Empowered by intense Waaagh! Energy, the Orks' resistance grew fierce once again.
Iax, however, had no intention of letting the Orks rise from the ashes.
Across the many ground battlefields, the mechanical forces began stepping up the pace of their attacks.
In space, the Mechanicus Fleet began besieging the colossal fortresses converted from planets.
The Men of Iron had ample experience dealing with planetary targets.
The two Annihilation Cannons mounted on the Heart of the Forge's hull began rapidly charging.
The violent energy fluctuations left the Tech-Priests and Sages in the nearby Imperial Fleet trembling as they watched the readings.
After all, they were not Cawl, and they had never commanded such terrifying technological devices.
Even the Fortress of Enlightenment under Cawl's own command had never amassed energy like this.
After all, it was a severely damaged Titan Ship.
Light heralding death and destruction shot from the Heart of the Forge.
The terrifying beams easily struck the Planetary Fortresses the Orks had brought in through the warp.
But these were planetary-scale megastructures, their size not far behind that of a Titan Ship.
The Orks had not only fitted them with ample weapons, but also equipped them with powerful defensive systems.
Thick planetary shields appeared around the planets.
Green Waaagh! energy continually neutralized the beams from the Annihilation Cannons.
On a Planetary Fortress, the nearly ten-meter-tall Ork Warboss Steeltoof watched the beams in space, then turned an uncertain look toward the Big Mek who had followed him for so long.
The Big Mek naturally understood Steeltoof's look. He rubbed the seam between his Alloy skull and living flesh with his enormous Mechanical Claw, then gave a good-natured grin that looked utterly savage.
"Mighty Boss Steeltoof, I Kunnin' reckon they can't punch through the shields I designed."
This Ork Big Mek had