Disclaimer: See the Prologue
Chapter 23 – Melee
The sound of his own heavy breathing and heartbeats was all that Jacques could hear as he ventured deeper into the trench network, which was going underneath the walls of the fortress. He was surprised that there was nothing to stop him, or at least slow him down.
'I must have killed the rest of the Orks that were entrenched here,' he thought, 'That only leaves the Warboss, Gorgutz.'
He frowned at that name and in turn that greenskin's title. He heard the stories that floated around that particular, even before his defeat on Lorn V. He hard to put to flame dozens of worlds, killing billions of innocent people. He would pray for them every night, with him wishing to the Emperor to see to it that their souls reach a better plane of existence.
It was his faith in the Emperor of Mankind that drove him on. When he swore loyalty into the Ultramarines, he was only swearing toward him, not the Imperium. Not after what they…
He gritted his teeth and quickly shook his head; this was not the time to think about that. He continued to run through the trench until he saw the light on the other end.
Meanwhile, the Arwing simply flew over the wall and looked over at what lay beyond it. They eyes widened at what they saw.
"It's deserted," Fox pointed out.
It was true. The relatively large space surrounding the tower was empty. There was no trace of any Ork, Venomian or their technology. It was completely empty…until they saw Jacques emerge from under the wall.
"I see Jacques," Krystal said, almost joyfully, "Let's join him."
What I was thinking, Falco added.
Jacques looked up at the Arwing flying in the sky, and waved to them. They slowly hovered down inside the walls until they landed on the dirt, instead of asphalt.
The human stepped up to the Arwings just as their pilots jumped out.
"How convenient of you to join me," Jacques greeted, smiling.
"You think we're gonna let you have all the fun?" Falco asked.
Fox looked around at where they were, as if it was a ghost town.
"I think we may have already missed it," Fox pointed out, scratching his forehead, "Looks like the remainder of the Orks were the one who charged the Cornerian's guns and those that Jacques slew in the trenches…"
"Speaking of one-man armies," Falco interrupted, before asking Jacques, "How could you take on all those greenies at once?"
As Jacques opened his mouth to reply, Falco answered for him, "Let me guess: A combination of faith and determination, courage and honour?"
Jacque's eyes widened, before nodding and saying, "Yes. That is it. How…?"
"I read your codex," Falco answered, "And found out what drives an Ultramarine to become a near invincible piece of armoured meat."
As Falco went on, Krystal once again sensed something unnatural floating amongst the airwaves. She looked up and down the tower, as if measuring it up.
"Krystal?" Fox begun, "Are you alright?"
Krystal shook her head softly, "No. Something's not right here. And it's coming from inside the tower."
"Shall we go in and confront whatever Krystal can sense?" Jacques asked, "I am ready."
"No," Fox said, "We'll need backup."
Suddenly the doors leading into the tower opened, revealing nothing but darkness and mist, which slowly spread out from the doorway.
"Uh-oh," Fox sighed, "Get ready."
Fox and Falco pulled out their blasters while Krystal unsheathed her staff from her back. Jacques clinched his power fist and reached behind him for his boltgun. They aimed at the door, where Fox decided to break the stand off.
"Whoever's in there," Fox yelled out, "Come out now and surrender. We've got the fortress surrounded."
It was silent for a few seconds, before they heard loud chuckling, followed by the sound of machinery. Jacques could see through the dark and instantly found out their opposition.
"Gorgutz!" he cried out.
Just then, a large beam of bluish energy shot out of the darkness and hit Jacques, enveloping him and pushing the others away from by the force . He cried out in pain as he loosened his hold on his boltgun, which cluttered to the ground. He felt his muscles contract and tighten.
"JACQUES!" Krystal cried.
"DAMN!" Falco also cried out.
Warboss Gorgutz stepped out of the darkness of the tower, the blue beam emitting from a gun emplacement on his left shoulder. Compared to Fox, Falco, Krystal and even Jacques, he was a behemoth, standing 10 feet tall.
Gorgutz chuckled, "So, ya stinkin' furries, we meet face ta face at las'!"
The gun on his shoulder aimed upwards, taking Jacques up with it. It was obvious that it was some sort of tractor beam.
"Let go of Jacques now!" Fox said threateningly, glaring at the Ork, "Or so help me…"
"You'll wot?" Gorgutz mocked, "Fight me'? Da bigges', meanes' Warboss of all da boyz? Unlikely fer a little runt' like ya?"
"Perhaps not," Falco sneered, "But you'll want to let him go anyway."
"Why is dat?"
Falco quickly raised his blaster and shot the tractor cannon, instantly disabling it and sending Jacques falling onto the ground, stiff. Gorgutz and stepped back some, where Fox sidestepped towards him.
"Can you get up?" Fox asked the downed Jacques.
"Can…not," Jacques managed to say through his glued jaw, "Muscles…frozen!"
"Ye wanna fight me?" Gorgutz cried, "Then ya fight all da boyz?"
Suddenly the darkness of the tower lit up with dozens of red, beady eyes.
"Oh, dear," Falco sighed, "Here we go…again!"
"KILL EM, BOYZ!" Gorgutz cried out.
One massive cheer later, dozens of Ork charged out of the tower, brandishing their sharp axes in their hands. Krystal gripped her staff in a battle stance while Fox and Falco raised their blasters.
They rushed the avian, the vulpine and the vixen, all swinging their axes, which they managed to dodge. Krystal staff charged up and she delivered a massive swing, sending Orks flying in different directions, while Fox and Falco differed from using their blasters and their fists and feet at short range.
"Nevermin' da humie," Gorgutz cried, "Let da gretchen polish him off!"
Remembering his krav maga training back in the good old days, Falco disabled one Ork with a hand the side of the neck. And as the Ork loosened his hold on his sword, Falco grabbed the axe and split the Ork's skull apar, before he drove the axe into the gut of another.
Fox punched one greenskin across the face, before jumping up and pushing himself off his chest and landing on top of another, downing him. He then sweeped up the Ork's sword with his feet, grabbed it in midair, and drove it through the face into another, and out the other end, splattering blood and brain matter everywhere.
Krystal was keeping the Orks really busy, with her gracefully swinging her staff and driving greenskins away from her. It's deadly point slammed into the chest of a Slugga Boy and sent him falling flat on his back.
The Orks forgot about Jacques, seeing that he was no longer a threat as he was as stiff as stiff can get. Krystal noticed a lone gretchen running under the feet of the Orks, holding what appeared to be a syringe.
The gretchen reached Jacques and drove his syringe his neck. Jacques gave no resistance, only eliciting a grunt with the sharp point being droven into a vein in his neck.
"Jacques!" Krystal cried out in panic.
She barged her way through the Orks, fending them off with her deadly weapon, until she reached Jacques and the gretchen, who quickly looked up to see the vixen.
"Oh dear," he cried out loud, "ARGH!"
Krystal drove her staff into it's fat belly, killing it. This Gorgutz saw.
"Why ya' dirty vixen!" he cried out, before charging and knocking Orks out of the way.
He leapt and landed before the vixen, before reaching forwards and grabbing Jacques. Krystal felt her heart pound against her chest; Gorgutz had her 'brother' in his grasp.
"Ya Cerinian whore," Gorgutz cried, "One step an' I'll mak' mincemeat outta ya' humie!"
Krystal glared, "You wouldn't dare."
"An' why is dat, princess?"
"I'll make you suffer to your final breath, Ork!" Krystal threatened.
Suddenly, a Slugga Boy rushed her, grabbing her by her arms and pinning them behind her back.
"Krystal!" Fox cried.
The vulpine suddenly felt a shoulder impact with his face, almost breaking his nose and sending him onto the ground. He then felt a foot pin him to ground. As Falco intervened, he saw several dozen guns point at his head.
He put his hands up slowly, "Ok, alright. I get the point."
He dropped his blaster and fell to his knees, where a Nob stood behind him, holding an axe to his head.
Gorgutz chuckled, letting out a deep beer belch, "What da ya hav' to say now, furries? Bow before Gorgutz, the future Warboss of da Lylat."
Jacques felt the muscles around his mouth loosen, just enough for him to speak.
"Oikonny…put…you up to this…did he not?" he managed to say.
The Warboss put his face up to, a look of anger crossing his face. Jacques however, showed no drop of fear.
"Ya pic' up things pretti' quick fer' a Marine-boy," he begun, "Too bad ya couldn't save ya furry friend's rock, those thirteen yers' ago. We'ze clobbered ya good."
"Maybe so," Jacques continued, "But those…innocent people's lives will be avenged once…we end your existence once…and for all."
Gorgutz and the Orks could only laugh, before the Warboss asked, "An' how are ya gonna do that?"
He threw the Marine to the ground, roughly on his right arm. He let a cry of agony, feeling the force of the impact shoot up it, luckily not breaking it.
"Drain dat humie o' his blood!" he ordered.
"Right, boss!" a gang of gretchen cried, carrying syringes.
Just as they were about to lunge at the Space Marine, the crack of a rifle sounded, splattering the head of the Nob holding Falco.
"Wha…?"
They looked up to see a bodysuit-wearing Cornerian assassin standing on top of the fortifications, sniper rifle in hand. They then looked down to see Cornerian soldier led by O'Reilly climb from underneath the wall, straight from the trench networks.
"Release your prisoners, now!" O'Reilly ordered, "Or you will be fired upon!"
Fox smiled, the Calvary had finally worked up the courage to join the fight.
"Ya try it, ya furry c…" Gorgutz begun and was about to swear, but was interrupted when he and the Orks were drowned by blaster rifle and laser chaingun fire, which begun to cut through his underlings with ease, tearing holes in their bodies.
The Orks screamed in pain as ranged death begun to obliterate them all. They didn't expect that from the Cornerian army. They figured they were like the Imperial Guard: Fragile and easily scared. They were wrong on both of those points.
Fox, Falco and Krystal were lucky to have dropped at the last second and avoided the Cornerian lasers. Unfortunately, their fire didn't cut through the Warboss, who just simply put up a hexagonal shield around himself.
"Can't kill ol' Gorgutz!" he laughed, "Da bigges', meanes' Warboss of all da…"
"You've said that FOR THE LAST TIME!" Fox cried, wiping the blood from his mouth.
He got up and ran toward Gorgutz, where Krystal threw him her staff. Jacques managed to stand up and bow down, allowing Fox to jump off his back and come down on Gorgutz, staff first.
"Wha' da…?" Gorgutz begun.
The deadly point of the staff penetrated the shield, dissipating it and driving into Gorgutz' shoulder, completely ignoring the armour. The Warboss cried out in pain and staggered back, before Fox pulled the staff out and pushed off the large Ork, landing flat on his two feet.
"Why ya' furry piec' o' shit!" Gorgutz cursed.
Fox then grabbed his blaster and begun firing at Gorgutz head rapidly, each blast tearing away at his skull. Gorgutz screamed as Fox continued to fire under a white patch of bone was seen. A laser sight glazed over the exposed skull.
"Ah, hec' no!" Gorgutz moaned, before one crack of the sniper rifle later, his skull exploded, splattering brains onto the ground.
Everyone watched as the once mighty Warboss gave a small hiccup, before toppling over and finally dying…with a massive hole between the eyes and his brains a mess.
Fox looked up at the assassin on the fortress wall, who simply looked down back at him and giving a thumb's up, before climbing down the other side of the fortress, out of sight.
Making sure not to move his broken arm, Jacques stood up slowly and walked towards Gorgutz's skull-splattered corpse. He then put a foot out and crushed whatever was left of his skull, making sure that the job was done.
"I think he's dead now," Falco pointed out.
Smiling painfully, Jacques replied, "Just making sure. By the Emperor, I am making sure!"