Vampire Coast, Lustria

The lair's buildings were ramshackle, thrown together with no eye for aesthetics, construction or sanity. They consisted of materials reclaimed from their predecessors, lashed together by beings nearly incapable of the task in indecent haste. Their architect was several madmen who rested in the same body and served their various purposes perfectly. While some might store wares and loot and others might sell the wares the Undead craved mostly, they were camouflage. The real base, the one that made weapons, stored steel in such amounts and studied the notes left by Minerve's undead crew, was underground.

This did not keep a lanky figure clad in gaudy clothes from making his way through the various buildings. Varying his speed between a serene walk, short sprints and periods of total stillness he approached the various undead.

"Good Sir, might you graciously part with a bit of knowledge about the whereabouts of our esteemed guest Heinrich Kemmler."
"You stupid Skallywag cannot believe you can hide this miserable traitor. I'll personally nail what is left of your pecker to the mast."
"Help, help, you must help an old man who is bereft of his aide in the time of need."

*Stab Stab Stab*

"I will end one of you for every minute you fail to bring that traitor to me. Do you think I am funny, do you think I do not mean what I say? Mark my words there will be few Brethren of the Coast by tonight if you do not…..why are you staring up like that…oh my…"

Only very few denizens of the Vampire Coast had seen the bird which purred and whose wings did not move. These very few survivors all had tall stories to tell, but all agreed on one thing, there were harbingers of bloody tidings. The bird made sounds they had not heard before, but there were also others. Some likened it to a tearing cloth of immense size, others to a rumble of thunder that had no end. Before they could agree on any of that, huge explosions made the agreement moot. Something threw whole houses in the air, depositing the burning remains far and wide. Craters appeared where the detonations subsided and only very few undead who were too close stood up again. Of the source of the devastation that engulfed Luthor Harkon's base, there was no sign.

BVS Varrjag, close to Vampire coast

Ingam Grundisson would never, ever tire of this. He still laughed when he remembered calling the armored cruiser's guns "puny", as they had barely half the caliber of a Dawi dreadnaught.

Oh, how wrong he had been. Modern propellants and explosives made the shells easily as dangerous as the ones fired by the old iron monsters, but while these were hopeless against a target more than two kilometers away, Varrjag could shoot her shells for more than 30 kilometers. The old guns would fire every other minute but these "puny" guns would shoot at least five times per minute. There was a sense of primaeval power to them when they shook the whole ship and their muzzle blasts washed over the superstructure.

He would have loved to see the target, but having an excuse to keep the big guns firing for epic minute after epic minute made up for that. And Varrjag was not alone in her fire mission, the German cruiser Bayern had a single turret that was virtually identical to Varrjag's, backed up by a seriously big array of VLS launchers.

It had unleashed a salvo of missiles earlier, a very different spectacle that impressed in its own way. Varrjag and Bayern would continue the fire mission for a few more minutes before the battle moved to the next stage. Grundisson could barely see the Otto Lilienthal, but knew that the helicopters would lift off from the deck about now.

Infirmary, Site alpha, Kislev

The woman looked small and vulnerable. Her cheeks slightly sunken and her skin had an unhealthy hue. An infusion went into her arm and a clear solution dripped lazily from the bag. The young man standing beside her bed did not dare to touch her.

"Herr General, that is only Ringer's Solution, a bit of saltwater. It keeps her vein open in case I need to administer something on the quick. In somewhat unmedical terms, she is simply clapped out and needs to rest. Some good food, two nights of rest and she'll be right as rain. You will have the next pour by the end of the week, right?"
"That is right Dr Meissen. At the end of the week, if all checks out and so far it seems that way. She froze the hell out of a lot of water. The workers are already complaining that the ice they have to remove is rather hard to cut."
"All's well that ends well. Your idea to pack her in waterlogged blankets worked quite well, as did the glucose. Without that, the pit would either to a swimming pool by now or we could all pack up."

"Thanks Herr Meissen, I think.I still have to wonder, this seems such a small thing to have such consequences. What was in that syringe that you put in her tube."
"Can't say, patient's confidentiality and all that, sorry."
"Ihar. You discussed Frau Morosov's treatment in great detail and now you become coy?"
"I do believe the name would not tell you too much Herr General, I cannot even pronounce it correctly."
"What the bleeding…"

"It is a little insurance by our employer to be used in circumstances like these. Our sponsors maintains some very interesting contacts, that's for sure. I would not be too surprised if the Necrach didn't have a hand in its formulation."
"You gave her a drug made by the Necrach? Probably one which was hardly tested."

"We do not have so many Ice Mages that we could run a proper double-blind test, couldn't we?"
"Why?"
"Why I administered it anyway? Because it is necessary, that is why. We need to see this through."
"Risks to the patient be damned?"
"Great deeds were rarely done without taking a few risks along the way Herr General."

General Jacub stared at Dr Meissen in silence for a few moments. Germany produced a number of brilliant doctors, often being very good in their field and being good, generous humans at the same time.

Other doctors were equally famous, but for very different reasons. He realized that he had just met one of… these. And the worst thing was that he would not stop him. Indeed, he would allow the man to do it again if needed.

The moment of silence was broken by a rustling and a voice that should not belong to a young woman.
"I didn't know..know..know you cared. Don't. I did it, I slew my Kraken."
"Get some rest Frau Morosov, you did great."
"And I will do it again."
"If you and doctor Meissen say so."
"Yes."

Reikstag, Altdorf

The wooden hammer descended on the equally wooden anvil with great speed and produced a bang that rivaled a gunshot in loudness, it was followed by two more which arrived in near-metronomic precision. The sound waves raced through a room that had been a salle two years before. The hammer's owner thought that fitting, the long training with sword and messer had hallowed the room in his mind. The high windows had remained, the dark wood between them cleaned up for more use. Several semicircles of benches rose in tiers before his desk. They housed men and a few women of mostly middling to advanced age. Clad in formal clothing, intermixed with a few tasteful bits of armor most made a point of not wearing any bit of German-style garb. A group on the left side eschewed that and had even brought a few trinkets that displayed their modernity.
No matter whether they looked like they would take up a sword any minute or glanced at a smartphone, none talked, no one sniggered and nobody dared to do anything but listen to the man behind the lectern. A full head of gray hair in a short military cut met an equally gray beard that hid many of the crags that parted a sun-burned skin. And while the owner was displaying more than a few signs of age he held himself erect. His voice was as clear and forceful as on the many battlefields where it had shored up flagging spirits.

The sword that was his by right to wield was close at hand, yet the new times had reduced its worth to a badge of office, a reminder for those who were before him. Age and the Germans had conspired to reduce his worth on the battlefield to cherished relic, yet duty compelled him to accept another task when the Emperor asked him. It might be a job he despised, one he was not sure he was really qualified for, but by Sigmar, he would give it his best shot.

"Adel verpflichtet, nobility is a duty. The Germans once knew this wisdom and once lived by it. No matter if they still do or do not, we will. It is a great honor to be elected by this august body to the post of Speaker of the Reikstag's upper house and I will do my utmost to fulfill this duty.
And that means, as long as I am the speaker, that we will perform our duties to the best of our abilities and with dignity. We will work together to steer this great realm into the future. We will arbitrate the differences between the states with fairness and without malice. We will not turn these hallowed halls into a stage to present our perceived worth, we will not try to influence some social media with sound-bytes. We will work for the future of the Empire and we will make sure it does not discard what made us great in the past in our mad rush to the future. I welcome all of you to to this great task."

The assembled nobles were of high birth, next to Sigmar in their fiefdoms and used to being listened to. All listened, most nodded and none voiced any dissent.
Ludwig Schwarzhelm, Ludwig of Wennenlich these days might no longer have a place on the battlefield. No longer would he judge the nobles, no longer could he challenge them to trials of combat over their disobedience to the Empire's laws. But by Sigmar he would ride herd on them in this new arena, would make sure they did not turn the Upper House into a circus. It would not do the Empire any good and would make the old ways disappear even faster than they already did.

Site Alpha, Kislev

The Habbakuk construction had been speedy before, the fact that they had a competent Ice Mage lent optimism and enthusiasm to everybody. There was a spring in many steps, there was a feeling of accomplishment and the sincere hope that the project would be finished more or less on time if everybody threw his weight behind it. That many workers were now more familiar with their tasks and their new tools sped up things even more.

Which meant that Jacub General continued to hate his walkie-talkie and had to reassign his workforce often to reflect the new realities. Currently he was sitting on a bench and marveled at the miracle of electric lighting. The 3rd deck had a problem in its wiring which had driven him and the very few people qualified to work on electricity mad. In the end they found a few connections which looked solid on the outside but brought only a few strands together on the inside. Now fresh air was pumped into the rooms and harsh white light revealed every bit of hurried construction marvelous. Jacub would enjoy it for just a few moments more before he made his way to the next task.

"World to Jacub, please come in. Herr General, this is the world..."
"Huh?"
"Huh indeed. You have been sitting on this bench for at least five minutes, eyes open and did not move. I'd say you fell asleep on the job."
"Impossible...err no. Thanks Frau Morosov."
"Welcome. Now come with me."
"What is up?"
"Nobody has seen you in the cafeteria today and yesterday evening was also a no-show. Time to get some food into you."
"I still have to..."
"Don't. You are of no use if you collapse on us."
"And how do you know about my eating habits?"
"You care about people; people care about you. And since I have the most time on my hands of all people here till the next pour, I was volunteered to get you to eat and take some rest. Plus, the Soljanka at the cafeteria is not half bad today."
"Well then, lead the way."

The two sat down in a huge tent that served some food all day. Both received bowls of hot, steaming Soljanka topped with some cream, a bit of bread and sat down.

"Looks like you found your appetite Jacub."
"Didn't even realize I was this hungry. Thanks, I think."
"I think?"
"It is nice and well that you took care about me, but what about you?"
"Something eating at you Jacub?"
"Hmmmm"
"You mean that stuff Dr. Meissen stuffs in my veins?"
"Yes."
"So, you believe it will turn me into an Undead soon, or open me up to Chaos?"
"No, not really. Our employer seems to know what they are doing and they seem pretty much anti-Chaos. They also want this project to succeed and turning you into a horror will not do that. Still…."
"What is it Jacub?"