Home and chillaxing after an immense weekend in Durham at the Company of Legends event! Great thanks to the @edgeofempire lads, lassies and all the other people taking part. Taking the best theme award was the best way to end an already epic time, and I can't wait for the next one! The Eaters of World's will return for more blood... #horusheresy #edgeofempire #companyoflegends #worldeaters #mechanicum #ravenguard #spacewolves #custodes #imperialfists #40k #warhammer #ageofsigmar #gaming #hobby #forgeworld #paintingforgeworld #paintingwarhammer https://www.instagram.com/p/BoXUB90nLnP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=mq8yv6lp6a4k
Let the games begin! #edgeofempire #companyoflegends #worldeaters #horusheresy #30k #warhammer #ageofdarkness #gaming (at Moor House Adventure Centre) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoTuHMnnBFD/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=10a9ob46ag0q8
Every fortnight I play Star Wars d&d with three highschool friends, (including @bossjinja), as well as @sarahlovesham and @vinylfantasybk. We're a group of weird misfits that have been getting along great and it's totally mostly my social life right now... #freelancelife anyways, sometimes during campaigns I doodle stuff so here's Joes character Renar, he's an aspiring captain with a poe dameron jacket complex and loves his candy bars. .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #noboringmedia #lianakangas #patreon #illustration #portrait #comics #girlswhodrawcomics #comicart #creativehappylife #comicbooks #cintiq #noboringfam #Wacom #photoshop #indiecomic #comicbooks #womenincomics #starwars #edgeofempire #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #edgeoftheempire
The shot hit the smuggler, rearing him back and off the crate. The body thudded loudly as it hit the ground. One more. Arruna ran down the aisle of crates towards the rest of her crew, knowing that it would only be a few more seconds before they took the last man down.
“Arruna!” Grashk yelled as Jin continued firing at the last man standing, “get Keva!”
The body groaned and turned, “drag me over where we are not going to be shot at…”
Arruna froze. This woman wasn’t dead yet. She looped her arms around Keva’s calves and dragged her over to where she had shot the thug. They would be safe here for as long as it took Keva to pass on. To her astonishment, Keva sat herself up and began checking herself for damage.
Without the hood of her cloak pulled up, Keva’s face appeared dirty, with blonde hair matted to her bloody forehead. “One shot me in the hip and I was fine until another shot me in nearly the same spot again.”
Arruna surveyed herself and realized how much blood covered her, “We’re all a mess aren’t we?”
Keva let out a sigh just as the top of the crate shattered. She leaned forward and pulled Arruna over onto her as the wood splinters flew into her side. Flustered by the sudden closeness, but thankful to not be hit by the crate shards, Arruna sat up and brushed herself off.
“How are you still alive?” She kept her face blank to show how serious she was about this question. Arruna’s traveled up Keva’s hip examining the wound damning her to the ground. The blast spot was charred but not exactly bleeding. It looked more like damage she had seen in her workshop. This isn’t right.
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
Keva refused to meet her eyes, “About my prosthetic?”
Arruna felt her face flush suddenly, opening her mouth to respond but words would not form. A cry echoed through the warehouse and she saw Keva’s blue eyes widen. “No…no you can’t go help like this. You can’t even walk!”
Keva disregarded Arruna’s plea to stay, rolling on her side and crawling to peak around the crate. Arruna scuttled behind her to stay covered by the remainder of the crate. They both peered out and spotted the last gunman as he fell. He dropped his blaster as his knees gave out.
Grashk and Jin stood in front of him with their weapons still drawn, chests heaving from exertion. This was the last of the Doba men in the building, on the edge of death. A radio crackled in his pocket.
Jin used his foot to kick open the flap of his jacket and reveal the communicator. The dying man groaned and stretched out his arm to reach his weapon. Arruna could see the man’s gloved hands scraping the dirt floor. He could barely lift his head but turned it just enough to see Keva and her behind the crate.
He wretched in a coughing fit, smiling at Jin. His hand gripped the blaster and smiled, “There’s more coming…”
With the tensing of his wrist he shot the blaster pistol at Arruna and Keva. Arruna watched as if she were trapped in slow motion, the plasma streak between their heads. The brightness blinded her for a second as she recoiled and fell back. She felt Keva’s weight fall next to her as well. But something felt different. The shot had missed.
Her eyes burned from the kicked up dust, she rubbed at them before sitting up. The sound of another blaster firing startled her up to a sitting position. “That was too close.”
She placed her hand on Keva’s shoulder, she still laid on the ground. Still. Arruna’s pulse quickened. Keva wasn’t moving. She felt the air leave the room and the ground rumble. “Wait, no.” The shot had flown past them. She was sure of it.
Arruna shook Keva, and her head lolled to one side. A strip of skin was seared where the shot grazed her head. “Jin!” she wailed, “help me over her!” Grashk remained where he stood over the dead thug’s body, vigilant for any new enemies. Jin paled as he ran over and knelt beside Arruna. He propped Keva’s body and checked for a pulse at her throat with his thumb. Then again at her wrist. His eyes were trained on the ground as he counted.
“I can’t find a pulse…she’s either failing or dead.” As he faced Arruna, her face crumpled. No tears came, just an empty throb in her chest. Her hands gripped the edge of Keva’s green cloak as anger erupted within her. “Not again…”
Jin stood suddenly and motioned to Grashk to come over to Keva’s body. “You got any stint packs? I want to patch her up a bit before I try to move her out of here.”
Grashk nodded and Arruna sat in the dirt, still holding onto Keva’s cloack. Her hands shook and she clenched her teeth. It felt as though her whole body was vibrating.
“What the hell is that?!” Jin yelled.
Grashk ducked down with his bowcaster ready to fire. Arruna held her breathe trying to calm herself. I’m not shaking…
A low rumbling became more intense and the walls creaked. “Everybody get down!” Grashk yelled as the ceiling gave way and something huge crashed through the wall. The blast created a large dust cloud and debris tumbled across the floor. The row of crates on the other side of the building exploded as weight crushed them.
The sound of an engine roared and then died as dust began to settle. Jin and Arruna coughed while Grashk walked forward to whatever awaited him in the cloud.
The mechanical sound of a loading ramp descending reverberated through the warehouse and a quiet voice chimed, “Umm, hello?”
The figure stood at the bottom of the ramp, connected to a YT-1000. A light fixture cable gave out and landed a few feet from the ramp. It appeared to be a blue Duros in simple piloting gear. His red eyes flicked back and forth looking for someone to address.
Arruna watched as Grashk stood and brushed himself off. She realized how much dirt now coated her clothing. Jin coughed and spit. The Wookiee made his way over to the stranger to greet him.
“Oh hello, sir. Terribly sorry about your storage facility….I, um, had some issues with my ship here.” He gestured to the YT-1000 lodged in the wall as if it were for sale.
Grashk turned his head and checked the room from where he stood, letting out a grunt, “Thanks for that.” He pointed at the end of the ramp.
“For what?” the stranger scratched his bald head and looked around. He looked to where the Wookiee pointed and gasped. The ramp had come down and decapitated the last Doba thug.
“Arruna, Jin! Bring Keva onto the ship!”
The Duros blanched, “Pardon me? This isn’t your ship sir.”
Jin and Arruna carried Keva over and up the ramp without pause. Grashk nodded at them and turned back to the shocked pilot, “this isn’t my warehouse either.”
He turned and followed the others into the ship hull, chuckling to himself. The Duros mumbled and pulled out a data pad before following the Wookiee, “no good, not good.”
Ortto bobbed up and down in the air as they approached a battered old building with a dark stone face. The group stopped behind him and checked for security guards and wandering locals. This wasn’t the end of town where one would be found without secure ties to the Doba organization.
Jin looked to Grashk, “Course of action?”
Jin laughed lightly, “Abandoned.”
“This is not a time for puns,” Keva scolded him.
Each of them pulled out their weapons and readied themselves to storm the entrance. This is too easy.
Arruna tiptoed up to the metal door at the left side of the warehouse building. She pressed her ear to the door and placed her palm against the doorjam. At first there seemed to be no sound from the other side, until the faint tap of footsteps began echoing inside. It might be abandoned but someone is here. She pulled her head back up and whispered over her shoulder for Grashk to come listen.
The Wookiee listened and sniffed, his eyes dilated, “Bring Ortto here.”
Keva dragged the annoyed Toydarian by the leg as he hovered in midair. Placing him in front of Grashk. “You’re going to open the door and act like we’re your friends.”
Ortto scowled for a moment before masking himself in a pious grin, “awh yes, come with me my friends!” He tugged at the door handle, unable to yank it open with his own strength.
“It’s locked. I have to knock…” he said in an exasperated tone.
Arruna did not want to be one the first of the pack into the warehouse, so she walked over behind Jin. Keva paced the front of the building, looking up.
Jin pointed, “hey what’s she up to?”
“I’m not sure but…” Keva launched herself upwards, sailing onto the ledge of the roof and disappearing. Arruna stared blankly at the roof, back at the ground, then again at the roofline.
“Jin, umm, the transport gas should have worn off a long time ago but I think I just hallucinated.” She glanced up at him, eyes wide with confusion.
“Did you happen to hallucinate Keva vaulting onto the roof?” His expression clearly baffled.
He said nothing, turning back to stare at the top of the warehouse and shaking his head. “We’re going to need to have a family meeting tonight.”
Back at the warehouse door, Grashk pulled the door open for Ortto to fly in and announce himself. Arruna and Jin kept pace behind Grashk as they marched in one by one. Inside the room was cool and dim, filled with rows of large unmarked crates. It took a moment for Arruna’s eyes to adjust. Two men appeared speaking quickly by an open crate, ready to be filled.
Ortto coughed loudly and the men startled, reaching for their blasters. One held his with both hands, low against his dark blue jacket. The other looked much more shaken, and appeared to limp as he swayed from side to side. The few lights that hung from high above reflected against the blood splatter stained into his coat. The man shouted, “That’s them! They killed Daro!”
He fired at Jin and spoke into a comm link, “Intruders at storage house 314!” Three lackeys ran in from another door in the corner. Arruna scrambled behind a solid looking crate for cover. I fix droids, I can’t do this! Jin and Grashk ran towards them, taking aim. Each blasted at the enemies, barely missing as the smuggler men dodged. The Wookiee’s bowcaster glowed faintly as he fired at the man with the comm link, stunning him.
The other man beside him ambled towards a crate for cover and tripped. A large chunk from the ceiling fell and smacked him in the head. Arruna heard the loud crack of the man being knocked out and peaked out from around the crate. Up in the ceiling, looking down at the incapacitated enemy was Keva. She dropped down a rope and slid down, letting go 2 yards above the other man. She landed on his back, arms out holding her vibroknives. A moment later, the man was falling backwards lifeless as Keva drew back her weapons. Two down, three to go.
The crunching of boots made Arruna turn back, one of the smuggler lackeys had snuck up on her. She reached for the blaster pistol in her utility belt as he leapt down onto her. His eyes went blank and she realized that she had shot him. This was not the first time she had killed someone, but it was the first time she had to kill a stranger. No no no no. She shrieked and pushed the body off of her. The man’s blood streaked down the side of her face, she wiped it off with her shirt and stood. “Why am I even here?” she huffed before turning back to look over the crate. Jin kept firing at a smuggler on top of one of the crate a few yards away. Keva charged another who shot at her. She took a hit to the hip but continued to fight.
Grashk braced himself against a crate off to the side of Jin and fired three times at the enemy across the room. The thug only held a blaster pistol but looked like he was searching for something else on his belt. His jacket opened slightly and revealed a frag grenade. Arruna could get a clear shot at the man if she could get around to the next row of crates. She holstered her blaster pistol for a second, fumbling with the dead man in front of her.
She emptied his pockets, finding little more than ten credits and pushed him over so that he was bent head to knees. She pulled at his coat, removing it to take the padded armor vest beneath. If there was any chance of getting shot, she would use this corpse to her advantage.
The sound of wood splintering made her hurry around to position herself in the next row. The smuggler thug had managed to pull out the frag grenade but he had not yet activated it. Arruna checked over her shoulder and up ahead, she was clear. She steadied her pistol in both hands and fired.
