07/04/2021
For more than a Sixty Million Years Gork and Mork have watched and took joy in the antics and battles of their Boyz. The Orkz are Masters of the battlefield by the Will of their shared beliefs and Conquerors of Millions of Worlds by the might of their inexhaustible armies. They are the laughing and feasting Boyz dancing on the rotting carcasses of other races. Using Technology not even they understand, they are the Lords of War and Destruction, for whom millions of souls die every day, for whom blood is spilt and flesh is broken.
Everybody's blood and Everybody's flesh, the stuff of which a WAAAAGH is made.
To be alive in such times is to be one amongst untold trillions and trillions. It is to live in the greatest and most bloody times imaginable; this is a tale of one of those times.
Hagob da Smasher let loose with another volley from his slugga into the mass of Humies in front of him. Not waiting to see how many went down, he lowered his slugga and charged forward swinging his Big Choppa. In another minute, the area in front of him was clear of any living Humies.
Breathing heavily, Hagob looked all around him for more opponents to take down, but he did not see any more Humies left to fight. Standing up straight and tall he surveyed the tunnel area he and his Boyz had been fighting in. There were no Humies left anywhere who were still alive. Once again, the Humies had all fought until they were all killed. He appreciated that in an opponent, no running away.
He also noted more of his Boyz were down in the way that not even Codt would be able to put them back together. This was not too much of a problem, at least for now. There had been hundreds of fights and scraps against the Humies fought all over the tunnels and chambers of da Rok. As the battles raged more and more Orkz had come to him to show their support for the WAAAAGH.
Some whole warbands and distant clans had come from far off parts of da Rok, drawn by the call of the WAAAAGH. Unfortunately, most were newborns who needed weapons, supplies and direction. All of this fighting had been great fun and all, the Boyz were really enjoying themselves. Still Hagob da Smasher had to see the big picture. He knew this was not the true purpose of the WAAAAGH.
From the burning in his chest to half seen visions in his dreams, Hagob knew down to his very core that the purpose of his WAAAAGH was to lead the Orkz here to new places and on to bigger battles out in the void. For all the joy Gork and Mork were giving him he knew he needed to end these little scraps. For now, he had no idea on how to do that.
Sou, in his much-repaired Killa Kan, came up to Hagob and said, "Hey Boss da way ta da teleporta pad iz open. Wez can go an seez da Evil Sunz Boyz now."
Hagob just waved Sou and the rest of his Boyz on their way. His thoughts turned toward where they were headed. The Evil Sunz Clan and Kappen Konna and his Kommandoz had been proving to be extremely helpful in finding where the Humies were in the Orkz tunnels and chambers. They had not found where the Humies were coming from. Many a scouting mission had sought the home base of the Humies out, but none had succeeded so far. Maybe this time they would have news for him about it at this meeting. Hagob did not think they would though.
At least the Humies had not tried any more tricks or cheats. Instead, they just kept attacking and attacking throwing wave after wave of screaming maniacs and bloodthirsty killers. Hagob approved of that way of warfare. Sometimes they used silly psychic powers and they were always sending in the tasty flies that made some of da Boyz ill. Those Humies did not taste particularly good, but the effects of their illnesses did not last very long once they were stomped da Humies down. He had not seen any of the robot Humies since the life support chamber battle and wondered what they were up too.
Hagob hefted his weapons and started to walk to the teleporta pad. His bulk had grown more since all this fighting had begun. Iz had found the time to make him a new Big Choppa and new slugga to keep up with his growth. The skull never needed adjusting and always fit perfectly.
This train of thought led him to weapons and tactics and teef and how he could take this fight to where the Humies were once again. Iz had kept up with the demand so far. Dankle and his Loota Boyz, with only the slight few deaths had been convinced to turn over much of what they had acquire to help with the WAAAAGH effort. They just needed to find the Humies and take them down.
Of course, the metal man at the teleporta pad must know where they came from. He would not tell the Orkz the location of the Humies. He only said had said if they figured out where they wanted to go he would take them there.
As he rounded the corner to the teleporta pads, Dente with his teef collecting squad ran up to Hagob. Each of them was wearing their special backpack to hold all the teef they collected on these little excursions. From the jingling the backpacks made, they must have gotten a good haul off the dead Ork Boyz. Hagob was both glad to have them doing it and annoyed that they still needed teef to pay for things instead of everyone just working for the WAAAAGH. Well, that was Orkz for you. Loyal and ready to fight but still wanting the finer things in life like a better shoota then the Ork next to you.
Dente said, "Boss thought ya should knowz, just heard from ya Nobz squad. Dai sayz dai cleared da tunnelz inna da lowwest level. Dai alzo found sum more Boyz who just woke up."
Hagob took the news in. More fighting and more Boyz and still no closer to finding the Humies. He gave Dente a friendly crump on the head and pushed him ahead. The rest of his Boyz were already waiting for him along with Sou and three more Killa Kans. Litehead and Bush were there also. Most likely the pair were coming along to get some more barrels of the Evil Sunz beer, they both preferred it to what Funkle and his Gretchin made. Hagob himself could use a barrel of either one at the moment.
Hagob moved up to talk to the metal man at the teleporta control when the metal man announced, "Incoming teleport. Please stand clear of the transmit pad."
Having witnessed what happens when you stayed on the teleporta pad a few times before, all the Orkz moved far back from the teleporta pad. They also raised their sluggas and shootas and other weapons since they had no idea who might be coming in on the pad.
After the whine and flash of light all of the Orkz caught the scent of burning from the teleporta pad. One of the new arrivals was on fire. Before any of the Orkz could laugh there came from the teleporta pad deep and haunting laughter. All of the Orkz took a closer look and saw what they assumed were five Humies standing on the teleporta pad who were all pointing and laughing at one of them who was on fire. The one on fire was also laughing and half-heartedly attempting to pat the flames out. He could not reach most of the flames on his shoulder and back because of the heavy power armor he wore.
Hagob took a very keen interest in these new Humies if that is what they were. Each of them looked to be bigger than a regular Ork before they put on the full suit of power armor they wore. With it on they were all almost as big as Hagob.
As best as he could tell the suits had all looked identical when they were new. Now each was unique. They were differing shades of dried blood that covered any original color they had. Each was emblazoned with runes, icons and symbols that hurt his brain to look at them.
Then there were the decorations. Each power armor suit was covered in spikes, chains, and a large number of what Hagob guessed to be trophies, There were skulls of all kinds of creatures, many Hagob had never seen before. There were also helmets from other suits of power armor some with the heads still inside. They also had small weapons welded to the power armor and definitely not for use.
All of this Hagob only took the smallest notice of. What really caught his eye were the weapons they carried. Not a one of them had a slugga or a shoota or a big shoota. All of them were only armed with close combat weapons. One had a two-handed axe with whirling chain blades. One was wielding two swords with chain blades. One had an armored fist that was three times the size it should be and looked very heavy. One who Hagob thought might be the leader carried an immense shield and a sword with a glowing blade. But it was the one on fire that truly held Hagob's attention. Each of his gauntlets had three razor sharp claws coming out of it. The claws were crackling with energy. Between that and the fire, this armored enemy was giving off more light than the ceiling.
Thinking he had best take control of this situation, Hagob called out in his most threatening voice and said, "Hey youse gitz! Imma Hagob da Smasher! Whoze da Grot butt iz youse?"
As one the five power armored warriors stopped laughing and turned in precision movements to face Hagob. The one with the glowing sword and shield took one step closer to Hagob. As the others stood perfectly still, he looked Hagob up and down.
He then said, "The Chaos Gods smile upon us. Lord Goriel, the Master of The Cathedral of Divided Unity, sent us here to bring you a message. Now we will not waste any time looking for you."
Hagob had no idea who Lord Goriel was or what a cathedral was, especially one of divided unity. He did realize that these guys must know where the home base of the Humies was and he was going to beat it out of them.
Hagob took a step forward, striking his most imposing pose and said, "Wellz here Iz am. Whatz youse gits wantz ta tellz me?"
The one with the glowing sword and shield gave Hagob a once over and then said, "Lord Goriel wanted to give you his thanks for the interesting diversion you have provided. You have gleaned the crop of aspirants very well for us."
Hagob tried to hide the fact he did not know what this guy was saying but Orkz did not know how to hide things like that. Fortunately, he did not need to as the one with the glowing sword and shield had not finished yet.
The one with the glowing sword and shield continued and said, "Now it is time for you to die so this diversion can come to an end. We are the implements of your death."
With that said all five of the power armored warriors moved forward, faster than beings of their size and bulk should have been able to move. They moved fast enough the one on fire had his flames extinguished.
The one had with the two-handed axe, and one was wielding two swords closed in on a group of Goff Clan Ork Boyz and immediately started to cut them.
The one with the gigantic, armored fist found himself tied in with Bush, Dente and his teef collecting squad. The armored fist was slow, so Dente and his Boyz were able to avoid it taking much damage. Bush kept trying to shoot the power armored warrior without much success. The others were also able to hit the power armored figure but did not seem to be doing any damage to him.
The one with the glowing sword and shield headed straight to Hagob who did not waste time and fired a full magazine from his slugga into the charging figure. He scored a few hits on him and like his Boyz he did not do any damage to the power armored warrior. He was ready to receive the charge. Both of the combatants prepared their swings and let them fly as soon as they were close enough. Hagob's Big Choppa connected with the glowing sword, its spinning teeth bouncing off the strange blade.
The two leaders were pushed back by the rebound force of the blow. They stood sizing each other up for a moment. Hagob had thought to take the power armored warrior down with that blow. Evidentially the enemy leader had thought the same thing. A loud noise took hold of both their attentions. Hagob risked taking a look at what had made it. What he saw shocked him on a level he had not thought possible. The power armor warrior with the crackling claws stood over the Sou's Killa Kan. Or more correctly what was left of his Killa Kan. All that was left of it were sliced up pieces of metal and Grot. There were so many pieces, and they were so tiny, it was difficult for Hagob to remember what the original looked like. The other three Killa Kans were running away from the crackling clawed warrior as fast as they could. It was not doing any good, he was already closing on one of them.
The sight of Sou's death caused Hagob to hesitate. That almost got him killed too. The one with the glowing sword and shield, took full advantage of his hesitation and tried to decapitate Hagob. He would have succeeded if not for a giant Ork fist appearing between the combatants and slamming into the one with the glowing sword and shield sending him flying back a good ten meters.
Litehead came up to Hagob and said, "Boss Iz thinkz wez may be in ova our headz."
At this statement, Hagob recovered himself and charged straight at the one with the glowing sword and shield. Arriving there he did not bother to attack the fallen warrior. Instead he reached down and grabbed his legs pickin him up and started to swing his opponent around in a circle. After three revolutions he released him into the air in a gentle arc so that he crashed landed into the one with the crackling claws who had been slicing another Killa Kan to pieces. The impact sent both of the power armored warriors to the ground.
Before the pair had crashed together, Hagob was on the move. Running up to the downed pair he raised his Big Choppa and started to hack away at both of them. He put all of his strength into each blow but still took the time to aim each at the weak joints of his opponents' power armor. The one with the crackling claws tried to strike at Hagob, only to be prevented by Litehead once again smashing him down with a huge telekinetic fist.
With those two power armored warriors down, Hagob looked up to a sight that did not give him a good feeling. The last three power armored warrior had regrouped and were preparing to advance on Hagob. Almost all of his Boyz were down and not getting back up again ever.
Litehead stood on his left and looked up to another round of mind games. Bush, Dente and the sole remaining member of his teef squad stood at his right. Behind him the last two Killa Kans had found some courage, raising their weapons up to fire a volley.
The power armored warrior with the huge two-handed axe, now took one step forward and said, "We congratulate you on defeating two of us. We knew you would give us a good fight so we could honor our Lords and Masters. For that we thank you. Now it is time for us to complete our mission and return in glory."
Hagob spat on the ground then answered the power armored warrior and said, "Youse ain't takin Hagob down. But Iz tellz youse what. Iz promise to uze ya helmets for mez new back banner afta Iz removez dem from youse heads."
Hagob gripped his Big Choppa and slugga tight. Part of him knew this was probably not going to end with his victory. Humies might be worried about that but that was Humies. To an Ork being killed in battle by worthy opponents fighting fair in a good scrap was their whole purpose in life. Only silly Gretchin and Snotlings thought otherwise. If this were the end then Hagob was ready to face it and let Gork and Mork decide if he had done all he could to accomplish the goal of getting their Boyz off da Rok.
As the last remaining fighters prepared to close in on each other while the teleporta robot stood and watched, Hagob felt the burning in his chest flair for the briefest moment. Then he heard something. From down the corridor there came a loud stomping sound. It caught the attention of everyone left alive in the teleporta pad chamber. As one they all held off the final charge and turned to see what was coming.
What came around the corner was about fifty Ork Boyz being led by a three-meter tall, six-armed mechanical monster the Orkz like to call a Deff Dread. When this clanking, rattling, lumbering, smoke belching, implacable engine of destruction saw the trio of power armored warriors, it immediately charged straight for them. While it charged it fired a pair of Rokkits from the Launchas on its top shoulders and let loose with some fire from a Big Shoota bolted on its left side lower arm.
Before the trio of power armored warriors could react, the Rokkits both hit the power armored warrior with the two chainswords removing one of his arms and a large portion of his chest. The Big Shoota fire missed the power armored warriors but did make the teleporta pad robot duck down. Hagob had not known it could do that.
Hagob could only watch as the Deff Dread charged into the remaining pair of power armored warriors. He took the time to notice the Deff Dread was painted all black but covered in little white stars with white Ork glyphs for travel and the void adorned on its chest. Most Deff Dreads had a skull plate for an access hatch. This one had the hatch from a void ship in the center of ot.
Has the Deff Dread finish its charge that none of the Ork Boyz had joined in, Hagob took special notice of the six arms on the Deff Dread as they went to work on last two power armored warriors. The top pair of arms ended in power klaws which reached out and seized the last two power armored warriors. The middle pair of arms both ended in hammers that immediately started to beat the power armored warriors making quite a racket as each blow caused their armor to ring like a bell. It was the lower right arm which ended in a power saw that finished off both of the power armored warriors slicing off their protruding limbs from their torsos until those were also dropped into a bloody pile on the floor. Much like the crackling claw power armored warrior had done to poor Sou.
Once finished, the Deff Dread turned toward Hagob and what was left of his Boyz. The little group prepared themselves for a fight. This might be an Ork vehicle but that did not mean the Ork inside was friendly. It was also possible the Deff Dread might still be hopped up on battle lust so it might want to try and kill them for the fun of it.
As the Ork Boyz who had come with the Deff Dread gathered around the Ork vehicle, Hagob recognized some of them. So it was with no real surprise that when a hatch lifted open on the front of the Deff Dread to reveal an Ork head inside, Hagob knew who it was.
Lytnog called out from inside the Deff Dread and said, "Dinna tinkz Iz be savin youse one offa dez dayz."
Hagob had to admit he was impressed. After he had beat his old War Boss in the leadership challenge, he had not thought he would see him again. Now to see Lytnog in a full Deff Dread and back in the fight just proved you could not keep a determined Ork out of the fight.
Hagob was still ready to fight him as he answered Lytnog and said, "So youse come fora rematch?"
Lytnog lowered all his new arms and with a laugh answered Hagob and said, "No. Youse won da challenge dat time. While Iz was bein rebuilt my Boyz told me all aboot youse WAAAAGH. Iz seez know youse iz a true profit of Gork and Mork anna Iz ready ta followz youse."
Hagob lowered his weapons and attached them back on his carrying harness. He was both glad and relieved Lytnog was now finally on his side and the two of them could turn this WAAAAGH around so they could all finally get on to the bigger battles ahead.
Lytnog seemed to be reading his thoughts as he said, "There iz sumting Iz thinkz youse should knowz. Iz knowz howz we canna findz da Humies home base."
Hagob perked up at this. Litehead, who had been trying to sneak away into a corner to rest his wearied mind turned around to hear this. Even Dente and his last teef squad member stopped prying teef out of the dead Orkz to listen to this news. Bush still just looked happy the fight was over for the moment.
Lytnog moved closer toward Hagob. He seemed to want only him to hear this even though he was yelling it out from inside his Deff Dread.
Lytnog said, "Iz dunno knowz what da matter wid me wuz. For da longest time Iz was obsessed wit rebuilding dat void ship inna da Landen Zone. Iz put alla me time, effort and teef into it. Truth iz dat void ship haz beena ready ta fly almost since Iz took controlz of it."
Lytnog took a moment catch himself before he continued. "Afta youse beat me inna da challenge, youse broke sumting inna me brain. It wassa like a fog wassa on me brain anna Iz could not seez what Iz really needa do wid da void ship. Nowz Iz know that Iz needz ta bring Hagob da Smasher to it and together wez will fly it straight inna da heartz offa dem damn silly Humies."
Hagob felt another spike in his chest. This time he could see Gork and Morks' plan and how to accomplish it to bring the Humies down.
Hagob let out a loud laugh and then said, "Wellz welcome aboard. Nowz letz get busy. Wez haz much to do before wez can take diz here WAAAAGH straight inna da heart of dem Humies."
BACK AT THE CATHEDRAL OF DIVIDED UNITY
Librarian Presdicon stood next to Lord Goriel as the pair watched the feeds from the Terminators die off the pict screens in the war room. Goriel took the deaths of warriors he had known for millennia well and simply said, "Well they had their chance for glory and ending this quickly. Now it is time for others to prove themselves to become Champions of Chaos."
Librarian Presdicon was not to bothered by the deaths either and in a very business-like manner said, "Do you wish to immediately implement the next stage of your plan to deal with the Orkz?"
Lord Goriel said, "Yes. The mortals had their chance to win glory for themselves and while some did we need to end this war and get back to our true mission. Send them in immediately."
Librarian Presdicon bowed his head in acknowledgement and then turned to a vox mike on the control panel. He activated it and then into it he said, "All Faithful Astartes of the True Gods who wish to bring glory to themselves and our Mighty Lords, you have permission to go forth and seek out battle with the Orkz. Good hunting to you all."
Lord Goriel looked forward to watching the battles that were to come. The cultists did provide some entertainment fighting in the arena. Now he would get to see his real warriors in battle over their helmet feeds. This would be much more entertaining. If they could not finish off the Orkz then he was looking very much forward to going in and doing it himself. Yes either way the next few weeks would be very entertaining for him and the Chaos Gods to watch.