[i][b]Northern Mountain Range: [/b][/i] Over the past 61 years Vaspenians with the dream of restoring their nation to its former glory have fled to these mountains as a place of refuge, at first it was only a few here and there hiding out in the many caves and crevasses. But as their numbers grew a particular individual stood out among them, never giving out his name, only asking to be called “Herr General”. Single handedly he organized all of these small resistance groups into a large organization that would stand the test of time. Initially the group was only focused on entrenching themselves within the mountains, excavating large complexes within the mountains, these complexes would become known as the Bächer Citadels. Most of these citadels consisted of living quarters, a small armaments factory, and multiple bunkers camouflaged into the sides. While the larger ones also included command centers, and troop training facilities. These citadels were built all over the mountain range in relative secret. [i][b]1850: [/b][/i] During the excavation of one of these many citadels, the miners unexpectedly found an underground cave network that expanded out almost endlessly. Seeing this as a great opportunity Herr General ordered the tunnels be mapped to the finest detail. As these tunnels would be a massive help to transport supplies to other citadels without exposing the transport columns to the possible scrutiny of Yllendyr. After a detailed mapping some of the teams reported back that they had seen many other paths that went deeper into the earth, when approaching these passages hieroglyphs would be noticeable on the walls with what looked like warning signs. Retracing their steps they would occasionally see more of this writing on the walls of the passages and other caves. The mapping teams also had the feeling of being watched while exploring the caverns, occasionally hearing the scurrying of feet, or clanging of metal on stone. Taking this information Herr General decided to have the hieroglyphs analyzed while cautiously proceeding with the plan to expand the underground tunnel network. In this way all of the citadels were interconnected with each other, soldiers were posted at the entrances to the tunnels 24/7 to keep a constant eye out for possible trouble from what were now called the Cavern People. [i][b]1860: [/b][/i] After a decade of convoys entering and departing the caverns a ritual had been conceived by the crews. Everytime they would leave a citadel for the next one, typically a 1-2 week trek by horse and carriage, at the first of these “Deep Passages” they would set out some trinkets such as dolls, toys, the occasional candy bar and such. Kneel down and pray for a safe passage through the caverns without rockslides, cave-ins or simply getting lost deep within the maze. After which the crews would leave the site and press on with their journey. If they came to a crossroads in which they were not sure which way to go a barely audible clanking noise could be heard from one of the tunnels heading towards them, progressively getting louder until it stopped just out of their vision. Then two red lights would turn on in the darkness, flash, turn back off, turn around and go back from whence it came. This would tell the crews which way not to go, as those that tried to follow the machine would reach a dead end. Those that did not offer up a tribute to the Cavern Guides would experience this phenomenon and may encounter trouble in the passages. After a decade of watching this go on Herr General has ordered some peaceful expeditions into the Deep Passages to determine the entities behind this. At first as the expedition explored deeper into the caverns they would move slowly, constantly finding evidence of Living beings. [i][b]February 12th 1901, 1300hrs:[/b][/i] The steam engine 515, a 2-8-0 locomotive, was trundling through the Lierian countryside. When viewed from the ocean it was almost a picturesque sight to behold. The ocean on one side of the train while on the other side it was flanked by farms, and rolling hills. The beautiful snow capped mountains appeared in the distance, marking the border of Vaspen. According to the manifest the engine was hauling 14 cars of guns and ammunition from the factories of Lieria to Vaspen for use by the auxilia. The train was due to arrive at the rail yard at Dorfun in five hours, and Waren the next day. The engineer Thomas Stuhr, and the fireman Hans Berger were going about their usual routine, while enjoying the view from the cab of the locomotive. “Beautiful day innit Thomas?” Hans said after shoveling more coal onto the fire. “It is Hans, but i got a bad feeling about later today.” “Why’s that?” Thomas Gestures towards the ocean and points at the grey clouds in the distance. “Looks like it’s gonna be a little wet here in a bit when we get close to Dorfun.” [i][b]1600hrs:[/b][/i] As engine 515 crossed the border it had to come to a stop at a border station for a cursory inspection. After a quick look, seeing nothing out of order the guards ushered the train onwards toward Dorfun. Thomas was hoping to get into Dorfun before the rain started coming down heavily, so he sped up, eventually reaching a speed of 50mph. [i][b]1645hrs: [/b][/i] Despite Thomas’s attempts to outrun the storm they were quickly enveloped by a sheet of rain, severely hampering their visibility. Being the rational man he was Thomas quickly decided to lower his speed down to a tolerable 35mph. Knowing that they wouldn’t make their scheduled time into Dorfun, it was probably best to take their time. [i][b]1700hrs:[/b][/i] Engine 515 slowly came to a stop next to the red signal box. After tooting the whistle Thomas saw an older gentleman exit the building and brave the rain. The man slowly approached the engine, and climbed up into the cab. The old feller looked at Thomas and Hans and said: “ The line ahead is blocked. Appearantly the 4:30 branch line train from the mining camps discovered a bridge out from the rain ahead. I’ve telegraphed the station in Dorfun and they are sending out a team in the morning to repair it.” Hans, slightly annoyed: “Brilliant. Well i guess we are going to have to stay in the brake van tonight.” He turns to Thomas and continues: “That old conductor always gets on my nerves with his snoring!” “Well i suppose there isn’t much we can do about it” replies Thomas as he looks sympathetically at Hans. He turns to the old signalman: “Is there a place we can park our train off the mainline? We’ve got some things that won’t take an impact verywell.” “Ja, there's a siding up ahead, park up there and get comfy. I’ll be by in the morning with some hot coffee for ya’s.” replies the signalman as he turns, hops down from the locomotive, and rushes back into the tower to escape the rain. A few minutes later Thomas guides the train into the siding, and eases to a stop. “Hopefully there will still be some embers in the morning, that’ll make it easier to start up.” Hans comments as he steeps the fire. “Yeah and i hope this rain will lighten up, i don’t want to do our Morning inspection in the rain.” Thomas replies as he lets off the remaining steam. He continues: “C'mon now Hans let’s get back to that brake van. I’m sure old Ansgar has that little stove goin full blast back there.” “Don’t remind me! You know i can’t sleep when it’s that hot!” replies Hans angrily as they both climb down from the engine, and trudge to the end of the train. All the while trying to maintain the smallest profile for the rain to hit. As they reach the midpoint in the train, both men hesitate for a moment as they hear a shrill whistle, barely audible over the pounding of the rain. Hans turns to Thomas: “Did you hear that?” “I certainly did. Came from up the mountain…” Thomas pauses for a second and says “c’mon it's probably nothin, let’s get in that brake van.” Just as they get to the brake van they hear it again, a long shrill whistle, but it the sound gets cut off as they close the door. [i][b]2100hrs:[/b][/i] After joining Ansgar in the brake van, Thomas and Hans chatted for a bit over coffee. But finally they had a bite to eat and settled in for the night… [i][b]2300hrs: [/b][/i] Thomas was jolted awake by the shaking of the carriage, and a bright light. He stood up and opened the curtain on the rear of the train. What he saw scared him, what was behind the train seemed to be some kind of large metal behemoth, it’s single bright yellow eye piercing through the brake van’s curtains. He glanced out the other windows in the van, he saw a number of humanoid figures milling about, one of them started walking towards the brake van. Thinking quickly Thomas hid under one of the sofas in the small room, positioning himself so that he could still see the window. The figure boarded the carriage and as the old boards under it's feet creaked it approached the door, and stopped outside. The curtain was partly open from when thomas moved it, so the figure moved it's face closer to the glass to look inside the dark car. Meanwhile, Thomas had a good look at the “Face” of this monster, it’s skin looked like cloth, with two large black circles where the eyes should be. The monster also had two large cylindrical things attached to its neck area. By now the monster seemed to not find what it was looking for and quickly walked away from the window and jumped down from the car. A few moments after the figure left the window Thomas felt a shudder from the train, and a chuffing noise from the behemoth that was now attached to his train. ‘They were moving!’ thought Thomas, he moved to get out from under the couch and look out a window. ‘They were indeed moving backwards. But where was this Behemoth taking him?.....’ [i][b]February 13th 1901, 6:00hrs:[/b][/i] The old signalman exited his tower, and made his way down the tracks, a hot cup of coffee, and some food in hand. Upon reaching the siding he was confounded to see that it was completely empty. “Hmmpf, ungrateful young’uns these days. Can’t even stay a few minutes and talk to us older fellas….. Been a while since i had a nice chat.” the old man says under his breath as he starts walking back to the house. [i][b]Venris, February 13th 4901 (Imperial Calendar):[/b][/i] Inside the Dominion Military headquarters Commander Gorrod, his Legion commanders, and logistics officers stand in front of a map of the dominion. One of the logistics officers is giving a report on the status of the auxilia: “...With the recent death of the emperor, and the current rebellions occuring in Kitagawa, and Avalia, there has been a sharp rise in defections. Thus far the auxilia have had a total of approximately 28,000 personnel that have gone missing, or have defected. Of these 80% have been troops hailing from the rebelling dominions.” At this moment Garrod interjects: “Well have we captured any of them? Or are we just letting them walk out of the damn camp?” “Well sir we have managed to apprehend about 10% of defecting troops. The rest seem to have vanished of the face of the planet sir. We believe that this may be partially be due to a large percentage of locals sympathising, and sheltering them. And partially because 20% of those escaping have wings, sir.” Replies the lieutenant with a straight face and sharp salute. Garrod looks sternly at the young man and then shakes his head, he then gestures for the next officer to report. “Sir, currently after the defections we have a total of six combat-ready units. The 140th Legion in Julich, the 127th Legion in Kleve, the 94th Legion in Lucka, the 174th Legion in Emden, the 73rd Legion in Dorfun, and the 22nd Legion In Venris. Each of these Legions is currently fully supplied, and ready. As for future supplies, we are obligated by contract to purchase all further weapons, and ammunition from the lierians to the north, until our own production output is sufficient. The first of the shipments from the north departed four days ago, but was held up north of Dorfun. But it should be arriving in Waren within the day, for dissemination to the legions.” The officer concludes his report and steps back into the crowd. “Well, it sounds like despite the problems we are having our mobilization is almost completed.” Garrod turns to the legion commanders, and then turns to the map where he starts moving units around. “The rebels in the north are unlikely to have a large military force, so to prevent them from raiding and pillaging. The 22nd Legion will move north from Venris, and conduct anti-partisan operations around the villages between Dorfun, and Venris, and monitor railroad traffic.” he pauses for a moment glancing at the 22nd legion commander. The latter gives a quick nod as he studies the area. [img]https://i.ibb.co/w6kGNhX/Vaspen-2-1-REBoot.jpg[/img] “The 127th Legion will move to the eastern side of lake Müritz, and will also conduct anti-partisan operations… While the 73rd Legion will remain around Dorfun, and step up security of the rail lines. God knows if they find out about the ammunition train they will hit it.”