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Da Isle Of Doom Chapta 8 | |
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Chapta 8 |
Hazug looked down at his amended map, now showing a fortress at the base of the volcano located in the centre of the island. If it was as Grath had suggested an old human installation then there could be almost anything located inside its remains. So far the ruins of human civilisation on the planet had caused Hazug nothing but trouble, whether it be because of what the humans themselves left behind or other aliens making use of their abandoned facilities and settlements. It did not take much effort for Hazug to determine that the route cut through the jungle that he had spotted on the way here from the rig had been cut by Rorgun’s Death Skulls to allow them to get their wagons to this previously unknown fortress. It also seemed obvious that whatever had triggered Rorgun’s odd behaviour had its roots inside this place, meaning that Hazug had to go there as well. However, he was reluctant to take a major force with him just in case whatever had affected the party sent by Grath also affected anyone that Hazug took with him. Going alone was always an option, but given the distance to be covered it made sense for him to take a handful of others with him to watch his back. He would have little need of his servants for this and most of them would be better occupied preparing living quarters for them all. However, Mayleth’s skills could be of use so he would take the eldar woman who was already sat in his truck with Cuddles simply watching the orks as they rushed about. He looked
around, searching for Two Heads. He would not take the Evil Sun nob with
him but he trusted the orks he led more than any others. Not surprisingly
he spotted Two Heads standing beside his battlewagon with several of his
troops and he headed over to speak to him. “’Ow many?” one of Two Heads replied as he turned to face Hazug and then the other joined in with, “And for ‘ow long?” “About ‘alf a dozen. Long enough for me to get ‘ere.” Hazug said and he held out the map, tapping the location of the human fortress described by Grath. Both of Two
Heads frowned. “I dunno exactly.” Hazug told him, “But it’s where Grath sent da lads wot turned on ‘im right before dey did it. I reckon dat da two is linked.” Two Heads’ expressions turned to a pair of grins. “So let’s go blow it up.” He said, but Hazug shook his head. “Not yet.” He said, “I wants to take a look at it first to try and figure out wot ‘appened to da lads wot went dare. Den we’ll blow it up. I just want a few of ya lads to watch me back while I goes dare.” Two Heads looked uncertain. “But we can blow it up later, right?” he asked. “Sure.” Hazug said with a smile, “Blow it sky ‘igh. After lootin’ it of course.” “Of course.” One of Two Heads agreed and the other looked towards where most of his troops were gathered, “Oi Gorrid!” he shouted, “Grab five lads and get over to Hazug’s trukk. Ya goin’ on a trip.” Gorrid reacted by simply grabbing hold of the closest five orks one at a time and shoving them in the direction of Hazug. “Go wait by me trukk.” Hazug instructed, “Dis is a scoutin’ mission so I wants to go see if Thuggrim’ll come with us an’ all.” “Thuggrim?” one of Two Heads exclaimed suddenly. “Yeah, I know ‘e aint all dare all da time.” Hazug replied, “But dat good eye of ‘is could come in useful.” To the Evil Suns clan speed was everything, so by letting Gorrid drive his truck Hazug ensured that they travelled swiftly. The other members of Two Heads’ mob accompanying them on this mission grumbled about the fact that the truck was not painted red and how that was a bad omen, but the glare from Hazug to the first to suggest painting over its green and grey disruptive paint scheme put a stop to this. “Down dare.”
Hazug said when they reached the more recently cut path through the jungle
and Gorrid swerved as he steered towards it. Narrower than the main track
the dense trees either side cast their shadows over this track and kept it
in darkness, “Stop ‘ere a mo.” Hazug ordered. “Just do it.” Hazug said as he fumbled through his pockets for the tau viewing device. At the same time he glance up at Thuggrim where he stood behind the truck’s gun mount, “Get ya good eye in.” he said, “I wants to know wot ya thinks.” “Yessir!” Thuggrim replied, snapping to attention and saluting. Clearly he had been watching the stormboys closely. He then reached for the tiny leather pouch hung around his neck and from inside he took a shiny metal sphere. Lifting up his eye patch Thuggrim revealed an empty socket that instead of being a simple hole where his eye had once been was instead a mechanical port that matched the connection points on the sphere when he inserted it. Immediately there was a soft whining as the bionic eye powered up and Thuggrim was given a clear view of the darkened track. “Wagons.” He said, looking down at the mangled vegetation in front of the truck. “Aye, dat’s wot I thought.” Hazug added, nodding slowly as he used the tau device to look further ahead. The jungle path had been cleared to allow the passage of large vehicles and it looked to have been well used. This suggested the possibility that the group could run into mechanised opposition, “Best open da box den. Just in case.” He said, looking over his shoulder at the Evil Suns sat behind him. “Ya ‘eard Hazug.” Gorrid added with a smile, “Norgut, open dat box.” The box was a long crate marked with human writing. It was one of a large quantity recovered by Hazug and Two Heads from a human resistance group some time earlier and it contained a powerful missile launcher capable of firing anti-armour munitions over a long distance. His own custom built rifle mounted a rocket launcher beneath its barrel, but this was effective over only short ranges and was awkward to reload in the midst of battle. The human built weapon was superior in nearly every respect and even with just one such weapon available to them, the ork party had a fighting chance against even the most heavily armoured vehicles Hazug expected to face. “Right den,” Hazug said out loud, “let’s get movin’ again. Only keep it slow and come to an ‘alt before ya gets to da end of da jungle.” “Gotcha.” Gorrid said, nodding and the Evil Sun drove forwards. The speed of the truck remained high, but was not the same flat-out pace that the vehicle had been driven at previously. Hazug kept the tau viewing device raised, studying not only the ground, but also the jungle ahead just in case there were any nasty surprises waiting in the undergrowth. A quick glance back at Thuggrim indicated that the mad nob was using his bionic eye to do the same. An increasing amount of light from ahead convinced Gorrid that end of the jungle was nearly upon them and he slammed on the brakes, causing a spray of mud as the truck skidded to a halt. “I reckon dis is it.” He said, “So wotcha want us to do now?” “We’ll go da rest of da way on foot.” Hazug said, picking his rifle up from the floor of the truck, “But leave one of ya lads ‘ere to watch da trukk.” “Ya ‘eard ‘im Knarrok.” Gorrid said to one of the other Evil Suns, “Watch da trukk.” The other ork frowned and growled, unhappy at the prospect of being left behind when there was the chance of fighting to be had. “Keep da trukk runnin’ at all times.” Hazug said as Mayleth handed him his stolen necron warscythe and he checked that the power cells were functional, “If we gives ya a shout den I wants ya to come and pick us up as quick as ya can.” And Knarrok’s expression lightened as he realised that he would be left in charge of a vehicle, “Right now follow me.” Hazug then announced and when he noticed that every other member of his party wore clothing that was either bright red or in Thuggrim’s case yellow he added, “And everyone stay back out of sight if ya can ‘elp it.” With his warscythe slung over his shoulder and his rifle braced against his shoulder Hazug then began to creep along the track, keeping to the tree line for cover. Behind him came Mayleth, clutching Cuddles’ leash to keep the squig from charging ahead and behind her the other orks. Unlike Hazug most of them moved in a more casual manner, with rifles over their shoulders or tucked under their arms. Only Thuggrim had his weapon in a firing position, despite it having no magazine inserted at present. Hazug halted when he finally reached the edge of the massive jungle clearing where the old human fort was located and he crouched down behind some bushes and peered through them at the structure built at the base of the volcano. The building was clearly of human construction; it had the solid look and straight lines typical of the species. But despite looking to have been built as a defensive structure that would be capable of resisting attack the fort was in ruins, the single tower that would at one time have risen high above the treetops had collapsed long ago and now lay in pieces partial covered by the jungle as it sought to reclaim this place. Now though the structure was clearly occupied by orks. Several of their vehicles, ranging from lightweight bikes and trucks to larger armoured battlewagons were parked around the fort though there were no signs of any of the vehicles’ owners. However, from what information Hazug had in this regard there did not seem to be enough o account for all of the orks from Grath’s force. “This place was not attacked from the ground my master.” Mayleth suddenly said softly from beside Hazug. He was just about to ask what she meant by this when he realised that she was right. The damaged portions of the structure were all those towards the top of the building, while the lower parts of the walls were still fully intact and Hazug looked skywards as he considered that the fort had been bombed from the air. Or maybe even space. There was rustling in the undergrowth and the remaining orks gathered behind Hazug, keeping back from the very edge of the clearing just as he had asked. “So is dis it den?” Gorrid asked as he tilted his head for the best view and when he saw the vehicles ha smiled, “Any chance of bein’ able to grab a few of dem?” he asked. “Maybe.” Hazug replied, “Providin’ ya can get to ‘em without bein’ seen.” “Easy.” Gorrid said, “Dare’s no-one about. We can just-“ “Quiet.” Hazug suddenly interrupted and he held up his hand briefly as a group of orks wandered into view between some of the vehicles. Like Thuggrim’s madboys these orks wore clothing that indicated they came from a variety of different clans but they did not have the same mannerisms as madboys. In fact they looked to have the iron discipline that Hazug had only ever seen amongst stormboys and the commandoes of his own Blood Axe clan in that they was no conversation between any of them at all. Immediately the Evil Suns raised their weapons. “Wait.” Hazug hissed, “Let’s just see wot dey does.” There were mutterings of discontent from the Evil Suns but Hazug was the largest ork present, with the possible exception of Thuggrim who none of the others were going to take orders from and so they did as they were told. The group of orks guarding the vehicles stopped by one of the larger wagons and as most of them waited in silence one peered underneath. “That is very thorough for ork sentries my master.” Mayleth whispered. “I know.” Hazug replied, “’Ang on, I wants to try somethin’.” And he reached down and scooped up a clump of dirt that he hurled at the side of the nearest parked vehicle, produced a hollow ‘clang’. The reaction form the guards was instant as the entire group spun around and aimed their guns in the direction of the sound, but as before not one of them made a sound. This made no sense at all to Hazug; even the sneakiest of orks from his own clan Blood Axe would have reacted verbally to that. The guard slowly moved closer to the vehicle struck by the thrown clump of dirt, all the while holding their weapons at the ready and remaining silent. Hazug stared at them as they came closer, still apparently unaware that they were being watched from within the jungle but all of a sudden Cuddles let out a loud growl and attempted to charge at the guards. “Aw crap.” Hazug commented as the guards all turned towards his party and he realised that their position had been revealed, “Let rip!” The orks did not need to be told twice and there was the sudden roar of gunfire as all of the Evil Suns opened fire with their rifles, catching the guards in a hail of gunfire. The guards returned fire, but with their numbers thinned out by the Evil Suns’ fire and being armed only with pistols they could not match the firepower of even Hazug’s small party. “More of them my master.” Mayleth warned him as she drew her own eldar made pistol and fired a spread of crystalline darts towards the group of orks that now came rushing from inside the ruined fort. Mayleth’s people typically coated the ammunition fired by their weapons in all manner of toxins and so even though they were puny compared to the bigger and heavier ork bullets her shots were every bit as deadly, requiring only to break the target’s skin to inject their poison into the bloodstream. This new group of orks was much larger than the first and more heavily armed as well, possessing a pair of belt fed support weapons in addition to their handguns. However, like the original group of guards their clothing looked to come from a variety of ork clans. The orks armed with heavy weapons halted while their comrades continued to charge and opened fire, sending a hail of heavy calibre shots tearing through the undergrowth. Behind Hazug one of the Evil Suns fell backwards, sprawled out on the ground as a bullet took off half of his head. Beside Hazug Thuggrim aimed his rifle and pulled the trigger repeatedly, apparently not noticing that it was not loaded. Hazug reacted by snatching Cuddles’ leash from Mayleth and forcing it into Thuggrim’s grip. “Get back to da truck da lot of ya.” He said, “Dare’s too many of ‘em to fight. I’ll catch up with ya dare.” “Wot is ya
gonna do?” Gorrid asked. Gorrid nodded and waved the Evil Suns on after him as they headed back towards the waiting truck. “Go with ‘em.”
Hazug then said to Thuggrim and the Bad Moon nob began to drag the
reluctant Cuddles after the others. “I agree.” Hazug said and he ran towards another thick cluster of bushes, these deeper within the jungle. As expected the orks from the fort continued their charge into the jungle, firing in the vague direction of the fleeing Evil Suns as they returned fire sporadically. Silently, Hazug waved at Mayleth to follow him as soon as they had passed by without spotting either of the pair in their hiding place. Towards the rear of this force the orks armed with heavy weapons advanced more cautiously and let their lighter armed comrades go on ahead. “Dat aint right.” Hazug commented and he looked around to make sure that there were no further orks behind them, “Come on, let’s go see wot dem lads ‘ave to say for ‘emselves.” “Of course my master.” Mayleth said with an evil smile and she drew a second pistol from her belt. Hazug headed towards the closest of the ork pursuing Gorrid and the rest of his own party. The ork paused every few steps to fire another long burst of automatic fire towards the fleeing party. Normally an ork would fire shorter bursts as he ran to keep up with the rest of his unit. However, though abnormal this behaviour at least meant that the ork was separated from the other by a considerable margin. Making use of
the noise of the belt fed weapon as it fired Hazug covered the last few
paces between himself and the ork in a few large bounds. At the last
moment the ork heard his approach and spun around to find Hazug standing
right in front of him. Hazug focused on the rest of the orks still pursuing the rest of his party, ready to open fire if any looked as though they had noticed their comrade had stopped firing. Mayleth crouched beside him, also watching as the orks continued to move further away. But then something else caught her attention, the noise of something behind them pushing its way through the undergrowth and she turned and aimed her pistols. “Wot is it?” Hazug asked as Mayleth remained motionless, her pistols pointed straight ahead. “Something moved my master.” She replied, “Straight ahead.” “I sees it.” Hazug said, noticing the twitching of a bush. But whatever had caused the motion had moved out of sight before either Hazug or Mayleth had seen exactly what it was. “My master the others.” Mayleth then said, glancing back towards the other orks and Hazug looked round for himself. The orks chasing his party had come to a sudden halt and were standing motionless, not even shooting at Hazug’s party. Then they began to turn and make their way back in the direction of the fort, bringing them straight towards Hazug and Mayleth. “We needs to go.” Hazug said, tossing the unconscious ork over his shoulder while he brandished his rifle in his free hand, “Now pick up dat big shoota.” He said to Mayleth, “No sense leavin’ it behind.” Mayleth put her weapons away. The ork weapon was far too large for her to manage with one hand, even if she supported it on her shoulder and she strained to pick it up. With the orks from the fort now heading back towards him and Mayleth, Hazug looked around for a way around them. “Dis way.” He whispered, creeping through the undergrowth at an angle to the path of the oncoming orks. This direction was taking him further away from the truck for now, but Hazug hoped that it would allow him to put enough distance between him and Mayleth and the approaching orks that they would simply walk right past them again. He halted as the orks came closer. He had put a significant distance between himself and the orks, but remained aware that any movement could be noticed. Hazug and Mayleth remained still, watching the orks as they filed past without bothering to look to either side. They continued until they reached the spot where Mayleth had noticed movement just a short time ago and came to a stop, forming a rough circle around it and facing outwards. “Dey aint goin’ nowhere.” Hazug said and cautiously he began to make his way towards the truck, the unconscious ork still over his shoulder. Mayleth strained as she lifted the large ork weapon and followed him, periodically looked back at the group now apparently guarding whatever it was that had attempted to move up behind them. Gorrid and the rest of the party raised their weapons as Hazug and Mayleth came bursting out of the jungle. “Its us.” Hazug said and he barged between the Evil Suns to dump the unconscious ork in the back of his truck. “And who’s dat?” Gorrid asked, looking at the unconscious ork. “Dunno.” Hazug said, “But ‘e was shootin’ at ya right up until I nutted ‘im. Now let’s get back to da others before ‘e wakes up.” The sound of the truck’s engine brought the ork guards rushing out of the jungle once more. But by the time they reached the newly cleared trail the vehicle was out of sight and the orks simple stood looking along the trail after it. There was movement tin the undergrowth and one of the orks turned to look in its direction. “Yes master.” He said in a voice too clam to be normal for an ork, “We will return to our posts.” And then the orks headed back towards the old human fortress. |
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Copyright Notice The Warhammer 40,000 universe is the intellectual property of Games Workshop Ltd. The fiction presented here is a derived work. It is completely unofficial and Games Workshop Ltd has not endorsed any of it. |
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