The Gamblers
04/01/2020
For more than a Hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. His is the Master of Mankind by the Will of the Gods and Master of a Million Worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is the rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium, for whom a thousand souls die every day, for whom blood is drunk and flesh is eaten.
Human blood and Human flesh-The stuff of which the Imperium is made.
To be alive in such times is to be one amongst untold trillions and trillions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable; this is a tale of those times.
Sergeant Shaw Kilgor awoke in what was to him the most ridiculous outfit in the Emperor's Blessed Galaxy. As he slowly got off his back he could see he was in standard issue Imperial Guard boots, some dark green fatigue pants and a muscle t-shirt of a similar color. Topping it off he had a red bandanna tied around his head at the forehead. The outfit that the Administratum liked for him and the rest of the Catachan regiments to wear in the picts they took to inspire the rest of the Imperium. The outfit no real Catachan would only ever be found dead in back home.
For a moment he fondly recalled his home world where every plant had either thorns, spikes, poison, acid, whipping vines, explosive fruits, shooting darts or combinations of these and many more ways to kill someone. All their real clothing was lightweight, extremely tough and durable and covered all your exposed skin. Otherwise you did not survive ten minutes outside cleared terrain.
Moving into a low crouch he tried to get his brain to remember the last thing he had done. That was when he saw the Catachan Fang lying on the ground close to him. He took note that this looked to be a real one made of flat black hardened steel and razor sharp. As he reached for it he saw the black metal bracelet on his wrist. Usually he wore a bracelet of leather with dice strung through. It was to represent his unit nicknamed The Gamblers because of their style of fighting. This new bracelet was soft and flexible like the leather but definitely metal with a green shimmer to it.
The snapping of a small branch brought a memory. He had been on a training exercise hunting Orks with the Armageddon Ork Hunters. There had been ten of them and ten Catachan Jungle Fighters. They had been one day out and had not found any trace of their quarry when they had found an obelisk that he now recognized as being made of the same black metal as the bracelet on his wrist. Try as hard as he could, he could not remember anything else past that discovery.
Heavy clumping sounds ended his train of thought and he automatically grabbed the Catachan Fang and sought better cover as his reflexes kicked in. Right now there was something out there moving closer to him. His highly honed instincts told him this was not a friendly. He would be ready to take action but needed a little good old military intelligence first.
He took note the jungle around him was not the Armageddon Equatorial Jungle. It was too dry and not as thick. The light was the same dim daylight as on many jungles he had fought in on many worlds. He noticed that there were tall and thick Fengeeri Palm Trees and short fuzzy Correedi Ferns. But that could not be right. Those plants were found on different planets thousands of light years apart.
Once again his train of thought was interrupted as a gruff voice called out in a language he didn't recognize and said, "Dewch ymlaen i wynebu fy gwlithod!"
While he didn't recognize the language he did recognize the voice or at least the race of the voice: ORK! All other thoughts left him as he prepared to do his duty for the Emperor and purge this xenos. Blending in closer to the strange foliage he prepared to strike as soon as the Ork got close enough.
Sergeant Kilgor did not have to wait long as the Ork continued to call out until it wandered close to his position. He took a moment to size up his opponent. This Ork was bigger than most of his ilk but had all the classic features, green skin, lots of teeth, a great big axe. There was one thing that was out of place with this Ork and it was that he was dressed like a Mordian Iron Guardsmen. He had a sharp cap, full dress uniform pants, shirt and jacket complete with sash and medals covering his entire left breast, even his boots still had a mirror shine on them. He had seen Orks in all different kinds of outfits mostly ones that had nothing to do with the environment they were had found them in but this one he could not believe.
None of this stopped his reflexes, honed from surviving Catachan, from responding at the perfect moment to break cover and deliver an expertly placed slash across the back of the Orks neck. He immediately followed this up with with a kick to the back of the xenos' knees and then fell back into a combat stance.
Sergeant Kilgor knew Orks were tough and this one was no different. It was bleeding from his slash but didn't look to have been hurt at all as it rose back up and turned toward him at a speed that most people did not associate with such a large creature. Instead of attacking him the Ork looked him over and said, "A humie? So you're doing their bidding now. Fine once I chop you up for a snack I will find them and chop them up."
Not really caring what the Ork was talking about Sergeant Kilgor moved in to take another slash at the Ork. The Ork stood its ground and used his axe to block the slash and then tried to butt the Catachan in the head with the axe. Sergeant Kilgor used his swing's momentum to carry him under the blow and tried another kick on the Ork.
Taking the kick on his thick arm, the Ork leaned in and tried to bite him. As stinking breath and a bucket load of spittle came much closer to his face then he ever wanted it too, Sergeant Kilgor didn't try another attack but kept moving so he came up on the Ork's side. Spinning in place, he swung low and felt has the blade made another cut in the Ork's body.
This time he wasn't as quick as getting away as he felt the burn of the axe's razor sharp edge raise a blood welt across his chest. Knowing he had to end this quickly, because he could not trade blows with an Ork for long, he started to circle around to his left while keeping out of the Ork's longer reach. His mind raced trying to think of a distraction to give him an opening when the Ork used a distraction on him.
The Ork said, "Hey humie do you have any idea where you are or why you are even here?"
Sergeant Kilgor thought if could keep him talking then an opening would present itself. He said, "All I need to know is that the Emperor has put a xenos that needs to be killed in front of me and an Imperial Guardsman always does his duty."
Still circling the Ork let out a bark of laughter and said, "Your Big Boss is a tool. He just sits and never takes place in a proper scrape. Gork and Mork know how to get in a proper scrape."
Sergeant Kilgor started to lose his temper and then he reminded himself that the Ork was trying to goad him into presenting an opening. This Ork was much smarter than he was giving him credit for. Well than he would be dumber than the Ork thought he was.
Sergeant Kilgor kept moving and kept his eye on the Ork. He said, "At least the Emperor knows where to put the Tranhought Defense ribbon. You have it above the Kloen Campaign ribbon?"
The Ork said, "What are you talking about?" The half second that the Ork looked down at his chest was what Sergeant Kilgor needed. He sprang forward, as the Ork looked back up and raised his axe to block, he dropped to all four and then pushing himself off the ground and drove his Catachan Fang deep into the belly of the beast. This time the Ork felt the pain of that much Imperial steel inside his gut and let go of his axe.
Sergeant Kilgor released his weapon and scooped up the dropped axe. He then buried it in the Ork's head. Then he pulled it out and buried deep into the Ork's flesh five more times to make sure it didn't get back up again. He looked down at his handiwork and noticed a green shimmer under the Ork's cuff. Lifting the cuff back he saw the Ork was wearing a black metal bracelet identical to his.
He remembered what the Ork had been saying about why was he really here for. Sergeant Kilgor began to search his mind again for some clue as to how he got here and why he was here. Unfortunately before he could remember anything else both he and the Ork vanished as the green shimmer of their bracelets started to glow brighter and brighter until the glow overtook their bodies.
As the pair vanished and the jungle went dark, three of the four sets of eyes who had been watching the hologram display turned to look at the fourth set of eyes. Overlord Her-het-su raised his head and looked at each of them in turn and then said, "Congratulations Lord Utnas your Human carried the day."
Lord Utnas bowed slightly and then said, "Thanks to you my Lord for allowing me to partake in this event and gain the victory."
Overlord Her-het-su looked over at the other Necron Noble and said, "Lord Anmautf I am curious as to why you dressed the Ork as one of the Humans other dynasties?"
Lord Anmautf gave a deeper bow and said, "My Lord this Ork had won his last seven matches. He was also beginning to suspect the matches were not part of the regular warfare that his race engages in. I believed changing his regular clothing would confuse him into not delving any further along his suspicions."
Overlord Her-het-su nodded sagely at this and said, "It did not look to have worked. The Human was able to make good use of it in distracting the Ork. In the end this match was more entertaining then many I have witnessed lately because of it. You two are allowed to think of some other ways to make these matches more interesting."
Both of the Necron Lords bowed deeply and then came up together and said in unison, "As you wish my Lord."
Knowing they had been dismissed they turned and headed out of the viewing room. They both immediately started to think of ways they could outdo the other in fulfilling their Overlord's requests. By silent agreement both of them would keep the request from the other Necron Lords so they did not receive any favor for coming up with something before they did.
Overlord Her-het-su turned to the remaining Necron in the viewing room and said, "Cryptek Feneku besides failing to awaken my legions, your mind wiping of our contestants is slipping. That Ork was not behaving as he should have down there. It almost ruined the match."
The Cryptek was ready for this rebuke and had already made his answer. He said, "Overlord Her-het-su the Ork mind is difficult to control since it like the rest of the Ork is always growing. Still we can learn much from this failure and will have better control of the other contestants. The Human has been in five matches and is still unaware of where he is and how he got here. It is only a matter of time till we have the total control of the Orks as well. After all that is why you decried we do this, so that we can learn about our enemies."
Not placated Overlord Her-het-su said, "We do this to pass the time until you and your fellow Crypteks figure out why 95% of my legions remain in stasis. Do you perhaps have any good news in that venture to report?"
Cryptek Fenuku bowed his upper body and did raise up as he said, "We are making progress Overlord. We were able to release an entire battalion of Immortals this week. None of these ones are infected with the flayer virus. With a little more testing we should have be able to apply the same procedures to the rest of the legions."
Waving his hand back and forth, Overlord Her-het-su said, "Yes Yes more waiting. The other dynasties are up and about reconquering the galaxy while we are stuck here."
Rubbing his chin Overlord Her-het-su thought for a moment and then said, "I am going to lead a raid to bring in more of those fallen Eldar, they are always so entertaining. I will be gone for a year. When I return I expect to be greeted by enough of my legions to lead into a proper battle."
Cryptek Fenuku said, "Yes Overlord it will be done."
Overlord Her-het-su said, "See that it is done or you may find yourself in one of my matches. Now go and tell my Lords I want to see some grand matches before I leave. They have one day to prepare them."
Cryptek Fenuku said, "Yes Overlord it will be done." He then stood up and left the chamber. All the time he was thinking, "The legions will be ready and their will be some other surprises for you when you return."