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Da Isle Of Doom Chapta 2 | |
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Chapta 2 |
“Boss! Da convoy is comin’ back!” The cry
brought Grath Da Bludgeoner rushing from his hut where a gretchin waited
for him, waving inland. Followed by the gretchin, Grath strode towards the gateway in the perimeter wall surrounding the refinery and saw the vehicles of the Death Skulls convoy drove through and came to a halt. “Wotcha doin’
back ‘ere so soon?” he demanded as he walked towards the largest vehicle,
knowing that Rorgun would be inside. All around him Death Skulls orks were
disembarking from the vehicles and standing next to them and looking
around in silence. This struck Grath as odd instantly and as he came to a
halt his hand went to the bulky pistol tucked into his belt. “Bleedin’ nutter.” Grath said as he let go of the ork and he pushed his way through the unusually quiet Death Skulls to the battlewagon. He had just reached the battlewagon when one of its hatches opened and Rorgun himself jumped out with his axe in one hand, “Rorgun, wotcha doin’?” the warboss demanded. Grath was small by the standards of warbosses, barely larger than nobs like Rorgun. But to an ork even the smallest difference in size counted and it should have been enough to prompt Rorgun to explain his actions. On this occasion however, it was not. Rorgun turned towards the warboss and gazed at him with the same blank look as the other ork had. Then before Grath could react Rorgun swung his axe, cleaving through one of the warboss’ legs and before the warboss hit the ground the Death Skull nob lifted his blood stained axe above his head and roared. On his signal the Death Skulls raised their guns and opened fire and immediately panic spread through the greenskins at the refinery. The orks reacted by taking hold of the first weapon that came to hand and launching themselves at the attacking Death Skulls force while the smaller gretchin simply fled and hid from the fighting. Lying on the ground where he landed Grath dragged himself back from the battlewagon and drew his pistol. Seeing Rorgun now hacking at a pair of mekboys who had attempted to block his way Grath took aim between his shoulder blades and snatched back on the trigger. The gun barked once and kicked in Grath’s grip but as was often the case with orks the warboss’ aim was poor and instead of striking Rorgun between his shoulders it instead just clipped his skull and bounced off. Despite this, rather than turn to attack Grath as a typical or would Rorgun instead continued his assault on the meks. Then as Grath prepared to fire again one of the other Death Skulls ran towards him wielding a double-handed axe. The warboss screamed as the hand holding his pistol was taken off by the axe blade and then the next thing he saw was the long grip of the axe coming down towards him and everything went black. Warboss Kazkal Kromag was the biggest and most powerful ork on the planet. All other planetary warbosses and starship commanders reported to him and they did as they were told if they knew what was good for them. All knew that when Warboss Zhalrad of the Evil Suns had plotted against Kazkal it had ended with the usurper’s head on a stick and a new warboss looking after his city. Of course dealing with rebellious subordinates meant there was fighting to be had and so when news came from the docks that the ship that was supposed to have arrived laden with fuel for the orks vehicles and weapons had in fact arrived empty there was an air of excitement and many of Kazkal’s inner circle gathered to see the ship’s commander explain what had happened. “So wot’s dis I ‘ear about ya not ‘avin’ any fuel on board for me Frurgen?” Kazkal demanded, glaring at the ork nob at the same time as he reached out and grabbed a lump of roasted squig from the platter being held by one of his human servants. “Well we went to da island just like ya said boss.” Frurgen replied, “Only dare was no one dare to meet us. We waited more dan ‘alf a day and even fired a kannon to let ‘em know we was dare. But dey never came.” “So why didn’t ya go ashore and ‘ave and get it yaself?” Kazkal asked, “All dat fuel belongs to me and I aint ‘avin’ no-one else nickin’ it. Understood?” Frurgen nodded to indicate that he understood both the ownership of the fuel and that he needed to come up with a good explanation as to why he had not tried to retake it from whoever was keeping it from the warboss. “I sent some
grots on a raft boss.” Frurgen replied. “No boss.” Frurgen protested, “Its just dat da water around da dock is real shallow like and me ship can’t get right up to it. Da fuel was supposed to ‘ave been brought to us in smaller boats.” “Smaller boats? Is dat right?” Kazkal said, looking around at another of his human servants. This one was entrusted with record keeping, something few orks paid much attention to. “It is lord.” The human replied, “Eight small barges were included in the colony equipment to ferry cargo to and from larger vessels.” “Well dey was still dare, but dare wasn’t any lads about at all. I knew dat if dare was trouble den I aint got enough lads of me own on da ship to attack a fort like da one Grath’s got so I just came back ‘ere to tell ya wot ‘appened.” Kazkal exhaled deeply and took a large bite of his food. “And now ya expects me to go and sort dis out den does ya?” “Well I thought dat ya could send some lads with bigger guns dan wot I got and-“ “I’ll decide wot I does!” Kazkal roared, suddenly leaping out of his throne and lunging at Frurgen, taking hold of him. Then he dragged the startled nob towards the door of his throne room that led towards the exit, “Now get out of ‘ere while I figures out wot to do. Oh and don’t even think about goin’ anywhere in ya ship. If ya does den I’ll send a bunch of dakka jets after ya and when ya swim back to shore I’ll ‘ave a bunch of me nobs waitin’ for ya. Understood?” “Yes boss.” Frurgen replied nervously before Kazkal pushed him through the doorway. “So who ya gonna get to go and take a look at da island boss?” one of the assembled nobs asked as Kazkal returned to his throne. “Where’s Hazug?” Kazkal asked in response, gazing around the throne room. “’E aint ‘ere boss.” A nearby nob replied. “Den where is ‘e?” “Git Town probably, ‘angin’ about with da gits.” The nob answered. Git Town was the area of the ork city that was inhabited by the bulk of the planet’s remaining human population, known to the orks as gits. “Well wherever ‘e is, someone go get ‘im. Tell ‘im I wants to see ‘im and tell ‘im I wants to see ‘im now.” Hazug Throatslitter, last member of the Blood Axe clan left on the planet was at that moment just getting home to the building he occupied just outside Git Town. At one time it had been home to an entire mob of orks that had been wiped out in battle and since no-one else wanted to live so close to the human quarter of the city Kazkal Kromag himself had given the building to Hazug. He had not had a mob of troops to command in some time now and so the large building was spacious to him, with more than enough room for he and his assorted servants to have a room each. As soon as he entered through the front door he found himself met by two of his servants. Sophie and her younger sister Salia were humans that had once belonged to the Death Skulls clan. Sophie had come into his possession first under the tradition of finders’ keepers when alien invaders had killed her master. Salia on the other hand had simply been stolen by him from the Death Skulls. Hazug did not quite understand the concept of siblings, but Sophie had made her desire to be reunited with her sister clear to him and when the Death Skulls refused to sell her he had been left with no other choice. “Wot?” Hazug
asked as he saw the two young women staring at him. “In the back yard.” Salia added. “Show me den.” Hazug said and he followed Salia and Sophie into the kitchen where a small window looked out into the back yard of bare dirt surrounded by a wooden fence. Looking out through the window he saw another of his servants. Mayleth was one of the alien eldar species. She looked like a slender example of a human with delicately pointed ears and narrower eyes. Arriving on the planet as part of a raiding force, Hazug had captured Mayleth and rather than simply kill her he had exploited her love of combat by sending her to the fighting pits where orks fought for entertainment. Her impressive skills there were now providing Hazug with a reasonable income in prize money and wagers. As Hazug watched Mayleth seemed to be carefully repeating a series of deliberate limb movements and guessed that it was some sort of exercise. “Wot’s da problem?” He asked. “Her clothes.” Salia said. “Wot clothes? She aint wearin’ none.” “Exactly.” Sophie replied, “Hazug, its disgusting.” “Huh?” Hazug responded. “Look.” Sophie said, pointing past Mayleth to the fence where there was a sudden flurry of movement as the young male humans peering over it ducked back out of sight, “She knows they’re there Hazug. She’s leading them on.” Hazug just looked back the two women blankly, failing to understand what their complaint was. “Leadin’ ‘em on?” “You know sometimes it’s really annoying that you don’t understand things like this.” Sophie said. “Those boys aren’t just there when she is.” Salia said, “They hang around out there now, waiting for her.” “That’s right.” Sophie added, “And when we go out there they start yelling disgusting things at us through the holes in the fence.” “Wot ‘oles?” “They’ve cut small holes in the fence so more of them can see.” Salia said. Hazug frowned. “Dey is messin’ with me fence?” he said and before either Salia or Sophie could reply he stormed out of the kitchen and back into the hallway, “Ratish!” he yelled. Immediately a
small door beneath the stairs opened and a gretchin peered out. “Fetch Cuddles.” Hazug said and he drew the blade from his belt. Hazug glanced around the corner of the fence behind his house at the cluster of humans. Since he had retreated away from the kitchen window some of them had once again taken to peering over the top of the fence while he now saw that there were even more of them crouched down with their faces pressed up against the fence. “This is awesome.” He heard one say in the humans’ own language and he frowned again. With his blade still in his hand Hazug crept closer, keeping behind the humans and using their inexplicable to him fascination with the naked Mayleth to act as a distraction from his approach. The humans were so engrossed in what they saw that they failed to notice the smell of the nearby ork, even as he stood right behind them. Reaching down to one of the humans looking through the fence he tapped him gently on the shoulder. “Not now.” The
human said without taking his eye from the hole and so Hazug tapped him
again, “Feth off.” The human said. ‘Feth’ was not one of the human words
that Hazug understood fully, but he knew that he had just been insulted
and he tapped the human harder, “Look, I said-“ the human began, but his
voice trailed off at the moment he looked over his shoulder and saw the
massive ork nob staring back down at him with a vicious looking bladed
weapon resting on his shoulder. “Run!” one of them yelled and that was exactly what they did, dashing along the fence away from Hazug. All except the one Hazug had tapped on the shoulder. As he tried to get up Hazug reached out and grabbed hold of him, gripping him tightly. “Help me!” the human cried out to his friends and they paused in their flight. But before they could decide if they wanted to risk attempting a rescue of the adolescent boy Ratish appeared at the other end of the fence. A gretchin may be able to intimidate a lone unarmed human, but against a group the size of the one gathered here it was obvious that Ratish was no threat, however he was not alone. Gripped tightly in both hands, he held the leash of Hazug’s trained attack squig Cuddles and the snarling creature that was little more than a large fanged mouth set into a bulbous body strained to get free and launch itself at the humans. “Leave him!” a human shouted and the group decided to abandon their friend and instead ran off across the open ground between the fence and the nearby buildings of Git Town. Hazug lifted his captive off the ground and pushed him over the fence before climbing over it himself. When he landed he saw the human sat up against the fence and trembling as Mayleth stared at him. “You have been hunting my master?” the eldar woman asked without taking her eyes off the human. She spoke her own language, but an alien device strapped around her neck translated her words instantly into the ork language. “Not much of a catch.” “Kill da git master!” Ratish then exclaimed excitedly, having rushed around into the yard with Cuddles, “Ratish set da squig on it!” The human did
not understand the ork language, but he could tell that he was in
trouble. Hazug snarled, but before he could say anything to the cowering human Sophie’s voice called out from the back door. “Hazug, you’ve got company.” She said and when Hazug turned around he saw both her and Salia standing in the doorway with a heavily armoured ork nob in the traditional black clothing of the Goffs clan behind them. “Gorgoga.” Hazug said to the newcomer, “Wotcha want?” “I don’t want nothin’.” Gorgoga replied as he pushed his way between Salia and Sophie, “Its da boss wot wants ya. ‘E said ya is to come now.” “Look like its
ya lucky day.” Hazug said to the human, “Now sod off.” And he picked the
human up again and pushed him back over the fence. Then he turned to
Ratish and added, “We’ll leave Cuddles ‘ere, but I wants ya to come with
me to see da boss.” He said. “What about us?” Sophie asked. “Ya can all stay ‘ere.” Hazug said as he went back inside, followed by Gorgoga, “Make sure dares some grub ready for when we gets back.” Salia and Sophie watched as Hazug disappeared into the garage where he kept his truck and heard the sound of the engine spluttering to life. Then Salia looked back at Mayleth to see her collecting her clothes from where she had placed them. “I’m sorry we had to tell Hazug.” She said, “But those boys were-“ “Foolish mon keigh.” Mayleth said as she walked up to the back door, holding her clothes but still naked, “The nourishment I gained from the lust of all those males was nothing compared to what I gained from the terror of that one our master caught. I expected you to complain to him. I wanted it.” Then she tossed her clothes at Sophie, “These need cleaning.” She said, “Wash them.” “You could say please.” Salia said as Mayleth walked past. “Actually I don’t think she can.” Sophie commented. The orks gathered in Kazkal Kromag’s throne room parted to allow Hazug to approach the warboss’ throne. Hazug saw that a table had been set up in front of the throne itself and on top of this a map had been laid out, rifle magazines weighing it down at each corner to prevent it from rolling up. “Ah Hazug me lad.” Kazkal said with a grin when he saw Hazug, “Does ya know wot dis is?” and he tapped the map. “It’s a map boss.” Hazug replied, “Or does ya mean da table?” he added and Kazkal scowled. “I means wot’s on it.” The warboss replied, “Its, its-“ and then he looked at the human servant standing dutifully beside his throne, “Wot did ya say it was?” “It is called the Isle of Selus my lord. It is an equatorial island, located approximately-” Kazkal grew tired of the over detailed explanation and interrupted. “Dat’s it, Sell us. Hazug, I is sendin’ ya to da Isle of Sell us.” “Wot for boss?” Hazug asked. “At it again? Always thinkin’. Anyone else would just go, but ya is always askin’ why.” Kazkal replied, “And dat’s why I is sendin’ ya. I sent a nob called Grath Da Bludgeoner dare because some meks said dat dare was an ‘ole load of gas fungus growin’ under da ground. Grath’s lads was supposed to set up some drillin’ rigs and send da fuel back ‘ere to me. But when da ship went to pick up da fuel da captain says dat dare was no one dare to meet ‘em. I wants ya to go out dare and find out wot’s ‘appenin’.” “And wot do I do den boss?” “Whatever it takes to get me fuel. Ya can take some lads with ya as well, as many as’ll fit in da boat.” Hazug looked
down at the map again. Kazkal
nodded. “Understood boss.” Hazug replied as he took the copy of the map offered to him. |
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