The Second WAAAGH (I)

Broken Tooth was an Ork with grand ambitions. Especially after his boss had killed the tribe's boss in a challenge, he had naturally become one of the many bosses of the Bloodtooth Tribe. And since his boss could do it, why couldn't he follow suit? Of course, stirring up trouble before he had that kind of strength was not a good choice. Decades of survival had made his already cunning mind even sharper.

His boss had sent him to conquer a tribe with a solid stronghold. To prove himself, he had not refused. Not many boys had come with him, because the boss was planning a Waaagh!, and no one wanted to miss it. Broken Tooth felt the same, but he hoped to bring back more boys so that the Waaagh! could be even stronger!

Broken Tooth was confident he could complete this conquest, because no tribe would refuse Bloodtooth's demands. They were the strongest tribe nearby, and they had their own fortress. Though it was not as large as the one before him, it was just as sturdy. Besides, honestly speaking, Broken Tooth thought this tribe was far too weak. There did not seem to be many boys, there were few big ones, the gear in their hands was all junk, and they barely had any cloth on their bodies.

The Bloodtooth Tribe was different. Their tribe had many scavenger boys and mek boys. The scavenger boys could find plenty of scrap and rubbish in the most inconspicuous places, while the mek boys could turn that scrap and rubbish into decent armor and weapons. That was why their tribe had endured for who knew how many years, growing stronger with age. This tribe was the perfect target.

"Could this tribe's boss be a coward?"

After waiting beneath the blazing sun for quite a while, Broken Tooth was beginning to grow impatient. Worse still, the boys marked with White Hands in the distance kept gesturing at him with their weapons. That made it even harder for him to suppress his anger. When he had first arrived, he had already slaughtered several fools who had not known their place. Their corpses still lay beside him, yet the boys had not been frightened at all.

"The boss is here!"

"Kill these weaklings!"

"Ho ho ho!"

Suddenly, cheers and shouts erupted from the Orks, and the packed crowd automatically parted to form a path.

"A big one! A freak!"

When he saw the white monster over three meters tall walking toward him, Broken Tooth cast aside all contempt. He drew the axe from his waist and gripped it tightly. He was starting to regret coming here...

"I, Broken Tooth, come on behalf of the Bloodtooth Tribe! A Waaagh! awaits you and your tribe! Join us!"

As the other Ork drew closer and closer, Broken Tooth felt as though he were facing a massive sand-digger beast alone. The mounting Oppression nearly made him hurl his axe at the other Ork. He truly feared that he would turn and flee before the other reached him. That would have been an unimaginable disgrace.

Fortunately, Broken Tooth held firm. Before the white Ork's shadow completely swallowed him, he did not run.

"Yeah, I'm listening."

Guk did not stop until he was almost chest to chest with the Ork. Tilting his head, he looked down at Broken Tooth with terrifying red eyes beneath his helmet. Their faces were incredibly close, so close that Broken Tooth could even feel the hot breath spraying from his nostrils...

"I, I..."

Seeing that the other's weapon hung from his waist rather than being held in his hand, Broken Tooth gathered a little courage and stammered,

"...I'm the bos—"

The next instant, he would never speak another word. When his head and spine were ripped from his body in a single motion by Guk, every boy of the White Hand Tribe let out an earth-shaking roar and surged toward the several hundred boys Broken Tooth had brought. Before long, those pitiful wretches were swallowed by the sea of Orks.

"Bloodtooth."

Guk did not take part in the Slaughter that followed. He glanced at the enormous head in his hand, then turned his gaze toward the direction that fool had come from. He had easily killed an idiot, but the armor made of iron plates and bone shards showed that this was not some weak wandering tribe, but a major tribe with considerable strength.

"Finally, something that looks like fun!"

He tossed the head to the ground and crushed it beneath one foot, then turned and walked toward the fortress. Soon, the deep, resonant sound of horns rang out from within Blackstone Fort. Guk was summoning all the bosses...

"I heard the boss killed an idiot today."

"I heard it was ten!"

"You lot got it all wrong. I heard the boss scraped off some of his paint today, and he's green underneath!"

"Isn't he black?"

It took quite a while before the big and small bosses of the White Hand Tribe gathered in the hall beneath Guk's bedroom. These fellows had turned the place into a Snotling nest. Before he could begin, Guk had no choice but to publicly execute two idiots talking nonsense. Only then did the bunch reluctantly quiet down.

"I'm starting a Waaagh! Grab your gear and follow me! WAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The speech was brief, but for the Ork bosses, it was already enough.

"Boss! Take me with you! WAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"WAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

All the bosses screamed madly. The ones who had been bickering moments ago now had only one goal, one thought left in their heads, and that was...

WAAAGH!!!

The Waaagh! was about to begin!

The Waaagh! was about to begin!

All the boys had gone mad. With Blackstone Fort as the center, Orks from a vast surrounding area were gathering there. It no longer mattered whether they had previously belonged to the White Hand Tribe or not. What mattered was the Waaagh! The Waaagh! was about to begin! It was a feast and carnival no Ork could possibly miss, a cry with a magical pull on every Ork. They ran for it, fought for it, and died without turning back!

Teeth had become worthless. Or rather, anything valuable became worthless compared to a good choppa. The boys frantically gathered everything they could use to arm themselves. Bucktooth even came to complain to Guk that his scrap heaps had nearly been stripped clean by the enthusiastic boys. Even after being beaten half to death, the boys stubbornly kept digging through them every day.

The Snotlings had also fallen into a kind of frenzy. One-Ear was desperately training his underlings to use bows and daggers, while Bucktooth's Snotlings worked as if their lives meant nothing. They rushed about day and night. Some fools even threw themselves into furnaces without realizing it. As a result, the efficiency of the forging camp rose several levels at once. Soon, all the raw materials had been consumed, replaced by mountains of weapons.

Guk also ordered One-Ear to make some simple protective gear. That fellow seemed to have become smarter too. His new armor design needed only two bone plates or two iron plates. If those were unavailable, wooden boards would do. Threaded together with two ropes, they formed a suit of armor that could be easily put on and taken off. Guk highly praised the time-saving, labor-saving design and ordered him to produce it at full capacity.

Equipment was necessary, but Guk knew well that before hunting, one had to know where the prey was, how many there were, and how big they were. At present, he knew nothing about the Bloodtooth Tribe. So, to avoid being unable to even find the way there, Guk summoned the "Freak" Truf.

"You take your boys south, find Bloodtooth, then come back and tell me about them. If you need Squigs, go see Green Tooth."

The task Guk assigned was simple. Truf, draped in a large piece of yellowish-brown rough cloth, happily accepted it, then ran off with his greatbow on his back to find Green Tooth.

As for Truf, he was an exceptionally unconventional fellow even among Orks. He and his underlings had left a deep impression on Guk during the hunt, especially with their skill at ambushes and stealth. Though most boys did not like them, believing they were not tough enough and not Orky enough, Guk insisted that this was an extremely valuable ability. So he had tolerantly taken them in. This scouting mission happened to put them to good use.

After arranging the scouting, Guk thought of Flatface, the Weirdboy he had first encountered. Ever since the battle with the Harpies, that fellow had become completely unhinged. He constantly muttered strange nonsense, chatted with the air, and shouted wildly whenever he saw Guk. Nearly all the boys of the White Hand Tribe disliked him. But Guk had not driven him away. Although he had never told any other Ork, he could sense something from Flatface, along with strange thoughts that occasionally appeared in his dreams. And Flatface did more than spout nonsense from time to time. He could occasionally show off a little: sudden electric shocks, objects floating in midair, whirlwinds appearing from nowhere. Though the results were always terrible.

But when Guk sent Grass Rope to fetch Flatface, he received the reply, "Yesterday, while he was circling the fire, a Snotling tripped him by accident and he fell into it. He's probably about medium-rare by now." Clearly, that fellow was out of commission for the time being.

With no other choice, Guk summoned the few underlings beneath him and told them to prepare to march with him. Those Weirdboyz who were still "not crazy enough" were as thrilled as Snotlings that had eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Restless, noisy, impossible to suppress—every Ork had a breath held tight in his chest. The entire fortress was like a volcano about to erupt. At this point, even Guk could not reverse what was happening. Anything that tried to hold down the crater would be burned to ash by furious flames. Yet by then, Guk had become exceptionally calm. He waited...

"Three days' walk. Lots of big wagons. The boys... probably more than the Snotlings we got here."

A few days later, Truf returned to Guk and brought news that delighted him. He never feared a powerful enemy. He only feared that the other side would be too weak.

"Two days from now, we march! One-Ear, bring every Snotling that can lift a weapon! Green Tooth, bring out all your Squigs! Grak, find five hundred boys who can fight! Remember! At least ones who can take ten punches from you without falling!"

To deal with a giant beast, there was no need to harm its entire body. One only needed to focus strength on its weak points, the parts unprotected by scales and thick hide. No matter how big it was, it would eventually fall.

Guk decided to use the weapons and armor in his hands to equip a group of vanguards who could obey any order from him at any time, rather than a mob of thugs acting on their own. They would charge alongside him, becoming the blades and spears in his hand, and shatter the heart of that "giant beast"!