The passageway sloped gently downward, the stone beneath their feet polished by the constant tread of creatures who cared little for leaving a trail. As they moved forward, the humidity increased, and the air grew thicker. Soon, they heard the first sound: a mixture of quick, shuffling footsteps and a distant shriek that suddenly died away.
Hans raised a hand. They both stopped. Up ahead, in the darkness, a dozen eyes shone.
"They saw us," Hans said quietly.
Yang didn't respond. He was already charging toward them.
Hans drew and aimed. His weapon, a flintlock pistol expertly modified by Nuln, spat out a short burst that drove back the nearest Skaven. Then he moved to the side, staying away from Yang's line of attack. The Skaven weren't cowardly in numbers, but they weren't organized either. That worked in his favor.
Hans fired. The spark lit up the tunnel in a flash, and one of the Skaven fell backward, his chest open. He didn't stop to look. He took two steps back and charged again as Yang moved forward to cover his flank.
Yang moved quickly, her sword spinning with precision. She sliced through the arm of one, plunged her blade into the neck of another. The Skaven were agile, but chaotic. They attacked without coordination, pushing each other to reach the two intruders.
Hans fired again. This time, the shot narrowly missed, but the sound made the Skaven hesitate for a moment. Long enough for Yang to take advantage and force them back with a sweeping blow.
One tried to get around them, climbing the wall. Hans saw it out of the corner of his eye and plunged a short dagger into its stomach before it fell on him. The body collapsed at his feet.
When the last one tried to flee, Hans hit him with the butt of his pistol, knocking him down. They didn't need prisoners. Just silence.
The cave was once again filled with heavy breathing and the faint dripping of water.
"Too clumsy to be a patrol. Too alert to be asleep," Hans said, reloading with mechanical movements.
Yang picked up a piece of cloth from the floor and wiped his blade.
—They're protecting something.
Hans nodded. He looked ahead. The tunnel continued, deeper. Darker.
—Let's go.
The silence after the battle didn't last long. As they advanced, Hans noticed how the walls were changing. They were no longer made solely of stone. There were wooden reinforcements, makeshift structures, recycled old pipes, and hand-hammered metal plates. The Skaven had been working here for weeks, maybe months.
They reached a more open chamber, a sort of intermediate room, with several connecting tunnels. In the center, a shaft poorly covered with scrap metal escaped warm steam with a constant hum. The energy flowing from the depths was recognizable: Skaven machinery.
Hans crouched near a wall and unfolded a small bag of cloth-wrapped items: fuses, flasks of gunpowder, bolts with anchors. It wasn't advanced technology, but they never disappointed.
"How many points do you want to cover?" Yang asked, watching the entrances.
"If you can, check support points and access points. We'll take down everything we can," Hans replied, as he prepared the first device. He used a double fuse, in case one failed.
Yang nodded, picked up one of the explosives, and examined it. "Easy to ignite. How much time do we have?"
—Once activated, between thirty seconds and a minute. Enough if we don't make mistakes.
They both moved quickly. Hans took the left side; Yang, the right. At each chosen point, Hans placed the charges carefully, hiding them among rubble or rotten wood. They weren't large bombs, but well-placed; they could collapse key parts of the tunnel system or slow a retreat.
As he moved forward, he heard hurried footsteps ahead. Rats. Lots of them. The air was thicker, as if the pressure increased with every meter they descended. He heard a new sound: not paws, not squeals. Metallic taps, repeated.
Hans moved down the side corridor, away from the center and Yang. The sound of his own footsteps on the gravel and rusted metal forced him to slow down. This wasn't the time to draw attention to himself. He had his loads carefully wrapped, attached to his belt, and an unlit torch in case he needed to light the wicks quickly.
He stopped at a fork. To the left, a narrow tunnel that smelled of rot; to the right, a somewhat wider path, with a structure reinforced by wooden beams. He chose the latter. He knew the Skaven used these areas to move important materials.
He found a perfect spot near a T-junction. There were the remains of a makeshift wagon with uneven wheels and a dirty tarp. He bent down, placed the load behind the structure, and began bolting it to one of the beams. He went quickly, but without rushing. His movements were firm, focused.
A dry sound made him spin. Not a screech, but the scraping of claws on stone. Then another. He immediately sat up and retreated toward the shadow of a broken column. Three Skaven armed with crooked spears emerged from a side tunnel, chattering to each other in their guttural tongue. They hadn't seen him... yet.
Wait.
The first one passed by.
The second one, too.
The third stopped. Its snout quivered as it sniffed the air. A click.
"Tchree!" the creature shouted, pointing at the column.
Hans lunged without thinking. His short sword came out in a single motion, and in two steps he was upon the Skaven. The blow was clean, accurate, straight to the neck. The other two creatures immediately turned, but Hans was already on top. He shoved the second with his shoulder, knocking him off balance, and finished him off with a swift thrust. The third fell back clumsily, shrieking.
Hans didn't hesitate. He pulled a small dagger from his coat and threw it. The blade pierced the rat's throat just before it turned to flee.
Hans took a deep breath. It hadn't been difficult, but he knew he couldn't afford to have many encounters like that; he'd run out of energy before he could finish them all this way. He resumed work on the charge, finished securing it, and lit a chalk mark next to the point so he wouldn't forget it during the retreat.
He went deeper into the tunnel. Every point he marked, every charge he placed, was a step closer to chaos… and the exit. Meanwhile, he could hear in the distance metallic sounds, muffled screams, and the echo of more claws dragging on stone. He knew Yang would be dealing with the same thing.
The smell was worse here. Hans moved forward carefully, following the mental map he'd created using the system as they explored the entrance. This place must be part of an old mine, now a hub for Skaven activity.
He ducked behind a pile of rust-corroded barrels. From there, he could see a ramp leading down to a lower chamber, dimly lit by torches nailed to the walls. Two more rats guarded the place, lightly armored and armed with rusty blades.
Hans looked at the support under the ramp. If he placed a load there, the collapse would destroy the passage and probably part of the lower level.
He waited for the creatures to turn around, then silently crossed, huddled against the wall, and dropped beneath the structure. He began securing the second charge. At that moment, he heard a chain move behind him.
He spun around quickly. A smaller, unarmed rat was staring at him from around the corner. It didn't scream, it just ran away.
-Shit.
Hans pushed himself out of the gap, finished adjusting the charge, and began to retreat the way he had come. He crossed behind the barrels and turned away from the sound. He looked for a narrower path, a side gallery that would get him away from the noise and give him time. He had the last charge. He had to use it with precision.
The corridors became more uneven, and the floor was covered in layers of dirt, excrement, and bone fragments. There, he found what he was looking for: some kind of storage chamber, with crates, rolled scrolls, and what looked like crude plans. There was also some kind of altar made of deformed metal and human skulls.
Hans placed the charge at the base of a cracked column. If the explosion was strong enough, the entire chamber would collapse, burying any attempt to reuse it.
When he finished, he heard footsteps approaching. There weren't many. Three, maybe four. Hans didn't wait. He retraced his steps, cut through a cloth hung as a curtain, and slipped through a narrow crack between two walls. From there, he could barely see a group of Skaven entering. They weren't organized; they were part of the scum who lived in the shadows.
Hans took advantage and left, returning to the agreed-upon meeting point with Yang. Now all that was left was to detonate the charges.