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Da Cybork Menace Chapta 10 | |
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Chapta 10 |
“Maggort Deathgiva lord,”
the human servant to Warboss Kazkal Kromag
announced. The warboss didn’t like
having his lunch interrupted, especially for someone to bring him bad
news. So for Maggort to bring him the news that the only lead available to
the origin of the cybork army that a mysterious painboy was making in an
apparent attempt to overthrow his rule took a significant amount of
courage. The goff decided to lay the blame for the interruption on Hazug
instead. “Boss, da Blood Axe sent
me to speak to ya,” he said out loud as he entered the warboss’s throne
room. In response Kromag just grunted and took another bite out of his
lunch. Maggort continued, “We found da workshop of da mek wot was makin’
da cyborks boss,” this got the warboss’s attention and he stopped chewing
stared at Maggort. Maggort paused for a
moment. “Da place was on fire
when we got dare. We waited while grots put out da fire and den ‘ad a look
at wot was left. Hazug reckoned dat da painboy ‘ad started da fire to make
us think dat ‘e was dead.” “’Ow d’ya know ‘e aint?”
Kromag asked. “Well its like dis boss,”
Maggort began, “I saw dat da body wot we thought was da painboy ‘ad no
teeth, and da Blood Axe said dat all of da cyborks was like dat. Den ‘e
found a way into da grot tunnels ‘idden inside da workshop, so ‘e thinks
dat da dok got out dat way.” “’E really wos dead boss,
da Blood Axe’s grot ‘ad bitten ‘im, and we saw da bite mark in da right
place.” “So ‘ow come Hazug aint
‘ere to tell me dis? Where is ‘e now?” “’E said dat ‘e ‘was
goin’ to look for where da dok ‘ad gone, and for dat ‘e needed to go ‘ome
and get somethin’.” The sound of something
heavy hitting the floor upstairs attracted the attention of both Rhia and
Sophie. They had been watching the group of orks fitting the new thick
metal garage and front doors when they heard the sound from upstairs.
Agreeing that it was not a good sound, and aware that it was not unknown
for orks workers to sneak off and steal things, they both went to
investigate. From the stairs they could hear someone rummaging through the
contents of one of the rooms used purely for storage, upon reaching the
doorway to the room they saw Ratish watching Hazug as he went through the
contents of one crate after another. “Most of dis stuff aint
even mine,” Hazug commented when he saw the two humans no watching him in
addition to Ratish, “where did it come form, and why is it in
‘ere?” “It belonged to the last
ork who lived here,” Sophie said, “its all the things that Kazkal Kromag
didn’t want. I moved it in here just in case you decided any of it was
something that you wanted.” “Well I suppose some of
it is useful,” Hazug said, grinning as he found a tooth at the bottom of
one of the crates and he put it in his
pocket. “What are you looking for
anyway?” Rhia asked. “I got a tau map
somewhere,” Hazug said, “it shows da entrances to grot tunnels on
it.” “That’s over here,”
Sophie said, and she crossed the room to where a long wooden tube rested
against the wall, “I rolled up all sorts of maps and put them in this,”
then she picked up the tube and shook it, causing several rolls of paper
to slide out. Hazug took the maps and went through them, dropping them on
the floor until he found the one that he
wanted. The map was clearly not
of ork origin, though it showed the ork city and the associated human
populated area in great detail. Hazug had taken it from a tau base where
he had discovered it pinned to a wall. The image of the city was annotated
in numerous places at locations Ratish had informed Hazug were all access
points to the gretchin tunnel networks beneath the
city. “Does anyone ‘ave a
writin’ stick?” Hazug asked. “I do,” Sophie said, and
she produced a short, narrow stick of charcoal and passed it to
Hazug. “Right Ratish,” Hazug
said handing both the map and the charcoal to Ratish, “mark on all da
other ways in and out of da tunnels wot ya know
of.” “Yes master, Ratish do it
now,” and the gretchin began to scribble on the map, marking every tunnel
access point that wasn’t already shown with a crude
‘X’. “Good work grot,” Hazug
said, then he turned to Rhia and Sophie, “and you two clean dis room up,
it’s a right bleedin’ mess.” Hazug drew another cross
on the map laid out on the kitchen table while his servants stood watching
him. “I found a way in from
Badcog’s workshop dis mornin’,” he said, and then he glanced at the other
crosses and printed markings. “Dis is da closest one to
da bar where da cybork in da mega armour was,” he said, so dis is where
we’ll start.” “Start what?” Sophie
asked. “Stupid gits,” Ratish
said, “master ‘as an idea.” Ratish
paused. “Erm, Ratish let master
do it,” the gretchin said quietly. “You don’t know either!”
Sophie shouted, pointing at Ratish, “Hazug, he’s just being
nasty!” “Shut up da lot of ya!”
Hazug bellowed, “Now I reckon dat da painboy wot made dese cyborks is
still alive, but ‘e wants to think ‘e’s dead. Dat tells me dat ‘e’s still
up to somethin’, and I reckon dat ‘e’s bin usin’ da grot tunnels to move
about. DA way in wot I found at Badcog’s workshop was way too small for an
ork in mega armour to fit down, so dare must be somewhere else where da
cyborks is bein’ kept. I reckon it’s got a way into da tunnels an all, so
we is goin’ to take a look down in ‘em.” “Can Ratish bring his new
slugga?” Ratish asked. “I reckon dat’ll be a
good idea, and bring a lantern an all, it’ll be dark down dare,” Hazug
replied, causing Ratish to break into a massive grin before darting off to
collect his weapon. Then Hazug looked to Rhia and Sophie, “And you pair
better get one of dem zappas each,” he said, “we is all goin’ tooled
proper like up for dis job.” Hazug had Rhia and Sophie
carefully wrap the lasguns to disguise their shapes for the walk from his
house to the bar where he had encountered the mega-armoured ork. While
orks would just about tolerate humans in public, even carrying an axe or
knife, the sight of any armed with laser weapons would be considered a
just excuse to attack them, and Hazug didn’t want to have to fight their
way to their destination. “Why couldn’t we bring
the truck?” Rhia asked while they stood outside the bar as Hazug compared
their surroundings to the map he held. “Because we can’t take it
into the tunnels,” Sophie said, “and if we leave it here someone will
probably try and steal it.” Before Rhia could speak
further, Hazug interrupted. “Dis looks right,” he
said, “da way into da tunnels is just up dare,” and he pointed along the
street where signs of recent repairs to the damage caused by the cybork
were still visible, “so let’s go take a
look.” The tunnel entrance was
located in a narrow alleyway between two buildings. It had once featured a
simple wooden door covering a large hole in the ground that was the end of
one of the many tunnels that ran beneath the city. Now however, there was
just a gaping hole, the smashed remains of the covering door itself could
just about be made out through the snow that covered them. The width of
the alleyway would have barely provided enough room for the cybork in
mega-armour to exit the tunnels and get to the street, and Hazug pointed
at the gouges in each of the structures. “’E definitely came from
‘ere,” he said, “’e smashed ‘is way out of da tunnels and den ‘e
practically ‘ad to smash ‘is way to da street,” then he put the map away
and unslung his rifle. “Right den, unwrap dem
zappas,” he told Rhia and Sophie, who both promptly began to remove the
covers from their weapons, “and Ratish, I wants ya to light da
lantern.” Hazug lead the way into
the tunnel before them, with Ratish following close behind with the
lantern and Rhia and Sophie bringing up the rear. The destruction of the
entrance’s cover had allowed the recent snowfall to cover the floor of the
tunnel near to the entrance, but after a few paces Hazug found himself
walking on the hardened soil floor of the tunnel
itself. “Dare,” Hazug said,
pointing to the tunnel floor. There, in the frozen soil were the
footprints left behind by the recent users of he tunnel. Most of them were
the small, barefooted tracks of gretchin, but clearly visible amongst them
was a set of massive rectangular tracks that dug deep into the
floor. “Da ork in mega armour
made dose,” Hazug said, “we follow dem, and dey’ll lead us to where ‘e
came from.” Slowly, and with his
servants following him, Hazug walked further into the
tunnel. Dok Gutstitch watched as
a pair of his gretchin servants led away the latest cybork to join his
growing army of the creatures. In spite of the necessary death of Mek
Badcog he still had enough parts stored to build several dozen more, but
it was what would happen after that which concerned him now. He could
reanimate as many ork corpses using squig brains as he wanted, but in
order to make them effective in combat he had to upgrade their bodies
using the best cybernetics available. Involving Mek Badcog in the plot to
take over from Warboss Kromag had not only given him a confidential supply
of such equipment, but it had also been free of charge. If he were to buy
the cybernetics openly he would not only run the risk of someone in
authority questioning what he was up to, but also he would need to find
enough money to pay for them. The few corpses that had come to him with
their teeth still present had not yielded anything like enough cash to pay
for what he would need. There was only one choice left open to him now,
outright theft. “So,” the painboy said, becoming
aware of the other gretchin gathering behind him, ”tell me wot ya
found.” Nervous, none of the
gretchin replied. Instead they whispered and pointed to each other as they
tried to determine who would have to be the first to speak to their
master. Rapidly tiring of the delay, Dok Gutstitch broke the
deadlock. “You first!” he shouted,
pointing at a random gretchin. “Y-Y-Yes m-m-master,” the
gretchin replied, “I ‘ad a look in da surgeries of doks, and I made a list
of wot bioniks dey ‘ad,” and the creature handed his master a handwritten
list of painboy’s names and amounts of
bionics. “Nice,” Dok Gutstitch
said as he glanced over the list, “Now wot about da rest of ya
den?” One by one the gretchin
handed over lists of cybernetic parts they had discovered by spying on the
surgeries of other painboys. One of them remained still and did not hand
over his list. “Wot are ya waitin’ for?”
Dok Gutstitch asked, “Wot ‘ave ya been doin’ all
mornin’?” “Stoggi didn’t even
bother goin’ to any of da dokshops,” another gretchin commented, “’e’s bin
skivin’ all day.” “I aint!” Stoggi
protested, “I got a list from somewhere
else.” “Where?” Dok Gutstitch
demanded, “I told ya to go and look for bionik bits I can use for more
cyborks. Where other dan a dokshop would ‘ave
any?” “I went to look around da
mek shops instead,” the gretchin replied, “I figured dat dat was where da
bionics as made, and dat dare may be some dare waitin’ for da doks to pay
for ‘em, and dat’s where I found dis stuff,” and he handed over his own
list. Dok Gutstitch took the
piece of paper and read what was written on it. The list was shorter than
any of the others, but what was on it made Dok Gutstitch smile. Then he
laughed. He reached into his pocket and took out a tooth, which he threw
to Stoggi. “Nice work grot,” he
said, “dis’ll do just fine.” Holding his tooth, Stoggi smiled while the other gretchin looked on jealously. “’Ang on a mo,” Gutstitch said suddenly, “dare’s still some of ya missin.” |
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