Title: Angelus Erroneous
Author: Spike
Chapter: Eleven
The scream of numerous rocket engines propelling several tons of steel through the air plunged through the air above me. In its wake came several grams of dirt and gravel, propelled up by such a disturbance. The muck billowed around me in a huge cloud.
I kept my head down, trying to keep my lungs free from any potential clogging. My ears however could still sense the roar of the shuttle – the more I listened to it, the more I became aware of slowly adaptation of change in its jet engines. There was a reduction in intensity and any sense of movement had ceased: The roar was still present but now remained constant.
Slowly, the roar began falling – this suggesting that the ship may be landing.
By the now the dust cloud had settled. I looked up, my brow furrowing in suspicion.
I got up onto my knees and then onto my feet. I blinked some dust particles from my eye and looked around.
My gaze immediately fell on the latest arrival. There, in the clearing below, the ship was settling down, with a dying of engines and a sequel of hydraulic landing gears activating.
In the terms of appearance, the ship was indeed an Imperial shuttle: It was the standard ship, designed for personnel transportation. I had seen this type of craft before and whilst it was fats it certainly wasn't capable of taking large amount of firepower from any enemy forces.
This was my main concern at the moment. Considering that this craft has made such a scene in arriving to the clearing, it was obvious that it the Orks will soon arrive to investigate. Any one of those damn green-skins surely would've seen, or at least heard, the craft come down so no doubt some are already on their way over.
Furthermore, I'm far from overjoyed to see this craft. Anyone else in my position would've been delighted at a prospect of rescue from a miserable fate of being marooned on a planet of hostile forces but not me. Considering that I'm a fugitive, I won't get far without attracting the attention of the Imperial authorities. Thus the task of continually outpacing them is simply impossible. And if the Imperium doesn't catch me then the many alien races throughout the galaxy will.
As such, the fact that this craft is of Imperial origin is hardly a welcome one.
And was me thinking that this planet was the safest place in the entire galaxy for me.
I guess the Imperium eventually finds you no matter where you hide in the universe….
I quickly reached for my bolt pistols. If they are going to come to take me to grim fate of the Penal Legion then there's no way in hell I'm going without a fight……
My eye fell on Xerxes – he too was getting up off the ground, and dusting himself off.
He however looked somewhat optimistic: his face currently hold house to a cheerful grin and excited eyes.
"I simply can not believe it!" he exclaimed "A ship just flew by!"
"Did it ever" I called, gesturing down into the clearing.
Puzzled, the Rogue Trader came hurrying over. When he saw the ship however, he let out a whoop of excitement.
"I don't believe it!" he beamed "A ship has come! And it's an Imperial one! We're saved old man! We're saved!"
Hearing these words was enough for my mouth to morph into a ferocious scowl. This morn is so naïve….
But then again he's a Rogue Trader – all of whom possess a degree of credibility within the Imperium itself (even if Xerxes' distinction is hardly a genuine one). It's not like he should be worried about staying one step ahead of the law.
(But then again it's certainly a criminal offence, that's well and truly punishable, to lie to Imperial authorities).
"What are the odds of something like this happening?" the Rogue Trader beamed, being barely able to contain his excitement.
"Too good to be true if you ask me!" I snarled in reply.
Xerxes blinked in astonishment.
"What are you talking about?" his asked. Now, his voice, although still radiating with excitement, had become tainted with disbelief "You should be excited that a ship has come to rescue us!"
"Correction! You should be!" I retorted.
"Sorry?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" I snapped "I'm on the run from the Imperial authorities! And seeing an Imperial ship like this one, arrive on this miserable rock is not the best turn of events ever!"
"You're full of it!" Xerxes shot back "This is our one chance to escape this planet! And I'm certainly not going to let a opportunity like this pass me by!"
And with that, he sprinted down the slope, towards the ship.
I mentally cursed. Obviously Xerxes' sense of adventure had gotten the better of him – as such he won't heed to anything else except the callings of his own heart.
Why oh why, out of all the other scum-suckers in the known universe, must I still be teamed up with the most infuriating of company?!?!
Still I have no idea what a liar and a coward is doing with such a strong possession of a sense of adventure but such is fate.
A nasty thought then struck me: What if he intended to sell me out? If he's running off way ahead of me then he must intend to explain himself as a prisoner and myself has his captor! I would then get arrested for real and eventually wind up in the Penal Legion while Xerxes gets off scot-free!
It was a possible theory but I wasn't one to take any chances. Immediately, I sprinted off after him.
There's no way in hell I'm going to let him pull one over me!
As I ran, I drew my twin bolt pistols. Hey, I'm not taking any chances!
Besides, if he really does intend to sell me out then I have no qualms about blowing his brains out across the surface of this planet.
I finally caught up with him mere metres from the shuttle itself. It loomed above us both, a magnificent machine consisting of two wings, a tall tail fin and a large cockpit fashioned into a triangular shoe that sloped towards us both. Above the wings, implanted proudly on the ship's hull was the ubiquitous Imperial double-headed eagle. The shuttle was able to rest upon the planet's surface via a series of large, steel hydraulic legs.
So far there seemed to be no signs of life in or around the shuttle.
Human or Ork.
So far so good – but if we were going to do something it would have to be done quick because no doubt the Orks are already on their way.
I cast a suspicious eye on Xerxes – so far he seemed wary and drew the lasgun from behind his back.
"Seen anything?" I asked.
"Not yet" he mused "I can't see any sign of the pilots…
"….No can I see any possible way of getting in…."
What's the matter? I thought Were you really expecting the people inside to run out and greet you with open arms?!
"So what do you intend to do now?" I murmured "Fly the damn thing out of here?"
Xerxes looked at me with a face of blind eagerness.
"Absolutely!" he grinned "Who the hell wants to stay here on an Orc world?"
"Someone on the run from the law" I retorted.
He blinked as I continued:
"Suppose you do succeed in….somehow getting this thing off the ground. And then what?"
"I'm a Rogue Trader!" he snapped in reply "It is within my nature to leave this planet and return to the stars! No other Rogue Trader what be slowed down by such setbacks such as this! They would rather do whatever it takes to overcome such difficulties and return to business! They will then return to their business, even if it does mean starting from scratch and return to business!"
My brow furrowed. Does this bozo really believe he has a chance in the trading game just by holding a position on a Rogue Trader vessel? You gotta be kidding me.
"Don't you understand old man?" Xerxes exclaimed with passionate fervour "The universe is calling me!"
"Then tell him to go shut his cakehole"
The Rogue Trader promptly fell silent. He started at me with an expression of utter bewilderment.
Sensing a breach in his waffling, I quickly moved in for the kill:
"Don't you get it?" I snapped. "You may not think that this Ork World isn't the best place in the universe but you're only deluding yourself!"
"What?!"
"In case you forgot, there isn't anywhere that neither of us can go!
"And here was me thinking you'd enjoy being stuck on this miserable rock"
"Hey when opportunity comes knocking you certainly don't want to be left behind!"
"Do you really think you'll be able to get far in this thing?!" I spluttered "Even if you did get off the ground, you'll still be on your own!"
He opened his mouth but I quickly dealt an immediate follow up:
"And don't think for one second that you're going to drag me into your ridiculous scheme!"
"But…."
"There's not much hope up there as there isn't down here. At least here, I can die a death that's nowhere near the executioner's block."
"Suit yourself" Xerxes retorted.
"Hey, if you want to go and leave this planet, I won't stop you" I snapped "Just keep in mind that there's not much waiting for you beyond there"
"What do you mean?"
"Well once off this planet you will have to contend with Chaos Space marines, Eldar pirates, Ork Freebooters, Tau Raiders, the Necron and the occasional Tyrnaid invasion fleet" I explained, counting each possible threat off my fingers "And when you're done that there's a strong chance you may run into the Imperial Navy. And they won't take too kindly to you stealing a shuttle and using it for your own ends.
"I do believe that is one of the many crimes in the Imperium that's punishable by death…"
"So what?" Xerxes snapped back "I can easily trade this off to any sucker! I can get a good price for this on the Black Market!"
"Yeah, you would know all about that since you distinguished yourself as a Rogue Trader captain" I growled, making sure each words was dripping with enough venom "And that still won't work because the Imperium will track you down eventually and capture you
"You shouldn't underestimate what the Imperium of man can do"
The Rogue Trader fixed me with a long hard look. Before he could reply, I continued:
"Didn't you say so yourself?
"This world is the beginning of an entirely new start" I said, my voice adopting a tone that parodied his own.
Xerxes' facial expression weakened with lines. Lines that could only come from the realisation of defeat.
"Well, we should at least do is try to make contact with the occupants of this shuttle" he replied, his voice thoughtful.
"Who says they would like to meet us?" I challenged.
"The fact that we're the only humans on this planet!" Xerxes countered "It's not like they're going to get far anywhere else here!"
"What if they're pirates?" I sneered.
"Pirates in an Imperial shuttle?" The Rogue Trader exclaimed, his voice exasperated. "That's utterly..."
He didn't get to finish his sentence for, at that moment, the found of a lasgun being fired rang out from up above. Instinctively, the both of us reacted in quick time and immediately dived out of the way. Seconds later, a bolt of lasgun firepower come down and thudded the earth were we both stood.
Running on muscles built up from countless combat situations, I sprinted out into the open. I will admit that it wasn't the best of plans but there's no way in hell that I'm going without a fight!
I immediately dived for the ground, face first. Upon impact, I immediately rolled around onto my back and drew my two bolt pistols in one swift motion.
I then raised both barrels up to ship, ready to send this wannabe sniper on a one way trip to the Warp.
The shuttle loomed above me. It was enormous sight but it betrayed no signs of movement whatsoever.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could se Xerxes lurking near one of the ship's hydraulic landing legs. Naturally, he must've found that position through his cowardice – but at he least had the intelligence to locate some decent cover.
Still at least I can see an upside in my current position: I am currently in a setup that presents the likely possibility of going down in a blaze of glory
And I would rather go out like that instead of cringing in a corner.
But I had better things to think about at the moment rather than ponder on my desired demise. I kept both my eyes on the shuttle, my trigger fingers ready as ever.
Come on I thought Where are you? Come out of hiding, dammit!
Suddenly, on the top of the shuttle's hull, I caught sight of movement. Immediately I fired both bolt pistols.
Within moments, a giant cloud of smoke rose above the ships; hull accompanied by the whizzing sound of ammo only cease with the distinctive high pitched whine of ricochet.
Eventually I halted. I couldn't see anything upon the surface of the hull for the huge cloud of smoke billowing skyward.
From his hiding place Xerxes then shouted out to me.
"Did you get anything?"
"Can't tell" I replied.
"Now you hold it right there!"
Suddenly a new voice burst out across the clearing.
I froze. It had been awhile since I heard the voice of another human being.
Well at least the voice of a human that wasn't Xerxes.
Just then I noticed, in amongst the smoke on the ship's hull, the emergence of a shape. A shape that looked remarkably like that of a human being.
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