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Chapta 1
Chapta 2
Chapta 3
Chapta 4
Chapta 5
Chapta 6
1.
The necron
army was no more. With the destruction of their tomb, the machine
creatures’ power had been cut off and both the necrons and their war
machines had promptly ceased to function. Now the victorious orks turned
their attention to the most important matter of warfare.
There was loot
to be had and it needed to be claimed.
Orks and their
smaller gretchin servants now swarmed over the battlefield in search of
anything they considered worth recovering. For the most part this was
scrap metal from destroyed vehicles of either side, but the bodies of the
dead were also considered worthy of investigation. Not the necrons of
course, their metal bodies were nothing more than scrap to the orks and
treated exactly the same as their equipment. But the corpses of the orks
could quite easily still have undamaged limbs that could be used for
transplants for the injured and more importantly they could still have
teeth in their mouths that could be extracted. Orks used their teeth,
though not those of the smaller gretchin as currency so anyone with a pair
of pliers could net themselves a tidy sum if they could find enough
bodies. They only part of the battlefield considered off limits was the
massive gargant, an enormous walking machine that was not only one of the
most powerful weapons of war but also an idol regarded as the
personification one or both of the main ork gods Gork and Mork. The
gargant had been wrecked by multiple hits from necron weaponry but enough
of its structure remained intact that it was considered salvageable. Now a
team orks working for Warboss Kazkal Kromag himself, the biggest and thus
highest ranking ork on the planet. Anyone else that got too close to the
gargant was fired on, with the number of warning shots depending only on
how many it took for the guards to get their aim right.
Some of the
groups of scavenging greenskins had specific items in mind as thy hunted
through the wreckage strewn across the battlefield, whilst others were
simply interested only in grabbing as much as they could before anyone
else did. But in either case whatever they recovered was loaded up onto a
suitable vehicle to be transport back to the workshops of the mekaniaks
who would then recycle it all into more weapons and vehicles.
As a member of
the Death Skulls clan Trurkor was an expert at looting and had a keen eye
for things that would make him money. Like many of his clan Trurkor was
also not averse to scavenging items whose owners were still very much
alive but not paying enough attention. As the Death Skulls often said,
“Finder’s keeper’s.”
On this
occasion though every bit of scrap metal and weaponry recovered from the
battlefield had no one else left alive to claim ownership and he had three
large truck piled high. Standing in the cupola of his largest vehicle, a
half tracked wagon equipped with a large claw that was useful not only for
loading scarp onto the vehicle but also as a weapon against other
vehicles, Trurkor looked around. Behind him came the other two transport
vehicles of his convoy, both only slightly smaller than his personal
battlewagon while all around a group of half a dozen lightweight buggies
provided extra protection and advanced warning just in case any other
groups of orks decided to try and help themselves to Trurkor’s loot. As it
happened Trurkor did not need these outriders to provide him with warning
of the attack when it came, the convoy’s attackers made enough noise of
their own.
The first
vehicles to appear over the crest of a nearby hill were warbikes, each
carrying a single rider who did his best to roar over the noise of his
bike’s engine. These riders handled their bikes in such an erratic manner
that targeting them became difficult, requiring not only leading of shots
but also some effort to see through the thick clouds of dirt and smoke
produced as they churned up the ground beneath them.
Trurkor
grinned as he heard the first gunfire, a sustained rattling of an
automatic weapon from one of his escorting buggies that tore up the ground
beside the lead warbike and he clambered down into his wagon to address
the driver.
“Swing us
around!” he ordered, “Dey just got bikes so we can flatten ‘em and den
take wot’s left.”
“Goddit boss.”
The driver replied and he swerved sharply, taking the battlewagon off the
main trail onto looser ground where it too began to churn up the mud.
Wanting a direct view of the warbikes as his battlewagon rode over them
Trurkor remained where he was, leaning over the shoulder of the driver and
staring out through the vision slit at the front of the battlewagon. But
his eyes widened as he saw that the warbikers were not alone.
One of the
buggies acting as convoy escorts suddenly vanished in a ball of flame as a
rocket fired from one of the newly arrived lightweight half tracks slammed
into its fuel tank.
”Wartraks!” Trurkor yelled, causing his driver to
flinch and then he looked around at the group of gretchin in the vehicle
with them, “Get on da shootas ya grots! We needs to get ‘em before dey
shoots a rokkit into our loot.”
Many
battlewagons mounted large calibre guns or powerful energy weapons in
turrets, but Trurkor had always regarded his vehicle as a way of gathering
and transporting more loot more than a fighting machine. Therefore
although it did mount a pair of automatic weapons in sponsons on each side
it lacked anything bigger. The sponsons were nothing more than open topped
platforms stuck to the side of the battlewagon surrounded by a lo barrier
that was there more to provide a way of conveniently mounting the belt fed
weapons that to prevent the gunners from simply falling off. Nevertheless,
between them the four gunners could fire in any direction and all had an
ample supply of looted ammunition.
The four
gretchin opened fire as soon as they were in position; firing short bursts
as warbikes zoomed past on either side. Gretchin were better marksmen than
their larger cousins and three of the attacking bikers fell, either
because they had been shot themselves or they warbike had been shot out
from underneath them.
Then the
battlewagon shook and an explosion echoed through its interior as another
rocket from a wartrack slammed into it heavy frontal armour. The weapon
failed to penetrate the armour, but it left both the orks inside somewhat
dazed. The explosion caught the attention of the gretchin gunners though
and all four turned their efforts again the wartracks rather than the
smaller warbikes, spraying gunfire all over them and one flipped over as
its driver jerked under the impact of several bullets. The gretchin
responsible for this cheered loudly until he caught sight of what had just
come striding over the top of the hill.
The machine
walked on two legs and possessed a cylindrical body. It stood four time
the height of a typical ork and had two pairs of vicious looking arms. One
pair ended in massive claws that opened and close as the machine advanced
while one the ends of the other two arms were massive spinning circular
saw blades.
Trurkor
recovered his senses after the rocket attack just in time to shout a
warning to his driver.
“Kan!” he
bellowed and his driver steered directly at the walking machine, aiming to
simply run it down.
The ork
hardwired into the dreadnought walking machine saw the battlewagon turn
towards him and realised in an instant what its driver was attempting to
do. In response he brought the claw tipped arm on one side closer towards
the dreadnought’s body while extended out the buzz saw arm on the same
side. Then at the last minute he tried to sidestep away from the
battlewagon at the same time as he tried to thrust the saw blade into
it.
There was an
almighty ‘Crash!’ as the dreadnought was knocked aside by the battlewagon
and was thrown through the air to land on its back, its arms and legs
flailing wildly as the pilot found himself unable to get back up. However
the effect on the battlewagon was far more severe. The spinning blade
sliced through the vehicle’s thick armour plating only to then shatter and
spray fragments around the interior that decapitated the driver. Out of
control the battlewagon struck a rock and rolled over, the pile of
precious scrap metal being scattered across the ground before the vehicle
came to a halt on it’s roof.
Dazed but
still alive Trurkor dragged himself out of the wreckage and tried to
assess how the battle was going. The answer from his point of view was not
well. All of his wagons had been brought to a halt and the buggies he had
used for extra security were now just twisted piles of metal themselves.
Hearing the sound of heavy breathing he looked upwards and saw a large ork
towering over him as he lay on the ground.
“Ya ain’t
‘avin’ me loot.” He croaked and the big ork scowled.
“It aint ya
scrap no more.” He replied, “It’s mine.” And then he brought a large
booted foot down on Trurkor’s head.
Mek Batrug
held the alien made sword and examined it closely. Then he frowned as he
looked up at the customer who had brought it into his workshop, a ork nob
dressed in the traditional red coloured clothing of the Evil Suns clan.
This particular nob had a very distinctive appearance, the pod that he had
grown is had been corrupted by some outside element that had caused him to
be born with a second head and this had contributed to his name of Two
Heads Smasha Butt Face. The rest of his name came from his habit of
ramming a rifle butt into the face of anyone who asked about the two
heads.
“Well?” one of
the heads asked as the other just stared back at Batrug.
“Well I can
make it work I reckon.” The mekboy answered, “But it’ll cost
ya.”
”Yeah, yeah I know dat.” The same head replied before the other
one added,“ Hazug told us wot it cost for ya to get dat big choppa wot ‘e
nicked from da necrons workin’.”
“Yeah, well ya
see dat’s da problem aint it?” Batrug began to explained and both of Two
Heads frowned, “With dat big choppa of Hazug’s I ‘ad loads of room to work
inside it didn’t I? Now ya brought me some of dem power cells wot ya
looted from gits and dey’ll make it work at least for a while. But I needs
to be able to alter da gubbins so dat da power cell will fit.”
”Den
alter da gubbins.” Two Heads said.
“I would, but
I aint got da parts. I needs bits from more necron choppas to work with
and dare aint none.”
Two Heads
continued to frown.
“Squig crap.”
One of him commented. Then the other continued, “Dare must be loads of dat
stuff lyin’ about by now. Da ground was littered with it from wot I ‘eard.
If we adn’t been plantin’ dat bomm den I’d ‘ave grabbed meself an ‘ole
armload of it.”
“Dat’s just it
innit?” Batrug replied, “Dare aint no loot turned up. Oh dare’s lads and
nobs wot ‘ave got all sorts of souvenirs and such, but right no dare aint
a single wagon come back with stuff for trade.”
“Why not?” Two
Heads asked and then the other one followed with, “I though dat da boss
‘ad given orders dat all da loot was to come back ‘ere so dat ‘e could
take a look at it.”
“Dat’s wot ‘e
said alright. But it aint ‘ere yet is it? If it was den I’d be able to do
ay a better deal. But right now if ya wants me to get dat choppa workin’
den its gonna cost ya thirty teeth just for parts.”
Two Heads
reached out and snatched the alien weapon back away from
Batrug.
”Thirty teeth my arse. I can buy an entire wagon for dat.” And
he turned around and began to stride out of the workshop.
“Where ya
goin’?” Batrug called out after him, “Ya won’t find anyone else dat’ll do
it cheaper until da loot arrives.”
“I knows dat.”
Two Heads replied, “So I is goin’ to go and find out wot’s ‘appened to it
all aint I?”
2.
A young human
female opened the door to Hazug’s home.
“Sophie. I
needs to speak to Hazug.” Two Heads told her.
”Salia.” The human
replied, “I’m Salia.” And Two Heads leant closer, causing Salia to flinch
as she caught the smell of his breath.
“Ya all look
alike to me.” One head then said as the other continued to stare at her,
“Now where’s Hazug?”
“I is right
‘ere.” A deep voice said and the door opened wider to reveal an ork nob
standing behind his human servant. Unlike the other orks who wore clothing
that was either dyed a bright colour that was significant to their clan or
had been left the natural colour of the cloth Hazug Throatslitter wore
clothing in dull colours with what was obviously a pattern inspired by the
clothing of human troops who wore it to make them harder to see. This
marked him out as a Blood Axe, the only one on the planet. Blood Axes were
frequently viewed with suspicion thanks to their habit of openly trading
with humans that had not already been conquered and even going so far as
fight alongside their Imperium on occasion,” Come on in and tell me wot ya
wants.” Hazug continued then he looked down at Salia, “Go get us some
grub.” He told her.
A typical ork
maintained just enough living space for himself and his possessions.
However, following his role in deposing a rival warboss who had planned to
overthrow Kazkal Kromag, Hazug had been presented with his current home –
a large structure previously used to house an entire mob of orks that had
been wiped out. At least part of the reason for Hazug being granted the
building for himself was that it was located immediately next to the
region of the city inhabited by the humans who were subservient to the
orks here, known as Git Town. No other orks that Warboss Kromag wanted to
reward wanted live near humans so Hazug was granted the building for
himself. This meant that there was plenty of spare room and due at least
in part to the influence of his human servant Sophie, Hazug had set aside
an entire room in which he could just sit and relax and it was to this
room that Hazug took Two Heads.
As he sat down
Two Heads placed his necron sword on the table between him and
Hazug.
“It still aint
workin’.” One of him said to Hazug.
“Didn’t ya
take it to Batrug?” Hazug replied, “’E got dat big ‘un of mine workin’
just fine. Well da batteries run down a bit quick, but it
works.”
“Well dat
bleedin’ mek reckons dat ‘e aint got da gubbins wot ‘e needs to get da job
done.” One of Two Heads explained and the other one then added, “Cause
no-one’s brought any of da loot back from da battle at da necron tomb
yet.”
Hazug scowled.
The battle had ended five days earlier when he and a small force including
Two Heads had infiltrated the aliens’ underground base with a powerful
explosive weapon based around the lightweight gas used in some of the more
basic flying machines. By now the mekaniacs workshops should have been
piled high with parts of necron origin while the meks themselves
investigated every possible way of using it.
It was then
that Salia entered in the company of another human of similar appearance.
This was Sophie, Salia’s older sister who had been in Hazug’s service for
about four years now. On the other hand the Blood Axe had only just
acquired Salia, effectively stealing her from a Death Skull
nob.
“Hi Two
Heads.” Sophie said, smiling and then she held up the tray she carried and
looking at Hazug she added, “I brought the food you wanted.” And then she
set the tray down beside the sword. Immediately Two Heads reached out with
both hands and picked up a pair of the pies that were on the tray and each
head sniffed one and took a large bite.
“So why is ya
tellin’ me all dis?” Hazug asked as Two Heads devoured the
food.
“Because it
aint normal.” One of Two Heads commented, spitting pieces of pie across
the room and causing both Salia and Sophie to flinch as they felt some of
it spray across their faces. Then the other head gulped, swallowing the
food from his mouth first and added, “And everyone knows dat whenever
anythin’ odd ‘appens den ya is da one to come to.”
A smile spread
across Hazug’s face.
“Sophie,” He
said, “I wants ya to go pack us some food and drink and Salia can go get
Mayleth and Ratish. Tell ‘em we’s goin’ ‘untin’.”
As the two
humans left the room the pair of ork nobs both got up as well.
”So its
true den.” Two Heads said to Hazug.
”Wot is?”
“Ya’s keepin’
dat pansy ‘ere now an’ all.”
Hazug
shrugged.
“I got da
room.” he said, “Besides I gets da feelin’ she could come in useful and
I’d rather ‘ave ‘er ‘ere dan ‘ave to go to da pits every time I needs
‘er.”
The pits
referred to by Hazug were the fighting pits, a cluster of combat arenas
where the orks battled one another both for sport and also as a form of
judicial system. For the sporting bouts there were often prizes as well as
betting on all the fights, so when Hazug had found himself in possession
of a skilled dark eldar wych he had sent her there to make him money by
fighting, a role she seemed to revel in. More recently he had made use of
her knowledge and skills to fight against the necrons, after which he had
moved her into one of the unused rooms of his home.
“So wot’s ya
plan?” Two Heads asked as they walked from the room and paused at the
bottom of the stairs.
”Easy. I’ll take me trukk and ‘ead to where da
tomb was. Da lads bringin’ back da loot would ‘ave come in da opposite
direction so along dare is where I should find out wot ‘appened to
’em.”
”Fair enough.” One of Two Heads answered while the other just
nodded in agreement, “I gots me battlewagon runnin’ again so I’ll follow
ya. Just in case ya runs into any trouble like.” And both heads grinned,
knowing full well that Hazug had a habit of running into
trouble.
”Sounds good. If I don’t find anythin’ I’ll stop when I gets
to da tomb. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Two
Heads replied and he turned around and left via the front door. Then Hazug
headed upstairs to the secure room where he kept his store of
weapons.
Hazug’s truck
was a lightweight open topped vehicle and typically of orkish transports
it had enough room in its rear section for a dozen orks. So given that
apart from Hazug it carried only his four servants, all of who were
considerably smaller than an ork there was plenty of room left over for
provisions and extra weaponry.
The truck
itself was also armed, a belt fed automatic weapon fitted to a mounting up
in the roll cage and as usual Hazug’s gretchin servant Ratish Brownskin
had taken it upon himself to clamber up to the mounting and take control
of the weapon.
“So what are
we looking for?” Sophie called out over the noise of the poorly tuned
engine. She and Salia were sat in the passenger section at the back of the
truck, surrounded by the weapons and other supplies that had been brought
along.
“Weren’t you
listening mon-keigh?” Mayleth replied before Hazug could. The slender
eldar woman sat beside Hazug, with one leg raised to rest a foot on the
dashboard in front of her. Unlike Sophie, Mayleth did not speak the orkish
language or any other language than her own. Instead she made use of a
device strapped around her neck to translate words spoken to her into her
own language while her own words were translated into whatever language
she wished by the same device.
“Yes, I know
we’re looking for a missing scarp convoy.” Sophie said, “But how will we
know if we’ve found it?”
“There are
quite a few wrecks around.” Salia added, looking out of the truck to where
the burned out remains of a similar vehicle rested by the side of the
road. Clearly on the way back from the battle several groups of orks had
taken to fighting amongst themselves, a common occurrence in the
species.
Mayleth
snorted.
“Maybe so
mon-keigh. But they are just fragments of small vehicles such as this. We
are looking for one capable of moving many tonnes of scavenged metal. That
will be far more obvious.”
“Yeah!” Ratish
exclaimed from above, “Stupid gits.”
Salia leant
closer to her sister.
”I wish that Mayleth wouldn’t keep calling us
both mon-keigh.” She said, “What does it mean anyway?”
“I think it’s
the eldar word for a human.” Sophie replied.
“So how come
that machine of hers doesn’t translate it?”
“Because I
don’t think that her people consider it a word worth translating.” Sophie
said and she glanced briefly at Mayleth, just in time to notice her
turning away with a smirk on her face.
The road then
began to slope upwards and as the truck reached the highest point he
suddenly slammed his foot on the brake, bringing the truck to an
unexpected halt that sent the unsecured passengers and cargo sliding
forwards until they hit something solid.
“What’s
wrong?” Sophie asked as she picked herself up from the floor of the
truck.
“Dis place is
just too good.” Hazug replied as he leapt down from the truck and ran
forward several paces before coming to a halt. Then he rummaged the
pouches on his belt until he found what he was looking for, a small device
that was clearly not of orkish manufacture and he raised it to his eye and
peered through it. The device had been made by the alien tau and with Mek
Batrug’s help Hazug had discovered that it was designed for viewing
objects at great distances in detail. Not only that but it could also
record images of what it saw for viewing later on. Now he used it to
examine the road ahead as it made its way across the valley below
them.
”Too good for what?” Sophie asked as she too climbed down from
the truck, grabbing hold of one of the las rifles Hazug had given to her
and Salia for the trip.
“An ambush
mon-keigh.” Mayleth said and she stood up in her seat and gazed around the
sides of the valley, “Over there my master.” She then added, pointing to
the top of another hill.
“What is it?”
Salia asked, “Are we in danger?”
“I think not
mon keigh.” Mayleth responded.
”I don’t see nought.” Ratish commented,
pointing the truck’s weapon in the direction had pointed.
“Neither do
I.” Sophie added.
”That is because neither you mon-keigh nor the small
beast have senses as acute as mine.” Mayleth replied.
“I sees it
though.” Hazug then said as he aimed the tau viewing device towards the
hill indicated by Mayleth, “A grot.”
“Yes my
master. That is exactly what I thought.” Mayleth said.
“Just one?”
Salia asked, “But I thought gretchin went around in groups.”
“They do.”
Sophie said.
”Not if dey’ve been told to wait somewhere on dare own.”
Hazug said as he put the viewing device away again and strode back to the
truck.
“But what’s ‘e
doin’ dare master?” Ratish asked, squinting as he tried to see the other
gretchin for himself.
“He’s a
lookout isn’t he?” Sophie asked.
”Dat’s one possibility, yeah.” Hazug
replied as he pulled two weapons from back of the truck. The first was a
rifle that unlike the slender human built beam weapons Salia and Sophie
were armed with was a custom-built ork weapon. Beneath the main barrel of
this was a launcher loaded with a single powerful but unguided rocket. The
second weapon was of alien construction and was a long melee weapon
intended to be wielded in both hands. This was the warscythe that Hazug
had captured from a necron leader in an earlier encounter with the
sinister metal warriors, “Wait ‘ere da lot of ya.” Hazug then said as he
slung the warscythe over his shoulders while cradling his rifle in his
arms, “I is gonna check ‘im out. I’ll find out why ‘e’s ‘ere and if ‘e
knows anythin’.”
“Ratish come
too master.” Ratish said excitedly.
“I should
accompany you as well my master.” Mayleth added, prompting a scowl from
Ratish.
“Well if
they’re both going then so are we.” Sophie said and looking at Salia she
added, “Right?”
“Right.” Salia
replied, “I’m not staying here by myself. I don’t care if I do have a las
gun.”
“None of ya is
comin’.” Hazug said sternly, “I aint leavin’ da trukk unguarded and I
reckon dat it’ll take all four of ya to do da job properly. Now wait ‘ere
until I gets back.”
3.
Most orks
would simply have charged across the hilltops to the gretchin, giving the
creature plenty of notice that they were coming and the opportunity to
flee. However, a part of being a Blood axe was that Hazug had an aptitude
for stealthy movement so instead of taking the shortest route he made a
detour that kept him out of sight of the gretchin. Suspecting that the
gretchin had been ordered to keep an eye on traffic through the valley
Hazug moved around it, keeping the surrounding hilltops between himself
and his target. As he drew closer Hazug kept low and moved slowly, holding
his rifle at the ready just in case there were more gretchin about that
had not been visible from by the truck. He saw no signs of other gretchin,
but there were clear signs that vehicles had travelled this way
repeatedly, the ground churned up by their tyres.
Hazug paused
to inspect the tracks. Had he had Two Heads or another Evil Sun ork with
him then they may have been able to identify the type of vehicles that had
come this way, but as it was all that Hazug could tell was they used a mix
of both wheeled and track chasses.
The gretchin
was not far away from where Hazug crouched by the muddy tracks and he
realised that the tracks themselves could prove an obstacle if he tried to
cross them. The mud looked deep enough that it would slow his progress and
possible create enough noise to alert the gretchin to his presence. Hazug
looked around for an easy way across the mud but found nothing. Which left
him with only one option. In all likelihood it would still warn the
gretchin of his approach, but with any luck the creature would not have
enough time to escape. Cautiously Hazug backed up and then sudden ran
forwards, using the run up to launch himself into the air and over the
muddy tracks before landing on the far side with a dull
‘thump’.
Just as Hazug
had expected it would the sound attracted the attention of the gretchin,
who turned around and stared in horror as the Blood Axe nob charged the
final few metres towards him.
“Gotcha!”
Hazug bellowed as he grabbed hold of the startled creature’s
arm.
“Let go!” the
gretchin screamed as it tried to squirm free and then it plunged its teeth
into Hazug’s arm.
Hazug roared.
The gretchin’s tiny teeth barely pierced his tough skin but the mere fact
that this diminutive being dared to resist angered him and he lifted the
gretchin up off the ground, swinging it over his head and hurling it into
the mud behind him. The gretchin squealed as he flew through the air,
landing with a ‘squelch’ and throwing out lumps of mud in all directions.
Uninjured but stunned the gretchin tried to pull himself out of the mud
but before he could manage to free himself Hazug strode towards him and
grabbed hold of the back of his neck, pushing his face back into the mud
and holding it there as the gretchin’s arms and legs flailed about
helplessly.
“Wotcha doin’
‘ere runt?” Hazug demanded as he pulled the gretchin’s face out of the mud
and he gasped for air.
“I aint doin’
nothin’!” the gretchin answered and Hazug pushed his face back into the
mud.
“If ya likes
breathin’ den ya’ll answer me questions honestly runt.” Hazug said,
“Goddit?” and he pulled the gretchin back out of the mud again. The
gretchin nodded furiously, “Good. So wotcha doin’ ‘ere?”
”I is just
watchin’ da road. Dat’s all.”
“Wotcha
watchin’ for?”
“Wagons. Any
wagons come down den I is to signal me master and ‘is lads.”
All this
made perfect sense to Hazug. A single gretchin would be difficult to spot,
but that still left the question of where the look out’s master was
hiding.
“So where’s ya
master?” He asked, looking around.
“Dat way.” The
gretchin replied, his arm shaking as he pointed to another hill not far
away.
“Den dat’s
where I needs to go.” Hazug said, releasing his grip on the gretchin and
he began to walk away, “If dare aint no-one dare den I’ll be back for ya.”
He added without looking back.
“Oh dey is
dare alright.” The gretchin hissed as he dragged himself to his feet, “And
dey know all about ya. We all knows da Blood Axe and when me master takes
over as warboss den ya’ll get wot’s-“
Hazug spun,
bringing his rifle up to his shoulder and before the gretchin could finish
his boast Hazug fired. The single bullet struck the gretchin square in the
chest and his corpse fell backwards, landing in the mud with his limbs
spread apart.
Hazug ran down
the hill, following the muddy tracks that led in the direction indicated
by the gretchin. As he ran he considered the gretchin’s final words. The
creature had seemed confident that its ork master was to become the
warboss, deposing Kazkal Kromag. But Hazug could not figure out how this
would be possible. Kazkal lived in a fortress and in addition to being a
formidable fighter himself was surrounded by a small army of reasonably
loyal orks. Whatever the gretchin’s master was planning, he had to have
something very special up his sleeves.
“Dat was a
shot.” One of the orks said, getting to his feet while his three comrades
remained seated and ate.
“Da runt
doesn’t ‘ave a shoota.” One of the others said, his mouth still filled
with meat.
“Den someone
else must ‘ave done da shootin’.” The standing ork replied.
“If dare was
anyone else dare da runt would ‘ave either ‘id or signalled us.” Another
ork commented without looking up from his meal.
“Can ya see da
grot wavin’ ‘is flag?” the final ork asked.
“Nah.” The
standing ork answered.
“Den forget it
and sit down. If dare was anyone out dare den da grot would let us
know.”
“Well if
dare’s no-one out dare,” the standing ork said, “Den who’s dat?” and he
pointed to where Hazug could be seen dashing towards them.
The other orks
looked at Hazug for themselves, puzzled as to what a single ork would be
doing all the way out here.
“Well dare’s
just one of ‘im.” One of the group said as he lifted his rifle to his
shoulder and he fired a short burst.
Ork
marksmanship was generally of a poor standard, their society favoured
close combat over pinpoint shooting and this particular ork was no
exception so rather than striking Hazug the bullets instead struck the
ground some distance from him. Reacting quickly to this Hazug dived for
cover, a narrow dip in the ground close by where both the shape of the
ground and the height of the grass took him out of sight of the orks in
the hill. Here he slung his rifle over his shoulder with his warscythe and
began to crawl along on his stomach. Every now and again more shots rang
out as the orks thought they saw something that could be Hazug and opened
fire. Fortunately not one of the targets they thought they saw was Hazug
and as he crept ever closer the gunfire became aimed further
away.
Hazug halted
when he heard footsteps and voices and realised that the orks on the hill
were coming down to try and find him. Carefully he moved aside the long
grass in front of him and peered towards them. Thought their attention
seemed focused elsewhere if they kept on their current path Hazug realised
that they would blunder right into him and he grinned. He reached round to
his back and unslung not only his rifle but also the necron warscythe and
adjusted his position to make it easier for him to stand up rapidly. Then
as the sound of the approaching orks became louder he suddenly leapt up
into the open.
“Waaargh!” he
yelled as he balanced his rifle in one hand and snatched at the trigger,
holding it down. The custom rifle had three settings - semi automatic,
fully automatic and what Mek Batrug had described as ‘turbo-dakka’. This
third mode of operation made use of an alternate mechanism that massively
increased the rifle’s rate of fire and it was this setting that Hazug now
used. The downside of this was that the rifle’s magazine was rapidly
emptied, but the combination of the recoil altering Hazug’s aim with each
shot and the inherently unsteady manner in which the rifle was being held
meant that the bullets were sprayed about wildly and two of the advancing
orks were cut down before they could even take aim.
The two
survivors rolled out of the way as Hazug threw the rifle to the ground and
gripped his warscythe in both hands. The alien weapon had been modified to
make use of human las gun power packs to generate an energy field around
its blade that enabled it to slice through even the toughest of armour
with ease. But these were a poor substitute for the original necron remote
power source and made the field prone to failure after even a short period
of use. However, neither of the orks now facing Hazug wore anything more
than the usual reinforced animal hide body armour that most orks wore and
so he did not bother to activate the weapon, instead relying on the
natural sharpness of the blade. This proved to be more than adequate as
Hazug swung the warscythe at the closest of his opponents, bringing it
down in an arc that split open the other ork’s skull and Hazug then spun
around to face his final opponent.
This ork had
also cast aside his rifle and drawn a crude blade of orkish
manufacture.
“Well wotcha
waitin’ for?” Hazug asked as the two orks glared at one another, “Come and
’ave a go if ya think ya’s ‘ard enough.”
The other ork
snarled and lifted his blade above his head. Then with a roar he charged
headlong towards Hazug. He expected the Blood Axe to place his warscythe
between them to either block the attack or try and impale him as he
charged. But instead Hazug sidestepped as the last moment, causing the
charging ork to stumble as he moved to deliver a blow. Hazug then
responded to this by swinging the shaft of his warscythe so that it
tripped his opponent and he fell to the ground. The prone ork then let out
a scream as Hazug stamped down on the hand the ork was using to hold his
blade, forcing him to release his grip on the weapon so that Hazug could
kick it away while the other ork rolled onto his back.
”Wotcha all
doin’ out ‘ere?” Hazug demanded, holding his warscythe so that the tip of
the weapon was held just above the other ork’s throat.
“Ya is da
Blood Axe aint ya?” the ork asked in replied, scowling at Hazug, “When da
boss takes care of dat grot brain Kazkal dare won’t be a place for git
lovers like ya around no more. ‘E’ll put da gits right back where dey
belongs.”
This statement
told Hazug why this particular group of orks had chosen to turn on Kazkal
Kromag, despite the warboss having repeatedly demonstrated himself to be a
worthy ruler. Almost a year earlier Kazkal had issued a decree that any of
the planet’s human population that were not the specific property of
individual orks were to be considered his personal property instead. This
meant that anyone who killed an unclaimed human without good cause would
be judged to have stolen from the warboss and subject to the typical harsh
and unpleasant punishment for such an offence. In return for this
protection the humans had agreed to supply the war boss with a significant
amount of ammunition each day. Hazug himself had been instrumental in the
negotiation of this agreement. Unfortunately the decree had not gone down
well with all of the orks on the planet. Though few of them ever bothered
to kill any of the humans who presented no threat to them the very fact
that the warboss had ordered them not to had angered them. Clearly this
group of orks had been so angered that they had decided to overturn the
order by removing Kazkal Kromag from power. However, what it still did not
tell Hazug was how they intended to achieve this.
Just then the
ork lashed out and tried to knock the blade of the warscythe away, but he
had not counted on just how sharp it was and he screamed as several of his
fingers were sliced off. Aware that the screaming could attract unwanted
attention if it went on for too long Hazug acted to ended it as quickly as
he could and he thrust the warscythe downwards into the ork’s throat,
silencing him in an instant. Hazug then rushed up the rest of the hill,
throwing himself to the ground as he reached the top to peer over it
without making his presence obvious to anyone on the other side and
looking down he saw exactly what this warband had in mind for overthrowing
Warboss Kazkal Kromag.
They had a
battlefortress,
Bigger than
any normal battlewagon the massive armoured vehicle had a track unit at
each of its four corners and its hull bristled with weapons. The most
obvious of these was the long barrelled super cannon fitted in a large
turret on top of the hull, but Hazug also saw two other turrets mounted
heavy cannons, a missile battery just behind the main turret and numerous
automatic weapons and smaller rocket launchers poking out of firing points
in the hull. In addition to these each of the track units had a compact
sponson mounted on it that looked just big enough to contain a gretchin
gunner and his weapon. The vehicle was purely of orkish design and
construction rather than being built around some alien vehicle that the
orks had looted, but as Hazug studied it through his tau viewing device he
saw numerous components that were not of orkish origin. Most of these were
human, probably left over from before the orks had conquered this world
but there were also parts that could only have come from necron war
machines. Now Hazug knew exactly why no loot from the recent battle had
reached the city, these orks had been stealing it to make their
battlefortress.
4.
Borhuk, nob of
the Goffs clan strode through the confines of his battlefortress and made
his way to the cramped control cabin. There he found one of the orks under
his command already seated in the driver’s seat while a mekboy stood close
by inspecting the latest components to have been fitted.
“Well?” Borhuk
said to the mek, “Is dis thing ready to go yet?” and the mek turned to
face him.
“Now dat’s a
complicated question.” The mek responded.
“No it aint
Graggmok. All ya needs to do is tell me if dis fortress is ready to run
yet.” Borhuk aid. He was well aware that if left to their own devices
mekboys would continue to tinker with anything they built, always deciding
that something could be improved. This was made even worse when on a
project such as Borhuk’s battlefortress there were several mekboys
involved at the same time. One of them would add something that another
would then remove so that he could use the parts for a feature he
preferred and would trigger a cycle of rival meks getting each others way.
Borhuk had already killed three of them for such behaviour and hoped that
doing so publicly had served to focus the minds of the
remainder.
“Well ya
engine ought to run and I recon dat da shield will work. But we got loads
of big shootas spare dat I reckon would look really good if we put
‘em-“
”Never more big shootas!” Borhuk yelled, “If we spends too much
time on dis den Kazkal and ‘is git lovin’ mates’ll get wind of wot we is
up to. Now start it up cause I ants to get movin’ now.”
Reluctantly
Mek Graggmok looked at the ork in the driver’s seat and nodded. The driver
then reached out to where what looked like a pistol had been welded into
the control panel in front of him and took hold of its grip. Pulling the
trigger there was the sound of a shot muffled by the fact that the muzzle
of the weapon was set into the panel and then the whole battlefortress
rumbled and shook as the shot started the engines.
“I knew it’d
work!” Graggmok yelled over the noise, throwing his arms upwards, “Jobs a
good ‘un!”
Borhuk just
frown.
“Den let’s get
movin’.” He said, “I wants to go see da boss.”
Hazug watched
as the battlefortress suddenly came to life and began to roll forwards. On
the ground all around were the partial remains of smaller vehicles as well
as the complete ones that the warband in control of the battlefortress had
used in the raids they conducted to acquire the materials they needed. Now
all those were simply in the way and as the massive battlefortress
lumbered forwards they were simply crushed beneath them, as were any
greenskins who for some reason did not get out of the way fast enough.
Then there were sparks from the shield generating spire and a brief flash
of light as a protective bubble of energy formed around the already
formidable vehicle. This meant only one thing as far as Hazug could tell;
the warband was planning to attack Kazkal Kromag right now.
“Aw crap.”
Hazug said to himself and then he picked himself up and began to run back
down the hill behind him.
He paused only
to pick up the rifle he had cast aside and then kept on running, frowning
at the thought of leaving four dead orks behind with their mouths still
full of valuable teeth. But Hazug knew that if he stopped to collect the
teeth himself then it was quite possible that the battlefortress would
come lumbering over the hilltop right over him and there would be nothing
he could do to stop it. Instead Hazug headed for his truck and just kept
on running.
“Get in da
trukk!” he yelled when the vehicle and his servants were in
sight.
“Look!
Master’s back!” Ratish shouted excitedly from his position up in the roll
cage with the truck’s mounted weapon. He was the only one of the four
still in the vehicle, Salia and Sophie sat with their backs to one side of
it and Mayleth stood some distance way apparently keeping watch in the
other direction.
”Hazug what’s wrong?” Sophie called out in response as
she got to her feet.
“Just get in
da trukk!” Hazug shouted back, “I’ll explain on da way.”
Obediently
Hazug’s servants clambered back into the truck just as Hazug arrived and
tossed both his weapons into the back before climbing into the driver’s
seat.
“So what’s
going on?” Sophie asked.
“It’s a
battlefortress.” Hazug replied.
“A what?”
Salia asked as the truck’s engine spluttered into life and Hazug
accelerated as rapidly as he could, steering to head back towards the
city.
”A battlefortress mon-keigh.” Mayleth said, “The largest of the
crude vehicles tracked that the beasts construct. Only their equivalents
of your titans are larger.”
“Yes I know
what a battlefortress is.” Salia replied, “But what’s one doing out
here?”
“Dare’s a
bunch of lads wot is plannin’ on killin’ Warboss Kromag.” Hazug explained,
“Dey built. Dey’ve been nickin’ all da loot wot was supposed to be ‘eadin’
back to da city. Now da battlefortress is up and runnin’ and dey is on
dare way.”
”So we’re going to warn him right?” Sophie then asked.
“Dat’s da only thing I can think of.” Hazug answered, “If we can get dare
in time den da boss should be able to get enough lads together to do
somethin’ about it.”
Then there was
a booming in the distance from behind the truck and the road ahead erupted
as a heavy shell blasted a massive carter in it that Hazug had to swerve
off the road to avoid.
“Of course we
still needs to get dat far.” Hazug commented.
“Ya missed!”
Borhuk yelled up to the turret gunner as he watched Hazug’s truck avoid
the exploding shell, “I don’t want anyone seein’ dis thing until we gets
to da city. No-one dat gets left alive anyways.”
“Err boss, I
reckon we gots a problem.” A gretchin standing close by in the control
cabin who was peering into a periscope from on top of a crate
said.
”What is it grot? If ya’s broken soemthin’-“ Borhuk
began.
”Nah boss, aint broken nowt.” The gretchin interrupted, “But I
reckon ya should take a look at dat truck up ahead.”
“Wot about
it?” Borhuk asked, brushing aside the gretchin and peering into the
periscope for himself. Then he snarled as he saw Hazug’s vehicle close up,
magnified by the periscope. Though he could not make out the occupants
clearly he could tell that most of them were not orks as he had first
assumed, but more significantly he could make out the green on grey
camouflage pattern with which it was painted, “Dem’s is Blood Axe
colours.” He growled. Then he stood up straight,” Kazkal’s onto us! ‘E’s
sent dat git lover to spy on us. We needs to make sure ‘e don’t get away.
All shootas let rip!”
More cannon
shot’s sounded from the battlefortress behind them, but the combination of
orkish marksmanship and the random evasive pattern that Hazug drove in
meant that none of the shells came anywhere near them. More importantly
though the distance between the nimble, lightweight truck and the
lumbering battlefortress was actually increasing. However, should Hazug’s
vehicle be caught on an open stretch of ground, of which there were plenty
between here and the city then the battlefortress’ gunners would have
plenty of time to zero in on the truck and destroy it. Wanting to get out
the battlefortress’ line of sight as quickly as he could Hazug kept his
foot pressed firmly down on the gas pedal and steered around a nearby
hill.
Just as
another vehicle was coming the other way.
“It’s Two
Heads!” Sophie cried out, pointing at the oncoming battlewagon as Hazug
slammed on the brakes and swerved to prevent a collision.
Sure enough
the heavy half tracked armoured vehicle heading towards them was the
familiar shape of Two Heads’ own battlewagon. Larger than Hazug’s truck
and fully armoured it mounted a heavy cannon in its main turret and two
pairs of linked automatic weapons weapon just in front of that. However,
when compared to the massive bulk and firepower of the battlefortress, Two
Heads’ battlewagon was still badly outclassed.
“Hazug!” Two
Heads shouted as he emerged from a hatch in the roof, “Wotcha
doin’?”
“Dare’s a
battlefortress back dare comin’ dis way.” Hazug replied, waving back down
the road, “Dey is after da boss.”
Two Heads
looked along the road and both heads scowled.
“So wot d’ya want us to do? I bets me kannon can-”
“Nah.” Hazug
interrupted and he shook his head, “Dey gots a force field around da
thing. I doubt dat ya kannon could even scratch it. Even if ya was to ‘it
soemthin’ vital.”
“Dey we needs
to get closer den.” Two Heads replied, “Inside da field.”
“Den wot?”
Hazug asked, “We aint got no tankbusta bomms and I doubt dat even me
warscythe could do more dan cut a bit of an ‘ole in da side of it. Not
enough to-“ then he suddenly stopped mid sentence and he grinned, “I’s got
an idea.” He said.
Borhuk stared
out of the viewport as his battlefortress came around the hill, expecting
to see Hazug’s truck heading off into the distance up ahead. But although
he could make out a vehicle on the road far in front it clearly was not
Hazug’s truck. This vehicle was significantly larger than the truck;
though the battlefortress was even large still of course and instead being
painted to blend into the background it was bright red to make it go
faster.
“Boss, dat’s a
battlewagon.” The driver commented.
”I knows dat.” Borhuk
replied.
”So wot do we do about it?”
“I already
told ya. I don’t want anythin’ seein’ us and livin’ to talk about
it.”
“Boss it’s
behind us now!” one of Two Heads orks called out. The ork in question had
his head stuck out of the hatch on top of the battlewagon’s turret and was
under orders to keep watch for the battlefortress.
“Wot about
Hazug?” one of Two Heads asked in response.
”’E looks like ‘e’s in
position.” The ork replied.
“Den dis is it
lads.” Two Heads said to the rest of his troops, “Get ay shootas ready.”
Then the other head looked at the driver and added, “Gorrid, turn us
around.”
“Goddit boss.”
Gorrid replied and the battlewagon tilted as he steered sharply to bring
it around to face the battlefortress.
“Now floor
it!” Two Heads yelled and the battlewagon raced forwards, swerving from
side to side.
Almost all at
once the battlewagon’s weapons opened fire, sending a hail of shells and
bullets towards the battlefortress. Added to this the orks inside
positioned themselves by every viewport available and opened fire whenever
the massive battlefortress came into view. Normally only the main cannon
would have any hope of inflicting any damage on a vehicle like the
battlefortress from the front and with the force field in place even this
powerful weapon proved to be ineffective, but damaging the battlefortress
was not the intent. All of the weapons fire, both from the battlewagon’s
emplaced weapons and the small arms of its occupants were merely intended
to keep the attention of the battlefortress’ crew focused on them rather
than trying to figure out where Hazug had gone.
5.
The
battlefortress continued to lumber forwards, its weapons firing towards
the battlewagon. But Gorrid was a highly skilled driver and only a handful
of the smaller rounds from the battlefortress’ lightweight automatic
weapons were able to find their mark while the larger weapons that could
actually threaten the battlewagon failed to hit altogether. In fact the
debris and smoke from the explosions only served to further conceal the
battlewagon and make targeting it even harder.
All of this
was part of Hazug’s plan. The battlefortress continued to advance, its
crew focusing all of their attention on the threat ahead of them and none
paying any attention to the terrain around them. Terrain such as the hill
Hazug had driven further around, taking him off the road and out of sight
until the battlefortress came rolling past.
“Dat’s it!
We’re off!” Hazug exclaimed and he accelerated, the truck lurching
forwards as it set off behind the battlefortress.
It did not
take long for Hazug to catch the battlefortress and as the truck closed in
Hazug and all of his servants felt an odd tingling sensation in the air
around them.
”What’s that?” Sophie asked.
“It is the
energy shield surrounding the vehicle mon-keigh.” Mayleth told her, “We
are passing through it.”
“Dat’s right.”
Hazug said and then he added,” Right den Ratish, ya knows wot to do now
dontcha?”
“Ratish knows
master.” Ratish replied from above and he braced himself against his
weapon.
Hazug brought
the truck out from behind the battlefortress so that the massive vehicle
was positioned right beside him. This close the gretchin operating the two
sponsons on this side could not fail to notice the truck and both swung
their weapons towards Hazug. Ratish was quicker however, spraying bullets
from the truck’s own mounted gun at each sponson in turn. The bullet could
not penetrate the thick armour plating of the battlefortress, but the soft
flesh of the exposed gunners was a different matter altogether and both
gretchin gunners died before getting off a single shot. Moving faster than
the battlefortress, Hazug brought the truck to a position about half way
along its length, between the track units on this side and he held out his
hand.
“Here you go.”
Sophie said as she passed Hazug’s warscythe to him and with a flick of his
thumb he activated the energy field around the blade.
”Cheers.” He said
and then he swung the alien weapon out to the side.
Despite the
thickness of the battlefortress’ armour plating the alien weapon had no
problem in slicing through and a long gash was cut in the side of the
vehicle. Glanced sideways to assess the damage he had done before swinging
the warscythe again and producing a second split in the battlefortress’
armour about two metres above the first. Then Hazug struck twice more in
quick succession, producing two vertical cuts that resulted in an entire
rectangular section of the battlefortress’ side falling
inwards.
“Now Mayleth!”
Hazug shouted and making it seem trivial the dark eldar woman launched
herself from the truck and through the opening in the side of the
battlefortress. As she landed Mayleth drew both the pistols she had
holstered at her waist and pointed one in each direction along the
passageway she had landed in.
“Clear!” she
yelled and she holstered one pistol and extended an arm back out through
the hole behind her.
“Go!” Hazug
shouted and both Salia and Sophie climbed up onto the side of the truck
with their las guns slung across their backs.
“Oh I don’t
like the look of this.” Salia said nervously as she looked down at the gap
between the two vehicles. Then she looked at Sophie, “I never had to do
this when I was with the Death Skulls. How do you do this?”
“What leap
from a moving truck to a battlefortress? This is actually my first time.”
Sophie replied before she leapt from the truck. Mayleth reached out and
caught hold of Sophie in mid-light, pulling her into the battlefortress
beside her. Immediately Sophie unlsung her las gun and kept watch as
Mayleth reached out once more.
“Leap
mon-keigh. Quickly.” She said to Salia.
Salia looked
down again.
“I can’t.” she
said.
“Pointless
git.” Ratish said and all of a sudden he jumped down from the weapon
mounting to land behind Salia from where he simply pushed her over the
side of the truck. Screaming, Salia fell between the two vehicles, but
before she could hit the ground and be dragged under either of them she
felt a sudden tug as Mayleth caught hold of her and pulled her into the
battlefortress as well. As soon as the eldar let go of her Salia collapsed
to the floor, gasping for breath. A moment later there was a high pitched
cry from outside.
”Yippee!” Ratish cried out as he too made the leap
from the truck to the battlewagon, though like Mayleth he was able to make
the jump unaided.
With all four
of his servants now on board the battlefortress Hazug knew that it was his
turn and he slid across to the very edge of his seat, as close to the
battle fortress as he could get. The hole in the side of the massive
vehicle was just behind him and Hazug lessened the pressure on the gas
pedal, allowing the truck to lose just enough speed to align himself with
the hole precisely. Then he spun the steering wheel sharply, allowing the
side of the truck to slam into that of the battlefortress. At the moment
of contact Hazug rolled sideways, dropping through the hole in the
battlefortress and landing in the passageway with his servants.
“Is master
okay?” Ratish asked as Hazug sat up.
“Yeah, I is
fine grot.” Hazug replied as he then picked himself up and he looked out
through the hole. The truck had continued to follow alongside the
battlefortress for a short distance until it struck some obstacle on the
ground that had sent it spinning off uncontrolled. Then it had flipped
over and rolled, scattering the supplies stacked up in the back across the
ground until the vehicle finally came to a halt,” When dis is all over,”
Hazug said, “ya is all gonna ‘ave to go and pick dat lot up.”
“So where
now?” Sophie then asked.
“Well dis
thing ‘as got to be driven from somewhere and I reckon dat dis lot’s
boss’ll be dare to keep an eye on things.” Hazug said, “So let’s go say
‘ello to da driver.”
The ork
gunners along the right hand side of the battlefortress could not miss the
truck as it rolled across the ground.
“Over dare!”
one yelled, pointing out the crashed vehicle to another of the crew,
“Dat’s da trukk we was after. Go and let da boss know.”
Nodding the
other ork dashed inside the battlefortress and made his way right to the
control cabin where Borhuk was still focused on Two Heads’ battlewagon as
it continued to evade his gunners.
“Boss!” the
ork yelled, “Da git lover is dead.”
”Wot?” Borhuk asked, “’Ow dat
‘appen?”
“’E crashed
‘is trukk boss.” The ork answered and Borhuk smiled.
“’E must ‘ave
tried to get inside da force field to use a rokkit or bomm or somethin’
from close range. Den ‘e just crashed into us and got smashed.” He said,
“So now all we gotta do is take care of dis wagon in front of us and
dare’s nought left to stop us takin’ out Boss Kromag.”
The first two
orks that Hazug encountered were dragging a crate of ammunition towards
one of the weapon mountings. When they saw Hazug’s group they dropped the
crate in surprise and reached for the pistols they both
carried.
“Gits!” one
yelled as he drew his weapon, but before he could fire Mayleth slid around
Hazug and placed the muzzle of one of her pistols beneath his chin and
fired. The deadly crystalline projectile punched right through his skull
and sprayed blood and tissue across the ceiling.
“Come ‘ere!”
Hazug yelled out and he reached out and pulled the other ork towards him,
using the long grip of his warscythe to knock the gun from his hand, “Now
tell us where we can find ya boss.”
“Sod off git
lover!” the ork shouted and Hazug responded by lifting him off the floor
and slamming his head into the ceiling, producing a hollow ‘thud’ and a
large head shaped dent.
“Where’s ya
boss?” Hazug demanded angrily, shaking the dazed ork.
“Dat way.” The
ork replied, pointing back along the passageway behind him, “Up da
stairs.”
“Good.” Hazug
replied and then he thrust his inactive warscythe right through his
chest.
”Master look out!” Ratish snapped as he spotted another ork
appear from around a corner and at the same time the gretchin raised his
own pistol and fired twice, the shots echoing around the confines of the
passageway.
“Wot was dat?”
Borhuk asked when he heard the shots.
“Just da
shootas boss.” The driver replied.
“Dat was from
inside.” The nearby gretchin said, contradicting him.
“Da grot’s
right boss.” Mek Graggmok added, “Dat was slugga fire.”
Borhuk
frowned.
“Den go find
out who’s shootin’ off dare slugga in ‘ere grot. Tell ‘em dat if dey
breaks somethin’ I’ll skin ‘em alive.” Borhuk told the gretchin and the
creature dashed from the control cabin just as there was more gunfire from
elsewhere in the battlefortress.
“Dat don’t’
sound good.” Graggmok said as he peered out of the hatchway behind
him.
“Wot should I
do boss?” the driver asked.
“Just keep
goin’ until I says otherwise.” Borhuk replied.
There were
more sounds of gunfire and flashes of light from around the corner as the
gretchin rushed down the stairs only to see an ork suddenly fall dead
below him, his chest a mess of bullet holes and burns from energy
weapons.
”Da boss says ya it to cut it out!” the gretchin called out as
he leapt onto the body, not realising the significance of the wounds that
could only have been inflicted by alien weapons. As he looked around and
saw Hazug and his servants standing right in front of him the gretchin’s
jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
“Out me way
grot.” Hazug said sternly and he kicked the gretchin hard enough to send
him flying backwards into a wall. Then as he stepped over the body of the
ork at the base of the stairs he added to his servants, “Come on den, I’d
say dat dat means we is on dat right track.”
Creeping up
the stairs Hazug heard the sound of more orks at the top and the booming
of heavy weapons fire.
“Kannons
master.” Ratish whispered and Hazug nodded in agreement. Then he looked
down at his servants and spoke in what was by ork standards a low tone of
voice.
”Dis looks like where da big guns is controlled from.” He said,”
And I reckon dat da controls is just through dat ‘atch at da top of da
stairs. So while I goes in and ‘as a look I wants all of ya to stay out
‘ere and keep all dese other lads off me back. Goddit?” then without
waiting for a reply he rushed the remaining distance up the stairs and
burst through the hatchway, activating his warscythe as he appeared behind
Borhuk.
“Look out
boss!” Graggmok yelled and he hurled a hammer from his belt at Hazug,
delaying him attacking Borhuk as he was instead forced to deflect the fly
hammer with his warscythe.
Spinning
around, Borhuk roared in defiance as he drew his pistol and fired without
aiming. Hazug ducked, putting the blade of his warscythe between himself
and Borhuk and the bullet ricocheted off the energy field surrounding it.
The bullet then struck a nearby support beam and bounced yet again; this
time its path took it forwards to where it hit the driver in the back of
his head. His sudden death unnoticed by any of the other orks present, the
driver slumped forwards over the controls and the battlefortress began to
turn.
6.
“Boss look at
dat!” the ork operating the main turret of Two Heads’ battlewagon called
out as he took aim for another shot.
“Look at wot
Norgut?” Two Heads asked in reply.
“Dey’s turnin’
boss. Dey’s turnin’ away.”
“Gorrid!” Two
Heads shouted, “Dey may be tryin’ to get around us.” And then the other
head added, “Make sure dat dey don’t.”
”I try boss.” Gorrid replied
from the driver’s seat, “But look at where dey is ‘eadin’.” And as Two
Heads looked through a viewport he saw the wide expanse of water that lay
in the battlefortress’ new path.
“No
mon-keigh!” Mayleth snapped as Sophie took aim and was about to fire her
las gun at one of the ork gun crew that had seen them and was reaching for
his pistol. Simultaneously Mayleth kicked Sophie’s las gun to one side and
fired her own splinter pistols into the chest of the ork. Behind her
Ratish also opened fire, his bullets going wide and bouncing off the far
wall.
“What did you
do that for?” Sophie demanded, glaring at Mayleth.
“Your
mon-keigh weapon will ignite the ammunition that fills this place.”
Mayleth replied, “Here use this instead.” And she passed one of her
pistols to Sophie.
“What about
me?” Salia asked.
“Cover the
stairs.” Mayleth instructed her, “The beasts may try to come at us from
below as well.”
Hazug ducked
as Borhuk swung his fist at him and struck back by swinging the grip of
his warscythe upwards and striking Borhuk under his chin. As he staggered
back Graggmok lunged forwards with a dagger in his hand and Hazug roared
in pain as the blade was thrust into his side just above his waist as he
stood up to face the attack. He turned rapidly with his warscythe held
horizontally in front of him and Graggmok’s eyes widened briefly as ht
felt its blade bite into his neck before his head rolled onto the floor
while his body just crumpled.
Borhuk snarled
as he saw Graggmok’s heedless corpse hit the floor.
“I’ll ‘ave ya
for dat!” he snapped at Hazug, “I paid ‘im in advance!” and then he
charged at Hazug with both hands outstretched and empty. Hazug reacted by
turning to face the oncoming Borhuk with his warscythe held out in front
of him, planning to slash it across his chest. But Borhuk had anticipated
this and rather than try and strike Hazug he grabbed for the warscythe
instead.
“Let’s see ‘ow
well ya fights when I got ya choppa!” Borhuk yelled into Hazug’s face as
the pair wrestled for possession of the alien weapon.
“Ya aint got
it yet and I don’t needs me choppa to deal with da likes of ya.” Hazug
replied and he butted Borhuk in the face. The other ork’s head jerked back
under the force of the impact, but he retained his grip on the warscythe
and the pair continued to wrestle.
The sound of
heavy footfalls from below alerted Salia to the approach of ork
reinforcements even over the noise of the ork and eldar weapons being
fired right behind her and she opened fire with her las gun on automatic
as soon as the first of them appeared at the base of the stairs. The ork
convulsed under the multiple energy blasts before collapsing on top of the
body already lay there.
”I got him!” she exclaimed, fumbling for a new
power pack.
Hazug and
Borhuk snarled at one another as they struggled for control of the
warscythe. Hazug could tell that they were closely matched in terms of
strength and he needed some way of gaining an advantage over his opponent.
Then there was a screeching sound as the tip of the warscythe scraped
across a nearby bulkhead and Hazug grinned.
Swiftly he
pushed the blade into the metal of the bulkhead, the energy field
surrounding it making the procedure a simple matter. Then with a flick of
his thumb he shut off the weapon’s power and let go of it.
Borhuk’s
expression changed to a wide grin and believing he now had possession of
the warscythe he attempted to pull it free only to find it stuck fast and
he turned to look at Hazug just in time to see the Blood Axe’s fist coming
straight for him.
Borhuk
staggered back with the taste of blood in his mouth as Hazug’s fist struck
him hard. He snarled as he spat a tooth out onto the floor and then glared
back at Hazug.
”I’ll use dat to buy a beer when I drinks to me victory
ya git lover.” He hissed and then before Hazug could respond the entire
battlefortress shook and there was a crashing sound from
outside.
“It’s in da
water boss!” Norgut shouted from the turret.
“I sees dat.”
One of Two Heads replied from front of the battlewagon and then the other
looked down at Gorrid and added, “Step on it lad.”
“What
happened?” Sophie exclaimed as the room pitched violently, “Has Two Heads
shot the fortress?”
“I doubt it
mon-keigh, but I believe that the shield surrounding us is
malfunctioning.” Mayleth answered. Amongst the four of them she was the
only to have remained standing, the sudden movement of the battlefortress
not enough to unbalance her and she took advantage of the confusion
created by this to shoot two more of the ork gun crew before they could
recover.
“Why do you
say that?” Salia asked.
“Da cracklin’
ya stupid git.” Ratish answered before Mayleth could, “Can’t ya ‘ear it
with dem stupid tiny ears?”
“So what’s
causing that?” Sophie asked as she and Salia both became aware of the
crackling sound in the air that seemed to be coming from all around
them.
“Dare’s
water.” Ratish replied, “I can ‘ear it.”
“The small
beast is right.” Mayleth added while she took cover to reload her pistol,
“I believe that this vehicle is flooding.”
“But how?”
Salia asked.
“My guess
would be that this vehicle has entered a body of water.” Mayleth
answered.
“But it must
weigh more than a hundred tonnes and it can’t be watertight.” Sophie said,
“It’ll never float.”
“Precisely
mon-keigh. We must leave or we will drown.” And then the battlefortress
lurched again, even more violently than the first time and coming to a
rest at an angle, the deck plates sloping steeply.
“We can’t
leave without Hazug.” Sophie said and she scrabbled towards the control
cabin, grabbing hold of anything that she could use as a handhold to help
her get there. Inside she found both Hazug and Borhuk picking themselves
up off the floor, “Hazug lookout!” she yelled when she saw Borhuk reaching
for a nearby pistol. Still holding onto the doorframe with one hand she
raised the splinter pistol in the other and pulled the trigger. But the
sound of the discharge was muffled, producing only the sound of the energy
pulse that propelled the crystalline projectiles without the much sharper
‘crack’ as the round broke the sound barrier.
Borhuk
smiled.
“Looks like ya
little pet can’t count ‘ow many bullet’s she’s fired.” He said to Hazug in
a mocking tone. Then he fired.
The bullet
from his pistol flew past Hazug and bounced off the bulkhead behind him.
Hazug reached for his own pistol, only to find that it had dropped from
his belt at some point during the struggle or when the battlefortress had
shifted. Rather than search for the pistol he opted to simply launch
himself at Borhuk, reaching out and grabbing hold of the hand holding he
pistol with both of his and pointing the weapon straight up just as Borhuk
fired again.
”Ya missed.” Hazug hissed, “I’m right ‘ere and ya still
missed.” And then he head butted Borhuk again, knocking loose another
tooth, “Looks like I’ll be buyin’ da beer with ya teeth.” He said with a
snarl. Then with a supreme effort he twisted Borhuk’s arm and there was a
snapping sound as he broke his opponent’s wrist. As Borhuk cried out in
pain the pistol dropped from his grasp and Hazug scooped it up. Pressing
it to Borhuk’s forehead he paused to say, “I only counted two.” And then
he fired, spraying blood, bone and brain across the bulkhead behind
him.
“Hazug this
place is sinking.” Sophie gasped from the hatchway, ”We need to get back
to the hole in the-“
”No time.” Hazug interrupted as the battlefortress
shifted again and water began to spill in through the viewport, “Get da
others.”
While Sophie
disappeared from view Hazug first retrieved his pistol and then returned
to where his warscythe was still embedded in the wall. He reactivated the
blade and effortlessly pulled it free just as his servants all climbed
into the control cabin. Mayleth pressed herself up against the bulkhead
beside the hatchway and then lent back around, firing into the compartment
behind them.
“There are
many of this vehicle’s crew remaining my master.” She said as she fired,
“And it would seem some are intent on getting in here.”
“Den we needs
to be leavin’.” Hazug replied and looking up at the bulkhead currently
forming the ceiling over their heads he swung his warscythe repeatedly,
slicing a hole large enough for them all to climb through in it and jumped
clear as the lump of metal cut free dropped suddenly.
“’Ere, take me
‘and and climb up.” He said, reaching out towards Sophie. She took the
offered hand and Hazug lifted her up to the hole where she clambered
through onto the exterior of the battlefortress. From here she could see
the extent to which the massive vehicle had sunk into the water of the
lake.
Salia was next
out through the hole, followed soon after by Ratish.
“Master,
dare’s water everywhere out ‘ere.” The gretchin said as he looked around
nervously.
“And dare’s
getting’ to be more in ‘ere an’ all.” Hazug commented as he dragged
himself through the hole, “Alright Mayleth, up ya come.” He then called
out and the dark eldar woman promptly leapt out of the
battlefortress.
“We do not
have much time my master.” She said as she looked around.
“What do you
mean?” Salia asked.
“When this
vehicle sinks it will suck the surrounding water over it.” Mayleth
replied, “And us with it if we do not get far enough away.” And then
without waiting for further instructions she ran to the edge of the
battlefortress and dived into the water.
”Ya ‘eard ‘er.” Hazug said,
slinging his warscythe over his back, “Swim for it.” And he too plunged
into the water.
Salia and
Sophie looked at one another nervously.
”Well here goes.” Sophie said
and she dived in after Hazug, followed by her sister.
“Wait for
Ratish master!” Ratish then yelled before he too jumped into the water and
began to swim for shore.
Two Heads’
battlewagon came to a halt near the lakeshore and its hatched dropped open
to allow the unit of orks it carried to disembark. Two Heads himself
rushed to the water’s edge and looked out to where the battlefortress was
now disappearing from view.
”Boss look.” One of his troops said,
pointing into the water where Hazug and his servants where swimming
towards them.
“Hazug over
‘ere!” one of Two Heads yelled and he raised his rifle above his
head.
Emerging from
the water Hazug approached Two Heads with Mayleth by his side. On the
other hand Ratish, Salia and Sophie all just collapsed, exhausted and
gasping for breath after their swim. Elsewhere in the water other orks and
gretchin from the battlefortress could also be seen making their way
towards the shore.
“Dat lot was
workin’ for da nob in charge of dat battlefortress.” Hazug told Two Heads
and both heads surveyed the water.
“Ya ‘eard ‘im
lads!” one called out and then the other added, “Let rip!”
His troops
needed no further encouragement and there was the rattle of rifle fire as
they sprayed bullets into the water, shooting at the swimming greenskins
while they were not in a position to be able to return fire.
Meanwhile
Sophie got to her feet and walked slowly towards Hazug, where she looked
at Two Heads.
”So what will you do about your sword now?” she
asked.
“Ya mean da
necron choppa?” one of Two Heads replied and then the other asked, “Wot
about it?”
“She’s got a
point dare.” Hazug said as he looked out across the lake, “From wot I saw
all da loot taken from da necrons ‘ad been used to make dat thing.” And
both of Two Heads frowned.
“Looks like
I’m gonna ‘ave to wait until Batrug can gather da parts den.” Two Heads
answered glumly. Then he smiled and from his belt he plucked the axe he
had carried for as long as Hazug had known him, “I still got dis at
least.” One of him said and taking a step into the water he brought it
down on an ork that had managed to escape the sunken battlefortress and
evade the rifle fire to make it to shore. The axe blow shattered the ork’s
skull and the water began to turn red with blood around him, “See.” The
other head said, “Dis still works fine.” |