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Chapta 1

Chapta 2

Chapta 3

Chapta 4

Chapta 5

Chapta 6

1.

 

The necron army was no more. With the destruction of their tomb, the machine creatures’ power had been cut off and both the necrons and their war machines had promptly ceased to function. Now the victorious orks turned their attention to the most important matter of warfare.

There was loot to be had and it needed to be claimed.

Orks and their smaller gretchin servants now swarmed over the battlefield in search of anything they considered worth recovering. For the most part this was scrap metal from destroyed vehicles of either side, but the bodies of the dead were also considered worthy of investigation. Not the necrons of course, their metal bodies were nothing more than scrap to the orks and treated exactly the same as their equipment. But the corpses of the orks could quite easily still have undamaged limbs that could be used for transplants for the injured and more importantly they could still have teeth in their mouths that could be extracted. Orks used their teeth, though not those of the smaller gretchin as currency so anyone with a pair of pliers could net themselves a tidy sum if they could find enough bodies. They only part of the battlefield considered off limits was the massive gargant, an enormous walking machine that was not only one of the most powerful weapons of war but also an idol regarded as the personification one or both of the main ork gods Gork and Mork. The gargant had been wrecked by multiple hits from necron weaponry but enough of its structure remained intact that it was considered salvageable. Now a team orks working for Warboss Kazkal Kromag himself, the biggest and thus highest ranking ork on the planet. Anyone else that got too close to the gargant was fired on, with the number of warning shots depending only on how many it took for the guards to get their aim right.

Some of the groups of scavenging greenskins had specific items in mind as thy hunted through the wreckage strewn across the battlefield, whilst others were simply interested only in grabbing as much as they could before anyone else did. But in either case whatever they recovered was loaded up onto a suitable vehicle to be transport back to the workshops of the mekaniaks who would then recycle it all into more weapons and vehicles.

As a member of the Death Skulls clan Trurkor was an expert at looting and had a keen eye for things that would make him money. Like many of his clan Trurkor was also not averse to scavenging items whose owners were still very much alive but not paying enough attention. As the Death Skulls often said, “Finder’s keeper’s.”

On this occasion though every bit of scrap metal and weaponry recovered from the battlefield had no one else left alive to claim ownership and he had three large truck piled high. Standing in the cupola of his largest vehicle, a half tracked wagon equipped with a large claw that was useful not only for loading scarp onto the vehicle but also as a weapon against other vehicles, Trurkor looked around. Behind him came the other two transport vehicles of his convoy, both only slightly smaller than his personal battlewagon while all around a group of half a dozen lightweight buggies provided extra protection and advanced warning just in case any other groups of orks decided to try and help themselves to Trurkor’s loot. As it happened Trurkor did not need these outriders to provide him with warning of the attack when it came, the convoy’s attackers made enough noise of their own.

The first vehicles to appear over the crest of a nearby hill were warbikes, each carrying a single rider who did his best to roar over the noise of his bike’s engine. These riders handled their bikes in such an erratic manner that targeting them became difficult, requiring not only leading of shots but also some effort to see through the thick clouds of dirt and smoke produced as they churned up the ground beneath them.

Trurkor grinned as he heard the first gunfire, a sustained rattling of an automatic weapon from one of his escorting buggies that tore up the ground beside the lead warbike and he clambered down into his wagon to address the driver.

“Swing us around!” he ordered, “Dey just got bikes so we can flatten ‘em and den take wot’s left.”

“Goddit boss.” The driver replied and he swerved sharply, taking the battlewagon off the main trail onto looser ground where it too began to churn up the mud. Wanting a direct view of the warbikes as his battlewagon rode over them Trurkor remained where he was, leaning over the shoulder of the driver and staring out through the vision slit at the front of the battlewagon. But his eyes widened as he saw that the warbikers were not alone.

One of the buggies acting as convoy escorts suddenly vanished in a ball of flame as a rocket fired from one of the newly arrived lightweight half tracks slammed into its fuel tank.
”Wartraks!” Trurkor yelled, causing his driver to flinch and then he looked around at the group of gretchin in the vehicle with them, “Get on da shootas ya grots! We needs to get ‘em before dey shoots a rokkit into our loot.”

Many battlewagons mounted large calibre guns or powerful energy weapons in turrets, but Trurkor had always regarded his vehicle as a way of gathering and transporting more loot more than a fighting machine. Therefore although it did mount a pair of automatic weapons in sponsons on each side it lacked anything bigger. The sponsons were nothing more than open topped platforms stuck to the side of the battlewagon surrounded by a lo barrier that was there more to provide a way of conveniently mounting the belt fed weapons that to prevent the gunners from simply falling off. Nevertheless, between them the four gunners could fire in any direction and all had an ample supply of looted ammunition.

The four gretchin opened fire as soon as they were in position; firing short bursts as warbikes zoomed past on either side. Gretchin were better marksmen than their larger cousins and three of the attacking bikers fell, either because they had been shot themselves or they warbike had been shot out from underneath them.

Then the battlewagon shook and an explosion echoed through its interior as another rocket from a wartrack slammed into it heavy frontal armour. The weapon failed to penetrate the armour, but it left both the orks inside somewhat dazed. The explosion caught the attention of the gretchin gunners though and all four turned their efforts again the wartracks rather than the smaller warbikes, spraying gunfire all over them and one flipped over as its driver jerked under the impact of several bullets. The gretchin responsible for this cheered loudly until he caught sight of what had just come striding over the top of the hill.

The machine walked on two legs and possessed a cylindrical body. It stood four time the height of a typical ork and had two pairs of vicious looking arms. One pair ended in massive claws that opened and close as the machine advanced while one the ends of the other two arms were massive spinning circular saw blades.

Trurkor recovered his senses after the rocket attack just in time to shout a warning to his driver.

“Kan!” he bellowed and his driver steered directly at the walking machine, aiming to simply run it down.

The ork hardwired into the dreadnought walking machine saw the battlewagon turn towards him and realised in an instant what its driver was attempting to do. In response he brought the claw tipped arm on one side closer towards the dreadnought’s body while extended out the buzz saw arm on the same side. Then at the last minute he tried to sidestep away from the battlewagon at the same time as he tried to thrust the saw blade into it.

There was an almighty ‘Crash!’ as the dreadnought was knocked aside by the battlewagon and was thrown through the air to land on its back, its arms and legs flailing wildly as the pilot found himself unable to get back up. However the effect on the battlewagon was far more severe. The spinning blade sliced through the vehicle’s thick armour plating only to then shatter and spray fragments around the interior that decapitated the driver. Out of control the battlewagon struck a rock and rolled over, the pile of precious scrap metal being scattered across the ground before the vehicle came to a halt on it’s roof.

Dazed but still alive Trurkor dragged himself out of the wreckage and tried to assess how the battle was going. The answer from his point of view was not well. All of his wagons had been brought to a halt and the buggies he had used for extra security were now just twisted piles of metal themselves. Hearing the sound of heavy breathing he looked upwards and saw a large ork towering over him as he lay on the ground.

“Ya ain’t ‘avin’ me loot.” He croaked and the big ork scowled.

“It aint ya scrap no more.” He replied, “It’s mine.” And then he brought a large booted foot down on Trurkor’s head.

 

Mek Batrug held the alien made sword and examined it closely. Then he frowned as he looked up at the customer who had brought it into his workshop, a ork nob dressed in the traditional red coloured clothing of the Evil Suns clan. This particular nob had a very distinctive appearance, the pod that he had grown is had been corrupted by some outside element that had caused him to be born with a second head and this had contributed to his name of Two Heads Smasha Butt Face. The rest of his name came from his habit of ramming a rifle butt into the face of anyone who asked about the two heads.

“Well?” one of the heads asked as the other just stared back at Batrug.

“Well I can make it work I reckon.” The mekboy answered, “But it’ll cost ya.”
”Yeah, yeah I know dat.” The same head replied before the other one added,“ Hazug told us wot it cost for ya to get dat big choppa wot ‘e nicked from da necrons workin’.”

“Yeah, well ya see dat’s da problem aint it?” Batrug began to explained and both of Two Heads frowned, “With dat big choppa of Hazug’s I ‘ad loads of room to work inside it didn’t I? Now ya brought me some of dem power cells wot ya looted from gits and dey’ll make it work at least for a while. But I needs to be able to alter da gubbins so dat da power cell will fit.”
”Den alter da gubbins.” Two Heads said.

“I would, but I aint got da parts. I needs bits from more necron choppas to work with and dare aint none.”

Two Heads continued to frown.

“Squig crap.” One of him commented. Then the other continued, “Dare must be loads of dat stuff lyin’ about by now. Da ground was littered with it from wot I ‘eard. If we adn’t been plantin’ dat bomm den I’d ‘ave grabbed meself an ‘ole armload of it.”

“Dat’s just it innit?” Batrug replied, “Dare aint no loot turned up. Oh dare’s lads and nobs wot ‘ave got all sorts of souvenirs and such, but right no dare aint a single wagon come back with stuff for trade.”

“Why not?” Two Heads asked and then the other one followed with, “I though dat da boss ‘ad given orders dat all da loot was to come back ‘ere so dat ‘e could take a look at it.”

“Dat’s wot ‘e said alright. But it aint ‘ere yet is it? If it was den I’d be able to do ay a better deal. But right now if ya wants me to get dat choppa workin’ den its gonna cost ya thirty teeth just for parts.”

Two Heads reached out and snatched the alien weapon back away from Batrug.
”Thirty teeth my arse. I can buy an entire wagon for dat.” And he turned around and began to stride out of the workshop.

“Where ya goin’?” Batrug called out after him, “Ya won’t find anyone else dat’ll do it cheaper until da loot arrives.”

“I knows dat.” Two Heads replied, “So I is goin’ to go and find out wot’s ‘appened to it all aint I?”

 

2.

 

A young human female opened the door to Hazug’s home.

“Sophie. I needs to speak to Hazug.” Two Heads told her.
”Salia.” The human replied, “I’m Salia.” And Two Heads leant closer, causing Salia to flinch as she caught the smell of his breath.

“Ya all look alike to me.” One head then said as the other continued to stare at her, “Now where’s Hazug?”

“I is right ‘ere.” A deep voice said and the door opened wider to reveal an ork nob standing behind his human servant. Unlike the other orks who wore clothing that was either dyed a bright colour that was significant to their clan or had been left the natural colour of the cloth Hazug Throatslitter wore clothing in dull colours with what was obviously a pattern inspired by the clothing of human troops who wore it to make them harder to see. This marked him out as a Blood Axe, the only one on the planet. Blood Axes were frequently viewed with suspicion thanks to their habit of openly trading with humans that had not already been conquered and even going so far as fight alongside their Imperium on occasion,” Come on in and tell me wot ya wants.” Hazug continued then he looked down at Salia, “Go get us some grub.” He told her.

A typical ork maintained just enough living space for himself and his possessions. However, following his role in deposing a rival warboss who had planned to overthrow Kazkal Kromag, Hazug had been presented with his current home – a large structure previously used to house an entire mob of orks that had been wiped out. At least part of the reason for Hazug being granted the building for himself was that it was located immediately next to the region of the city inhabited by the humans who were subservient to the orks here, known as Git Town. No other orks that Warboss Kromag wanted to reward wanted live near humans so Hazug was granted the building for himself. This meant that there was plenty of spare room and due at least in part to the influence of his human servant Sophie, Hazug had set aside an entire room in which he could just sit and relax and it was to this room that Hazug took Two Heads.

As he sat down Two Heads placed his necron sword on the table between him and Hazug.

“It still aint workin’.” One of him said to Hazug.

“Didn’t ya take it to Batrug?” Hazug replied, “’E got dat big ‘un of mine workin’ just fine. Well da batteries run down a bit quick, but it works.”

“Well dat bleedin’ mek reckons dat ‘e aint got da gubbins wot ‘e needs to get da job done.” One of Two Heads explained and the other one then added, “Cause no-one’s brought any of da loot back from da battle at da necron tomb yet.”

Hazug scowled. The battle had ended five days earlier when he and a small force including Two Heads had infiltrated the aliens’ underground base with a powerful explosive weapon based around the lightweight gas used in some of the more basic flying machines. By now the mekaniacs workshops should have been piled high with parts of necron origin while the meks themselves investigated every possible way of using it.

It was then that Salia entered in the company of another human of similar appearance. This was Sophie, Salia’s older sister who had been in Hazug’s service for about four years now. On the other hand the Blood Axe had only just acquired Salia, effectively stealing her from a Death Skull nob.

“Hi Two Heads.” Sophie said, smiling and then she held up the tray she carried and looking at Hazug she added, “I brought the food you wanted.” And then she set the tray down beside the sword. Immediately Two Heads reached out with both hands and picked up a pair of the pies that were on the tray and each head sniffed one and took a large bite.

“So why is ya tellin’ me all dis?” Hazug asked as Two Heads devoured the food.

“Because it aint normal.” One of Two Heads commented, spitting pieces of pie across the room and causing both Salia and Sophie to flinch as they felt some of it spray across their faces. Then the other head gulped, swallowing the food from his mouth first and added, “And everyone knows dat whenever anythin’ odd ‘appens den ya is da one to come to.”

A smile spread across Hazug’s face.

“Sophie,” He said, “I wants ya to go pack us some food and drink and Salia can go get Mayleth and Ratish. Tell ‘em we’s goin’ ‘untin’.”

As the two humans left the room the pair of ork nobs both got up as well.
”So its true den.” Two Heads said to Hazug.
”Wot is?”

“Ya’s keepin’ dat pansy ‘ere now an’ all.”

Hazug shrugged.

“I got da room.” he said, “Besides I gets da feelin’ she could come in useful and I’d rather ‘ave ‘er ‘ere dan ‘ave to go to da pits every time I needs ‘er.”

The pits referred to by Hazug were the fighting pits, a cluster of combat arenas where the orks battled one another both for sport and also as a form of judicial system. For the sporting bouts there were often prizes as well as betting on all the fights, so when Hazug had found himself in possession of a skilled dark eldar wych he had sent her there to make him money by fighting, a role she seemed to revel in. More recently he had made use of her knowledge and skills to fight against the necrons, after which he had moved her into one of the unused rooms of his home.

“So wot’s ya plan?” Two Heads asked as they walked from the room and paused at the bottom of the stairs.
”Easy. I’ll take me trukk and ‘ead to where da tomb was. Da lads bringin’ back da loot would ‘ave come in da opposite direction so along dare is where I should find out wot ‘appened to ’em.”
”Fair enough.” One of Two Heads answered while the other just nodded in agreement, “I gots me battlewagon runnin’ again so I’ll follow ya. Just in case ya runs into any trouble like.” And both heads grinned, knowing full well that Hazug had a habit of running into trouble.
”Sounds good. If I don’t find anythin’ I’ll stop when I gets to da tomb. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Two Heads replied and he turned around and left via the front door. Then Hazug headed upstairs to the secure room where he kept his store of weapons.

 

Hazug’s truck was a lightweight open topped vehicle and typically of orkish transports it had enough room in its rear section for a dozen orks. So given that apart from Hazug it carried only his four servants, all of who were considerably smaller than an ork there was plenty of room left over for provisions and extra weaponry.

The truck itself was also armed, a belt fed automatic weapon fitted to a mounting up in the roll cage and as usual Hazug’s gretchin servant Ratish Brownskin had taken it upon himself to clamber up to the mounting and take control of the weapon.

“So what are we looking for?” Sophie called out over the noise of the poorly tuned engine. She and Salia were sat in the passenger section at the back of the truck, surrounded by the weapons and other supplies that had been brought along.

“Weren’t you listening mon-keigh?” Mayleth replied before Hazug could. The slender eldar woman sat beside Hazug, with one leg raised to rest a foot on the dashboard in front of her. Unlike Sophie, Mayleth did not speak the orkish language or any other language than her own. Instead she made use of a device strapped around her neck to translate words spoken to her into her own language while her own words were translated into whatever language she wished by the same device.

“Yes, I know we’re looking for a missing scarp convoy.” Sophie said, “But how will we know if we’ve found it?”

“There are quite a few wrecks around.” Salia added, looking out of the truck to where the burned out remains of a similar vehicle rested by the side of the road. Clearly on the way back from the battle several groups of orks had taken to fighting amongst themselves, a common occurrence in the species.

Mayleth snorted.

“Maybe so mon-keigh. But they are just fragments of small vehicles such as this. We are looking for one capable of moving many tonnes of scavenged metal. That will be far more obvious.”

“Yeah!” Ratish exclaimed from above, “Stupid gits.”

Salia leant closer to her sister.
”I wish that Mayleth wouldn’t keep calling us both mon-keigh.” She said, “What does it mean anyway?”

“I think it’s the eldar word for a human.” Sophie replied.

“So how come that machine of hers doesn’t translate it?”

“Because I don’t think that her people consider it a word worth translating.” Sophie said and she glanced briefly at Mayleth, just in time to notice her turning away with a smirk on her face.

The road then began to slope upwards and as the truck reached the highest point he suddenly slammed his foot on the brake, bringing the truck to an unexpected halt that sent the unsecured passengers and cargo sliding forwards until they hit something solid.

“What’s wrong?” Sophie asked as she picked herself up from the floor of the truck.

“Dis place is just too good.” Hazug replied as he leapt down from the truck and ran forward several paces before coming to a halt. Then he rummaged the pouches on his belt until he found what he was looking for, a small device that was clearly not of orkish manufacture and he raised it to his eye and peered through it. The device had been made by the alien tau and with Mek Batrug’s help Hazug had discovered that it was designed for viewing objects at great distances in detail. Not only that but it could also record images of what it saw for viewing later on. Now he used it to examine the road ahead as it made its way across the valley below them.
”Too good for what?” Sophie asked as she too climbed down from the truck, grabbing hold of one of the las rifles Hazug had given to her and Salia for the trip.

“An ambush mon-keigh.” Mayleth said and she stood up in her seat and gazed around the sides of the valley, “Over there my master.” She then added, pointing to the top of another hill.

“What is it?” Salia asked, “Are we in danger?”

“I think not mon keigh.” Mayleth responded.
”I don’t see nought.” Ratish commented, pointing the truck’s weapon in the direction had pointed.

“Neither do I.” Sophie added.
”That is because neither you mon-keigh nor the small beast have senses as acute as mine.” Mayleth replied.

“I sees it though.” Hazug then said as he aimed the tau viewing device towards the hill indicated by Mayleth, “A grot.”

“Yes my master. That is exactly what I thought.” Mayleth said.

“Just one?” Salia asked, “But I thought gretchin went around in groups.”

“They do.” Sophie said.
”Not if dey’ve been told to wait somewhere on dare own.” Hazug said as he put the viewing device away again and strode back to the truck.

“But what’s ‘e doin’ dare master?” Ratish asked, squinting as he tried to see the other gretchin for himself.

“He’s a lookout isn’t he?” Sophie asked.
”Dat’s one possibility, yeah.” Hazug replied as he pulled two weapons from back of the truck. The first was a rifle that unlike the slender human built beam weapons Salia and Sophie were armed with was a custom-built ork weapon. Beneath the main barrel of this was a launcher loaded with a single powerful but unguided rocket. The second weapon was of alien construction and was a long melee weapon intended to be wielded in both hands. This was the warscythe that Hazug had captured from a necron leader in an earlier encounter with the sinister metal warriors, “Wait ‘ere da lot of ya.” Hazug then said as he slung the warscythe over his shoulders while cradling his rifle in his arms, “I is gonna check ‘im out. I’ll find out why ‘e’s ‘ere and if ‘e knows anythin’.”

“Ratish come too master.” Ratish said excitedly.

“I should accompany you as well my master.” Mayleth added, prompting a scowl from Ratish.

“Well if they’re both going then so are we.” Sophie said and looking at Salia she added, “Right?”

“Right.” Salia replied, “I’m not staying here by myself. I don’t care if I do have a las gun.”

“None of ya is comin’.” Hazug said sternly, “I aint leavin’ da trukk unguarded and I reckon dat it’ll take all four of ya to do da job properly. Now wait ‘ere until I gets back.”

 

3.

 

Most orks would simply have charged across the hilltops to the gretchin, giving the creature plenty of notice that they were coming and the opportunity to flee. However, a part of being a Blood axe was that Hazug had an aptitude for stealthy movement so instead of taking the shortest route he made a detour that kept him out of sight of the gretchin. Suspecting that the gretchin had been ordered to keep an eye on traffic through the valley Hazug moved around it, keeping the surrounding hilltops between himself and his target. As he drew closer Hazug kept low and moved slowly, holding his rifle at the ready just in case there were more gretchin about that had not been visible from by the truck. He saw no signs of other gretchin, but there were clear signs that vehicles had travelled this way repeatedly, the ground churned up by their tyres.

Hazug paused to inspect the tracks. Had he had Two Heads or another Evil Sun ork with him then they may have been able to identify the type of vehicles that had come this way, but as it was all that Hazug could tell was they used a mix of both wheeled and track chasses.

The gretchin was not far away from where Hazug crouched by the muddy tracks and he realised that the tracks themselves could prove an obstacle if he tried to cross them. The mud looked deep enough that it would slow his progress and possible create enough noise to alert the gretchin to his presence. Hazug looked around for an easy way across the mud but found nothing. Which left him with only one option. In all likelihood it would still warn the gretchin of his approach, but with any luck the creature would not have enough time to escape. Cautiously Hazug backed up and then sudden ran forwards, using the run up to launch himself into the air and over the muddy tracks before landing on the far side with a dull ‘thump’.

Just as Hazug had expected it would the sound attracted the attention of the gretchin, who turned around and stared in horror as the Blood Axe nob charged the final few metres towards him.

“Gotcha!” Hazug bellowed as he grabbed hold of the startled creature’s arm.

“Let go!” the gretchin screamed as it tried to squirm free and then it plunged its teeth into Hazug’s arm.

Hazug roared. The gretchin’s tiny teeth barely pierced his tough skin but the mere fact that this diminutive being dared to resist angered him and he lifted the gretchin up off the ground, swinging it over his head and hurling it into the mud behind him. The gretchin squealed as he flew through the air, landing with a ‘squelch’ and throwing out lumps of mud in all directions. Uninjured but stunned the gretchin tried to pull himself out of the mud but before he could manage to free himself Hazug strode towards him and grabbed hold of the back of his neck, pushing his face back into the mud and holding it there as the gretchin’s arms and legs flailed about helplessly.

“Wotcha doin’ ‘ere runt?” Hazug demanded as he pulled the gretchin’s face out of the mud and he gasped for air.

“I aint doin’ nothin’!” the gretchin answered and Hazug pushed his face back into the mud.

“If ya likes breathin’ den ya’ll answer me questions honestly runt.” Hazug said, “Goddit?” and he pulled the gretchin back out of the mud again. The gretchin nodded furiously, “Good. So wotcha doin’ ‘ere?”
”I is just watchin’ da road. Dat’s all.”

“Wotcha watchin’ for?”

“Wagons. Any wagons come down den I is to signal me master and ‘is lads.”
All this made perfect sense to Hazug. A single gretchin would be difficult to spot, but that still left the question of where the look out’s master was hiding.

“So where’s ya master?” He asked, looking around.

“Dat way.” The gretchin replied, his arm shaking as he pointed to another hill not far away.

“Den dat’s where I needs to go.” Hazug said, releasing his grip on the gretchin and he began to walk away, “If dare aint no-one dare den I’ll be back for ya.” He added without looking back.

“Oh dey is dare alright.” The gretchin hissed as he dragged himself to his feet, “And dey know all about ya. We all knows da Blood Axe and when me master takes over as warboss den ya’ll get wot’s-“

Hazug spun, bringing his rifle up to his shoulder and before the gretchin could finish his boast Hazug fired. The single bullet struck the gretchin square in the chest and his corpse fell backwards, landing in the mud with his limbs spread apart.

Hazug ran down the hill, following the muddy tracks that led in the direction indicated by the gretchin. As he ran he considered the gretchin’s final words. The creature had seemed confident that its ork master was to become the warboss, deposing Kazkal Kromag. But Hazug could not figure out how this would be possible. Kazkal lived in a fortress and in addition to being a formidable fighter himself was surrounded by a small army of reasonably loyal orks. Whatever the gretchin’s master was planning, he had to have something very special up his sleeves.

 

“Dat was a shot.” One of the orks said, getting to his feet while his three comrades remained seated and ate.

“Da runt doesn’t ‘ave a shoota.” One of the others said, his mouth still filled with meat.

“Den someone else must ‘ave done da shootin’.” The standing ork replied.

“If dare was anyone else dare da runt would ‘ave either ‘id or signalled us.” Another ork commented without looking up from his meal.

“Can ya see da grot wavin’ ‘is flag?” the final ork asked.

“Nah.” The standing ork answered.

“Den forget it and sit down. If dare was anyone out dare den da grot would let us know.”

“Well if dare’s no-one out dare,” the standing ork said, “Den who’s dat?” and he pointed to where Hazug could be seen dashing towards them.

The other orks looked at Hazug for themselves, puzzled as to what a single ork would be doing all the way out here.

“Well dare’s just one of ‘im.” One of the group said as he lifted his rifle to his shoulder and he fired a short burst.

Ork marksmanship was generally of a poor standard, their society favoured close combat over pinpoint shooting and this particular ork was no exception so rather than striking Hazug the bullets instead struck the ground some distance from him. Reacting quickly to this Hazug dived for cover, a narrow dip in the ground close by where both the shape of the ground and the height of the grass took him out of sight of the orks in the hill. Here he slung his rifle over his shoulder with his warscythe and began to crawl along on his stomach. Every now and again more shots rang out as the orks thought they saw something that could be Hazug and opened fire. Fortunately not one of the targets they thought they saw was Hazug and as he crept ever closer the gunfire became aimed further away.

Hazug halted when he heard footsteps and voices and realised that the orks on the hill were coming down to try and find him. Carefully he moved aside the long grass in front of him and peered towards them. Thought their attention seemed focused elsewhere if they kept on their current path Hazug realised that they would blunder right into him and he grinned. He reached round to his back and unslung not only his rifle but also the necron warscythe and adjusted his position to make it easier for him to stand up rapidly. Then as the sound of the approaching orks became louder he suddenly leapt up into the open.

“Waaargh!” he yelled as he balanced his rifle in one hand and snatched at the trigger, holding it down. The custom rifle had three settings - semi automatic, fully automatic and what Mek Batrug had described as ‘turbo-dakka’. This third mode of operation made use of an alternate mechanism that massively increased the rifle’s rate of fire and it was this setting that Hazug now used. The downside of this was that the rifle’s magazine was rapidly emptied, but the combination of the recoil altering Hazug’s aim with each shot and the inherently unsteady manner in which the rifle was being held meant that the bullets were sprayed about wildly and two of the advancing orks were cut down before they could even take aim.

The two survivors rolled out of the way as Hazug threw the rifle to the ground and gripped his warscythe in both hands. The alien weapon had been modified to make use of human las gun power packs to generate an energy field around its blade that enabled it to slice through even the toughest of armour with ease. But these were a poor substitute for the original necron remote power source and made the field prone to failure after even a short period of use. However, neither of the orks now facing Hazug wore anything more than the usual reinforced animal hide body armour that most orks wore and so he did not bother to activate the weapon, instead relying on the natural sharpness of the blade. This proved to be more than adequate as Hazug swung the warscythe at the closest of his opponents, bringing it down in an arc that split open the other ork’s skull and Hazug then spun around to face his final opponent.

This ork had also cast aside his rifle and drawn a crude blade of orkish manufacture.

“Well wotcha waitin’ for?” Hazug asked as the two orks glared at one another, “Come and ’ave a go if ya think ya’s ‘ard enough.”

The other ork snarled and lifted his blade above his head. Then with a roar he charged headlong towards Hazug. He expected the Blood Axe to place his warscythe between them to either block the attack or try and impale him as he charged. But instead Hazug sidestepped as the last moment, causing the charging ork to stumble as he moved to deliver a blow. Hazug then responded to this by swinging the shaft of his warscythe so that it tripped his opponent and he fell to the ground. The prone ork then let out a scream as Hazug stamped down on the hand the ork was using to hold his blade, forcing him to release his grip on the weapon so that Hazug could kick it away while the other ork rolled onto his back.
”Wotcha all doin’ out ‘ere?” Hazug demanded, holding his warscythe so that the tip of the weapon was held just above the other ork’s throat.

“Ya is da Blood Axe aint ya?” the ork asked in replied, scowling at Hazug, “When da boss takes care of dat grot brain Kazkal dare won’t be a place for git lovers like ya around no more. ‘E’ll put da gits right back where dey belongs.”

This statement told Hazug why this particular group of orks had chosen to turn on Kazkal Kromag, despite the warboss having repeatedly demonstrated himself to be a worthy ruler. Almost a year earlier Kazkal had issued a decree that any of the planet’s human population that were not the specific property of individual orks were to be considered his personal property instead. This meant that anyone who killed an unclaimed human without good cause would be judged to have stolen from the warboss and subject to the typical harsh and unpleasant punishment for such an offence. In return for this protection the humans had agreed to supply the war boss with a significant amount of ammunition each day. Hazug himself had been instrumental in the negotiation of this agreement. Unfortunately the decree had not gone down well with all of the orks on the planet. Though few of them ever bothered to kill any of the humans who presented no threat to them the very fact that the warboss had ordered them not to had angered them. Clearly this group of orks had been so angered that they had decided to overturn the order by removing Kazkal Kromag from power. However, what it still did not tell Hazug was how they intended to achieve this.

Just then the ork lashed out and tried to knock the blade of the warscythe away, but he had not counted on just how sharp it was and he screamed as several of his fingers were sliced off. Aware that the screaming could attract unwanted attention if it went on for too long Hazug acted to ended it as quickly as he could and he thrust the warscythe downwards into the ork’s throat, silencing him in an instant. Hazug then rushed up the rest of the hill, throwing himself to the ground as he reached the top to peer over it without making his presence obvious to anyone on the other side and looking down he saw exactly what this warband had in mind for overthrowing Warboss Kazkal Kromag.

They had a battlefortress,

Bigger than any normal battlewagon the massive armoured vehicle had a track unit at each of its four corners and its hull bristled with weapons. The most obvious of these was the long barrelled super cannon fitted in a large turret on top of the hull, but Hazug also saw two other turrets mounted heavy cannons, a missile battery just behind the main turret and numerous automatic weapons and smaller rocket launchers poking out of firing points in the hull. In addition to these each of the track units had a compact sponson mounted on it that looked just big enough to contain a gretchin gunner and his weapon. The vehicle was purely of orkish design and construction rather than being built around some alien vehicle that the orks had looted, but as Hazug studied it through his tau viewing device he saw numerous components that were not of orkish origin. Most of these were human, probably left over from before the orks had conquered this world but there were also parts that could only have come from necron war machines. Now Hazug knew exactly why no loot from the recent battle had reached the city, these orks had been stealing it to make their battlefortress.

 

4.

 

Borhuk, nob of the Goffs clan strode through the confines of his battlefortress and made his way to the cramped control cabin. There he found one of the orks under his command already seated in the driver’s seat while a mekboy stood close by inspecting the latest components to have been fitted.

“Well?” Borhuk said to the mek, “Is dis thing ready to go yet?” and the mek turned to face him.

“Now dat’s a complicated question.” The mek responded.

“No it aint Graggmok. All ya needs to do is tell me if dis fortress is ready to run yet.” Borhuk aid. He was well aware that if left to their own devices mekboys would continue to tinker with anything they built, always deciding that something could be improved. This was made even worse when on a project such as Borhuk’s battlefortress there were several mekboys involved at the same time. One of them would add something that another would then remove so that he could use the parts for a feature he preferred and would trigger a cycle of rival meks getting each others way. Borhuk had already killed three of them for such behaviour and hoped that doing so publicly had served to focus the minds of the remainder.

“Well ya engine ought to run and I recon dat da shield will work. But we got loads of big shootas spare dat I reckon would look really good if we put ‘em-“
”Never more big shootas!” Borhuk yelled, “If we spends too much time on dis den Kazkal and ‘is git lovin’ mates’ll get wind of wot we is up to. Now start it up cause I ants to get movin’ now.”

Reluctantly Mek Graggmok looked at the ork in the driver’s seat and nodded. The driver then reached out to where what looked like a pistol had been welded into the control panel in front of him and took hold of its grip. Pulling the trigger there was the sound of a shot muffled by the fact that the muzzle of the weapon was set into the panel and then the whole battlefortress rumbled and shook as the shot started the engines.

“I knew it’d work!” Graggmok yelled over the noise, throwing his arms upwards, “Jobs a good ‘un!”

Borhuk just frown.

“Den let’s get movin’.” He said, “I wants to go see da boss.”

 

Hazug watched as the battlefortress suddenly came to life and began to roll forwards. On the ground all around were the partial remains of smaller vehicles as well as the complete ones that the warband in control of the battlefortress had used in the raids they conducted to acquire the materials they needed. Now all those were simply in the way and as the massive battlefortress lumbered forwards they were simply crushed beneath them, as were any greenskins who for some reason did not get out of the way fast enough. Then there were sparks from the shield generating spire and a brief flash of light as a protective bubble of energy formed around the already formidable vehicle. This meant only one thing as far as Hazug could tell; the warband was planning to attack Kazkal Kromag right now.

“Aw crap.” Hazug said to himself and then he picked himself up and began to run back down the hill behind him.

He paused only to pick up the rifle he had cast aside and then kept on running, frowning at the thought of leaving four dead orks behind with their mouths still full of valuable teeth. But Hazug knew that if he stopped to collect the teeth himself then it was quite possible that the battlefortress would come lumbering over the hilltop right over him and there would be nothing he could do to stop it. Instead Hazug headed for his truck and just kept on running.

“Get in da trukk!” he yelled when the vehicle and his servants were in sight.

“Look! Master’s back!” Ratish shouted excitedly from his position up in the roll cage with the truck’s mounted weapon. He was the only one of the four still in the vehicle, Salia and Sophie sat with their backs to one side of it and Mayleth stood some distance way apparently keeping watch in the other direction.
”Hazug what’s wrong?” Sophie called out in response as she got to her feet.

“Just get in da trukk!” Hazug shouted back, “I’ll explain on da way.”

Obediently Hazug’s servants clambered back into the truck just as Hazug arrived and tossed both his weapons into the back before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“So what’s going on?” Sophie asked.

“It’s a battlefortress.” Hazug replied.

“A what?” Salia asked as the truck’s engine spluttered into life and Hazug accelerated as rapidly as he could, steering to head back towards the city.
”A battlefortress mon-keigh.” Mayleth said, “The largest of the crude vehicles tracked that the beasts construct. Only their equivalents of your titans are larger.”

“Yes I know what a battlefortress is.” Salia replied, “But what’s one doing out here?”

“Dare’s a bunch of lads wot is plannin’ on killin’ Warboss Kromag.” Hazug explained, “Dey built. Dey’ve been nickin’ all da loot wot was supposed to be ‘eadin’ back to da city. Now da battlefortress is up and runnin’ and dey is on dare way.”
”So we’re going to warn him right?” Sophie then asked. “Dat’s da only thing I can think of.” Hazug answered, “If we can get dare in time den da boss should be able to get enough lads together to do somethin’ about it.”

Then there was a booming in the distance from behind the truck and the road ahead erupted as a heavy shell blasted a massive carter in it that Hazug had to swerve off the road to avoid.

“Of course we still needs to get dat far.” Hazug commented.

 

“Ya missed!” Borhuk yelled up to the turret gunner as he watched Hazug’s truck avoid the exploding shell, “I don’t want anyone seein’ dis thing until we gets to da city. No-one dat gets left alive anyways.”

“Err boss, I reckon we gots a problem.” A gretchin standing close by in the control cabin who was peering into a periscope from on top of a crate said.
”What is it grot? If ya’s broken soemthin’-“ Borhuk began.
”Nah boss, aint broken nowt.” The gretchin interrupted, “But I reckon ya should take a look at dat truck up ahead.”

“Wot about it?” Borhuk asked, brushing aside the gretchin and peering into the periscope for himself. Then he snarled as he saw Hazug’s vehicle close up, magnified by the periscope. Though he could not make out the occupants clearly he could tell that most of them were not orks as he had first assumed, but more significantly he could make out the green on grey camouflage pattern with which it was painted, “Dem’s is Blood Axe colours.” He growled. Then he stood up straight,” Kazkal’s onto us! ‘E’s sent dat git lover to spy on us. We needs to make sure ‘e don’t get away. All shootas let rip!”

 

More cannon shot’s sounded from the battlefortress behind them, but the combination of orkish marksmanship and the random evasive pattern that Hazug drove in meant that none of the shells came anywhere near them. More importantly though the distance between the nimble, lightweight truck and the lumbering battlefortress was actually increasing. However, should Hazug’s vehicle be caught on an open stretch of ground, of which there were plenty between here and the city then the battlefortress’ gunners would have plenty of time to zero in on the truck and destroy it. Wanting to get out the battlefortress’ line of sight as quickly as he could Hazug kept his foot pressed firmly down on the gas pedal and steered around a nearby hill.

Just as another vehicle was coming the other way.

“It’s Two Heads!” Sophie cried out, pointing at the oncoming battlewagon as Hazug slammed on the brakes and swerved to prevent a collision.

Sure enough the heavy half tracked armoured vehicle heading towards them was the familiar shape of Two Heads’ own battlewagon. Larger than Hazug’s truck and fully armoured it mounted a heavy cannon in its main turret and two pairs of linked automatic weapons weapon just in front of that. However, when compared to the massive bulk and firepower of the battlefortress, Two Heads’ battlewagon was still badly outclassed.

“Hazug!” Two Heads shouted as he emerged from a hatch in the roof, “Wotcha doin’?”

“Dare’s a battlefortress back dare comin’ dis way.” Hazug replied, waving back down the road, “Dey is after da boss.”

Two Heads looked along the road and both heads scowled.

“So wot d’ya want us to do? I bets me kannon can-”

“Nah.” Hazug interrupted and he shook his head, “Dey gots a force field around da thing. I doubt dat ya kannon could even scratch it. Even if ya was to ‘it soemthin’ vital.”

“Dey we needs to get closer den.” Two Heads replied, “Inside da field.”

“Den wot?” Hazug asked, “We aint got no tankbusta bomms and I doubt dat even me warscythe could do more dan cut a bit of an ‘ole in da side of it. Not enough to-“ then he suddenly stopped mid sentence and he grinned, “I’s got an idea.” He said.

 

Borhuk stared out of the viewport as his battlefortress came around the hill, expecting to see Hazug’s truck heading off into the distance up ahead. But although he could make out a vehicle on the road far in front it clearly was not Hazug’s truck. This vehicle was significantly larger than the truck; though the battlefortress was even large still of course and instead being painted to blend into the background it was bright red to make it go faster.

“Boss, dat’s a battlewagon.” The driver commented.
”I knows dat.” Borhuk replied.
”So wot do we do about it?”

“I already told ya. I don’t want anythin’ seein’ us and livin’ to talk about it.”

 

“Boss it’s behind us now!” one of Two Heads orks called out. The ork in question had his head stuck out of the hatch on top of the battlewagon’s turret and was under orders to keep watch for the battlefortress.

“Wot about Hazug?” one of Two Heads asked in response.
”’E looks like ‘e’s in position.” The ork replied.

“Den dis is it lads.” Two Heads said to the rest of his troops, “Get ay shootas ready.” Then the other head looked at the driver and added, “Gorrid, turn us around.”

“Goddit boss.” Gorrid replied and the battlewagon tilted as he steered sharply to bring it around to face the battlefortress.

“Now floor it!” Two Heads yelled and the battlewagon raced forwards, swerving from side to side.

Almost all at once the battlewagon’s weapons opened fire, sending a hail of shells and bullets towards the battlefortress. Added to this the orks inside positioned themselves by every viewport available and opened fire whenever the massive battlefortress came into view. Normally only the main cannon would have any hope of inflicting any damage on a vehicle like the battlefortress from the front and with the force field in place even this powerful weapon proved to be ineffective, but damaging the battlefortress was not the intent. All of the weapons fire, both from the battlewagon’s emplaced weapons and the small arms of its occupants were merely intended to keep the attention of the battlefortress’ crew focused on them rather than trying to figure out where Hazug had gone.

 

5.

 

The battlefortress continued to lumber forwards, its weapons firing towards the battlewagon. But Gorrid was a highly skilled driver and only a handful of the smaller rounds from the battlefortress’ lightweight automatic weapons were able to find their mark while the larger weapons that could actually threaten the battlewagon failed to hit altogether. In fact the debris and smoke from the explosions only served to further conceal the battlewagon and make targeting it even harder.

All of this was part of Hazug’s plan. The battlefortress continued to advance, its crew focusing all of their attention on the threat ahead of them and none paying any attention to the terrain around them. Terrain such as the hill Hazug had driven further around, taking him off the road and out of sight until the battlefortress came rolling past.

“Dat’s it! We’re off!” Hazug exclaimed and he accelerated, the truck lurching forwards as it set off behind the battlefortress.

It did not take long for Hazug to catch the battlefortress and as the truck closed in Hazug and all of his servants felt an odd tingling sensation in the air around them.
”What’s that?” Sophie asked.

“It is the energy shield surrounding the vehicle mon-keigh.” Mayleth told her, “We are passing through it.”

“Dat’s right.” Hazug said and then he added,” Right den Ratish, ya knows wot to do now dontcha?”

“Ratish knows master.” Ratish replied from above and he braced himself against his weapon.

Hazug brought the truck out from behind the battlefortress so that the massive vehicle was positioned right beside him. This close the gretchin operating the two sponsons on this side could not fail to notice the truck and both swung their weapons towards Hazug. Ratish was quicker however, spraying bullets from the truck’s own mounted gun at each sponson in turn. The bullet could not penetrate the thick armour plating of the battlefortress, but the soft flesh of the exposed gunners was a different matter altogether and both gretchin gunners died before getting off a single shot. Moving faster than the battlefortress, Hazug brought the truck to a position about half way along its length, between the track units on this side and he held out his hand.

“Here you go.” Sophie said as she passed Hazug’s warscythe to him and with a flick of his thumb he activated the energy field around the blade.
”Cheers.” He said and then he swung the alien weapon out to the side.

Despite the thickness of the battlefortress’ armour plating the alien weapon had no problem in slicing through and a long gash was cut in the side of the vehicle. Glanced sideways to assess the damage he had done before swinging the warscythe again and producing a second split in the battlefortress’ armour about two metres above the first. Then Hazug struck twice more in quick succession, producing two vertical cuts that resulted in an entire rectangular section of the battlefortress’ side falling inwards.

“Now Mayleth!” Hazug shouted and making it seem trivial the dark eldar woman launched herself from the truck and through the opening in the side of the battlefortress. As she landed Mayleth drew both the pistols she had holstered at her waist and pointed one in each direction along the passageway she had landed in.

“Clear!” she yelled and she holstered one pistol and extended an arm back out through the hole behind her.

“Go!” Hazug shouted and both Salia and Sophie climbed up onto the side of the truck with their las guns slung across their backs.

“Oh I don’t like the look of this.” Salia said nervously as she looked down at the gap between the two vehicles. Then she looked at Sophie, “I never had to do this when I was with the Death Skulls. How do you do this?”

“What leap from a moving truck to a battlefortress? This is actually my first time.” Sophie replied before she leapt from the truck. Mayleth reached out and caught hold of Sophie in mid-light, pulling her into the battlefortress beside her. Immediately Sophie unlsung her las gun and kept watch as Mayleth reached out once more.

“Leap mon-keigh. Quickly.” She said to Salia.

Salia looked down again.

“I can’t.” she said.

“Pointless git.” Ratish said and all of a sudden he jumped down from the weapon mounting to land behind Salia from where he simply pushed her over the side of the truck. Screaming, Salia fell between the two vehicles, but before she could hit the ground and be dragged under either of them she felt a sudden tug as Mayleth caught hold of her and pulled her into the battlefortress as well. As soon as the eldar let go of her Salia collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. A moment later there was a high pitched cry from outside.
”Yippee!” Ratish cried out as he too made the leap from the truck to the battlewagon, though like Mayleth he was able to make the jump unaided.

With all four of his servants now on board the battlefortress Hazug knew that it was his turn and he slid across to the very edge of his seat, as close to the battle fortress as he could get. The hole in the side of the massive vehicle was just behind him and Hazug lessened the pressure on the gas pedal, allowing the truck to lose just enough speed to align himself with the hole precisely. Then he spun the steering wheel sharply, allowing the side of the truck to slam into that of the battlefortress. At the moment of contact Hazug rolled sideways, dropping through the hole in the battlefortress and landing in the passageway with his servants.

“Is master okay?” Ratish asked as Hazug sat up.

“Yeah, I is fine grot.” Hazug replied as he then picked himself up and he looked out through the hole. The truck had continued to follow alongside the battlefortress for a short distance until it struck some obstacle on the ground that had sent it spinning off uncontrolled. Then it had flipped over and rolled, scattering the supplies stacked up in the back across the ground until the vehicle finally came to a halt,” When dis is all over,” Hazug said, “ya is all gonna ‘ave to go and pick dat lot up.”

“So where now?” Sophie then asked.

“Well dis thing ‘as got to be driven from somewhere and I reckon dat dis lot’s boss’ll be dare to keep an eye on things.” Hazug said, “So let’s go say ‘ello to da driver.”

 

The ork gunners along the right hand side of the battlefortress could not miss the truck as it rolled across the ground.

“Over dare!” one yelled, pointing out the crashed vehicle to another of the crew, “Dat’s da trukk we was after. Go and let da boss know.”

Nodding the other ork dashed inside the battlefortress and made his way right to the control cabin where Borhuk was still focused on Two Heads’ battlewagon as it continued to evade his gunners.

“Boss!” the ork yelled, “Da git lover is dead.”
”Wot?” Borhuk asked, “’Ow dat ‘appen?”

“’E crashed ‘is trukk boss.” The ork answered and Borhuk smiled.

“’E must ‘ave tried to get inside da force field to use a rokkit or bomm or somethin’ from close range. Den ‘e just crashed into us and got smashed.” He said, “So now all we gotta do is take care of dis wagon in front of us and dare’s nought left to stop us takin’ out Boss Kromag.”

 

The first two orks that Hazug encountered were dragging a crate of ammunition towards one of the weapon mountings. When they saw Hazug’s group they dropped the crate in surprise and reached for the pistols they both carried.

“Gits!” one yelled as he drew his weapon, but before he could fire Mayleth slid around Hazug and placed the muzzle of one of her pistols beneath his chin and fired. The deadly crystalline projectile punched right through his skull and sprayed blood and tissue across the ceiling.

“Come ‘ere!” Hazug yelled out and he reached out and pulled the other ork towards him, using the long grip of his warscythe to knock the gun from his hand, “Now tell us where we can find ya boss.”

“Sod off git lover!” the ork shouted and Hazug responded by lifting him off the floor and slamming his head into the ceiling, producing a hollow ‘thud’ and a large head shaped dent.

“Where’s ya boss?” Hazug demanded angrily, shaking the dazed ork.

“Dat way.” The ork replied, pointing back along the passageway behind him, “Up da stairs.”

“Good.” Hazug replied and then he thrust his inactive warscythe right through his chest.
”Master look out!” Ratish snapped as he spotted another ork appear from around a corner and at the same time the gretchin raised his own pistol and fired twice, the shots echoing around the confines of the passageway.

 

“Wot was dat?” Borhuk asked when he heard the shots.

“Just da shootas boss.” The driver replied.

“Dat was from inside.” The nearby gretchin said, contradicting him.

“Da grot’s right boss.” Mek Graggmok added, “Dat was slugga fire.”

Borhuk frowned.

“Den go find out who’s shootin’ off dare slugga in ‘ere grot. Tell ‘em dat if dey breaks somethin’ I’ll skin ‘em alive.” Borhuk told the gretchin and the creature dashed from the control cabin just as there was more gunfire from elsewhere in the battlefortress.

“Dat don’t’ sound good.” Graggmok said as he peered out of the hatchway behind him.

“Wot should I do boss?” the driver asked.

“Just keep goin’ until I says otherwise.” Borhuk replied.

 

There were more sounds of gunfire and flashes of light from around the corner as the gretchin rushed down the stairs only to see an ork suddenly fall dead below him, his chest a mess of bullet holes and burns from energy weapons.
”Da boss says ya it to cut it out!” the gretchin called out as he leapt onto the body, not realising the significance of the wounds that could only have been inflicted by alien weapons. As he looked around and saw Hazug and his servants standing right in front of him the gretchin’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

“Out me way grot.” Hazug said sternly and he kicked the gretchin hard enough to send him flying backwards into a wall. Then as he stepped over the body of the ork at the base of the stairs he added to his servants, “Come on den, I’d say dat dat means we is on dat right track.”

Creeping up the stairs Hazug heard the sound of more orks at the top and the booming of heavy weapons fire.

“Kannons master.” Ratish whispered and Hazug nodded in agreement. Then he looked down at his servants and spoke in what was by ork standards a low tone of voice.
”Dis looks like where da big guns is controlled from.” He said,” And I reckon dat da controls is just through dat ‘atch at da top of da stairs. So while I goes in and ‘as a look I wants all of ya to stay out ‘ere and keep all dese other lads off me back. Goddit?” then without waiting for a reply he rushed the remaining distance up the stairs and burst through the hatchway, activating his warscythe as he appeared behind Borhuk.

“Look out boss!” Graggmok yelled and he hurled a hammer from his belt at Hazug, delaying him attacking Borhuk as he was instead forced to deflect the fly hammer with his warscythe.

Spinning around, Borhuk roared in defiance as he drew his pistol and fired without aiming. Hazug ducked, putting the blade of his warscythe between himself and Borhuk and the bullet ricocheted off the energy field surrounding it. The bullet then struck a nearby support beam and bounced yet again; this time its path took it forwards to where it hit the driver in the back of his head. His sudden death unnoticed by any of the other orks present, the driver slumped forwards over the controls and the battlefortress began to turn.

 

6.

 

“Boss look at dat!” the ork operating the main turret of Two Heads’ battlewagon called out as he took aim for another shot.

“Look at wot Norgut?” Two Heads asked in reply.

“Dey’s turnin’ boss. Dey’s turnin’ away.”

“Gorrid!” Two Heads shouted, “Dey may be tryin’ to get around us.” And then the other head added, “Make sure dat dey don’t.”
”I try boss.” Gorrid replied from the driver’s seat, “But look at where dey is ‘eadin’.” And as Two Heads looked through a viewport he saw the wide expanse of water that lay in the battlefortress’ new path.

 

“No mon-keigh!” Mayleth snapped as Sophie took aim and was about to fire her las gun at one of the ork gun crew that had seen them and was reaching for his pistol. Simultaneously Mayleth kicked Sophie’s las gun to one side and fired her own splinter pistols into the chest of the ork. Behind her Ratish also opened fire, his bullets going wide and bouncing off the far wall.

“What did you do that for?” Sophie demanded, glaring at Mayleth.

“Your mon-keigh weapon will ignite the ammunition that fills this place.” Mayleth replied, “Here use this instead.” And she passed one of her pistols to Sophie.

“What about me?” Salia asked.

“Cover the stairs.” Mayleth instructed her, “The beasts may try to come at us from below as well.”

 

Hazug ducked as Borhuk swung his fist at him and struck back by swinging the grip of his warscythe upwards and striking Borhuk under his chin. As he staggered back Graggmok lunged forwards with a dagger in his hand and Hazug roared in pain as the blade was thrust into his side just above his waist as he stood up to face the attack. He turned rapidly with his warscythe held horizontally in front of him and Graggmok’s eyes widened briefly as ht felt its blade bite into his neck before his head rolled onto the floor while his body just crumpled.

Borhuk snarled as he saw Graggmok’s heedless corpse hit the floor.

“I’ll ‘ave ya for dat!” he snapped at Hazug, “I paid ‘im in advance!” and then he charged at Hazug with both hands outstretched and empty. Hazug reacted by turning to face the oncoming Borhuk with his warscythe held out in front of him, planning to slash it across his chest. But Borhuk had anticipated this and rather than try and strike Hazug he grabbed for the warscythe instead.

“Let’s see ‘ow well ya fights when I got ya choppa!” Borhuk yelled into Hazug’s face as the pair wrestled for possession of the alien weapon.

“Ya aint got it yet and I don’t needs me choppa to deal with da likes of ya.” Hazug replied and he butted Borhuk in the face. The other ork’s head jerked back under the force of the impact, but he retained his grip on the warscythe and the pair continued to wrestle.

 

The sound of heavy footfalls from below alerted Salia to the approach of ork reinforcements even over the noise of the ork and eldar weapons being fired right behind her and she opened fire with her las gun on automatic as soon as the first of them appeared at the base of the stairs. The ork convulsed under the multiple energy blasts before collapsing on top of the body already lay there.
”I got him!” she exclaimed, fumbling for a new power pack.

 

Hazug and Borhuk snarled at one another as they struggled for control of the warscythe. Hazug could tell that they were closely matched in terms of strength and he needed some way of gaining an advantage over his opponent. Then there was a screeching sound as the tip of the warscythe scraped across a nearby bulkhead and Hazug grinned.

Swiftly he pushed the blade into the metal of the bulkhead, the energy field surrounding it making the procedure a simple matter. Then with a flick of his thumb he shut off the weapon’s power and let go of it.

Borhuk’s expression changed to a wide grin and believing he now had possession of the warscythe he attempted to pull it free only to find it stuck fast and he turned to look at Hazug just in time to see the Blood Axe’s fist coming straight for him.

Borhuk staggered back with the taste of blood in his mouth as Hazug’s fist struck him hard. He snarled as he spat a tooth out onto the floor and then glared back at Hazug.
”I’ll use dat to buy a beer when I drinks to me victory ya git lover.” He hissed and then before Hazug could respond the entire battlefortress shook and there was a crashing sound from outside.

 

“It’s in da water boss!” Norgut shouted from the turret.

“I sees dat.” One of Two Heads replied from front of the battlewagon and then the other looked down at Gorrid and added, “Step on it lad.”

 

“What happened?” Sophie exclaimed as the room pitched violently, “Has Two Heads shot the fortress?”

“I doubt it mon-keigh, but I believe that the shield surrounding us is malfunctioning.” Mayleth answered. Amongst the four of them she was the only to have remained standing, the sudden movement of the battlefortress not enough to unbalance her and she took advantage of the confusion created by this to shoot two more of the ork gun crew before they could recover.

“Why do you say that?” Salia asked.

“Da cracklin’ ya stupid git.” Ratish answered before Mayleth could, “Can’t ya ‘ear it with dem stupid tiny ears?”

“So what’s causing that?” Sophie asked as she and Salia both became aware of the crackling sound in the air that seemed to be coming from all around them.

“Dare’s water.” Ratish replied, “I can ‘ear it.”

“The small beast is right.” Mayleth added while she took cover to reload her pistol, “I believe that this vehicle is flooding.”

“But how?” Salia asked.

“My guess would be that this vehicle has entered a body of water.” Mayleth answered.

“But it must weigh more than a hundred tonnes and it can’t be watertight.” Sophie said, “It’ll never float.”

“Precisely mon-keigh. We must leave or we will drown.” And then the battlefortress lurched again, even more violently than the first time and coming to a rest at an angle, the deck plates sloping steeply.

“We can’t leave without Hazug.” Sophie said and she scrabbled towards the control cabin, grabbing hold of anything that she could use as a handhold to help her get there. Inside she found both Hazug and Borhuk picking themselves up off the floor, “Hazug lookout!” she yelled when she saw Borhuk reaching for a nearby pistol. Still holding onto the doorframe with one hand she raised the splinter pistol in the other and pulled the trigger. But the sound of the discharge was muffled, producing only the sound of the energy pulse that propelled the crystalline projectiles without the much sharper ‘crack’ as the round broke the sound barrier.

Borhuk smiled.

“Looks like ya little pet can’t count ‘ow many bullet’s she’s fired.” He said to Hazug in a mocking tone. Then he fired.

The bullet from his pistol flew past Hazug and bounced off the bulkhead behind him. Hazug reached for his own pistol, only to find that it had dropped from his belt at some point during the struggle or when the battlefortress had shifted. Rather than search for the pistol he opted to simply launch himself at Borhuk, reaching out and grabbing hold of the hand holding he pistol with both of his and pointing the weapon straight up just as Borhuk fired again.
”Ya missed.” Hazug hissed, “I’m right ‘ere and ya still missed.” And then he head butted Borhuk again, knocking loose another tooth, “Looks like I’ll be buyin’ da beer with ya teeth.” He said with a snarl. Then with a supreme effort he twisted Borhuk’s arm and there was a snapping sound as he broke his opponent’s wrist. As Borhuk cried out in pain the pistol dropped from his grasp and Hazug scooped it up. Pressing it to Borhuk’s forehead he paused to say, “I only counted two.” And then he fired, spraying blood, bone and brain across the bulkhead behind him.

“Hazug this place is sinking.” Sophie gasped from the hatchway, ”We need to get back to the hole in the-“
”No time.” Hazug interrupted as the battlefortress shifted again and water began to spill in through the viewport, “Get da others.”

While Sophie disappeared from view Hazug first retrieved his pistol and then returned to where his warscythe was still embedded in the wall. He reactivated the blade and effortlessly pulled it free just as his servants all climbed into the control cabin. Mayleth pressed herself up against the bulkhead beside the hatchway and then lent back around, firing into the compartment behind them.

“There are many of this vehicle’s crew remaining my master.” She said as she fired, “And it would seem some are intent on getting in here.”

“Den we needs to be leavin’.” Hazug replied and looking up at the bulkhead currently forming the ceiling over their heads he swung his warscythe repeatedly, slicing a hole large enough for them all to climb through in it and jumped clear as the lump of metal cut free dropped suddenly.

“’Ere, take me ‘and and climb up.” He said, reaching out towards Sophie. She took the offered hand and Hazug lifted her up to the hole where she clambered through onto the exterior of the battlefortress. From here she could see the extent to which the massive vehicle had sunk into the water of the lake.

Salia was next out through the hole, followed soon after by Ratish.

“Master, dare’s water everywhere out ‘ere.” The gretchin said as he looked around nervously.

“And dare’s getting’ to be more in ‘ere an’ all.” Hazug commented as he dragged himself through the hole, “Alright Mayleth, up ya come.” He then called out and the dark eldar woman promptly leapt out of the battlefortress.

“We do not have much time my master.” She said as she looked around.

“What do you mean?” Salia asked.

“When this vehicle sinks it will suck the surrounding water over it.” Mayleth replied, “And us with it if we do not get far enough away.” And then without waiting for further instructions she ran to the edge of the battlefortress and dived into the water.
”Ya ‘eard ‘er.” Hazug said, slinging his warscythe over his back, “Swim for it.” And he too plunged into the water.

Salia and Sophie looked at one another nervously.
”Well here goes.” Sophie said and she dived in after Hazug, followed by her sister.

“Wait for Ratish master!” Ratish then yelled before he too jumped into the water and began to swim for shore.

 

Two Heads’ battlewagon came to a halt near the lakeshore and its hatched dropped open to allow the unit of orks it carried to disembark. Two Heads himself rushed to the water’s edge and looked out to where the battlefortress was now disappearing from view.
”Boss look.” One of his troops said, pointing into the water where Hazug and his servants where swimming towards them.

“Hazug over ‘ere!” one of Two Heads yelled and he raised his rifle above his head.

Emerging from the water Hazug approached Two Heads with Mayleth by his side. On the other hand Ratish, Salia and Sophie all just collapsed, exhausted and gasping for breath after their swim. Elsewhere in the water other orks and gretchin from the battlefortress could also be seen making their way towards the shore.

“Dat lot was workin’ for da nob in charge of dat battlefortress.” Hazug told Two Heads and both heads surveyed the water.

“Ya ‘eard ‘im lads!” one called out and then the other added, “Let rip!”

His troops needed no further encouragement and there was the rattle of rifle fire as they sprayed bullets into the water, shooting at the swimming greenskins while they were not in a position to be able to return fire.

Meanwhile Sophie got to her feet and walked slowly towards Hazug, where she looked at Two Heads.
”So what will you do about your sword now?” she asked.

“Ya mean da necron choppa?” one of Two Heads replied and then the other asked, “Wot about it?”

“She’s got a point dare.” Hazug said as he looked out across the lake, “From wot I saw all da loot taken from da necrons ‘ad been used to make dat thing.” And both of Two Heads frowned.

“Looks like I’m gonna ‘ave to wait until Batrug can gather da parts den.” Two Heads answered glumly. Then he smiled and from his belt he plucked the axe he had carried for as long as Hazug had known him, “I still got dis at least.” One of him said and taking a step into the water he brought it down on an ork that had managed to escape the sunken battlefortress and evade the rifle fire to make it to shore. The axe blow shattered the ork’s skull and the water began to turn red with blood around him, “See.” The other head said, “Dis still works fine.”

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