Okay, so next chapter there is going to be a month-long time skip. Just because I don't want everyone to be sitting here for several chapters just reading Michael's expanding defense plan. Or the Orks being grown, so I'm going to fast forwards a bit.
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The Genestealer flopped to the grass exhausted. Having injected dozens upon dozens of bodies with the necessary fluid of genetic material into the empty stumps of their necks. It was a lot easier to pierce than the bulging skin. I had many planted into the holes, some a few feet, others a few inches and many just left somewhat in the ground. Spacing varied between bodies and I hoped this experimentation would help me figure out the best way to grow Orks. Cheap manpower I could get from just infecting bodies and planting them felt better than spending resources on many spawning pools, the more battles I'd win the better situation I'd be in. I was still going to do that but if I was going to be massacring Orks might as well ensure the ones that grow after are on my side. Plus it would be free walking biomass to use later.
With the battle over I had the busted bunker hastily rebuilt. Although that was a serious challenge as said bunker was still a bit on fire. So clump after clump of dirt was poured over it to smother the flames. That done there was now broken wood, and the hole I had made there previously had grown thanks to the rockets fired. It took the rest of the day for my Centaurs to get done. It was worth it though, as only fifteen Termagants and five spore mines were lost in that engagement. A worthwhile price.
"Why are we adding the Greenskins to the brood?" Absalom inquired leaning over to inspect one of the bodies.
"More grunts for the army," I shrugged. "They'll be good combatants for my army."
Absalom turned and gave me a quizzical look. "Why make these savages members of the family. The Xenos profile I read said these beasts don't even understand the concept of peace. They are warlike in every possible sense and cannot find familial bonds within the brood..."
"Ah right, he thinks Genestealer Cults are like a family. So he's weirded out that I'm trying to induct them in."
"The Orks are but a means to an end. They are to assist in the conquest of this work for the brood and shall be processed to fuel it later."
"I see..." He nodded slowly and I tried to find the wording to get Absalom to see things my way and agree with my actions. But I could only draw a blank here.
"To him this is like asking someone to accept a gun as a brother."
So instead I decided I was just going to change the subject. "How do you like our new home?"
He straightened and gazed at the tree line taking in a deep breath as if he was soaking in the environment for the first time. "It feels a lot like Typhon."
I couldn't have but laugh as that was my initial reaction too. This place was basically just Typhon just... However many lightyears away from the place. "But how does it fare as a home for us?"
"Plenty of sustenance for the brood to thrive off of, the fleet shall grow fat and happy off of the land. This place shall be monumentally important for the holy mission."
"Is it me or is he getting more and more religious as time goes on..?"
"But do you enjoy the land? We are going to be living here for the foreseeable future and building homes, and starting a settlement. What do you think about that?" I asked more bluntly
Absalom shrugged. "The brood can take up residence anywhere it needs to. This place is more than suited for our survival."
"That's that then..." I had a hard time accepting there was no way to reverse this process. It was a fact of their life and I was going to make this place a paradise for them.
There was a buzz in my ear, at first I thought a bug came close but a wave of my hand dispelled the theory. The back of my neck felt tingly and I focused on the buzz so soon enough I learned it some of my scouts were trying to call. The Lictors were reporting back there was an Ork encampment out there... One that seemed like it was a day away from where we landed.
"Oh, that's not gonna fly."
The Ork camp had to go before it mobilized another force or altered other camps further away from my presence. The death of that Nob might have caused a minor power vacuum there and the longer I dallied the less time I would have to act. So I decided to mass whatever I could and set out early the next morning. It wasn't a long walk, because I had one run there while I rode my Tyranid Warrior most of the way. It was the tank-sized Centaurs that had to huff it the way there. But it was like I planned to attack the camp the moment I got there. Some scouting was necessary.
"I wanted to make sure this problem is over and my landing zone secured. At least until I could properly fortify things to the extent I wanted."
So I left Absalom behind with strict orders not to come and Hormagaunt bodyguards to both chaperone and protect him. While I took most of my Gaunts, the Genestealer, the dozen Raveners, and half my Centaurs to head over and...
Figure out an attack plan once I got there...
I heard the gunshots long before I found the camp. First thought, the death of that Nob might have caused a serious power vacuum here or it's just Orks being themselves without an enemy. Second thought, holy heaven that is a massive camp!
I was at the tree line with a lengthy open space of dead grass and mud to a long wooden wall. The place could have been three times the size of my handing zone and was likely pace with Orks. The ones I fought might have just been a curious band for one Nob. If they mobilized a large enough force I would be screwed...
"I was right to come here, I'm going to take this place out and need some intel on the place." I turned to the Tyranid Warrior and wondered just how many Gargoyles it would take to carry it into the sky...
I honestly considered having my eyes and ears raised into the sky to peer over the came. However, as inaccurate as the Orks were as soon as they saw a fight a lot of them would go chasing after it. Leaving me without the element of surprise.
Trying to assault this place with what I had wasn't going to work out. There didn't seem to be any sentries or patrols, they were Orks and not very sophisticated ones. Hence the lack of gun turrets or protecting the place or smog showing off factories and a vehicle pool. Yet I wasn't under the delusion that lacking such a thing meant hitting the place in a direct attack would end well. The Orks would probably get momentarily surprised and I'd kill a lot of them in the process but they'd quickly rally upon seeing a fight present. I didn't even know how many were inside. There was likely to be several hundred to a thousand at most within.
"I set I high bar before and was proven right, I shouldn't be doing the opposite now."
Launching an assault wasn't going to work, but getting them to rip one another apart might do the trick. Ork had a glaring weakness with their leadership dying things tend to descend into a free for all with most getting slaughtered until one Ork manages to rise above the rest. If I could kill a few more Nobs and their Boss then the band would do most of my work and I'd just be dealing with stragglers.
However, how to do that was where things got tricky. My first thought, the Lictors go in and kill as many Nobs as they could. These were decent killing machines that could go toe to toe with Astartes and could camouflage.
But said camouflage was made fit thick foliage and even if they made it past every Ork as soon as they attack one Nob. Every last one of them will come running. So that was a no-go.
My second plan was to have Gargoyles fly over with sore mine to bomb them but that was no guarantee of hitting any Nob. Plus it would immediately alert the attention of the Orks to our presence fast. No, I needed something to take out most of them to sow the discourse I wanted...
"Do we need to be the one who kills them?" Orks are very territorial and protective of their stuff. An idea began to form and I sent a message to the Cruiser in Orbit.
"Can you make a ripper swarm? With a heavily modified one and more spore mines."
My reinforcements consisted of thirty little scarpering Rippers and enough spore mines that my Gargoyles could carry two in each clawed foot. I had sent my flyers back to pick them up and some had rippers clinging to them as ticks. They let go the moment the Gargoyles weaved through the trees and landed here. The Centaurs had managed to arrive before they did and thankfully the sun was ducking below the trees because the concealment of my army was going to help.
The fighting within the camp sounded to be over, I hear little gunfire from when I first got there. So perhaps the loss of that Nob had been sorted out. Now having all my Rippers assembling before me they were as ravenous as described. Mouths filled with sharpened teeth, their many small legs allowing for a speed that could keep with the average running guy. Their whole existence was built for filling up with biomass and then jumping into a digestive pool.
Then there was the special one I had made, one creature that even the Tyranid Warrior stared at with interest. It had expanded brain matter and density, its head plate bulged out to express that, and as I held the cat-sized creature in my hand. It wasn't just smarter, I manage to get this thing a true synaptic link. Within a few moments, I was able to connect with it and peered through its eyes and into mine own. A smile came over my lips, my eyes and ears for this mission. I laid it down and had all of them with forwards to the Ork camp I relaxed and tried everything in my power to keep the Ripper and I connected. But man did was the speed it was going at a lot for my mind to handle, I felt myself getting nauseous after a few minutes. Soon enough they made it to the camp and the real mission began.
Getting inside was simple enough. They all just went along the wall until they found a spot between logs they could dig and squeezed through. Inside was about what one expected to find in an Ork camp if they read any 40K book about them.
Pointed tents made of wood, branches, and hides of animals all packed tightly together and tied at the top. Some were slightly more sophisticated domes and all were various sizes and placed extremely tightly. Torches and fire pits lit the entire place up so it wasn't hard to see. The pathways through the came were both wide and narrow on the same road. There were remnants of crushed tents like these weren't planned roads but ones that kinda just cropped up because of the general movement of the Orks. Gretchen rushed between the lumbering Ork carrying guns, shiny ores, or scrap metal. I had any squigs they saw given wide berths. I wasn't sure if they could sniff out my little infiltrated but better safe than sorry.
They had all fanned out and kept scurrying through the thing spaces between tents in various lines. The Ork didn't notice them, in fact, they didn't seem to care what was in their way other than other Orks. Gretchen had to keep moving to avoid getting kicked or stepped on. One even caught sight of my enhanced Ripper and tried shouting something but the flat of an ax sent the poor creature flying through the thin fabric of a nearby tent. Said Orks were too busy brewing something to care what the 'grot' was trying to say.
I had one group of six Rippers break off to find and armor and some grenades, leaving with the best description of what that would be like. My Rippers kept traveling until they made it to the center of the camp where I assumed the Nob and Boss would be. Sure enough, the largest tents, fire circles, and far larger makeshift cauldrons were there. This had to be where the high-ranking Orks lived. Exemplified by the fact there were nine massive Orks milling around by themselves all occupied with the largest and most bizarre-looking armor available. Plus the spacious nature of the place showed they were tough enough to lay claim over it.
My rippers moved cautiously into the place, the enhanced one eye up the various weapons laying causally by the Orks. I got to know who seemed to who owned what and thanked that they just left the stuff just sitting next to them while they boiled pots of whatever. I thankfully had sole grenades in the route which would take the next step easier. The Orks ladies about and a diversion was needed. The flimsy tent designs made that perfect as I was easily able to get some Rippers inside and got ham on anything that looked like a support beam. Soon enough it came down and my infiltrators scattered. Into hiding positions and thankfully one of the Nobs stood up and rushed over to his tent to figure out what happened. Leaving his cumbersome ax unattended. With every Nob staring that the seemingly random situation I was able to direct my enhanced Ripper and its cohort into carrying it over to another Nob. So focused at laugh at the misfortune of his fellow he didn't notice the ax is laid at his feet.
I waited for the right moment before having a ripper tip over the ax blade to tap the Nob's foot. He looked down and curiously picked up the tool just as its true owner turned and was already infuriated at having his home falling down and laughed at but now seeing another Ork in possession of his property.
"OI GIT!" He cried out and marched right over. The Nob sitting rose to his feet sensing the challenge and the others watched intently.
"Da's my choppa! Give it 'ere!" Instead of returning it the Nob, not one to be meek, tossed it away.
"Go 'nd get it ya grot." He said it in what could only amount to a mocking tone and that set the other off who grabbed at him. They two got into a scuffle as the remaining Nobs cheered at the sudden injection of violence into today. They were so loud in fact that it began to attract many of the surrounding boys. The two punched and shoved one another until one was pushed into one of the larger cauldrons in front of the largest tent. Spilling the green contents to the floor and burning the Nob's legs in the fire pit. He managed to get out in time but was also even angrier than before.
A gun was stripped off his back and was forced to the side by the hand of the other Nob. Emptying a burst of bullets into the crowd that was forming and Swiss cheesing one of the Orks. The results were immediate, some boys started firing into the air others began swinging their own choppas or fists at one another. Things were going well, the grenades I ordered would be here soon and the rest of my plan would be set in motion.
Four attack groups of my brood had been set up just at the edge of the woods for three entrances to the Ork camp. The Tyranid Warrior would be leading from the easternmost gate closest to me. I was mostly going to be relying on my sargents for keeping my army in line though.
"Oi!" A loud roar had all of them turning to look at the entrance of the largest rectangular tent. Out came the biggest and most well-equipped Ork I'd seen yet. Their boss, without a doubt. The Ork lumbered forwards and shouted once more.
"Da zoggin 'ell is all dis racket!" The warboss eyed the spilled pot and seemed to sour even more. "You grox better 'ave a reason ta spill my BREW!"
"It wunt my falt Boss!" The Nob that was pushed into the pot pointed to his assailant. "Da git stole my choppa and den 'it me."
He got another shove from the guy. "You iz the grot! " Two immediately descended back into a general brawl and the boss got involved to beat both of them to the ground. Likely just to vent his frustration at losing his 'brew' whatever it was. By this time basically, the whole camp had arrived to see what the commotion was about. I had pretty much the entire camp watching and now I had the grenades ready. All my little infiltrators fanned out two to each Nob and four to the boss.
One held a yellow-painted grenade in its mouth and another would pull it using its miniature claws. The enhanced Ripper took the pin of one in that fashion and as soon as I had confirmation that all were ready pulled it. The rippers with live explosives surged forwards and lept onto the backs of each Orks. There was a moment of surprise seconds before the blasts tore open their bodies. The makeshift explosive was made to be as big and flashy as Orks always made things. While the Nobs had died from the blasts the boss had managed to somehow live through even though his bottom half no longer existed.
The Ork crowd that had gathered just stared at what happened with great confusion. Until some of them decide it was an invitation to start partying. And by partying I mean start spewing bullets and hacking at one another once more.
They were Orks after all.
The Rippers didn't survive as the entire camp was engulfed in gunfire and screams of Waaaagh. It went like that even after the sun disappeared and darkness further engulfed the surrounding area. My brood surrounded the camp on three sides, I felt like surrounding it was a bit unnecessary as the Orks were already in a killing frenzy. A fight would only spur them on even further, that was the neat thing about Orks, they were fairly predictable.
It was only when the gunfire and sounds of battle died down did I order my troops to move in. The place didn't really have gates, just wide openings and a long distance to it. A few makeshift watchtowers were here and there but all were unmanned. With the exception of a few guards to protect me, I viewed things from my Tyranid Warrior.
This wouldn't necessarily be the trial by fire as I had waited for the Orks to rip one another apart before moving in. It's not that I was against the idea of burying an enemy in a mountain of corpses but if I could avoid and same the troops and Biomass. Then, yeah I would take the ladder option each and every time.
My broods were mostly going to methodically move forwards letting my ranged Termagants and Centaurs just soot at anything. With my Hormagaunts, Lictors, and Ravener to hack apart anything that got within melee range. Or just soak up gunfire. While the Orks were inaccurate, I'd prefer if they aimed at the easily replaceable Gaunts than Centaurs. Gargoyles flew over to eye up the place and send messages out to any groups of Orks spotted and any they might be trying to flee, just in case.
There were some serious pockets of resistance, with many shoota boys taking up posting over unturned tables, machine guns, and sending a few rockets and grenades to dissuade any frontal attack and get my Centaurs and Tyranid Warrior to keep low. I would need to expend a few of my numbers to take them out if I didn't have my spore mines and Gargoyles. A pack of four dived over it and each dropped one of their payloads to detonate over the greenskins. They were blown away by the conclusive blast and coated with strong acid that burned away their makeshift armor and flesh. This happened a few times all to the same end result.
Thankfully things seemed to be going just that way as any of the remaining Orks that saw us charged like maniacs and were cut down in moments. Gretchen was the only one with enough sense to flee but they weren't faster than my Hormagaunts. Squigs were hard to hit but they too fell soon enough. This wasn't a battle like yesterday, mostly just a clean-up operation, every inch of the camp was searched and Ork heads cut off to make certain they were dead.
At first I thought I'd might make it through this without any casualties and only a few superficial wounds on my Gaunts and Centaurs. That was the telepathic impression I was getting from each group, but it was when everyone was fanning outdid one well-armed Ork popped out from a tent and fired a barrage of rockets at my directing Tyranid Warrior.
As soon as it died I scream bloody murder and my head thumped against the tree I was leaning against. That didn't help the pounding headache that appeared, and I huffed out air.
"I just died!" Crying out before calming my nerves, the synaptic creature I was connected with died and said connected made me... I was glad to have disconnected from the enhanced Ripper before it was crushed underfoot. I glanced up at the camp and realized that I didn't feel any of my broke within so I reestablished the link.
Sighing gratefully to find that no one else had died and they seemed to be following the same orders as before. Harder to see without eyes on the ground but I could feel them still in line. Definitely thanks to the sargents efforts.
I relaxed, this camp was no longer an issue and I would have a lot more time to reinforce my position and wait for my hybridized Orks to grow. Speaking of which. Here were a lot more bodies to be used in growing my army. Taking what could have been at least a thousand bodies back to the landing zone was inefficient and we didn't have enough space there. So I'd just space them out here and leave some Gaunts to watch over the place. When the Orks spawned they'd have plenty of scrap and weapons to use here.
"I'm going to need a lot more Genestealers to get all these bodies infected." All in all, I was pretty happy with how this all turned out.
Like I said at the top there will be a month-long time skip for next chapter.
