Tales from the Commu-Seal front.

[Emperor Penguin Rikkar]

0900 Hours, KCT

50 KM from Sealskau

 

 

Finwielder Kunpie itched for a cigarette.

Marching past a pile of rubble, the penguin absentmindedly fiddled with the bold of his carbine to distract himself. His brood was making good headway, and with the pitiful resistance thus far offered by the Sub-Fowl there was talk of being home in time for Nestingmass.

Kunpie glanced at the halftrack leading the group, catching a glimpse of the Broodleaders peaked cap barely clearing the steel sides. Their leader was an ugly runt of a Rockhopper penguin, a veteran of the Wars of Aggression with a scar that clipped one eyebrow, which set him with a permanent inquisitive look.

Kunpie was about to make a quip to a nearby trooper about their leader, when the halftrack ground to a stop. The troops on foot slid to covering positions out of habit, but this section of the city had been dead all morning.

"Did you hear that?" piped the nearby trooper. "Sounded like music."

Kunpie shook his head, straining to hear anything in the ruined city save for spattered carbine fire some distance away.

Their Broodleader muttered something, and the driver started the halftrack with a lurch. The vehicle advanced about two meters when the wall to their left exploded.

Kuunpie was thrown clear, but recovered and sat up to see a beast straight ot of the depths of the Deep.

Easily thrice the height of a chinstrap penguin, the Commuseal waddle-galloped into the street, bellowing a warcry in its crude tongue. A crude harness with what seemed to be a loudspeaker was strapped to its back, and as it approached it began to emit a loud rendition of the Commu-Seal anthem, drowning out the frantic orders of the Broodleader and disorienting the defenders.

A meaty slap jolted Kunpie out of his shock, as bullets began to riddle the Elephant Seal as it charged. Seemingly undeterred, it slammed into the halftrack, flipping it and sending its occupants out into the street. The beast fixated itself on the driver, massive peglike teeth rending the cab open like some obscenely large ration can. A few pops of a service pistol sounded from inside only seemed to anger the seal, and its massive jaws clamped down on the offender, silencing its opposition.

"The brain! Hit it in its egg-laying brain, you worthless Noots!"

Glad of finally hearing an order to follow over the mushed sounds of the seal anthem, Kunpie converged his fire on the monsters head, the accumulated shots wearing down the meaty target like a snowball in the oven. Bellowing, the brute flopped towards the Broodleader, chunks of its skull visible through blood and gristle.

The Rockhopper stood his ground, and as the Elephant Seal opened its cavernous maw to rend the Master-bird, he fired his weapon directly into the roof of its mouth.

As if by a switch, the Commu-Seal dropped, its momentum snapping the bonds of the harness on its back, sending the loudspeaker crashing into the pavement.

As the alien anthem withered and died, the Broodleader ordered a casualty count and ammo redistribution, then to continue on.

Finwielder Kunpie needed a cigarette.