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Waaargh! Hazug! Chapta 4 | |
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Waaargh! Hazug! Chapta 4 |
Two
Heads had left a hatch open and the orks ran directly towards it, pulling
themselves up into the battlewagon. Two Heads was the last of them to
climb through the hatch and when he was inside he turned around and fired
his rifle out through the door, emptying the magazine in the direction of
the warband chasing after them. When the weapon was empty he stepped back
and Hazug pulled the hatch closed. “Get
us outta ‘ere.” He said and both of Two Heads nodded before darting to the
driver’s seat and taking his place. The
battlewagon’s engine roared as Two Heads revved it and then the vehicle
lurched backwards when he put it into reverse gear. Unfortunately the rear
visibility from the drivers seat was almost none existent and Two Heads
promptly backed it into a large tree, causing the battlewagon to lurch
again as it came to a sudden unexpected halt. This was followed by a
grinding sound as Two Heads tried to move the battlewagon forwards again,
but the sound indicated that there was damage that was preventing it from
moving. “Wotcha
playin’ at?” Drazzok bellowed as he picked himself and his staff up from
the floor. “We
aint got time for dis.” Hazug said, “We needs to get on da
guns.” “D’ya
know ‘ow to use ‘em?” Two Heads asked Drazzok and now the weirdboy scowled
back at him. “Of
cause I bleedin’ well do. I was shootin’ big shootas before ya even
crawled outta wotever messed up pod ya grew ya two-headed self in.” he
responded. “Go
‘elp Two Heads.” Hazug told him, “’E’ll need someone to pass ‘im
shells.” Drazzok
and Hazug both climbed up and took hold of the handles for the two twin
mounted guns, turning them towards the warband still charging in their
direction through the forest. Meanwhile behind them Two Heads had taken up
a position in the main turret that featured a single high calibre
cannon. “Pass
us a shell runt.” He said, holding out a hand towards
Ratish. “Ratish
get shell.” Ratish replied and he dashed to the rack of ammunition for the
cannon and grabbed hold on a round at random. Then he carried it back to
Two Heads and passed it up to him. “Bah!”
the head that was looking down at Ratish while the other lined up the
cannon’s sight on their enemy, “Dat aint wot I needs. I need an explosive
round not armour smashin’.” “Ratish
get it.” Ratish replied and he went to fetch the correct type of
round. Hazug
fired a short burst from his guns, the powerful rounds tearing through the
undergrowth and striking an ork as he charged straight towards the
battlewagon. Then Drazzok opened fire as well, but unlike the disciplined
fire of Hazug the weirdboy was more indiscriminate and he sprayed bullets
over a wide area. All the time he fired he let out a wicked cackle. Hazug
was about to caution Drazzok to try and conserve some of his ammunition
when there was a sudden loud ‘boom!’ as Two Heads fired the battlewagon’s
main gun. Hazug
flinched as the shell exploded amongst the trees and there were cries of
pain from the greenskins now moving to surround the disabled battlewagon.
But Hazug thought he heard another sound at the same time, a screech that
was unlike anything he had ever heard any greenskin or squig
produce. “Shoot
da closest!” he snapped as he spotted a small group that had worked its
way around the side of the battlewagon and was moving closer. If they got
much further then Hazug knew that they would be below the level to which
his guns could be depressed. Then he swung his weapon mount around and
directed a sustained burst of fire into the group. Hazug
realised that the weirdboy was right. The attacking greenskins all moved
from cover to cover, doing their best to keep out of the line of fire
rather than simply charging headlong at the battlewagon and using their
numbers to overwhelm it. All
of a sudden a cloaked figure leapt up out of the undergrowth in front of
the battlewagon and scrabbled up onto its roof in front of Drazzok and
Hazug’s positions. From beneath the hood of its cloak Hazug caught a
glimpse of a misshapen head and large fang like teeth. Rather than turn
his guns to face this threat Hazug instead reached for his pistol and drew
it. Pointing the handgun in vaguely the right direction he fired
instinctively and the bullet struck the figure in the leg, causing it to
cry out and topple back to the ground where it lay still. Hazug was about
to lean over the side of the battlewagon and fire his pistol again to make
sure that the figure was dead when he heard the ‘clump’ of someone
starting to climb up the back of the battlewagon. “Down!”
he yelled before he slid back inside the battlewagon and pulled the hatch
closed above him. Turning saw Drazzok also lowering himself back into the
vehicle and he helped pull the weirdboy inside before pulled his hatch
close as well. “Wotcha
doin’?” Drazzok demanded, but before Hazug could answer there was the
sound of hammering at the hatches above them. Still
sat in the main turret Two Heads had been about to load another high
explosive shell into the cannon when he saw orks and hooded figures start
to climb on top of his battlewagon and he snarled. “Gimme
an armour smashin’ round.” He said, dropping the explosive round to the
floor. When Ratish then handed him a solid armour piercing round instead,
Two Heads loaded the cannon and swung the turret so that it pointed to one
of the lighter automatic weapon mounts, ”Kop dis!” one of him yelled while
the other just laughed as he pulled the firing lever and sent the
fist-sized solid round through the torso of the ork trying to break
through one of the hatches. The force of the impact alone was enough to
tear the ork apart and blood and fragments of flesh were splattered across
the other attackers on top of the battlewagon. Hazug
drew his pistol again and fired it through one of the slits provided for
just that purpose, but if he hit anyone they gave no
indication. “Dare’s
too many.” He exclaimed as he reloaded his weapon
hurriedly. “Well
wot about Drazzok?” one of Two Heads asked and then the other added,
“Yeah. Can’t ‘e just zap ‘em all.” “’Ow?”
Drazzok snapped back at him, “Dare aint enough of us for me to get enough
power to cook a squig from.” Hazug
frowned. “Dat’s
odd.” He said. “Well
dey aint givin’ off any power.” Drazzok replied, “Dat must be ‘ow I never
noticed ‘em creepin’ up on us in da first place.” “Dis
lot still sounds like orks.” Hazug commented as he heard roars and shouts
from outside, “Da ones on da island was quiet.” “Well
wotever’s goin’ on we needs a way of getting’ ‘em of me wagon.” Two Heads
said as he climbed down from the turret. As he stood on the floor an arm
suddenly reached in through a vision slit and tried to grab his shoulder.
Without even looking Two Heads took hold of it and twisted until there was
a tearing sound and a scream as he ripped it off at it’s owner’s shoulder,
“And quick.” He added as he dropped the arm to the
floor. Hazug
looked around the interior of the battlewagon, hoping to see something
they could use to drive off their attackers before they broke in. But
although there were several tools that could be wielded as weapons there
was nothing that could do the job required. The most powerful weapons
available either required them to open the hatches in the case of the belt
fed automatic weapons or were intended for use at longer ranges in the
case of the cannon. But all he could think of was how he wished that
either he or Two Heads had thought to bring along some
grenades. All
of a sudden Hazug’s head turned back towards the rack filled with shells
for the battlewagon’s turret mounted main gun and he
grinned. “We
use dem.” He said. Two
Heads both frowned. “Wotcha
on about?” one asked before the other added, “We’ll never be able to get
‘em all to stand still long enough to ‘it ‘em.” “We
don’t need to.” Hazug replied, “We aint gonna use da kannon. Just da
shells. Da explosive ones.” “I
gets it.” One of Two Heads said, nodding while the other frowned, “Gets
wot?” the second head asked. “We
just use da shells like big stikk bomms.” Drazzok said, “Pull da shell out
da case, light da fuse and stuff it outside with dem.” And he pointed to
one of the vision slits. “C’mon
Two Heads. Give us an ‘and getting’ da shell outta da case of dis one.”
Hazug said as he bent down to pick up the shell that Two Heads had dropped
to the floor. Hazug gripped the shell casing while Two Heads too hold of
the projectile itself, “Careful now.” Hazug said, “We don’t need da powda
spillin’ all over da floor.” And both of Two Heads nodded before he
twisted the shell in his hands. There was a sudden ‘Pop!’ as the shell
came free and Hazug lifted the case to prevent the highly flammable
propellant from pouring out. “’Ere,
put dis somewhere safe.” He told Ratish and the gretchin nodded as he took
it. “Yes
master, Ratish keepin’ it safe for ya.” Meanwhile
Two Heads carefully unscrewed the fuse assembly from the nose of the
shell. Normally this would be initiated by the sudden acceleration when
the shell was fired and would then trigger when it stopped moving again as
it struck something solid. “So
‘ow we gonna trigger it?” one of him asked, looking at Hazug while the
other focused on removing the fuse. Hazug
frowned. Improvising explosive devices wasn’t really his
speciality. “We
could do with Batrug.” He muttered in reference to the ork mechaniac he
frequently consulted for technical advice and
services. “Batrug?”
Drazzok muttered when he overheard this, “Wotcha want dat wazzok
for?” “To
tell us ‘ow to make dis shell blow up.” Two Heads
replied. “’Ow
difficult can dat be?” Drazzok asked, “Aint it designed to go
‘boom’?” “Yeah,
but we needs to change it from goin’ off when it ‘its somethin’ to goin’
off when we stuffs it outside.” Two Heads told him, “Dat aint gonna be
enough of an ‘it to make it go off.” “Wait!”
Hazug snapped, “Gimme dat fuse.” And he caught the fuse assembly as Two
Heads tossed it to him. The fuse contained the impact sensor, the
detonator and a small battery to provide the spark needed to trigger it.
In normal operation the fuse lay between the detonator and battery,
completing the circuit upon impact, but right now Hazug had no need of it
and so he ripped out the wires leading to the battery and detonator,
taking care to keep the ends apart, “Now I needs some more wire.” He said
and he looked around. “Up
‘ere.” Two Heads replied, pointing to the small electric light set into
the roof of the battlewagon, “Dare’s wires running to da battery.” The
other one added. “Dat’s
great.” Hazug said, “I needs two bits of it.” And Two Heads began to pull
the wire from the ceiling, causing the light to go out
instantly. Fortunately
there was still enough light for Hazug to work with as he twisted lengths
of wire to the wires that had previously connected the fuse to the
detonator and battery. As he did this more hands reached in and waved
about close to Drazzok. “Geddout
of it!” he yelled, beating them with his staff and biting off a finger
that he immediately spat out onto the floor. “Goddit!”
Hazug snapped and keeping the two exposed ends of the wire apart he handed
the fuse assembly back to Two Heads, “Stick it back on and den shove it
outside.” He said. Two
Heads did as he was told, replacing the fuse assembly in the shell and
then turning around to push the shell between the various arms trying to
grab hold of him and out through the nearest vision
slit. There
was a soft ‘thud’ as the shell hit the ground beside the
battlewagon. “Get
back.” Hazug said and then he touched the ends of the wires
together. Bypassing
the fuse entirely, the wires shorted the battery across the detonator and
there was a sudden explosion as the shell detonated. The explosive lacked
the power to do anything more to the battlewagon than shake it and its
occupants about but its effects on their attackers was devastating. The
blast itself sent orks flying away from its centre, while fragments of the
shell and wood from nearby trees tore through their flesh and the injured
cried out in pain. Inside
the battlewagon Hazug pulled on the wires to bring them back inside.
Though shortened where the explosion had cut though them they were still
long enough for a second shell. “Get
another shell!” he yelled, but there was no need. Outside the attacking
orks had had enough and out of an unusual sense of self-preservation they
began to withdraw into the forest. “Dey’s
goin’!” one of Two Heads yelled as he peered out of a vision slit and he
scooped up his rifle and fired at the fleeing orks. Then he lowered his
weapon and turned to face the other occupants of the battlewagon, “Well I
suppose we better go outside and check ‘ow bad da damage is.” He
said.
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