Archeo

‘There it is again.’ Josam thought to himself. He was sure he could see and hear the weight of the hive above him causing the walls around him to fatigue and slowly buckle. Although this was his third foray into the massive structure known as Hive: Primus, he had not gotten used to the sensations of being totally encased within it. As they continued to move further within the massive structure the comforting cries of the ash storm outside became nothing but a memory.

The ‘Ghost Soldiers’ were in a single file navigating what had once been a heavy transit tube. The single guide rail traced a perfect path its length on out of sight.

“Here it is,” Urartu called back to his men. “We take this service tunnel up fifty meters until it reaches an access door. Once we reach that level we should be within reach of our goal.”

“Which is what exactly,” An-Nur called from the end of the line of men.

“Archeo if it makes any difference,” Urartu was becoming visibly agitated. “Listen, unless one of you feels man enough to challenge me for leadership of this group say so now and we can take care of business, if not then shut your trap.”

No ones else spoke up, but Josam silently agreed to An-Nur’s question. Nomads roamed the wastes of Necromunda for a reason. They each knew that the real treasures lay out beyond these walls, not among those that chose to dwell one on top of the other. The “skull”, now that contained some archeotech!

Silently the five men climbed through the trap door to something resembling an alley way. Between two walls of undetermined purpose they spread out, Urartu giving directions with just hand and arm signals. Once he was satisfied Urartu brought Ishik up and the two of them used krak grenades to breach one wall.

‘So much for stealth,’ Josam thought to himself.

Beyond the wall was a massive warehouse with huge lifters and an array of structures and crates splayed apparently without rhyme or reason. Urartu gave Josam a signal that he wanted him to climb to the top of a nearby control tower. Urartu then sent An-Nur and Ishik around the same building to the right while he took Shuvah with him around to the left.

When Josam reached the top he could tell that Urartu had once again picked him a prime sniper’s nest. Below him where a pair of bridges running at an odd angle away from the tower, one to his left and one to his right. On the one to his right he could see Ishik setting up to cover An-Nur’s advance. Below and to the left Urartu kept Shuvah close at hand. Apparently he did not trust the juve to cover him. Once he knew where all of his fellow nomads were, and where they would be moving, Josam set to his task.

His new visor was working perfectly. The integral power system used the movement of the wearer to constantly supply itself with energy, which it then used to generate slight highlights of heat differentials in the surrounding area. Almost everything was a uniform temperature, but the lenses also served as a general light intensification visor. Nothing that the scope on his long rifle didn’t already provide but it was nice to not have to keep his eyes exposed to the elements and still be able to scan the scene without limiting his field of vision.

A bright ‘wash’, an indication of something very hot, flared from his left peripheral vision and Josam snapped his head toward it. The scene was filled with cool blue outlines, but a doorway at the end of the bridge Urartu and Shuvah was on showed some yellow tint. Dropping his eye to the scope Josam estimated the range to be a mere fifty meters and adjusted his reticle appropriately.

As Urartu moved within ten meters of the doorway a man with some sort of cowl covering his head and face stepped into the doorway. Whatever he was carrying had a bright red heat source and without a further thought Josam let fly a round from his long rifle. No good, he had rushed his shot. But at least Urartu was now aware of the enemy near him.

Josam looked back to his right and saw movement in front of An-Nur and Ishik. There were several shapes moving in the shadows beyond, but no clear shots to take so he settled in and waited.

An-Nur and Ishik began taking advantage of cover as they moved forward. As they began to bound from a small stack of crates towards the corner of a small shack several of the shadows stepped into the clearing to try and take some shots.

Breath, relax, squeeze…

The rifle jumped slightly in his grip and he nestled it quickly back into his shoulder. Miss – Damn! That’s twice now.

Relax – the word in his head startled him. Josam knew it was not his own, and yet… it was somehow comforting. He looked around and muttered to himself, “It’s nothing…”

Looking back towards Ishik and An-Nur he could tell that they had things well in hand for the enemy was keeping their heads down, and at least one of them was down writhing in pain. Turning back to his left Shuvah was scampering back away from the bridge. With urgency screaming through his nerves Josam dropped his eye back to his scope and scanned the length of the bridge. Urartu was nowhere to be seen, but the man with the intense heat source was moving away from him. Josam dropped the crosshairs between a jumble of girders and as his target appeared he let fly another slug from his rifle. This time he found his mark. His target twitched and dropped to the deck just as another form moved past.

Immediately Josam tracked it as whatever it was disappeared behind yet another wall like bulkhead. He continued to pace the new target and began to squeeze the trigger. The timing was perfect. Just as the shadow form cleared the bulkhead the trigger initiated the charge and set another round down range.

Whatever his target was, it dropped something as it fell. But that was all he could tell because whatever it was had now disappeared behind several obstructions. Looking back to the right Ishik was motioning for him to come down.

It was a considerable chore to get back to the floor, but on the way he found Shuvah. Grabbing him like a disturbed parent might snatch up a child by the arm so Josam pulled the hapless juve along.

As they reached the others Josam shoved Shuvah, forcing him to stumble, towards the others. “This one abandoned Urartu,” he said with disgust. “Where is he now?”

“We thought he was with you,” Ishik said.

With glances quickly exchanged they each knew to they had to move quickly. “I saw a man moving over there,” Josam said as he motioned back into the shadows on the far end of the warehouse.

“Take this coward with you and check the bridge,” Josam told An-Nur.

“He’s just a kid Josam,” An-Nur said as he reached down to help him up.

“That’s no excuse. He left Urartu alone.”

“We’ll discuss this later. For now, I’ll take responsibility for him. Come on kid.”

Josam watched the pair move off. ‘He might be a kid, but he’s a liability until he gets his head out of…’

“Are you coming or you just going to stare of into space?”

Josam turned and headed off to where he lost saw his target. “Kids gonna get somebody killed if we’re not careful.”

“Maybe, but we need the help so try and show him the ropes instead of dumping on him all day long.”

Josam just grunted in response as he led Ishik into the area beyond. The area where the hooded men had disappeared in to was strewn with bits and pieces of broken machinery making it hard for the two men to move in silence and be ready should their enemy return. When they arrived at the place where Josam saw the guy fall the debris had been disturbed, and blood was splattered everywhere – a hit. Still, whoever it was managed to get away – with whatever it was they were carrying.

“He’s not back there,” An-Nur said. “We covered pretty much all of the ground between here and the bride.”

Josam looked at the kid. Shuvah looked down at the ground and shifted his weight. ‘He’s feeling guilty. Good. It should help give him an edge the next time.' Josam thought to himself.

“Come on, let’s get after them,” Ishik said.

“They’re not going far by the looks of this blood trail,” Josam retorted. “Besides, it’s archeo we came here for, and its archeo we’re going to get. If we rescue Urartu and make it out of here, he’s going to be pissed. I want something to show for our efforts in this tomb besides a few tick marks on the barrels of our guns.”

There was some hesitation in all of them, none of them completely sure which action to take. Ishik nodded, “but we better be quick. We shouldn’t give them too much more of a head start.”