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Chapta 22 | |
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Da Raiders From Da Shadows Chapta 22 |
As planned, Ratish and Cuddles led the way. This was not difficult to achieve, the squig practically dragged Ratish along as it followed the clear scent trails left behind by the fleeing dark eldar. Indeed had the gretchin not held him back Hazug was certain that the animal would have run off into the distance and left them all behind. Next came Hazug himself. He believed that if he dark eldar were planning an ambush then Cuddles would sniff them out before they could strike, but just in case the squig missed them he kept the tau viewing device to hand, using it to study every potential hiding place he spotted. Following just behind Hazug was Thuggrim. At present the mad nob was copying Hazug by training his attention wherever the Blood Axe did. Thankfully, Thuggrim had decided that the occasion was special enough to warrant the use of his bionic eye so at least he could examine potential ambush sites in reasonable detail. He also had the advantage in that his eye did not require holding up in front of him, leaving both hands free for his rifle that he kept tucked into his shoulder. With the tau device taking up one hand Hazug was instead relying on his pistol, his other weapons slung over his shoulders or tucked into his belt. The rest of Haze’s advance war band followed as a single mass. Mek Batrug had instructed the burans to keep tot eh edges of the group from where they could use their flamethrowers without incinerating any of their own side. Hazug was glad to have these weapons to hand. If the eldar struck from behind cover then it would offer not protection as the burning liquid they projected flowed around it. Hazug had seen such weapons used to good effect on plenty of occasions, they were popular amongst Blood Axe units for sue in driving opponents out of bunkers and into the open where they could be properly engaged in close combat. In the centre of the warband an ork nob of the Bad Moons clan held aloft a banner. Unlike the intricately patterned flags that humans marched to war under this was a much simpler affair. Two pieces of wood stuck together in the form of a large letter ‘T’ that was decorated with items recovered from the battlefield. Most prominent amongst them was the body of a dark eldar warrior nailed to it as if being crucified. The terrain through which they marched was becoming increasingly rocky and Hazug was glad that they were on foot. In his experience vehicles performed poorly in such terrain and broke down more easily. Even though Mek Batrug could probably fix anything that went wrong it was time wasted that Hazug did not want to spare. Then, as Hazug swept his viewing device across the horizon something caught his eye and he swung back for a second look. “Wot is it?” Drazzok asked when Hazug halted suddenly and the rest of the warband behind him did the dame. At the same time, Ratish also noticed that Hazug had stopped and he dug his heels in. “Stop squig!” the gretchin called out as he brought Cuddles to a halt. “Straight lines.” Hazug said. “Wot?” Drazzok asked. “’E’s right master.” Thuggrim said as he looked in the same direction as Hazug, “Straight lines in da rocks over dare.” Then he calmly wandered over to a nearby tree and began to climb it for a better view. “So wot?” Drazzok asked. “So ya don’t get straight lines unless somethin’s put ‘em dare.” Batrug said as he walked forwards, “Gis a look.” He said to Hazug and he held out his hand. Hazug passed him the viewing device and he looked for himself. “Its down where da base of dat cliff goes back in.” Hazug told the mekboy. “Yeah, dare’s definitely some straight edges in dare.” Batrug said and he gave the viewing device back to Hazug. “Dey is easy to see,” Thuggrim said, “Dey is all around dat big metal door thing.” Hazug took another look. The ground ahead dropped suddenly before levelling out again near to the cliff face and Hazug could not see the base of it from where he was. He walked over to a nearby tree himself and pulled himself up into its branches before taking another look. Sure enough from this vantage point Hazug could see that there was a large rectangular door set into the cliff and that the straight lines he had seen running up the cliff face extended outwards from around it. The two halves of the door were slid apart just far enough for one of the sailed eldar vehicles to be able to fit through and on the tarnished surface of them Hazug could just about make out a faded Imperial Aquila, split down the centre where the doors would join. “Dat looks human built.” Hazug said, “its got dare Emperor’s two headed birdy thingy all over it.” “Do you think the eldar are hiding in there?” Sophie asked, looking up into the tree. “Oh I certain dey is.” Hazug said as he spotted a dark eldar emerge from behind the doors and stand is if searching the area using a device similar to the one Hazug was using. “Thuggrim get down!” Hazug shouted as he leapt down from the tree before he was seen. His patterned clothing may have helped to conceal his presence, but Hazug was taking no chances when it came to the abilities of the eldar to find things supposedly well hidden. At the command from Hazug, Thuggrim let go of the branch he was clinging to and plummeted to the ground, landing in a heap. “Right den, “Hazug announced, “we ‘as found ‘em.” “Den let’s get down dare and smack ‘em!” Gorgoga yelled, raising his powerclaw aloft to cheers from the other nobs. “Wait.” Hazug said. “Wait?” Gorgoga exclaimed, staring directly at Hazug, “Wot does ay mean wait?” “’E probably means dat ‘e’s got some plan dat a git come up with.” Drazzok said, “’E usually does.” Then he looked at Hazug himself, “Ya ‘ave, ‘aven’t ya?” Hazug smiled but he was not looking at Drazzok, instead he was looking at the banner held by the nobs. “I is goin’ to look for another way in.” Hazug explained, “One dat aint so obvious as dat big door down dare which da eldar is probably guardin’. One dat we can get in through without ‘em knowin’ about it.” “Can Ratish go with master?” Ratish asked as he strained to prevent Cuddles from dragging him away, “Ratish good at sneakin’ about too.” “I know ya is.” Hazug said, “So ya can come.” Then he looked at Sophie, “Ya is comin’ an’ all. Leave da basket ‘ere.” “Me?” Sophie said, “But you never let me come along when you do this sort of thing.” “Yeah, well dis time is needs ya.” Hazug replied. “Wot master need a git for?” Ratish asked, scowling at Sophie. “Cause none of us can fit in dat armour.” He replied and he pointed to the crucified body of the dark eldar on the nobs’ banner. A knock at the door of Lord Shraycht’s quarters while he readied his weapons for eth battle to come made the archon whirl around with a pistol at the ready. An assassin was unlikely to knock, but it always paid to be cautious. “Enter.” He said calmly and the door opened to reveal one of the handful of trueborn warriors to still survive. Either side of him were the incubi. This was a good sign, if they believed the trueborn to be here to do Lord Shraycht harm then they would have killed him by now. “Lord archon.” The trueborn said. He took just one step into the room before dropping to one knee and averting his gaze. “Speak.” Lord Shraycht said, lowering his weapon but keeping it in his hand. Again, it paid to be cautious. “The beasts have found us.” the trueborn told him, “A party of them has been detected nearby. Shall I take a squad to engage them?” “A squad?” Lord Shraycht replied, “How may are there?” “Perhaps twenty lord archon.” Lord Shraycht sat down and though for a moment. The ork warband he had fought against had far more members than this and it was unlike them to give up on a fight. According to what was known about them, the orks should have followed the trail left by the fleeing dark eldar and found them here. But then he remembered how the warband had shown tactical ability beyond what Lord Shraycht would expect of a force that size and the answer hit him. “It is a scouting party.” He said, “They have sent a small group ahead to watch for any signs of an ambush before bringing up their main force. Leave them.” “Leave them?” the trueborn repeated and he looked up for a brief moment. “Yes.” Lord Shraycht said, “Deploy a small force at the entrance where they can be seen and a larger one inside the hangar. When the beasts come in numbers we will fall back and draw them inside where we can deal with them piecemeal. Now go, carry out my orders. I will not repeat them again.” “Yes lord archon.” The trueborn said and he left as quickly as he could, aware that in questioning Lord Shraycht even as lightly as he had done was not a wise move. Sophie stepped out from behind the rocks nervously. She had retreated out of sight of the orks to undress and change into the uniform pulled from the body of the dark eldar warrior that had adorned the ork banner. The first thing she noticed was that while she had been out of sight the orks had tied the now naked corpse back where it had been. “This is really uncomfortable.” she said and she tugged at where the disguise was too tight against even her slender frame. Though similar in appearance to humans, the eldar species possessed bodies that were differently proportion to humans by a slight degree and they moved differently. The result was that no normal human could find an eldar outfit that would fit them properly. Then she turned around and added, “How do I look?” “Ugly.” Ratish snapped, but Sophie ignored him. “It’ll do.”
Hazug said, then he picked up the eldar’s helmet and tossed it to Sophie,
“’Ere, put dis on.” Having just caught the helmet, Sophie hurled it at Ratish instead of putting it on. After his insult, the gretchin had turned towards Hazug, smiling and hoping for words of support. Instead the throw helmet struck him hard on the side of his head. “Arrgh!” Ratish cried out, “Master look! Git attack Ratish again!” “Best learn to duck den.” Hazug replied, “Now give ‘er back ‘er ‘elmet.” Ratish saw his opportunity and, picking up the helmet with both hands he held it over his head and threw it back, only to see Sophie catch it. “Thank you Ratish.” She said, “That was very kind of you.” “No!” Ratish yelled, jumping up and down in frustration, “No, not kind, Ratish not kind to git. Master make ‘er stop!” but Hazug ignored them both. Instead he held out an eldar pistol that one of the nobs had taken as a trophy and gave it to Sophie who inserted into the holster at her belt. A curved dagger that she slipped into the sheaf built into the uniform’s boot followed this. Hazug now led the way. Instead of heading straight for the large doorway leading into the cliff face he led his servants along the cliff until they found a pathway that appeared to lead up to the top and he beckoned for them to follow him. Both Ratish and Sophie remained silent as they followed, but Cuddles continued to grunt and snarl as he pulled at his leash. Hazug was not too bothered by this however, the noises of an animal would not attract the attention from any lookouts that speech would. Even languages that a sentry did not understand could be recognised as speech and give them away. Besides, Cuddles’ superior sense of smell was the best method that Hazug possessed for determining if there were such sentries nearby. It was at the top of the cliff that Cuddles smelt something. He tugged at his leash, leaping up and down and snarling. “Let ‘im go grot.” Hazug said softly and Ratish let go of the squig’s leash. Cuddles reacted by bounding off in the direction of the scent and Hazug and his servants ran after him. All the time, Hazug looking around for any signs of the dark eldar Cuddles seemed to have sensed. As it happened Cuddles halted near a low outcrop of rock that was far too square to be natural and sniffed all around it. As Hazug drew nearer he saw that the flat-topped rock had a sheet of rusty metal set into it and as he got closer he saw that it was a grating of some sort. “Nice one Cuddles.” He said, patting the squig. Then he looked around at Sophie, “Don’t suppose ya got a pie for ‘im ‘ave ya?” he asked. “Where am I supposed to keep one?” she asked indicating the skintight fit of her disguise. “S’pose so.” Hazug answered, “Good squig anyway.” He said and he patted Cuddles again. “Wot’s ‘e found master?” Ratish asked, standing right beside the structure and looking at the grating. “It’s a ventilation shaft isn’t it?” Sophie asked, “Air from inside the base is being expelled through it so Cuddles can smell the eldar in there.” “Exactly.”
Hazug answered. “It was not!” Sophie said, “Hazug, he’s lying.” “Am not!” Ratish replied, but again Hazug was not listening to them, he was more interesting in the grating. Along one edge Hazug could see that it was hinged, suggesting that it was intended to be capable of being opened. At the other side Hazug saw loops set into not only the grating but also the frame holding it into the stone around it. These two loops were joined together with a lock that looked just as corroded as the grating itself from the decades of neglect since the ork invasion. As Ratish and Sophie continued to argue Hazug lifted his rifle up into the air and with a roar he brought the butt down on the ancient lock and shattered it. Then he ripped the grating open, causing flakes of rust to fall down the shaft below. Finally he lent over the gaping hole and peered into the darkness. Distracted by Hazug’s opening of the shaft Ratish and Sophie stopped there arguing and joined him in staring into the shaft. “It looks a long way down.” Sophie said. “’Ow d’ya know?” Ratish asked, “Ya can’t see da bottom.” “Exactly.” Sophie replied, but Ratish did not understand her point. Hazug set down his rifle, followed by the warscythe that was still slung over his back. Then he took the length of rope that he had wound around his body and unfurled it. “Ratish,” he said, “ya is goin’ in first. When ya gets to da bottom give a tug if it’s safe. Den we’ll follow.” The though of being dangled into the darkness of the shaft without know what waited for him at the bottom terrified Ratish. But he did not dare say a word in case Hazug thought him a coward. The rope was tied around Ratish’s waist before Hazug lifted him over the edge of the hole and got ready to lower him down. “Can Ratish ‘ave a torch master?” the gretchin asked nervously. “Nah.” Hazug replied, “We don’t want no one seein’ da light as ya gets down dare does we?” then before Ratish could reply Hazug began to let out the rope and Ratish was lowered into the shaft. Ratish clung onto the rope as darkness closed in around him. Occasionally as he was lowered he struck the side of the shaft and bounced off, but Ratish remained silent. Then after what seemed like an eternity in total darkness he reached a point where the shaft began to lighten again as he reached the point where light from the complex below came upwards and Ratish began to breathe more normally instead of panting rapidly. Then he saw the bottom of the shaft below him. It was another rusted grating similar to the one at the top and as Ratish was lowered down to about its level he lashed out with his foot and kicked away the cover, which fell tot eh floor beneath with a loud clatter. Descending from the shaft Ratish found himself in a lit room filled with machines that were obviously of human construction. Though corroded they were not in as bad condition as either of the two gratings in the shaft and they seemed to be running. This was a relief to Ratish, who realised that the sound of their operation would have masked the sound of his kicking open the grating. As soon as Ratish’s feet touched the floor he slipped out of the rope and tugged on it several times before releasing it. Then he looked upwards and watched as Hazug began to pull the rope back up the shaft. “Right den.” Hazug said to Sophie, “Ya is next. Den I’ll send down Cuddles. Ya and Ratish is both to stay put until I gets dare. Understood?” Sophie nodded and lifted up her arms for Hazug to tie the rope around her waist. “’Ere,” Hazug said, handing her not only his rifle, but also the necron warscythe, “take dese with ya. Dey’ll just get in me way when I climbs down.” Sophie nodded again and after slinging the two weapons across her back she climbed into the shaft. Like Ratish
before her, Sophie clung onto the rope tightly as she was lowered into the
darkness until she too emerged into the machine room at the
bottom. “Hazug wanted me to bring these.” She replied as she removed the weapons from her back and then untied the rope from around her waist. Then she too gave the rope a tug and Hazug began to pull it back up, “He’s sending Cuddles down next.” She added, “We’re to wait here for him.” As expected, Hazug now lowered Cuddles down the shaft, tying the rope onto the harness he wore. Unlike either Ratish or Sophie, Cuddles made no effort keep quiet and his passage down the shaft was marked by continual snarling and growling. It was only when Ratish untied him from the rope and took hold of his leash that the squig settled down again. Sophie tugged on the rope again, but this time instead of pulling the rope back up to him, Hazug let go of it ad allowed it fall down the shaft. Both Ratish and Sophie jumped clear as the falling rope formed a pile on the floor beneath the shaft. Hazug himself climbed carefully into the shaft and braced himself against opposite walls to stop himself from falling all the way down. The inside of the shaft was concrete and over the years the surface had become cracked and pitted. Thus he was able to climb down by feeling for these imperfections and gripping onto them. Where there were none to be found Hazug instead braced himself against opposite walls once more and lowered himself down until he found another suitable hand or foothold. Patience was not a common ork trait, but Blood Axe’s like Hazug had a much greater amount of it and he continued his careful descent until the shaft opened out right beneath him and he let go. “Master!” Ratish cried out when Hazug dropped from the shaft, “Ratish wait for ya!” and Sophie held out the weapons he had entrusted to her. “’Ave either of ya seen any of da eldar yet?” he asked as he looked around at the machines. “Nah.” Ratish replied, “Master, wot is dis place?” “I reckon its cycles da air.” Hazug replied, “All da machines is hooked up to more shafts like dis one we just come down. Dat would be why da eldar turned ‘em back on.” Then he spotted something connected to one of the machines, “Yeah, look at dis.” He said as he walked up to it. The same people who had built the machines themselves did clearly not make the object. Whereas the machines had the regular straight lines and metal construction common to human technology the device had a more organic appearance to it, just like the dark eldar machines that Hazug had seen. Wires led from the device to all of the machines. Without bothering to activate the blade, Hazug used the tip of his warscythe to pry the device away from the machine it was attached to and it dropped to the floor. As it did so the wires leading from it broke away and the machines suddenly stopped. “I don’t reckon dat I shoulda done dat.” Hazug said, “Common, let’s get outta ‘ere before da eldar turn up to see wot’s ‘appened. Sophie, lead da way.” And he slung eh warscythe over his shoulder and picked up his rifle. “Me?” Sophie asked in surprise. “Da git?” Ratish added, “Why master send git first?” “Cos she’s dressed like one of ‘em. If dare’s any in da corridor she can let us know before we go blunderin’ into ‘em.” Hazug replied. Nervously, Sophie headed for the door and peered out into the corridor beyond. Without realising it she held her breath and only exhaled when she saw that the corridor was empty. “It’s clear.” She whispered and the others followed her from the room. “Which way
master?” Ratish asked. “Den it don’t matter wot way w go does it?” Hazug said and he set off down the corridor, picking a direction at random. His servants followed him. The first sign of life they saw was a pair of dark eldar warriors rush past the end of the corridor they walked down. Hazug froze and brought his rifle up to his shoulder when he spotted them, expecting them to turn around and come charging down the corridor towards them. But wherever they were heading it was important enough that they were not paying attention to anything else and they did not return. After a brief pause, Hazug continued on down the corridor and waved his servants on behind him. |
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