Da 'Ole Of Death

Chapta 11

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Da 'Ole Of Death

Prologue

Chapta 1

Chapta 2 

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Chapta 4 

Chapta 5 

Chapta 6 

Chapta 7 

Chapta 8 

Chapta 9 

Chapta 10 

Chapta 11 

Chapta 12 

Chapta 13 

Chapta 14 

Chapta 15 

Chapta 16 

Chapta 17 

Chapta 18 

Chapta 19 

Chapta 20 

Chapta 21 

Chapta 22 

Chapta 23 

Chapta 24 

Chapta 25 

Chapta 26 

Chapta 27 

Epilogue 


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Unexpected.

The ancient mind now experienced some confusion. All of the available data indicated that the intruders were of a species that, once a course of action had been begun, would not deviate from it. There was of course a member of another species with them, the same species that had intruded a handful of decades earlier, but its demeanour suggested that it was subservient to at least the majority of the others. Allowing the intruders to escape could cause complications by giving them the opportunity to warn others before the army was ready to be fully deployed, but their route was taking them back through the inspection corridor of the complex’s primary weapon and none of the units currently active would be able to intercept them before they could reach the surface. The mind checked the status of the portal that the intruders had forced open. The signal applied had caused the mechanism that maintained the barrier to fail completely, and it would be possible to reseal it until key components had been replaced. Again this could not be done before the intruders escaped. An interception would therefore have to take place after they had left the complex entirely.

 

Hazug hurried the warband along the passageway, ever alert for any sign that they were being pursued by any more of the alien machines. Given that over half of the orks he had originally lead into this place were now dead, it was a great relief when they reached the first chamber they had encountered, where rope ladders leading to the surface still dangled from above.

“Right lads,” Hazug said, “let Drazzok Sophie and da grots up first, den we follow ‘em.”

“’Ow come dey go first boss?” one of the orks asked

“Cos dey is less use in a fight Ubgrub,” Hazug said, reinforcing the point with a slap around the ork’s head.

“Ow! Alright I wos only askin’.”

“Less askin, more doin’. Now everyone keep watch in case we ‘as been followed. Drazzok give us a shout when ya is all at da top.”

The ork warriors kept their weapons trained on the open portal while the first group ascended to the surface. When a shout came from Drazzok that they had all reached the surface safely Hazug pointed to five of the orks one after another.

“Get up dem ladders ya all, den we’ll follow ya when ya is at da top.”

The five orks all signalled their agreement, and sprinted to the ladders and began to climb. Again a call came from the top of the shaft that everybody was safe and Hazug spoke again.

“Right now us,” he said, and the remaining orks all made for the ladders.

Part way there Hazug stopped suddenly.

“Wot’s up boss?” Nizz asked from one of the ladders.

“I just want to try somethin’,” Hazug said and he went to the crystal at the centre of the chamber with the alien weapon in his hands, “dat human mekboy Castus said dat dis wos for focusin’ energy, and I reckon dat makes it part of da zappa dat shot down our kroozer. Maybe if I smash dis up den wotever’s runnin’ dis place won’t be able to do dat again.” Hazug lifted the alien weapon above his head, gripping its end tightly in both hands. Then in a single, fluid motion he brought the impossibly sharp blade down on the crystal itself. There was a flash of light as the blade struck the crystal, followed a fraction of a second later by a loud bang as it exploded sending fragments of the crystal flying in all directions.

“Wot’s goin’ on down dare?” Drazzok demanded from above.

“Da boss just blew up dat crystal thingy,” Nizz shouted back, “’e’s smacked it real good an all, dare’s bits all over down ‘ere.”

Hazug checked the weapon just in case it had been damaged, but it appeared that the blade was undamaged. Then he looked down at his feet and saw that, as Nizz had said the floor was covered in fragments of the green crystal, some of which were almost as big as his fist. He bent over and scooped up a couple of handfuls and stuffed them in a pouch. Then he examined where the crystal had rested before he destroyed it. The hole stretched down quite a distance, but below Hazug was sure that he could see the green glow being emitted by the spire at the heart of the alien city.

“Thought so,” he said, and then he slung his weapon and made his way to the surface.

 

Error.

Damage.

Weapon system shut down.

Events were unfolding in a manner that would have triggered all sorts of distracting emotions in a lesser being, but the ancient mind had been separated from these long ago. Now the destruction of the primary focusing element for the complex’s main armament was just another event to be filed and acted upon. Not that it was insignificant, however, the mind was very much aware that it longer possessed any weaponry capable of firing on targets in deep space, and those that could fire on targets in near orbit could not guarantee a one shot kill on targets the size of the vessels it knew the inhabitants of this world had at their disposal. Theoretically it was now vulnerable.

Assistance.

The thought occurred that help could be sought from another source, but a check on the data of nearby forces indicated that there was nothing close enough that was had sufficient power to be of use.

Alone.

The mind knew that it would have to make do with its own forces. It quickly calculated the chance that an orbital weapons strike could harm it down here based on its observations over the years.

One in fifteen thousand, three hundred and eighty-two.

So it was unlikely, but still an outside possibility.

 

The casualties suffered underground meant that there was now enough room in the truck for everyone.

“We needs to move fast,” Hazug said as he started the engine, “and squiggoths aint anywhere near fast enough. Just let ‘em go and everyone climb on.”

The engine roared as Hazug accelerated away from the gaping hole, unsure as to whether the aliens underground possessed any vehicles fast enough to follow them.

“Everyone keep an eye,” he said, “if ya see anythin’ just shoot at it.”

In the desert beyond the outer most of the pillars that lead to the central hole the sands shifted slightly, not from the movement of anything solid, but from the displacement of air as something began to appear. Green lightning danced across the sand momentarily as the teleport sequence progressed and three hovering platforms, each with a humanoid torso mounted on top materialised. The torso resembled the skeletal figures that had confronted the orks, only slightly larger. Each of them had a single humanoid arm, the other terminating in a bulky weapon made of crystal and metal below the elbow. Once fully formed, the three machines scanned their environment. They detected the noise of a crude liquid burning engine, and concentrating in that direction saw that an object moving across it at high speed was disturbing the desert. Moving without any sound, the three hoverers moved to intercept, kicking up their own cloud of dust as they did so.

Sat in the truck, Drazzok quizzed Hazug regarding his intentions.

“So we is just goin’ to tell da local warboss dat dare’s a city full of killin’ machines under da desert and ‘e really ought to do somethin’ about it den?”

“Dat’s da idea. We’ll show ‘im dat skull, and da pictures I took. I reckon dat should prove wot we is sayin’.”

Suddenly there was gunfire from the rear of the truck.

“We is bein’ followed boss!” Gobnok shouted as he and the other orks fired.

Hazug chanced a look over his shoulder. At first he saw nothing but the cloud of dust he was leaving behind him, but then he caught sight of more dust plumes in the distance.

“Quit shootin’,” he yelled, “Dey is well out of range.”

Reluctantly the orks ceased fire.

“We is well ahead of ‘em,” Hazug said, “but if we need to stop for anythin’ dey’ll catch up with us.”

“Will we ‘ave to stop?” Drazzok asked.

“Maybe, I’ll ‘ave to put some more fuel in sooner or later.”

“So dey is goin’ to catch us up den.”

Hazug didn’t answer; he was too busy searching the desert ahead for something. He soon found what he was looking for, a large rocky outcrop in the sand. He steered towards it.

“Get ready lads,” he shouted, “I got a way to get behind ‘em.”

Drawing closer to the rocks, Hazug reduced the speed of the truck and as he drew level with it there was a green flash and a beam of light shot past the vehicle as one of the alien machines fired. The orks in the back of the truck began to shoot back.

“’Old ya fire,” Hazug shouted, “dey aint in range yet.”

The three machines pursuing the truck watched as it disappeared behind the rocks just as it came within firing range. Without a second thought they kept up their pursuit and followed the path taken by the truck. Which was exactly what Hazug wanted them to do.

Rather than continue to drive on past the rock, Hazug steered his truck around it. Having allowed the alien machines to get closer mean that by the time he appeared on the far side the rock was in between them. Grinning, Hazug accelerated once more and continued to drive around the rock until the three hovering alien machines appeared in front of the truck.

“Now,” Hazug shouted, “let rip!”

The aliens had been operating under the assumption that the ork truck had continued driving straight past the rock formation, so the sudden appearance of the crude vehicle behind them was unexpected. The gunfire had little effect; the orks’ pistols lacked the stopping power necessary to inflict serious damage. However, the truck itself was a different matter. Hazug continued to accelerate when the aliens came into view, and directed the truck straight at them.

He easily caught up with the rearmost alien just as it was turning to face him, and smashed into it. The thick metal platting mounted at the front of the truck buckled under the impact but the effect on the alien was far more severe. The torso was ripped clear by the impact, and while the body remained lodged in the truck’s frontal armour plate the torso flew over the heads of the orks. It disappeared into the dust cloud behind the truck and only a faint green light from within the cloud gave any indication that it had just vanished as the orks had seen the other alien machines do when destroyed. Simultaneously the body jammed to the front of the truck vanished, taking with it a large part of the armour plate itself that was wedged into it.

Unfortunately the high speed of the truck did not allow Hazug to repeat his manoeuvre against either of the other two machines, and as he passed them they fired on the truck from point blank range. One of the energy beams struck an ork, where the beam struck first his skin and then his flesh was peeled away. The remains of the ork fell from the truck and rolled across the desert.

In response the remaining ork passengers fired from point blank range at the nearest alien machine. Again the bullets failed to penetrate the machine’s armour, but it was nevertheless forced to abort its attack. Meanwhile Hazug aimed the truck towards the third machine. Used to Hazug’s ramming tactic the machine easily moved out of the way of the truck, but as it sped past Drazzok grabbed Hazug’s alien blade and held it out, slicing through the machine and triggering its disappearance.

Hazug looked around, expecting the final alien machine to have also vanished, but this was not the case. Instead it had increased its altitude, now hovering above the ground at a height that made it impossible for Hazug to either ram it or reach it with the staff blade. Some of the orks tried shooting at the machine once more, but yet again the bullets ricocheted off its heavily armoured body. Green light spat from the alien’s weapon, narrowly missing the truck as Hazug swerved wildly, prompting several shouts of complaint from his passengers in the back.

“I needs me shoota!” Hazug shouted, “We’ll ‘ave to stop. When I do everybody jump out and keep shootin’ at dat thing.”

True to his word, Hazug slammed on the brakes and brought the truck to a complete stop, spoiling the aim of the alien machine which fired a burst at where the truck would have been had it kept moving at the same speed. The occupants of the truck bailed out and fired at the alien, still without any success. In return the alien shot back, and the body of another ork dissolved when struck by the deadly energy beams. Meanwhile Hazug himself retrieved his rifle from the rear of the truck and also the crate that contained the rockets for mounting beneath it. He clicked one of the explosive projectiles into place and lifted the weapon to his shoulder. Looking down the barrel he saw the alien machine hovering motionless in the air, apparently confident that the orks’ gunfire could not harm it. Hazug squeezed the trigger of his rifle gently, and fired a single bullet. It missed. Adjusting his aim he fired another bullet just as an unfortunate gretchin was consumed by another burst of fire from the alien. This time he hit his target dead centre with sparks flying as it bounced off, and now satisfied that his aim was true he depressed the secondary trigger before the machine had chance to move away and launched his rocket along the same trajectory as the last bullet.

Unable to react in time, the alien machine took the full force of the rocket attack when the round slammed into it where the humanoid body joined the hovering platform and the two parts were blasted apart in an explosion that consumed them in flame. No wreckage fell to the ground however, it having vanished into thin air.

The orks cheered their victory, some of them firing into the air until Hazug ordered them to cease fire.

“We aint got dat many rounds left remember,” he told them as he stowed his rifle next to the drivers seat, “now everyone back on da trukk, we still got a long way to go.”

Once again Hazug pushed the truck hard, wanting to reach the continent’s main city before more of the alien machines could catch up with them. But as it happened, it was not the mysterious aliens that were to be the next obstacle.

 

Assist.

In a star system many billions of miles away another equally ancient and powerful mind awoke as it received the call from one of its brethren. This mind was located in the coldness of space itself, and was surrounded by many crescent shaped craft a mile or more across that floated lifelessly near it. When the call for help was received the mind began to awaken some of these craft, and soon after they began to accelerate away towards the source of the distress call. Satisfied that it had done what was required of it, this second alien mind returned to its own slumber once more.

 

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