BOVARIASTADT LIBERATED AS WUNDERWAFFEN CLASH !
As all of our readers are doubtless aware, two weeks ago, the Kingdom of Ildoa launched a shocking and unprovoked attack upon the Reich. This attack managed to defeat the Imperial Southern Army through the use of what is widely believed to be their own Wunderwaffen-equivalents, derived from the secret research program run in the Republic by the disgraced General De Lugo. Although details on what happened during this terribly swift advance are still unclear, it is known that one of the magical superweapons they employed resulted in a great deal of damage to the Alps, modifying the shape of the mountains themselves so that the Ildoan troops could advance straight into the territory of the Reich and seize much of Bovaria, including the regional capital.
Ever since then, the people of our great nation have watched in shock, while the Imperial Army rose up to meet the challenge that such an intrusion upon the Heimat represented. And just as the General Staff's speakers had promised, this assault upon the Empire's sovereignty did not go unpunished. For yesterday, in a grand coordinated assault codenamed Operation Bildersturm, the Imperial Army inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Ildoan forces stationed around Bovariastadt, crushing them and liberating the city in one fell swoop. This glorious victory was once again accomplished through the tactical deployment of the Wunderwaffen, which once more proved superior to their foreign equivalent.
Reinforcements from the Northern and Western Armies are currently in the process of stabilizing the region and dealing with the captured Ildoan soldiers, which are counted in the thousands. Communications with Bovariastadt, which were shut down during the Ildoan occupation, have re-opened, with countless civilians rushing to contact their friends and loved ones who were caught in the Kingdom's sudden attack. However, going there in person to check on them is impossible at the moment.
While the details are still unclear, and likely to remain classified for the foreseeable future, it is clear that what happened was no ordinary occupation : while the citizens of Bovariastadt we talked to were extremely distressed and unable to speak of what happened clearly, what they did manage to tell us was disturbing in the extreme, involving the use of a magical form of mind control on the locals in order to ensure their compliance and even turn them against the Empire. Fortunately, the effects of this spell were short-lived, as the Imperial mages were able to break it during the Operation.
Furthermore, the Ildoan superweapon responsible for the Alpine destruction appears to have been placed within the city itself, regardless of the danger this posed to the population, leading to supersoldiers battling in the skies above Bovariastadt at the climax of Operation Bildersturm, in a repetition of what happened in Arene except on a greater scale. Such was the scale of the magical energies involved in this battle that its fallout is still visible in the city itself, with the skies having taken strange hues in reaction to the mana thrown around by the battling supersoldiers. The effect this might have on the population are unknown, and numerous magical experts have been sent to investigate.
In response to this, a quarantine of Bovariastadt has been declared under the highest authority of the Imperial Army. All citizens need to be examined to make sure that the mind-altering spell has truly been broken, and not simply suppressed. Other announcements include the wanted criminal De Lugo, who was among the Ildoan command staff and perished during the battle. The Francois President acknowledged the death of the disgraced Vice-Minister early this morning, thanking the Empire for removing such a threat to the stability of Europa while also expressing his regret that the Republic wouldn't get the chance to put him on trial.
As this correspondent learns more, you can rest assured that this journal will reveal all that is permitted for us to do so …
Excerpt from the front page of the Berun Post, January 4th, 1926.
January 5th, 1926 – Bovariastadt
Colonel Lergen looked through the bulletproof window of his military car as it rolled through the streets of Bovariastadt. Despite having been under enemy occupation and served as the site of one of the most brutal Mythos engagements of the War yet (and oh, but adding that qualifier made him want to scream), the city was peaceful. Its initial capture by the Ildoan forces had been quick, and its liberation even quicker.
But while there had been little material damage, the psychological toll the people had suffered was unprecedented. The Major's predictions about mind control had turned out to be true, though mercifully the worst-case scenario of there being no cure had been avoided.
(The thought of what they might have had to do had that not been the case made him want to scream a lot more than he currently did.)
Then, of course, there was the sky. When he had first received the report, he had dared to hope that it was exaggerated, or that things would return to normal in time. The former had been a fool's hope, and if the latter was happening at all, it was too slow for him to notice.
Since Degurechaff had destroyed the Ildoan superweapon, the sky above Bovariastadt had been broken – there just wasn't any other word for it. At the edges of the phenomenon, the heavens looked like a panel of glass a giant had taken a hammer to. Small pieces of blue sky floated near the edge, marking a border between what was normal and what wasn't. Beyond that border laid the same sky that, according to those who had witnessed both, had briefly shone above Arene when the Major had used Kosmosblut for the first time. Stars shone down in an ink-black sky, forming foreign constellations, and an eldritch moon presided over all, far larger than the one Lergen was accustomed to.
He tore his gaze away from the sight as his vehicle slowed down. The crowd around the cathedral was even thicker than the one around Arene's had been, but the military police kept a path clear for military business. Lergen came out of the car, and forced himself not to react to the whispered praises of the crowd as they saw his uniform. Imperial citizens had always been of a more militaristic bend than was common in most Europan nations, but the folks of Bovariastadt had been quite literally liberated from slavery by the Imperial Army, which had completely wiped out the Army's failure to keep them safe in the first place from their minds. Much like, Lergen supposed, one would not blame a doctor who'd saved you from a deadly disease from not noticing the earlier symptoms of the affliction.
A young woman with the emblem of Division Y's Werwölfe on her uniform greeted him at the entrance of the building. She introduced herself as Corporal Karla Vogt before leading him inside the Cathedral, which had been converted into a field hospital to help deal with the flow of wounded soldiers and civilians that had filled up all of the city's existing medical facilities. Military doctors, both Imperial and Ildoan, moved amidst the rows of patients with purpose, while civilians conscripted to serve as nurses provided what assistance they could.
The wounded soldiers were all Ildoans as far as Lergen could see, which wasn't surprising. The troops of Division Y had their own means of dealing with injury, and letting them mix with the very troops they had slaughtered during Operation Bildersturm was just asking for trouble.
The sight reminded him of the reports he'd received of the current situation of the Ildoan Army. In the wake of Operation Bildersturm, thousands of Ildoan soldiers stationed around Bovariastadt had been captured or had surrendered, but far more had fled. The forces of Division Y simply hadn't been numerous enough to stop them. Most were retreating south, back the way they had come, but not all – and there also was the rest of the Ildoan Army to consider. While the bulk of the invaders had accompanied their superweapon, small contingents had been scattered across Bovaria. With their command and supply chains annihilated, it was only a matter of time before they turned to banditry in order to feed themselves.
All of that, however, would be a concern for later, and hopefully the Imperial reinforcements coming from the rest of the Reich would get there in time to avoid the worst. With a growing sense of déjà vu, the Colonel let the corporal lead him to a small room, guarded by a pair of Division Y troopers who saluted sharply at his approach. Somewhat to his surprise, Vogt followed him inside.
"We have got to stop meeting like this, Major," he said. Laying on her bed, with her back kept up by a pile of cushions, the Director of Division Y smiled in grim amusement at his feeble jest.
"Colonel Lergen," she greeted him. It was something of a relief that her voice was still the same – far colder and calmer than any child's should be, but still distinctly human. Especially when one took into account the rest of her.
The side-effects of the Kosmosblut had been severe. Degurechaff's transformation had spread from her right forearm to the entire right side of her body, stopping at a cracked line that ran down from the top of her skull. She had discarded her bandages for this meeting, and the child-sized hospital gown she wore couldn't conceal the starlight seeping from half of her transmuted flesh.
"Where is your adjutant ?" Lergen asked. The last time the Major had been incapacitated, he'd gotten the feeling you would have needed a crowbar to pry the Untote from her side (metaphorically speaking, of course, as it would take something much stronger than a crowbar to move one of Projekt U against their will). "She is well, I hope ?"
"She's sleeping," replied Degurechaff. "We figured out the side-effect of a second dose of Endlose Nacht quickly this time : from dawn to dusk, the Untoten who have taken the serum twice are completely comatose. In Visha's – sorry, in Lieutenant Serebryakov's case, the effects are slightly attenuated due to her having drunk my own blood at the same time, but she is still far too groggy to function."
"I see." Well, time to address the elephant in the room. Or, to be more precise, the other small blond child in the room, who was currently laying on the bed between the Major and the wall, clutching her right, transmuted arm as she slept. "And who is that ?"
"The ex-wielder of the Ildoan Mythos weapon that burned through the Alps, whom they called the Saint. As far as we've been able to ascertain, she was meant as their counter to me. Were it not for certain unique circumstances, their plan to use her to kill me might very well have succeeded. As it was, I managed to destroy the computation orb she was using – or perhaps I should say, which was using her. The resulting detonation freed her from indoctrination along with the rest of the city, though it had some … secondary effects, which you no doubt witnessed on your way here."
Despite Degurechaff's words, she didn't seem to have any issue with the girl being so close to her.
"I could hardly have missed that if I tried. What's her name ?" asked Lergen.
"We don't know," answered Degurechaff. "She doesn't remember it. That's the issue : she doesn't remember anything. Everything she was before being turned into a living weapon is just gone. We've even had to start teaching her language from scratch, as one would with an infant. In the meantime, we are using the name of 'Counterfeit Saint' in our reports, but she'll need a proper name at some point."
"She looks … attached to you," he remarked. The two of them almost looked like sisters. Looking at them now, he had to remind himself that one of them had proven capable of laying waste to entire mountains, and the other was Tanya Degurechaff.
"We tried to pry her away so Iosefka could have a look at her," sighed the Director of Division Y. "But she just started screaming, so we gave up on it. It was … an experience. One we won't repeat for now. I am going to take her back with me to Castle Schwartzstein : Iosefka thinks that a new environment along with meeting with the Nazzadi children will help her."
It wasn't as if they had other options. The girl had been used as a weapon by the Ildoans to kill thousands of Imperial soldiers and tear a path through the Alps : they couldn't exactly put her in an orphanage, or have her fostered by common folks. For her own safety, and that of everyone else, entrusting her to Division Y was the best (and most humane) solution.
"I cannot believe the Ildoan Kingdom would do such a thing to a child like this," muttered Lergen. He was distantly aware of the hypocrisy of saying this to Degurechaff, but he'd long given up treating her like a normal child.
"Loath as I am to give them any credit, I believe that they didn't exactly have a choice in the matter," said Degurechaff.
"You refer to the mind control effect of the Eikons ? The indoctrination effect ?" Lergen frowned.
"Yes, but there is more to it than that. We believe that the Kingdom of Ildoa has fallen under the sway of what we refer to as a Class Ten entity," Degurechaff began to explain, her words filling Lergen with foreboding. "Our working theory is that the entity first gave the ritual to create Eikons to the Francois Republic, and then used the remaining Eikons to brainwash the Holy See into doing its biding before spreading its influence to the Ildoan Army."
"What is a Class Ten entity, exactly ?" He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer, but also that it was absolutely vital to the Empire's continued existence.
"During the course of our work, Division Y has encountered many otherworldly entities, either summoned on purpose or by accident during our experiments," said Degurechaff. "We designed a classification system based on the threat level of such entities. Of course, it's far from perfect, and we are always updating it, but it's good enough for government work."
Lergen blinked at the strange turn of phrase, but its meaning was clear enough. Degurechaff continued :
"Class One and Two are basically vermin, little more dangerous than small animals. In Castle Schwartzstein, such entities manifest relatively frequently due to the sheer amount of rituals we perform, regardless of our security measures. They are easily handled by our security teams, though. Class Three and above is where things start to be dangerous, and the curve is an exponential, not a linear one. As an example, the Fiends of the Nameless City were classified as Class Three or Class Four, depending on the subtype. The entities with which our volunteers are joined in Projekt W are similarly between Class Four and Five. The Untoten's level vary depending on how much blood they have in reserve, but they are considered Class Five, and can push to Class Six under the effects of Endlose Nacht. The entities used as the core of Projekt H are near the apex of Class Five, bordering on Class Six once they are fitted with the armored suit."
"What about the Heresiarch ?" asked Lergen. "Where would someone like that fit into this system ?"
Degurechaff smiled briefly, and Lergen suddenly felt like a student who had just pleased his teacher with an insightful question.
"It's complicated, given that he was something of a mage himself rather than an entity in his own right, but based purely on his threat level, given that he fought off the Werwölfe's best efforts to kill him and it took Weiss boosted to his absolute limits to take him down in the end, he would probably be in the upper tier of Class Six."
The more Lergen learned about this system, the less he liked where this was going.
"Above that level is where we get the really dangerous beings, ones capable of killing entire conventional armies on their own. The instances of Projekt K are each considered to be at Class Seven, and the Heresiarch could also be considered one depending on the creation process of the Fiends. The false-dragon I fought on the Nazzadi homeworld was Class Eight, which has some interesting implications regarding what exactly happened on that world given the techno-arcane level of advancement their civilization seemed to possess. Before her liberation from indoctrination, the Counterfeit Saint was also at that level, and under the effects of Kosmosblut, I can effectively be considered a Class Eight entity as well, although the time limit and side-effects make that debatable."
The casual reminder that the frail-looking girl laying down before him had the potential to be an order of magnitude more dangerous than the horrors that had broken the Dacian Army so thoroughly, most of the survivors hadn't recovered from the experience yet and likely never would, chilled Lergen to the core. The source of his discomfort wasn't so much Degurechaff herself than the fact that such things were possible at all.
"Thankfully, the next levels remain mostly theoretical. Some of the rituals generated by the Denkmaschine could theoretically allow the summoning of a Class Nine entity, but I have forbidden anything but the most academic of study of these texts, because a Class Nine would pose a threat to the entire world, and I refuse to gamble on our ability to contain and control something like that. I also haven't informed Headquarters of that possibility except in the vaguest of terms, and I would appreciate if you could keep it to yourself as well, Colonel Lergen."
"I can see the wisdom in that," Lergen nodded in fervent agreement. There were some temptations it was just better for the Reich's leadership to never be aware of in the first place.
"I am glad my trust in your intelligence wasn't misplaced," she said with a slight smile. "As for the Class Ten, an entity of that level would be powerful enough to affect our world without needing someone to call it first on our side of the veil through a Mythos ritual. Such contact would be limited, but enough to secure a 'contractor' to assist its future efforts, although 'cultist' is probably more appropriate. We believe that it was one such entity, which we have codenamed 'Being X', which gave Beauvais the ritual to create Eikons."
"'Being X'," repeated Lergen. "Using Remulan numerals, I see. So … are you saying that our enemies received their Mythos knowledge directly from a god, Major ?"
On the one hand, it would explain how the Francois Republic had been able to catch up in the supernatural arms race so quickly, despite starting several years after Division Y and without a Degurechaff of their own to whip the crackpots and occultists of their nation into shape.
On the other hand, it was existentially terrifying beyond any tactical or strategic considerations.
"It is not a god," the young girl spat, with more bile than Lergen had ever heard from her. "It masquerades as the One True God, the Creator and Lord of All to those it deceives and enslaves, but it still needs to resort to mind-controlling people into fanatics to get them to do its bidding. The very existence of the indoctrination effect, and the fact that it can be broken and those freed from it remember their time under it with horror and revulsion, are clear evidence that it isn't omnipotent, and certainly not omni-benevolent either."
Degurechaff took a deep breath, and visibly recomposed herself. This seemed to be a sore point for her, but given that she'd grown up in an orphanage run by the Church, it made sense that the thought of some eldritch monstrosity masquerading as God would infuriate her. Even Lergen, now that he thought about it, was angered by the blasphemy.
"I'm afraid we are to blame for the interest this Class Ten entity has displayed in our reality," she continued as if her outburst hadn't happened. "Division Y's research must have drawn its attention through our meddling with the Mythos realms. I can only offer my deepest apologies that the security measures I set up weren't enough."
"… I don't think there is anything in the regulations against damaging diplomatic relations with a demiurge, Major. Has Being X done anything else against the Reich ?"
She nodded. "Yes. During Operation Bildersturm, one of the Nazzadi mages, Zerayah, was the one who located the Ildoan superweapon and sent the signal for me to move in. Back then, she also encountered a magical scientist who she identified as the one responsible for the girl's condition. When he fled into the cathedral, she gave chase, and killed him right as I engaged the Counterfeit Saint."
A complicated expression briefly passed on Degurechaff's face.
"It was a … difficult situation for her. Nazzadi culture has a deep taboo against taking another human life. Yet given the timing of it all, I believe that had she not done so at that time, the entire operation might have failed. Nevertheless, she has been suffering from mental trauma since then, and I've sent her back to Castle Schwartzstein so that she can recover among her people."
"Probably for the best," agreed Lergen. The situation of the Nazzadi was incredibly complicated, and he would rather not deal with it at the moment. "Now, what about this magical scientist ?"
"Some of the occultists that have joined us here since have identified him as Doctor Adelheid von Schugel, a famous Imperial researcher," dropped the Major casually. "He was the head of Elenium Arms, whose work on multi-core computation orbs was passed on to Division Y after their final test of a quad-core orb went catastrophically wrong. It was believed that Schugel had perished in the explosion, but it seems that he actually survived. It is possible he deliberately sabotaged the testing in order to fake his death and defect, but he might also have been subverted by Being X only during the test itself. We will never know for sure. Regardless, this shouldn't be made public : his relatives would suffer from the reveal of his actions, and it's not as if he did them willingly."
Lergen shook his head. "This whole thing is a legal nightmare, in addition to everything else. How do we punish someone for their actions while under the effect of mind control ?"
"It might not be entirely proper, but I suggest blaming everything on the dead and treating the common soldiers are regular prisoners of war. Fortunately, while the Ildoan attack inflicted heavy casualties to the Southern Imperial Army, they didn't commit any atrocities against civilians … apart from the brainwashing." She looked like she had bitten into something sour. "Which is definitely a war crime, and if it isn't according to the legal texts, then those should definitely be changed, but again, it's not exactly like we can prosecute Being X."
"Putting an eldritch entity on trial is a bit above our pay grade, yes," agreed Lergen. "What else did you find out about Schugel's actions ?"
"I think he was the one to build the computation orb the Counterfeit Saint was using. It was definitely multi-core – three, unless I miss my guess – and nobody else has figured out that technology yet. The object was definitely one-of-a-kind, and without Schugel, I don't think Ildoa can build a new one in any reasonable time frame.
"This all sounds remarkably like good news to me," said Lergen cautiously. "Which leads me to believe there is something else you are about to tell me."
"Indeed," nodded Degurechaff grimly. "For one thing, the hole in the Alps is still there. I sent some of the Untoten to check, and the missing mass hasn't reappeared with the weapon's destruction. Given our speculation as to how this was achieved in the first place, the influence of Being X on our world wasn't expunged with the destruction of the tri-core orb."
"That in itself would be worrying," she continued, "but it's far from all. Corporal Vogt was the one to kill De Lugo and the rest of the Ildoan high command. However, before he died, De Lugo said some ominous things. He claimed to be part of an organization named the Congregation of Michael, which was, in his own words, 'dedicated to doing God's will'. I don't need to tell you just what we suspect that 'God' of theirs of actually being."
"No, you don't." Lergen quietly cursed under his breath. "It has to be a cult of Being X, right in the Holy See. No, given the Eikons' indoctrination effect, the entire Holy See is likely under their control by now."
Lergen's stomach curdled.
"De Lugo and Beauvais must have made their way there after the defeat of their Eikons on the Rhine," he continued, the pieces coming together in his mind. "Beauvais was an Archbishop : he must have had contacts in the Holy See that could help them flee there. The missing Eikons must have gone with them, in their human shape so as not to draw too much attention. And from there …"
"From there," Degurechaff finished, "they could subvert everyone they needed to start their grim work again. We learned from the former Eikons in the city that most of those who joined this so-called Crusade were recruited from the Southern Continent, lured from the Europan colonies by the promises of priests working for the Holy See."
Lergen blinked. "You have interrogated an Eikon ?"
"They aren't Eikons anymore," replied Degurechaff. "When I confronted Being X atop this building, the backlash of magical energy that broke the population's indoctrination also affected those Eikons who had rushed back to the city after I revealed myself. Not many of them were still alive at that time, but those who were have … changed. Our occultists have called them the Lunarchs due to the alterations to their appearance, but most importantly, they too were freed of Being X's influence in the process."
"I … nevermind. I'm sure the details will be in the reports. So De Lugo and Beauvais founded or subverted this Congregation, and Schugel joined them after deserting from the Empire once he fell under Being X's indoctrination through another way – which, by the way, we'll need to figure out so we can block it in the future. De Lugo and Schugel are dead, but Beauvais is still at large."
"Which leads us to what else De Lugo said that is cause for concern. When Corporal Vogt reminded him of the collapse of the Ildoan Army in an attempt to get him to surrender" – Lergen was almost sure that was a polite way of saying 'taunted the lunatic with the failure of his attempt to invade the Empire', but he let it slide – "De Lugo mentioned something about 'holy fire cleansing this wretched land'."
"A back-up plan," deduced Lergen. "Something to fall back on, should their invasion be stopped and their Saint defeated."
"Precisely. As to the nature of this plan, well, we have some theories. One key point is that we haven't seen any sign of the Kingdom of Ildoa's aerial mages. Their army advanced under the cover of the Eikons, but no normal mages were detected."
Oh. Oh, no. She couldn't possibly mean …
"Thank to the Lunarchs, we know that Beauvais himself is the only one capable of performing the ritual to turn mages into Eikons. Schugel was apparently responsible for doing further adjustments to them post-transformation, which explains why their mana output was greater than the ones in the Rhine despite their comparative lack of experience. We also know that the ritual can only be performed on Sundays, and on what is considered consecrated ground – though given that he is based in the Holy See, that last bit is hardly an obstacle."
Indeed, it would be harder to find somewhere within the Holy See that wasn't blessed in one way or another. The place had served as the headquarters of the Church for centuries, and despite the many, many trials and tribulations it had faced during that period, it remained the focus of one of the most influential religions on the planet.
"The best case scenario is that the Congregation is plotting some sort of scaled-up version of the Eikon transformation ritual, in the same vein as the Rite of Union we use to create Werwölfe more efficiently. Those would then be unleashed en masse on the Empire, not to conquer, but just to burn."
"Several hundreds of new Eikons under the control of brainwashed fanatics hell-bent on destroying the Reich, at a time where we don't have anyone who can use the Kosmosblut, and half of our Untoten force is now fully restricted to nocturnal deployment." Lergen sighed. "And I know you well enough to realize you aren't exaggerating when you say this is the best case scenario. Go ahead, Major. Give me your real assessment."
"An apocalypse," she said bluntly. "The same sort of phenomenon that happened in the Alps, but across the entire Empire. Every Ildoan mage would need to be used as a vessel, especially without Schugel to adjust them or build another tri-core computation orb, and the backlash would likely wipe Ildoa off the map in the bargain. But that would be little consolation for us, since we would be dead if we are lucky, and trapped in Being X's domain if we aren't."
"And that is the worst case you can think of ?" Lergen asked weakly. It was fortunate he was already sitting, because he didn't think his legs could have supported his weight at the moment.
"Yes. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but in any case, we cannot allow this to come to pass."
"No, we cannot." Lergen thought to himself for a moment. "You said the Eikon creation ritual could only take place on a Sunday. Do you think …"
He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, but Degurechaff understood his meaning.
"I am afraid so. We have to act on the assumption that the Congregation will be ready to enact its back-up plan by the end of the week. Five days to conquer Ildoa might seem ridiculous," she admitted, "but such isn't our objective. The rest of the country is irrelevant : what matters is removing the Congregation's threat."
"Which means seizing the Holy See itself. Which is located right in the middle of Remula, the Ildoan capital, surrounded by millions of civilians who may or may not be under Being X's indoctrination as well," muttered Lergen, before sending the young girl a sharp look. "You aren't in any state of taking part in that, Major. I hope you weren't going to suggest otherwise."
"No, I wasn't," she said. "I considered it at first, but I was … dissuaded from that course of action," she finished, glancing at the sleeping child hugging her right arm.
Good, at least he didn't have to convince her otherwise. Of course, it also meant that someone else would have to do it. Someone with enough authority to enter the territory of a foreign nation, and with enough experience of the Mythos to deal with the unexpected. Someone whose name, in all likelihood, would go down into History for all the wrong reasons.
Lergen really, really didn't want to follow his train of thought to its natural conclusion. But it was his duty to do so, both as a soldier of the Empire and, the more he thought about it, as a human being with free will and dignity.
"Very well," he said, his voice sounding far calmer than he had expected it to. Perhaps acceptance was the key to dealing with the insanity that his life had become since the day his path had crossed Degurechaff's, what felt like so long ago. "I will see to it myself. Right now, I need the services of one of your mages to contact Staff Headquarters. This is something best discussed face-to-face, and there is no time for me to get back to Berun. What assets does Division Y have to spare for a lightning strike through Ildoan territory toward the Holy See ?"
"All nine instances of Projekt H were damaged during the battle, and we didn't have time to make spare parts for their equipment, but by stripping down the most damaged ones our engineers have been able to get four of them ready. The remaining five are being stored in some of requisitioned warehouses under heavy guard," the Major added quickly when she saw his rising concern.
"I see. Their help would certainly be appreciated, but what about the pilots ?"
Degurechaff's proposal to get the monstrosities under control to provide heavy support for Operation Bildersturm had made it clear that the mages who linked with the entities would be doing so at tremendous risk. This was already going to be difficult enough without having to worry about a bunch of mentally unstable loose canons with biomechanical titans under their command.
"They are still being run through some tests, but so far there doesn't seem to have been any long-term side-effects to their communion with the Projekt, unlike what we feared. Of course, there might still be some we cannot detect, and repeated communions are all but guaranteed to affect them in some way, if only because the human psyche isn't meant to wield such power, let alone join with alien entities. But they should be able to pilot the Hünen to accompany you southward. And while it won't exactly help our image worldwide, they should be able to keep up with the rest of your force as long as we give up on hiding their existence."
Lergen couldn't help but wince at the mental image. He was going to lead horned giants through an enemy country, in order to attack the heart of one of the world's most influential religions. The Allied Kingdom's propaganda department was going to have a field day with this, unless they managed to get the word about the Congregation's brainwashing out first, and that was going to be a challenge, given how impossible the entire thing sounded even to his own ears.
"Apart from that," the Major continued, "the Werwölfe are ready to keep fighting. We took some casualties in the battle, but all the survivors have already recovered, and they understand the threat perfectly. Captain Weiss is also ready to accompany you, and we can spare enough occultists to perform the Ritual of Correspondence. Oh, and I think Sergeant Barchet and his squad arrived in town earlier this morning, too. They will be ready to resume their bodyguard duties."
"Good, that should be enough Mythos firepower." And if it wasn't, well, he would just have to deal with it – that was why he wore the rank insignia, after all. "This will need some conventional forces too. As long as I have the support of Generals Zettour and Rudersdorf, pulling together some units from the Western and Northern Armies shouldn't be too difficult …"
The two of them spent some more time discussing various possibilities, before Corporal Vogt returned with a Division Y mage capable of performing the long-range communication Mythos spell to contact their colleague back in Berun. Less than two hours later, Lergen had the full support of Staff Headquarters to requisition any and all units he believed were needed for this operation, vital to the safety of the Fatherland.
After bidding the Major goodbye, Colonel Lergen left the Cathedral with an urgency in his step he hadn't felt since the near-disaster on the Southern Continent. He really hoped this wasn't going to become a habit.
"From outside the city, the phenomenon is almost impossible to perceive, apart from a slight blur that can easily be attributed to heat or something else equally mundane. It is only when one approaches the city on foot that the large scar becomes visible. Aerial mages have tried to get close to the hole in the cosmos, but if it is real and not some kind of perpetual illusion, it is too high up for even someone with a D-24 dual-core computation orb to reach.
The stars visible through this window match no constellation we've been able to identify in our star charts at the moment. Following the Director's suggestion, we are now exploring the possibility that the window shows a night sky from another point within our own galaxy. To that end, we are attempting to analyze the radiance of individual stars in order to match the results against those which can be observed from elsewhere on our world. Of course, given the sheer number of stars, this work promises to take years at the very least, even with the use of computation orbs to hasten the most complex calculations. Since the phenomenon appears stable, however, it is likely we'll have all the time needed.
The alien sky visible through the tear has remained static since our observations began : both stars and moon haven't moved, although the radiance of the latter shifts in accordance with the day/night cycle of the surrounding area. Concerns have been raised as to the health impact of the citizens' possible deficiency of vitamin D due to lack of exposure to sunlight, but as of this report, no such ill effects have been observed.
A more interesting issue is the fact that a handful of citizens have started to show physical alterations. Some who were injured during the battle against the Eikons (prior to their own liberation and transformation, see report L-34835-A for further details on the Lunarchs) have healed normally, but the skin on their wounds shows the same coloration as the Director's following the use of Kosmosblut. These individuals have also reported dreaming of the eldritch sky, with those dreams being accompanied by deep feelings of understanding of contentment that linger for several moments upon waking. Of course, many other citizens have experienced similar dreams, doubtless linked to their subconscious minds associating the phenomenon's appearance with their liberation from indoctrination. Whether these dreams are something else in the case of the star-marked individuals remains unclear at this moment.
The total number of these cases remains very low, barely thirty in the entire city. Thanks to the Imperial practice of checking every citizen for magical potential, we discovered that in every such case, the star-marked subjects possessed some degree of mana, albeit far below the threshold required for recruitment into the aerial mage corps. This might explain the last observed symptom, which is the ability to perform small-scale telekinesis, albeit restricted to drawing objects toward oneself, with the heaviest recorded being a book weighing half a kilogram moved from a bookshelf across the room to the subject's hand.
At the moment, the star-marked have been allowed to continue to live their lives freely within Bovariastadt, subject to the same regulations as the rest of the population while the quarantine is in effect …"
Excerpt from the preliminary report of Division Y's occultists regarding the phenomenon above the city of Bovariastadt following Operation Bildersturm, added to the records on February 14th, 1926.
"We who were blinded by golden fire now walk under gentle silver radiance, our shackles broken by a blade of moonlight. Yet having already been burned, we naturally cannot help but wonder. Is our new faith false too ? Were we freed from the Eikons' control, only to fall under that of the Lady of Stars ?
The answer is obvious, once we look past the very understandable fear that our sacred free will is being impugned upon yet again. The very fact that we are able to feel that fear, to ask ourselves those questions, is proof that we remain free.
It is revelation, not manipulation, that has caused the changes we now perceive within ourselves. Having gazed into the infinite, having experienced the shackling of our minds, how could we remain the same as we were before ?
The Lady of Stars asks for no prayer, nor does she demands we supplicate ourselves before her. She only wishes for us to be free, for only then can we become the best version of ourselves – only then can we stand together. Forced unity is no unity at all : it is through willing choice that it is granted strength …"
Excerpt from the writings of Cavan Ehrlich, distributed among the newly-founded Bovariastadt branch of the Path of Stars, January 1926.
AN : Funny story : in the first draft, this chapter was just the clean-up of the failed Crusade and the set-up of the next arc. But then, while writing the last chapter, I asked myself "Wait a minute, where are all the Ildoan aerial mages ?" and blam, the seed was planted. Now Lergen has to lead Division Y to raid the Holy See and prevent the Congregation from doing whatever it is they are planning on doing. Oh boy, the next chapter is going to be interesting, in all the best ways for us and the worst ways for our dear Colonel.
Yes, Remula is the name of the Ildoan capital in this story. And yes, this means that two thousand years ago, the Remulan Empire stretched across much of Europa. I am sure you can all figure out what happened that resulted in this name's change.
Speaking of names, does anybody have a suggestion for what to formally call the phenomenon above Bovariastadt ? Something in Imperial/German that sounds appropriately sinister/eldritch would be nice, but I haven't been able to find anything that clicked. Also, if you've suggestions for the Counterfeit Saint's new name once she recovers enough to need one, don't hesitate. I'm thinking of giving her a Nazzadi name, for maximum irony, but perhaps you've a better idea.
If you want a better idea of what the tear in the sky looks like, check out the cinematic trailer for WoW's "Shadowlands" expansion. The ending of the cinematic should give you a good idea of how it looks like (although somewhat larger due to covering an entire city, and obviously what's visible through the hole is different).
For the side-effects of Kosmosblut, check out the post threadmarked "Sketchs for Kosmosblut side effects, by Zach Zachary" on the SB thread. ANd yes, the spread of the transformation is very worrying indeed. How many times do you think Tanya can use it before there is nothing left ? And what happens next ?
I mean, *I* know the answer, of course. But I'm curious what you think.
Oh, and the Path of Stars is spreading. Nothing to see there, I'm sure. Same with the star-marked. Everything is under control, move along, citizen.
Now that this chapter is done, iff you want to incite the Muse to make me write the next one whether I want to or not, you can offer up Omakes and fanart - we no longer accept the blood of goats, following a cease-and-desist sent by He-Who-Dwells-Below on behalf of the Opposition, and the horned bastard has a lot of lawyers on his payroll for some unfathomable reason.
Zahariel out.