4
"A TITAN!!!!!!!!" yelled Drake, lifting himself onto the curved metal surface of the waste disposal unit they were hiding in and throwing open the door, "MALLARD'S GOT US A FROGGING TITAN!!!!!"
"Titan? Where?" Quack looked around the room and fell asleep again.
"Drake, you just tripped over the wires and unplugged them. Again." said Duck, who was trying to play a computer game, "And you sound like you're on drugs.What the frogging grat are you blathering about?"
"Everyone pack their bags and grab their Game Gears. NOW!" demanded Drake.
Duck was first to respond- she threw her pack over her shoulder, kicked Quack awake and ran out of the door. Quack rubbed his eyes sleepily and followed her. Eventually, Digg the Pigg, their Ogryn security guard, worked out which end of his rocket launcher was which and lumbered out of the door carrying the huge weapon on his shoulder. Jack was nowhere to be seen. This worried Drake. The four medics ran down the disused alleyway, weapons at the ready in case guards came after them, and climbed the wire fence into the back yard of the court room. It was then that Quack fell over and began frothing at the mouth as usual. Duck injected him with some drugs to stop him doing it.
It was absolutely colossally enormous. A gargantuan, unyielding, invincible titanium angel with no concept of fear or remorse, no faults or deficiencies. Its breath was the breath of worlds. Its shine and luster was unmatched in the machine world, and Quack felt an urge to bow down to it as before a living god. Technicians surrounded it, reverently performing rituals and purifying the machine with holy symbols. A few were engaged in more practical tasks, climbing up and down the Titan carrying tools and trying not to drop twenty feet to their death. Quack noticed five technicians, dressed in the orange robes and peripheration plugs that marked them as belonging to the highest orders of the Ordo Mechanicus. They were carefully doing... something... inside the head of the Titan, where the Princeps would be plugged in and be in charge of the machine's main functions. Quack scrambled onto a wall to get a closer look.
"Hey, there's Mallard!"
"Yeah, they're gonna peripherate him to it."
"Idiots! They're doing it all wrong!" growled Quack, jumping down off the wall and running across the yard, heedless of the danger. Guards ran towards him from all directions, firing laspistols with trained accuracy. Duck silently rehearsed the resurrection ceremony that she would so obviously need to perform before the end of the day. Digg the Pigg readied his rocket launcher... and put it down again. The guards were collapsing face-down on the floor, one after the other, obviously dead before they hit the ground. A black shadow slipped quickly between them.
"Jack!" Duck cried as the Dark Eldar landed in a perfect roll in front of her, an enigmatic smile upon his face.
"Let's go!" yelled Quack.
Pushing their way past fleeing technicians, they grabbed hold of the ladder and climbed up to the Titan's entry hatch. They let themselves in and climbed over the chairs until they found Mallard collapsed in the Princeps' chair, unconscious but alive. Duck woke him up.
"It's us. How do you feel?"
"Pain... beyond my darkest nightmares..."
"Yeah, they screwed it up pretty bad. Do those guys have any idea what they're doing?" Quack shook his head.
"Think you can fix it up, Quack?" asked Duck.
The technician shook his head, "It might be crap work but it's damn nigh irreversible. I can help, but there's only so much I can do."
"I believe I can be of some assistance."
Quack looked around at the Dark Eldar, who was leaning against the wall casually, playing with the wooden beads that were wrapped around his single braid of perfect black hair.
"If you would care to accompany me to my planet, I can show you to... a friend... who is an expert in such matters."
"Your planet being... oh Asclepius, no..." Duck shook her head.
"Please trust me. I am a negative restorer. I am bound by oath not to cause pain or suffering to any living thing."
"Just find a seat already!" complained Mallard, "My heard hurts, I want to try this thing out and I think a trip to Commoragh would be worth it to get rid of this faulty wiring."
"if you say so." Duck sighed, "It's your soul."
"Now let's go and nick a spaceship. No-one's going to argue with us."
"I claim tactical!" announced Jack, leaping into his chair and plugging himself in.
"Repair and maintenance for me!" said Quack eagerly.
"I guess I'll be down in communications." said Drake.
"Digg do weapons!"
"I'll go and monitor the life-support systems." said Duck.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yeah! Go go go!" roared Quack.
"Aren't we forgetting something important?" said Duck.
"What?"
"Princeps Mallard has to name his Titan!"
"Its name is Asdatesco Reductio!"
"That's a stupid name."
"That's its name! I asked it! Do you want to argue with a Warlord Titan about what its name is?"
"No, Princeps."
"Let's go!"
With a mental command from Mallard, the Titan creaked a few times, fired a missile at the law court and stomped off into the distance, all to the berserk cries of "HAIL TO THE MACHINE GOD!!!!!" in the repair and maintenance section.
"A TITAN!!!!!!!!" yelled Drake, lifting himself onto the curved metal surface of the waste disposal unit they were hiding in and throwing open the door, "MALLARD'S GOT US A FROGGING TITAN!!!!!"
"Titan? Where?" Quack looked around the room and fell asleep again.
"Drake, you just tripped over the wires and unplugged them. Again." said Duck, who was trying to play a computer game, "And you sound like you're on drugs.What the frogging grat are you blathering about?"
"Everyone pack their bags and grab their Game Gears. NOW!" demanded Drake.
Duck was first to respond- she threw her pack over her shoulder, kicked Quack awake and ran out of the door. Quack rubbed his eyes sleepily and followed her. Eventually, Digg the Pigg, their Ogryn security guard, worked out which end of his rocket launcher was which and lumbered out of the door carrying the huge weapon on his shoulder. Jack was nowhere to be seen. This worried Drake. The four medics ran down the disused alleyway, weapons at the ready in case guards came after them, and climbed the wire fence into the back yard of the court room. It was then that Quack fell over and began frothing at the mouth as usual. Duck injected him with some drugs to stop him doing it.
It was absolutely colossally enormous. A gargantuan, unyielding, invincible titanium angel with no concept of fear or remorse, no faults or deficiencies. Its breath was the breath of worlds. Its shine and luster was unmatched in the machine world, and Quack felt an urge to bow down to it as before a living god. Technicians surrounded it, reverently performing rituals and purifying the machine with holy symbols. A few were engaged in more practical tasks, climbing up and down the Titan carrying tools and trying not to drop twenty feet to their death. Quack noticed five technicians, dressed in the orange robes and peripheration plugs that marked them as belonging to the highest orders of the Ordo Mechanicus. They were carefully doing... something... inside the head of the Titan, where the Princeps would be plugged in and be in charge of the machine's main functions. Quack scrambled onto a wall to get a closer look.
"Hey, there's Mallard!"
"Yeah, they're gonna peripherate him to it."
"Idiots! They're doing it all wrong!" growled Quack, jumping down off the wall and running across the yard, heedless of the danger. Guards ran towards him from all directions, firing laspistols with trained accuracy. Duck silently rehearsed the resurrection ceremony that she would so obviously need to perform before the end of the day. Digg the Pigg readied his rocket launcher... and put it down again. The guards were collapsing face-down on the floor, one after the other, obviously dead before they hit the ground. A black shadow slipped quickly between them.
"Jack!" Duck cried as the Dark Eldar landed in a perfect roll in front of her, an enigmatic smile upon his face.
"Let's go!" yelled Quack.
Pushing their way past fleeing technicians, they grabbed hold of the ladder and climbed up to the Titan's entry hatch. They let themselves in and climbed over the chairs until they found Mallard collapsed in the Princeps' chair, unconscious but alive. Duck woke him up.
"It's us. How do you feel?"
"Pain... beyond my darkest nightmares..."
"Yeah, they screwed it up pretty bad. Do those guys have any idea what they're doing?" Quack shook his head.
"Think you can fix it up, Quack?" asked Duck.
The technician shook his head, "It might be crap work but it's damn nigh irreversible. I can help, but there's only so much I can do."
"I believe I can be of some assistance."
Quack looked around at the Dark Eldar, who was leaning against the wall casually, playing with the wooden beads that were wrapped around his single braid of perfect black hair.
"If you would care to accompany me to my planet, I can show you to... a friend... who is an expert in such matters."
"Your planet being... oh Asclepius, no..." Duck shook her head.
"Please trust me. I am a negative restorer. I am bound by oath not to cause pain or suffering to any living thing."
"Just find a seat already!" complained Mallard, "My heard hurts, I want to try this thing out and I think a trip to Commoragh would be worth it to get rid of this faulty wiring."
"if you say so." Duck sighed, "It's your soul."
"Now let's go and nick a spaceship. No-one's going to argue with us."
"I claim tactical!" announced Jack, leaping into his chair and plugging himself in.
"Repair and maintenance for me!" said Quack eagerly.
"I guess I'll be down in communications." said Drake.
"Digg do weapons!"
"I'll go and monitor the life-support systems." said Duck.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yeah! Go go go!" roared Quack.
"Aren't we forgetting something important?" said Duck.
"What?"
"Princeps Mallard has to name his Titan!"
"Its name is Asdatesco Reductio!"
"That's a stupid name."
"That's its name! I asked it! Do you want to argue with a Warlord Titan about what its name is?"
"No, Princeps."
"Let's go!"
With a mental command from Mallard, the Titan creaked a few times, fired a missile at the law court and stomped off into the distance, all to the berserk cries of "HAIL TO THE MACHINE GOD!!!!!" in the repair and maintenance section.