The Second WAAAGH (II)

We go, we go, we go everywhere.

Where is this? Dunno. We'll make something up when we get there!

Amid crude songs—or perhaps roars—a huge, loose, chaotic horde marched onward, writhing through the endless desert like a winding green serpent. Banners bearing the White Hand snapped in the wind.

The WAAAGH led by Guk had entered its third day. Blackstone Fort had been nearly emptied when they set out; every Boy and most of the Snotlings had joined this grand undertaking. Guk had paid every bit of his wealth—his weapons and armor—to obtain five hundred strong, vicious, battle-hungry armored Boyz. His only order for them was—"Wherever my banner goes, you follow! No running off! No fighting on your own!"

For this, Guk had specially made a unique triangular banner, dyed blood-red and stamped with his own handprint. He had made Big Cleaver the banner bearer, though the git had been deeply unwilling, claiming he wanted to go chop down a hundred bastards. In the end, Guk had given him a solid beating.

"Boss! It's right ahead!"

At the front of the column, Truf came charging over and handed a metal tube to Guk, who rode atop a Squig. It was Truf's most treasured possession, letting him easily spot even a hidden desert scorpion from very, very far away. Guk liked it too, but it was more useful in Truf's hands.

"Lemme see."

Mumbling through a mouthful of dried meat, Guk took the tube and put his eye to its narrow end. The world instantly magnified countless times. A stronghold somewhat like Blackstone Fort, but much bigger, appeared in Guk's view. A vast spread of tents and wooden huts surrounded it, and in scale it far surpassed Blackstone Fort.

"Ptooey! Grak! Blow the horn!"

Spitting out the scraps of meat in his mouth, Guk gave the red-skinned Ork beside him an order, then turned to glance behind him. Five hundred heavily armed big lads stared at him with blazing eyes.

Woooooo~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The long, dull horn call rolled across the desert like thunder. The slow-moving green serpent seemed to have been provoked, swiftly coiling together into a vast mass before surging toward the Bloodtooth Tribe's stronghold...

"Did ya chase that lunatic away?"

"Chased 'im away, Boss!"

Nodding slightly, Black Husband, the Bloodtooth Tribe's new Head Mek, took a swig from a bottle of booze with satisfaction. As an Ork who had lived for nearly a hundred years, he hated those strange-acting troublemakers just like every other Boy did.

And it was not just Weirdboyz. Black Husband and his underlings disliked the ones who liked messing with all kinds of poisons and raising strange Squigs, the ones who liked sneaking around, and the ones who liked roaring about in war buggies. The Bloodtooth Tribe was known for having many Mekboyz. Over long years, they had developed a stubborn prejudice: they instinctively hated all other odd Boyz, believing they would try to steal their inventions or wreck their toys.

As a result, apart from scavengers, the Bloodtooth Tribe had practically no Boyz with other special talents.

But Black Husband did not care about that. They were strong enough. They had over a thousand war buggies, raised plenty of Squigs, had Boyz as numerous as sand, and possessed many useful weapons. As the newly appointed Head Mek, Black Husband urgently needed a WAAAGH to strengthen his power and rule. This was knowledge passed down through the Bloodtooth Tribe for ages—through a WAAAGH, the boss could grow bigger and stronger.

Black Husband's target this time was the Bitterwater Tribe rumored to lie in the south. According to what his predecessor's predecessor's predecessor had said, beyond the tribe's far southern reaches lay an endless expanse of bitter water, beside which stood a huge tribe. But because of the awful weather in the past, no Boy had ever been able to confirm whether it was true. Only after the weather had finally improved some time ago had Boyz returned alive from the south. They had proved that the tribe truly existed, as did the boundless bitter water.

But that tribe was even stronger than the rumors claimed. Its stronghold was built from impossibly huge bones, and its members were all fierce savages—a term the Bloodtooth Tribe generally used for those who were bad at using tools.

Even so, Black Husband still decided to launch this WAAAGH. But he needed to prepare more weapons and gather more Boyz first. For that reason, he had not paid much attention to the tribe to the north, which seemed easier to conquer. That target was too weak; it was not worth launching a WAAAGH over.

"Idea Bro, how many Big Boom-Booms have ya made?"

Black Husband summoned his second-in-command and drinking buddy, a Mekboy full of bizarre ideas.

"Boss, I made fifty... sixty of 'em!"

Few things could stump Idea Bro, but counting was an exception. His brain seemed to resist it at all times, so everything he made always had one flaw or another, big or small. But that did not matter among Orks. To Boyz, having something or not having it was the real problem. Whether it was good or bad was not.

"Great! I made fifteen, so that makes a hundred!"

Of course, Black Husband had the same problem as Idea Bro. Ordinary Boyz simply did not dare mention it.

Woooooo~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suddenly, a dull sound came from outside the fortress. Black Husband immediately leapt from his seat.

"What happened?!"

"Boss! Boss! Outside!"

A Nob came stumbling in through the gate, wildly gesturing outside with one arm.

"Spit it out!"

"A bunch! A bunch of savages!"

Just as Black Husband was left utterly confused by the sudden report, Guk had already led his army in an assault from the north side of the fortress. At first, the Boyz around the Bloodtooth Tribe's outer settlement merely saw a huge cloud of sand rising in the distance and thought it was a sandstorm that had not appeared in a long time. But when that green "sandstorm" drew closer, when its earth-shaking battle cries reached their ears, they realized the enemy had arrived!

This was a WAAAGH!!

Everything had come so suddenly. The settlement north of the Bloodtooth Tribe was the first to suffer. Those bare-bodied "savages," wielding crude weapons, truly swept through like a sandstorm, destroying everything in their path. The Bloodtooth Tribe's Boyz were swallowed up before they could even organize a proper defense.

"Kill!!!! Charge!!!! Come at 'em with me!!!!!!"

Guk was the first to charge into the enemy camp. The Squiggoth beneath him smashed through a house as easily as it could knock over a Snotling. When it trampled through the panicked Boyz, it left unrecognizable heaps of flesh and blood in its wake, while Guk atop its back picked off enemies one by one with precise thrown spears.

"I'm gonna chop down one! Thou! Sand!"

Grak, who refused to wear armor no matter what, rushed into the area with the most enemies while wielding a massive double-handed axe. Every swing sent severed limbs and bloody mist flying.

"I'm gonna chop down ten! Thou! Sand!!!!!"

Bucktooth, who had made that bet with him, refused to be outdone. Holding a huge cleaver in each hand, he became a whirlwind of death. Every slash sent a string of heads flying.

"AAAAAAAH! I'm gonna kill 'em all... Where'd they all go!?"

Crooked Mouth, carrying a cleaver nearly as large as himself, was a little slow on his feet. By the time he came panting up from the rear of the horde, ready to unleash a slaughter, he found that there were no Orks left near him to chop—only corpses and scattered limbs.

"Charge, charge, charge!! Charge in there!!!"

Gripping a throwing spear, Guk sent a Boy who dared swing at him flying, then tried to direct his Boyz into the fortress. But he quickly realized it was impossible. Once Orks smelled blood, they easily lost awareness of everything except battle. Trying to command them now was no easier than holding back a frenzied Jumpy.

"Grak! Gimme the horn!"

"What?!"

Krag, who was killing with great enthusiasm, only heard Guk call his name and did not catch the rest. He turned around and stared at him blankly.

"The horn! Throw it to me!"

"Oh! Catch!"

After throwing the horn from his waist to Guk, Krag abruptly turned and split in two a Boy trying to sneak up on him.

Woooooo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hearing the horn, some Boyz began moving toward Guk, but most still hacked around blindly. The flood that had once gathered into one mass gradually split into three streams. The left and right streams swept along the fortress perimeter, while the middle one pushed toward the fortress entrance.

"Boss! We're here too!"

The speaker was One-Ear, who commanded most of the Snotlings. Guk had not made them walk. Instead, he had handed all the tribe's war buggies over to them so they could keep up with the horde and manage the wild Big Hoppers along the way.

Most of the Snotlings who had been full of fighting spirit before entering battle had promptly lost their nerve. Because of that, they did not run around like the Boyz; instead, they crowded tightly together, clutching their weapons and trembling. Of the thirty war buggies that had set out, not one had been lost.

"Good! Follow me in! Big Cleaver, raise the banner high!"

With a powerful swing of his sword, Guk fixed his gaze on the largest entrance on the north side of the fortress. That huge mouth was frantically vomiting out batch after batch of Boyz. After the initial chaos, the Bloodtooth Tribe had begun organizing a counterattack.

"Move! Kill these savages!!!"

A Nob kicked and struck the Boyz around him, trying to force them a few more steps forward. His own lads had either died or fled in the surprise attack. Only a little over a hundred remained under his command, but rage had consumed him, and he could not care less.

"Oi! You bastard, how dare ya run?!"

Suddenly, he spotted a panicked git running toward him. It was clearly a cowardly deserter. Just as he prepared to kill the fellow himself, a throwing spear cut through the air and nailed the unlucky Ork to the ground with perfect accuracy.

"Roar roar!!"

Guk, unstoppable all the way, immersed himself in the thrill of slaughter. Stab, slash, throw, lift—every attack became smoother, every kill more perfect. When he saw a Nob ahead leading a group of Boyz in an attempt to block him, a contemptuous smile appeared on his face. He simply hurled his sword at them.

"Don't stop!!! There's still lotsa fun left!"

As he passed the corpse, he leaned sideways, snatched with his right hand, and easily pulled the deeply embedded sword from the Nob's head.

Guk's force drew closer and closer to the fortress entrance. The Bloodtooth Tribe seemed to have realized his intentions. Large numbers of Boyz lined up into a thick formation, each unfastening a strange strap from his waist. They placed fist-sized stones in the straps and began whirling them with force.

"Watch out!!!"

Alarm bells ringing in his head, Guk immediately took a round metal shield from the Squiggoth and raised it before himself, shouting a warning to the Boyz charging beside him.

Thunk thunk thunk thunk~~!!

Soon, a rain of stones poured down upon the charging force. The fully wound stones crashed violently against Guk's shield with sharp cracks. But few Boyz besides him carried such things. Caught off guard, many had their heads smashed bloody, and the charge immediately faltered.

"Arrows!!!!"

After the stones came a dense rain of arrows. Guk had not expected the enemy to have so many bows. The sky-covering barrage was enough to make even the fiercest Boyz cower. But Guk knew they could not stop now. He did not have enough ranged weapons to answer them, so he could only charge up and fight them head-on. Yet the Boyz behind him suffered heavy losses beneath the arrows, and their charge was rapidly slowing.

"One-Ear! Let all the Jumpies loose!!"

"Yes!"

Dozens of enormous red Jumpies burst from their cages. Their thick, scale-covered red hides ignored the arrows and flying stones raining down from above. With several huge leaps, they sprang directly into the enemy formation. Guk's own pet led the charge, biting a Boy in half with every snap of its jaws.

"What are these things?!"

"Chop, chop, chop... Can't chop 'em!"

"Oi, my hand! No, no, no! Leave me one!"

The never-before-seen Jumpies threw the Bloodtooth Tribe's battle line into massive chaos. The arrows and flying stones immediately grew sparse. Guk accelerated and charged forward, while the Boyz behind him, already driven into a fury by the barrage, rushed faster with bloodshot eyes.

"Die!"

Seeing the terrified face of the Boy before him, Guk viciously drove his throwing spear forward, smashing a hole directly through the other Ork's face. Big Roarer had one Boy clamped in its jaws and another beneath its feet. These Boyz who relied on ranged weapons were helpless in close combat. When Guk and his armored Boyz crashed into their formation with unstoppable force, a slaughter immediately began. Though numerous, they were as weak as Snotlings. Guk hacked them down wildly while driving them into the fortress. Fear could spread, and Guk needed more weaklings to create more fear.

"AAAAAH!!!!!!"

A Boy from the White Hand Tribe, happily chopping away, suddenly felt something slam into him. Agonizing pain followed. When he looked down, he saw that a short spear had pierced his chest. He raised his head in confusion, only to see a spinning iron spearhead growing larger and larger before his eyes...

"Boss! Looks like... Waa!"

A certain armored Boy had just opened his mouth when two short spears pierced straight through him. Guk angrily turned his gaze toward the fortress entrance. One war buggy after another was pouring out. Behind some of them sat strange objects like great bows laid flat, but they did not fire harmless arrows—they fired throwing spears capable of piercing an armored Boy!

"Bastards! The Bloodtooth Tribe ain't a place for you to run wild!!"

Every Bloodtooth Tribe Boy still fleeing came to a halt, because their boss had arrived! Black Husband, clad in iron armor, roared out from the fortress entrance atop an outrageously designed war buggy. Behind him came groups upon groups of equally heavily armored Orks. The Bloodtooth Tribe's armored Boyz had deployed!