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Da Cybork Menace Chapta 7 | |
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Chapta 7 |
“Where’s master?” the gretchin gasped as he ran into the room. “’E’s operatin’,” one of the assembled gretchin replied, “ya don’t want to disturb ‘im now.” “But it’s important,” the newcomer shouted, “dat Blood Axe ‘as found where we get da lung ‘olders from!” and he ran off to where his master performed his work. The painboy was indeed bent over an operating table, and was busy wrapping nerves around the wires that protruded from the end of a cybernetic arm mounting a vicious looking claw in place of a hand. “Master! Master!” the gretchin yelled, and the painboy’s hand slipped causing the cybernetic arms to twitch and knock several tools to the floor. “Wot?” the painboy bellowed as he span around. See the gretchin in front of him, he grabbed it by the neck and lifted it into the air. “Look wot ya made ‘appen!” the painboy shouted, pointing at the tools now lying broken on the floor. “But master,” the gretchin croaked, his hands trying to loosen his master’s grip around his throat before he was strangled. “But wot?” “Da Blood Axe…” The painboy released his grip, and the gretchin fell to the floor, gasping for breath. “Come on den, tell about da Blood Axe,” he ordered. “’E’s been to da ruins master, and ‘e’s found where we get da metal tubes from.” “Wot?” the painboy shouted, and accompanied by a scream he swung his fist down onto a nearby table and smashed it. “’Ow did ‘e find it?” “Don’t know master, but ‘e’s got another git with ‘im dat wasn’t dare yesterday.” “Get out!” the painboy shouted. “Master?” “I said get out!” the painboy repeated and with a single kick he sent the gretchin sliding across the floor. The gretchin slammed into the wall before picking itself up and dashing out of the room. The painboy walked to a door on the opposite side of the surgery, opened it and went into the next room. This room was filled with cybernetic parts for replacing just about any body part on an ork that could be replaced, which was most of them. Beyond these another ork sat hunched over a workbench where he was building yet another cybernetic part by the light of a crude electric lamp. “Badcog,” the painboy said, “we ‘ave a problem.” “Wot is it now Gutstitch?” the mekboy replied without looking up from his work. “Dat Blood Axe is becomin’ a problem. ‘E’s managed to find where we is getting’ da cylinder’s for ‘oldin’ da lungs from. We’ll ‘ave to kill ‘im now.” Badcog put down his tools and turned to face Gutstitch. “We aint got enough lads to take over yet, and if da warboss finds out wots goin’ on ‘e’ll send an ‘ole bunch of mobs after us.” “I knows dat,” Gutstitch replied, “but Kromag ‘as started listen’ to dat Blood Axe git lover, so if ‘e goes talkin’ to da boss den ‘e’s goin’ to find out anyways. We ‘ave to kill ‘im.” Badcog got to his feet. “You keep workin’ boss,” he said, “I’ll take some of da lads an’ do it tonight.” The first thing Sophie did when they returned home was light a fire. The weather had taken a turn for the worse on the trip back from the ruins, and though this had meant that the guards at the northern fort had not bothered to stop them, instead staying inside where it was warmer, Hazug had been forced to drive slower and their journey had been made longer because of it. Rhia had suggested that Hazug should have his truck modified to have an enclosed cab and cargo area. Sophie wasn’t sure what to make of the newcomer who was at that moment tidying one of the spare rooms to use as a bedroom for herself. Ratish hated having another human around, which pleased Sophie. But she still didn’t know anything about Rhia apart from what she had chosen to tell them. At least Hazug was expecting her to prove her worth, Sophie thought as she went from the lighting the fire to the various lamps around the room, filling it with a flickering, yellowish light. “Cor, that feels good,” Hazug said from behind Sophie as he entered the room and sat in front of the fire. “The weapons are packed away then?” Sophie said as she stood up. “Yeah, aside from dis one,” Hazug said patting the pistol he had tucked into his belt, “dat Rhia offered to ‘elp, but I can put away a few guns on me own. But I reckon dat idea about coverin’ me trukk was a good ‘un. I’ll send Ratish out tomorrow to try and find some metal we can nail on to it.” Sophie finished lighting the lamps in the room, then spoke to Hazug again. “I’ll make a meal now, do you want to eat it here?” “Nah, da kitchen will be warm enough by da time ya is finished cookin’. Shout me when its ready,” then Hazug paused for a moment before speaking again just as Sophie was leaving the room, “’Ang on a mo,” he said, “ya can just tell dat Rhia wot to do, I wants ya to take a look at dat zap gun instruction book and learn ‘ow to work one of ‘em, I’ll bring ya one down to ‘ave a look at.” Soon after, Sophie found herself sat at the kitchen table studying the manual for a human made lasgun, with one of the weapons lying on the table in front of her, while she also watched Rhia preparing a meal. “So you’re just going to sit there while I work?” Rhia asked. “It’s what Hazug wants,” Sophie replied, “he wants me to know how to work this gun.” “Will I get one too?” “Probably,” Sophie told Rhia, “I think that Hazug just wants to decide if he’s going to keep you around before he gives you a gun.” “Does he have many guns?” Sophie paused and thought about it. “Not for an ork. He has a pistol that he keeps with him all the time, plus a rifle and a machine gun, and then there’s a pistol each for me and Ratish.” “What about that?” Rhia asked, pointing at the lasgun. “Oh, he found a lot of these yesterday, and some rocket launchers too, but he’s only got some of what was found.” Rhia sat down. “What happened to the rest?” she said. “There was another ork and his soldiers with Hazug, so they took some as well,” Sophie explained, “plus they gave some to Kromag…” “The warboss?” “Yes, that’s right. Hazug and Two Heads, that’s the other ork I told you about, didn’t want him to think they would cheat him, so they gave him a share too. But I think he only took some of the rocket launchers, he wasn’t interested in the lasguns.” “I thought
orks just took everything they could and wouldn’t give anything
away.” Badcog’s truck was enclosed, not for protection against the weather, which continued to decline, but to conceal what was held within its cargo area. Behind him sat six orks who, unlike any normal member of the species, sat in silence and motionless. Each of them had received some form of cybernetic enhancement to increase their combat strength, but they lacked the exceptionally thick armour platting of the escaped ork that Hazug had Two Heads had defeated two nights ago. He parked the truck opposite to the building that had been identified as Hazug Throatslitter’s residence. From what Badcog could tell there were no special fortifications or weapons emplacements, so this would be a simple smash and kill operation, exactly the type of work his troops were created for. “Dat buildin’ dare,” Badcog said, pointing towards Hazug’s home, “Kill everyone inside it. Go.” In unison the orks stood up and exited the vehicle, then in two lines they shambled towards Hazug’s home. One line headed straight for the front door, while the other veered off towards the larger garage door. Badcog grinned as he saw the two groups reach the building and then stop. Then one ork in each group raised an armoured metal fist high above head and brought it crashing down on the door in front of him. “What was that?” Rhia exclaimed, dropping the plate of food onto the kitchen floor. “I don’t know,” Sophie replied, and as she stood up she picked up the lasgun from the table before her and slammed the energy cell into place. The two young women crept towards the door that separated the kitchen from the garage. Sophie pushed it open gently and peered into the darkness beyond. She was instantly hit by a blast of cold air, as the garage door had been destroyed and the room was now open to the elements. Almost immediately she saw the trio of orks lumbering towards her. None of them moved in the way she had gotten used to seeing orks move. Normally they would walk confidently and with purpose, often breaking into a run and charging headlong at something. But the way these orks moved was more of a shuffle, and they all stared blankly straight at her. “Who are you?” Sophie shouted, but the orks continued to shamble towards her. Sophie raised the lasgun to her shoulder and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. The orks continued to advance as Sophie lowered the weapon and stared at it. Then se saw the safety catch in the position marked ‘SAFE’ and flicked it via ‘SEMI’ and ‘BURST’ to ‘FULL’ before taking aim again. The lead ork was almost upon her now and it raised an arm that ended in a spiked gauntlet. Sophie pulled the trigger again. This time there was a bright flash; accompanied by a sharp ‘crack’ as the high-energy beam interacted with the air and a white beam of light appeared between the lasgun’s muzzle and the ork’s raised arm, striking it at the elbow. There was another flash, and a shower of sparks as the artificial limb was severed and it crashed to the floor. Sophie let go of the trigger as the beam passed through the ork’s limb and went into the ceiling, burning a hole there also, and the beam of light ceased. “Run!” she shouted to Rhia as the orks, including the one she had just shot the arm from, continued to advance silently, and the pair turned and ran towards the hallway. Hazug had been dozing in his chair in front of the fire when the sound of the front door splintering awoke him suddenly. Instinctively he leapt to his feet and drew his pistol before charging towards the hallway. He found his front door lying in pieces in the doorway and saw three orks standing just outside, the snow blowing past them into the hallway. “Who da bloody ‘ell are ya?” Hazug bellowed before he noticed the vacant expression on the faces of all three orks. The same expression as the mega-armoured had worn throughout the battle two nights ago, and there was the glint of metal from within their mouths. “Ah crap,” Hazug exclaimed and he raised his pistol and fired. The shots echoed around the hallway, and Hazug was frustrated to see them bounce off the metal plate covering the top of the lead ork’s head. The trio of orks advanced into the doorway, where they became stuck as they all tried to get through it at the time. Hazug seized the chance to pick up part of the destroyed door, a narrow length of wood now sharp and splintered at each end, and he thrust if up underneath the jaw of the nearest ork. The force of the impact pushed the ork’s head backwards, but apart from that there was no effect and it just stared back at Hazug with the wood sticking out from beneath its head. At that moment the kitchen door flew open and Rhia and Sophie ran into the hallway. “There are three more in the garage!” Sophie shouted as she saw Hazug facing off against the orks still trying to get through the front doorway. “Upstairs!” Hazug shouted, “And where da ‘ell is Ratish?” Ratish watched from beneath Hazug’s truck as the three orks who had forced their way into the garage now pushed through the doorway into the kitchen. He had been recording the dimensions of the vehicle using a length of twine when the garage door had given way, and he had dived beneath it for protection before the intruders had seen him. With the intruders now out of the garage, Ratish crawled out of his hiding place. He was about to follow them into the kitchen when he looked out through the hole where the garage door had been. Through the falling snow in the street outside Ratish heard the sound of an engine running. Cautiously, he moved towards the ruined door and looked outside. Though it was dark outside, and the weather reduced visibility even further, Ratish could make out the silhouette of a truck parked opposite. Keeping low, he dashed across the street and made his way through the shadows towards the stationary vehicle. Rhia and Sophie ran up the stairs ahead of Hazug, who went as far as the bottom step backwards. He continued to fire his pistol at the orks forcing their way inside, but he saw no effect on them whatsoever. Reaching the stairs, he turned and ran up them after his servants. “What now?” Sophie asked as Hazug reached the landing, and there was the sound of the front doorframe giving way to the orks pushing against it. Now all six of them were in the building. “Is dat gun workin’?” Hazug asked Sophie. “Yes, I’ve used it,” she
replied. “Den give it to ‘er,”
Hazug said, pointing at Rhia. Then he told Rhia, “Shoot ‘em if dey tries
to come up da stairs while we is gone, but try not to shoot Ratish if ‘e
turns up.” “For more guns,” Hazug
said. Sophie followed Hazug as
he ran to the room holding his supply of
weapons. “Get ya self another
zappa and some ammo for it,” Hazug told Sophie as he picked up his rifle
and loaded both the rifle itself and the rocket launcher mounted beneath
it. “What about grenades?”
Sophie asked, removing a lasgun and ammunition belt from a crate at the
same time. “Not inside,” Hazug
replied, “I just got dis place, I don’t want it flattenin’ already,” and
he slung a bandolier of extra ammunition over his head. He was about to
return to the landing when he spotted the necron warscythe leaning against
the wall in the corner of the room. Though its power source had failed
with the destruction of the necron tomb complex its blade was still deadly
sharp and Hazug plucked it from the corner as he passed
it. “Let’s go,” he
said. As the pair walked back
through Hazug’s bedroom there was the sound of Rhia firing her lasgun from
the top of the stairs, then she appeared ahead running towards
them. “The gun’s empty,” she
said, and the orks are coming up the stairs, it didn’t stop
them.” “Out of da way,” Hazug
said, barging past her. He set the warscythe down near the top of stairs
and aimed his rifle down them, straight at the chest of the leading ork.
He fired a single shot into its body, and the ork flinched under the
impact, but it remained silent and after only a moments pause it continued
to advance on him. Hazug adjusted the fire selector to what mek Batrug had
described as the ‘turbo-dakka’ setting. Hazug pointed the weapon back at
the oncoming orks and squeezed the trigger. There was a roar and a
blast of flame from the muzzle of his rifle as one round after another
shot out in rapid succession. The roar and the blast ceased after just a
moment as the magazine was quickly emptied. On the stairs, the leading ork
had fallen backwards under the hail of bullets and were now getting back
to their feet. “Sod dis,” Hazug said, an
aiming his weapon once more he reached his hand for the secondary trigger
that controlled the under slung rocket
launcher. With a flash, the rocket
flew from beneath the rifle and struck the front ork in the chest,
embedding itself in its flesh. For a moment nothing happened, and the orks
on the stairs continued to get back to their feet. But then there was a
fizzing sound, and a flash of flame from the partially buried
rocket. “Down!” Hazug yelled as
he ducked around a corner and pressed himself against the wall next to the
warscythe and as Rhia and Sophie threw themselves to the floor the rocket
detonated. Hazug stuck his head around the corner to evaluate the damage
he had just inflicted, not only on the orks coming up the stairs, but also
on his home from the use of such a powerful weapon inside
it. Having detonated
partially inside the leading ork, the rocket had blasted him to pieces and
nothing remained of his torso, only his head and limbs now resting where
the explosion had thrown them, and blood had been spread over a wide area.
The ork that had been stood immediately behind the one Hazug had just
destroyed remained upright and was still climbing the stairs. It was
covered in the blood of the destroyed ork but the blast appeared to have
done no more to it than inflict some minor cuts from shrapnel and cover it
in the blood of its former comrade. Hazug noticed that its mechanical
right arm ended at the elbow, but since there was no sign of a severed arm
on the stairs he concluded that Sophie had inflicted this damage earlier
with her lasgun. “Get back!” Hazug shouted
to Rhia and Sophie, “I aint got time to load another rokkit,” and he slung
his rifle over his shoulder, grabbed the warscythe and moved to the door
to his bedroom, Rhia and Sophie moving ahead of
him. Watched by the two
humans, Hazug stood in the doorway brandishing his warscythe. Beyond him
they saw the ork missing an arm reach the top of the stairs and turn to
face them. Hazug pointed the warscythe’s blade at
him. “Come on den!” he
shouted, “Come an’ ‘ave a go if ya think ya ‘ard
enough!” Without speaking the ork
charged at Hazug, its remaining arm held high ready to strike. Hazug
ducked as he drew near and thrust his warscythe upwards. The blade of the
alien weapon pierced the ork’s throat, and even without the energy field
that had allowed it to cut through metal without effort, it was still
sharp enough to tear through the preserved flesh of this reanimated corpse
and take off its head. The headless body collapsed to the floor in a heap,
while the severed head landed next to it. Hazug noticed that its eyes and
jaw continued to move as it lay there. Hazug swung the warscythe
again at the next ork, but this time his opponent reached out and grabbed
the shaft of the weapon before the deadly blade could cut him in two.
Hazug and his assailant now each struggled to break the other’s grip on
the warscythe. Hazug held it firmly with both hands, while the other ork
just grasped it with one of his, a single cybernetic arm giving him a grip
far more powerful than Hazug would have one handed. The remaining orks,
unable to move past the one currently engaging Hazug, just waited behind
him silently. Sophie ran to Hazug and
aimed her lasgun around him. She took aim for the ork’s head and fired a
single shot at it. There was the smell of smouldering flesh as the beam
seared through the ork’s head just above his eye, but aside from charring
some flesh the attack did nothing to bother the ork. Reacting to this new
threat the ork reached out with his free hand to grab for Sophie’s lasgun,
and she ducked further back out of reach. But in trying to grab her weapon
the ork had brought his head closer to Hazug’s, and he now responded by
head butting the attacking ork. The thick bone beneath
Hazug’s forehead met the metal plate that covered the top of his opponents
head with a dull ‘thump’ and the ork span around from the powerful blow,
just far enough for Hazug to be able to ram the warscythe’s blade into his
side without him letting go of it first. The ork released his grip on the
warscythe, and Hazug withdrew the weapon as he collapsed with his spine
severed. But rather than lie dead on the floor, the ork flailed his arms
around and rolled onto his stomach. Then he began to drag himself forwards
towards Hazug, his legs following limply behind
him. The ork took a swing of
his arm at Hazug, but the Blood Axe easily dodged the desperate attack,
and he brought the warscythe crashing down on his crippled opponent. The
blade split open the ork’s head from the top of the skull plate and all
the way down to the base of its neck. The squig brain held inside the
skull was likewise cut in two and the ork slumped face down and lay
still. Hazug retreated into his
bedroom as the next ork began to clamber over the corpses of the two
killed on the landing, and Hazug saw that this was the one he had stabbed
at the front door, the broken spike of wood still jutting out beneath its
jawbone. “Want some more eh?”
Hazug said as the ork cleared its dead comrades. He slid his rifle from
his shoulder and tossed it behind him, “Load dat for us while I deal with
dis berk,” he said over his shoulder. He felt someone remove a spare
magazine from his belt as he turned back to face the next oncoming
ork. The ork charge Hazug with
both arms outstretched, and wrapped them around him in a powerful hug.
Hazug cried out momentarily as the ork squeezed him, unable to swing his
warscythe. Instead Hazug pushed against the ork’s chest to increase the
room for him to breathe, the warscythe slipped to the floor between them.
Then, keeping one hand pushing against his opponent to prevent him from
being crushed, Hazug reached one hand up to the wooden spike and gripped
it. “Where’s dat brain den?”
Hazug said as he moved the spike around inside the other ork’s head. The
orks eyes suddenly went wide as the spike cut through the delicate bundles
of nerves and blood vessels inside its skull and its relaxed its grip on
Hazug. Hazug gave the spike another twist, and the ork went limp and
fell. “Where’s me shoota?”
Hazug shouted, and Rhia passed him the weapon she had reloaded with a
fresh magazine. He aimed at the orks chest. “All together!” he
shouted, “Let rip!” and he emptied the full magazine into the ork, flashes
of light and the crackling sound that Hazug knew indicated human laser
fire from both sides indicated that both Rhia and Sophie were also firing
on the ork. The combination of
bullets and energy beams at point blank range struck the ork straight in
the chest. Bullets ricocheted off the armour plate covering the orks
chest, but as the heating effect of the laser fire made it more brittle,
the plate shattered and the remaining bullets punched into the ork’s chest
itself, accompanied by the laser beams. The ork’s heart, lungs and spine
were complete destroyed and he fell dead at Hazug’s
feet. “Out da window!” Hazug
shouted as he dropped his empty rifle and picked up the warscythe once
more. “What do you mean out of
the window?” Rhia screamed. “The garage roof is out
there,” Sophie shouted as she opened the shuttered window to give access
to the flat, snow covered roof outside. Sophie went first,
followed rapidly by Rhia. Hazug backed to wards the open window, keeping
the warscythe between him and the final remaining ork intruder. He felt
his foot hit the wall and climbed up onto the windowsill and stepped out
onto the garage roof, brandishing the warscythe one handed as he did
so. The ork followed, walking
right up to the window, but as Hazug prepared to engage him, the ork just
stopped and starred at him through the
window. “What’s it doing now?”
Sophie asked, “Why doesn’t t come out here after
us?” “I don’t know, “ Hazug
said, “But it gives me a chance top do dis,” and he thrust the warscythe
two handed into the ork’s neck and neatly decapitated
it. Even as the ork inside
the window was still falling there was the sharp ‘crack’ of gunfire from
the street below, and a bullet hitting it chipped a piece of the corner of
Hazug’s house away. There were more gunshots and Hazug, Rhia and Sophie
all retreated away from the front of the
roof. “Who’s shooting at us?”
Sophie cried. “I’m guessin’ whoever was
bossin’ dem cyborks about,” Hazug said as he tried to get a look at their
new assailant, “Dare,” he said, pointing at the truck parked opposite the
front of the house, “Dare’s someone ‘idin’ behind it.” He drew his pistol
and fired a quick succession of shots towards the stationary truck. Sparks
flew as the rounds bounced off the truck’s structure and Hazug saw a
figure duck down behind it. With this new attack
interrupted, Sophie got up and aimed at the truck herself, the scope built
into the lasgun improving her ability to see through the darkness and poor
weather. Rhia followed her example, aiming at the truck and looking for a
target. There was another gunshot
that passed overhead, and Hazug and the two women returned fire without a
clear view of the shooter. “He’s getting in the
truck, Rhia said as she saw and ork clambering into the driver’s seat of
the vehicle, and moments later the truck’s engine started up. An arm
brandishing a pistol appeared from the truck window and there was another
shot as the truck began to pull away. “Wait ‘ere a mo,” Hazug
said as he leapt from the roof into the street below, scattering snow as
he landed. From there he dashed into
his garage through the ruined door and started his own truck. Quickly, he
backed the vehicle into the street, and then pulled up next to his house
right outside the gaping hole that had been the garage
door. “Jump down!” Hazug shouted up to Rhia and Sophie, “And ‘urry up about it, ‘e’s getting away.” The truck shuddered as Sophie jumped into the back, and when it shuddered again as Rhia landed Hazug put his foot down on the gas pedal and set off after the fleeing truck. |
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