A/N: The wait for this one was mainly because I shifted my focus to the Avatar story in the later half of last year, which is also why I haven't updated said fic recently. I'll alternate between the 2 and see if I can stick to a schedule for once.
After a long, treacherous climb, Amiya successfully scaled up to the top of Chernobog's control center. The room is empty, but she can hear the clashing of two blades on the structure's rooftop. On the floor is a familiar sword sheath.
"Oh, this is... Madam Ch'en's scabbard." She took notice of its scratches. The battle between Ch'en and Talulah started only recently. There was still time to help her before Talulah won and Amiya knew exactly how.
Using the power of the Crown, she focused her mind on the appearance of Ch'en's blade. Only a part of it was present, but if she filled in the blanks with a previous Sarkaz King's blade...
Amiya's blade came into being just in time to deflect an attack from a Skaven assassin. The black cloaked monster struck at her with 2 glowing, crystalline blades, but she redirected them.
Her empathic abilities could not penetrate its mind, which was far more dark compared to the previous assassin. It was as if the Skaven was an all consuming void, selfish to the point where it doesn't even view others as individuals.
However strange may its thought process be, the psyche of the Skaven was perfect for a ruthless assassin. It wasted no time striking again. Amiya blocked the first 2, but a 3rd on came attached on its tail and...
"Gah!" The Cautus screamed, collapsing to the ground. Her black blade fell out of her hands with a clang
She did not go insane like the countless innocents in Lungmen poisoned by their Warpstone. Instead, her vision grew blurry. The laughing black shape faded away.
"N-No! A numbing agent!" Amiya's darkening mind thought. She struggled to lift herself up from the ground. "I've got to get up. For Ch'en... for everyone..."
The Cautus fell flat on her face.
Snitck chortled. The pathetic display almost made him want to go against the contract and take her life. She was the CEO of the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world. Word in the Underway that Lord Skroll himself wanted that girl dead for the countless plagues Rhodes Island foiled.
Glory. The only reason, no matter how petty, was glory. Adding Amiya, such a respected name in medicine, to his kill count would fully and truely cement himself as the Master of Death.
Curse Wei's daughter. Take bunney-ears life now. Wei's daughter dies later. For free.
Just before Snitck could execute the plan, the ceiling collapsed. Talulah, or Kaschey possessing his adopted daughter, stomped the rat on the ground, smearing its black blood on the ground.
"We agreed that you would bring the girl to me alive, vermin." He snarled at the Skaven, squirming helplessly.
He stepped off, and the moment he was free, Snitck slipped down the stairs. The Skaven's part in the plan was complete.
"The Everchosen, right in my palms..." Kaschey licked his lips. "The Shard will put on the finishing touches. Then the games will truly begin!"
Bloody couching came from above. The Black Snake turned his attention to Ch'en, beaten black and blue. She leaped down the hole he made earlier, nearly losing her balance in the process.
"Stop speaking with her voice." Ch'en spat.
"Oh, but we are now one and the same."
The blur haired Lung growled. "Come and face me in the flesh, or are you too much of a reptile?"
"Trying to avenge your father?" Kaschey laughed. "There are much bigger things occurring in the world than that feud with Wei."
Ursus Imperial Troops began filing in from the staircase. Ch'en noticed that more than a few Reunion soldiers demonstrated professional training on her way to the top. Now the reason was clear. This... creature was out to destroy her estranged sister's dream by any means necessary. A dream, as an Infected herself, ultimately sympathized with.
"I shall add this, the current Emperor of Ursus is dead as we speak"
Ch'en narrowed her eyes.
"He was not the kind of man to play along with the Gods' Great Game, so he had to die. His Blades become his executioners, as when the Empire sought out stronger Daemons to birth them since Kislev's succession, they did not realize that they were now enslaved to greater masters. Once They gave the word, the Emperor was no more. A more efficient head of state was installed."
Kaschey chuckled. "Honestly, dear Talulah is feeling redundant, now that I have an Empire under my control. She played her part, stoking up war with Yan, war that Ursus needs to thrive in the near future. It will be the first nation wiped off the map..."
"You're not beating Yan without suffering equal losses, snake." Ch'en replied, as the approaching Ursine Troopers backed her against the wall.
"If there is one last thing your ignorant mind should consider, is that Ursus is not alone. We will bring the end of Terra."
With that, the men moved in as a sea of grey. They swallowed up the incapacitated Amiya. Ch'en could only fight for her own life as the oppressive wave assaulted her. She did not have enough strength to utilize her Arts Blade, so she hacked and slashed with her usual shortswords. The Draco appeared to be handling the men well at first, but her already diminished stamina from the earlier fight with "Talulah" took its toll.
An Ursus soldier caught her blades with his axe.
Ch'ens eyes went wide in fear.
A giant fireball incinerated the man and lit the others on fire.
The lucky ones retreated, leaving the unfortunate souls to burn to death. Through the smoke and flames, Ch'en could barely make out the silhouette of her sister.
"I'm sorry." She said, before running away.
A mixture of frustration and anger welled up in Ch'en. "Get back here!"
She began her pursuit.
Gunfire. It was a rare sight outside of Laterano, as they held a near monopoly on firearms. Yet, after the Doctor and company returned to the surface of Chernobog, it rang throughout the city's streets.
"Take cover!" Nearl demanded. The operators promptly fled into a nearby single story building. They ducked below the windows to conceal their positions.
"Contact the other teams, Elysium!" Kal'tsit ordered. "We have to know if this 3rd party is friend or foe, before lives are lost."
The young man activated his special Arts Unit (What those outside the Imperial States refer to wands or staves) and established a communication channel to Rhodes Island's other teams.
"Holy crap, it's the Empire!"
"Which one?" Nearl asked.
"Yan or Ursus can't mobilize, or the fault of total war will lie with the other." Kal'tsit explained. "So that leaves..."
"The forward teams say they're carrying a banner with a crimson bull... They're making contact... Ostland?" Elysium lowered his stave. "What business do they have with Chernobog?"
"The succession movement that founded Kislev caused strife that spilled into the Empire of Man's territory. While the refugees were fleeing, several Emperors Blades crossed into Ostland's Forest of Shadows. There are countless foul rumors about the soldiers, and Ostland believes all of them. Several other Imperial States joined in, and Ursus lost a sizable chunk of territory which became Kislev." Kal'tsit paused. "It wouldn't be surprising that those people are still bitter over Ursus's misdeeds. And it may have become clear as to who started the war in the first place..."
"Reunion, Madame Kalt'sit?" Nearl asked.
"Percisly. Ostland's men are just as wrathful as they are frugal. Which is why we must retreat before they send in the first artillery barrages."
All this talk about the Empire was confusing to the Doctor. Actually, everything since the decent into the city's core messed with his mind. Who are the Old Ones, and why is he apart of an organization he'd never heard of?
There was only 1 being on Terra that could calm him down.
"I have to contact Amiya first!"
Once again, Elysium used his comms relay to get in touch with Rhodes Island CEO.
There was no response.
A terrible sense of dread fell upon everyone in the building. Even Kal'tsit was more pale than usual.
"We can't stay here." The Feline protested. "The general Ostland sent will focus the first barrages near the control tower to disable Chernobog. The best thing for all of us to retreat."
The Doctor couldn't look his assistant directly in the eye. He heard the sound of marching boots approaching the building, and a harsh, commanding voice rang through.
"Last call for any civilians in the area! We're offering transport from the city! Remain quiet, and you will be flattened by our Hellguns!"
Rhodes Island came out of their hiding spot, revealing themselves to a unit of Imperial Greatswordsmen. Typically, it is a position filled by older, but experienced State Troopers. The blades themselves are infamous for their crushing power, accomplished without the aid of Arts. They are living proof that the Empire's craftsmanship goes beyond firearms. Once the men realized their was no need for alarm, the captain approached them.
"More of you Rhodes Island folk?" He commented. "And is that the renowned Doctor Kal'tsit, aboard a runaway city infested with Skaven and Ursus scum?"
"Rhodes Island provides medical service to all, no matter the circumstances." She replied, keeping her true intentions on Chernobog a secret.
The captain shook his greying head. "The Empire is well aware of your position. My men caught several of those... Sarkaz among your operatives. We'll extract them along with the rest of your employees. I pray that they never set foot in Imperial lands."
Afterwards, Dr Kal'tsit, the nameless "Doctor", Elysium, and Nearl were escorted out of the ruined building and led into an armored truck. A few of the Greatswords recognized Nearl from someplace a demanded autographs on their Zweihandlers. She politely declined.
Empire. Old Ones. Skaven. Carstein. All meaningless to the Doctor, compared to Amiya.
Right before the doors closed, he spotted 2 Greatswords dragging out a screaming Ursus soldier.
His body was effortlessly bisected by their blades.
In the farthest reaches of Sami, there is a notable shift in the attitude towards the demons. South, the people avoid acknowledging them until they get to close civilization, where they are swiftly executed. However, those who live in within proximity to the North Pole, actually worship these monsters. Whenever it was due to the Empire of Man's heretics spreading their word, or the Pole being the gate where the daemons enter, was pointless. The tribes became utteer savage, rejecting their Sami brethren and even themselves. They were collectively refered to the Norscans, barbarians who regularly raid the northern territories of Sami, Kislev, and the Empire of Man. Yan's defenses keep them from going further south to the rest of Terra, but due to the division even among Norscans, it would be impossible to mass an army that would stand a chance.
Unless, their dark masters commanded them otherwise.
Strange reports of Norscan warriors in full-plate armor and leading mutated beasts drifted in the wind. Typhon was one of many hunters sent in to observe their movements. She took a position up high in a pine tree.
Buzzing flies?
She stared down. Indeed, a massive cloud of flies was following an armored column of Norscans. They were covered head to tow in plate metal and carried massive axes. There was not enough resources up North to arm such a army.
The stench was worse than a freshly slain animal. Covering her nose, Typhon noticed that the few parts that weren't covered in armor were rotting away. It was the handiwork of the "Plaguefather". Nothing new, but the numbers of these "blessed" Norscans was inconceivable. They completely outnumbered her village's fighting force! If the other tribes, the ones who worshiped the other Three, were massing up, then...
Typhon coughed. Panicing, she notices the flies swarming around her.
There is only one disease that is feared more than Oripathy in Sami.
The Pox.