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Da Boss Of Da Dead Chapta 4 | |
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Da Boss Of Da Dead Chapta 4 |
They found Cuddles chewing on a gretchin’s arm and Hazug patted him. “Good squig.” He said, knowing that the owner of the arm had likely tried to take something from the truck while he and his servants had been inside Mek Batrug’s workshop, “Careful with dis.” He said as he handed the warscythe to Ratish, “I don’t want ya choppin’ anythin’ off by accident.” “Yes master, Ratish take good care of da choppa, much better care dan da git.” Hazug walked around to the front of the truck and climbed in where he found Sophie already sat in the front passenger seat. “So wot was ya gonna ask me den?” he asked, attempting to start the engine, “In da kitchen.” Sophie looked at him. “Do you know what a sister is?” she asked, using the word from the human language of Gothic for ‘sister’. “Nah.” Hazug replied, “Its one of dem human words wot don’t mean anythin’ innit?” Sophie knew that all of the various greenskin subspecies shared a common reproductive cycle. They grew from spores that could have been released from any one of the others and Sophie found it somewhat amusing to consider that Ratish and Cuddles could potentially have had the same ‘parent’, making them brothers of a sort. This meant that orks lacked the family units that were common to many other species such as humans and therefore, they lacked the words to describe family relationships. Sophie had had enough trouble explaining the importance of an infant to the orks that had found one hidden in cupboard by its missing parents. “It someone I need to find.” Sophie said, “Someone that’s a lot like me.” “Like a member of da same clan?” Hazug asked and he picked up a hammer from beside his seat and used it to assist in starting the engine by delivering a single sharp blow to it. Though without families, orks still had their clans such as the Blood Axes, Death Skulls or Evil Suns that were collections of orks with similar attitudes towards life. “That’s it.” Sophie said, unable to thin of anything better, “I want to find someone from my clan.” Hazug nodded. “I can understands dat.” He said. “So will you help me find her?” Sophie asked. “No!” Ratish snapped from behind them, “Master only needs Ratish to ‘elp ‘im! Master remember wot ‘appened last time ya got another git! It was a liar! Get rid of dis git an’ all.” “You can’t blame me for Rhia.” Sophie said in reference to another human woman who had served Hazug for a time until she had been revealed as a spy. “All gits is da same!” Ratish yelled. “Suddup da pair of ya!” Hazug yelled and both Ratish and Sophie stopped talking. Before he could go on however, there was a yell. “Oi! Hazug!” and Hazug looked from the side of his truck to see a warbike pull along side his vehicle, the rider shifting back and forth between looking at Hazug and the street ahead where pedestrians scattered out of the way of both Hazug and the biker. “Wotcha want?” Hazug shouted. “Hazug the road!” Sophie exclaimed as Hazug continued to stare at the biker. Realising that he could not concentrate on both driving and shouting at the biker, Hazug slammed his foot down on the brake pedal and the truck ground to a sudden halt causing both Cuddles and Ratish to slam into the backs of the seats in which he and Sophie sat. “Dat warscythe better not be broke.” Hazug said to Ratish then he looked back towards the biker who had overshot the truck and was now circling back around towards him. “Wotcha want?” Hazug yelled again as the biker neared him. “Da boss wants to see ya.” The biker replied, “Now.” Hazug frowned. “Tell ‘im da meks aint causin’ no trouble.” Hazug said, “Dey’ll be done soon enough.” “Dis aint about no meks.” The biker said, “Da boss aint ‘appy.” This worried Hazug. When the warboss was unhappy the population tended to decrease until he cheered up. Hazug strode into the presence of Kazkal Kromag with his warscythe in his hands. If things turned nasty he wanted his best weapon by his side. Now that the warscythe’s power source was functional once more he would not need to worry about it suddenly ceasing working before he could make his escape. Behind him Ratish and Sophie followed closely. Hazug would rather have left them with his truck, but if there was trouble they would be vulnerable away from him. Once again Cuddles was waiting with the truck as a guarantee that it would still be there when he got back. “Hazug Throatslitter boss.” A human servant called out as Hazug entered the throne room. Kazkal Kromag was member of the Bad Moons clan, the richest of the ork clans. Bad Moons actually possessed a physiological difference to other orks in that they shed and grew teeth at a much faster rate than those of other clans and since orks used heir teeth as currency this made Bad Moons like Kazkal Kromag wealthier than most. Kazkal chose to flaunt some of his wealth by hiring a large number of humans as servants instead of relying on gretchin like most orks. Sophie had entered Hazug’s service purely by chance when her previous masters died. “Ah Hazug, come ‘ere.” The warboss called out, waving Hazug closer. To Hazug’s relief he did not seem as unhappy as the biker had suggested. “Wait ‘ere.” Hazug said quietly to his servants and he walked closer to the warboss’s throne, “Wotcha want boss?” he asked. Kazkal tossed something onto the floor between them and Hazug looked down to see that it was a neatly severed foot. “’Ow d’ya explain dat den?” Kazkal asked. “I’d say someone’s got a limp.” Hazug replied and the warboss frowned. Hazug tightened his grip on his warscythe, wondering if he had overstretched things “Yeah, well a pansy cut it off ya smartarse.” Hazug stared at the foot, the bent down and picked it up. “I thought ya said dat ya ‘ad dealt with ‘em all.” Kromag said, “Yet Krudlord ‘ere says dat ‘im and ‘is lads almost ran into a load of ‘em.” And Kazkal indicated an ork nob wearing the bright clothing traditional of Evil Suns orks. Krudlord grinned. “I saw dare wagons with me own eyes as dey flew off.” He said. Hazug looked more closely at the foot and noticed the smooth cut through the bone. “Yeah,” he said, “well maybe Krudlord should think about goin’ to see a dok and getting’ ‘imself some better eyes, cause I don’t reckon dat an eldar did dis.” “Is ya callin’ me a lair?” Krudlord demanded. “Nah.” Hazug said, “Just a grot brain.” “Well I wants proof dat it aint pansies Hazug.” Kromag said. “Ya’ll get it boss.” Hazug replied and he held up the foot, “Can I borrow dis?” Mazakatek did not bother to look around from the holographic display as the figures marched into the room. If there was a threat to his safety then his personal guards would have sprung into action immediately. “Master.” One of the figures said as they knelt before the overlord. They were known as deathmarks and to an overlord such as Mazakatek they were hunters and assassins. In the old days of necron supremacy there were strict rules governing their use, forbidding any lord from using them against his rivals. Only the unworthy could be targeted by these killers, but fortunately for Mazakatek ‘unworthy’ was an excellent way to describe the savages infesting his world. “I have targets for you.” Mazakatek said. “Command us.” The lead deathmark said. Mazakatek adjusted the display to show an image of the giant war machines the orks were building. “These must be destroyed.” He said, “Along with those building them, we cannot allow them to deploy these against us.” “It will be done master.” The deathmark replied and the unit stood up to leave. “Wait.” Mazakatek commanded and the deathmarks came to a halt. “Master?” “There is another target.” Mazakatek said and he waved his hand to adjust the display once more, this time to show a basic map of the ork city derived from the images sent back by Kastotek and his destroyers. A spot of light flashed on the map, “It would seem that the krork have something that belongs to us.” He said, “I want it back and I want you to kill whoever stole it from us. Most importantly you must make sure that there are no witnesses to your strikes. I do not want the krork to be aware of our presence here. Do you understand?” “We understand my lord.” The deathmark leader replied, “We kill at your command.” Even during the day the fighting pits were full of activity. The publicly held battles would begin at sundown every day and there was much work to be done. The combatants who fought in them could not damage the arenas where the fighting was done, but the thousands of orks who crowded into them on a daily basis to watch others get killed could damage other areas. Therefore, as Hazug wandered through the passageways beneath and between the various arenas were filled with gretchin scurrying about with tools and materials for essential work. There were other orks here too though. Most of them were locked in cages, awaiting their moment in an arena where they would fight for their lives. As well as providing sport the fighting pits also provided a justice system of sorts for the orks, where trial by combat would settle disputes permanently without the human need for complexities such as ‘evidence’ or ‘impartiality’. The other orks were here to guard these prisoners. Not every ork was keen on the idea of facing another ork significantly bigger and stronger than he was in a fight to the death. Cuddles tugged at his leash as Hazug headed towards one cell in particular. The squig was his only companion at the moment, Hazug having sent both Ratish and Sophie off on other errands. But what he had to do here was something he doubted he would need either of them to help him with. He stopped when he reached a cell that though occupied was unlocked. The single occupant of this cell meant for at least twenty was considered unlikely to try and leave and even if they did, they would be back by nightfall to take part in the fighting. “’Ello Mayleth.” Hazug said from the doorway. The slender figure in the cell did not respond, instead she continued to slowly move her body through a strange repeating pattern of motion that Hazug took to be some sort of exercise. From a distance and at first glance Mayleth could have been mistaken for a human, but she was far too thin for a human as strong as she was and rather than being rounded at the top, her ears came to a delicate point. Hazug opened the cell door and went inside, closing it behind him and then sat on a nearby stool. As Mayleth continued to exercise he leant his warscythe up against the wall, careful to ensure that its blade was side on so as not to slice a deep grove in the stonework. “I was wondering how long it would be.” Mayleth spoke softly, still continuing with her exercises. She spoke her own language rather than that of the orks, but Hazug was able to understand her perfectly thanks to a compact device attached to a collar around her neck that repeated her words in the more civilised greenskin language, without all the un-necessary sounds that the eldar seemed to have even more of than humans did with their tongue Gothic. “’Ow long for wot?” Hazug asked. Mayleth smiled and stopped her exercises, turning towards Hazug. “Why how long until you decided to come and inspect your property of course my master. After all, you did go to the trouble of marking me.” Mayleth was referring to a tattoo on her arm in the pattern of two crossed axes, the emblem of the Blood Axe clan. Since Mayleth wore only the scant remains of the skin-tight body suit she had worn at the time of her capture, just enough to cover the areas around her chest and waist the mark of ownership was easy to see. This choice of attire confused Hazug somewhat. Had he caught sight of Sophie wearing a similar amount then it would provoke her to being screaming for him to look away while she found something to cover more of her skin. Mayleth on the other hand seemed to prefer to be as unencumbered by clothing as possible. But then the eldar female seemed to be a lot more physically flexible. “So tell me my lord and master,“ Mayleth said as she lay down on the floor in front of Hazug, stretching out on her side, “has your slave displeased you?” “Ya’ve done good.” Hazug replied. Since her arrival Mayleth had proved popular in the combats and that popularity had earned Hazug a tidy sum of teeth in prizes. Twenty percent of everything taken from the heads of her opponents to be precise. Hazug reached into his bag and pulled out the severed foot. Seeing the foot Cuddles moved closer, his tongue unrolling form his mouth and Hazug had to pull the squig back. “Some speed freaks found dis.” He said as he held the foot closer to Mayleth, “Da boss reckons dat ya people did it, but I aint so sure.” Mayleth glanced at the foot only briefly. “No eldar blade did that.” She said, “And no crude implement of the mon’keigh or your own kind either.” “Den wot did?” Hazug asked. Mayleth sat up, drawing her legs in close to her body. “I think my master already knows that.” She said, “After all he has obviously fought the y’ngir before. I am not the only trophy he has in this room.” And she looked a the warscythe. Hazug
grinned. Cuddles let out a sudden bark and tugged at his leash again. Hazug assumed that it was a reaction to seeing a potential meal being taken from him but then Mayleth suddenly turned her head. “They’re here!” she cried out as she leapt to her feet and performed a backwards flip through the air that took her towards the wall where an array of blades taken from dead eldar were hung. Hazug felt a slight breeze on his face. He released his grip on Cuddles’ leash and stood up, reaching for his warscythe. Just as he took hold of the weapon the breeze grew stronger as air was displaced from the centre of the room. Hazug did not know a lot about teleportation but he knew some of the signs of it being used. There was a brilliant flash of green light and five imposing metal figures appeared from nowhere, standing back to back in a circle so that between them they could see all around. In their hands each of the figures held a long weapon of a type Hazug had not seen before. Cuddles was first to react and the trained squig hurled itself towards the figures, knocking one to the floor. Standing on the figure’s chest and pinning its weapon there, Cuddles began to bite down on its head, trying to chew through the strange alien metal that it was made of. Mayleth was next into action and she gave out a shriek. Whether this was of rage or excitement Hazug could not tell. With a curved blade in each hand she ran towards the necrons, two of whom raised their weapons in her direction. Effortlessly Mayleth performed a graceful roll that took her between the pair before they could fire and she held out her blades as she moved, slicing through the joints of their knees. Immediately both figures toppled forwards, unable to stand. Hazug was next, unable to react as quickly as either the trained squig or the alien Mayleth but he was still faster than the necrons and he roared as he swung his warscythe at them. The nearest necron was sliced open across it chest, sparks flying as its internal workings were cut through. The glowing light in the necron’s single eye died and it fell backwards, sprawling across the floor before it faded to nothing. Attracted by the sudden commotion a pair or ork guards appeared outside the cell bars. “Shoot da metal lads!” Hazug bellowed as he took another swing at a necron and missed. Needing no further encouragement, the ork guards pushed their rifles through the cage bars and opened fire, their weapons roaring as they opted for automatic fire at the group of alien machines. There were more sparks as bullets bounced off the necrons’ heavily armoured shells. Hazug had expected nothing else, but it did at least serve to distract the necrons and one of those brought to his knees got back up, the damage now miraculously healed and aimed at the guards. There was a brief flash from the muzzle of his weapon, accompanied by an odd extended ‘bloop’ sound and one of the guards collapsed. Hazug had seen necron weapons in action before and had expected the ork to be dissolved in green light, but this one simply fell to the floor where he lay still with dark liquid oozing from all of the orifices on his head. Hazug took advantage of the necron’s distraction and lunged forwards with his warscythe held out in front of him and impaled the necron through its chest. The alien faded away even as Hazug was pulling his weapon free and he felt a tugging as if something was trying to take the warscythe away with the destroyed necron. Mayleth too made the most of the distraction provided by the guards and she rolled back towards the other necron she had damaged. The alien tried to turn towards her, but thanks to the damage to its knee it was only partially successful when she reached it. Swinging upwards with one of her blades, she pushed the necron rifle upwards and slid in beneath it. Then she thrust her other blade up under her opponent’s chin and forced the tip of the blade between two adjacent pieces of metal at the neck. Forcing the blade deeper she twisted it and the necron’s head was cut free, dropping to the floor and rolling away even as the rest of the alien’s body dissolved in a green haze. The guard outside he cell paused to reload his weapon but even as he plucked another magazine of ammunition from his belt the only necron still on his feet fired at him, his weapon emitting the same strange flash and sound that was followed by the effect so atypical of what Hazug had come to expect of necron weaponry and the guard collapsed beside his late comrade with a similar ooze pouring from his head. Hazug swung his warscythe down at the necron, aiming not for the alien himself, but instead for his weapon and the Blood Axe sliced the rifle in two about half way along. As the stroke continued it cut through one of the necron’s arms below the elbow and the alien’s hand clattered to the floor along with the front half of its weapon. “Dat disarmed ya.” Hazug snapped and he head butted the necron with enough force to send it staggering backwards where it tripped over Cuddles. With the squig pushed off his chest the only undamaged necron got back to its feet and took aim at Hazug. But before he could fire there was another shriek and Mayleth leapt through the air towards the alien. She had dropped both her blades and instead wrapped her arms and legs around the necron from behind and tried to wrest his weapon from his grasp. Cuddles charged at the necron as it struggled against Mayleth and jumped up at his head, sending all three sprawling on the floor. As the necron separated itself from Cuddles and Mayleth Hazug charged towards them all, roaring and when he reached the pile of bodies he plunged his warscythe down into the necrons chest and watched it vanish like the others. Mayleth felt a cold hand at her throat and gasped as she was scooped up by the final necron and slammed against the wall. The one armed alien held her fast as she struggled to get free, tightening his grip around her throat and choking her. “She aint yours!” Hazug yelled as he whirled around and swung his warscythe again, bringing the weapon down on the necron’s one remaining arm and cutting it away too. Mayleth
slumped to the floor gasping for breath and the now armless necron
staggered backwards across the cell. Hazug just stood and
watched. Hazug just
shrugged. Then he drew his pistol from his belt and shot the necron in its
eye. It’s head jerked backwards and then the alien faded away before it
could even hit the floor. With the last necron destroyed, Hazug then
looked down at Mayleth and offered his hand to help her get up. Mayleth gasped then replied. “They had no fear at all.” She said, “So dull.” “Well I gots me proof now.” Hazug said, looking at the few pieces of necron left behind, “So let’s go.” “You are taking me away?” Mayleth asked. “Ya ‘andled yaself pretty good.” Hazug said, “I may needs dat.” Mayleth frowned. “So dull.” She said again softly. |
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