Chapter 14

Blood Knights Base

Normandy, France

“A foolish endeavor it may have sounded like to you Ivan, but with you and Steel Monger, it would be hard enough for them to maintain control over the mission” Blackthorn said apathetically while taking sips of his afternoon cup of tea “especially considering the fact that you and they wouldn’t be well equipped enough to destroy the Wulfkorp entirely” he said taking another sip.

“But the Master said…” Ivan was about to continue went Plague Master grabbed Ivan and slammed him against the wall for his defiance.  He then pointed the nozzle of his Plague Gun that was strapped onto his right arm at Ivan.  Lord Blackthorn drank up the last of his earl grey tea. “Don’t tell me what the lord wants and what he doesn’t want, you know as well as I do, that he wants the Wulfkorps destroyed.  How it’s done is for him to decide.  If he wants to toy with them, torture them or even have them destroyed, that’s for him to decide when and how” he said to Ivan coldly

Plague Master still maintained his left handed grip on Ivan’s collar and right arm nozzle was still pointed at him.  He had his plague cannon put away in his personal quarters, but still keep the nozzles of his plague guns strapped to his arms.  It kept his hands free and weapons at the ready should they be needed.  “You can release him now, this retard has learned his lesson” Blackthorn said coldly.

Plague Master released his grip on Ivan as Blackthorn got up from his chair, obviously bored with the lack of sunlight on this particular grey day.  Blackthorn was about to ask Plague Master something, but then he heard gun shots.  Before he could ask what happened, a figure stumbled out from around a corner with knives in chest.  The man walked a few feet, trying to lift his gun against Blackthorn, but died before he could have the chance to fire off a shot.

The man was dressed in the uniform of a Blood Knight Templar, the officer class of the Blood Knights.  Duchess and Fallion came from around the corner.  “The man was a spy” Fallion said coldly.  “And what’s worse, is that we caught him informing the Wulfkorp of our location” Duchess added in with a hiss as she began to remove the knives from the dead man’s chest.

“Shit” Blackthorn cursed “now that they where we are, an attack is imminent.  Granted we bloodied their noses a bit by hitting their headquarters, but it won’t be enough to stop them from attacking us” he spat.  “If we were to unleash the weapon now, only half the test subjects would get infected” Plague Master wheezed in.  Blackthorn thought for a moment, then gave an evil grin “You may be onto something Plague Master.  Here’s the new plan” he said as Fallion and Duchess joined in.

“We will prepare ourselves for an attack by the Wulfkorp, but we’ll unleash the virus on the locals just as they arrive.  Plague Master” he pointed to him.  “You’ll be in charge of unleashing the virus on the local population when the Wulfkorp arrive they’ll be in for a real fight, meanwhile the rest of us will finish them and the master himself will be quite pleased.”  “We get to kill again” Ivan said as he was picking himself up.

Blackthorn smiled cruelly “Yes Ivan and that means the Wulfkorp will threaten us no more.”  Just as he finished that thought, an alarm went off.  A nearby Blood Knight rushed to Lord Blackthorn’s side.  “Milord, tanks and armored suits spotted over the horizon.

“Then engage them already you damned fools.  Unleash Steel Monger on them you incompetents” Blackthorn spat.  The trooper bowed to acknowledge the order.  “There isn’t much time, Fallion and Duchess, do what you need to and take Ivan along with Sasaki, I must oversee the final touches of our master piece.”  “You don’t need to tell me that” Fallion replied.

When they left the Blackthorn and Plague Master behind, Blackthorn stopped Plague Master for a moment.  “When you’re done spreading the virus, take your leave and meet the area we agreed upon.  The master must not know of our plan.  Understood?”  Plague Master nodded.  “You’re the only one I can trust” Blackthorn finished.

Blood Knight Troopers began to swarm the area around the lower battlements of the castle as orders were being barked and were manning the anti-air cannons; a Blood Knight Templar with a squad of men came from around the terrace.  “Milord, we must get you inside, they’re attacking from the sky.”  “From the sky” Blackthorn looked up to see a large object, high up in the sky and small objects falling from it.  “Send in the Black Wings as well” Blackthorn shouted as he and Plague Master made way into the castle.

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“Now I have a reason to hate heights” Cadet Schwartz said uncomfortably.  “After a while you’ll get used to it, besides this is only the experimental model wait till you see the latest designs we have for more airships” Harbin said as he strapped a strange looking machine to his back.  “Great, I feel much better now” Wolfgang said with a queasy look on his face.

The vehicle that General von Krieger had described to him was impossible for Schroeder to believe, but it worked better than he thought.  What he, Wolfgang and Schwartz were in was an experimental model of what would later be known as a zeppelin.  The bullet shaped balloon object was filled with a gas called helium.  Heinrich had no idea what it really meant, but as long as it kept them flying, he didn’t care.  They had climbed into a special compartment known as the carriage, to observe the skies from various windows and to prepare themselves for the mission.  They slept in special compartments when they could, but they wouldn’t be resting for very long.

“Don’t worry about falling guys, this special device I am wearing on my back is called a para-jet pack” Harbin explained pleasantly.  “Para-what pack?” Schwartz asked.  “Para-jet pack” Helga said as she struggled to get hers on “It’s a combination parachute and jet pack.  It has a long silk cloth in to slow down your descent to the ground, so you don’t look like a stain on the French countryside” Helga said grinning.

“Of course you don’t want to get shot at too much, if it makes holes then you should be lucky to have the jet pack, which we also slow your descent and still have enough juice in it to cook Bratwurst for dinner” Harbin grinned.  Schroeder still didn’t get what he was saying.  “Just pull the green strap for the parachute and the red one when the parachute fails, but don’t do it the other way around, it doesn’t work when you try it that way” Harbin explained.

“Alright guys I’m ready to go, so see you on the ground” Harbin said as he threw himself out the side of carriage.  Other Wulfkorp troops followed, not caring about the fact that they were several thousand feet up.  When it was Schroeder’s turn Helga pulled him in for a kiss.  “In case you don’t make it” Helga said smiling.  It was Schroeder’s turn to jump.  “No guts, no glory aye Heinrich” he thought to himself as he jumped out of the carriage.

The moment he left the carriage it felt as if there was no world beneath him.  Schroeder felt the wind beneath his arms and legs, blowing into his face.  “I have never seen the world like this, it’s amazing when your not thinking about going splat against the earth, other than that it’s the most amazing thing I have ever done” he said to himself not minding the fact that there were explosions coming at him from mid-air.  “Damn, they must have some kind of anti-air weapons on the battlements of that castle” Schroeder said to himself as trooper exploded in mid-air.  “Can’t get a shot at them, not from this height” he said to himself again as he thought about reaching for his assault rifle.  To make matters worse, a group of strange black objects were coming at the airborne troopers.

“Black Wings!!!” shouted Helga.  “I see them” Schwartz shouted back not knowing if Helga heard him.  “Pick your targets people” Wolfgang shouted as he unslung his rifle from his back.  He thumbed the weapon to single shot, he would have done auto, but he was told during the briefing that the wind works against you when one is falling and not to waste ammo if one should have a target.  The first Black Wing that swooped up to him took five shots in the chest to dispatch, while the other had his head blown off completely before plummeting to the earth.  Helga gave Wolfgang the thumbs up between shots.

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While the Third, Fourth and Sixth Platoons were playing their part in the air, Ulrich and the rest were on the ground with the First and Fifth Platoons.  Second Platoon was out of action after the attack on the Headquarters, so the armored division, which consisted of steam-powered combat suits and tanks, had survived the attack and were assigned to the ground attack units.  The Wulkorp Battleships Barbarossa and Odoacer were anchored off the coast, ready to launch a salvo of batteries when needed. Ulrich liked it this way, he hated being up in the air.  He didn’t see the need why he had to fight from above and not on the ground being one on none with your enemies.

Kurt, Bruckner, Sheila and five Wulfkorp troopers were in the same armored tank as Ulrich, was ready for combat.  <Ulrich, this Dr. Schreiber> a voice cracked over the radio.  “Ulrich here, what’s up?”  <Ulrich, the virus won’t infect you unless you are bitten by the carrier. Once you become overwhelmed by the disease, there is no cure.  Also, make sure you don’t get bitten three times.  I have enough for everyone, but I want to make sure that there’s plenty for everyone.  Understood?>   “Understood doc and you make sure you don’t get in the way unless you know how to fight” Ulrich replied.  <Your such an ass Ulrich, Dr. Schreiber out>

Ulrich grinned at the very thought of her being able to put up a proper fight, sure she could fight with bare handed combat, but with guns, she was a lousy shot.  <Sergeant, this Suit Leader 1, come in over> “Ulrich here over” he clicked the radio.  <Sergeant, what the hell is that in the sky> Ulrich rolled his eyes “It’s that damn zeppelin thing that Commander Braun would be coming in on, what did you think it was?” he said with a sneer.  <I know what that is sergeant > he couldn’t tell if the suit leader was responding in contempt <What I meant was, what is that thing buzzing around the village near the castle>

Ulrich saw it as well, as did many others.  A fly looking thing was buzzing around the village that surrounded the castle, spewing noxious looking green clouds.  “My god” Ulrich said to himself “All troops, prepare for combat, all troops prepare” he said over the radio before reattaching it to the hook.  “Alright boys and girls” he said with a smile “Get yourselves ready for hell, Wulfkorp style baby” he said as he rammed the armored tank into a group of infected villagers.

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When the virus was installed upon a special Gyrocopter that would be used for spreading the disease, Blackthorn gave Plague Master a set of final orders.  “The Society must not know of the plans I have to betray them, only myself and you know of it.  After the task is done, meet up with my contacts at Dunkirk, they’ll know who you are and what you look like.  They won’t leave unless their cover has been compromised.  I already gave you the special instructions on what to do, understand?”

Plague Master nodded his head.  “Excellent, wait just outside of Dunkirk for me, If I should not arrive within the week, get in touch with my contacts and they’ll take you to the secret location that I informed you and them of.  Good luck, you’re the only one I can trust.”  With that being said, Plague Master bowed in respect to Blackthorn and then mounted the Gyrocopter.  Once he was in a comfortable position, he started the motor running and then began to peddled, once he started peddling it took off.

Once he was flying over the village, he looked down to see a series off armored vehicles and suits approach the village.  “Wait till they see what I have in store for them” he chuckled with a wheeze.  He then turned a few knobs and the noxious gas began to spread over the village.  “Even if I wasn’t told to spread the disease across the village, the Wulfkorp would still be in for a fight” he chuckled “they are die hard fanatics of the Blood Knights and would gladly give their puny lives for the cause” he laughed out loud.

Once he had run out of the virus, he began to peddle his gyrocopter eastward towards Dunkirk.  He switched off the fuel tanks; he didn’t really need it to get to Dunkirk. The fuel tanks were only there if he got tired of peddling the gyrocopter.  For now, he didn’t feel the least bit tired; he did always enjoy the scenery from above, especially the Normandy coastline.  With his mission complete, he headed to Dunkirk and flew towards a life without the Black Skull Society.