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Chapta 16 | |
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Da Raiders From Da Shadows Chapta 16 |
A sudden snarl attracted the attention of the orks and they whirled around and looked up just in time to see Lyanil leaping through the air towards them. But before they could react another figure made a much greater leap from another rooftop and collided with her in midair. Lyanil screamed as she tried to fight off the ur-ghul even as it sank its teeth into her shoulder and clawed at her stomach. The sightless alien hunter was thrown clear of Lyanil only when the pair hit the ground and rolled in different directions. Lyanil’s body was ruined and she could do nothing but scream in pain, but the ur-ghul rapidly recovered from the fall and stood up to face the orks arrayed before it. “Wot’s dat?” Mek Batrug asked. “Dunno.” Hazug replied. “Shoot it!” both of Two Heads shouted and the darkness was lit up once more by the gunfire that the orks unleashed. The ur-ghul howled and jerked as round after round ripped through its body before it crumpled and lay in a motionless heap on the ground. “What about her?” Sophie asked as she moved closer to Lyanil. The succubus watched her approach, knowing that she was dying from the injuries inflicted by Lord Shraycht’s ur-ghul. But Lyanil had not intention of making anything easy for either the greenskin beasts or their human lackeys and she reached for where her pistol had fallen. Seeing Lyanil extend her arm towards the gun Sophie drew her won thus far unfired auto pistol. Aiming the weapon towards Lyanil she pulled back on the trigger and held it down. The first few rounds went wide, but as the recoil of each shot shifted the aim of Sophie’s weapon the burst was dragged across Lyanil’s body and the succubus’s centuries-long life was finally ended. “Ya know wot dis means dontcha?” Hazug said as Sophie just stared down at Lyanil’s body. “Wot?” Drazzok asked, “’As it got to do with food?” “Better.” Hazug answered, “It means dat Gorgoga owes Sophie three teeth.” And he smiled. Gorgoga scowled as he counted the three teeth into Sophie’s outstretched palm. He had considered going back on the promise, but with so many witnesses to it he had to make good on the rewards for killing the succubus. “Shoulda said no gits boss.” One of Gorgoga’s orks commented, a statement that earned him a good hard slap for pointing gout his superior’s error. “Coulda, shoulda, didna.” Drazzok commented. Though the Snake Bite had no interest in seeing Sophie prosper he did enjoy seeing anyone else suffer for their mistakes. After thirty odd years of life, it was the little things that made it worthwhile. While this was going on Hazug was more interested in the body of the ur-ghul. The creature was unlike anything he had seen before and he was one of the more widely travelled orks on the planet. It wasn’t indigenous, he knew that. If it were then someone would have seen one and killed it before now and none of the previous off-world enemies he had fought had had anything like it either. So that meant it had to have arrived relatively recently, for example with the eldar. Hazug used his blade to sever the ur-ghul’s head from the rest of its body, hacking through the sinewy muscle and bone in it’s neck. Then he ripped the head clear and carried it towards Mayleth. “Wot’s dis?” he asked, holding up the head right in front of her. “Ur-ghul.” She replied simply. Hazug noticed that the sounds she made were identical to those that came from the translation device so he guessed that it was either the name of the species or the individual alien itself. “Wot does it do?” “It is a hunter. It finds and kills those Lord Shraycht sends it to.” “Why did it kill ‘er den?” Hazug asked, indicating Lyanil’s body. “Lord Shraycht blamed us for you taking our webway portal,” Mayleth answered, “it would seem that after I failed to recover it he gave Lyanil one last chance to get back herself. The ur-ghul was probably to encourage her not to delay overly.” Hazug considered what Mayleth had just told him. She did not seem to care about the death of the other eldar, the one he believed she had named as ‘Lyanil’. In fact if she had not called out during the battle he may not have even noticed Lyanil hiding in the shadows and it occurred to him that the eldar here might not trust one another entirely. This was something he could make use of. If Mayleth had betrayed her own kind once, she may do so again. “So ‘ow do I find dis Boss Shraycht?” he asked. Mayleth said nothing. Hazug considered beating the answer out of her. But although this was generally entertaining it was time consuming. Then Hazug looked back at the severed head of the ur-ghul. “Dis thing aint got no eyes.” He said, “I reckon dat when it’s ‘untin’ ya it sniffs ya out. Well ya boss aint da only one wot’s got somethin’ wot can do dat.” And he tossed the ur-ghul’s head at Mayleth’s feet before walking back towards the other orks. “Did da pansy ‘ave much to say?” Gorgoga asked, “Or d’ya want me lads to persuade ‘er to talk?” “She told me enough.” Hazug replied, “She wouldn’t say where ‘er boss is ‘idin’, but she told me dat dat thing with no eyes was sent by ‘im. So dat’s ‘ow we’re goin’ to find ‘im.” ‘“Ow’s dat den?” one of Two Heads asked. “Grot!” Hazug shouted at Ratish, “Go get Cuddles, we is goin’ ‘untin’.” Then he looked back at Two Heads, “I reckon dat weird lookin’ alien tracks its prey by smell,” He explained, “and I reckons dat its left a scent trail itself. One dat’ll lead all da way back to where da eldar is ‘idin’. I is goin’ to use Cuddles to follow it.” “Problem with dat.” Mek Batrug said, “Ya’ll ‘ave to walk. Da wagons could drive along real slow like, but aint good for ‘em. Dey is built to go fasta. Why else would two of ‘em be painted red?” “Den we’ll just ‘ave to walk dare won’t we?” Hazug replied, “Wherever dare is. Can’t be dat far if da uggle-“ “Ur-ghul.” Sophie corrected him. “If dat alien thing wot ‘ad no eyes walked all da way ‘ere.” Hazug went on. “Me lads aint goin’ to like dat.” One of Two Heads said as he shook both heads slowly. “Bah!” Gorgoga suddenly interrupted as he walked over, “Don’t say ya boys is scared of a bit of walkin’. Me own lads’ll be right dare with ya Hazug. Even if ya is a git lovin’ Blood Axe. Dare’s still fightin’ to be ‘ad and da pansies started it. I don’t want no orks sayin’ da Gorgoga’s lads is soft like Evil Suns.” And he looked at Two Heads who snarled back at him. “I’ll ‘ave to leave a couple of lads ‘ere to watch da wagons.” Two Heads said, “But da rest of us’ll be with ya.” “Dat’s da way to do it!” Drazzok suddenly exclaimed, “Use ya own feet, not some crappy wagon nailed together by a mek with too many screws loose. So when is we off?” “Now.” Hazug said, “We can’t risk da scent trail wearin’ off.” “Ya ‘ear dat lads?” Gorgoga shouted and he held his powerclaw up above his head before he let out a war cry, “Waaargh!” and all around him the other orks joined in. The warband that left the mining settlement dwarfed the one that Hazug had led there. Every greenskin that could be roused quickly enough from the settlement itself joined in, with mainly the sick and injured remaining behind. Out of the original warband Two Heads left two of his own troops to look after the vehicles and Mayleth, including the ork still recovering form having his arm replaced. Mek Cognailer also stayed. Unusually he volunteered to remain behind; apparently something about the settlement interested him more than battle. Just as strangely he also did not ask to be paid for the work he had already done. Though puzzled by all of this Hazug did not argue, instead just leaving the mek behind as he wanted. Almost two hundred orks now marched across the countryside, plus a number of gretchin that darted about around the edges of the advancing column. At the head of the column was Ratish. He held onto Cuddles’ leash as the trained squig followed the scent trail left by Lyanil and the ur-ghul. Behind him came Hazug and what had become his inner circle, Drazzok, Thuggrim, Two Heads and now also Gorgoga. With them Sophie struggled along also. In addition to the weapons and supplies she typically carried now she also carried the baby in its basket. “Why d’ya bring dat thing anyway?” Drazzok asked. “I’m not leaving it behind, “she replied, “and I’m not staying behind either.” “Well if it all gets too ‘eavy I can always eat of dat food ya carryin’ for ya.” Drazzok suggested. “Ratish wait!”
Hazug suddenly called out and he held up his hand to signal the column to
come to halt. Behind him the sound of marching feet continued, “Dis means
stop.” He said to Gorgoga. “Wot now?” Drazzok asked, “Is it time for lunch?” “Ya only just
‘ad breakfast.” Two Heads replied. “It aint lunch!” Hazug snapped, “I seen somethin’.” “Wot?” Two Heads asked as he searched the ground ahead but found it empty. Hazug pulled the tau viewing device form his belt and looked through it. Pointing the device towards a rocky outcrop near the horizon he saw what had attracted his attention. There a cluster of ork vehicles was parked, sunlight reflecting off parts of them. Hazug studied them carefully. Encountering more orks now could be good or bad, they could decide to either fight or join with Hazug’s force depending on what sort of mood they were in. But although there were several vehicles there were no signs of any greenskin activity, not even and gretchin picking over the apparently abandoned vehicles. This was very unusual, no ork would ever leave his vehicle unguarded just in case someone else came along and helped themselves to it. Then Hazug noticed that one of the vehicles was lying on its side. It could be the result of an accident of course, but it was far more likely that it like the other abandoned vehicles had been attacked. For a moment Hazug considered the lack of any bodies, but then he remembered the farm where they had found the human baby and how there had not been so much as a single drop of blood left behind. “Da eldar ‘ave been ‘ere.” Hazug announced, “We is goin’ da right way.” He was just about to lower the viewing device when Hazug saw something move and he centred the picture form the device over the source. The figure he saw was clearly another of the eldar raiders, though this one wore far more armour than Mayleth or Lyanil, but what really stood out were the alien’s wings. At first Hazug though they may be decorative, like the trophy carrying poles that ork nobs often adorned themselves with. But as he watched the eldar extended them out and leapt into the sky. Carried by the wings it promptly flew off directly away from the ork column. “Dey know we is comin’.” He said. “How many?” Lord Shraycht demanded when the scourge delivered its news. “Hundreds.” The scourge replied. “And they are coming this way? You are certain?” “They march for war lord archon. They have left behind what they require for any purpose other than that.” Lord Shraycht could feel the gaze of the dark eldar unit leaders upon him and he knew what they were thinking. It was he that had brought them here, both to this world and to this underground complex. The dark eldar way of way was not based around static defence; they were raiders, predators of the highest order. Hundreds of orks pouring into this place would result in the eldar all being slaughtered. If Lord Shraycht did not act quickly then the attempt on his life by Velurill would undoubtedly be repeated. “They march across open country.” Lord Shraycht announced loudly, “I call that a target.” |
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