Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

Copenhagen enjoyed clear skies in the afternoon. Jason’s satellite reconnaissance confirmed there were no thick clouds nearby, which meant barring any spell-related interference, the weather would remain clear for the next day or two. Thus, Malin gathered the team of young people and distributed equipment to them—white camouflage cloaks and hoods made of material that insulated against infrared detection, silencers made of an alloy inscribed with an Array that could withstand at least three hundred rounds, and rifles with high-precision barrels.

As soon as Sudel received his rifle, he hugged it tightly to his chest—the boy knew his stuff.

Malin sighed with appreciation and as the squad left Copenhagen on snowmobiles and motorcycles, he had Salis take off. It would search for a Chaos squad for Malin to use for practice with the youngsters.

The convoy hadn’t gotten far when Salis found their target: a campsite. Dozens of Chaos were resting in a small valley. Malin confirmed the location, and led the team to the hills to the east of the encampment. From there, they enclosed the camp from the east and the south—there was a cliff to the west which the Chaos could not escape from. As for the east, Malin had already sent Fio with assorted traps for any fleet-footed Chaos that might enjoy them.

It made sense for the Chaos to choose this location for their camp, as it provided shelter from the east-west blizzards. Reaching the hill, Malin could see that the Chaos had started a fire; at least eighty or ninety of them were there, boiling water and cooking.

These were different from the armored Nagoth hunting parties Malin had encountered before. Although these had boils too, they at least still looked human.

"Foreign Chaotic Believers, this seems to be a rather large invasion," Sudel said after observing the campsite with his binoculars. "This should be their scouting party, but the number of people seems excessively high."

"Maybe it’s a hunting party, or an enslavement party," a young Church member suggested.

"I’ve spotted their mounts, some epidemic horses looking in terrible condition," Malin confirmed their mounts. "I’ll take out their warhorses, you provide me cover. Once I deal with the horses, it will cause a disturbance in the camp. Then you are free to fire at will. Remember, prioritize those running towards you. As for anyone heading north, just let them go. Without their mounts, they can only die in the wasteland."

All the villages in the land of Copenhagen had already withdrawn to nearby cities, with scorched earth policies leading to invaders either breaking the cities or starving in the wilderness.

Perhaps the Nagoth hunting parties could survive without food, but these believers would starve to death without it.