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Da Cybork Menace Chapta 8 | |
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Chapta 8 |
Badcog was furious.
Somehow a single Blood Axe and a pair of small humans had defeated half a
dozen of the cyborks carefully constructed by himself and Gutstitch. To
make matters worse at least one of them had just stood still while Hazug
chopped off its head just because they had left the house. Once outside
the cybork, who had been told to ‘kill everyone inside,’ had just waited
for further orders. He decided that he wouldn’t mention the wording of the
order to Gutstitch, just in case he blamed him for the
fiasco. He drove at speed through
the darkened streets. Normally at this time the streets would still be
full of orks out drinking and fighting, but the snow had convinced most of
them to remain indoors tonight so Badcog was able to keep up a better
pace. This made the sudden lurch of the truck as it was rammed by another
vehicle all the more surprising. Badcog kept his foot on
the gas as he looked over his shoulder to see what had just hit him and
was shocked to see another truck driven by Hazug Throatslitter immediately
behind him. Hazug took one hand off his steering wheel, produced a pistol
and fired at Badcog. Then there were flashes in the darkness as his two
human passengers joined in. Badcog put his foot down
harder on the gas, he ignored the few other road users and pedestrians and
instead concentrated on putting as much distance between himself and Hazug
as he could. There was a crash as he drove through a stack of wooden
crates stacked at the side of the road and the squigs that had been held
inside them were scattered over the road behind him. Hazug also ignored
the confused creatures now wandering about between the two fast moving
vehicles and ran over any that failed get out of his way of their own
accord, but Hazug could see that the truck he was pursuing was getting
further ahead of him now. Then he grinned as it turned off the street they
were on, he kept his foot down hard on the gas pedal and sped past the
turning. “He went that way!”
Sophie shouted. “I knows dat!” Hazug
replied, “But dat street meets up again with dis one ahead, we can cut ‘im
off dare!” The two streets did
indeed join up once more further along as Hazug had stated, and they all
saw their quarry race out of the side street only a short distance ahead
of them now. “Gotcha!” Hazug shouted
as his truck drew level with his target, and he swerved violently, ramming
the fleeing vehicle again. Badcog’s truck lurched
again as Hazug sideswiped it for a second time. Badcog drew his pistol and
pointed to the side of his truck, aiming for Hazug as he sat in his
driver’s seat. He fired a single shot, but it went wide and Badcog dropped
his gun as his vehicle was rammed yet again. He decided to fight fire
with fire, and there was a crashing sound as Badcog swerved into Hazug’s
truck. The two vehicles sped along the street, sparks flying as their
speeds alter slightly and their metal structures ground against one
another. Trying to concentrate on both his own driving, and the presence
of Hazug alongside him, Badcog failed to notice as a small figure coated
in dirt clambered up from where it had been hanging on to the underside of
his vehicle. The repeated lurching of
the truck convinced Ratish that he would be better off riding inside it
than holding on beneath in the hope that it would lead him where ever to
their enemy’s home base was located. He dragged himself up from under the
back of the truck, holding onto the enclosed superstructure as he did so.
The rear cargo and passenger compartment featured several windows in its
construction, each of which was blocked only by a fabric curtain mounted
on the inside. Ratish clambered up to one of these windows and carefully
he pushed the curtain aside and looked into the
vehicle. The rear area was
completely empty, clearly all of the passengers who had rode in the
vehicle had exited it to attack Hazug’s home, while to the front he could
make out a single ork sat in the driver’s seat. He could hear a grinding
sound coming from the far side of the vehicle, but could not identify what
was causing it from here. Ratish dragged himself through the small window
and lowered himself to the floor of the cargo area as quietly as he could
manage. He grabbed one of the benches to steady himself as the vehicle
lurched once more. Silently he crossed the vehicle to one of the windows
opposite, and drew back the curtain to look outside. There he saw his
master’s truck right along side this one, with Hazug driving it and the
two humans he hated more than any others riding along with him. His master
was trying to stop this vehicle, and Ratish knew that he was the only one
who could help him. The driver’s of both
trucks continued to race along with their vehicles jammed up against one
another, trying to force each other off the road. Badcog grinned as he saw
the road ahead narrow suddenly where a building jutted out into it. He
realised that Hazug would be force to brake to avoid driving straight into
the wall, while he could continue straight
on. “Let’s see ya follow me
down ‘ere den!” he yelled at Hazug over the noise of both of the truck
engines as they rapidly approached where the street
narrowed. Hazug too had seen the
wall, and he knew that his quarry was about to slip away from his grasp.
He braked hard, and with another shower of sparks the two trucks were
pulled away from one another. Part of the superstructure of Badcog’s truck
clipped Hazug’s front tyre as they pulled apart, and it shredded as it was
pierced by the rough metal edge. Hazug braked harder, desperate to keep
control of his vehicle and avoid the wall
ahead. Badcog laughed as he
heard Hazug’s tyre give out, followed by the squeal as he was forced to
brake. The loss of the tyre meant that he had escaped; there was no way
that Hazug could replace the tyre in time to catch him. Then he heard
something move in the cargo area behind him. “Gotcha!” Ratish yelled
as he leapt at Badcog, and he wrapped his arms around the mek’s throat and
held on for all his worth. Choking, Badcog let go of
the steering wheel and tried to pull Ratish away from him, but he kept his
foot on the gas pedal. One of the truck’s wheels struck a rock on the
road, and the impact, though small, pushed the truck off course and it
ploughed into the crates and barrels that lined this section of the road.
Badcog reached for the steering wheel again, and slammed his foot down on
the break before his truck could crash into the buildings along side
him. The force of the truck’s
sudden deceleration broke Ratish’s grip on Badcog’s throat and he was
thrown forwards into the front cabin, landing at the ork’s feet near the
pedals. Ratish reached out and pushed down on the gas pedal while
simultaneously biting as hard as he could into one of Badcog’s
legs. “Arrrgh!” Badcog yelled
as he was bitten. He tried keeping his foot on the brake pedal, but even
this did not prevent the truck from lurching forwards once more and
crashing into the wall alongside it. Badcog formed a fist and delivered a
punch strong enough to release Ratish’s bite, knocking out a pair of his
teeth at the same time. Badcog jumped down from
the truck, wincing as he landed on his injured leg. Ratish had bitten as
far as the bone, and Badcog was bleeding continuously from the wound,
Gutstitch would have to patch that up for him. He was just thinking about
retrieving his pistol when he saw Ratish’s arm appear wielding the weapon
himself. Instead Badcog ran from the truck, disappearing into the darkness
before Ratish could fire on him. Still somewhat dazed,
Ratish crawled out of the crashed truck and landed in a heap on the ground
just as Hazug cam charging up with his pistol
drawn. “Where da bleedin’ ‘ell
‘ave ya been grot?” he demanded. “Ratish wanted to follow
‘im to ‘is base master, “ Ratish replied, “But ‘e go away, I still got ‘is
slugga though master,” and Ratish held up the
pistol. “Finders keepers in dis
case grot,” Hazug said, “ya can keep da slugga, but ya can only use when I
says so, understand?” “Yes master,” Ratish
replied, grinning and exposing the gap in his teeth from where he had been
struck. “Good, now get all da
tyres off dis truck,” Hazug ordered, “Replace da busted one on mine and
put da rest in da back. Dey is ours now.” “Yes
master.” “Wot d’ya mean ‘e’s still
alive?” Gutstitch yelled when Badcog relayed to him the evening’s events,
“Ya ‘ad ‘alf a dozen of me cyborks, ‘ow come dey couldn’t kill a single
git lovin’ Blood Axe?” “I reckon dat ‘e tricked
‘em so ‘e could ‘em one at a time,” Badcog explained, “if ya ‘ad just let
me use some of da lads wot is in mega armour dey would ‘ave squashed ‘im
flat.” “And ‘ow would ya ‘ave
got ‘em to where ‘e lives?” Gutstitch asked rhetorically, “Dey is too big
to fit in ya truck, and where is ay truck now
anyway?” “Dat got smashed up too,
I ‘ad to leave it behind. Don’t worry I can make us another in a couple of
days.” “Well we aint got a
couple of days ‘ave we? Dat Blood Axe now as the bodies of our cyborks,
and if ‘e shows ‘em to Warboss Kromag den ‘e’ll ‘ave ‘is lads tearin’ da
planet apart lookin’ for us won’t ‘e?” “So wot are we goin’ to
do den?” Badcog asked. “We aint goin’ to do
anythin’,” Gutstitch replied, “I’m goin’ to ‘ave to ‘andle dis
myself.” “Ow?” “I is goin’ to pin da blame on someone else, dat’s wot. I’ll make sure dat da Warboss reckons dat dare are no more cyborks, and dat da ork wot made is dead. For dat all I need is a few suitable bodies.” “Well
we got plenty of dem stored I suppose,” Badcog said |
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Copyright Notice The Warhammer 40,000 universe is the intellectual property of Games Workshop Ltd. The fiction presented here is a derived work. It is completely unofficial and Games Workshop Ltd has not endorsed any of it. |
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