Then We Take Berlin (PG: Mild Coarse Language)

[Altoz]

Berlin, 1998.

Doug Mercer looked around the site of the former Berlin Wall, as Father Chris Lonnergan joined him:
"What is it, lad?"
"I feel sick to my stomach, Lonner. As if someone had slipped a mickey finn into my drink. Except I'd sense it if they did."
"You didn't seem able to sleep well last night, either." Lonnergan replied, concerned at his charge's admission.
"Yeah, I had these recurrent nightmares. About three animals- a wolf, a sheep and a deer. What is it? Am I supposed to beware of tungsten or something?"
"Wolf. Ram? Hart-oh. Them bastards."
"You're jokin', Lonner. I mean, I thought Hell's Lawyers were restricted to LA?"
Lonnergan shook his head: "Wish that were the case, Douglas. The other ones that we know about are in Rome, Silicon Valley California, the Balkans, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, New York, London, Paris, Cairo and Tibet."
"Rather a lot in the States, aren't there?"
"From intel behind the Bamboo Curtain, they're probably going to extend their focus to China in the Noughties. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou.. and build their influence as the United States declines as a geopolitical power."
"Hang about, you said "London." I'm not sure I like their implied proximity to us, in that case."
"You're not alone in that, m'young mate."
"So why just the two of us? From what I've been told about WRH, they're seriously big money players. Shouldn't we have a Special Ops team around us?"
Lonnergan pointed to the Kurfurstendamm:
"Berlin CBD. That's where we have to go."
"Not sure whether I'll fit in over there."
"Ah, now why d'you think we took an especial interest in your finance and accountancy studies this year an' the last?"
"Oh no. No. The Institute wants me to be a bean counter?"
"Forensic accountin' to be precise. So you can locate dirty money. And in the case of Wolfram and Hart, the money's bloody dirty, in both senses a' the word.:"
"Yeah, that makes sense, actually. Although you'd need a degree in quantum physics, given some of the multiversal offices I've heard that lot have. Why Berlin, though? The Cold War's well over. I can see why they'd have been interested in it when fingers were hovering above the proverbial red buttons in Moscow or Washington, but that shit's been over for the last decade or so. Or is this connected with Nazi darkmagick?"
"Smart man. Exactly. In addition to your other gifts as a wiccan an' a streetfighter, we need your mind as well"
"Yeah. Stands to reason. I mean, if it was street alone, you're a Scouser born and bred. You know how to kick an' punch with the best of them, suspiciously well for a Catholic priest."
"Ah. I were a workin' class lad like yerself long before I were a priest, Douglas. And Mother Church still 'as some secrets of its own."
"So why has the Council allowed it to get this bad, though, Lonner? I mean...Berlin, Paris and London? And Rome?"
A wry smile split Chris Lonnergan's face: "They keep out of our way when we're huntin' leeches, mind. Blame our glorious leader, Mr Travers."
"So I take it this is one of those under the counter interventions?"
"Aye. Doc Norton wants us to check out these rumours of a Nazi Wunderwaffe."
"What, some sort a' superweapon? What sort, then?"
'Black arts, we think."
"Surely they locked up and gassed werewolves during the Nazi era? And witches?"
"Whitewicca, anyroad. The darkmages gladly collaborated with the occultist SS Ahenerbe, until a certain vampire couple ironically came across one a' their conspiracies and slaughtered the lot'a them. As for the leeches, national loyalties ran thicker than blood. In fascist countries, they served the Reich. On the Allied side, they were more convivial. The Council even suspended hostilities with some of the more principled of them during the duration. Once that were over, it were business as usual."
"Yeah, but given the Allied bombing...?"
"There weren't many left, and the Red Army were pretty thorough apart from Romania. Nope, I'm not talkin' leeches."
"Mummies? It'd fit the Ahenerbe occult angle."
"Close. Nah. I know it sounds like a cliche, but... our quarry is Nazi zombies.'

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Altoz]

Part Two: A Longer Time to Die

"What?! No, it doesn't sound like a cliche, it sounds dangerous as hell."
"Yeah, but there are some more amenable aspects to that question." Lonnergan replied.
"How, exactly, Chris? You can stake vampires and use religious symbols and artefacts against them, dependent on their confessional origin. You can use silver against werewolves because the lycanthropic metabolism has a design flaw when it comes to argentoxosis. When it comes to mummies, there's the Benediction of Amenthotep to lay them to ground. But zombies?! They're like the cobalt bomb-doomsday weapon of thaumaturgy. Not even the most psychotic murderous darkmage would even consider that casting."
"Good to see your ethical training hasn't been neglected, lad." Lonnergan nodded
"So, what are you saying? That the Nazis ignored what happened in 1348-" Doug said, in growing realisation.
"Well, we don't really know the Black Death was a thwarted apocalypse. That's just historical conjecture."
"Come off it, Chris. You've got a Vatican pass to the Index of Prohibited Books and you'd know if the Church had hidden away anything about that era."
"I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of such material or its existence, Doug mate."
"Okay, just supposin'... given the hostilities between the Papacy and Holy Roman Empire over who was on top in medieval Europe... that any such information ended up leaking to the principalities and duchies of Germany and Austria. Or, it could have been when Charles V of France sacked Rome in the early sixteenth century. Regardless of where and when it happened, it'd be theoretically possible for the info to lay dormant until the Ahenerbe formed and went on the scrounge for material that could be useful in thaumaturgical warfare against the Allies sixty years back."
"Well, I have to keep schtum about the exact details , but I have to say, that's what the Doc thinks too. On the positive side, zombies are bloody stupid and slow moving if they've been reanimated a while after they carked it. Any disciplined warrior could lay waste to a moderate sized pack."
"On the negative side, though, the castings are rumoured to engage in mass reanimation, so they have the strength of numbers on their side. Added to which, there are those myths about a queen or king zombie who retains some degree of gray matter and can guide the others. And you're saying that the Nazis wanted to unleash them?"
"Aye. Are you really surprised?"
"Old Adolf was gaga with syphilis, so yeah, I can certainly envisage his regime being ruthless and desperate enough when it came to unleashing a zombie apocalypse. So, when was this? 1943? 1944?"
"The Doc reckons that's about right. Things were goin' pear-shaped in the East, they were losin' in North Africa, and the Allies were about to invade Normandy and Italy. Added to which, German intelligence probably knew about the Manhattan Project, even if their nuclear programme was derailed because Heisenberg was no match for his mentor Niels Bohr when it came to nuclear physics. So, in case Los Alamos produced some early results, and Berlin got nuked, Projekt Armee der Untoten was planned."
"'Project Army of the Undead? Very descriptive. Yeah, but would it have worked? They couldn't have won the war with it, surely?"
"They may not have wanted to win it, lad. They might have wanted some squalid universal gotterdammerung even if they did lose control. No one would have won the War."
"And you're sayin' Wolfram and Hart have gotten their hands on it? Or are tryin;' to?"
"Whether they actually intend to use it is a moot point, Doug. It could just become a deterrent."
"Yeah, or if WRH ever faced a Ragnarok of their own, seein' as how we're channelling Wagner here, they'd unleash it. D'you actually trust those ruthless bastards not to? So that's why we're in Berlin, yeah? One question... why wasn't the necessary information pulverised when the Red Army rolled into the city in '45?"
"We think it was in a deep bunker. We're going down a couple of miles, Doug."
"Okay, so why isn't there a Council Special Ops team here with us?"
"They'd attract too much attention. Whereas with the Institute's two top Field Agents...:
:Okay, But we're goin' to need some major prep for this, Lonner."

Several hours later, Doug had finished the final Council reports about Projekt Armee det Untoten and decided to have a cuppa and some late night kitchen fare before turning in for the night. At the table, a young blonde man caught his eye:
:Hello, You're not bad on the eyes.:
"Am I to take it you'd be interested in heading hack up to my room if we agreed?"
"Hell yeah, Nathan. Nathan Malony."
"Well, I am interested in blokes yeah, Nathan. And you're very easy on the eyes. And I've got a big presentation tomorrow. So, sorry, but not tonight." Nathan stood and watched, puzzled as the lift accelerated upwards, And then he became aware of a figure standing behind him. An icy female voice said: "Lilah Morgan, Wolfram and Hart LA, Mr Mercer. Don't make any sudden moves. Now tell me- why is the Watchers Institute and Council so interested in Projekt Armee der Untoten?"

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Altoz]

Part Three; Point of Death

"My compliments on your technique, Ms Morgan. Invisibility casting, right? See, the problem is that I thought one of your side of the ledger might turn up, so I took precautions." With that, Doug flickered into non-existence and slammed her against the elevator wall with telekinesis:
:Bastard!"
"What are you doing here? As part of their recovery team?"
"Damn it, how did you find out?"
"Tricks of my trade, Ms Morgan. Now tell me. Why does WRH want this tech so badly?:
"Can't we come to some...arrangement?"
"Sorry, you're the wrong type for me.:
"Oh? Blondes? Redheads?"
"I meant wrong gender altogether."
"It's purely for self-defense."
"Yeah, except from the intel on you folks, you have a somewhat elastic definition of that.:
It involves pre-emptive strikes. Or would, if we hadn't stepped in and started those Tibetan prayer-wheels running, your stolen ex-Soviet nukes would have worked."
"And if I said a third party was interested?"
"Come on, Ms Morgan. You're an operative for a powerful dark multinational and interdimensional legal corporation. Don't patronise me."
"You're just itching to give me a non-consensual telepathic probe."
"I don't have to."
"I hate you."
"I'd be surprised if you didn't. Now, thank you for tipping your hand. And goodbye. And also, don't get in the way again." Lilah Morgan was flung out of the lift on her floor as Doug waved to her before the door shut. He;d run a diagnostic spell on the lift before he'd embarked beforehandm which showed her presence beforehand. [Chris?]
[What happened in the lift, lad? Are you okay?]
[Trouble, We;ll need to tool up for contingencies tomorrow. Ever heard if a Ms Lilah Morgan?]
[Oh aye? An up an' comer, by all accounts. Consider yourself honoured that they've pulled out the big guns to face you.]
[No thanks. Fortunately I put a little bit extra in my telepathic cast, so that if anyone outside Watcher parameters tries to monitor it///]

"OW! Damn you to Qua'Thoth, Doug Mercer!"

[See you tomorrow then. An' keep your door warded.]
[Incidentally, I was impressed to see you deflect that bloke downstairs.]
[I'm here for work, not play. He seems okay, but given what Morgan said to me, I suspect they'll spring a more suitable honey trap on me. Nathan's seriously cute, but I'd prefer to chat him up somewhere different. And if he is clean, I can't take the risk of a civilian gettin' caught in the crossfire. Night, Chris.]
[Night, Doug]

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Altoz]

Part Four: Schwarz Und Weiss

In Wolfram and Hart's newly re-established Berlin offices, Lilah Morgan was in conference with the Senior Partners:
"I regret that I failed to dissuade or terminate the Watchers field operative in the lift. My apologies."
It is no detriment, Lilah Morgan. Douglas Mercer appears to be a descendant of one who was a powerful mage or slayer or both. He is a powerful asset to them and may lead us to avoid Sunnydale in future. Moreover, his combat readiness suggests that rumours and hearsay about the current organisational status of the Watchers are valid. That is, the Watchers Institute, in its role as Field Agent and research facility is more practical when it comes to vampire slaying than the more conservative Watchers Council, which has its own set procedures and routines, and does not necessarily select its leadership on the basis of competence and suitability for the challenges of countering vampire incursions. There is undeniable tension between the two departments, even given the Council member status of Dr Alessandra Norton.
"I still hate that he was able to best me, honoured elders. What if we are unable to retrieve this device? What if they destroy it altogether?"
Then the secret of Der Armee der Untoten will be lost forever. We will provide you with the necessary protection. You are yourself a highly valued asset within our circles, Lilah Morgan. Have no fear, Reinforcements will be arriving within the next few hours.

Doug and Chris Lonnrgan were surprised to meet an unexpected figure: "Doc?"
"Hello boys. I managed to convince the Council that the urgency of this mission required a Council member skilled in practical combat and artifact retrieval, so that's me. Right, I take it that you two have done the necessary contingency protection spells beforehand?"
"Uh yeah, Doc. Projectile, elemental and enhanced hand to hand combat protections enabled and primed if we run into trouble."
"Good. When Chris filed the report about Lilah Morgan this monring, I realised that we'd need some extra firepower on this one. Quentin may have tunnel vision when it comes to the Watchers Council missions and the anti-vampire imperative, but I certainly don't. And fortunately, nor do most of the other Council members on this issue. There are samurai swords to add to your existing kit. Fortunately, all of us are highly experienced in swordplay- and it'll need to be that sharp to shear zombie heads off at the neck."
"What, so most of the pop folklore is true?"
"From what we've been able to work out, the thanatovirus infection produces a primary affect in neuroanatomy, meaning that it creates a substitute series of necrotissue pathways within the brain, leading to anthropophagic hunger and ataxic, rough motion, as well as bypassing cardiovascular and respiratory responses. Whether the thanatovirus itself is the result of magickal orgins or a natural mutation from elsewhere, we've been unable to ascertain as yet."
"Time to get moving..."
"From what our recon satellites and telepaths have been able to confirm, Wolfram and Hart has deployed some of its covert operations and combat division over here. There'll be some attrition, but don't count on significantly diminished numbers."

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Altoz]

Part Five; Descent

"Hell, that's one huge cavern. Almost like a... hey, was that a Hellmouth at one time?"
Alessandra Norton nodded as they descended the caverns below Berlin:
"It was at one time. Remember the culture and literature module about sixteenth and early seventeenth century European magicks at the Institute?"
"Yeah, I was wonderin' why there was so much emphasis on Marlowe's Faust and Shakespeare's Tempest. Hang about. So Faust and Prospero actually did exist?"
"Indeed they did. Prospero was a deeply moral, principled whitewiccan. Faust was his exact opposite. Christopher Marlowe was ordered by the late Elizabethan Watchers Council to tone down and bowdlerise his original sources somewhat."
"Shit. So what you're sayin', essentially, is that Faust was a heavy duty darkmage who tried to take over Europe back then?"
"Until Prospero fought it out with him and stopped him, yes. Unfortunately, in doing so, that brave Duke of Milan was killed, even if he did succeed in activating the soul possession infernal spell that had empowered Faust in the first place. Faust was enough of a darkmage to delay it until Prospero broke the spell, but in doing so suffered severe thaumaturgic feedback."
"Aye. Teufelberg. Bloody appropriate if ye ask me." Father Chris Lonnergan pointed at the Berlin City Council sign they'd just passed in their descent down to the lowest reaches of the cavern system beneath the city.
"Shouldn't our opposite numbers be using this route?"
"They tried to tunnel over from Reisendeng over in Bavaria, but there was summat wrong in their geological maps."
"So why are there no Allied or Soviet records of this area, Doc?"
"Because it's lethal, Doug. No one knows how many East German escapees died down here during during the Cold War. Even the Nazis gave the area a wide berth. It seems to be the case that there are residual darkmagick energies here. Don't worry, though-"
"Ah, so that's why there were Italian and Latin protective spells in the bundle you got me to invoke before we set off. Prospero worked with the Watchers Council back in the early modern period?"
"Exactly. Right, we're about four hundred metres down now. Time for a break."

Lila Morgan cursed as the expeditionary team's third casualty screamed as he fell past her:
"I know we had to bribe the cavern lares et potentes with some fresh blood to get down there safely, but this is getting monotonous. How many more, Friedrich?"
"Oh, just another nine. They're Ossis- they're used to unsafe working conditions over in the East."
"Can't we hurry it up? And what's with our drones? Every time we try to get over to where we think the Watcher contingent is, they short out and crash."
"Defensive thauma, most probably. Ah, there goes another one. Four."
"Damn these overly intricate old spells to perdition..." Morgan muttered to herself.

"Right. Took us about three hours, but here we are. Looks like we're in the right place. Feels like it too- our defensive wards are all doin' overtime."
"Got the Prospero XVIII codex, Doug?"
"Lares et Potentes fugite. Haec cavernas nos quaerere, quid interius latet. Fiat enim manet sopiti sunt, ut non nocere nobis.' [Translation: Household gods, depart from us. Show us what is concealed within this cavern, and do not let it harm us."

There was some smoke as the cavern door creaked precipitously open. Alessandra Norton bit her lip:
"Dear Athena. There are thousands of them. We'd be no match for them if something did activate them."
"Then it's a shame you got here too late, isn't it, Norton? Fascinavit ante ad abrigavi!
Inmortuae somno suscitant! Viribus et Inferno Loki surge et comede sacreligious interpellatores hi!" [Translation: "Cancel that spell! Undead sleepers awake! By the powers of Loki and Hel, arise and devour these sacreligious intruders!']
"Fascinavit ante ad abrigavi! Ad inceptum tuum nihil est signant et respondent cetera carmina, ducite ab quis est mulier culmine tecti per!"
[Translation: Cancel that spell! Return to your rest and respond to no further spells from that woman atop the parapet!"

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Altoz]

Part Six: The Breaking Storm

"To hell with this! No more intervention! We will not tolerate it!" Friedrich snarled.
"Oh hell. Fred here's the grandson of one of the Reich mages who did this? So he'd have esecutive authority."
"Indeed, witchchild. And there is nothing you can do to stop the resurrection of Nazi ideals."
"Just because you're a blood descendant of one of the insane darkmages who did this doesn't mean you can control them."
"Can I not? Why do you think we chose to reopen our German offices after we closed them originally in 1933? Because modern Germany is the economic powerhouse of modern Europe. And we can utilise our undead here to seize control when the time is right."
"Richter, they're zombies. They don't have any sapience of their own. Look at thaumaturgic history- 1348. Byzantium. You might think you can control and weaponise them, but what if you can't?" Alessandra Norton pleaded.
"Don't listen to them. Friedrich. They're scaremongering."
"Sure we are, Lilah. Let's just conveniently forget the historical records that show that your company's miscalculation was responsible for the aforementioned plague and fall of a long-lived Empire. Omnipotent, omniscient? Don't think so, sorry." Doug retorted.
"What if we were?"
"If you miscalculate this time, it will be on an incalculably larger scale. There will be no resurrection of Nazi Germany. You will be collateral damage."
"Wait- where is the priest?"
"Right behind you, shithead." Lonnergan said, taking careful aim and shooting the neo-Nazi darkmage through his head:
"No! Damn it!"
"You cannot resurrect them now, Lilah. Turn on your heel and go back to Los Angeles."
"And the Watchers Council takes control of the Armee der Untoten instead? Are you so incorruptible?"
"No-one is entitled to control of these poor wretches. That's why we mined the place on the way here. They may be resistant to human interpeersonal combat, but they won't be if there's a lower cavern system collapse. You aren't going to find them all in time, Lilah. Stalemate."
"They could be the ultimate deterrent. Or could have been."
"Aye, an' how many times did nuclear weapons not deter incidents like the Soviet mainframe malfunction in 1983? Sooner or later, something would have gone badly wrong."
"Teleport us out of here, Doug.We have nothing further to say to her. As for you, Lilah, in about three hours, you might just have made it back ti the surface. If you start now..."

Over drinks in the hotel as Lonnergan and Alessandra took their leave, Lonnergan remarked: "Looks like blondie over there waited for you."
"Have we only delayed something, though? Okay, so Wolfram and Hart has no potential zombie army at its disposal. But Wolfram and Hart Berlin still existsm even if we did give them a bloody nose."
"That sort of power can be entrusted to no-one, Doug. Now, Chris here is right. Young Mr Malony over there gets lucky and you get a performance bonus for duties rendered. Go on, honey, you've earnt it." As they watched, Doug stepped hesitantly toward the bar, into a kiss from Nathan. A couple of minutes later, they were en route to Doug's hotel room. And after the dirt, grit and dust of the last few hours, Doug Merver found he scrubbed up very well indeed, especially if Nathan's rather gifted hands were doing the scrubbing in question...

THE END