Robbery

After opening the spacecraft's hatch, Iron Claw found himself deep in a rainforest. The jungle was dense and vast, and with nothing else to do, he took the boyz wandering around.

Occasionally, they ran into fierce animals. Iron Claw would go a few rounds with them and give the boyz some extra grub. Gradually, more and more boyz joined him. After all, lost boyz turned up in the rainforest every day.

With more boyz came the need for a fight, so Iron Claw sent clever Gretchin and Squigs out to scout, and to look for enemies worth fighting.

Before long, the Gretchin found plenty of Humie cities, but Iron Claw did not lead his lads charging into a Waaagh! the moment he spotted Humies.

His time with Sneaky Boss had taught Iron Claw a lot. Gork was brutal but cunning, and Mork was cunning but brutal.

There were plenty of Humie cities, and they were huge, with plenty of Humies inside. The handful of boyz he had probably would not be enough for a Waaagh!.

Humies looked small, but some of them were actually pretty tough, especially the ones wearing peaked caps, carrying one-handed Shootas, and sporting Big Choppas at their waists.

So the cunning Iron Claw decided to wait a little longer, until he had more boyz, before picking a fight with the Humies.

Sometimes, unexpected things cropped up in the middle of a plan. The boyz were appearing far too quickly! Iron Claw went to sleep under a tree on the first night, and by the next morning, the number of Orks around him had doubled. He barely recognized any of them.

Every morning, Iron Claw was woken by the boyz yelling and fighting.

Watching these new boyz wrestle naked in the jungle made Iron Claw furious. That was not how fighting ought to be done. How could a fight be any fun with nothing but fists? They ought to at least get themselves some Choppas!

And so, to equip his boyz, Iron Claw led them on this job: robbing the human city of Ghana.

"Goldtooth!" Iron Claw shouted into the sky.

Soon, a Squig with gliding wings drifted out from behind a building and landed in front of Iron Claw by crashing into the ground.

A Gretchin with a gold tooth picked himself up, covered in dirt, and scurried eagerly over to Iron Claw.

"Boss Iron Claw, ya called?" Perhaps it was a racial talent of the Gretchin, but whenever one grinned at his boss, that grin was always exceptionally radiant-and sycophantic.

"We're here to rob stuff. How much loot have yer Gretchin and Squigs collected?" Iron Claw disdained lowering his head and merely glanced at Goldtooth as he asked.

"Uh..." Goldtooth clearly had not counted it yet, so he waved his arms around as he said, "Loads, Boss Iron Claw, loads! Some of the Squigs can't fit any more on their backs."

"Enough to equip the boyz in the rainforest?" The quantity of weapons and equipment was what concerned Iron Claw most.

"Of course..." Goldtooth cleverly swallowed the words "not enough." "Yeah, as long as no new boyz are born in the rainforest, we'll be fine."

Iron Claw rubbed his chin. Goldtooth had a point. There were too many boyz in the rainforest to equip them all.

"Forget it. We'll equip as many as we can. Keep robbin' for another hour, then pull yer Gretchin and Squigs out. This is Humie turf, and there ain't many of us. It ain't time for a head-on fight yet."

"Got it, boss. I'll go tell the lads." With his orders received, Goldtooth ran over to the Squig that had botched its landing and kicked it twice to get it back on its feet.

The Squig was angry and wanted to bite Goldtooth, but when it saw the mushroom he pulled out, it began drooling instead. It ate the mushroom and obediently carried Goldtooth into the sky.

Up in the air, Goldtooth put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The piercing whistle rang across the sky.

Before long, more Gretchin riding Squigs flew over. Goldtooth flailed his limbs as he whistled orders to them, and they flew off in every direction.

These airborne Gretchin lads no longer came down to land. They repeated the same whistles over and over, relaying Goldtooth's orders to the Gretchin on the ground.

Once they received the orders, the Gretchin quickly picked up the pace with their Squigs, loading anything shiny they considered valuable onto the transport Squigs' backs: scrap, machinery, metal, musical instruments, electronic components, and more.

Iron Claw was different from other Ork Warbosses. He did not look down on the weak Gretchin and Squigs. Aboard the warship Glory Knight, he had seen firsthand how Sneaky Boss used those weak Gretchin and Squigs to break through the Humies' defenses.

And honestly, Gretchin and Squigs were genuinely useful. The cunning Gretchin always understood what Iron Claw meant and carried it out well. Squigs came in all sorts of forms. They could haul cargo, serve as war beasts or mounts, and even be eaten.

Unlike the Gretchin, who busied themselves with their assigned work, the boyz were far more chaotic. They were busy fighting, killing, and destroying. Only some of the more cunning old Orks began gathering suitable materials, ready to leg it with their boss.

Iron Claw's prediction was spot-on. The moment Ghana came under attack, intelligence and footage were transmitted to the planet's highest command.

Cornwall and Pex clashed once again.

"Young man, under these circumstances, why do you still insist on an expedition? The Ork monsters are already threatening Euronia III! This planet is the foundation of everything we have!" The normally kindly Cornwall rebuked him furiously.

"I'm doing this precisely for this world. Everything I've done has been to wipe the Ork monsters off it." This time, Pex did not hold back. Instead, he confronted Cornwall head-on.

Cornwall's gaze turned dangerous as he stared at Pex. "It seems we cannot reach an understanding, Commander Pex."

Pex's heart was gradually growing cold as well. The Planetary Governor was, after all, the most important office on the planet, and dedicated personnel checked his health every day. Controlling him was unrealistic. To achieve his goal, Pex could only take an indirect approach.

"Uncle..." That form of address softened Cornwall's expression considerably. "For Trivis's sake, too, I will protect this world."

Seeing that Cornwall did not interrupt him, Pex continued, "On Euronia III, we have sufficient population and military strength. As long as we handle things properly, we can contain the Orks' spread before it gets out of hand. But on Euronia IV, the Orks have already been developing for five months. If we leave them unchecked any longer, eliminating them will become impossible."

Cornwall still met Pex's words with silence, though at least his expression had indeed softened somewhat.

"Uncle, for the sake of my future with Trivis, let me try. I'm no longer asking to take a million troops from the Expeditionary Force. Just let me try with these three hundred thousand." Pex's voice softened considerably.

"Ah, very well. The expedition will proceed. What else can I do when you're my future nephew-in-law?" Cornwall shook his head and sighed. "How about this? Return immediately after you eliminate the Ork monsters on Euronia IV. I'll have the space fleet support you."

"As for the Ork monsters that have appeared in Ghana, I'll have Chuck handle them. He's the staff adjutant who just reported to you. I intend to promote him to general. Of course, the order will be issued in the name of system command."

This was a political exchange. To continue the expedition against the Orks, Pex had no choice but to nod his agreement.