36: Chapter 36 Orbital Bombing

Finally, Mogg decided to make a decision that went against most Orks, but fit the Blood Axe Clan perfectly.

"Orbital bombardment," he ordered in a deep voice, "Use all cannons to blast that hunk of metal city!"

The gods worshipped by Orks are Gork and Mork.

Gork is brutal but cunning, smashing an opponent's head from the front before knocking them down from behind; Mork is cunning but brutal, smashing an opponent's head from behind before knocking them down from the front.

For Orks, orbital bombardment before a war is like a boring menu introduction before a feast.

They would much rather fire their cannons into the void because it is cool, very "WAAAGH~", and very "satisfying."

What Orks truly crave is the revelry itself—tearing open the packaging, gorging themselves, and getting grease all over their hands. They want to pilot their rickety landing pods, howling as they charge into enemy ranks, enjoying every second of the slaughter, the impact of fist hitting flesh, and either killing the enemy or being killed by them.

After all, the meaning of "WAAAGH!!!" has always been to "charge in together," see the terrified expressions on the enemy's faces with one's own eyes, and then enjoy the fun of destruction.

Among all Ork clans, only the Blood Axe Clan calculates losses; only they believe that a "tactical withdrawal" is for the sake of a better "WAAAGH!!!".

And only their clan employs tactics, because they are too close to the Empire, have learned some human behaviors, and sometimes even trade with certain Imperial worlds.

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The Ork fleet began to quickly adjust its formation, with 8 battleships and 24 strike cruisers aiming their cannons at Vulcan-IV.

The shells—orbital drop pods—were manufactured one by one by the Mekboyz on board. They were disposable tin barrels pasted together with scrap metal plates and unknown adhesives, then filled with Gretchin, Ork explosives, and various unidentified metal shards.

The flagship "Da Kill-Ship" fired first with its main cannon—a super macro-cannon made by bundling countless gun barrels together.

The next second, thousands of macro-cannon projectiles, trailing fiery exhaust, smashed toward the ground, accompanied by countless disposable tin barrels (landing pods) and innumerable pieces of scrap metal and machinery, all pouring down from orbit.

However, the planetary shield generator of the Icarus industrial city had already deployed a milky-white energy shield.

All the incoming projectiles, tin barrels, and scrap metal suddenly deflected eerily at a distance of fifty kilometers from the surface.

Energy ripples spread across the surface of the shield. The macro-cannon projectiles, tin barrels, and those unknown pieces of debris were like stones thrown into water; after creating ripples, they were deflected in completely random directions.

Some projectiles were deflected into the depths of space, while others, after being deflected, smashed straight down toward the ground—smashing into the Ork forces that were currently being surrounded and annihilated by attack and precision drones!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Green mushroom clouds rose one after another on the battlefield where the Orks and drones were engaged. More Ork Boyz were killed by their own shells than by the drones and turrets!

"Stop! Stop now!" Mogg's heart was bleeding. He was furious, roaring, "Stop firing! If you keep firing, our own people will all be dead!"

Just then, Icarus's electromagnetic railguns suddenly opened fire!

Four volleys hit the same Ork battleship with precision!

The void shield completely overloaded and collapsed on the third volley, and the fourth volley of projectiles pierced directly through the hull, forcibly punching 16 huge holes into the ship.

The moment the magnetized plasma penetrated the battleship, it left behind a scorching molten tunnel, and then the entire battleship quietly disintegrated on its own—no explosion, no flash of fire, just like a ball of bait kneaded for fishing, instantly dispersing upon being thrown into the water.

The Ork Logic that the Orks were so proud of had a negative effect here.

When the Orks all felt that this battleship could not withstand such an attack, it truly could not.

The Ork strike fleet panicked and hurriedly maneuvered to evade, desperately trying to bypass the railguns' firing range.

But in this evasion, they also completely lost the firing angle to bombard the Icarus industrial city.

Just as the Ork fleet was in a dilemma, Icarus's fleet warp system was already prepared.

[Space Defense Activated]

- Fleet Squad × 8 (16 destroyers + 32 frigates)

- Space Hangar: 200 reserve ships

- Loss Replenishment Protocol: Activated

Phantasmal ship silhouettes composed of blue data streams slowly appeared in the void, then rapidly solidified from the stern to the bow.

The entire Icarus fleet thus fully appeared in the void.

What was even more terrifying was that these "blueprint phantoms" were not stationary during the solidification process—they were performing tactical maneuvers and evading attacks while solidifying. Even though they had not finished solidifying and could not counterattack, they were already seizing the initiative on the battlefield.

The Ork fleet was completely stuck in an awkward situation: if they attacked, they couldn't hit (the Icarus ships were too fast and maneuverable); if they didn't attack, they were constantly harassed.

A Mekboy, unconvinced, stood at the front of the bridge, closed his eyes, and began to "think" with all his might.

"Ork Logic... I must be able to hit!" he muttered to himself, his tone incomparably firm.

Some indescribable power spread rapidly through the WAAAGH! field.

During the next volley of macro-cannons, the trajectories of the projectiles suddenly bent eerily, as if guided by an invisible hand, accurately hitting eight Icarus frigates and six destroyers.

The intense light of explosions bloomed brilliantly in the void.

But the moment the ships were destroyed, blue data streams appeared again—the destroyed ships were actually replenished to their original number, not a single one missing!

All the Orks were stunned, their faces full of confusion.

"I... I hit them, right?" the Mekboy scratched his head and asked, looking completely bewildered.

"You did hit them," Mogg's voice was icy and bone-chilling, "And then what?"

Then, there was no "then."

They hit them, and the opponent immediately replaced them; they hit them again, and they were replaced again.

This was even more devastating to the Orks than "missing completely."

If they missed, they could blame it on bad luck and "think" again; but "hitting them is useless" completely shook the fundamental logic of Ork technology—if Ork Logic could make them hit, and they did hit, but the opponent just wouldn't die, then what was the point of this battle?

The red paint on the Icarus destroyers and frigates especially made the Orks feel afraid. In the cognition of Orks, red meant fast, and if there were horns, it meant triple speed.

Then a strange thing happened: the speed of the Icarus destroyers and frigates increased by 10%, making it even harder for the Ork fleet, whose accuracy was already poor, to hit them.

Even in the chaotic space battle, a macro-cannon shell that was supposed to hit a destroyer turned on its own and fired into the void—that was because the Mekboyz firing the cannon believed it wouldn't hit, so the shell dodged on its own.

The war proceeded in a strange way: the WAAAGH! field that the Orks relied on was instead helping Icarus.

The Orks felt increasingly bewildered.

The WAAAGH! field was weakening rapidly.

The Orks on the ground battlefield showed it even more clearly.

The once fanatical Ork Boyz no longer charged crazily; they began to hesitate and look around.

Those Orks who originally relied on the WAAAGH! field to "Ork Logic" their way into dodging machine gun bullets were now instantly mowed down; the weapons and equipment originally strengthened by the field, such as scrap metal that could cut through metal even without an edge, had now returned to normal levels and could no longer cause damage to the defense towers.