid-movement when he saw the altered trajectory. Knowing he had been lured by a faint the Grail Knight dropped to the floor, rolling forward, letting the stroke pass over him. He was already back on his feet before the attacker had turned and was inside his arc. His left hand gripped the sword half-way and pulled the blade against the creature`s neck with the force of both arms. It was neither elegant nor easy, he practically sawed his way through the windpipe. Purple blood erupted in twin streams from both arteria and a gurgling was the first and last sound the creature made.
Robert dropped the attacker and jumped as far as he dared. A second step brought him to the point where he could punch his sword into the creature`s back. He had just been in time, it had been about to finish Sir Gawain. He did neither check on his knight nor wait for any thanks. Instead he joined the fight against the last attacker. It was supremely fast and able to hold off both Grail Knights for nearly 30 seconds before both Royals were far enough from each other. Robert managed to block the sword with his guard and went close when Sir Fredolin`s sword decapitated the creature.
The three Knights could just gather their breath and stare at each other for a moment. All of them had broken their vow of honorable combat and should have despised themselves as well as each other. The very fact that they felt nothing of that sort terrified two of them.
"They were devoid of any honor, they deserved none." Got a set of nods, it was the sort of face-saving advise that would get them through the next hours. Something had to as they were the only survivors of the battle. Wearily they made their way towards the door that stood open at the far end of the room. They did not make it.
Before they could make it through the opening the most beautiful woman any of the three had seen stepped through the doorway. She was perfectly shaped, the essence of a man`s dream. No cloth hid any of her beauty, no color was needed to accentuate it. Any human who saw her knew that any wish he had, any desire could be fulfilled by just asking and the woman before them would be delighted to provide.
Sir Gawain and Fredolin were simply overwhelmed and dropped to their knees. Robert de Grail was not.
"So you are the one who was promised to me. Interesting. You are strong and you have a nice head on your shoulders. And you use what is in there too. Yes, you will do nicely. So Sir Robert, what would you like me to do?"
"Step aside."
"Now that is a bit rude, don`t you think. Is your kind not taught to respect a Lady?"
"Yes, if she is worthy of my respect. You seek to deceive me in some way, you wear a mask. If you would respect me you would show what you really are and not some beautiful mask."
"Oh Sir Robert, what you see is what is here, But this is not what strokes your desire, isn`t it.? Oh my, this Lady of yours has really messed that pretty head of yours. Well if it has to be that way.."
"Don`t blaspheme against the Lady…"
Robert de Grail struck with all his speed and all his mind. The blade did not connect, it was deflected by a shaft of a wood he had never seen before. It belonged to the spear that had just appeared in the woman`s hands.
"Shall we dance then Sir Robert?"
Robert de Grail was faster and stronger than any man who had not been enhanced in some way. He had learned to fight when he had learned to walk and improved on these lessons on many a battlefield. He met his match in a naked woman half his weight. Any of his thrusts and slashes was parried with seeming ease, any feint anticipated and every step mapped in advance. Yet at the same time he could sense where she would attack, his sword would move to the right place before his mind had really parsed the need for it. His tired feet moved in rhythm to his arms and he was never in danger of stumbling.
The two were locked in a dance as beautiful as it was deadly. A single misstep, a minute delay would be all it would need for one of them to die. And that very fact brought Robert alive in a way he had rarely experienced before. He tasted the air like a good wine, felt the sword in his hand and saw any detail on his opponent. None of them knew how long they had sparred, how long they had cheated death. Both fighters stopped a meter from each other and looked into the others eyes. Both smiled.
"So this is what it takes Robert?"
"Yes, this is it."
Both threw away their weapons and embraced the others. Sharp nails failed at piercing Robert`s back armor, his gloved fingers closed around her neck. His thumbs found her larynx and pushed. Delicate bones broke under the pressure and airways swelled shut immediately. The creature writhed on the ground when the Grail Knight dropped her.
"This is what it takes wench. Fulfilling the Lady`s wishes is what it takes to excite me."
Both Grail Knights followed him in a befuddled state when they made their way to the altar in the next room. It contained a simple wooden box covered in icy crystals.
Robert paused for a moment, expecting terrible foes to emerge or a trap to close. Nothing like that happened, even when he picked up the box that made him shiver from being so very cold.
"Step close Sirs, it is time."
His cold finger needed three tries to activate the medallion the Lady had given him. When he finally made it, a white light swallowed him and his companions.
"So you really made it Robert de Grail, you are to be commended. Please give me that, it would kill you in short order as it is now. And now rest my knight, I expect great things of you. You will turn some stones next, yes you will."
The Lady`s words were welcome, the excitement that colored her voice puzzling and a bit disturbing even to the exhausted Grail Knight.
Sensation in the Grey Mountains - Schnabeltier colony found!
With Germany´s current western border extending into the foothills of the Grey Mountains at two locations, the ongoing process to catalogue Germany´s flora and fauna after the Weltensprung did not stop there. And now it gave unimagined results.
In three valleys of the Grey Mountains on German soil and according to the expedition leader Dr. Groß, quite likely living in some valleys on Empire and Bretonnian territory too, a Schnabeltier (lit. Beak animal = Platypus) was found. Later on true colonies of them
Platypuses are humanities most distant living mammal relative, at least on Earth. Here on Warhammer with thousands of new animal types, the jury is still out. Still, it is a major surprise to find a playtypus in a region where birds, reptiles, "standard" mammals and worse are found in great numbers. On Earth, Australia was the only place Playtypus was (still) at home.
Workshop, Soreil
Claude`s tongue slipped out of his mouth again. He had been told many times that this made him look an idiot, sometimes this had been reinforced with a beating. He still could not help it, especially when he had to concentrate. And what he did was important, difficult and needed all the concentration he was capable of.
He would take a piece of metal from the red box on his left side. He would put it into the vise before him, it would fit the contraption only one way. By now he did it the right way the first time, nearly every time. And he no longer threw a tantrum when it would not fit, he would turn it and try another way till it fit. Now that it was in the right way he tightened the vise and took the file he had been given. He would file between the guide rails till the mold would no longer allow him to file deeper and then file the next groove the same way. Then he would extract the part and put it into the blue box on his right.
Today was a good day, the parts had fitted well and work had been fast. Nobody yelled at him, laughed at him or threw shit at him. Not that they would do this here at all, not like in the old days. But when the nice Lady took away the third box he had finished today he smiled at him and he knew what that meant. He would get raisins in his pudding again and he loved raisins.
The nice Lady made him laugh and she told him things. Like that he did something important and he did it well. He had never heard that in all of his life and that made him prouder than he could say.
And the nice Lady who worked in the workshop for the handicapped was right, he did something important. He performed three of the seven production steps needed to make a simple plate of carbon steel into a trigger for the Rebel shotgun. And he made lots of them.
Howaltswerke, Kiel, Germany
Friedel Bauer watched his boat in pieces. Of course, nobody had taken U40 into small parts, but the outer hull plating had been removed in so many places that it seemed that way. The submarine had been the first of the then-new U220 class and more than a few problems had cropped over the years. Now that she was due for her general overhaul she would receive a lot of parts her newer sisters had right from the start. She would also be upgraded in one very important respect and he was not yet sure if he should like that or not. He would like the added capability a great lot. He was also a believer in "tried-and-true", especially when a very important system of his submarine was concerned. And few systems were more basic than a submarine`s batteries.
The lead-acid batteries which had powered U-Boats since U1 and Holland were being replaced by Gigacaps. Oh, he would really love to have nearly ten times as much juice as before, but the Gigacaps were comparatively new. They did well enough in his "Golf" but he could call roadside service if that failed. That option was out for his boat when he was deployed.
And that was the second thing that made him a bit uneasy. His boat. There was no longer a captain to take responsibility for Friedel Bauer`s doings, he was now captain of U40. He would take the sub out for trials in a few months' time. It would be interesting to see what mission U40 would receive after that.
Soreil, Bretonia
The former guild hall turned Rebel government seat was still not as impressive as a castle. Nobody noticed as the Lady was attending the meeting and she tended to gather all attention to herself. Children of Gods tend to be like that. She looked sternly at the assembled humans who wore the Rebel uniform of some sorts.
"Andy Thrope, you are an idiot. Less than one year ago you had to climb a tree like an ape so that the Royals would not attack us when we were still weak. You had to do this mostly by yourself as our army was not trained back then. Ever since then you have trained an army and secured our realm. You took castles deemed unassailable and you have liberated so many serfs that we have serious problems looking after them. And you speak of failure? We were all aware that the Deserte Campaign was a risk and the Royals would not be dumbed all the time. You did great Andy Thrope, you built up an impressive mournival and you will lead them to greater victories next year. So, did you spend all your time on blaming yourself or do you have a plan for next year`s campaign?"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I think. Before I speak of plans let us for a moment talk about what will be available for next year. The Rebel armies will have about 250.000 members, which is huge. At the same time, it is one of the reasons we have to finish this soon as they are a huge drag on the economy. Any army in the field will be considerably smaller as we have to supply them. Even if we were willing to forage, which we are not, we would be fighting in territory which has seen lots of it by the Royals already. The Pike Tericos will still be the backbone of the army but others units are growing. We will have more Assault Troops and at least two more rifle companies. If we can make more shotguns than the assault troops need we will convert some of the crossbow units. They would trade a bit of rate for a far better rate of fire and the ability to shoot from cover.
We will also relegate some of our more "creative" artillery pieces to reserve and make do with mortars and bombards.
The navy is busy building additional armored ships, and these will be made for riverine use. They will play large in the campaign we have planned for 2533.
Yes, we have worked out a plan, one that I am pretty sure the enemy is anticipating. So, we should play it in a way they are not expecting. We will take the war to Couronne now and try to put this war to a close. Even if the Royals retreat from there is will allow us to shorten our lines and will increase our standing. The way to get there is a campaign down the River Sannez. This is as clear to the Royals as this is to us, so we have to expect lots of resistance. We still recommend this strategy as it plays to our strengths. We will use the gunboats to clear all Royal ships and boats from the river, severely disrupting their logistics. We will be able to use the Sannez as our own supply line, allowing our troops to march with light loads on the tow paths, so we should be able to make good time. We will be able to transport all heavy equipment on the river and have artillery support from the ships. At the same time, the troops can remove what obstacles the Royals place in the river and attack potential batteries from the land side.
Pierre Laval has promised to fit out some "specials", armored barges equipped with excavator shovels and cranes from wrecked German construction equipment. This should allow us to clear natural or purposely made obstacles. The Sannez is usually ice-free from Pflugzeit and the tow paths are cobbled, so we can start moving before the worst of the muddy season is over. Between our new artillery and the Storm Troopers we are confident that we can blast our way to Couronne till Sommerzeit. Then we can lay siege to Couronne or use the other option."
"Do you really trust this Sleeneck so much?"
"He held up his part of the deal well enough at Tancred Castle. I contacted a couple of people at Fuchs&Konrad and they speak highly of him and his people. And to be very frank: At worst, we risk a company or two of Storm Troopers. I will not risk the life of a single soldier needlessly, but given the chance to avoid a very costly siege it seems a good move. It also offers a chance to capture or kill King Leoncour and that could really be the push that is needed to end this."
"Fair enough. You said that the enemy will be as aware of the River Sannez and its possibilities as we are mon General. They have the winter to prepare. Shouldn`t we do something they do not expect?"
"First off we will give them something else to think about. So far, the southern provinces have not played a role in this war. We have trained infiltrator teams who will use old Underground Railroad contacts and family connections to establish contact with serfs in Brionne and Aquitaine. They will lead these serfs in a guerrilla campaign where suitable recruits can be found or perform sabotage and incite slowdown strikes where not. At the same time Admiral Emeriau will take first squadron and transports down to Bordeleux. He will do his level best to give the impression of a seaborne invasion. This should convince the Royals to keep lots of troops in these provinces. And secondly, we count on the Royals to defend the River Sannez approaches. It is part of our plan."
"Why that?"
"Because it ties them down, because it makes them stand and fight. It will make them fight in places that are not chock-full of civilians. And with our new army that means we will bleed them white."
"That is a remarkable bloodthirsty plan for somebody who was not sure if he should lead my armies at all at the beginning of this year."
"Yes, it is. You asked me to do it and now I try to make the best job of it I can. If we keep pushing hard the Royals will fold rather sooner than later. If we do it this way we can make the Royals do the bleeding and do it in a way that keeps the wrath of the Germans off our backsides."
"That is very acceptable Andy Thrope. Now suppose for a moment that your plans fail. Then what?"
"We have played through a lot of scenarios where that happens Mylady. It is possible that the Royals defend better than we anticipate, then we will be struck somewhere along the Riverline when the next winter comes. The River never ices completely so we can keep the troops supplied, even if the enemy infiltrates between us and the front line. We can resume the offensive next year then. We may also have to retreat, but I do not see a realistic chance for the Royals to attack our territory. In that case we can play for time. The Royals are having real problems all over the place keeping their serfs in line and we will keep the pressure up. At the same time, they are losing the PR war again."
"Why is that?"
"Giving the fortified villages to the Red Cross was a very astute move by the Royals, we have to give them that. Without that there would probably be Reiksbund troops in Curonne by now or our troops would have G3 rifles instead of pikes. But the bad news did not go away and there is a steady flow of really nasty pictures and videos reaching Germany from Red Cross members. Give this another six months or so and the Germans will call for intervention again."
"Then what?"
"Depends. If the Germans want this to end, but no long and costly occupation they will send weapons and advisers. With those next campaign season will be it, the Royals have no chance at all. Or the Germans will intervene. They would probably make a firepower demonstration with a bomber squadron or something similar. After that the Royals will play ball, I am pretty sure. They might call for a government of national unity or something like that."
"So why not wait then? Why go out and kill good men on both sides?"
"Because this is not a given. And if we win we can call the shots. We decide how the serfs are freed and rebuild Bretonia from the ground up. The other thing might the Royal provinces keep serfs in all but name. I do not think the rebellion stands for that."
"No, it does not. So, any other, how did you call it, scenario, that we should talk about?"
"One, but that is really not my specialty. The other side has a Lady too, somebody who is pretty close to being a god. What will she do when she sees her people fail?"
"A very good question mon General, one that I cannot answer. But beings like me have limits in how much we should interfere in the physical realm, it is too dangerous for us otherwise. I will do my best to limit the damage she can do and there are others who signal that they would do the same. Together we should be able to keep her in check or even best her if she should extend her neck too far."
"Who would do so?"
"She seems to have aroused Athel Loren`s wrath for one, which would automatically would bring Orion and Ariel into play. My sister is mighty, but not that mighty. And if she makes enough of a ruckus in the physical realm I would not put it past the Germans to intervene. They have done so in the past. "
"So you accept our plans?"
"Yes, I do so, you are to be commended. But remember that the Provisional Government has to approve, I am just a part of it."
"As if they would not if you do."
"Yes. But they have to become the government that Bretonia needs in future. I will not stay on this plane of existence for all time Andy Thrope and the Bretons should rule themselves. We have to start some time, might just do now."
"Yes Mylady."
