Chapter 60: Five Million Missiles
In space, both sides exchanged continuous long-range artillery barrages. Within less than an hour, hundreds of Ork warships exploded into space debris.
Among fragmented wreckage, armored Orks, small Gretchin, and strange Squig could be seen floating freely.
Even in the vacuum of space, these Orks displayed no fear, gripping their weapons and attempting to charge toward the human fleet. Death held no meaning to them, only the war's continuation.
Just as several Mechanicum magos expressed disdain regarding Ork warship effectiveness, a shocking revelation occurred.
The Orks and Gretchin, floating among the battleship debris, slowly converged, then, directly within the vacuum, gradually constructed a humanoid mech exceeding 30 meters in height from fragmented wreckage.
Sage Albert the Wise exclaimed in alarm.
"Impossible! They have constructed a Warlord-class Battle Titan with such speed!"
Omega felt equally surprised by the capacity to assemble Titans from salvage. Yet as space possessed no gravity, the massive construct continued drifting until an Imperial Army laser cannon swiftly pierced and obliterated it.
Belief without foundation fell from the sky like anything else.
Observing numerous Ork warships charging forward, intent upon close-quarters attrition warfare, Omega refused to permit his battleships to suffer gradual degradation through such engagement.
He directly reorganized the formation.
Under the densely coordinated positioning of human battleships, the Alpha Legion maintained a majestic martial array with no flaws or blind spots. Countless energy cannons unleashed devastating barrages directly at advancing Ork vessels.
Innumerable Ork warships sustained damage and exploded in the exchange of fire. Laser detonations continuously illuminated the starfield.
By the time Ork warships reached close engagement range, only three to four hundred remained operational.
Without requiring orders, Imperial Army crews aboard numerous human battleships launched vast quantities of space torpedoes, swiftly destroying over one hundred heavily damaged Ork vessels at point-blank range.
As both fleets drew near, Ork weaponry gradually began inflicting damage upon human battleships.
Regardless of the Orks' fearless tenacity, Omega maintained his gaze upon the Ork flagship, which could not remain concealed among the dwindling human vessels. Command always wore a crown, however crude the material.
He immediately commanded the Sages to prepare the flagship's primary cannon for targeting.
The twenty-kilometer-long flagship's primary weapon is charged with immense energy. Amid countless laser exchanges, a colossal roar reverberated through the void.
A several-hundred-meter-wide energy cannon beam shot directly through space, threading gaps between Ork warships before striking the Ork flagship's position directly.
The mighty discharge shattered the Ork energy shield, striking with devastating force against the hull.
Boom!
As the Ork flagship's forward section erupted violently, the vessel suffered critical damage, black smoke streaming into space.
Through the haze, countless armored Orks could be faintly seen urgently conducting repairs, even as their ship died beneath them.
Thousands of human battleships attacked relentlessly. Ork warships continuously exploded into space debris.
Omega observed the wreckage of Ork vessels scattered throughout space. The debris field was beautiful in its own way, the architecture of victory.
The entire space battle extended approximately seven days, primarily because the star system's vast expanse required considerable transit time from initial detection to contact engagement.
The Alpha Legion sustained fifty human battleship losses, primarily due to Omega's adoption of a dense formation, creating no tactical gaps. Some vessels experienced shield failure due to excessive energy consumption, rendering them vulnerable to attack.
Fifty ships were acceptable arithmetic for three hundred Ork destroyers eliminated.
The human advantage proved absolutely overwhelming. In both battleship performance and numerical superiority, they completely suppressed the Ork fleet.
With the space engagement concluded, the actual primary objective awaited: the massive Ork army on Planet Veredian.
The surface-based Ork forces numbered in the tens of millions. When the space battle commenced, the planetary Orks had already initiated their gestalt psychic surge.
Destroying this army presented not a difficulty but a challenge, accomplishing this objective without incurring excessive casualties for allied forces. Omega's mathematics now required a new equation.
Continuous streams of planetary surface data accumulated, gradually forming a spherical tactical representation of planetary terrain before Omega.
Now the critical decision involved selecting optimal landing sites.
Given the vast number of missiles available, Omega decided to deploy Thunderhawk gunships into the atmosphere in sequential waves. Ork artillery thundered skyward in response.
Gunboats avoided concentrated Ork positions, instead selecting open terrain where Space Marines began establishing forward war bases rather than immediately launching offensive operations.
Simultaneously, reconnaissance aircraft entered the planetary atmosphere, collecting increasingly detailed data.
Omega dispatched vast bomber formations for comprehensive planetary bombardment. Transport planes carrying massive missile stockpiles and Mechanicus forces moved into the war bases.
At this point, over half of Planet Veredian's surface faced continuous bombardment and missile strikes from aerial formations comprising hundreds of thousands of aircraft.
Extensive data on Ork strongholds worldwide was organized within the space fleet and continuously transmitted to countless flying units suspended at high altitude.
Numerous critical Ork installations across half the planetary surface were systematically and precisely struck and eliminated by relentless missile barrages.
The Alpha Legion had thoroughly practiced missile deployment strategies throughout the Calicus Sector across numerous worlds.
This was repetition at scale, perfected technique executed with resources beyond measure.
However, the Ork army possessed countermeasures against aerial bombardment. They continuously discharged artillery from Ork bases, systematically shooting down aircraft.
They learned. They adapted. They never stopped.
Each time an aircraft crashed and exploded, the Orks erupted in excited cheers, each loss feeding their gestalt field.
Millions of Orks on the surface, disregarding aerial bombardment, forcibly charged toward the human war base to initiate ground combat.
They could not help themselves. War was their nature.
The human contingent rapidly transported Imperial Army soldiers, Mechanicus forces, and Alpha Space Marines to ground installations, constructing war fortresses across various terrains throughout half the planet to defend critical strategic positions.
Both sides raced against time.
When five million Orks approached the war base from thousands of kilometers distant, countless missiles were launched for long-range strikes.
An uncountable green tide covered mountains and plains, a vast Ork horde stretching to the horizon.
They were heavily armed; countless Gretchin wielded firearms. Masses of Squig marched majestically across mountainous terrain. Every Ork Boy wore protective armor and wielded machine guns.
Heavy, equipped combat units forged by violence and shaped by endless war.
Among them ranged mobile fast-attack Ork formations, assault units mounted upon Squig, Burnaboyz carrying flamethrower cannons, and demolition specialists equipped to penetrate heavy vehicles.
Within the Ork army dwelt countless full-body mechanized constructs, Deff Dreads bearing multiple mechanical arms, various fifteen-meter-tall Gorkanauts and Morkanauts, and heavily armored Super Heavy walkers.
Even within the vast millions-strong Ork horde, towering forty-meter-tall humanoid Ork Mega Walkers existed, equipped with extensive weapons arrays.
Flying bomber units attempted bombing runs, yet frequently, after only a few missile deployments, Ork anti-aircraft fire shot them down directly. The Orks were adapting in real time, learning through blood and flame.
The sound of explosions, like celebratory gunfire, continuously excited the Ork army into a frenetic gestalt furor.
Observing from orbit, Omega ordered flying units to attack alternate Ork strongholds while countless missile formations were readied for these advancing Ork armies.
The human war base resembled a constantly growing organism, with countless missiles launching skyward like festival fireworks, each a statement of absolute will.
Veredian's atmosphere, with millions of missiles creating a torrent, traversed the clear sky. One might have mistaken the sight for migrating bird flocks covering the heavens, obscuring the sun, and making an absolutely astonishing, awe-inspiring spectacle of industrial violence.
Millions of missiles crossed the sky, rapidly reaching the Ork army thousands of kilometers away and plummeting downward like judgment incarnate.
Millions of Orks roared, firing futilely into the sky, defiant in the face of the inevitable.
Though the missile clouds, dense as obscuring haze, were occasionally struck and detonated, their sheer number and velocity proved too great. They continued descending, unstoppable.
At this moment, the massive human fleet in space observed this scene in stunned silence. Even the Imperial Army and Space Marines at the war bases watched in absolute awe.
Hundreds of thousands of flying units suspended in the atmosphere stood astonished at the sky-covering missile bombardment, a storm made flesh, delivered by will and metallurgy.
Countless missiles descended, piercing directly through the green tide formed by millions of Orks spanning mountains and plains.
Boom, boom, boom! As countless missiles struck, continuous explosions erupted across hundreds of kilometers.
The entire landscape was engulfed in roiling dust, as if no part of the terrain remained unscathed. The world itself seemed to erupt.
Countless Orks, Gretchin, Squigs, and subordinates were blasted screaming into the sky, their war cries lost in the roar of the detonation.
Yet the dense missile torrent in the sky, obscuring the sun itself, continuously rained down with mechanical indifference.
Under relentless explosive barrages, whether armored Ork Boys or towering Ork Mega Walkers, all were obliterated.
The Gestalt psychic surge meant nothing against such overwhelming firepower. Belief could not withstand the application of mathematics on an industrial scale.
After five million missiles descended, the hundreds of kilometers surrounding the Ork army transformed into rolling dust clouds that soared into the upper atmosphere.
Where ten million Orks had marched, now there was only silence and ash.
[End of Chapter]
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