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Blood And Rocks Chapta 2 | |
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Chapta 2 |
“Cutter open up! It’s Hal.” Annoyed and dressed only in his underwear Cutter walked towards the door as Hal continued to hammer on the outside. “What the feth do you want?” he asked, opening the door a crack. “Let me in.”
Hal said and he pressed his hand against the door. “It worked.” Hal said as Cutter closed the door behind him, “The stones I mean. Even managed to take out a bunch of greenskin bastards as well.” “Throne!”
Cutter exclaimed, “What happened?” “Don’t worry its just some woman-“ “Its one of
those joy-girls again isn’t it?” Hal said, “Every chance you get and
you’re at it again. Can’t you keep it in your pants for even a few
days?” “But you brought her here!” Hal snapped, “Now of all times. Where is she?” “In there.” Cutter replied, looking towards his bedroom,” But don’t worry. She’s one of us. Remember Rhia?” Ignoring him Hal stormed to the bedroom where he saw Rhia sitting up in the bed, holding the blankets across her. “Get out
whore.” He said. “She’s not one of us any more. She’s nothing but a cheap joy girl and if she doesn’t get out of here now I’ll make her wish the orks had finished her off.” He said. Then he spotted Rhia lean over the side of the bed and reach for her clothes. Reacting quickly Hal leapt forwards and kicked the pile out of reach and then scooped up the compact pistol that slid from within it, “A gun? You didn’t check her for a gun before bringing her here? Supposing she decided to rob you and found them?” “Its just for protection – honest.” Rhia protested, but Hal reached out his free hand and grabbed her by the arm, the one that Hazug had broken and had never quite healed properly. This caused her to scream as he dragged her from the bed, still clutching at the blanket. “Come on Hal.” Cutter protested, “Let her stay and you can have her afterwards. Trust me, she does anything for-“ but by this time Hal had reached the front door and, tucking the pistol into his pocket he opened it and pushed Rhia out onto the landing before slamming the door behind her. “Hey!” Rhia yelled as she picked herself up, “What about my stuff? What about my money?” The door then opened again and Hal tossed her clothes out onto the landing as well. Then he took the pistol from his pocket and ejected the magazine before throwing both down the stairs. “Show your face here again whore and I’ll mess it up so even your rates look expensive.” He said and then the door was slammed shut once more. Alone on the dimly lit landing Rhia looked around. The commotion had attracted the attention of some of the neighbours and she could see doors open just enough for them to peer out at her. Nervously she picked up her clothes and headed down stairs, looking for the pistol and somewhere she could get dressed without an audience that wasn’t paying her. As she descended the stairs, wincing as she stepped on a sharp splinter of wood in her bare feet she thought about what she had overheard. Clearly Cutter and Hal were up to something and the warp had been mentioned. Rhia had more experience of creatures from that cursed realm that she wished she had, having witnessed the possession and transformation of the late governor when he and his chaos space marine allies had attempted to use her in their scheme to flood the planet with such creatures and the thought that they could be trying something similar terrified her. Of course there was nothing that Rhia and her one little pistol could do about it. But she knew of someone who could do something, even though she knew that he would not be happy to see her. “Ah Hazug, ya came. Good.” Warboss Kazkal Kromag said as Hazug and Ratish were escorted into his throne room by one of the human servants the warboss made use of as a way of flaunting his wealth. The statement made it sound like Hazug had been given a choice of whether or not to answer the warboss’ summons, whereas the only real choice was whether he walked into the throne room or was carried there in pieces. The room itself was both lit and heated by burning torches that ran all the way around the lower level of the room and the far end was dominated by the massive throne upon which sat the equally massive Warboss Kazkal Kromag. “Wotcha want
boss?” Hazug asked. “Speed Freaks boss?” Hazug asked. Speed Freaks were a branch of the Evil Suns clan and their obsession with fast moving vehicles of any description was well known. Such orks made excellent raiders during the many wars the ork species fought either with other species or amongst themselves, ”Or was it feral lads?” Feral orks were those orks that had not yet joined modern ork society after crawling out of their hatching ground and they were known for launching attacks against isolated human farms. A convoy of squiggoths would be one of the few things they would be able to catch up with, but bands large enough to threaten a well-armed group of Bad Moons were very rare. “Dunno wot dey
are.” The warboss replied, “But dey aint lads at all. If dey was den da
only thing wot’d bother me is da fact dat dey attacked a git farm at da
same time.” Kazkal Kromag had declared, with some prompting from Hazug,
that all unclaimed humans on the planet were in fact his property and that
anyone harming them without good cause would be suitably punished. The
decree had not been popular amongst orks but it had been followed since no
one wanted to risk the wrath of Kazkal Kromag. Kazkal then gave out a
shout to the servant who had shown Hazug in and was still waiting for
further instructions, “Go bring da grot.” He ordered. “Da only one wot got away was a grot wot was with da Bad Moons.” Kazkal told Hazug, “Da runt ran off when ‘e saw all da lads getting’ killed and came back ‘ere. Da lads at da north fort spotted ‘im and brought ‘im to me.” A wailing sound interrupted Kazkal at that moment as the human returned in the company of two orks. Between them the orks held a gretchin off the floor by his arms while his legs flailed about. “Let me go! I aint done nothin’!” the creature yelled but the orks ignored his protest and instead walked past Hazug before flinging the gretchin at the feet of the warboss. “Tuggi, tell ‘im wot ya told me.” Kazkal ordered, staring at the gretchin and pointing to Hazug. “But ya said dat I could-“ the gretchin began, trembling as he looked up at the warboss. “Now!” Kazkal bellowed and the gretchin cowered before him before turning to face Hazug. He glanced back at Kazkal briefly and then began to tell his tale. “Well it was like dis.” He began, fidgeting with his hands, “One of da stupid gits wot we normally swapped stuff with ‘ad a bunch of dead animals. ‘E said dat gits couldn’t eat ‘em cause dare stomachs aint no good so ‘e wanted to swap ‘em with us. Prurglor, dat’s da boss of da convoy by da way, well ‘e ‘ad us start cuttin’ into all da bodies so dat we could pack up da meat but dare was somethin’ livin’ inside ‘em all. Dey ‘atched out when we was cuttin’ and dey killed all da lads. Da gits an’ all.” “Gits don’t count.” Ratish commented. “Describe wot ‘atched out.” Hazug ordered the gretchin, puzzled about what could be responsible. He had seen small creatures that laid eggs inside larger ones before, but nothing big enough to threaten even a gretchin. So the question of what creature that behaved like this could overpower a force of orks was a mystery to him. “Well dey was all different like.” The gretchin replied, “Some was as big as orks, but den dare was all dese small ones dat was no bigger dan snotlings. A lot of ‘em was green an’ all, but dey wasn’t orks or runts cause it was da wrong green . Da bigger ones only ’ad one eye an’ all. It was right ‘ere in da middle of dare ‘eads.” And at this point the gretchin tapped his face between his eyes, “Plus dey ‘ad ‘orns, but not ‘orns like on an ‘elmet cause dey wasn’t wearin’ none. Dey wasn’t wearin’ anythin’ in fact.” Hazug decided that he had heard enough. “I’ll need to
go out to dis farm tomorrow boss.” He said, “I’ll need da light so I can
see properly.” “I better ‘ad boss.” Hazug said, “I’ll ask Two Heads and ‘is mob. Dey got a couple of wagons, but dey’ll need payin’.” Kazkal frowned and let out a low growl. As a Bad Moon he grew his teeth faster than most orks, making him wealthier even without being the warboss and entitled to the biggest share of all loot. But like all Bad Moons he was generally reluctant to part with his wealth. However he was also aware that orks rarely did anything for free, in fact an ork that offered his services for nothing was not to be trusted in his opinion and it was better to just kill them as soon as they made the offer rather than risk finding out what they were up to the hard way. “’Ere’s ten teeth.” Kazkal said and he tossed a pouch of money at Hazug, who caught it one handed. Hazug was actually disappointed with this. Two Heads would likely agree to go with him for six teeth and that only left four for Hazug. He had been hoping that the warboss would ask him how much he needed so that he could say twenty and then perhaps haggle down to fifteen. However it was still four for him and combined with the money Mayleth had won in the fighting pits tonight the evening had been a profitable one for him. Three vehicles sped across the countryside towards the farm as the sun was coming up. The first of these was a six-wheeled truck that belonged to Hazug himself and was decorated in a camouflage pattern similar to the clothing he wore. Hazug drove his own vehicle and right now had the gretchin Tuggi sat beside him to give directions. Ratish meanwhile was located behind and above him where the truck’s only weapon, a belt fed heavy machine gun was mounted. The gretchin was just big enough to be able to operate this weapon and he scanned the horizon keenly, hoping for an excuse to open fire. With chores to be done at home Hazug had brought only Ratish out of his servants along with his pet attack squig, a ball shaped creature with a large mouthful of teeth that was known as Cuddles. Behind this came a heavily armoured halftrack that was the largest and most powerful vehicle in the convoy, painted red to increase its speed. It was a well-known fact to orks that ‘Red ones go faster’. This was the battlewagon that belonged to Two Heads Smasha Butt Face of the Evil Suns clan and right now Two Heads himself was sticking up out of the top hatch of the vehicle’s main turret. As his name suggested Two Heads was a mutant, the pod he had grown in had for some unknown reason caused him to sprout a second head. The advantage of this was that he grew teeth at twice the normal rate and as such had become wealthy enough to afford his battlewagon. On the other hand the two heads did not always get on and on occasional they had even been known to come to blows with one another. Finally came the only vehicle of the three that had not been built by orks. Instead it had originally belonged to the space marines who had come here to supposedly help the world’s former human ruler return to power and amongst humans it was called a ‘rhino’. Now though the vehicle was covered with patchwork repairs to the damage it had suffered and the puny lightweight human automatic weapon it had been armed with had been replaced by a larger one like that mounted on Hazug’s truck as well as a large calibre cannon being mounted in a retro-fitted turret in place of its passenger carrying compartment. Fully tracked, the rhino was less well protected than the much larger ork-built battlewagon and it tended to be used as for long-range fire support. “Master! Ratish sees smoke!” Ratish cried out from the weapon mount and he pointed to where Hazug had already seen the thin plume of smoke rising up from over the next hill. “I sees it.”
Hazug replied and he brought the truck to a sudden halt and looked at the
gretchin beside him, “Is dat it?” he asked and the gretchin
nodded. Hazug frowned. “Ya stays right where ya is.” He said sternly, “And if dis is some sort of trick den-“ and he just looked around at Cuddles. The creature just looked back and snarled,” Well ‘e won’t need feedin’ for a while if ya ‘as been lyin’.” He added. “Hazug wot’s up?” one of Two Heads called out as the battlewagon came to a halt beside Hazugs’s truck. “Smoke.” Hazug replied, pointing to the plume up ahead, “Dat’s where we is ‘eadin’.” “See, I told ya.” The other one of Two Heads said to the one that had asked the question, “Pah!” that head said, “Like ya knows anythin’.” The other head scowled and looked as if it was about to respond when Hazug interrupted to stop the fight he could see brewing. “Just get
goin’.” He said, “We need ya wagon at da front just in case dare’s someone
waitin’ over dat ‘ill for us.” Hazug then set his truck into motion as well, dropping in behind the battlewagon to use the armoured vehicle as cover for his open topped one. “Ratish!” he snapped, “Look sharp. If ya sees anythin’ dat shouldn’t be ‘ere den let rip at it.” “Like a git ya
mean master?” Ratish asked hopefully. Ratish’s face
fell. As the truck sped over the top of the hill Hazug got his first look at the farm. Surprisingly it appeared to be intact; the plume of smoke was instead coming from a ruined piece of ork machinery close by. In addition to this the bodies of the greenskins from the trade caravan as well as the human farmers lay scattered about along with their belongings. But what stood out most were the corpses of the squiggoths. Three of the gigantic beasts had been killed here, but by what remained a mystery, from this distance Hazug could not make out any corpses other than those that looked to have been from the farm or the caravan. The fact that there was so much equipment still lying around suggested that not only had orks not been responsible for whatever had happened here, but also that Hazug and Two Heads’ troops were the first ones on the scene since it had happened. Had other orks happened upon this they would have helped themselves to everything they could carry. To orks finding meant keeping. Then a thought occurred to Hazug. It was quite possible that some of the orks lying dead in front of him had arrived after the initial battle and that whoever or whatever was responsible for it was still lying in wait, using the bodies and prospect of loot as bait. “’Ang on!” he yelled as he swerved suddenly, bringing the truck out from behind the battlewagon and he raced forwards, overtaking the heavier vehicle. “Hazug! Wotcha doin’?” Two Heads bellowed, his voice just about audible over the sound of the two vehicles’ engines. “Just keep goin’!” Hazug yelled back as he drove away from the battlewagon at an angle. Swinging the truck around again Hazug headed straight at the farm again, only now the two ork vehicles were approaching from slightly different directions the rhino following behind and ready to provide support. By doing this Hazug hoped that any enemy lying in wait would be unable to target both at the same time, exposing their position to whichever vehicle they chose to ignore. Hazug of course hoped that his truck would be that vehicle, the battlewagon was clearly a bigger threat and any enemy would likely target that first. No such attack
came however and both the truck and battlewagon were soon parked close to
the scene of the battle. Hazug climbed down from the truck and took hold
of Cuddles’ leash, untying it from the roll cage. “Looks like
no-one’s left Hazug.” Two Heads said as he strode down the main ramp at
the rear of his battlewagon. Meanwhile the other head just sniffed the
air, “Somethin’ stinks.” He announced. Nearby one Two
Heads’ orks rushed up the closest ork body and crouched down beside it.
Then he produced a pair of pliers from a pocket and opened the dead ork’s
mouth. “Dat smell is
da bodies.” Hazug said as he looked around, “Dey must be decayin’.” Then
he glared at Tuggi, still cowering in the truck, “Get over ‘ere!” he
shouted and as the gretchin approached him timidly looking around he
yelled, “’Ow long after da fight did ya really wait before tellin’ da boss
wot ‘appened?” Hazug reached
out and slapped the gretchin hard enough to lift it off the ground and
send it flying backwards. “I went straight back to da city.” Tuggi said as he picked himself up and pointed to an old cart that had obviously belonged to the owners of the farm, “I ‘id under one of dem git wagons over dare until no one was lookin’ and I ran for it. I wasn’t stayin’ around ‘ere, not even for da loot.” “Wot loot?” Two Heads asked and he picked up a nearby ork rifle, “Dis is all rotten.” And he swung the weapon downwards by its muzzle. The rifle was fitted with a wooden stock and as soon as it hit the ground it fell apart, the wood not even tough enough to produced splinters. “Master.”
Ratish then said. “Why is dare only git and ork bodies? Where is da others? Da ones wot dey was fightin’?” “’E’s right.” Two Heads said, both heads looking round and searching for any signs of the mysterious enemy that the orks had fought here. But just as Ratish had said the only corpses belonged to the farmers and the greenskins of the caravan, “Spread out lads!” Two Heads yelled at his troops, “We is lookin’ for who did dis and dare must be some signs somewhere. Even if dey took dare bodies den dare ought to be blood or somethin’ like dat.” The Evil Suns began to spread out, their rifles held ready in the hope that there would be something left to shoot. Some of them briefly inspected some of the ork bodies or the equipment they carried in the hope that there would be something useful still around, but none of them found anything that had not already decayed beyond use. “Now tell me more about wot ‘appened ‘ere.” Hazug said to Tuggi, “Ya must ‘ave seen some of it. Where was some da aliens killed?” “Well dey was killed all over.” Tuggi said, “Or dey should ‘ave been. Da lads did ‘em over real good. But dey didn’t all stay dead like dey should ‘ave.” Hazug glanced at Two Heads; they had fought aliens that did not stay dead before. “Listen grot.” One of Two Heads said, both heads staring at the gretchin, “Was dese aliens made of metal?” “Nah.” Tuggi
replied and he shook his head vigorously, “Dey was made of flesh, lots of
it. Dey was fat and dey was covered in slime.” “Melted?” Hazug asked,” Melted ‘ow?” “Well dey just sort turned into this goo and it soaked into da ground.” Tuggi explained, “But dey was real tough. ‘Alf of da ‘oles I saw shot in ‘em just sealed up again after.” Hazug frowned. The idea of an enemy that simply melted away to nothing when beaten offended his orkish sensibilities of claiming his share of the loot after a battle. Wandering over to the body of a squiggoth, the giant beast lying on its side with several great gashes in its flesh he studied the wounds carefully. They looked as if the crudely built blades that most orks used rather than the sharper ones that aliens tended to be in possession of had inflicted them, but it was difficult to be certain. Despite the relatively short span of time since their deaths the squiggoth corpses, like those of their ork masters were already decaying. Beside him Cuddles suddenly jumped forwards and bit a chunk out of the body. But before he could swallow any of the meat the squig instead spat it out and jumped back again, growling as he walked around in a circle and now ignoring the body. This was definitely unusual behaviour. Squigs could tolerate meat that even orks rejected, so for Cuddles to refuse to eat it meant that there was something seriously wrong with it. “Ratish!”
Hazug yelled. “Go get a bucket.” Hazug said, “I wants to take a lump of dis meat back with us so a dok can tell us wot’s up with it.” “Yes master.
Ratish find a bucket.” The gretchin said before rushing off. “Burn ‘em.” Hazug replied.
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