Shovels and Shotgun: Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 1

It was well past midnight yet the sky was alit like it was still twilight as great shells streaked across the sky and slammed against the side of the great fortress. The skies burned and the earth shook with the deafening roars of artillery fire raining down upon those who forsook the emperor's light and worshiped profane idols. It was under this hail of shells and gun fire that Cici and her squad found themselves in as they made their trek down the narrow goat path leading to their objective.

The transport that brought them here could have only carried so close before their cover was blown. Their mission was of the utmost secrecy and having the enemy know that this path existed at all would spell doom to this otherwise impenetrable fortress. With such a steep, uneven, narrow and unstable path ahead, there was no way forward but to walk.

With Hasim leading at the front and the new guys trailing as their vanguard, they made their way down this desolate and empty part of the mountains. Any and all vegetation had long since withered away from the sheer amount of ordinance sent the mountain’s way or from the forest fire that was caused by the artillery strikes. This left them all but exposed to the elements aside from a few boulders here and there.

“They really aren't stopping huh?” Cici muttered before turning to the towering peak as a shower of gravel rained on them. False alarm, she reassured herself. Swallowing thickly, she then turned her attention back to the road ahead. “Talk about a suicide mission,” she muttered, hating every second of this mission.

“Come on Cici, don’t be like that. They wouldn’t have fed us if this was one,” Hasim joked as he shouted from up ahead and even then, he was barely audible from the heavy thumps and deep booms echoing from the valley ahead,“I swear if you jinx us, I’ll find you on your side of the Emperor’s throne.”

Rolling her eyes, she waved him off, “Yeah yeah,” before tucking her Long-las rifle close to her chest, “At Least we’re not being shot at,” she muttered.

Of course, they weren’t being shot at as the thrice damned fortress that had been the bane of their existence for the last six months was simply too big to miss. Still, that doesn’t mean that there were not some missed shots.

Perking as she saw a stray speck of bright light at the edge of her vision, she turned and saw a sight that made her stomach drop; shells that did not move across the night sky. “Artillery!” She screamed, ducking as shells slammed just above them before they exploded.

She gritted her teeth, her heart pounding against her chest as she felt the explosions high above. Rocks tumbled down the slope but nothing too big. All of them remained crouched, waiting for a few moments before she sighed in relief. Slowly, she stood up only to let out a curse as strong hands grabbed her from the back of her flak armor.

“Hey-!” She yelped, turning around to shout at the Krieger who grabbed her only to pause as a large rock thumbled just moments where her head was.

“God damn it, what did I tell you?” Hasim shouted, seeing what just happened. “Careful next time, I don’t want to lose the mascot of this cursed squad,” he then teased, souring the mood but it did lift her shaken spirit a bit.

Gulping, she sat there, her hands shaking as she whispered, “Fuck.” That had been way too close for comfort. Turning to her savior, she then said, “T-thanks Charles.” She frowned as she felt his heavy hands atop her hair and swatted at him for ruffling it but… it felt warm and comforting, like the hands of a father.

“Yeah yeah, I’m tiny but I swear touch me one more time, I’ll bite your hands off!” She snarled at the man as a blush crept up her cheeks. The Krieger for his part had the gall to laugh at her expenses which only made her face burn. Growling at him, she turned away. Stupid weird Krieger was messing with her, she swore.

After checking on Usky, their Vostroyan companion, and Bud, the Beastman, Hasim would then shout to the back, “How are you two holding up there Charles? Bosco? You two good?”

“All’s good boss! We had worse,” The big lug of a Ogyrn shouted as he gave Hasim a cheerful smile while Charles replied with a muffled cheer and a thumbs up.

“Now that’s a tale I want to hear in the campfire after this,” Hasim replied before he gestured for them to move on. They’ve stayed here long enough and they still have a whole night ahead of them, a night that promised much excitement of the wrong kind.

Taking deep calming breaths, Cici turned and noted, “You two are awfully chipper in times like this,” making small talk helped take off the edge from the excitement and the two had been quite the mystery. Might as well get to know more of them while they’re still alive she supposed.

“Like we said, Best buds and I had worse,” The surprisingly well spoken Ogyrn replied casually.

“Oho?” She replied, prodding more so as they continue their trek, “Is that why your buddy here doesn’t speak? Lost a jaw or something,” she poked, earning an eye roll from the masked Krieger before he went on quite the animated and angry muttering to which she couldn’t help but stare at him in incomprehension. The man absolutely refused to remove their mask.

Seeing her plight, the Bosco gave his companion a pat before saying, “Charles said better be prepared than sorry,”

She snorted, smiling as she asked in disbelief and wry amusement, “You two actually understand each other?” Shaking her head, she added, “I’d say I’m surprise but at this point, I’m not,” She just hope that things wouldn’t get any weirder for them as the fortress finally into view

-x-x-x-

Cici would make more small talk but given that she was talking to an Ogyrn and a man who absolutely refused to remove his mask even if it meant they couldn’t talk properly, it was hard getting much information about them. All she got was more questions but that would be quickly put in their wayside as they came upon a rocky outcrop overlooking the fortress.

As she approached the edge of the cliff and looked at the monster of a fortress that they were sent to take out, she felt her jaw drop, “By the Emperor” She whispered as Hasim raised his hand, signaling them to stop and giving them all a chance to take in the sights of the fortress.

The Fortress looked more like a continuation of the mountains rather than the plug that had kept the endless tide that was the might of the Imperial Guards from flooding into the heretic controlled plains. With tall adamantine walls that were thick enough to have whole regiments march atop them and jagged towers reaching up the mountain peaks, it was certainly imposing enough to compare to a natural feature. The only thing bigger than this was the hives at a distance,

“Now those are some thick walls. Really puts it into perspective once you really get close huh?” Bud growled out as he slowed down to a pause, staring in disbelief at the structure. Cici grunted in agreement her eyes traced the walls, finding it bristling with anti aircraft installments and enough artillery to make a Krieger shout in joy and that’s not even talking about the number of people manning it.

“No wonder we can’t crack that,” Cici whispered before she flinched, shielding her eyes as an artillery installment lit up in fire before exploding from another artillery strike. Still, despite the earth shaking explosion that rocked the fortress, there was barely a dent upon the ramparts. She felt her heart sink as the heretics merely pulled up a new gun in the place of the old one and fired as if nothing had happened, “Fuck, there’s so many of them, I think we don’t have enough shots…”

“Hah! That just means we can’t miss,” Bud laughed as he stroked his Hot-Shot Lasgun lovingly, weapons oh so generously donated to the squad by the now more generous quartermaster thanks to the general.

“And we’ll have more bodies to search for magazines!”, Bosco then added, making her grin

“And more loot?” She asked, to which Charles let out a muffled voice of agreement. With the prospect of loot at hand, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of excitement running up her spine. Yes, the odds were against them but once she looked at the bright side, it didn't sound so bad.

“Definitely more loot,” Bud nodded sagely, making their Usky grumble in annoyance.

She shook her head, feeling the infectious energy in her veins. Maybe they could take on these impossible odds? “Hah, I like you two,” She chuckled as she gave Charle’s a playful, and maybe a bit too forceful punch on the shoulder before regretting it after her knuckles met his biceps. “God damn it, what are you made of!” She hissed, shaking her hands while the Krieger laughed at her.

“Now, now, before we think about that, how about we take a rest? Best to get us all rested before we head straight into that hornet’s nest,” Hasim said as he pulled out his canteen and took a sip. They had taken quite a trek on the mountain path and they needed the rest. There were some who didn’t seem winded at all like a certain Krieger who looked like he was ready to bolt at any second now.

Shaking her head in amusement, she turned and looked up at the dark and cloudy sky. It was already past the witching hour and they were approaching twilight, not that it mattered with how the sky was lit up by artillery shells. Still, the dark was plenty enough to mask their actions. Plopping down atop a comfortable rock, she turned and pulled out a scope to check what they were up against.

Aside from the thick walls, they were up against a horde of enemies and a whole lot of guns; not the greatest of situations. “Kidding aside… How the hell are we even gonna open up those gates? They look like they’re made to allow Titans in,” She muttered as she turned her gaze at the gates. Flanked by two great towers, they stood tall and proud while covered in profane symbols. She wanted nothing more than to have them fall but it’s increasingly clear that it would be a job left to naval bombardment.

Feeling a finger tapping her on the shoulder, Cici turned and found Charles standing by her sound. “What?” She questioned as Charles pointed at a certain spot in the tower. Frowning, she turned and zoomed into the almost imperceptible features before blinking in surprise as she sawa great chains upon giant cogs.

“... Good eyes there,” She complimented him, giving him an appreciative nod before calling for Hasim, “Hey Hasim, you might want to see what Charles found for us” she said, pointing at the mechanism. The power source was probably deep inside.

“Good catch new guy,” Hasim praised their new squad mate, giving him a pat on the shoulder as he scooted over beside her.

Giving him the scope, she then said, “Yeah, we just have to capture two towers instead of an entire fortress, easy peasy,” Just a tower that was protected by countless cultists willing to die for their false idols. Well, that’s one way to dampen her spirit.

“Nothing’s ever easy,” Usky grumbled as he peered down on the fortress with them. “I swear they have some nasty surprise there or something,” He said and she nodded in agreement. If it was that easy then others before them should have succeeded. Why go with the rag tag group after all when you can use far better and experienced soldiers… unless those soldiers already had their shot and failed.

“Must be something nasty cause I don’t think most of those down below are armed with guns,” She replied, pulling out her Long Las and scanning the crowd below. Now that she got a good look at them, they certainly looked a little on the thin side. “Swords and clubs yes but nothing long ranged aside from a few,” she observed, reminding herself to just focus on those with cloaks instead of rags as they’re certainly well armed.

“Well, whatever it has in store for us, the best thing we can do now is to prepare for it rather than getting all worried about it,” Hasim said as he motioned for everyone to gather round.

“So here’s what I say we should do to get that gate opened. First, Cici, Charles and I would go down there and get a few cloaks for us to blend in, maybe kill a few guards in the process,” He said before turning to their Ogyrn companion and giving him a once over. He was certainly not as big as the others but well… he’s an Ogyrn. “The big guy’s going to be hard to explain though but we’ll just have to sneak you instead,” he nodded before he continued.  

“Once we get our disguises, the six of us should split up into three groups;” Pointing over to the Krieger and his friend, he instructed, “Bosco and Charles, you take the right tower,” before turning to her and saying, “Cici and I take on the Left Tower,”

Turning to their Vostroyan and Beastman friend, he then said, “Bud, Usky, I want you to take the melta charges we got, but not all because the groups attacking the tower, and toss it to the armory before you guys acquire our transport, any transport and fly up to the towers. You two will be the ones that’ll break us out once we’ve done our job,” before he paused as Bosco raised his hands, interrupting him. With all eyes on the big man, Hasim then asked, “Yes Bosco?”

“Bosco and Charles say this is a bad idea,” The man replied, “If we split up, we’d just dilute out fire power. We’re better off covering each other's blind spot rather than try to do all of these things in different groups. What if one of us fails?” He pointed out, asking a question that had her all uncomfortable. With just two people per group, that was a hell of a lot less eyes than they have now.

Charles would then let out an annoyed grunt as he raised his gun which Bosco would translate, “Charles also said it’d be much easier to just kill them all… and we’d have an easier time looting them all together,” This had the group pause as they all stared at them.

Hasim took in a deep breath before reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose. “As much as I love to do that big guy, we really can’t. We have to be realistic here,” He argued, keeping his tone even, “There’s a million of them there and we’re just six. There’s not enough lasguns down there to mow down a regiment much less the entire fortress,” he noted, giving great emphasis on the sheer number that they were going to face.

Bosco and Charles acknowledged it with a nod before the bigger man replied, “Oh, we know that but we don’t need to shoot everyone, just the ones that need to shoot the ones with the cloaks as they’re the ones with guns, not the slaves,” he pointed out.

“That’s… certainly was a possibility,” She acknowledged. Their companion was no ordinary Ogyrn and the Krieger, while mysterious, is extremely sharp given how he spotted that rock while she couldn’t.

Charles chuckled while he gently patted his banged up looking Lasgun while Bosco pulled out his Ripper gun, the large almost cumbersome looking weapon which all Ogryn wielded. “Charles and I can hold them off in choke point while you guys just focus on keeping the gate open,” Bosco assured them but even with his tone brimming with confidence, Cici wasn’t quite convinced much less Hasim.

The Tallarn Native nodded slowly as he replied, “That does cuts out the number of actual treats but that’s still a lot of desperate and probably crazed soldiers armed with pointy sticks and rusty swords,” As he leaned forward from his seat and stared them right in the eye, he asked them “Are you seriously suggesting we throw you two right at the meat grinder and expect you to stand there and fight non stop, for Emperors knows how long, against who know how many cultist without rest because that’s what I’m hearing. We don’t even know if it’s just simple cultist here for the Emperor’s sake! For all we know, there could be some traitorous marine there!” Hasim looked livid, raising his voice at them yet they remained unflappably confident.

The two just simply looked at each other before turning back at them and answering, “Yes,”

“Emperor damn it all, I know you Kriegers are crazy but this is insanity,” he cried out, throwing his hands in the air before covering his face. For once, Cici could sympathize with the man as this was just ridiculous. The sheer disregard for their own lives was simply concerning.

“I know you want this, and I’m sure you’re confident that you can take them all out,” She cautioned out before wincing as the two replied,

“Because we can!” Bosco shouted, thumping his chest in a show of his dedication.

But Cici was not one to be bowed down as she shouted back, “But this is an entire fortress here, an entire goddamn fortress! You’re not a one man army, you’re just human…”, she slowly trailed off, making Charles pause. Her concern was not hers alone as the rest of the squad looking at them equally as such. ”Just like the rest of us,” She whispered.

Biting her lips, she gathered her courage as she looked back at them as she declared, “Abhuman, vat born or someone with a funky looking defect, you’re one of us now, the Irregulars and that’s final!” She shouted. This posting might be temporary but she would not consent to having them be treated as disposable tools.

“You are of flesh and blood, you are not invincible or infallible,” Usyk replied firmly as he stared back, daring them to argue with him.

“Yeah! You’re not the only ones that are killing machines,” Bud then added as he grinned back.

Looking back up with a grim yet determined look on his face, Hasim would then said, “And I’m not willing to risk the life of both of you just because you think your lives are disposable,” echoing  the sentiment of the group which stunned the two as they stared back at them with wide eyed silence. Reaching out to Charles and giving him a pat on the shoulder, “I know we haven’t been together for too long but I like the two of you and I won’t have your blood on my hands,”

The Krieger seized up before he slowly reached up and gave them a squeeze. Looking back at Hasim, she could see the man begging him despite the silence between them. “Trust us, we can handle this,” were words the remained unspoken but were all too clear for them to hear.

There was a look of indecision in Hasim eyes as his eyes shifted, looking over to the fortress below and to the man before him before he shook his head and answered, “As much as I want to, no, I won’t, not when it means we can’t get all out of here alive,”

Taking off the man's hand, Hasim would give them a reassuring smile as he told them, “Ok, let’s get back to getting this plan hammered out shall we?”

Charles would let out a shrug as he took a step back to Bosco whose shoulder sagged. Finally, the two relented. Cici felt bad for the two for how eager they seemed to throw their lives away and how the general seemed eager to fuel this self-destructive tendency. Maybe she should introduce them to her brother and father out in the scouts. It was already rare to have such a jovial Krieger around and it would be a shame to lose such an oddity.

Clearing his throat to call for their attention once more, Hasim would then continue, “While the general didn’t really give us a deadline, we still have to make this quick cause the general can only hide his intention for so long before our enemies figure out we’re not bluffing anymore,”

Turning to the west where their arm was camped, she could see the buzz of activity, the people concentrating to the front with the armor not too far behind them. Their dark mass slowly filled the trenches just like any other day but there was a sense of energy in there, like a pent up elastic band just waiting to snap forward. No man’s land will be soaked in blood once again.

“Even from here, you can already see the columns of dust from the tank columns alone so if we don’t get it open now, we’ll be facing more enemy troops” He told them. Even now, she could see the fortress was getting prepared as well with a dark mass from the east coming towards the mountain fortress.

“With that time limit at hand and the melta charges ticking, we need to get to our final objects as fast as possible.” Hasim declared.

”I know the higher ups want us to stay there and hold it but I’d say it’s far easier to just destroy the mechanisms and get it stuck than to hold all of those which is where the Melta Charges would come in,” He added with a conspiratorial grin stretched across his face. “There’s going to be no way to open that thing if the controls are all busted, yeah?”

While her two teammates nodded, eager to go down there, she on other hand had some questions. “Yeah… this does sound a bit too complicated like the two said… are there any other ways we can get in? Like there must be another way right?” She questioned, feeling apprehensive at the plan. Too many moving parts in her opinion, Too many points of failure.

“We still have time anyways so let’s see…” Hasim hummed before turning to the strangely quiet Krieger, “Yo Charles, got anything you can add…”

Hasim’s face quickly morphed to that of a corner as he was nowhere to be found. “Charles?” he asked as they all looked around. Their concern however would quickly melt away as screams echoed out from below before their ledge was rocked by one of the artillery emplacements exploding.

“Charles said he had to pee,” Bosco replied and Hasim was left all but speechless as he stared back with his mouth agape.

Finding her voice, CIci would then ask, “When he said he’s going to pee… did he say where cause I’m hearing some screaming down there,” forcing herself to look over the edge, she’d find a whirling dervish of destruction tearing through the ranks of the faceless horde. Limbs flew as blood was spilled across the fortress.

“Bosco… Please don’t tell me that isn’t you Krieger friend down there tearing people apart…” She whispered, trying to deny what she saw even if evidence said otherwise.

“Wait, he left me behind!” Bosco shouted as he rushed over to the edge before letting out a cry of dismay “No fair! He said we were going to farm together!”

“Emperor damn it!” Cici cursed, “Change of plan, we’re going in, now!”

A/N:

The project I couldn't finish last week.  A high tier patron wanted this and well, it's kinda an interesting take seeing a Gamer in action from outsiders perspective.  They'll really sound suicidal if you think about it, taking in so much quest like that. Not a fun time for any mortals.