On the official forums of Earth, data streams converged at an unprecedented speed. A post, published less than an hour ago, was skyrocketing in popularity like a nuclear reactor.
The title of the post was written in the most direct language:
"Want to fight alongside Lugger Huron, Severus Agman, and Cato Sicarius? Then sign up now!"
Below the post, the comment section was refreshing faster than the eye could read, with countless messages cascading down like a waterfall.
"Damn it, why only ogryn? I'm a battle-hardened veteran, don't I deserve to join? My laser gun skill can hit a rat's left eye from three hundred meters away!"
"Heh heh, do you even understand the ogryn's stats, upstairs? A battle-hardened veteran is nothing in front of us ogryn, alright? I can take on ten of you! One punch from me, and you might die!"
"Seriously, is no one curious about who Severus Agman is? How can he be on par with the Tyrant of the Maelstrom and the Master of Vigilance?"
"Hey, hey, hey, show some respect, upstairs! He's the future First Company Captain of the Ultramarines, after all!"
"Why did he become the First Company Captain? I've never even heard of him! I only know the First Company Captain is that one… uh, who was it again?"
"Because in the original story, the Ultramarines First Company was almost wiped out during the First Tyranid War. Agman was promoted on the spot from Second Company Captain to First Company Captain, and Sicarius filled the vacant Second Company Captain position."
"That's rough, so Captain Agman got promoted because his colleagues all died? That's too dark..."
All in all, the recruitment went exceptionally smoothly. The allure of "fighting alongside legendary figures" was fatally attractive to players. There were as many people eager to display their heroic prowess before Cato Sicarius as there were stray dogs on the street—this analogy might be disrespectful, but there were indeed many. Unfortunately, the strict requirement of "must be an ogryn" acted as an insurmountable chasm, mercilessly deterring over ninety-nine percent of applicants.
On the surface of Planditium, dust swirled across a vast plain that had been temporarily cleared.
Three thousand massive ogryn were assembled here, their colossal bodies gathered together, forming a forest of muscle and brute force.
"Alright, alright, stand still!" EGO's synthesized voice boomed across the land through loudspeakers deployed all around. "Sicarius and Huron are coming soon! You don't want them to arrive and see one of you picking your nose in public, do you!"
Hearing EGO's words, the somewhat unruly ogryn players immediately perked up. After a flurry of fumbling, they tried their best to stand perfectly straight, attempting to mimic the military posture in their memories.
Just then, accompanied by a roaring sound that tore through the air, a gray-blue thunderhawk gunship stirred up a sky full of sand and dust as it slowly descended to the edge of the open ground.
The hatch opened, and Lugger Huron's massive figure, clad in silver-blue power armor, was the first to emerge. When he saw the lines of ogryn before him—a bit crooked, but clearly trying their best to form a square formation—his eyes instantly widened.
"By the Emperor, what do I see?! A group of ogryn... in a neat square formation!" His voice was filled with incredulous astonishment.
Agman, who followed close behind, also stopped. His helmet's optical lens repeatedly scanned the scene before him, and he spoke in an equally shocked tone: "Unbelievable, I haven't even seen them scratch themselves! They... they are really standing seriously!"
Cato Sicarius, who emerged last, was even more deeply shocked. He made a gesture that sent a jolt through all the players—with a slight hiss of depressurization, he removed his iconic helmet, revealing his handsome and stern face.
"I don't smell anything..." he murmured, his eyes full of confusion. "These ogryn even took a serious bath before coming here!"
"Yes, these are our Helldivers's ogryn." EGO came up beside the three, smiling. Then, he turned to the formation and issued a command through the loudspeaker, "At ease!"
"Boom!"
The three Astartes watched as three thousand ogryn before them almost simultaneously extended their right feet. Although their movements varied in speed and the thud of their landing was somewhat uneven, they all executed the correct action!
"Attention!"
"Boom!" The ogryn really brought their feet together and stood at attention.
"Right—face!"
Amidst a clumsy turning sound, three thousand massive bodies uniformly turned to the right. Not a single ogryn got the direction wrong!
"Left—face!"
Similarly, not a single ogryn made a mistake!
EGO's virtual image turned back to face the three Space Marines, who were now dumbfounded, and smiled: "These are the Helldivers' ogryn. How do you feel?"
The infamous Tyrant of the Maelstrom, Lugger Huron, could barely stand. He involuntarily took a step back and clutched his dizzy head: "By the Emperor... this is too much for my worldview... are these... are these really ogryn?"
Agman also felt his understanding challenged. He stretched out a hand and pointed to an ogryn in the front row of the formation: "You, come up here."
"Me?" The ogryn player who was called upon pointed to himself, flattered.
"Yes, you."
The ogryn player immediately ran up excitedly, stopped in front of Agman, awkwardly saluted, and yelled at the top of his lungs: "Sir! My Name is Kobe Bryant Sir!"
"Alright, Bryant." There were too many things to comment on, leaving Agman speechless for a moment. He simply pointed to his chest plate, "With your greatest strength, strike my chest!"
Bryant scratched his bald head: "Uh, okay, Sir."
With that, he stomped forward, his massive fist whistling through the air, accurately hitting Agman's chest. There was a loud "thud," as if a battering ram had struck a city wall. Even the Space Marine, clad in ceramite armor, was knocked back several steps by the sheer impact before regaining his balance.
Agman clutched his somewhat aching chest, feeling the vibrations from within, his voice filled with the shock of final confirmation: "It's real... it's a real ogryn!"
Huron shook his head from the side, indicating: "I have nothing more to say."
EGO said: "How is it? I told you our 'Helldiver ogryn could help you, didn't I?"
Sicarius put his helmet back on, his voice coming through the helmet's communicator with a hint of excitement: "Of course, absolutely! I can't imagine anything that could, at short notice, withstand a mass charge of three thousand such ogryn!"
Huron finally recovered from his worldview-shattering state. He took a deep breath, and the fighting spirit reignited in his eyes: "Then, let's proceed with your plan... Once the Norn Emissary steps into a command post and is injured by a tactical nuclear bomb, we will immediately strike and heavily defeat those inferior xenos!"