Bruðersschlachtun

[Subtleknifewielder]

OOC: I could be one of the random people that continuously shows up with no apparent point in the plot!

OOC: *Writes down on notepaper that magically appears out of nowhere,* "Drakedeath has volunteered to be an extra."

[loannes]

OOC: I don't like 'extra'. It makes me sound expendable.

...

*looks around for firing squads*

[Kaiser Martens]

OOC: **Takes note**

IC:

Dietrich begins to calm down and says nothing at first, being too emotionally exhausted to any longer even feel fear or panic, he sees large metal tweezers on the fire not far already looking orange from the heat, as well as a few large nails. One of the women goes over to prepare a car battery with some wires, making some sparks. The other one sits down on a chair in front of him, watching him for several moments until the first nods in apparent readiness.

"Well. Let us begin. What is your name?"

-"Dietrich...Einarsson...Bakker..."

She nods and pets his head twice, as if he was little but a house animal. "Good. If you comply, you will avoid most of the pain." She sounded painfully sweet as she spoke those words. Jan then focused his gaze onto her own, and he understood that he was staring at death in the very face. She asks on, "Which unit did you serve? Where are you from? And where are their depots and bases?"

Jan does not answer to the question, instead he grins weakly for a moment and says, "...Death...has the face of a beautiful woman. You are going to kill me."

She is partially disgusted by how he tries to avoid the question, but in part flattered. Roughly and abruptly, she slaps him, leaving behind red marks. "You will answer to my questions, no more no less. Randgrid, get me the small saw..."

While Randgrid hands her a very dirty looking, rusted bloodied saw, Dietrich reacts and responds: "28.Tambarskjelve, Heathen Army..." - The Ladies seem surprised - "...We were all killed by the Demos...I think...I think I am the only one who was not shot". In no time, Randgrid moves closer and laughs at him, before kicking him from the side so that he helplessly falls over, tied up to the chair.

"You lie, son of Loki. You have the looks and uniform of a Demo."

-"Check my right shoulder for the identification tatoos..."

She eyed him skeptically, and pulled back his military jacket to check it out. He had been saying the truth.

"How the hell did you end up in that bloody uniform, boy?"

Safe.

----Later----

It is Dietrich's turn to take the large drinking horn, full of beer. He leans back onto his chair and laughs, then begins the first part of his tale, "'En when I was not far in the field fighting them Democrats, they killed all my old Comrades, exceptin' me, en den, I got auttafde trench, I vent till town nearby, yah? En I entered some room, in room, I found bunch of big fat general scheiss, I took meh maschingun, en I just blasted em all with my lead, killed em all! Hah!" As the others watch, he goes on, "En in future the, I will go till Asgaard and I will kill all the Democrats and then I will fix everythin' up and kill all the enemies! With napalm! And Panzers!" Drunk as he was, he drinks down even more, finishing the horn after several more seconds, leaving it aside as the ceremony finishes.

Heike, the would-have-been torturer from earlier smirks and shakes her head. "Ya know how many drunkards we get here saying that every week? Hah!"

Dietrich shakes his head. "Ah !@#$%^&*. I will do it for real."

-"Yeah, and we're to believe you killed all them generals, you little girly thing? Hahahaha!"

Somebody interrupts - Heinrich, a not very tall pale Nordlander who was wearing circular sunglasses in spite of being indoors. He moves his long blonde hair aside and pulls out a low budget news bulletin from an inner pocket in his cheap cloth trenchcoat, then reads it, "Soldier Dietrich Einarsson Bakker from the destroyed 26th Tambarskjelve breaks into High Command Democratic Manor and assasinates their top ten." Yet he adds, "Which is why they are now !@#$ting bricks...and rather disorganized...still we are outnumbered...".

Dietrich smirks and grins towards Heike. "Friggin told ya. Wanna wash the dishes now?"

She moves closer to him, narrowing her eyes. "Maybe you can teach me how."

Heinrich smirks and pats Heike's back a few times. "Be easy on him. We need him in one piece up and ready tomorrow early. We have a mission."

Both blush awkwardly. It was time to rest.

[loannes]

OOC:

She moves closer to him, narrowing her eyes. "Maybe you can teach me how."

Bow chika wow wow

[Subtleknifewielder]

OOC: heh heh, interesting implications there...

As you can see, I'm still reading...

[JEDCJT]

OOC:

Bow chika wow wow

OOC: heh heh, interesting implications there...

As you can see, I'm still reading...

OOC: Heh heh heh

With that, plz continue!

[Kaiser Martens]

OOC: lol, I did that by accident. Yarite.

IC:

"I suppose that you are correct. We are what the Outlanders would call Partisans. Only we do not lean to the left." Heike grins for a moment, as Randgrid pulls out a map, checking it. She interrupts, "Alright. Theoretically, the Third Prussian Tankmen Army should be arriving within the next hour...we are supposed to clear some watchtowers and disrupt the local barracks in order to provide a distraction enough for them to be successful...there's a depot there...we need to try to capture it...supplies are getting low. We have been sent silencers just for this task. Do not fire unless it is absolutely necessary...their effect decreases after some shots...and later they are to be discarded, else they may damage our guns. Got it?"

Olaf, Heinrich, Heike and Dietrich nod. Olaf speaks, "Alright...all clear. May the Raven god favor us and the Valkyrie pick us...let's $%&@ some !@#$ up." He loads up his heavy machinegun and places it on his back, and pulls out two handguns with silencers, removing their safeties. Heinrich and Dietrich pick two sturdy sniper rifles, while the ladies opt to take assault rifles. They adjust their helmets and wrap the Aesir Loyalist Odal armband. "For the Holy Family. Lets go."

They leave the broken town behind and start to march in a column through the forest and the snow, they go on for around fourtyfive minutes until they spot the first Guard Watchtower. They move closer and conceal themselves, then whisper. "We're getting closer. You guys handle it." And by you guys, they ment Dietrich and Heinrich. In order not to be seen by the reflection of the sun, they remove their telescopic sights and carefully aim from afar, from their concealed spots. Two guards on the tower.

Heinrich speaks, "I'll get the one on the left..." And both take aim. Then he says... "Alright....prepare...aim...fire." They fire at the same time, and both large, fast pieces of lead find their way through the cold air to hit the enemies in their crania, causing part of their heads to literally explode all over the place in red, and the pair of bullets continue their way indefinitely, unimpeded by further obstacles as they see the sky. As dead as it gets, the two fresh corpses collapse, one dropping from the tower.

"Genau. Let us move on."

They continue, and without difficulty they repeat the process on another guard tower. They would never see nor hear it coming. Such was the fate of the unlucky soldier. Years of preparation only to be at times hit by an unseen, unavoidable enemy bullet, causing for the world to be as if the dead man had never been born. They come then to see over a small hill an improvised base and depot, a group of one-story buildings, some of which are makeshift, others made from local wood and other materials. There are two barbed wire fences and several more towers. There is also a reinforced hangar, likely to contain armor, as there is no runway. An empty helipad is also visible.

"Here we are..." Breathing in ice and breathing out vapor, they take their time to try and sneak towards one of the barbed wire section, and Olaf and Randgrid begin to cut through it while the others provide cover. For a minute it all seems to go well, but Heinrich notices a guard, far away in the tower, finally spotting them. He will have no chance to ring the alarm, for a bullet hits his chest. They manage to enter the base at last while the sun goes down in slow motion. Olaf, Randgrid and Heike move in, while Dietrich and Heinrich move to a strategic spot to remain as snipers for cover.

Time was moving and they knew it. Heinrich chooses to go up a tree, near the very tall top and remains perched there overwatching the area from a better position than even the guards. Heinrich goes to the top of the small hill and readies himself, chest to the ground and then he compacts with his hands the snow close to his weapon so that when firing it will not be kicked up, thusly devealing his position.

The group of three sneaks through the place unnoticed, and begin to plant small bombs in different places, having to "Disable" several more soldiers in order to do so. The two also fire away when someone comes to check the seemingly-empty guard tower, only to find a corpse before becoming one himself and falling. It was on. The alarm is rang loudly, and the base springs to full alert. Heinrich had a plan, he takes out a small plastic box and tosses it far away from them, the box starts to emmit the sound of a firing machinegun. Dietrich does the same, simulating aircraft. The defenders are thoroughly confused by this at first, and start to look around both inside and outside of the base.

The silencers are soon spent and removed, and both Dietrich and Heinrich seem to be having a good time as they take down exposed soldiers that do not even suspect their actual positions. Deadly, uncanny accuracy and a face of steel are the mark of these warriors, not missing a single shot. One bullet, one kill, the heavy weapons that they have pierce even through Kevlar and ensure a fast death.

In the actual base, the three Soldiers pull out their heavy weapons and rush a small group of soldiers while discharging their entire cartridge at them. They see a tank crewman try and entering a Panzer, but Randgrid rushes forwards to shoot him and then climb into the vehicle, finishing the others inside. In a few seconds only, they remove the dead and have managed to hijack the Mannelig Class Tank. Such is the chaos that the enemies think that they are being attacked by an entire batallion, rather than a handful soldiers. Olaf pulls out the Aesir Loyalist Banner onto the top of his tank and begins to cruise around, firing both from the main gun as well as the machinegun, ramming the side of the base to try and break away, to try and meet the snipers to get out of there.

Heinrich looks up for a moment and then takes out his telescopic aiming sight to gaze at the distance. The Prussian Tankmen have arrived. Fifty tanks of different types and a large variety rush forwards to attack the small base, and from that moment onwards things turn into an all-out massacre. Not just bullets, but large Panzer Shells move through the air to deliver death to the foes, and they are met by a force of five enemy tanks, which are promptly overwhelmed. In the next half an hour, almost 300 soldiers will die, and 200 mostly wounded survivors surrender. The bombs planted earlier go off and disrupt electricity and water. Mission accomplished. Supplies, ammo and fuel will be taken from the base to refuel the tanks. A few captured tanks are added. Losses are minimal.

The ones who surrendered are rounded up and surrounded by the Prussians, and soon the rest of the guys arrive. The Prussian commander, Panzerleiter Loss steps down from his heavy Martens Tank to shake the hands of the team that made this possible.

"We thank you in the name of the Loyal Nordheimers. You will all get medals for this." He motions an officer to come with a box medal, but Dietrich steps forwards and shakes his head. "Thank you Sir, but I am not going to accept medals for killing countrymen."

The rest do not object. Loss looks towards Dietrich and then the rest, and finally nods. "Fine then...regardless, this has been a great job. We needed these supplies badly."

The officer moves closer to ask, "Herr Panzerleiter, what do we do with the prisoners?"

"The same we do with all prisoners..."

The night has fallen. But if one were to fly through the zone by plane, one would see many flashes of light as the guns are again discharged to finish the Democratic Soldiers for good. They are not buried, but rather left there as a deterrant. Dietrich himself goes up to the last man that they have, and places his pistol right between his eyes. But he cannot do it. He instead kicks his face and walks away, so that Heinrich may finish the job.

Red snow and debris is all that's left. When later on the next day, another section of the Democratic army arrives to the base for a routine resupply, in horror they see the decaying corpses, burntdown buildings, blackened snow and still ravens and wolves feeding on the corpses. There is a small sign left behind: You are next.

"My...God..."

[Cody Seb]

OOC: Good read, keep it up.

[Kaiser Martens]

"I have seen much of the world. It is brutal, cruel, and dark."

Heinrich stares ahead at the snowy landscape as a hand lowers his rounded, black sunglasses to let red orbs scan the horizon. Breathing in the air of the Northern Winds, he pushes the glasses back to their normal position and sips from a massive stein.

"You would think that most Countries are lead by competent people. That is not so. They are often good hearted in fact. But the vast majority are a man born blind trying to describe the nature of colors. They simply lack the skill. They were not born with it. In the end, they may sometimes see black and white. But that is it."

He sips again and passes the stein to Dietrich.

"Even the reasons for their leaving of our country are wrong, even if the effect is correct. Sometimes they may do good things, by accident and chance. The rest of the times...they fail. There are bad people...but they do not realize that they are neither evil or stupid...which are the same thing. Noone does evil for the sake of evil. Evil does not exist. The Christians made us think in terms of Good and Evil. Democratic and Undemocratic. To divide us between the Obedient and Disobedient. To control and to punish. That is the reason why Nordland has been controversial. We do not share anything with most other nations. Unique. The black sheep."

After Dietrich drinks and hands the stein back, Heinrich goes on,

"That is why the world called for the destruction of our language, people, identity, and country...to be fair, half were indifferent however. But the enemies are fools. They think that by changing a banner and name we will be different. They do not realize that the only way to stop us is to kill every last one of us. But they will realize it eventually. They will come back...they will replace books by lead. Ultimately, they will fail, for we have the Silver and the Blood..."

Dietrich looks over to the speaking Heinrich and then stares away.

"The world is our enemy. We are alone, because we are better, and because we are different. Never remember that even if a Foreign Country does help, it will help out of stupidity, and never with a true understanding of our Culture, never with legitimate good will, thusly, they will never be trustworthy. The only other nation which resembles us is Prussia. But they are too busy with their own business." He waves a hand dismissively and drinks again, passing on the stein to Dietrich again.

"We have always been at war...we will always be at war. That is the natural way. The Einherjar become larger because of this. Even if we spend a thousand years in isolation it will be but a brief break before continuing with the destiny of the Teutonic Peoples: War. Everything we do is war. When we talk or argue, it is war. When we eat, it is war. When diplomats meet, it is war. Even when we have sex it is war. The only difference with an armed conflict is that an open war, military warfare, is more honest and tries not to disguise the nature of itself. This is why the weaklings of the world and our enemies hate us for being warriors, because we do not disguise our nature. They cannot stand knowing that war is in them as well. They deny themselves. But we embrace our nature. And because of this fundamental difference after many Ragnaröks one day we are to reach final victory. It is so written in the !@#$%*."

He closes his eyes.

"But before that we need to secure Nordheim. Above all, always remember, that everything is always just a big joke." He stands up and continues, "Everything is doing well. I think we should show up now."

Dietrich stands too and looks down over the valley to see a massive number of trucks, armor, military equipment, crew and soldiers who seem to be arranging the biggest army he's ever seen. Some people are carrying boxes onto trucks, others are refueling and loading ammo, others elsewhere are soldering and repairing vehicles, sometimes adding armor. Weapons are being issued to many soldiers. Dietrich finishes the stein, and the pair begin to head down to meet with their group.

Heinrich raises an eyebrow and grins toothily. "Lady Randgrid. Rather, Hauptleiterin Henrikson. The uniform suits you well, I must say. What do we have here?"

She smiles for a moment and moves over to a table where a map is stretched out, showing different positions.

"The offensive will begin tomorrow. Two pincers will be sent, which will surround and bypass their position at Arngrimshausen. Several rounds of artillery will be quickly fired to provide momentum for a second wave of militia to overrun them. The Pincers will be fighting their other positions over at Auskastein. But some will be held back to catch anyone retreating from Arngrimshausen. If things go well, the militia will catch up with us and push even onwards. We should then be close to their industrial center at Rjurikovsk.

Heinrich, as well as Dietrich and other soldiers present nod.

"You two will be deployed by Arngrimshausen's outskirts to function as snipers and attack anyone trying to retreat. Nothing new." Only Heinrich and Dietrich do nod this time. "In the meantime, I suggest you stop getting drunk and go get some rest." Randgrid takes the stein from Heinrich and dumps it on the side. His eyes open widely. "HEYYY! You have any idea how expensive that was? Damn, woman."

She nods and answers. "You'll be better without it. Get going."

They walk away and spend the rest of the day relaxing...they later go to sit by other comrades on fallen logs and stones in front of a fire. Henrich goes and sits by a comrade who happens to have a guitar, and another one nearby has a small percussion box. They begin to sing Nordlandic Folk music. During this, Heike comes over to sit by Dietrich. He raises both eyebrows in mild disbelief.

"You got promoted too? Pfft. It seems that as of lately rank is based on cups! Hah!" He laughs. She smiles but does not laugh, and fixes a medal and then the tag indicating her name.

"Hauptleiterin Isabrand for you. Soldier, you will come with me."

He sighs, exhausted, but stands up. "Again? For the Gods, be merciful..."

---------------------------------------

Far away in the Northern Reaches, a group of people sat at a large table. A General moves closer to hand then some papers. They begin to read them, until a man at the head of the table nods and says,

"Very well General. Get ready to execute the operation and proceed when they do. I am glad to see that we are ready."

[Kaiser Martens]

Heike lazily tries to push Dietrich away as she yawns.

"..Go get your uniform...and make me breakfast..."

He tries to struggle but comically ends up falling to the side and shivering from the cold as he then rises and exits the room. The sun wasn't even out yet, but hints of light could be seen if one would pay enough attention to the meeting point of sky and mountains. He turns on the kitchen's fire and begins to prepare some coffee and toast, all while putting his uniform on. In some minutes he returns perfectly ready for combat, dressed, and with six Butterbrots, or Smörgaasar, as well as two cups of coffee. He sets the tray nearby and sits at her side on the bed while they begin to have breakfast. It was cold. Very cold. Outside they could hear people marching and vehicles moving. It was the day. They looked at each other for moments, but said nothing, as if it was a ceremony rather than a common early morning food. When they are done they stand up, and he brings her uniform closer, which he had prepared. Minutes later he stands behind her at the mirror fixing her hair, both with a very serious look, while she cleaned her teeth and washed her face. Once that they are done, she is the first to exit the makeshift house as he opens the door for her, and then they go to the staging area. Heike nods, Dietrich salutes and goes over to the truck assigned to him, where he runs into Heinrich and a few other Snipers and Sharpshooters again as he hops on.

"Slept well, Kamerad?" Heinrich asks with an acid smirk.

"No rest for the wicked." Dietrich says as he is issued his equipment, and puts on his Pickelhaube. Next he sits down as he adds his Kevlar Legging Pads, and begins afterwards to work on his arms.

"That's what they say!" Speaks an amused, ready Heinrich who seems to have his usual glasses in spite of the darkness.

Dietrich finishes, adding the main body armor, and the truck's engine starts. They get going. They check their rifles, check their ammo, and are reminded their mission by the local Commander. They can see many other trucks and armored vehicles heading in the same direction as they start to pour as if the water of a breaking dam to find the enemy.

------------

Back in the Bunker,

"Sir, they have started."

"Send the Heavy Armor."

------------

"Arngrimshausen, dead ahead. Artillery should begin at any second."

That being said, the fortified town started to be bombarded by 155mm shells, Rockets and a team of carpet bombers, who were met with moderate AA defences in the form of FLAK. From their position at the back of the advancing truck, they could see that the majority of the army had bypassed Arngrimshausen, or was in the process. Beyond their line of sight, a mass of Militia with Technicals - improvised fighting vehicles - would rush the position in great numbers. The truck stops, and a light tank stops at its side. The commander yells, "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, LOS LOS LOS, FÜR NORDLAND!" And so the team of twelve men quickly get off of the vehicle and start to head towards Arngrimshausen to fulfill the mission. The Truck continues on its way, the Light Tank begins to work on a concealed, Hull-down position and chamo.

Heinrich and Dietrich took two different positions in two different foxholes under some bushes, complete with pre-made chamo nets. They ready their rifles and blow to remove any nearby dust that would otherwise later deveal their position, and then make the snow flat and compact with the same purpose. The artillery later finishes, and it is replaced by gunfire when the core of the army is gone off to fight for Rjurikovsk. The combat lasts hours, and by then the winter sun starts to be more properly visible, but there is no warmth.

They remain there for what seems an eternity, motionless, breathing, watching, waiting. Now and then, an explosion, more often gunfire, rarely smoke. They try to look around, but all they see is a wasteland of endless snow, the walls of the town, and mountains in the distance. The true action begins. People start to withdraw from the town - soldiers. Like shooting fish in a barrel, they wait for them to be well in the open field and begin. The sniper team starts to fire and in fact hit, and they panic, their retreat becomes disorganized, chaotic, and some - perhaps smarter ones - actually decide to lay down with their chest to the floor, in a futile attempt to find the multiple snipers. Some begin to try to run back into the town, but the Panzer's heavy machinegun seals their fate once and for all. More people begin to try to retreat from within the town, adding to the confusion, and as some of the Militia pushes forwards it turns into a total massacre.

Shell after shell and bullet after bullet, they are put to rest without a chance for survival. Fighting in the town continues for some more hours, until they begin to surrender at last. The Loyalist Flag is raised on the center of the town...the survivors are all bound together with rope after being disarmed, and then in order to make it easier to dispatch them, the tank is used to run them over. A soldier with a flamethrower fires at the remaining bodies just outside of the town to set them aflame and dispatch any casual survivors. The most bizarre part of the image was that of the liberated town, which saluted happily in the direction of the Loyalist troops, came to hand over some foods, some drinks... It seemed that at this point even murdering a few hundred men and women by a particularily gruesom method was partying business, as the town seemed completely overjoyed that the Demos were expelled. In some cases, people would find concealed Democratic soldiers and lynch them on their own. Some of the folks even took up arms and decided to join the militia unit.

A victory, but what were things like over in Rjurikovsk?

Heinrich moves over to where the tank is and knocks down on the hatch a few times. It opens and the commander appears. "Ja? Gott, the smell is disgusting..."

Heinrich nods. "I believe we got them all. What is the situation in the Rjurikovsk front?"

The Commander nods. "Hold on" And ducks to retrieve information from the Navigator. After a few minutes, he nods and looks back up at Heinrich.

"The front is stable. They are exchanging artillery, bombs, and both have made different attempts to break through. We are supposed to go and reinforce them."

Heinrich nods. "Very well. Lets do it." He steps back and goes over to where some Officers are talking, and begins to inform them. Dietrich watches as he cleans up his gun very patiently, stretching his legs, paying no mind to the small fire and horrid smell of the corpses. The officers seem to agree and one of them goes over to reach for a megaphone. Instructions are given.

------------------

Less than an hour later, at Rjurikovsk.

A scouting unit from far away notices the arrival of the Arngrimshausen Liberation Battlegroup. Quickly this is communicated to a General who is sitting in a very busy room, answering many calls while the battle situation is coordinated onto a map.

"Yes. Yes. Good. Send them to E4. Casualties? Alright. Better than expected. Do it."

That being said, as the troop approaches, they are quickly briefed on the situation, given a new mission and deployed close to the artillery. They had mobilized by using their own Technicals, some vehicles from the town, as well as the tank. They had managed to capture an Armored Vehicle, a Tank, and two 155mm Artillery Pieces, which are made into replacement for lost units. In spite of not being engaged, there is no room for comfort or rest. Planes are on the sky dogfighting, bombers as well dropping their deadly contents and beyond the line, the wall of Rjurikovsk is visible, blackened from the fire and resisting. It did not look like it would be a simple battle. The Line was massive, a series of two trenches, hull-down position tanks, entrenched artillery and AA, stretching for a few kilometers around the city. So far, a stalemate.

[Biohazard]

OOC: Epic thread is epic.

I haven't finished reading it - I have to go do some stuff, but it was all very nicely written, extremely descriptive, and I loved reading it. Awesome, KM.

[Kaiser Martens]

OOC: I'll keep going until over 9000

[JEDCJT]

OOC: I'll keep going until over 9000

OOC: 9000 posts or 9000 pages?

Besides, go for it! Can't wait for your updates!

[Kaiser Martens]

The battle rages on, and through the line minor skirmishes are repelled. The Aesir Loyalists attempt to strike back, but are likelwise repelled. The war turns into an Artillery Battle. After a few hours of shelling, still plenty of daytime present, the enemy ceases to respond. Scout aircraft are able to detect their damaged Artillery positions retreating from the zone as the Generals appear to want to avoid utter destruction of the pieces that way. For such a large scale combat, casualties are relatively low.

Reinforcements arrived. Far behind the Loyalist Line, a large group of Panzers and Vehicles approach. Their colors are neither Loyalist nor Democratic. Scouts focus their attentions and binoculars on their direction. There were many flags. Red, white, blue. Pan-Slavic colors. The Slavs. But strangely, also Soviet Banners right alongside. A few of the Flags were Überstein's personal banner - used of course, without his authorization. There was also a Socialist Flag, with an Antifa Logo. The instant reaction was one of confusion and disbelief. The news were quickly transmitted to the Generals, who were as confused.

Heinrich, as if smelling what's coming from afar snipes a man away and turns his attention to the distance where he sees floor being kicked up. His eyes narrow as he tries to see better, and he removes his glasses for a moment. He does not seem at all pleased and turns over to a nearby table to smash his hand down onto it, nearly breaking it, getting the attention of a Superior Officer who had been arranging maps and figures there.

"What the $%&@ are you doing?" Is the first knee-jerk instinct reply to this action, to which Heinrich replies, "Here come the !@#$@#$ Commies, and the !@#$@#$ Slavs, and the !@#$@#$ Antifa, the Übers, and freaking goddamn Loki on a post! Look the hell over there!"

From afar, the new enemy units begin to fire before the Loyalist are truly able to react. Shells begin to fall all over, and the Armored Vehicles and tank in the distance are seen to be speeding up as they go in for the kill. Simultaneously, Rjurikovsk's gates open to let out heavy Breakthrough Tanks, leftover from Nordland, in an all-out everything-or-nothing daring, vicious onslaught to try to crush the opposing forces.

There was no room to truly react, and over the next hours, the Loyalists would fight fiercely, presenting rugged defense at every opportunity. The enemy were so many that victory seemed indeed unthinkable. The previous artillery retreating proved to be a fake, soon all kinds of shells were falling all over, and chaos was the norm.

A Democratic General watched from the distance and commented, "Well. I did not think that they would actually get this far. Hm. Credit to them. Encircle them, they can only resist artillery pounding for so long."

So it was ordered, and so it will be. Exhausted, but smiled upon by Odin and the Valkyries, the Loyalist had fought, holding their banners high against all odds while withstanding assaults from a variety of directions. Casualties were high, but upon the heavy PAK fire the enemy had to withdraw even its slowest, heaviest armor. It was like being at the heart of an earthquake. Dietrich keeps firing on and on at the incoming enemies, some Democratic uniforms, some Red uniforms, so many factions there united to get them all. Shooting them one by one, they fall and begin to pile up by the fortifications, their comrades step over and onto the body of the dead in order to resume the offensive, until they finally halt. Almost all of the soldiers seem to be either scared or otherwise into some type of berserkergaanglike frenzy.

As Dietrich remembers his very first battle in the snow, which had led to the annihilation of his battlegroup, he whispers, "They have stopped..." And indeed, for some twenty minutes the only sound was the distant roaring of different engines. Even the Artillery has ceased. Close by, Heinrich speaks, "They are repositioning their forces to surround us. Then they will fire more artillery...and then they will come in for the kill."

"But I do not want to die." Dietrich says, however, with a remarkable lack of emotion, in a very plain manner. He goes on, "I want to win. I do not want to die." All while remembering his trail from the snow and over to the house, noting how similar the reek of the dead already is. Heinrich sighs and folds his arms, checking his watch.

"It does not matter. We will be able to win. You should know by now that tomorrow belongs to us." Heinrich says, trying to remain calm, although to the perceptive eye obviously nervous and tense, despite his best efforts. "I have all the time in the world...I will kill them one by one if I have to..." He says afterwards in a much grimmer manner, the expression on his face becoming a mix of cold disgust.

Who would have guessed that the Democratics would manage to apparently pact some sort of alliance with the other factions? Truly, they should have known. But it seemed too late by now. After a while, an Enemy Armored Scout arrived with a white flag to discuss...to discuss the surrender of the Loyalists. The air on the zone was tense, nearly electrified. Lady Hel seemed already eager for new corpses, and started to send even harsher cold when realizing that peace may be possible. The charged, frozen air was hard to breath, and seemed to announce the cooldown of the battle.

Underground, in private chambers, the Generals received the offer from a man clad in a Communist uniform.

"The Democratic Republic of Nordheim, the Voivod of Vladizapad, The Antifascist Army of Nordheim, the Socialist Defence Forces, the Übersteinianist Armed Forces, and the Red Army of Peasants and Workers henceforth officially demand the unconditional surrender and capitulation of the so-called Aesir Loyalist Army. Under the terms of this surrender, you will leave behind weapons and fortifications and come marching to a sector in the west, marked by two Red Flares, in which you will be processed and transferred to a Detention Center to await a fair trial."

He finishes reading the paper and then puts it onto a table, and takes out a pen. The formal instrument of surrender. One of the Generals removes his cap and runs his hands through his hair, then holding his head as he sits down. Another one cannot simply take the scene, and with shaking hands moves away. Two other Officers stand there, seemingly petrified and amazed at the turn of events. After an uncomfortable silence, the Red Officer adds,

"You need not to accept now. I will return in sixty minutes for the answer."

That being said, they exchange salutes and he heads out back to his vehicle, as the Germanic Horde watches his every move. Just as he left, he departs, and as the troop realizes what he came to do, uncertainty begins to settle in. Some men smoke, the wounded are taken care of. After half an hour, the four lead Generals come and begin to address the soldiers. From afar, the Enemies can of course see this. They are now certain that their victory is complete.

The current Leader begins to speak,

"Soldiers,

You have fought a long, difficult war. A war against a terrible foe. A war against sometiemes unseen, distant enemies. Many have left behind family to do this. Many have lost them for good. Many comrades are gone. I want victory. But on this day our best victory will be to go back and have peaceful lives."

Some of the soldiers start to boo in the direction of the generals.

"We are outnumbered six to one, and they have us surrounded from good positions. Just the artillery and airforce would be enough to finish us. We cannot win. We must survive, or else all our forefathers fought for was for nothing if we are corpses. If we do not surrender, we will die."

Booing eventually died down. Dietrich had only partially understood the situation, still immersed in his thoughts and memories, but his eyes focus on the figure of the general at the end of the unspeech, and with shaking hands and a progressively deranged expression on his face he rises from his sitting position.

"YOU ARE A COWARD! YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO THE FATHERLAND" Energically, he points towards the general, then to the rest of them. "ALL OF YOU ARE COWARDS. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED! THAT IS WHY NORDLAND FELL! EVERYONE WAS TOO COWARDLY TO FIGHT A WAR THEY COULD NOT EASILY WIN!"

He moves closer and hits a table several times with the energy of a revolution,

"ALL YOU BIG FAT GENERALS WHO KNOW NOT TO GRAB A GUN!"

Annoyed, the Generals call out, "GUARDS! Seize him!"

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? KILL ME? LIKE A !@#$@#$ COMMUNIST? YOU DEMOCRATIC COLABORATOR...YOU...YOU ARE A KNOWN VISARIST! YOU AND YOUR VISARI BACKSTABBED US! OUR ARMIES DID NOT EVEN REACH THE ENEMY AND YOU AND YOUR LEADER CAPITULATED AND FIRED YOUR MISSILES! BUT KAISERIN MAGNHILD PREVENTED OUR OWN FROM BEING LAUNCHED! YOU HAVE STABBED US IN THE BACK!"

In sheer rage, Dietrich removes his helmet and throws it towards the General, who avoids it, but it actually hits another General in the face, and all hell breaks lose as several Guards move over through the crowd to try and capture the yelling Nordlander. Without thinking about it, Heinrich gets in the way and dispatches one of the guards with a swift kick to the chest, causing him to fall onto two others as if a domino piece, then taking out a heavy machinegun. Dietrich is surprised when Heinrich says,

"I believe that we are here to kill Demos and Bolshes. Not each other. Although I may be wrong."

The people quiet down. But they seem uncomfortable. The helmet-hit bleeding General moves away, and the other one goes on talking in a flatter voice, "No, you are right. We are going to surrender. Without us, there'd be no Nordheim, not if we're burnt ashes."

The Enemy Envoy returns, the same armored car as before, and the same man. The capitulation is signed in private by the Generals with little words, and once the deal is complete, the Red one gets back onto his vehicle and starts to head back. Dietrich was waiting far away, with a heavy Antimateriel Rifle, loaded with armor-piercing bullets. He fires only one shot while the vehicle is in the middle of the massive no-man's land. It nearly instantly begins to emmit fire and smoke and it stops after a few meters. The two people inside try to get out, but unable to do so in time they are already engulfed by fire when they exit the car, and die a gruesome death in front of them all. Deadly accuracy.

The Generals are utterly surprised and panic. However, the Soldiers seem to be mostly calm, at peace. The Generals and a few of their loyal Guards try to reach for Dietrich themselves, but are in no time overwhelmed by several people, including Heike, Randgrid and Olaf - who seems to have minor wounds. The Generals panic and try to order other soldiers to save them, but they are hanged high from the Loyalist's flagpole for the enemies to see.

The enemy leader felt rather indignated by the situation as he puts his binoculars aside, seeming disturbed.

"So, they want war...?" He clenches his fist.

[Lynneth]

OOC:

Of course your guys are either going to win or going down in a glorious battle.

Predictable.

[Sargun II]

OOC:

Of course your guys are either going to win or going down in a glorious battle.

Predictable.

OOC: It's Martens. We always know what's going to happen.

[Kaiser Martens]

OOC: Actually, you are both wrong

[yahoda]

OOC: This is the first CNRP story i have fully read and i have to say it is brilliant i have a little movie running in my head

[Kaiser Martens]

The shelling goes on. Rockets also fly. Farther than the eye can reach, concealed behind other units, all the nicely arranged pieces of artillery begin to do their job. From all directions at once, confident in victory, the enemies begin their final assault.

The first to come in range are the heavy breakthrough tanks. Even the high velocity antitank guns have troubles with them - the shells simply seem to bounce off of the armor or otherwise explode harmlessly. The gunners have to settle for mobility kills, or for trying to hit the cannons, which due to their excessively large bore present a weakspot. But aiming and actually hitting those points while under shelling is difficult, and many have to replace their crew for inexpert soldiers in order to at least manage to man the weaponry.

The own Loyalist artillery does fire back, but as the enemy had gotten the first barrage through, it is for the most part destroyed, save for a number of extremely armored SPGs who later require direct hits from Tanks or Tank Destroyers in order to become an iron grave. After some time, the infantry begins to rush their position as well.

The morale of the defending troops, which at first was low, begins to in fact rise as they see that they actually do seem to stand a chance after all. The majority of the enemy forces appear to be rather ineffective, both due to lack of training and sometimes lack of equipment. While Dietrich continues firing alongside Heinrich, they lose track of time, and when they realize later that they run out of ammo, they see that apparently they were the only ones holding the line, for the rest of the people in their section of the trench was dead.

They pull back, retrieve more ammo and continue with the task, but the ring around the position of the Loyalists seems to tighten as the minutes pass by. Heinrich grins, "Are ya sure we shouldn't have surrendered? At least the Ravens will be well fed." - but Dietrich is too busy it seems firing round after round into the faces of the sometimes masked enemies.

Minutes later, Dietrich commented in frustration, "Another day...not today...this is not what it was ment to be." - and while he keeps firing and firing, destiny comes closer. Although the battle had been steady and stable, he tries to fire but his weapon jams - something unheard of in this model of rifle. He hits the weapon twice out of instinct but nothing changes. Making a run for it, he goes back to the depot to retrieve a weapon, where the current leader, a Colonel, hands him his own rifle, and so Dietrich heads back to his spot, not without drawing enemy fire. Luckily back into the relative safety of the trench, he fires with the new weapon towards the enemy, but the weaker rifle fails to penetrate enemy armor. "...The Colonel's weapon is too weak.".

After the comment, a bullet comes flying through the air to hit Dietrich's hand on an either unlucky or specially skilled shot, causing him to of course drop the weapon before dropping down himself entirely in pain. Heinrich recognizes the situation and fires one last time before pulling him up and moving back from the line which they had seemingly held by themselves. The Enemy General nods as he notices this and comments, "Loyalists, you've lost Nordheim." As his troops finally manage to break through.

Dietrich is pulled away into temporary safety in a pillbox by Heinrich. He comments as he sees his own shattered, bloody hand, "Well, I think this is the end isn't it?". Heinrich looks at him for a moment, and then nods. He sets him to sit against a wall and reloads. "At least till we're picked."

He steps outside to continue with the fighting, and then sees several explosions coming from behind the enemy lines. Planes fly above the Loyalist positions to deploy paradroppers - The plane was black. Heinrich looks up and whispers, "Valkyries."

Armored, the Idisi rain down on the middle of the battlefield as they use their heavy machineguns and heavy Panzerfausts to disrupt the enemy actions. At the same time far away the enemy artillery positions are under attack by a large number of small groupings of units, belonging to the Heathens and the Fascists, who have finally truly picked a side. The battle becomes chaotic when the enemy must use their reserves in order to try and stop them. But at the core of the conflict, it is interesting to see the enemies in fact fearing the attack of the Valkyries as they land. The most elite troops in Nordland work coldly against the enemy, and seem to be extremely resistant to damage due to their elaborate armored protection. A group of black Panzers belonging to the Valkyrie Corps as well breaks through the south to create a hallway.

"RETREAT!"

As the pocket breaks, the loyalist forces start to run away from the battlefield in a very disorderly manner, while the more orderly, professional Valkyries provide cover. Being as much of an actual weapon as a psychological one, the enemies are disturbed simply by having to face them, being aware of their extreme training, the quality of their equipment and their reputation. The elite warrior class of Nordheim and Nordland, which had come to be both feared and respected. The Fascists and Heathens conduct their artillery raids with efficiency, but the enemy carefully regroups and continues their attack belatedly, not soon enough to prevent the battle from ending.

The first true major battle in Nordheim's core. Half of the massive Loyalist Army had been killed, the majority of the survivors left behind most of their equipment as they had to run for their lives. Losses on the Democratic Coalition are also quite high, but victory is theirs. The ensuing chaos allows them to push further operations to systematically root out the remaining loyalist positions. As phyrric as the major battle had been, in the next year the rest of the skirmishes would be minor, and the Democratics would gain ground slowly but evenly.

After the battle, the survivors regrouped in the far south of mainland Nordheim. Dietrich and Heinrich had remained together, but had become separated from the rest. Olaf and Randgrid would not be heard of again. Unknown soldiers somewhere under the snow, or perhaps in some common pyre. Heinrich seemed to be particularily shocked by this. It would take him months to recover.

At the end of the year...

For the last month, the remanents of the Loyalist Coalition - Fascists, Aesir Loyalists and Heathens among a few others - had been retreating into the sea in secret. The front was stabilizing, but at a price. The Loyalist Remanents were withdrawing nearly completely from Mainland Nordheim and had moved to the other sectors, a part had moved to the Baltic Territories, and another part over to Iceland. The Democratic Coalition saw this as a victory. The scenario had changed drastically, and the war would degenerate to the next year to a type of Sitzkrieg once the three individual territories stabilize. The Democratics amass their forces and try to recover. Nobody knew who would move first or when, but neither side would rest until dominating all of Nordheim.

[Kaiser Martens]

Dietrich steps up to the microphone,

"Nordlanders,

The strongest people in the world. Once, the strongest country. But why did Nordland then fall? And how do we fix the Land? I have a plan. A great plan. I will build us a house. But as you all know, we are in a great shortage of conventional materials. We will build our new house together, we will build it out of Iron and Blood. We will build it to withstand the eternal might of Verdandi. It shall be impervious to light, tears, and fists. We will be a part of it. But we have a long and difficult task. Before we are able to begin, we must first clean out our enemies.

Easier done than said. When speaking of them they seem as if a mighty force ready to crush us with superior firepower. This is irrelevant, for we have greater Faith and Belief. We have a banner, we have the Ravens and the Silver. There is one more factor yet to be taken into consideration...if we do not understand why we lost our Fatherland, we will be doomed to lose it once more.

Our first enemies are the Southern Slavs. Loki-advised these traitors were instrumental in the destruction of Nordland, with their Separatist ideas and with their creation of the splitter pseudostate of the "Bavarians" as they call themselves. Yet so incompetent these beasts are that they soon sucumb to their own problems in spite of being left undisturbed. Ironically, even the Bavarians - Nordlanders - in their separatist folly manage to be more successful a state. But their people have been poisoned, and taught to hate us. Much like stubborn kids resisting Bismarck's ideas.

Other notorious foes are the Übersteinianists and Mariehamm. Anothr territory poisoned to believe that we are no real culture. They have a history of discriminating against those of Nordlandic ethnicity, and have so far gone unpunished. This is unacceptable for the Nordlandic Folk, and their destiny will be sealed! But we must never forget that the only reason why they were successful is not due to their own merit, but due to the fact that the majority of the world supported them. The vast majority of the world thinks of us as little more than an artificial culture that should not exist, and have endorsed our utter destruction. Some such as the Hanseatics have even gone as far as betraying us outright. They were punished by the true Valkyries - The ones that wiped out their cities.

This is not to mention all of the other Separatist states that have sprung up out of nowhere to break the Nordlandic people. Their Governments have even supported Linguistic separatism, bringing old languages back that were considered entirely dead to artificially attempt to be different. They will fail.

As you can see, almost the totality of the world is considered to be our enemy. Many of them hate us - or what they assume us to be - and the rest in indifference cared little as our people were massacred. We are a lone Berserker surrounded by enemy armies in almost every directions. Yet I feel I must make a clear distinction in favor of the exceptions, which are two. The first naturally is the Prussian State. Like us, they are the only State which remains Faithful to the Aesir, and which has not destroyed its own culture. They are our only ally in the entire world and the only nation that understands us truly, without hating us either actively or through indifference. The other one exception is the Slavorussian state, which could have well picked to move forth and take Baltic Nordheim, where we stand right now, back as revenge from the war waged against them, only to destroy our local culture here as well - We could have not halted them. And they certainly had enough reasons, for their claims to these territories are as valid as our very own. But they decided against it. Because of this decision, I now understand that having waged war against them was a mistake. Visari's mistake.

Visari. The root cause of our trouble. A traitor, no more, no less. He waged war against General Mannelig, and nuked the Gebivians - Historical allies of our people. Not content with this, he was the driving force behind the Slavorussian invasion. He attempted repeatedly to destroy the gains of the Silver Revolution by modifying the government in order to rig it in such a way as to produce only fanatism for his persona. He failed, but in his failing he panicked and ended up capitulating. Sneaky as he was, he had to do it while Our Lady Magnhild was away in the hospital, struggling to give birth to create the new generation of the Holy Family. In his fear of facing the enemy, he destroyed us!

The Nordlandic Armies never had a chance of fighting any of the enemies that it was supposed to face. The Visarists and this Chancellor himself caved in as if lowly Frenchmen to the incoming threat and chose to disband our armies, stabbing us all in the back and robbing us from victory, leading to the dreadful consequences that we see here today. What a dishonor! But Lady Hel surely had his best half.

The Enemy only won because he was sitting on our very throne. Else, we are invincible.

The Destinies call for a new Silver Revolution. A Revolution of the People for the second time, this time in the Far North. We have again one obstacle, and it is only internal. Small Visaris sit in their small thrones in the different Martencist Parties that we have scattered through the land, all pretending to go by the !@#$%*'s way, all pretending to hail Martens, while in reality seeking only their slice in this game. They are also traitors and enemies. But we are Generous. We will give them a chance. They will be given a chance to acknowledge the ultimate sovereignty of the Martens Dinasty, Lord Martens himself, Lady Magnhild and the new Holy Generation. Only then they will find safety, only then our people will unite to crush the enemy."

People Hailed.

As the speech continued, different operations were underway.

Clad in Night, the Valkyries marched through different places in Western and Eastern Nordheim in coordinated effort. In many cases, the Guards would not even dare try to fight against them, in others they would be swiftly executed. Doors were knocked down as the houses of the Petty Leaders would be stormed. These would wake up from their sleep only to see themselves surrounded, and then be finally silenced by the ice swords as their refusal to comply was understood.

"They have declined our offer. We are doing what we must. As we speak the Valkyries are destroying each of them. There is no freedom without order, and with so many chieftains and such few soldiers we have not a hint of an order. We are henceforth re-creating the Nordheimer Martencist Party as it was once known. The Nordlandic Throne will control it directly. The Aesir will be a part of its council, as will some of the Valkyries. In a few months' time, as we amass sufficient supplies, we will head over to Central Nordheim and wipe out the Democratic Forces once and for all. I do not care if they know that we are in fact coming, for they have no chance. We will execute each and every member of their Government and Army, and then their Collaborators. Once that Order is restored, we will proceed to restart the National Unity Process to gain our territories. The process will be slow, and will take many generations. As we are surrounded by people that wish our death, it will be no easy task. But our goal is simple: All European Germanic Territories, no more, no less. We will also no longer honor any of the international pacts we signed at the end of the last war, we will rebuild our army completely, we will construct many Weapons of Mass Destruction, and we will destroy the Demilitarized Zone. They will not be able to stop us."

Dietrich salutes.

[Uberstein]

OOC: So wait, is your civil war over now?

Also, you wouldn't be able to dismantle the DMZ without us knowing, there are sensors there and my troops are watching the boarder.

Edited August 2, 2009 by BaronUberstein

[Il Terra Di Agea]

OOC: Well, despite knowing that it will probably end badly, I can't wait for that war

Also, as usual, excellent writing

[Kaiser Martens]

OOC: No, it is not over yet. The Democratic sector is still encompassing Central Nordheim, while East Nordheim and Iceland are a mix of Martencists and Monarchists. It will continue, the war just decelerated for a bit as the Loyalists were pushed out of the mainland. And, yes, I know about the DMZ. But it's propaganda, so when Dietrich speaks about it he doesn't give a damn even if he's aware of it.

Also, I'll take this chance to ask a question, is it fine if Nordheim (Eventually) rebuilds its Nuclear weapons? Since I got now a hidden nuclear silo, it'd make sense for the country to be able to produce them. However, I also think that when the rest of the nukes are produced, since only 5 will be covered by the hidden silo, the existence of the other 20 would eventually be discovered by the world.

[Uberstein]

OOC: No, it is not over yet. The Democratic sector is still encompassing Central Nordheim, while East Nordheim and Iceland are a mix of Martencists and Monarchists. It will continue, the war just decelerated for a bit as the Loyalists were pushed out of the mainland. And, yes, I know about the DMZ. But it's propaganda, so when Dietrich speaks about it he doesn't give a damn even if he's aware of it.

Also, I'll take this chance to ask a question, is it fine if Nordheim (Eventually) rebuilds its Nuclear weapons? Since I got now a hidden nuclear silo, it'd make sense for the country to be able to produce them. However, I also think that when the rest of the nukes are produced, since only 5 will be covered by the hidden silo, the existence of the other 20 would eventually be discovered by the world.

OOC: Well, you CAN build them, but it would be a violation of treaty terms and give us an excuse to attack you.

So it isn't smart.

[Kaiser Martens]

OOC: Sounds good to me