The Hack Attack Read online

  ‘But if you quit playing, will you keep coaching too?’

  Dirk chewed on his lower lip. ‘Much as I love the game, no. I’m going to give a shot at career choice number two.’

  Bob gaped at Dirk in surprise. ‘You’re going to be an agent?’

  Jim slapped the ogre on the back of the head. ‘Weren’t you listening? He said self-respecting!’

  Dirk chuckled then stood up and gestured for someone off-camra to toss him something. A football spiralled toward him, and he caught it. ‘Thanks, Lästiges!’

  Dirk held the football up for the announcers to see.

  ‘That’s a funny-looking ball.’ Bob stared at it, curious. ‘It’s all smooth. Where are the spikes?’

  ‘This is a special ball,’ Dirk said. He peeled apart the stitches on the ball and stuck his hand into the gap. ‘It only has one sharp, pointy bit.’

  As he said that, he squeezed something inside the ball, and a yard-long blade stabbed out from the ball’s tip. Rather than having been forged from metal, though, it seemed to have been carved from a single piece of wood. ‘But it’s a killer.’

  ‘So, ah, what job did you say you were going for?’ Jim ran a nervous tongue across his fangs, never taking his eyes off the gleaming, polished tip of the blade.

  ‘I’d like to be a Blood Bowl announcer.’ Dirk brandished the football-blade in front of him. ‘Actually, I think Lästiges and I would make a great team – and I hear there are about to be two openings!’

  ‘Really?’ Bob said. ‘An opening? Where?’

  Dirk lunged forward, and Bob jolted in surprise. Then he looked down at the new hole in his chest as if it had magically appeared there. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘There’s one.’

  ‘That’s going to have to be it for now!’ Jim said as he backed away from Dirk while still facing the camra. ‘Tune in next week for the next edition of Where Are They Now? featuring a profile of the original Halfling Giants, who all disappeared ten years ago during a pre-game feast co-hosted by the Orcland Raiders! Of course, that’s all assuming we survive our traditional post-show party today – which seems to have started a little early! Good night!’

  About the Author

  Matt Forbeck is the author of the Black Library novels Blood Bowl, Dead Ball, Death Match and Rumble in the Jungle, based on the Blood Bowl boardgame. He is a prolific author of science fiction and fantasy based in Beloit, Wisconsin.

  In a fantasy world where violence is a way of life, the number one sport is Blood Bowl - Gridiron where anything goes. Dirk ‘Dunk’ Hoffnung, once a barbarian swordsman, is now a rookie quarterback in the toughest football league you’ve ever seen. Follow his career as he goes from Most Promising Newcomer to MVP!

  A Black Library Publication

  Published in 2017 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd, Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.

  Produced by Games Workshop in Nottingham.

  Cover illustration by Wayne England.

  The Hack Attack © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2017. The Hack Attack, GW, Games Workshop, Black Library, Blood Bowl, Warhammer, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Stormcast Eternals, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world.

  All Rights Reserved.

  A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 978-1-78572-655-2

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

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  Matt Forbeck, The Hack Attack

 

 

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