Joining up with Cleverhead

"Don't celebrate too soon, helmsman! After three Macro-cannon volleys, keep turning until we're facing the enemy head-on! Raise the prow Ram!" Pex ordered loudly.

Ramming Tactics were a firm favourite with the Tyranids, the Imperium of Man, the forces of Chaos, and the Ork Pirates.

In the universe of Warhammer 40,000, warships routinely stretched several kilometres long, or even more than ten. Steel monsters that enormous were powerful weapons in their own right.

Here, attacking enemy ships by ramming them had proven, time and again in actual combat, to be the most effective tactic and the fastest way to sink them.

A deathly silence fell over the bridge. Ramming Tactics were also much like a suicide attack. Once the charge began, the Orks opposite them would never turn aside, and ordinary humans still lacked courage when faced with death.

"I told you to raise the prow Ram and face the enemy head-on! Did you hear me?" Pex roared again.

With Japhard absent, no one could stop Pex. Besides, Pex was still the captain. Frightened though they were, everyone obeyed his orders.

May the Emperor's light illuminate my path. May my soul return to the Golden Throne after my death, most of the crew prayed silently.

Inside the Glory Knight, Cheng Mingrui felt sick when he learned that the warship he was aboard was exchanging fire with an Ork Pirate vessel.

Didn't he know what Orks were like? They were a race that would even hack apart their own once the Waaagh! went to their heads. Boarding troops like them were thrown out by their mothership to die, inflicting damage on the enemy through suicidal assaults.

If he couldn't seize the bridge and take control of the warship soon, this Imperial vessel might well become Cheng Mingrui's coffin.

This time, he didn't have Kuka perform a shamanic dance to show the way, nor did he intend to head for the Engine Room. He was going to the bridge to help Cleverhead Boss take control of the warship first.

Of course, the Engine Room was important too. Cheng Mingrui assigned half the Boys and the subordinates who had already grown into Nobs to Iron Claw, ordering him to capture it and letting the Squigs sniff out the route.

Once he made his decision, Cheng Mingrui barely left the Mekboys any time to upgrade their equipment with the scrap scattered across the floor. Time waited for no one.

Quite a few Boys were unhappy about that. How could ten minutes possibly be enough? All that scrap on the floor was practically heaven. Unfortunately, Cheng Mingrui's enormous fist stood between the Boys and heaven.

The pursuit of Cleverhead Boss went smoothly. All along the way, human defensive lines had been torn to pieces.

There were burning wrecks, Leman Russ Tanks missing their turrets, Sentinels ripped in half, and even some Chimera Transports flattened into pancakes.

Human corpses, on the other hand, were rarely seen. The Orks' firepower was too heavy and their weapon calibres too large. Most of the humans had been blasted to bits.

Near the bridge, in a narrow passage, Cheng Mingrui's troops caught up with the Mekboy Cleverhead.

"You little git! I told ya to sort out the Humies' power system! What're ya doing here?" The Mekboy Cleverhead sprayed spittle all over Cheng Mingrui's face.

The main reason Cleverhead only sprayed Cheng Mingrui with spit, rather than leaving him a lasting impression with the mechanical claw on his hand, was that Cheng Mingrui was already as tall as the Mekboy, and the Boys behind him were a band of Bosses too.

As long as your fists were big enough, Orks were very reasonable. No, actually, that rule worked remarkably well in most civilisations.

"I've already sent Boys to the Engine Room. They're all big, well-equipped lads. Taking it shouldn't be much trouble." To show he was telling the truth, Cheng Mingrui pointed at the band of Bosses behind him.

"I think you need my help more here, Boss, because the situation is critical right now." Perhaps he really was getting anxious, because Cheng Mingrui's Humie way of speaking slipped out again.

After explaining the situation from beginning to end, Cheng Mingrui thoughtfully added, "Boss, you wouldn't want to croak before taking this ship and becoming a Big Mek, would you?"

Cleverhead's roaring mouth snapped shut. His cruel little red eyes stared at Cheng Mingrui for a full thirty seconds. Who knew how many thoughts had passed through his skull during that time?

"You're a right slippery git..." In the end, Cleverhead's opening and closing Power Klaw did not come down on Cheng Mingrui's head. "We can work together and take the bridge. But... on one condition. This ship is mine. Mine!"

"I can give ya Teef and Boys, and build ya a smaller pirate ship. If ya want to become a Big Mek, you'll have to capture a ship yourself, or build a big one! Got it?"

Cheng Mingrui froze for a moment. Cleverhead's words were beyond anything he had expected. He hadn't come to help with the intention of stealing the spoils.

"That's as far as I'll go. If ya want to fight me for control of this ship, we'll have a scrap right now, and the winner can go take it." Thinking Cheng Mingrui wasn't satisfied, Cleverhead began flexing his hands, ready for a fight.

"All right, all right." Seeing that Cleverhead was about to get physical, Cheng Mingrui hurriedly agreed. He was having trouble keeping up with Cleverhead's train of thought.

He had still thought of himself as Cleverhead's subordinate and had never considered competing with him for control of the ship. What he hadn't expected was that Cleverhead already saw him as an equal.

Was it because of his size and height? Relationships in Ork society were so strange, yet so simple.

"One more thing." Seeing Cheng Mingrui agree, Cleverhead was very pleased. "I told ya, I don't like gits talking like Humies. I don't like those Blood Axes gits. If ya want to do things their way, wait till you've got your own Boys, then go do it yourself."

"I got it. No problem, Cleverhead Boss," Cheng Mingrui hurriedly explained as Cleverhead's face grew angrier.

At that moment, he felt that Orks really were simple and endearing.

In human society, even if he had transmigrated as a noble, moving up a social rank and gaining a higher title would have required an appointment, an enfeoffment, or establishing an independent system of his own.

Among the Orks, his human way of thinking had led him to assume the same would be necessary. To his surprise, he had been recognised simply because he had grown big enough. Among humans, few people whose achievements threatened their rulers came to a good end.

Thinking of Ghazghkull Thraka's rise in 40k, many Ork Bosses who dominated their own territories would acknowledge him and follow him the moment they met him. That would have been utterly impossible among humans.

In struggles for power, Ork Bosses often settled the outcome with a duel. And humans? Very often, it meant all-out war, a process far, far more brutal and bloody.

Orks really were endearing and simple, but they were also extremely cruel.

"This armour's for you. Look at what you're wearing! What a country bumpkin. A Boss can't just be tall. He's gotta look cooler, shinier, more... Waaagh!" Cleverhead busied himself among the parts nearby for a while and made Cheng Mingrui a suit of Power Armour.