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Chapta 18 | |
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Da Raiders From Da Shadows Chapta 18 |
“Lord Archon,” the scourge began, “the orks have no artillery. They are accompanied by one of their shamans. He was the source of-“ then the back of the scourge’s head exploded. A moment later the same thing happened to the other scourge and they both tumbled from the raider and tumbled towards the ground. Lord Shraycht did not care. The scourges had done their job and identified the threat to his force. Now all that remained was to deal with it. To send in one or two vehicles would be dangerous. The unpredictable powers of an ork weirdboy were enough to bring them down. Even the entire force could be destroyed by a sufficiently powerful blast of psychic energy. A weirdboy unleashing such a powerful attack would likely be consumed by the energy of his own attack, along with any orks stood too close, but that would be cold comfort to the eldar. No the answer lay in taking the risk of splitting his force and attacking from several directions at once. Lord Shraycht activated his communicator and addressed his troops. “Pilot take us down to ground level, I want the incubi to follow us down as well.” He began, “All other units are to remain at this altitude and encircle the beasts. Await my orders and we will destroy them.” Immediately the pilot of Lord Shraycht’s raider began to descend, at the same time keeping them far enough away from the ork warband to prevent the bulk of them shooting at the vehicle. As the vehicle got even lower, the pilot steered it behind a low hill to conceal it from the orks. The raider holding the six-strong squad of armoured incubi followed them down and when the two transports settled just above the ground their passengers all leapt down, hidden from the view of the ork warband on the far side of the hill. The incubi rushed towards their archon and knelt before him, awaiting his orders. “Raiders,” Lord Shraycht commanded, “return to high altitude. Signal me when you are there.” Then as the raiders took off once more he looked at the intimidating warriors in their stylised spiked armour kneeling before him, “My incubi,” he began, “now you will provide the service you have been contracted for. When our vehicles distract the beasts we shall charge at them from ground level. We will show them what pain and suffering are all about.” Then he clamped a fist over his chest. In unison the incubi stood up straight and held their swords in front of their chests. There was a crackling sound as the energy field around the weapons were activated. Lord Shraycht looked over his shoulder towards his two remaining bodyguards. “Stay close to me.” He said, “No matter what happens, stay close to me.” Hazug observed the two eldar vehicles as they took off from behind the hill. With the magnification provided by the tau device it was obvious to him that the decks of the transports were now empty. “Dare warboss just got off ‘is wagon.” Hazug said, “Wot’s da other lot doin’?” and he looked up into the sky at where the other dark eldar craft were. He saw that the vehicles were no longer stationary. Instead they were spreading out across the sky, “Dey is tryin’ to surround us.” He said. Then he returned the viewing device to his belt and checked his rifle, “Get in a circle lads!” he called out, “Dey’ll come at us from more dan one direction at once I reckon.” “Ya ‘eard ‘im!” Gorgoga bellowed, “Get at da front me lads. Gimme a wall of iron!” The warband rushed about as its members formed a circle. On the outer edge were the orks; those with shorter ranged weapons standing in front of the troops armed with rifles and other longer ranged ones. Gorgoga’s unit repeated what Hazug had seen them do when he had first encountered them, forming a line with their thick, heavy shields placed up against one another to form a continuous line of armoured metal. His time however, Gorgoga himself was part of the line instead of standing behind it. With the orks on the outside of the circle, the warband’s gretchin retreated towards the centre and began to break open the supplies that they had brought with them. With a single yell, any ork unit in the circle could call for more ammunition or rations. Along with the gretchin were several orks. These were the mekboys and painboys that joined the warband, like the gretchin they would wait until their services were called for and go where they were needed. Hazug stood in the very centre of the circle from where he could give orders more easily. Apart from his servants, Drazzok and Thuggrim stood with him. “’Ow is ya Drazzok?” Hazug asked. “I got a poundin’ ‘eadache.” Drazzok replied, “Dat’s wot ‘appens when too much power goes through me.” “Reckon ya can get off a couple of more blasts?” “Da great Drazzok is always ready for battle!” Thuggrim interrupted and at the same time he snapped to attention and grinned. “Not at da mo.” Drazzok said, ignoring what Thuggrim had just said, “But when it all kicks of I reckon dat I should be able to recharge a bit quicker.” “Right den,” Hazug said, “all we can do now is wait.” They did not have to wait long. With a scream of engines the eldar vehicles dropped from the sky all around the encircled greenskins. “Let rip!” both of Two Heads bellowed as soon as he saw the approaching eldar and there was the thunderous report of almost two hundred guns firing at once. The fact that the eldar were beyond the effective range of many of them did not enter into it. Most of the eldar vehicles settled some distance from the ork formation and allowed their occupants to leap down to the ground. But three of them, the two raiders that had already unloaded heir passengers beyond the hill and the heavier ravager charged directly at the orks with their weapons firing. As the destructive energy beams tore through the massed ranks of greenskins there were screams not only for those orks hit but also form others that called out that they were blinded. “Its da beams!” a painboy standing near to Hazug called out, “Dey is too bright for our eyes.” “Don’t look straight at da beams!” Hazug bellowed as the painboy rushed towards the downed orks, ready to pull out a few teeth in exchange for his help. Hazug braced his rifle in his shoulder and placed his finger over the secondary trigger. He aimed at the largest eldar vehicle, the ravager with its multiple weapons that were blasting away at his warband. The rifle kicked as the explosive projectile was launched and Hazug watched its progress as it flew through the air, its rocket motor igniting after a short delay. He quickly saw that the round would land short, the eldar vehicle had slowed slightly as its pilot decided that his vehicle was at the optimum distance from the ork lines in stead of continuing to some straight at them. The round exploded just in front of the ravager. Pieces of shrapnel bounced of its lightly armoured prow and ripped through its delicate sails, but its weapons kept on firing. However, one piece of the shrapnel produced by Hazug’s rocket struck the vehicle’s pilot and the eldar clutched at his throat as he desperately tried to stop the flow of blood that pumped out. The eldar crumpled and collapsed on the deck of his vehicle. The gunners looked around in confusion as the ravager suddenly began to move out of control and began to tip over. Dirt and rocks were thrown up from the ground as the prow of the ravager crashed nose first. Moving only slowly, the vehicle came to a dead halt and the stunned gunners began to climb back to their stations where their weapons remained operational. “Quick lads!” Gorgoga bellowed when he saw the eldar vehicle crash in front of his troops, “We’ll ‘ave ‘em now! Waaargh!” and joined by his armoured orks he charged out of the circle towards the crashed ravager. “Give ‘em some cover!” Hazug yelled as he struggled to load a second rocket beneath his rifle. The amount of gunfire on Gorgoga’s side of the circle intensified as nearby orks turned to shoot at the ravager and the two raiders supporting it. Heavy fire from a belt fed weapon raked across the deck of one of the raiders and its crew jerked as they were riddled with bullets. Like the ravager before it this vehicle crashed into the ground but unlike that vehicle the raider burst into flames as more ork weapons fire struck it and a cheer went up from the ork lines. A blast of alien energy struck one of Gorgoga’s troops as they reached the downed ravager. Despite the thick shield he held out in front of him, the ork was blasted apart by the energy and tiny pieces of metal and bone could be heard bouncing off the armour worn by the rest of Gorgoga’s unit. Gorgoga let out a roar of defiance and swung his powerclaw at the nearest of the eldar gunners. The alien ducked back before the blow could connect with him, but instead Gorgoga found himself grasping one of the ravager’s weapons in his claw and he ripped it away from its mounting. The shocked eldar scrabbled backwards and reached for a rifle clipped tot eh deck behind him. “Where ya goin’?” Gorgoga bellowed as he pursued the eldar, shoving one of his own troops out of the way as he did so. The eldar reached the weapon he sought and swung it towards the Gorgoga. The Goff nob responded by swinging his shield and effortlessly knocking the rifle out of the eldar’s grip. Then he swung it again and the edge caught the eldar under his jaw. As the alien’s head jerked backwards from the blow Gorgoga aimed a punch at his chest and the eldar’s torso exploded when the powerclaw smashed through it. A cry of pain form nearby told Gorgoga that another of his troops was down, his body struck by the destructive alien weapons that the ravager carried. Gorgoga moved across the deck of the alien vehicle, heading towards one of its side-mounted weapons. Quickly he spotted that although the eldar gunner kept on throwing glances at him, she did not swivel her weapon towards him. “Get on da wagon lads!” Gorgoga yelled, “Da pansy guns don’t turn dis way!” and he continued to advance on the gunner. Panicking, the dark eldar leapt of the ravager herself and began to flee towards the nearby surviving raider. Realising that he was now alone, the final gunner did likewise, grabbing hold of a rifle before he too ran towards the supposed safety of the other vehicle. Gorgoga grabbed one of his troops, one that carried a rocket launcher instead of the pistol and blade that the rest of the unit carried. “Oi Durkon!” he yelled, “Give ‘em a goin’ away present!” The ork
grinned and braced his weapon on part of the ravager as he aimed at the
raider. The alien vehicle slowed as it came in lower to pick up the two
dark eldar warriors now fleeing towards it. From the far side of the hill Lord Shraycht and the troops with him heard the sound of the explosion. “With me.” He said, “But keep low.” And they all followed the archon towards the top of the hill. Once there Lord Shraycht lay down and crawled just far enough to see over. What he saw shocked him. The ravager, the most powerful weapon that he had brought with him had orks swarming all over it as lay helpless on the ground while the two raiders that had supported it were both burning wrecks. Beyond the remains of the three vehicles the ork position held fast. Most of the greenskins were simply waving their fists towards the dark eldar and yelling in their crude language, but a few that had longer ranged weapons were engaging the remaining raiders as they deployed their troops. As Lord Shraycht watched another of the vehicles was hit and crashed, scattering the squad that had just disembarked. “Dracon Lurshal,” Lord Shraycht said, activating his communicator so he could address the most senior of the dark eldar, “what is your status?” “Troops deployed my lord. My squad is still aboard our transport, we will deploy directly into the ork lines.” “Excellent, move quickly though, the beasts have already destroyed the first wave.” “Yes my lord.” Lord Shraycht shut off his communicator and watched as the rest of his force engaged the orks. It began with the disembarked squads of warriors, spreading out they formed a rough semicircle from which they poured fire into the orks who for the most part responded in kind. However, here and there an ork or two grew impatient and ran from the circle, screaming and waving his weapons above his head as he attempted to charge the dark eldar. Invariably these orks were cut down after just a handful of paces. In battle it was not wise to draw attention to oneself in such a way. “Nobs!” Hazug bellowed, “Control ya lads! Don’t let ‘em go runnin’ off!” Hazug looked around. He could see orks falling from eldar gunfire in the half of the circle furthest from the hill that he knew sheltered the eldar from the other two vehicles. If this continued he would have move troops away from that side to prevent the other from collapsing entirety. Then came the scream of engines again. “Da wagons!” Drazzok shouted and he pointed upwards to where the now mainly empty eldar transports were swooping down towards the centre of the circle. “Scatter!” Hazug shouted as the raiders descended and began to fire on the orks from within their formation. “Waaargh!” Hazug heard in stereo and he saw Two Heads and his mob break away from the inside of the circle and rush towards the nearest raider to them. The mob of Evil Suns still had hold of their rifles and as they ran they sprayed gunfire across the vehicle. The multitude of bullet hits punctured the vehicle’s thin skin all over and tore through its crew. The wrecked vehicle lurched forwards before it crashed to the ground. “We got some cover now lads!” one of Two Heads bellowed and his mob joined him in using the wreckage as a barrier between themselves and the other dark eldar vehicles. As the Evil Suns began to fire, attempting to pick out the crews of the raiders another of them settled down and disgorged a squad of dark eldar. Hazug himself looked about to check on Ratish and Sophie. Both his servants were stood beside him, Ratish clutching the leash of Cuddles who was trying to leap towards the eldar, growling and snapping his jaws together while Sophie was crouched down rocking the baby’s basket. “Sophie get to
Two Heads.” Hazug ordered. “Bring Cuddles.” With his rifle held in both hands, Hazug ran towards the dark eldar vehicles. Without pausing to aim properly he launched another rocket. It struck the mast of one of the raiders and the vehicle’s sail came crashing down. With the strange energy field that held the raider aloft suddenly destabilised it wobbled in flight as its pilot struggled with the controls. The gunner ceased fire immediately, the raider was no longer a stable platform and he feared hitting one of the other vehicles. Seeing their chance, a group of orks broke away from the inner edge of the circle and, led by their nob they rushed at the damaged raider. Hazug turned away as the orks began to swarm over their target, hacking at its crew and hurling parts of their dismembered bodies from the deck to the gretchin still scattered about below. With that vehicle out of the fight Hazug dropped his rifle and instead pulled his warscythe from his back. He thumbed the switch to activate the blade and with a roar he charged at the eldar warrior jumping down from one of the raiders. The aliens hacked at the cowering gretchin who were all around them, while an ork mek that rushed towards them armed with a custom energy weapon was consumed by fire when it’s energy cell overheated and exploded. Two of the eldar were armed with heavier versions of their standard rifle and they both crouched down before firing sustained bursts of poisoned shards into the orks, preventing them from charging the eldar. However, Hazug was coming from the opposite direction and the first thing that the eldar knew of his approach was when he leapt into the middle of them. With a single swing of his warscythe he cut two of the aliens in half. The sound of running alerted him to the approach of an eldar from behind and he elbowed the charging alien in the face. The alien dropped to the ground and before he could pick himself up Ratish released Cuddles’ leash and the trained squig pounced on top of him. With his own energy blade active, Dracon Lurshal charged at Hazug. He swung his sword, expecting it to cleave through Hazug only to see his attack blocked by Hazug’s warscythe. The ancient necron weapon blocked the strike entirely and when Hazug pulled his weapon back towards him its blade instead cut through the eldar’s weapon as if it were paper. Lurshal looked on in amazement at his ruined sword. He had carried the weapon for centuries and now it had been destroyed at the hands of a being he considered a primitive savage. Dropping the ruined blade, he brought up his pistol and aimed it at Hazug. But before he could fire he suddenly screamed out in pain as Ratish drove his dagger into the eldar’s knee. Hazug brought the grip of his warscythe around and smashed it across Lurshal’s jaw. The Dracon fell, his pistol falling from his grasp. Hazug ignored the fallen eldar and instead turned his attention to those still firing at the ork lines. Lurshal began to pull himself across the ground, seeking to reclaim his lost gun. But as he reached out the breath was knocked from him as Ratish jumped on top of him. “Gotcha!” the gretchin shouted and he stuck his knife into Lurshal’s back. A sudden crashing sound attracted the attention of eldar and greenskin alike. Hazug whirled around, shoving an eldar away from him as he did so just in time to see two of the surviving raider transports collide. “We got ‘em!” Two Heads shouted at Hazug, pointing towards one of the raiders where the pilot was slumped over his controls. But what
interested Hazug more was that the two vehicles, though uncontrolled were
still moving. Like Hazug, the eldar warriors rushed to get out of the way. But without their dracon to give orders they simply moved in whatever direction they chose as individuals. The two raiders came crashing down, breaking apart and sending pieces of their structure flying. Greenskin and eldar alike ducked to avoid the debris and for a moment the shooting within the circle all stopped. From his position on the hill Lord Shraycht watched the progress of the battle. He had always intended that Lurshal would die. He had wanted to be sure that the Dracon would not be in a position to challenge him later on. But what he had not expected was that the orks would be so successful in destroying so many raiders so rapidly. The dismounted dark eldar warriors using the vehicles’ assault to distract from their own careful advance were not yet close enough to make the best use of their weapons, but if Lord Shraycht delayed any longer then he would lose the last of his transports. “Raider, withdraw.” He ordered using his communicator. “What about the trueborn my lord?” the pilot replied. “Leave them to the beasts.” Lord Shraycht replied. |
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