An ambush

The road to the bridge had become a clear run. Commissar Japhard's death had utterly shattered the Astra Militarum's morale, and the Ork Mega Bosses were simply too ferocious. No defensive line could withstand their assault for more than a minute.

Suddenly, the warship began shaking violently, as though someone had picked it up and started rattling it. Cleverhead and Cheng Mingrui exchanged grim looks. Had the Humies blown up the ship?

A little earlier, outside the warship, on the battlefield in space.

After losing its firing angle for its Macro-cannons, the Glory Knight charged straight at the Ork warship, its prow ram pointing forward. The Ork warship refused to back down. Despite its heavy damage, it still retained half its fighting strength.

Besides, this sort of collision was exactly what the Ork captain wanted. He slammed his huge palm onto the red Waaagh! button. Whoever chickened out was a Snotling!

The distance between the two warships shrank as they continued pouring fire into each other. Like medieval knights, they would prove their honour with their lances-their ramming prows.

Just as those lances were about to collide, enormous flames erupted from the Glory Knight's side engines, swinging its bow sharply aside.

The Ork warship's massive ram carved a deep gash along the Glory Knight's port side, even tearing off an engine. But that damage was not enough to sink the Glory Knight.

Pex's earlier order for the engine room to warm up the engines had proved crucial. With that sudden burst of thrust, the Glory Knight had managed to turn and accelerate.

Since both warships had been charging straight at each other, both had reached maximum speed. There was no way to stop now.

By the time the Ork warship began slowing down and turning, the Glory Knight had already completed a second burst of acceleration, opening a considerable distance between them.

The Gellar Field began enveloping the Glory Knight. The Warp Engine was ready. A blue-violet rift tore through normal space, expanding until it was large enough for a warship to enter.

Forced to watch his prey escape, the Ork captain smashed everything in sight in a furious rage. His painstakingly planned ambush had become a joke. The Humies had made a fool of him and escaped!

"Looks like the Humies are runnin' off with the ship. Looks like we're in the daemons' den!" Cleverhead concluded once the warship stopped shaking.

"If ya wanna go somewhere else for a scrap, ya gotta pass through the daemons' den. Sometimes ya even get to fight daemons, but now ain't the time. Gotta hurry! Can't let the Humies wreck me ship!"

Perhaps worried that the daemons in the Warp would destroy his ship, Cleverhead was anxious-extremely anxious. He charged ahead of everyone else, determined to seize the bridge as quickly as possible.

"Sneaky Boss, Iron Claw wants ya." As they advanced, Kuka suddenly grabbed Cheng Mingrui and spoke with a twitchy air.

"Huh? Are ya confused? Iron Claw went to the engine room. He ain't here." Cheng Mingrui was in a good mood and paid little attention to what Kuka meant.

"Wait a sec, Boss. I'll connect ya." With that, Kuka rose onto his toes and tapped Cheng Mingrui on the head.

A stream of green energy flowed into his mind as naturally as if it had always belonged there, smooth and comfortable. Is this Waaagh! energy? Feels pretty good. I'll study it later.

"Sneaky Boss! It's me, Iron Claw!" A sudden voice in his head interrupted Cheng Mingrui's wandering thoughts.

Long-range psychic communication? Weirdboys really are useful. I'll collect a few more later.

"Yeah, Iron Claw. What is it? Taken the engine room yet? Ya gotta move faster. We've nearly captured the bridge over here."

"No, Sneaky Boss. We found the engine room, but it ain't Humies we're fightin'. It's Tyranids! There's Tyranids here! Watch out for an ambush, Boss!" Desperate to make Cheng Mingrui understand the urgency, Iron Claw sent an image into his mind through the Weirdboy on his end.

Inside the enormous engine room, the Ork Boyz had killed the human defenders and were leisurely clearing the battlefield and scavenging junk when hordes of white-and-green insectoid monsters suddenly poured out of the surrounding vents.

The moment they appeared, they threw themselves into a fight to the death with the Ork Boyz, every bit as frenzied as Boyz caught up in a Waaagh!

Genestealers-Gitz for short, terrifying Tyranid melee and infiltration units! And so many of them? What's going on? Isn't this an Imperium of Man ship? Cheng Mingrui was deeply shocked. The Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan were even colder and more savage than the Orks, yet far more rational and efficient.

No way. Was this Imperial warship just bait? Was the Imperium of Man trying to pit one predator against another again? This is bad. Really bad.

Cheng Mingrui's CPU worked furiously as he tried to piece together the true situation.

Gunfire and roars from up ahead interrupted Cheng Mingrui's thoughts. It seemed the Cleverhead Boss really had run into an ambush.

"Iron Claw, hold yer position and kill the Tyranids. I want that engine room intact. Not a single thing's allowed to go wrong, understood?"

"Got it, Boss! Boyz, kill the Tyranids! Waaagh!"

After giving Iron Claw his orders, Cheng Mingrui raised his Shoota and broke into a run. The Cleverhead Boss had charged too fast and was now far ahead of them.

By the time reinforcements arrived, Cleverhead was already surrounded by Gitz. Dozens had encircled him. Roaring, he crushed a Git in front of him with his Power Klaw. A layer of their corpses already covered the floor.

But there were too many Gitz. Several had already climbed onto Cleverhead's body. Their claws could actually tear through his Power Armour, and some had sunk their fangs into his flesh.

"Damned Tyranids! Die, ya bastards!" Cleverhead grabbed the Git biting his neck and tore it off. His new arm really was awkward to use. The Git's head remained attached to his neck, dragging out a long spine.

Dakka-dakka gunfire rang out. "Waaagh!" Cheng Mingrui charged over with the Boyz. Their bullets arrived before they did, and a storm of steel swiftly engulfed the Gitz surrounding Cleverhead, blasting them into flying scraps of flesh.

The ceiling vents opened, and more Gitz dropped down. Gitz had no ranged attacks; ambushes and surprise assaults were their usual tricks.

This batch of Gitz intended to hold Cheng Mingrui and his Boyz back, isolating Cleverhead and buying time to cut off their leadership.

The Tyranids and Orks were no strangers to each other. Their war in Octarius had dragged on for a long time, becoming a crucible in which both sides grew stronger.

The Hive Mind understood perfectly well that the cheapest way to wipe out the Orks was to kill their boss first.

There was nothing wrong with the logic behind that tactic. The question was, could Gitz alone stop Cheng Mingrui and the Ork Boyz he led?