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Waaargh! Hazug! Chapta 29 | |
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Waaargh! Hazug! Chapta 29 |
Intruders. The
presence of the warband did not go unnoticed and deep within the
previously sealed section something stirred, hissing as it awoke from a
centuries long sleep and clawed its way out of its
nest. The
web like filaments continued to cover every surface as the warband
advanced and Hazug was in two minds about this. On the one hand it muffled
the footfalls of those members of the warband that could not move in a
very stealthy fashion, mainly the orks other than his own Blood Axes but
also the power armoured marines whose heavy boots had echoed whenever they
touched the decks on the way from the docking bay. But at the same time he
was aware of what Rell had told him about the genestealers’ origins, abut
how they were the product of tyrannid biological engineering and he could
not help but wonder if these tendrils could be giving away the warband’s
position somehow. All
of a sudden Cuddles’ growls began to increase in volume and Hazug glanced
around to see the squig attempting to pull Ratish towards a section of
tendril-coated wall. “’E’s
got da scent of somethin’ master.” Ratish said, digging his heels into the
tendrils on the deck below his feet as he tried to hold back the clearly
agitated squig. “Everyone
get back.” Hazug said, waving the warband away from the wall that was
disturbing Cuddles so much. “Movement
above!” Tenus yelled and the marine raised his bolter, aiming it at the
ceiling and directing the light mounted on top of his weapon upwards as
well. Looking up Hazug saw nothing but pipes and ducts coated by even more
of the tendrils where the various light sources carried by the warband
illuminated them. “Explain
Brother.” Claudius told Tenus. “I
saw something move Brother Captain.” He answered, “It appeared to be on
the other side of this webbing.” “Stand
to.” Torris commanded the stormtroopers and as one they raised their
hellguns. “What’s
happening?” Salia asked as she looked around at the walls and ceiling,
unable to see anything but the strange alien tendrils. However, as she
looked around she stepped closer to the section of wall that Cuddles was
still focused on. “No
Mon’Keigh!” Mayleth yelled, leaping forwards and knocking Salia off her
feet just as the wall was torn open and a purestrain genestealer leapt
out. Mayleth raised both one of her curved daggers and a splinter pistol,
trying to take aim at the alien. But the genestealer had already built up
significant speed prior to emerging from its hiding place and before she
could fire it had already grabbed hold of Cooper and plunged its fangs
into the stormtrooper’s throat. “Let
rip!” Two Heads both bellowed and the passageway was suddenly filled with
the sound of orks firing their weapons into the walls, punching holes in
the tendrils but doing little to clear the mass of
them. Then
there was the distinctive sound of a bolt round as Rell fired his pistol
at the genestealer, too late to save Cooper but preventing the alien from
moving onto anyone else. Then
a clawed arm broke through the tendrils covering the ceiling and swiped at
Tenus, taking his head clean off his shoulders before he could react.
Claudius reached out and grabbed hold of the arm, pulling on it with
enough force that the genestealer came crashing through the tendrils. As
it fell the alien reached out for Claudius, attempting to impale him with
its other clawed arm. But, dropping his bolter, the marine captain was
able to take hold of this arm as well and leaving the alien scratching at
his armour with its more mundane hands. “I
got it!” one of Two Heads bellowed and he drew his hyperphase sword and
activated the energy field surrounding its blade before using it to slice
the front of the genestealer’s head off with a single vertical
stroke. The
remaining members of the warband looked around, searching for any further
signs of attack. But for now at least there was nothing. “Wot’re
ya goin’ dat way for?” Batrug asked. “One
of da genestealers came from down dare.” Hazug replied, “So I figure it
must lead to where dey is all ‘idin’.” Coming
closer. Though
they were some distance from the central nest, the deaths of the two
genestealer sentries did not go unnoticed by what resided there and
subconsciously it sent a warning to its kin slumbering around
it. The
concealed passageway was narrower than the one the warband had been
following and they could only continue to follow it by having only two or
three of them beside one another. Hazug brought Ratish up to the front
with him, watching as Cuddles continued to try and pull free of the
gretchin’s grip. “Looks
like dis is da way to be goin’.” Hazug commented. Shortly
after this the passageway came to a junction. Carrying straight on it was
significantly wider, as wide as the original passageway the warband had
taken while there were three other passageways as narrow as the one they
were now in leading off to the sides. “Looks
like ya squig says to keep goin’.” Drazzok
commented. “Aye.”
Hazug replied, “But I reckon we best keep it quiet.” “Form
up on me lads,” Hazug said to his commandoes, “and let’s see where dis
goes.” Hazug
began to creep forwards, alert for any signs of genestealer activity. The
passageway was empty as far as he could tell, but Cuddles remained
agitated and from somewhere up ahead he heard a sudden
hiss. “Kuruk.”
Hazug said quietly. “Yes
boss?” the flamethrower-armed commando responded. “Light
dis place up.” Hazug said and the passageway in front of him was suddenly
filled with fire, illuminating the whole thing and revealing the cluster
of genestealers clinging to the walls in the
darkness. Two
of the aliens were consumed by the flames before they could even start to
move and their screeching alerted the rest off the warband to their
presence while the rest began to scuttle towards the orks, moving across
the ceiling and walls as effortlessly as if they were the
floor. “Geddem!”
Hazug snapped as he fired a burst from his rifle into the first
genestealer that caught his attention and around him there was the sound
of more gunfire as his commandoes joined him. From
behind the Blood Axes more of the warband moved forwards to meet this
threat and as one of the genestealers leapt from the ceiling towards Thrak
it was met in midair by a round from Claudius’ bolter that tore apart its
skull. Varrin
took up a position beside Kuruk and when the ork used his flamethrower
again the Deathwatch marine fired his flamer as well. Though smaller than
the ork weapon, the marine’s flamer was just as effective and the
genestealers coming at then from one of the walls found themselves
enveloped by the flames. “Get
forwards lads.” Druken ordered from the rear of the warband just moments
before there was a sudden hiss from behind him and he turned to see a
genestealer leap out of the darkness at him. Ducking at the last moment
Druken saw the creature pass over his head and smash into one of Rell’s
servitors, ripping open its torso and allowing it remaining internal
organs to spill out. Gasping, Cubrim stared in horror at the creature now
right beside him and his life was only saved by the intervention of Jarr
who put a round from his pistol into its eye. “They’re
behind us as well.” Jarr called out. “About
face lads!” Gorgoga ordered and his armoured troops spun around, pushing
their way to where the stormboys had just lost one of their number to the
unexpected assault from behind. The ork armed with a rocket launcher
directed it towards the oncoming genestealers and fire. The explosive
projectile streaked past the genestealers without hitting any of them, but
its fiery trail illuminated those yet to reach the line of shields that
Gorgoga’s troops were forming to block their
advance. Looking
back and forth Drazzok saw the warband under attack from both sides and he
frowned. “Oi
Gorgoga!” he yelled, “Make an ‘ole.” Then he looked at Thuggrim, “Let’s do
dis.” He added. Then he roared, lifting his staff over his head as he ran
through the gap opened up between the shields and struck the first
genestealer to confront him on the side of its head. This produced a brief
green flash and a ‘crunch’ as its skull was crushed. Behind
him the madboys spilled through the gap as well, shooting and hacking at
the genestealers. The madboy with the injured leg moved too slowly and a
genestealer dropped from the ceiling onto him, clawing at his face and
chest. “Geddoff
‘im!” Thuggrim snapped, using the butt of his rifle to club the
genestealer. But when he reached down to pull the madboy back to his feet
he found him already dead. Then something struck him from behind and
Thuggrim turned to see a genestealer simply collapse as Drazzok removed
the staff that he had jammed into its torso. “Keep
ya eye open.” The weirdboy told him, “Dat one almost got
ya.” With
the genestealers behind the warband now focused on Drazzok and the madboys
the Goffs commanded by Druken and Gorgoga seized their opportunity. The
shield wall was opened fully and they charged into the remaining
genestealers. One of the aliens reacted quickly, ripping a shield from one
of Gorgoga’s troops and hurling it into the armoured ork armed with the
rocket launcher, crushing his throat. Then the genestealer turned back to
the startled ork and plunged a clawed hand through his
ribs. “No
ya don’t.” Gorgoga exclaimed when he saw this and he drove his power claw
into the genestealer with enough force to send it flying backwards until
it struck the wall behind it and collapsed to the
deck. While
the attack from the rear of the warband was being dealt with Hazug decided
to continue to advance at the front. He waved Batrug and his apprentices
forwards. “Ya
‘eard ‘im lads.” Batrug responded, shoving his apprentices forward.
Joining Kuruk and Varrin they formed a line of troops armed with
flamethrowers at the head of the warband. Simultaneously these troops
discharged their weapons, producing an almost solid sheet of flame that
filled the passageway ahead and cleared it of genestealers for a
significant distance. But this was just part of what was needed for the
warband to be able to push on and while the aliens regrouped Two Heads
ordered his troops forwards. “Now
our chance lads!” one of him yelled while close by him both Claudius and
Torris also waved their squads on. This produced a mix of orks and humans
all armed with rifles and as soon as the next group of genestealers
appeared they opened fire in unison. Salia
squealed startled by the sudden noise of more than thirty projectile,
bolter and laser rifles all firing in unison and she dropped her own
lasgun as she clamped her hands over her ears. “No
time for panic mon’keigh.” Mayleth told her, “Now the real fight
begins.” Hazug
looked back the way they had come and was in time to see Gorgoga pummel
the last of the genestealers that had attacked them from that direction
just as it was done clawing one of his troops to death. Then looking
forwards once more he saw that the combined rifle fire of Two Heads mob,
Claudius’ marines and Rell’s stormtroopers was having the desired effect
and the genestealers in front of them were
retreating. “Now!”
he yelled, lifting his own rifle over his head,
“Waaargh!” “Waaargh!”
the other orks yelled, the sound almost drowning out the gun fire and the
warband surged forwards, those orks at the front still firing regardless
of whether they could see something to shoot at or
not. The
passageway terminated when it met a chamber so large that the lights
carried by the warband could not illuminate it all. As they spilled out of
the passageway and into the chamber the members of the warband began to
spread out, forming a rough semi-circle around the
entrance. “Watch
above.” Claudius warned and Greystorm whirled around just in time to fire
a short burst into a genestealer that had been waiting on the wall over
the entrance, obviously planning to drop down and ambush whoever was the
last one through. Meanwhile
Hazug took out the tau viewing device again and used it to have a proper
look around. “Wot
is dis place?” Druken asked as he tried to see what the chamber
held. Looking
through the viewing device Hazug saw that the room was coated with the
same tendrils that covered everything else in the sealed off section of
the space hulk. But in addition to these he could make out clusters of
fleshy sacks attached to the walls at various heights. Some of these had
been torn open and it appeared that they had contained some sort of
liquid. But many more of them were intact and from within some of them he
could see movement as their occupants began to claw their way out. “They
are tyrannid hibernation sacks.” Claudius replied, “Each one can sustain a
tyrannid organism for thousands of years.” “Den
dis is it lads.” He called out in orkish, “Kill ‘em all!” and he raised
his rifle and fired into the wall. There
was a screeching from in the darkness as Hazug’s bullets hit something and
then from out of the shadows genestealers appeared in the
hundreds. Attacked. The
intrusion into the main nest was triggering the awakening of the entire
brood. Not a single genestealer could be left sleeping if it meant their
destruction that included what remained sleeping at the very centre of the
nest in a pod significantly larger than any of the
others. Charging
over open ground the genestealers made easy targets for the marines and
stormtroopers. Even the orks who were a species not known for exceptional
marksmanship found it easy to simply point their weapons into the midst of
the charging aliens and fire at them randomly and be assured of hitting
something. “Hazug.”
Claudius called out in orkish as he loaded a fresh magazine into his
bolter. “Wot?”
Hazug replied. “Yeah,
wot about ‘em?” Hazug asked. “I
believe that they support the ceiling.” Claudius said, “If we can destroy
enough then this place may collapse and crush the
nest.” Hazug
frowned. The warband possessed only a few weapons capable of bringing down
the pillars from a distance. At home both he and Two Heads still possessed
significant numbers of human made anti-tank missiles that they had
captured, but neither had thought to bring them along. Therefore given the
loss of the rocket launcher in Gorgoga’s mob that limited the warband to
just Hazug’s underslung rocket launcher, Batrug’s custom blaster and the
plasma gun carried by the stormtrooper Jackson. Of
course they had other powerful weapons with them, but that meant moving
closer to the pillars. “We
gotta split up.” Hazug shouted, “Each group ‘eads towards a different one
of dese towers and does wotever it takes to bring ‘em down.” Then he
looked at the various leaders of the warband and divided them up, pointing
at pillars as he called out orders, “Druken, Gorgoga. Ya take ya lads dat
way. Gorgoga can take out da tower while da stormboys cover ‘im. Two
Heads, I wants ya to give ‘alf ya lads to Batrug so dat he can ‘ed off
over dare while ya take ‘is lads with da rest of ya lot to cut down dat
tower right dare.” Then he switched to gothic as he addressed the human
troops, “Claudius I reckon ya lads should go with Rell’s. Keep da fancy
zappa lad alive long enough for ‘im to bring down dat tower right dare.”
And finally as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and drew his warscythe
he added in orkish, “Everyone else with me. We’s goin’ straight for dat
one in da middle.” And then he activated his warscythe and began to
run. The
warband split up exactly as Hazug had ordered, charging into the oncoming
genestealers and scattering them with gunfire and slashes from hand
weapons. In a single swing Hazug sliced three of the creatures in half.
The charge did not go all the warband’s way however and two of Two Heads’
troops were struck down by genestealers that Batrug promptly vaporised
with a blast from his weapon.
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