Verdandi, later
Elric of Melnibone stood at the ship's railing, his eyes on the fog and his mind a universe away. He barely reacted when Joakim Vos stepped besides him.
"What is it Sir Joakim, found your voice again after whatever the captain told you?"
"Sort of. I've been thinking about what you said earlier, when we introduced ourselves."
"Yes?"
"You said you wanted to free your cousin ..Cymoril from one Yyrkoon?"
"Yes, I will slay him for what he has done."
"Then you might want a bit of advice here. I do hostage rescue for a living and we would never allow somebody related to the victim in the assault team. These things call for mind, not heart. You want the hostage safe, revenge does not need to apply. Wow, wow, don't look at me like that. I understand if you cannot help doing it yourself, but try not to do it in hot blood. Distract that Yyrkoon and punch that sword of yours right through this part of his head. Man or Elf, he will not be able to move a finger after you do this. And so you can distract him better I`ll give you one of these."
"What is that?"
"A flashbang. You saw one in action. If you are not prepared for it you cannot do anything consciously for about five seconds or so. That should be enough time to make it happen."
Elric did not say anything he just nodded. The next hour saw him turning the grenade in his hands and looking at it as if it contained salvation. It well might.
Close to Altdorf
Joakim Vos walked down the plank that led into the fog. He made two steps before he could neither see nor hear the ship and another one brought him onto a snowy hill that he remembered.
Brilliant stars illuminated the night and two moons lent enough light so that he could do without his helmet. He was still looking around when he heard several clicks and some rustling.
"Stop and raise your hands whoever...Sigmar, is that you Oberstleutnant? What happened you spoiled Christmas for a lot of people."
"I am not totally sure about that Sir Ludwig."
Sea of Claws shore, near Wismar, Germany
After giving a Shallya service on Christmas Eve, Ralf Winkler, his wife and several Shallya sisters had left Berlin with two campervans to enjoy Christmas privately. Driving through Branden- and Mecklenburg, their aim was a beach section at the new coastline which had developed after Germany´s arrival, laying a few kilometers "offshore" from Wismar.
The nine friends had packed several picnic baskets with food and had prepared well. They arrived there in the late afternoon hours, just as it was beginning to darken. You could see the lights of Wismar in the distance. Ralf and Christine started a camping fire, to keep the cold at bay and putting sausages on the grill they brought with them. Mother Hedrad meanwhile prepared the last steps of the potato salad.
A very traditional meal awaited the Nine. Sausages with potato salad and Herring salad with potatoes were the two meals which were eaten in Germany on Christmas Eve the most. Over 80% of the population ate one of the two dishes, with the sausages and potato salad the most chosen.
Sitting around the camp fire, the friends ate, drank and had a good time. At ten p.m. the presents were exchanged. In Germany the presents are given on Christmas Eve, not first Christmas Day.
At midnight for a short time the bells at Wismar were ringing, the friends were looking at the contrast of the dark, silent coast and the lit city, the sight wonderful. Drinking mulled wine, Ralf and his friends sang a Shallya hymn and Stille Nacht (Silent Night), then they retreated into the camper vans for the night. It had been a great Christmas Eve.
Doitsu Ikku, Shirasagi-Onsen, Nippon (a few hours earlier)
Stefan Jansen, his family and the other Germans of the German Quarter were on their feet, celebrating. For the Nipponese the religious component of Christmas was mostly not so important, a foreign god´s birthday was celebrated, but celebrating with friends and family a feast of peace and love was something that caught on.
Christmas trees could be found all over Shirasagi-Onsen, a special big one stood at the central market place of the city, surrounded by a Christmas market. Norio Tetsumori, the mayor of Nippon´s second largest city had given a speech and was mingling in the market with his family.
Local, new Christmas traditions were beginning here. Beside the mulled wine, clear Toriniku (chicken) soup had begun to gain traction among both Nipponese and Germans as an additional shield against the cold winter weather and was drunk in large quantities.
Every year now on Christmas Eve there was the "Sun-Disc-Run", to show the community spirit of Shirasagi-Onsen. Each year a small group of people was chosen to mark the frame of each main house door with a special Sun disc stamp, beginning midnight on Christmas Eve and this had be completed before Christmas Day. In a city as big as Shirasagi and still growing, this was not an easy task. And that was intentional. The citizens were allowed to help them in various, but not too obvious ways, as said to show the community spirit of the people.
New feast food came to be due to mixing of German and Nipponese cuisine.
Temple of Shallya, Couronne
The room was normally used for the Sister's meals and some of their festivals. It held a huge tree now, full of candles and decorations. The tables were in the process of being laid out with lots of food and the smell was already mouth-watering. People were going here and there, making the last-minute preparations to a festival that was rapidly becoming quite important to the Shallya Cult. Close to the table a small bluetooth speaker tried to fill the room with music.
While a younger Sister placed some more candies on a plate, not without sampling some of them an even older woman stood nearby and tried to look scandalized. Sister Helouise had been brought in from Altdorf via Athel Loren of all places. Like a lot of the Sisters from the Empire she had very different ideas about healing the sick. Now that the Breton Civil war was over their help was at least tolerated by the Royal government. That there was a certain tension between the Sisters of Shallya's main temple and the newcomers from Altdorf who thought they knew so much better was hardly to be avoided.
"Do you really think that this is appropriate music for Christmas Sister Helouise?"
"Can`t think of anything better Mother Hildegard, really now. If any place needed a breath of fresh air it is this one."
"You do know that we are in Shallya`s main temple, yes?"
"I think you told me a dozen times during the last week and Superior Mother Clementine more often. So yes, I do remember."
"So?"
"So I would be much more impressed if the Temple would have spent less time in rituals and more time learning hygiene. If Mother Clementine would have pushed a bit more a lot of people would still be alive."
"She always had to balance that with not pushing the Servants of the Lady too hard. In the last years that would have been dangerous."
"Yes, yes. And now we have to work hard and look good at the same time, I was told that once or twice. So if I want to let my hair down a bit now I have a good reason to."
"Yes, you have. So you can keep that music on, but only if you can explain to me why they call themselves Trans-Siberian Orchestra."
"Err, lets see what else is in the playlist…."
World's Edge Autonomous Zone
The needle hammered down scant millimeters from Bignose's thumb. It showed how dangerous it was by effortlessly punching through thick Squig leather at least twice per second and pulling a waxed thread behind it. A finger nail that would never grow back right and some other scares would remind the Goblin of the dangers when he was not at work.
He was told he was clumsy and stupid when it happened and actually a bit of his pay was docked every time as he bled on the boots that he made. It should be no problem to avoid the needle he was told and his gang boss was right about that. The accidents happened always either early in the morning. An hour after the blasted siren woke everybody up he had to be at his sewing machine or he would be fired. He was still not awake then and so he was clumsier. When he survived the first hour it was mostly ok but for the boredom, the bad lighting, the dust and the so-so lighting. It was during the 10th hour of his shift that things got dicey again and he really had to fight the last two hours.
He made it to the siren without another mishap, which was a minor miracle in itself. Shuffling in a long line with the other Goblins past the Orks employed by Skarsnik he was one of those who were searched if he tried to smuggle anything from the workshop. As if he could do anything with a boot made for humans. He made as much hast as his tired legs allowed him to catch up with the others so he would get anything but dregs in the cantina. Not that the food was great there, but everything was better than what was at the bottom of the deep bowls served to the last workers to make it to the counter. He counted the coins in his hand, they would allow him half a sausage in his gruel today. The coins had their denomination printed on one side and Skarsnik's face on the other. As he had learned by experience they were worth nothing outside of the factory complex and allowed him to buy things at the shops and cafeterias owned by Skarsnik.
He sat down alone, he gave all the signs of beings too exhausted to mingle with others, he exchanged just a few tired waves and winks while he sat down and shoveled the food in his face. He mulled buying one mushroom beer and realized that his money would stretch that far, but getting up again would be too hard. Another look at his new tyrant, the clock, reminded him that it was time to go to bed. Funny that, the clock. Before everything before the Black Orks came, before the Chaos Stumpies and before the new Greenskin realm Bignose had hardly known the day. Now he had to be in the workshop 06:30 sharp. Not before, as the maintenance crew was not finished and certainly not after as the production line would not work if anybody was absent. He could only have lunch from 12:00 to 12:30, not before and not after for the same reasons and he had to be there from Sigmarstag to Angertag with no exceptions. He could not simply decide to come other days or not at all. And all that so that the humies could have nice, cheap squigleather boots, so that Skarsnik and the higher-ups would have all nice German toys. Another look at the clock told him that the cafeteria crew would throw him out in a few minutes, so he went to the dormitory that housed him and a dozen other Goblins in a single room. He paid roughly a third of his wage for that privilege.
When his abused back met the shoddy bunk he thought he had it worse before. The Chaos Stumpies had been about to work him to death. At those times he would have welcomed death to end the suffering. Now he saw a future so bleak that he could hardly see anything there to look forward to. Many of his mates had taken to mushrooms, killing themselves bit by bit or getting in dangerous debts. He had not yet succumbed to that, but what else was there to do.
He awoke in the middle of the night, feeling exhaustion, pains and a full bladder. He did his best to make his exit quietly, waking up the others was not so clever. He made his way to latrines that were filthy even by his standards. When he was done he stepped into what went for fresh air and removed his cap and reversed his tunic when he made his way back deeper into the caverns.
Checking twice that he would not be seen he went into a hard-to-see crawlspace and emerged into a set of very old tunnels. Making his way he wrapped a bandana around his face.
Bignose was heading the revolushunary committee and it would not do for anybody to know that yet. He was about to tell his comrades how to overthrow Skarsnik's regime and seize the means of production. For himself sooner or later, of course.
U220, Great Ocean
The sea would have been a millpond for any vessel larger than a sailboat. U220, with its somewhat awkward shape dictated by twin pressure hulls managed to wallow despite that. The rumble of a diesel engine could be heard and a small plume of diesel smoke managed to follow the submarine for a few meters before its dissipated. Below the surface the submarine was a graceful, quiet killer, on the surface its was literally out of its depth.
Friedel Bauer still had good reasons for this evolution. There were very powers in this world that could observe the submarine without the crew being aware of it. The submarine could make roughly 8 knots in its AIP mode, the diesels allowed to go to 14. Using the diesels also meant that huge amounts of fresh air were sucked all through the submarine, something well appreciated after a week under water breathing each others odor.
U 40 could refuel at the tender she was going to meet north of Ulthuan and it was highly unlikely that she would light her diesels much during the mission to the Underground Sea. So, any opportunity to enjoy fresh air was to be used as long as it lasted. U40's sail was big enough to allow two people up besides the watch-standers and there was a certain competition going on for the chance to be up there. That competition had intensified noticeably 30 minutes ago when the science team had nominated their member for the hour outside. Andrea Hermanns was not only female and beautiful, she was also well-versed in dealing with tough sailors and keeping things friendly and civil. Taking a two-year voyage around the world on a Norscan ship will do that to you.
Friedel would never go so far as to stare at her, but standing rather close to her was nice in its own way.
"Two more weeks doctor, then we get to enter a place no free human ever saw. What do you expect to find from your side?"
"I'll admit to having next to no idea captain. The Underground Sea is very likely an area which does makes for isolated breeding. There will be unique pressures on evolution there and probably more than a few factors that further mutation. Even on Earth the population of submarine caves was fascinating, this cannot be but more so."
"Anticipating anything dangerous?"
"Both on Earth and here the lifeforms that are native to caves tend to be a bit smaller than their open ocean counterparts, as food supply is more limited. Still, this world has its share of surprises. We´ll certainly get to see a lot of new species."
"I see. As long as you remember that space is quite limited on a submarine.."
"Oh, my bunk reminds me every time I worm into that thing, no problem. Still it is a great opportunity to study a place no scientist ever saw before."
"And to find some dangers we never considered while we cannot call for any help."
"So? The opportunity stays the same."
Friedel Bauer was about a decade older than the marine biologist. Again, he was reminded of the chasm that had opened between generations. The young ones, those who had been less than 20 before the Weltensprung, were growing up different. Germany was changing a world beyond recognition, it changed them in return.
Berlin Apartment
The lock that closed the door was as good as Zeiss Ikon could make it. Various switches and rockers had to move before it would turn, the materials inside were harder than most drill bits and would happily turn with every drill that was not, denying access. Any lock-pick, vibrating or not, would find it impossible to disengage all restraints at the same time. The lock moved several lock bars that latched into a solid frame. Any door could be opened by enough force, this one would not yield unobtrusively.
The silvery mass that moved inside the lock had obviously not gotten the memo yet and any observer would have to conclude that it moved in a violation of the laws of physics. Before long the mass hardened into a shape that allowed to push the restraints back and a small part magnetized itself to pull up a ball. A handle attached to the mass turned and the door opened as if the correct key had been used.
The silvery mass flowed back into the handle and its owner placed it in a small pouch before putting it into his breast pocket. The nanite lock-pick was literally priceless, one of five existing and Ottokar Proktor was quite fond of it.
His nose turned up a bit from the apartment's odor and relaxed a bit when it failed to detect the smell of decay. There rooms had held furniture, sparse and elegant, now their ruins displayed neither. The shards that must have been at least one mirror and several bottles were pushed aside while the German made his way through the rooms. Flies and maggots crawled over the remains of fast food, there was an army of empty bottles arranged in serrated ranks. The ones with the most dust were some very nice wines, the cleaner ones close to rotgut. A couple of ashtrays held things that might contain tobacco in moderation.
Two spots among the many were certainly vomit, other were too old to give enough of a hint.
The sofa was too massive to destroy completely, it was just the fabric that was slashed to ribbons, exposing yellow foam and bright springs. Nobody should sit on that contraption and nobody did. The painfully thin form of an Asur was sprawled all across the sofa displaying the total lack of muscle tone that alcohol-induced coma would bring. The snoring that filled the room spoke of a raw throat and a very deep sleep.
Ottokar Proktor made his way into the kitchen and miraculously found the indigents for coffee and two cups that could be cleaned with acceptable effort.
"Jeez Aeolus, that broad was nice to look at and all, but this is going a bit far, don't you think?"
There was a crashing and a groaning from the ruins of the living room. Aeolus was obviously trying to get up and failed twice, crashing down on his furniture twice. When he finally made it into the kitchen the coffee barely managed to hide the smell of old sweat and vomit.
„I..I resent that Ottokar you cold bashtard..She was not nice to look at, she was the love of my life. She was my anchor when the ..bloody Asur threw me out for saving their hidebound asses..She was there for me..and she was of course nice to look at."
„Yes, she was all of that to you Aeolus. And you had your scheduled breakdown, quite a bad one by the looks of it. Question is: how are you?"
„What you mean is: Can I go on one of your missions and try to get shot myself properly and now have a third of my team killed together with the love..the love..."
„The love of your life, the one you lost not on a mission for me but of her own devising. I helped out at your request."
„Yes, Ottokar, yes and there is no need for shouting."
„Oh my. Can you hold a mug by your own?"
Man and Elf made their way to the living room again where Aeolus flopped on the sofa again while Ottokar remained standing in a corner not taken by filth while both consumed the corrosively strong brew.
„Aeolus, I take it that things did not work out as you thought. Need more time?"
„Oh Ottokar, the one who knows everything at nothing. I do not need more time, I need a miracle or I need to die."
„Whats up?"
„I finally released myself six weeks ago. I needed to, keeping things in that mental box any longer would have led to worse, well to different things. There was no need and no time for denial, I held her in my hand, I saw her buried. I knew that delusions had no place. Not much place for any bargains either, even if I tried. But anger and depression, that I managed very very well, could not imagine anybody doing better. So I cried, I begged, I destroyed anything that was mine and had memories of her and I drowned my sorrows in alcohol to have at least some relief. And I managed to get better, it took a while. For a while there was not enough light in this world no matter how much the sun shone, for a while all food tasted like ashes. I thought I knew what would happen, but when I released my grip and I dropped into that abyss it was a horror. It really took a while before things got any better. The knowledge that I would not see her again was a horror and it took me too long to accept that. And all the while I waited for..it..to get any better."
"For what to get any better?"
"Whenever I have something hot and dry in my hand, whenever I smell cooked meat, whenever I see a boiled egg I am there again, holding her in my arms and I can do nothing. I knew it is normal to have such things, that will fade after a while. With you humans it is supposed to be four weeks, it is not much different with us. And so I did the same as with my desperation, toughing it out and waiting for any sign this would become better. And I endured, I waited and I endured some more. And when I found that it did not become any better the real desperation started."
"PTSD, fuck. Sorry Aeolus, I should have seen that coming."
"I should have, there were offers after the mission. And of course I decided that I am Aeolus, I am better than you and did not need it. How much I fucked up."
"Happens to the best. There is more?"
"Fuck you, yes."
"That bad?"
"A friend of mine wanted to offer some succor. A very good friend and a very nice Lady besides. It..it did not work out at all."
"Scheiße. You need help and lots of it."
"Yes, and the mages who might offer real help are all in Ulthuan and will not see me."
"Yup. Well, get yourself cleaned up, we are going on a trip."
"Where and why?"
"Does it matter where you are badly off?"
"Don't think so."
"See, and now get a shower, we have a long drive and I won't sit in that smell in the same car than you."
"Thanks, I think."
The showers were going full throttle when Ottokar Proktor found the contact in his smart phone.
"Hi Günther, how are you?"
