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Da Boss Of Da Dead Chapta 19 | |
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Da Boss Of Da Dead Chapta 19 |
All of Kazkal Kromag’s court turned out to meet the approaching aircraft, every member wanted to see the object that Hazug and the meks boasted could deliver so much destructive power. As it happened the nobs were on the whole rather disappointed. Despite all attempts to explain the benefits of a compact design they had been expecting the device to be much larger. Bigger was better after all and a weapon that could be delivered using a simple helicopter barely big enough to carry a rather small mob of orks did not impress them. “So dis is it den is it?” Warboss Kromag asked as the bomb, a device about the size of one of the fuel cylinders carried by the flamethrower-equipped burna boys was lifted from the helicopter by two of Two Heads’ troops. “Dat’s it boss.” Hazug said, “Or least I reckon it is. Da other one I used looked a bit different mind ya.” “Well wot d’ya expect?” the largest mek present asked, “Wot ya got ‘ere is da finest custom built lifta-gas bomm. Me lads say dat dey’ve carried out exhaustive testin’ to make sure dat dis is stable right up until da force field is collapsed and da one liftin’ gas gets turned into da other type.” “So ya’ve tested it den Nuzzug?” Hazug asked. “Well not as a bomm obviously.” The big mek replied, “But me lads ‘ave used it to make some da other sort of liftin’ gas from. ‘Aven’t ya lads?” “Sure we ‘ave boss.” One of the meks who had accompanied the bomb on its trip here replied, his voice abnormally squeaky, “I tried it meself.” “Careful with dat.” Another mek said as the Evil Suns banged it against the side of the helicopter. “I didn’t think dat ya could set it off just by bangin’ it.” Hazug said. “Ya can’t the mek replied as he got out of the helicopter himself and took a look at the bomb, “But if ya breaks it den da force field will just fail and all da liftin’ gas will leak out and ya don’t want dat.” “Why not?” Kazkal asked, “Aint ya brought more?” “Den we would ‘ave ‘ad to make more boss.” Nuzzug said, “Dat would ‘ave taken longer dan wot it ‘as already. Me lads is still makin’ more though, just in case ya needs another bomm.” “Well den,” Kazkal said, turning towards Hazug, “wot’s ya plan now?” Hazug watched as the two Evil Suns carried the bomb towards Two Head’s battlewagon. “We get da bomm loaded first.” Hazug said, “Den we waits for ya to attack da necrons like before.” “Only with more lads dis time.” Two Heads interrupted. “Yeah, with more lads.” Hazug said, “Den we waits for da necrons to start usin’ all ten of dare mega-zappas and we drives in around da back.” “Who’s ‘we’ exactly?” Kazkal asked, “Ya aint told me ‘ow many lads ya needs for dis yet.” “Well all of Two Heads’ lads of course.” Hazug replied, “Plus I’ll be takin’ Batrug to look after da bomm and Gorgoga cause ‘e knows da ‘ills better dan us. I’ll also take Drazzok and Ratish with us cause dey’s fought ‘em before an’ all. Plus dat means Thuggrim’ll tag along too and we could use ‘is shoota.” “Wot about ya gits and da pansy?” Kazkal asked. “Yeah, I’ll be takin’ dem too.” Hazug said, “Dey don’t take up dat much room and ya aint gonna need ‘em back ‘ere.” “Right den.” Kazkal said with a grin, “I best be getting’ goin’, I ‘s already picked out where I is gonna be commandin’ da attack from.” “Where’s dat boss?” one of Two Heads asked. “Where else?” Kazkal asked in reply, “Up dare.” And he pointed to the head of one of the gargants. As the warboss walked away the crowd began to break up and Two Heads approached Hazug. “Is dat right?” one of him asked, “Ya is bringin’ da gits along with us? Ya left Sophie behind da last time ya did dis.” “Can’t take da chance dis time around.” Hazug said, “Odds are dat dare’ll be Death Skulls grot ‘angin’ about round ‘ere and dey may be watchin’ out for Salia. Dey’ll both be safer if dey is with me to look after ‘em.” It began with several dozen mekboys whipping gretchin into action. The smaller creatures took up positions around the assortment of crude artillery pieces that had been dragged behind larger types of squig or even pulled by hand and dug in here. “Let rip!” one of the meks bellowed and immediately the gretchin gunners began to fire, sending large calibre shells and highly unstable packets of energy shooting across the hillside. From his position in the head of one of the gargants, Kazkal Kromag smiled with glee as he saw the explosions cover the ground ahead. The gunners were not aiming for anything in particular, there was nothing there to aim at yet anyway but were instead hoping to disrupt the necrons’ defences and cover the advance of his force. Mek Nuzzug
towards Kazkal and held out a large microphone. Kazkal took the microphone and cleared his throat. Then he took a deep breath, held the microphone close to his mouth and let out a yell. “Waaargh!” The shout was carried to an array of massive speakers mounted outside the gargant’s hull and to the attack force surrounding the war machine it seemed as if one of the gods themselves was calling them into action. “Waaargh!” the cry of thousands of orks could be heard in the gargant’s command centre even without amplification and as Kazkal grabbed hold of a rail to steady himself the might war machine lurched into motion. It would not be long now, just a few hours. Mazakatek was reviewing the surveillance data gathered by the lunar rely station yet again. When the forces at Khab were brought back online his first task would be to destroy the ork force camped nearby of course, but then he had an entire system of the creatures to deal with. “What is it?” he asked as he became aware of the presence of the cryptek Nalloshtek in the doorway. “You should come my lord.” Nalloshtek answered, “It is the krork, they are attacking again.” Hurriedly Mazakatek followed Nalloshtek back the palace control centre. There an image floated in midair, dominating the room and the image was quite clear, the ork army was on the move. “Get me Ibon.” Mazakatek ordered and the crypteks worked to signal their comrade in Khab. “Ibon here my lord.” The cryptek stated, his signal distorted somewhat. “Ibon, how close are you to reactivating Khab’s systems?” Mazakatek asked. “Power cells at ninety percent of required level my lord.” Ibon replied, “I estimate only a few more hours are needed.” “We may not have that time.” Mazakatek said, “The krork are on the move. What if we increased the amount of power we are sending?” “Unworkable my lord.” Ibon said, “My command barge is already suffering degradation due to excessive power flow. If I try and push it further the link will fail entirely.” “We will need the energy for our defences here in any case.” Astrast said. “Be sure not to cut off the flow entirely.” Ibon warned, “If that happens there is the risk that the power already transferred here will flow back along the link and completely drain the storage cells. In that case Khab will never be reactivated.” “Can you attempt a partial reactivation?” Mazakatek asked. “No my lord.” Ibon replied, “I am building up power to free Khab’s systems of the ice, not reactivate its occupants. This process is all or nothing.” “Very well Ibon.” Mazakatek said, disappointed, “But do not hesitate to bring the systems back on line as soon as you are able. Do not wait for a command from me.” “Yes my lord.” As the connection was shut off Mazakatek looked back at the display showing the advance of the ork army. “Deploy the pylons.” He said, “All of them.” The trembling of the ground as the first pylon began to materialise went entirely unnoticed by the orks. With some many heavy vehicles and beast of war moving at once the ground was shaking continuously anyway. Thus, when the first pylon burst through to the surface it came as a surprise to the nearest units of orks, many of whom were instantly consumed by the field of lightning that swept over them. However, unlike at their first encounter with these powerful alien weapons, the orks were ready. “Let rip!”
Kazkal bellowed and across the room from him a mek lifted a speaking tube
to his mouth and spoke. Mounted in the belly of each gargant was a massive cannon, pre loaded with a shell larger than a battlewagon and with a ‘boom!’ that sounded across the battlefield this was fired at the newly emerged pylon. Orks everywhere watched as the dark shape of the shell travelled in an arc towards the alien weapon that was slicing apart a unit of half tracked gun carriers. Too late the pylon detected the shell’s approach and lifted its crystal to take aim. Once more lightning erupted from the pylon as its close in defences came to life, but the lightning simply danced harmlessly over the skin of the shell until it slammed into the pylon and detonated. The flash was visible all across the battlefield, followed by the deep rumble of the explosion. With the explosives inside the shell supplemented by highly flammable liquids a fireball of gigantic proportions engulfed the pylon and rose into the air, triggering a cheer from the orks. But when the fireball cleared the pylon still stood where it had been. Or at least it did for a few seconds. Groaning as metal twisted the pylon began to lean to one side, the green glow in its primary emitter crystal fading. Then when the structure could no long support its own weight it simply collapsed, coming to the ground with a crash and crushing several warbuggies beneath it’s bulk. But the loss
of a handful of lighter vehicles was a price worth paying for the
destruction of the pylon, Kazkal thought to himself as he looked proudly
at the destruction he had wrought. Then the ground burst open again and
more of the alien weapons appeared. Far behind the front line Hazug saw the fireball spread across the sky as the first pylon was brought down and he started his truck’s engine. Behind the lightweight vehicle were the two more heavily armed and armoured vehicles of Two Heads’ mob, whose drivers followed his example and started their engines. “Dis is it lads.” He called out. Then he heard Two Heads give a shout from the battlewagon. “Let’s roll!” The shell fired by the second gargant’s belly cannon went wide of the mark and instead blasted the top from a nearby hill, sending clumps of dirt flying across the battlefield. “Ya missed ya runts!” Kazkal bellowed after watching the shell fly past one of the pylons. Then he spun around and looked at the gargant’s command crew, “When’s dat gun gonna be reloaded?” he demanded. “Da grots is workin’ on it boss.” One of the crew replied, “But da shell don’t fit right.” “Well tell ‘em to push ‘arder.” Kazkal ordered as he turned back to the viewport in front of him. Outside he saw three of the necron pylons turn towards the other gargant and fire in unison. The powerful energy beams found their target, but the gargants were protected by the best technology the orks could muster and several power fields surrounded each one. The necron energy beams struck the fields directly and the air shimmered as the two opposing energies interacted with one another. But the primary weapons of the pylons directed tremendous amounts of energy and even the ork power fields could hold out against them for very long. In rapid succession there were several brilliant flashes of light as each pylon overloaded one of the gargant’s power field generators, leaving the war machine with only its thick metal skin for protection. But though the gargant had failed to damage any of the pylons it had distracted the attention of three of them for long enough that the smaller stompas were able to get close to one of them and in unison they opened fire. Armed with rapid firing multi-barrelled guns, the stompas sprayed shells all around the hillside. Unfortunately for the orks these weapons lacked the hitting power to inflict more damage than some slight pitting that rapidly healed itself to the pylon. However, the ork gunners watching as the fast firing guns shot used what they saw to get a better idea of the exact range to the pylons. Then they used the heavier guns mounted alongside the rapid-firing ones. One after another several heavy shells slammed into the pylon, causing the entire structure to rock from the impacts. The pylon rotated to take aim at the stompas, but as it presented the energy focusing crystal to the orks a shell struck it head on and shattered it. Sparks flew from the damaged weapon and the primary arc structure ceased moving. “The pylon is only damaged my lord.” Tumanatan reported, “It will repair itself given enough time.” “But how much time do we have?” Mazakatek asked. “Enough.” Astrast announced, “At their current rate of advance the krork will not reach us until after Ibon has reactivated Khab.” Mazakatek stared at the status display and witnessed the destruction of one of the miniature versions of the two massive war machines as two pylons combined their fire to first blast one of the arms from the machine and then crack open its torso. The sounds of the battle carried far across the hillside with the sounds of projectile weapons reduced to dull rumblings while brief flashes indicated explosions or the discharges of energy weapons. “Looks like a real big scrap goin’ on.” Gorgoga said as he looked towards the distant battlefield. “Last time I had a front row seat.” Sophie commented, remembering looking down from the walls of an ork city under siege by a necron army. Sat beside her, Salia turned towards Sophie. “You’ve seen a battle?” she asked, “A real one I mean, not just orks arguing.” “Yes, several times.” Sophie replied. “Gits is no good at fightin’.” Ratish interrupted, “Dat’s why master leaves ‘er behind and just takes Ratish sometimes.” “Well not this time.” Sophie replied, pulling a face at the gretchin. Then she looked towards Hazug, “Shall I unpack the lasguns now?” she asked. “Go on.” He replied and Sophie reached down to where a crate lay on the floor of the truck. Opening it up she removed two of the three lasguns it contained, keeping one for herself and passing the other to Salia. “You remember how to use this?” she asked. “I think so.” Salia replied, nodding as she took the weapon. “Don’t just think mon-keigh.” Mayleth said from across the truck, “You need to be sure or you’ll just be a liability to us.” The howdah mounted on top of the gigantic squiggoth burned, a series of sharp cracking sounds being produced as the ammunition stored inside cooked off. The riders of the beast were dead and now it panicked and ran amok. Several other nearby squiggoths snorted as their riders steered them away from the rider less animal. Given the lack of weapons fire from the rampaging squiggoth the necron pylons ignored it, instead concentrating on other targets. But as it rampage brought it closer to the pylon that had blasted the howdah from its back the squiggoth triggered the close in defence system and lightning leapt towards it. The squiggoth roared with a mix of pain and rage, rearing up onto it hind legs briefly before dropping back onto all fours and turning directly towards the pylon that was the cause of its pain. Then the squiggoth lowered it head and charged the pylon. The massive bulk of the creature slammed into the alien structure, which shuddered under the sudden impact. With another roar the squiggoth attempted to bite through the arc portion of the pylon where the primary weapon was mounted, but although its teeth were able to dig into the structure the damage healed as the squiggoth pulled back with its head. All the while the lightning continued to flow over the squiggoth’s hide and its scales began to flake off under the sustained assault until the lightning reached the more vulnerable tissue beneath. The squiggoth reared up again as it felt its flesh being burnt away and as it came back down it swiped at the pylon with its front claws. The combination of the massive claws and the weight behind them dug into the pylon and ripped the main weapon from its base. The squiggoth struck at the now exposed workings of the pylon, opening its mouth as wide as it could and biting down on the glowing crystals lying before it. As it bit down some of the lightning field still cascading over its hide fed back into the pylon and there was a massive explosion as the weapons own defences were turned back on itself. An expanding ball of flame engulfed the squiggoth briefly and the dying creature toppled sideways letting out one last cry of pain. But as the squiggoth took its last breath it left behind another ruined pylon. “Didn’t like dat did ya?” Kazkal yelled, waving his powerclaw towards the ruins of the pylon. But his joy at seeing the squiggoth take out the alien weapon was marred by the fact that his gargant’s belly gun was still not ready to fire again, “’Ow long now?” he asked the mekboy who had one of the speaking tubes pressed to his ear. “Dunno boss.” “Give dat ‘ere den.” He snapped, snatching the tube from the mekboy and he held it up to his mouth, “I want’s me big gun ready to fire! So get it sorted before I ‘as to come down dare meself to find out why ya aint done it yet.” Then he tossed the tube back at the mekboy, “Okay den, so we aint got da belly gun yet. Wot other shootas we got on dis thing?” The gargant mounted a vast array of weapons. Most of them were smaller guns useful only against infantry or more mundane vehicles, however one of the machine’s arms was made up entirely of an array of large-scale cannons, “Kop dis.” Kazkal said, looking towards a pylon. “Is the pylon destroyed?” Mazakatek asked as he looked at the display and saw that a fourth pylon had ceased firing at the orks following a barrage from one of their largest fighting machines. “No my lord.” Astrast replied, “Its targeting systems have been damaged however and it cannot track objects in motion. I estimate three minutes until repair. Its gauss field will continue to function should the krork get close, however.” “Projection.” Mazakatek said. “Outcome is uncertain my lord.” Nalloshtek said, “There is at least a one in three chance that the krork will break through the pylons before Ibon can reactivate Khab. Instructions?” “Deploy our reserves.” Mazakatek ordered, “Tell them to hold at all costs.” Hazug braked sharply, bringing his truck to a complete halt and forcing Two Heads’ drivers to do the same behind him. “Not ‘ere.” Gorgoga said, “Ya gotta go further yet.” And he pointed ahead of the vehicle. “Nah,” Hazug replied, “look.” And he too pointed from the truck. But he pointed off tot eh side and upwards slightly and when his passengers turned to see they all saw the dark shapes of necron troop carriers as they rushed towards the sounds of battle. Then another sound caught Hazug’s attention, the sound of a turret rotating. “’Old ya fire!” Hazug bellowed to Two Heads, waving at him as he realised that the Evil Suns had seen the necrons also and where about to try and shoot them down. Two Heads looked back at him from one of the battlewagon’s automatic weapon mounts. “Wotcha talkin’ about?” one of him shouted as the other one just stared, a puzzled look on his face,” We can nail ‘em.” “But ya’ll let ‘em know we is ‘ere.” Hazug shouted back, “Den dey’ll all come dis way instead and we’ll never get to dare fort.” Both of Two Heads’ faces fell. “’Old ya fire!” he yelled, “No shootin’ till I says so!” and he nagged on the roof of the battlewagon to reinforce his point. Waiting for the last necron vehicle to pass by Hazug set off once more, following the route indicated by Gorgoga. Three. One heavy in the centre with one light in front and behind. The vibrations of the ork vehicles as they travelled reverberated through the hills and although the variable composition of the soil produced numerous echoes it did not prevent an accurate count and identification of the intruders, only delayed it by a few seconds as a noise-cancelling algorithm was run on the input data. From beneath the surface something extended an antenna and watched the orks continue through the hills, totally unaware that they had been detected. Converge. Destroy.
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