A library room in Germany
Günther Koch and Markus Ruhdorfer were old friends. And with the return of the Ruhdorfer family from Nippon the two had begun to meet regularly again, instead of just sending letters, emails and some sporadic meetings.
This early evening Günther and Markus met at Günther´s home. His girlfriend and Markus' wife and children would arrive later, then they would go to a nice dinner.
The two men sat in one of the most-liked rooms in the house, the library room, which won on contrasts. The inventory of the room was painted in warm colors, the shelves running along the walls and to the ceiling. These were full of hardcovers, paperbacks, folders, magazines and scrolls, even some memory sticks and discs, the books standing in the slight disarray indicating a private library well-used. In the room's center stood a reading table, it´s honey-brownish color fitting well with the warm, cozy look of the room.
Still fitting, but a contrast were the couch and the two special "Kontursessel", chairs which would automatically adjust to the person sitting in them and were quite new and comfy. Part of this "new" style was the fireplace with its flittering flames - an illusionary picture from the Shadow Order. And the tastefully concealed fridge filled with snacks and beverages. Reachable by turning one Kontursessel was a Siemens Midi-tower PC with a large TFT-screen, which was connected to several concealed Bose-speakers.
Günther and Markus sat in the chairs relaxed and nursing on a whisky, while making small and serious talk. The amber colored brandy was a 15 years old Glengoyne Malt.
"To the last of the Glengoyne Whisky! We will miss you. Günther, you have a relative in the alcoholics industry, how is it going on the Whisky front?"
"For the alcoholics, not good. Germany has actually good Whisky makers, but we never had many nor large Whisky distilleries, so cheap rotgut is not in the cards.
For us 'epicureans', who enjoy a glass now and then, the situation is becoming better. Rothaus/Kammer-Kirch, Glen Els, Blaue Maus, Glen Budenbach, Senft, Slyrs, Finch, Alpirsbach and Ziegler have expanded their facilities massively. From Nanseitochi we get the Warhammer version of Hibiki Whisky and Toyoguchi, both new Whisky distilleries which are quite renowned for their longtime Sake, Shochu and Umeshu production. Our only source of Irish and Scotch style Whisky is the new Green Granite Distillery in Bad Münster, which is run by some workers from Kilbeggan and Springbank, who were at seminars when the Weltensprung happened and came with us.
All other sources of Whisky we lost when Germany was ripped away through Space and Time. Someday there might be Whisky Distilleries opening up in the Empire, Nippon, Norsca and a few Border Kingdoms, but that´s it. Albion might already distill something like Whisky, but as you know, Markus, trading with Albion is a very small part of the foreign trade for several reasons. So, there is nothing that could make up the loss of Earth Whisky. Ireland and Scotland alone had well over 100 active large distilleries, we have 44 altogether, but that includes micro-distilleries which produce only a few casks a year. Only 13 of those can be called large.
So we have some tasty Whisky brands to enjoy, but nothing on the level of choice we had back on Earth."
"Well, the outlook is fine in principle, but still a loss we have to solve. Whisky is not a necessity of life, but one of the many things where Germany is running on the last reserves. If we want to go forward, we need more production capacities and a bigger market. We have to use sorcery, robotics and the nanites to the fullest. We two have spoken often enough about trade, research and everything else." Markus Ruhdorfer took another sip from his tumbler.
Günther Koch did so as well, enjoying the taste and warmth running down towards his stomach before answering.
"Quite right, old pirate. By the way, I think our ideas concerning the situation with your party colleague Lohr are a step into the right direction. But let me start a bit further out. Lohr and his boys' n girls want the right thing, but have few inklings about how you do it right instead of rushing in. Many of his faction are young, having spent most or all of their formative years here in Warhammer, that changes your point of view nicely. Here you have to hit hard, you cannot let your enemies gain many chances, there are entities you do not want to meet in any form... That shapes you, no matter how big or small these changes are.
Look at us, we had lived nearly four decades already when the Weltensprung took us all to Warhammer. We knew Earth, not only from pics, vids, books and the tales of friends and family unlike these 'kids'. Most of Europe was an island of calm, the US and other allies did most of the heavy lifting militarily and since all was running comparatively smooth, complacency was widespread.
That goes doubly for many of our 'old' politicians. The majority are Schönwetterpolitiker (fair weather politicians), nothing more. Few of them are of comparable caliber to Adenauer or Ehrhard, not even speaking of a Grand master like Bismarck. We can be call ourselves lucky on that we were taken to Warhammer back in the day, because on a world this harsh, the bleeding hearts either wise up soon or cease to be a problem. If it is doing or dying - or worse, if you have the bad luck to run into Chaos forces - somehow even many starry-eyed idealists learn to do what has to be done.
Now what has that to do with Lohr and company? He and his followers are idealists as well. Not too starry-eyed, since he keeps them on the leash, at least for now, which means he is capable of learning. Lohr´s stance has the heart on the right spot, but in this he mirrors the Greens. They want the best for all, but both sides are like a man with a hammer. Most problems soon look like nails.
Lohr has to be taken along, not confronted in the usual way. I think with time he might soften his stance, once he sees how difficult being part of the parliament and or government can be.
He and his followers should get at least some tokens to feel appreciated.
Like claiming colonies in 'empty' regions for later development, because staking claims on resource-rich land, even if unsettled by anyone at the moment, is good forward-thinking.
Another idea is buying a bit of the Nordland province, so that our eastern border looks like 1914, which would be a balm for the hardline nationalists. The part of Nordland bordering our East is sparsely settled and Hinterland, which the Empire would surely sell cheap, especially if we help them and the Nordland province in special with part of their new colonies in the South.
One idea I have is for when the Kaiserlichen are in government in Berlin, which I think will be at the next national elections. The 'traffic light' coalition is hanging barely on by their nails as it is. The Union parties and the Kaiserlichen will be the next government. And when that happens, Lohr and some of his most vocal followers should be sent to Neupapenburg or an exchange with the Imperial Southland colonies, not in the front row, but second or third. To learn governing by looking over the shoulder of those who do it there, as they should be told , but in secret to learn that some things are not as easy as they thought and that some ideas need a lot more preparation and planning than they had an inkling of."
The Warp
The being was unhappy. Finally, he had brought the players to their places, or reasonably close to it and now they did not want to take the final steps. Things were not going as planned. In the mundane the future was hidden behind the veil while the Empyrean held so many of them. So many things were unclear, so many outcomes possible, but this one had the potential to undo all his patient work. For all his power he could bring the horses to the water , but he could not make them drink. He could give them a nudge though. He would just hope that it would be enough.
Close to U40, Underground Sea, Naggaroth
It was a fast ship to sail in harm's way. Constructed for a speed of speed of 25 knots she had done nearly 27 in her sea trials. This was as fast or faster than cruisers less than half her size. She had serious teeth too, with eight guns of the same caliber carried by battleships and unlike them she could use all of them at once unlike those early ) dreadnoughts. She had the same firepower while being considerably faster.
She was the terror of any cruiser, armored or otherwise, she was a beautiful ship and she was deeply flawed. Her guns could easily penetrate armor upwards of 200 mm at the ranges expected for combat. It was just that her own armor was far thinner than that, at or below 170 mm at the most. Her subdivision could have been better and her ammo storage was less than well protected. She was to hunt cruisers, not stand in the line of battle or fight her own kind.
And she had attracted the kind of captain who stored ammo in unsuitable spaces to increase the rate of fire. She was in a squadron commanded by somebody who believed that speed was armor, that glory was just waiting over the horizon and that a splendid victory was to be their fate. Somebody who took a squadron of thin skinned glass cannons into a battle against a like enemy.
She met her opposites, made by designers who were pretty sure that armor was armor and that ammo was to be put in its proper places as it said so in the rules. And for better or worse, their builders followed the rules. The ship had maneuvered here and there, had shot at the enemy at a frightening rate of fire. And then she took three hits in quick succession, shells that punched through her armor like it was not really there, ending their short flight in explosions that ignited cordite bags laying in places they should not be.
The beautiful, fast ship exploded, taking her crew with her but for two.
"This must be Indefatigable Doctor Schuhmann."
"How can you be so sure Captain?"
"She was the first to go and Queen Mary had all her turrets on the center line, unlike Indefatigable."
"I see, thanks. And over there, is that the Run to the South?"
"Well spotted for somebody who tells me he is not knowledgeable in Naval history."
The two men, U40's captain and her resident archaeologist were not the only humans in the cavern, there were other scientists around them and a few soldiers for protection. It made next to no difference, the cavern was so huge that it swallowed them whole. According to their geologist this cavern should simply not exist, should have collapsed under the weight of many tons of granite and soil which rested on her. That something unseen lit it up in a sickly yellow twilight added to the mystery.
It was filled with huge edifices that could be anything. They were all blocky, had proportions that seemed off to human eyes and would not give any clue about their purpose. Even a cursory examination of them all would take months, months U40's crew did not have.
Currently they looked at none of them, but the channels that ran along the paths that connected the cavern's various features. These pools were filled by a liquid that was certainly not water. For the most part it was as black as the darkest night, but some parts displayed the scenes of naval battles. Some were from the battle some called Jutland and others Skagerak. Some were from other wars and everybody looked slack-jawed at the fury offered by Taffy 3 against an enemy many times its strength. Bemusedly they saw two versions of that battle, one that was familiar and one which had all of the carriers sunk . There were fights that, at least according to U40's captain, had ships in them that had never been built on Earth. Some of them had aesthetics that made human builders questionable. But most of the fire and fury was centered on the day the High Seas Fleet had challenged the might of the Royal Navy.
Like excited visitors in an exhibition the Germans made their way through the many alien edifices to see one more scene, one more side of a battle fought when their grandparents were barely alive.
Cavern below Teotihuacan
Lots of high-powered lights illuminated every nook and cranny of the cave, soldiers kept guard from prepared positions and nothing but Xenon Communication members and those they approved of moved. Mathis Lambert still saw the furtive glances to things barely seen in the corner of the eyes, the slightly too loud voices that vanished in the stone-clad vastness. Battle hardened veterans all, they acted a bit like children who had entered the forbidden house said to be haunted.
The center of their activities was Santa Claus in a bulletproof vest. Nobody would call Marius Vanderschantz that, he did not react well to that. The Celestial mage had been transported to Earth together with Marienburg and the Wasteland. Until a few years ago he had lost most of his powers and it had taken all he and a conclave of mages had to catch glimpses of Germany in their old world. Then Warpstone had been released into Earth's atmosphere, then three demigods had haunted Earth, and then he had to fight the most cunning of them. He had fought together with his Marienburg colleagues, French paratroopers, German soldiers and Lord Mazdamundi. They had won and when he had agreed to stay on this world so far from the Empyrean the Slann had left him a talisman that allowed him to channel the energies of the Warp with far greater ease.
Now he sat in a circle of warding, surrounded by symbols he had written with chalk on the floor which had risen to chest height soon thereafter and now turned around him in well-ordered orbits. Sweat covered the mage's brow and tics contorted the craggy face at ' breath became ragged at times and stopped for up to a minute at others. Finally, a shudder ran through the huge mage, a rasping cough cleared his throat and he rose from the position he had forced his body into for far too long.
While he swayed on his feet the glowing symbols flickered out one by one and allowed their master to pass.
Vanderschantz was greeted by an ice-cold can of beer and eyebrows that rose on Mathis Lambert's face in an unspoken question. The half-liter of amber-colored fluid had passed the gullet before he could expect any answer.
"A gate, this is but a gate. At least that is what I think."
"You think?"
"This is like nothing I have ever seen. It is obviously powerful and intricate, but in ways I do not understand at all."
"Chaotic?"
"No, I do not think so. It is…hard to describe. You know, when we arrived on this world we saw lots of things you made here which were more elaborate versions of things we knew. Our old world knew engine-powered ships and gyrocopters. And still your frigates and helicopters were so much more that we could only think they were magic as we never thought mundane mechanisms could be that powerful. Of course, they were not, they were just so much more intricate and elaborate than anything even the Dawi ever mastered. And now I look at this and think it cannot be magical in nature, that it must be something else. I cannot answer your questions mon Capitane, and I doubt anybody will be able to do so the next couple of hundred years. Best simply bury this under as much concrete and steel as you can and guard the rest."
"And if we try to demolish ..this?"
"I cannot say anything about the results. I would not advise to do so and believe that a thick layer of concrete on top of this will keep this sealed well enough. Me and my colleagues may not be as powerful or have the lore of those who made this, but I think I can still throw a spanner into the works of whatever this is supposed to do. Sabotage is so much easier than building."
"I will have to kick this upstairs, but it is at least good to have a plan. And we can guard this place much better if we can see where the enemy emerges."
"I think so too Capitane. Oh bugger…."
Cavern close to U40, Underground Sea, Naggaroth
The building, if indeed it was a building, was a pyramid, but like none that had ever been built on Earth. Its sides were smooth, the tip truncated and the corners were reinforced and protruded forward of the walls. The surfaces were of the smoothest blackness and while they seemed to have a three-dimensional texture the touch would only reveal a flat surface.
Glowing lines ran all over the walls, following strange geometries and running the spectrum from red all the way to a sickly yellow.
Wilhelm Schuhmann watched U40's Special Forces team at work. They had been reduced from two teams plus support to one team to make space for him and his fellow scientists. They were clad in power armor, wielded some of the most modern weapons employed by the most advanced player on this world and were supported by a couple of drones. They should be able to handle anything this world could throw at them, but currently they reassured Schuhmann far less than usual.
He watched the video of a drone on a pad held by Andrea Hermanns together with Captain Bauer. The drone had made its way through the entrance and was now making its way towards another doorway. It was enormous and the arch that was its upper end held more of the glowing lines that were almost certainly a script of some sort.
"I wonder what these signs say. Any idea Herr Schuhmann?"
"There is nothing even remotely like this that I know of Captain. It could be anything."
" Maybe ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn?"
Both men looked at Andrea Hermann and started to crack a smile when they saw their biologist's face freeze. Looking back at the monitor they saw the drone's light illuminate a huge statue. It was intricately detailed, in a color between green and black. None of the three had ever seen something like it, but there were few doubts that whatever it depicted was as alien as it was powerful. And it had lots of tentacles.
"Would you please just shut up Doctor Hermanns, would you please?"
