First Light of a New Age

Chapter 169: Spiritual Lifeforms & Ancient Orc

Second Civilization Zone, Southeastern Part of the Continent, Earth Region, Europe, Deutsches Reich, British Channel, Outskirts of Scotland.

4th Year of the New Age, Tuesday, 2nd Week, 9th Month of John.

The British Channel was deceptively calm with its glassy surface belying the menace gathering upon it as the great shadow of the Reich Navy stretched across the waters like a moving continent of steel.

The crews in every deck began loading ammunition belts as thick as a man's arm into the mounts, running final diagnostics on the heavy turrets, and checking the targeting systems said to be accurate enough to pinpoint a city from a hundred miles away.

From the bridge of the Drachenzahn, the pride and flagship of the fleet, an officer leaned over the rail to watch sailors wrestle massive artillery shells each the size of a small coffin, into the yawning mouths of the loading bays.

He glanced toward his comrade beside him. "You think they'll be able to get out once we rain the entire country?" he asked, almost as if the question itself was dangerous.

The other man didn't look at him as his eyes stayed locked on the distant horizon where the faint outline of the Scottish coast could just be seen.

"They'll have to," he replied coldly. "Otherwise... may their souls have mercy upon us all."

No one on deck spoke after that. The plan had been signed, approved, and waiting for the single order that would turn Scotland into a burning wasteland if the command was given.

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Second Civilization Zone, Southeastern Part of the Continent, Earth Region, Europe, Deutsches Reich, Scotland-England Border, Kielder Forest, No Man's Land.

4th Year of the New Age, Tuesday, 2nd Week, 9th Month of John.

Far inland, at the very edge of No Man's Land, Tavish, his uncle Faraday, and the rest of the French Resistance finally stumbled clear of the worst of the killing grounds while the sounds of the battle behind them had faded to a distant rumble, like a storm retreating over the horizon, though the smell of smoke and blood still clung to their clothes.

They found refuge in the crumbling shell of what had once been a stone farmhouse. Part of its roof had caved in, and the walls were blackened from fire, but it offered shelter from the wind and prying eyes.

Tavish slid the strap of a scavenged pack from his shoulder, a prize from his brutal detour through an abandoned bunker, and set it down heavily. Odette and Roxane wasted no time tearing it open and pulled out rolls of bandages, antiseptic bottles, and small vials of painkillers as if each item was a treasure.

The group, Faraday, Malik, Roxane, Jean, Odette, Theo, and Eliane, gathered in a loose circle on a patch of uneven ground just outside. The terrain was pitted with deep shell craters, littered with shattered helmets, and dotted with the rusting carcasses of armored vehicles.

For now, though, it was quiet.

Jean worked quickly to bind Malik's leg while Odette carefully stitched a deep wound along Roxane's arm. Faraday sat slightly apart, checking his rifle with practiced hands as the familiar click and snap of the chamber seemed oddly comforting in the uneasy silence.

It was Theo who broke it. "I can't even believe we actually survived all of that shit!" he said, caught somewhere between disbelief and relief.

"Just barely, man," Malik replied grimly. "Hell, I can't stop seeing those three Reich soldiers getting ripped in half by the undead. And the Orcs... fuck, I cant even forget for all their screams."