WH40K: “Kal Jerico, Sinner's Bounty” (part nine)
We're almost halfway through Warhammer: Fury Road. Almost halfway. Almost. Have I asked why this book is so long yet? I feel like I might have at some point.
Chapter eighteen: Venators
We're back to Team Beatram, who the axchuck mutants are finally making their attack against. They can't track enemy heat signatures in this region of hot steam vents, but even stealthy mutants make a bit of noise here and there. Beatram would like us all to know that he does not enjoy the sensation of being hunted, which...well, him going out of his way tospecificallydeny this when it should be just the default assumption leads me to suspect he's got a secretprimal preything that he's ashamed of. Calm down, Beatram, YKINMK but I'm not going to judge you for it. Anyway, a very large mob of mutants pour out of some steam-free ducts all around them, and the group starts fighting them off.
Pretty effectively, really. A little too much so, for the ominous buildup that this encounter's been given. The only time any of the party seem to have a close call is when Beatram gets so turned on by watching Belladonna hit things with her chainsaw-ax that he almost takes an axchuck right to the head. Reluctantly turning his attention back to the actual fight, he wastes mutant after mutant with his poison needle gun, all while complaining to himself about how this is an annoying fight with annoying enemies and not the kind that he likes.
...I just realized. Beatram is rule 63 Yolanda. Unwarranted snootiness, constantly whining and bitching about everything no matter how stupid and petty, weird passive aggression, allegedly hating Kal Jerico but not wanting to actually kill him, etc.
Anyway, aside from whining, Beatram is also recording battle footage on his cybereyes for later analysis and tactical adjustments. Well, if nothing else Beatram has a very good work ethic I suppose. He notices that there are multiple clans of mutants working together here, which is highly unusual. Unfortunately, Goethe and his Cawdor henchmen prove to be less skilled combatants than the bounty hunters or Goliaths, and are pushed back, which means the others have to fall back with them or be down half their firepower. So, they retreat a bit and find a choke point to more easily hold off the mutants.
Belladonna has a plasma pistol. Those are rare, archaeotech treasures in 40K, if I'm not mistaken. Must have been a very lucky acquisition for her. Anyway, between that and the chainsaw-ax she's probably the best armed character in either of the main parties thus far, with the possible exception of Amenute with her brain.
Goethe and Beatram have a brief theological argument while they hold off the mutants, which leads to Goethe admitting that he only works for Nemo because a "sin" he committed forced him into it. So, Nemo has dirt on him that would cause the end of his Cawdor career, got it. Before much else can be discussed, the mutants cut around through a side passage and flank them. They now have to hold both sides of the chokepoint, and the mutants' numbers aren't letting up. As I noted in the early chapters, axchuck mutants don't seem beholden to the laws of physics or biology when it comes to how many lives they can sacrifice on such minor targets. The group starts to get overwhelmed by the endless tide of suicidal mutants, but then a pair of newcomers come in and help thin the herd from the outside. Both armed with longranged precision weapons, and very good shots with them. Ex-military looking. One human, and one dorf.
Space dorfs are a thing in 40K. They're another posthuman strain like the beastmen, and are known as "squats" if I'm not mistaken. As I recall, they're pretty much just fantasy dorfs with beards and Scottish accents and stuff, just futurey.
Ah, these are two more bounty hunters whose names were mentioned back near the beginning as potentially being after Zoom, and who Beatram recognizers. The human with the laser sniper rifle goes by Umbra. The dorf with the gyrogun is Grendelson. Okay then. Anyway, between the lot of them, they're able to finally kill enough mutants for the rest to retreat. Grendelson tells Beatram that he's a prick. Beatram makes some racist comments about space dorfs. Belladonna offers the newcomers a share of the bounty if they join the team, over Beatram's objections.
Apparently, Beatram thought that he was the "leader" of this party. Despite them all being independent contractors who Nemo just happened to get ahold of and send on a shared mission. Anyway, he's overruled. The axchuck mutants are regrouping though; Beatram's thermal sensors are working now (I guess they withdrew away from the steam now?), so it's time to prepare for more fite.
That's the chapter. I feel like following Beatram's team as well as Kal's is only a thing because the auther was mandated to showcase Every Single Necromunda Character and this was the only way he could think of to make it work.
Chapter nineteen: Zoom
Are we finally getting Immortan Joe's perspective? Maybe.
It does kind of amuse me that we've already had one chapter named "Desolation Zoom" and a prologue called "Desolation." Almost like the author is running out of ideas for chapter titles. Almost as if there are...too...many...chapters?
Anyway, yup, we open in the war rig's cockpit. It's cramped for its crew of six, but still has room for the ostentatious command throne that every single vehicle in WH40K has for its captain to sit in. Aside from that bit of setting-mandated silliness, the description and atmosphere of this set are great. This super high-tech hostile environment mining vehicle's cockpit, with almost a Star Trek like feel to it, covered over in rust, dry bloodstains, and inept repair greeble. All shrouded in smoke from Zoom's stupid smoke machine crown, which the old and failing air cyclers are barely able to handle.
This falling-apart-ness is reflective of Pastor D. Zoom himself. He's a very old man indeed. Much older than he ever thought he'd get to live, with his life having been a harsh and violent one. His armor and mask are getting heavier by the day, his circulation is precarious, and his hands are covered in virulent rashes that he needs bandages to be able to work through. He spends most of his time in the command throne not just out of tiredness, but because the vibrations of the war rig's engines (and its guns when they're in combat) massage his aching bones. Really, it seems like it would almost be a miracle if he lives long enough to complete his suicide mission. Zoom and all of his crew have sustained multiple injuries over the course of the mission so far, with their wounds just barely bandaged, stitched, or cauterized together well enough to keep them able-bodied. I guess that's why they were extorting medical supplies back in Downtown; they were in sore need of them. There's also a mention of Zoom himself being incapable of sleep, but I don't know if that's literal or a metaphoric "no rest for the wicked" thing. It's 40K, so both are possible.
Also, the stern male face depicted on Zoom's mask is supposed to look like the Emperor, but since most people don't know how he actually looks this wouldn't be obvious to most observers. Wonder if he's also grafted the Golden Nutsack to his own crotch since picking it up.
Zoom confers with his second in command, a similarly masked fellow who goes by Klovik. Zoom and Klovik have been friends since they were underhive urchins who hunted rats together, long before they joined the Redemptionist cult. They've got more trouble up ahead; the little stone-quarrying village up ahead, Cawdor-held, was supposed to recieve them, but it's gone dark just before the war rig arrived. They scan the place, and spot some cooling bodies; someone beat them here, killed the Cawdor, and has probably set an ambush. Zoom asks if they have enough fuel to make it to Perdition despite not getting to resupply here. Klovik says that yes, just barely, maybe. So, Zoom orders them to move on ahead.
...through the mining village.
Even though they know there are enemies there and probably no supplies.
Okay, um. Is passing through there theonlyway to get to Perdition, due to how the tunnels intersect? If so, why is he even bothering to ask?
So, they drive through the complex. Sirens go off, and a mine detonates under the rig's treads; once again, just superficial damage. The sort of mines that these underhive mercs are able to get ahold of are just not much good against armored heavy vehicles. Anyway, the failmine blast is followed by a ragtag group of gunmen flowing out of a bunch of the buildings and opening fire. These guys are not very well equipped; more of a desperate peasant militia than professional bounty hunters. Also, there's more mention of people wearing "buckskins," which renews my confusion over whether there are deer in the underhive. Well, mold-eating, spiky deer with laser eyes would fit, I suppose. The war rig is low on ammo, but still enough to clear this crowd. Zoom cautions his gunner not to take too much joy in this victory; this is a harsh neccessity, not a battle for the glory of the empruh.
Zoom is starting to fear that he's killed too many people over the course of his long life for any good he did to be worth it. He's beginning to have a crisis of faith, but is afraid of what might happen if he lets it go entirely.
Some more desperate rabble swarm the hauler, and Zoom gets out himself to fight them off, over his crew's objections. He takes some injuries, and has a close call involving a rocket launcher, but manages to beat them back. He loses himself momentarily in the thrill of the violence, which he fears is really what his "faith" might have been coming down to all along.
Afterward, he climbs back down into the hauler. He apparently is also senile and forgetting which of his crew members are still alive and which aren't. They started this mission with twenty-four people, and are now down to six. All they can do is continue along to Perdition to make all this worth it. End chapter.
Well that was...pointless? The psychological profile of Zoom and humanizing portrayal of him and his fanatical crew was nice, but the fight was, of course, almost entirely tangential to it. It took up half of the chapter, but I glossed over it in a few sentences because it was just that irrelevant and uninteresting.
Anyway, those are the two chapters. I'm starting to think that a version of this book edited down to maybe 1/5th of its current length and most of the inconsequential fights being among the cut material might have been actually good. Unfortunately, that's not what got published.
