Edzra Macbacta had run
with gang chiefs from Old Bedlam Town to Port Mad Dog, and he still
didn't know what to make of Vintsen Courraine. The way Edzra scanned
it, it made zero sense to go gunning for the Hooded Men – both
gangs had thrown their guns in with the Ba'Kings, after all. But
Akilles and Dwice said that Vints's mad fix was born of these Cawdors
killing his dog a bunch of cycles back. His dog? Hardly seemed worth
it to Edzra, but he'd seen underhivers hold bitterer grudges for
less, so like the solid gangman he was, he tooled up and hauled boots
with the crew.
The two gangs finally
hunted each other down at a set of parallel tunnels midsector where
the vent fans creak and the walls are brittle with rust. Edzra was
hoping Vints's tactics would give a better measure of the man. Divide
and scrag was the name of the game – the Jackers split into two
crews to string the Hoodies out and whittle them down from either end
like milliasaurs chewing up a severed limb. Edzra's job was to hang
back, bring gun support where needed and make sure none of the Jacker
new boys legged it if the going got heavy. But when Akilles and his
half of the gang had hit the other corridor, Vints only went and
threw a master switch: all the open blast doors slammed shut. Akilles
and his crew were cut off, surrounded by a clutch of trashmongers and
Oisin, their ogryn heavy.
Edzra was lights-out as
to why. Turned out, though, that Vints's ploy was to prep a charge on
Artur, headman of the thronebotherers. With young Dwice covering,
Kaleb opened up one of the main doors and Vints charged through,
screaming for revenge with his chainsword roaring. Due credit to
Vints - he got the drop on Artur and took him out of the fight then
and there. But of course, this had set the three Jackers up real nice
for a flamer hit from another Hoody – in less than a click, they
were running around blazing.
Lucky, then, that
Akilles and his boys were stood solid down the far end of the tunnel.
Slugs were flying thick and fast, and Jackers and Hooded Men were
down and up more often than a slaughted Goliath. Edzra stuck his head
round the corner and took a few shots with his autopistol, but
Akilles, shrugging off bullets like they were flakes of ash, was
doing a spire-straight job of keeping Oisin and his scrawny pals
pinned.
Well, he was until he
wasn't. The Jackers eased off the pressure just a fraction and the
ogryn took advantage, clobbering Skew and Akilles out cold. Things
looked bad for Djo and Murgen, the other Jackers at this end of
things, but then Oisin lumbered off down the corridor. Perhaps he'd
only just realised that his boss was in danger. Too late.
By now, Edzra was
rushing the same way down the parallel tunnel – Ralve was running
scared at the sight of three of his gangmates getting lit up and
needed verbal cooling down. Dumb Ralve should've just looked behind
him, where Vints, Dwice and Kaleb had all rolled out the flames
without getting burnt and were picking off more of the Cawdors. With
Djo and Murgen doing much the same down the other end of the tunnel,
it looked like the Jackers might be grinding their way to victory.
But then came Oisin.
The ogryn was already badly wounded thanks to Akilles's work, but
looked dead set on taking Vints out for what he'd done to Artur.
Dwice wasn't having it, rushing forward and taking a point-blank shot
at the brute. Edzra had to give the juve credit for sheer guts, but
sumpdammit if he didn't miss the ogryn outright. Needless to say,
Dwice didn't last a twitch of a rat's tail when Oisin charged him.
Another Jacker out cold.
Edzra reckoned that,
facing such a rockcrete-solid foe, the smart move would be to hang
back and hit it with as much gunfire as could be mustered – and the
Jackers still had plenty of guns in the zone. But he was fast
learning that Vints Courraine was one of those glory-hungry types,
who'll only run the smart play if it makes him look good. It was no
sweet sight as Vints charged down the corridor, swung his chainsword
too wide and got one of Oisin's fists square in the face for his
trouble. There was an audible snap and Edzra winced as his boss
dropped.
Still, by now Ralve was
back in the game and all the other Hooded Men had bottled and fled.
Edzra made the smart move and had the Jackers move to encircle the
ogryn, showering him with bullets, hoping that one might pierce his
thick-arse hide. Before long, even Oisin realised he was onto a loser
and was making his bloody way out of the fight zone.
So, a win for the House
of Iron and to cap it all off, the Jackers claimed the Laddershins
Slagworks off of the Hooded Men. Half a shift later the gang were
revelling and slugging from bottles of wildsnake in the red glow of
the furnace mouth. Still, Edzra had his doubts – he'd signed up
with the Hi-Viz Jackers to reclaim some glory for the Macbacta family
name, but with a man like Courraine in charge, was it glory or death
that was waiting down the line?
Even now, Doctor Proxi
was stapling together the boss man's broken skull. Maybe the head
injury would turn out to have knocked some sense into Vints
Courraine. Or maybe, thought Edzra with a shudder, all it would do
was make Vints even more unpredictable.