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Blood And Rocks Prologue | |
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Prologue |
The blade of the warscythe came down hard and sliced through the chain that bound Rhia to the archlike eldar warpgate and she slumped backwards, clutching at the tattered remnants of her clothing. “Oh thank you.” She gasped as she looked up at Hazug Throatslitter of the Blood Axe clan, the ork who she had been sent to spy upon by the humans who had then turned on her and proposed using her as a sacrifice to their dark gods, “Thank you I-“ “Shuddup!” Hazug bellowed and he swung his hand so that the back of it slammed hard into Rhia’s face and knocked her further backwards, a spray of blood coming from her mouth as teeth were dislodged, “Wot, ya reckon ya can betray me and I’ll just overlook it?” and he then formed his hand into a fist that he drove into her face, triggering a cheer from the other orks looking on. “Kill ‘er!” a voice yelled out, coming from one head of a two-headed ork that was just as large as Hazug himself. Then the other added, “Yeah, kill ‘er!” and Hazug delivered a kick that knocked Rhia’s leg out from under her even as she tried to get to her feet. “No please-“ Rhia began and she raised a hand up in front of her. Hazug roared as he leant down and grabbed hold of her outstretching arm, pulling Rhia to her feet and then spinning her around and hurling her across the ground. She came to a halt at the feet of another human woman and Rhia looked up at her. “Sophie, please tell him to-“ but the other woman just scowled at her as Hazug strode over and took hold of Rhia by the neck. “Ya lied to me!” he yelled as he lifted her off the ground, “And ya took wot didn’t belong to ya. Ya needs to be taught a lesson and its my right to teach it to ya.” Then using both arms he lifted Rhia up above his head and hurled her towards an armoured vehicle parked nearby. The pain of the impact was intense and Rhia felt certain she had heard the sound of her arm breaking as well as feeling it, but it also knocked the breath from her body and she could not cry out as she fell to the ground and blackness claimed her. The sun was up when Rhia next awoke and the first thing she did was cry out in pain. Using her uninjured arm she pulled the other one across her chest and looked around. Her vision was blurred, with one of her eyes swollen shut but she could easily tell that Hazug and the other orks had abandoned her here. Whether they had believed her dead or simply become bored with continuing to beat an unconscious victim she had no way of knowing. Slowly she got to her feet, pain in her chest suggesting that her arm was not the only broken bone she had and then she looked around again. The orks looked to have taken everything with them, including the bodies of the traitor marines who had tried to sacrifice her. This was not unusual Rhia knew, all her life she had watched as orks had plundered this world and kept the local humans subservient. However, when she had joined the forces loyal to Venris Highbalt, the old Imperial governor she had not suspected that he was a heretic who had been plotting to unleash an army of daemons upon the world. Of course only a handful of Venris’ troops had any idea of his true motives and Rhia knew that if she was to get the medical help she needed then the best place to go for it was to his old headquarters. Slowly, clutching at her injured arm she began to walk. Each step brought more pain from where Hazug had kicked her, but she remained focused on her destination – the ruined city where the anti-ork resistance was based. “They should
have been back by now.” One of the soldiers on watch said to the other as
he scanned the area through a battered pair of binoculars. “Well I don’t like it.” Grimy said, “There are orks massing on the other side of the river. What if they’re getting ready to attack?” “Why would they? They don’t know we’re here do they? In all likelihood the governor’s reinforcements have arrived and the orks are getting ready to fight them.” Grimy smiled. “Then we’ve won?” he asked. “Won? Not yet. But I doubt any ork rabble can stand up to a chapter of marines. I just expected their arrival to be more obvious. They must have used some sort of stealth craft to penetrate the ork fleet in orbit. Or perhaps they-“ “Wait I see someone.” Grimy suddenly exclaimed and he lifted the binoculars back to his eyes for a better look. There he saw a single figure staggering towards the checkpoint, woman who was clearly injured, “Stand to!” he added and he swapped his grip on the binoculars for the shotgun propped up against the wall behind him as his comrade raised an automatic rifle and they both took aim. “Help me!” Rhia called out as she saw the two soldiers in front of her and she dropped to her knees. Both soldiers rushed forwards, keeping their weapons ready in case this was some sort of trap. “She’s hurt.” Grimy said as they reached Rhia and he took a canteen from his belt that he held to her lips, “Here, drink.” He said. “I know you.”
The other guard said, “You were one of the governor’s agents weren’t you?”
and Rhia nodded briefly. “The marines?” Grimy said in amazement, unable to believe that mere orks could have defeated the finest warriors in the galaxy, but Rhia nodded. “What about the reinforcements?” the other guard asked, “Why didn’t they come?” Rhia briefly considered telling them the truth, that had the marines’ plan been successful then the planet’s human population would have been wiped out along with the orks but then had second thoughts. “They never
came.” She said instead, “The orks stopped them.” “Us.” Rhia replied, “They know we’re here.” People ran about at random it seemed and Rhia just watched as they grabbed hold of whatever they could carry. Those few voices that had advocated staying to fight the orks had been swiftly silenced by reports of the strength of their numbers and weapons and now everyone seemed more interested in what they could take with them. The medicae who had seen to Rhia’s injuries had done the minimum necessary to treat her before he too had decided to flee before the orks could organise a river crossing and he had left behind much of his equipment for others to sort through. Rhia did not plan on going with them. She had obtained a compact pistol and a few days worth of supplies. Along with some currency she hoped that this would allow her to start again away from these people and as she left the resistance headquarters she did not look back. Meanwhile inside the building a group of men were going through the private quarters of Venris Highbalt. The former governor had been able to hoard luxuries unobtainable to anyone else and the men knew that if they could escape with these they would be in a good position to bargain for anything else they wanted. “What are these?” one asked as he broke open a chest and peered inside. “Books.” Another said, “Ignore them Hal. Look for jewellery, cash and booze. Its easier to carry.” “This could be
important.” Hal said and he began to root through it. “Like what?” “Oh I don’t know, the locations of all the PDF’s old arms dumps. That valuable enough for you?” Cutter now walked over to the chest as well. “I don’t see any maps.” He said, “Just books and scrolls.” “And bits of stone.” Hal said as he opened a carefully wrapped bundle, a small sheet of fine cloth covering a small stone tablet engraved with a crude eight pointed star, “Come on, these must be valuable if they were stored like this. Let’s take them.” “But we don’t know what they are.” Cutter pointed out. “We’ll find out.” Hal said, “Trust me, these are going to be important.”
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