Warhammer: Saving Humanity Begins with the Resurrection of Horus

Page 131

“I know what you’re worried about. You suspect that it might be a trap deliberately set by the Ripper, waiting for its prey to bite, even willing to put itself there as bait.”

Horus succinctly revealed Lynch's inner thoughts, and then, looking at the other man, he spoke slowly and deliberately.

Don't worry so much.

"why?"

Why do you feel like this bait is meant for us to take?

Lin Qi blinked, his tone becoming hesitant.

"you mean........."

“Yes.” Horus’s voice turned serious as he used psionic energy to construct a star map visible only to him and Lynch. “You’ve overlooked the most crucial element of the intelligence: time.”

On the star map, a ribbon of interwoven red and green shimmered deep within the great vortex, representing the forces of war between the orcs and chaos. Horus snapped his fingers, and several numbers immediately appeared on the ribbon.

"According to available intelligence, the orcs and Chaos have been fighting for nearly a few years, with large-scale conflicts occurring only in the last year. Yet, in this recent period, the orcs' front lines have suffered repeated defeats, showing clear signs of decline."

"The main star is indeed a trap, but it's a trap left by the Rippers for Chaos."

"Yes."

Horus channeled his psychic energy, the star map dissipated, and in its place appeared a green planet.

The planet's surface gleamed with orcish fangs, representing the orcs' home planet—Skur.

My father once told me something: Earthworms can be used as bait to catch small fish, but if a shark bites and won't let go...

Horus and Lynch watched together as the psionic images of the planet were created. Then, as the psionic energy dissipated, the planet shattered and turned into shimmering specks of light.

"Then it's no different from suicide."

"And coincidentally, they have no way to let go."

Lin Qi took a deep breath, his gaze hardening.

Three minutes later, a message was sent from the Wolf Shepherd and quickly spread throughout the entire fleet.

"The Firehawk Chapter's Starfortress is stationed at this point to assist the Mechanicus in constructing a logistical base. Everyone else, proceed immediately to the nearest Mandel point to prepare for a warp jump. Jump target: the Orc Prime Planet, Skul."

Chapter 160 The Ripper's Anxiety

For Ripper, each day on Skul only intensified his anxiety.

Since the war with those strange shrimps deep in the vortex several years ago, his men have been losing more and more, but those shrimps show no signs of weakness. It's as if his men are automatically respawning; every time he kills one batch, a second batch immediately appears the next day.

As a result, the number of orcs under the Ripper's command dwindled, and warships were damaged one after another. They went from being a pile of "rubble" to being rubble itself.

Seeing that his grand Waghhh plan was about to fail before it even got out of the vortex, Ripper's mind suddenly flashed with astonishing wisdom—he chose to leave the front lines and return to his base camp, Skul, and even made it look like the defenses were weak, waiting for those strange shrimps to carry out their decapitation plan against him.

The Ripper believed that with his strength, the person sent by the shrimps to behead him would definitely be their leader. And killing the leader would mean winning half the battle.

So the Ripper waited and waited on Skul, and in the blink of an eye, three months had passed.

But those strange shrimps didn't make a move at all, the offensive at the front was as fierce as ever, and his own men were losing even faster after losing his personal command.

damn it.

Ripper picked up a wine glass that was the size of a normal orc chieftain's skull and gulped down a mouthful of wine.

Having come this far, Ripper understands that he is not some so-called chosen one, Waghhhh, but just an ordinary orc leader who is a bit luckier.

On his deathbed, he was helped by another orc, a renowned orc named Gosnik the Mad Doctor.

This madman attempted to recreate the same miracle on Ripper as it had on Bonecrusher. He cut open Ripper's skull and stitched it back together with a piece of adamantite steel, then replaced it with an enormous and violent mechanical claw, followed by a series of frenzied, meaningless rituals.

The mad doctor succeeded, but he also failed.

Success came because the Ripper truly heard the voice of Brother Gao Mao, felt Brother Gao Mao's gaze, and received his blessing, just like the Bone Crusher.

However, the failure stemmed from the fact that, unlike the Bonebreaker, the Second Brother of the Orcs didn't linger his gaze on the Ripper for as long. The blessing remained, but the gaze had departed, and the Ripper could no longer hear the voices of the two Orc gods.

The Mad Doctor left in disappointment, while the Ripper was reborn through its surgery, quickly unifying its planet and, in just a few years, integrating the surrounding orcs, and waging war against its strange shrimp neighbors deep in the vortex.

As a result, I was met with a rebuff.

The Ripper was actually terrified. Although it possessed immense power, even surpassing that of the largest of those strange shrimp, it always believed that it was simply lucky. It was merely an inferior copy of the Bonebreaker, a failed product of good fortune.

That's why it was able to integrate the orcs of the Great Vortex so quickly and launch attacks on other factions within it.

Because it wants to prove itself, to hear Mao Zedong's voice again, and to receive his eternal blessing.

But it now faces failure, and as time goes on, that failure draws ever closer.

Why haven't you come yet?

The Ripper was worried; if the enemy didn't fall into the trap he had specially prepared, he would have to return to the front lines.

But if he returned to the front lines, all he could do was postpone the inevitable defeat.

Ugh.

The Ripper sighed, rose from his throne, and walked out of the magnificent palace that had been built.

The sky was a hazy green, a result of the powerful Waghhhh force field distorting the world amidst the presence of countless orcs.

Under such a powerful Waghhhh force field, even an orbital strike from an enemy warship would hardly pose a threat to the planet.

This is why Ripper waits for the enemy to come and challenge him to a duel. With orbital strikes ineffective, the enemy has no choice but to come to the surface and behead him first.

On the earth, more than ten orcish titans, each as large as a small mountain, stood tall—Gangart. Thick black smoke billowed from these terrifying war machines, and hordes of ghouls and orc lads climbed up and down them.

Their bizarre shapes and strange structures would surely make a Mechanicus priest kneel and proclaim that Omnisea does not exist among these aliens.

The Ripper surveyed the scene before him, savoring the view. This kingdom was a testament to his power, and the very foundation he had originally planned to use to acquire the power of Mao Erge.

"Hey! Boss! You're here!"

An orc psionic boy stumbled over, accompanied by several guards. He looked at the Ripper and shouted excitedly.

The Ripper turned his head and looked calmly at the kid under his command.

"what happened?"

The Ripper spoke, his voice booming like thunder.

The psionic boy was so shocked that he stood at attention on the spot, his whole body trembling and his teeth chattering. He looked at his boss and was speechless for a moment.

"Boss... Boss..."

"speak nicely!"

"Boss!"

The psionic boy immediately stood at attention, looked at Ripper, and prepared to tell him what he had just learned.

"Boss, he..."

Before he could finish speaking, Psykim suddenly froze, tilting his head back, mouth agape, staring blankly at the sky.

The Ripper frowned, just about to say something, when he immediately heard a sound.

It suddenly turned its head, only to see a rain of fire falling from the sky, seemingly never-ending.

"They're coming."

The Ripper muttered to himself, with excitement.

"No!"

"Psykim Boy shouted sharply, denying his boss's statement."

"Not them!"

The Ripper's gaze shifted; he looked at the boy, awaiting an answer.

But to his surprise, the kid screamed in the next second.

“He’s coming!”

A piercing scream echoed through the air, the boy's eyes flashed with a dazzling white light, and then his brain exploded.

The Ripper looked at everything before him, and his expression finally changed.

Meanwhile, on Skul's orbit, the think tanks of various chapters gathered together. They all closed their eyes and concentrated, exerting their full power of psionic abilities.

Lin Qi closed his eyes, sensing the weakening of the Waghhhh force field on the planet. He took a deep breath and nodded to Gawain beside him.

Next, the decapitation plan officially began.

Chapter 161 The Tide of War

"go ahead!"

Leo roared and charged forward, swinging his power sword and instantly beheading an orc.

Blood splattered as the orc's head traced a perfect parabola through the air before crashing to the ground. It was then crushed into a pool of bloody pulp by the tracks of the speeding Land Raider. The Star Claw's first and third companies were working together, their objective being to clear a large enough area for the subsequent mortal forces to land.

As of now, three Terran hours have passed in this coalition-led offensive.

On the ground, the orcs possessed immense power. As if anticipating their arrival, they constructed numerous fortifications and trenches. Countless artillery pieces stood behind their positions, each salvo capable of causing the earth to tremble.

However, the orcs still made a mistake—they underestimated the strength of their enemy and never expected that what was coming this time would be an assault by ten thousand Astartes in airdrop pods and transport vehicles.

The artillery positions were overrun by armored vehicles from the Mantis Warriors and Firehawks after the first firing. The Terminator Force, composed of Man-eating Shark and Tauren warriors, stormed into the trenches, using thunder hammers, lightning claws, and various powered weapons to turn the stubbornly resisting orcs into dissipating blood mist.

The orcs on the perimeter were quickly cleared out, and the army composed of mortals began to come to the surface to fill the gaps in the Astartes' battle lines.

The main cannons of Lemanrus roared, and at the commissar's whistle, the Kriegs in grey overcoats and the Carthians in shell armor charged together. Various cannons were deployed, followed by a roar even louder than the orcs' artillery volleys.

Many orcs and ghouls cowered in their bunkers, trembling with fear after their leaders died. Behind the lines, orc leaders roared angrily, organizing their young men who had just been awakened from their sleep or relaxation, to grab their equipment and fight the suddenly appearing ghouls.

Artillery can't reach this area, and the forces of Astartes and the Astral Army don't seem poised to advance anytime soon. These orc leaders appear to be able to calmly organize their forces and then rush to the front lines to fight.

But is this really the case?

"The alien commanders believe that hiding in the forward bunkers and behind their soldiers, several kilometers away, will shield them from the Emperor's wrath and allow them to launch a counterattack against us with ease." Johanna Van Meer, Colonel of Alicia's 13th Airborne Regiment, echoed through the communications system. "That's a foolish idea, because they haven't considered us. The Emperor wishes you peace, good lads. We'll be airdropping in two minutes."

Thunderhawks and Stormbirds streaked across the sky, followed by a large number of Valkyrie fighters. They left long contrails in the green sky, and the roar of their engines could be clearly heard even several kilometers away.

The orc leaders all looked up, staring intently at the vehicles of these nobody's passing creatures. But soon, they noticed that in one spot where these creatures' vehicles had flown, thousands of small black dots began to appear.

Before they could react, scorching beams of light rained down, piercing through the bodies of orcs one by one. The well-equipped Alicia paratroopers, along with the Weeping Ones and Flesh-Tearers, fought in unison. Like a deadly dagger, they swiftly disrupted the orcs' counterattack from behind their lines, causing widespread chaos.