Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 207 Fire Wheel: "War Mask"

The Shadow of Royal Power, the Royal Court.

Arsena Dunn manipulates the control staff to display a holographic image of the Flame Wheel II planet.

"The scan results show that this planet contains abundant mineral deposits."

"The architecture of this world still retains some characteristics of human architecture."

"The Greenskins used human hives and factories to transform it into a fortress world, with planets dotted with fortresses and armories."

Nimrod sat on the black throne, listening to the Primarch's attendants' introduction.

"There is a large building on the orbit of this world."

"Based on the scanning analysis, it was once a starport built by humans."

"The weapons manufactured by the greens will be sent here and then sold to other planets."

Arsène looked at the people in the chamber and explained the basis of his judgment.

"According to the information issued by His Majesty, the orcs have a simple trade system, and they use teeth as currency."

"The Evil Moon Clan became the wealthiest clan among all the clans because their teeth grew much faster than those of other greenskins."

"Based on existing information such as the orc totems on the Battle Moon, it can be inferred that the orc warlords in the Flame Wheel Galaxy may have originated from the Evil Moon Clan."

After the Primarch's attendant explained the relevant situation, the topic returned to Planet Two.

"The Auger matrix scan shows that Planet II has five large fortresses, which were originally human settlements."

"The largest fortress is located directly below the starport."

“If we unfold the holographic star map,” Arsena said, manipulating his control staff to display the corresponding star map.

"The other four fortresses are located on the circular passage, with the largest fortress at the center."

"The circular passage may also have been built on human-made foundations, though rudimentary, it is as long as 152 kilometers."

"By analyzing the number and frequency of vehicles traveling on the route, we can conclude that this circular route serves a similar function to our high-speed transport routes."

The "reasoning student" explained his deductions based on the scan results to everyone.

Inside the hall, 1,542 honorary members were seated in neat rows.

Of these, 703 were from the 7th Legion, and 154 were apothecaries.

In light of the scale of the war, Nimrod increased the size of this batch of honor guard members accordingly.

He also considered the upcoming deployment of the 7th Regiment and the apothecaries to Katachon, and therefore increased the proportion of both in this batch of Honor Guard members accordingly.

Unlike when he first joined the Honor Guard, Wilshere moved from the last row to the front, where he sat next to Per Koscielny.

Wilshire looked at the video screen and saw many strangely shaped, thick cannons standing in the fortress, pointing straight to the sky like spears.

Each cannon was different, spewing black smoke from its muzzle.

[The greenskins have strong defenses; this will be a tough battle.]
As Wilshire pondered, the Primarch spoke.

Ning Lu absorbed all the information into his mind and asked the question carefully.

"Tell me your thoughts on how to fight this battle."

James, the lord of the Second Battle Group, who had gathered information from previous space battles and battles on the Moon, was the first to speak.

“Father, we should first dismantle the fortifications outside the green-skinned fortresses, and then attack the fortresses…”

Ninglu remained silent, while Diana Pauline, who was attending the meeting, became an "observer."

[This aligns with LeBron James's conservative style.]
Lord Jiménez of the Eleventh Warband also spoke up.

“Father, we should first attack the starports in orbit to lure the orcs to our aid, and then launch an attack on them.”

She thought to herself, "The audience continues to scrutinize me."

Jimenez is more adventurous than James; his eyes are more aggressive.
After listening to the plans of the two lords, Ninglu looked at the members of the Honor Guard behind them.

"Wilshere, what's your opinion?"

Wilshire felt the gazes of the two lords and others, and even more so, the Primarch's gaze focused on him.

He showed no fear and spoke his mind directly.

“Father, we have taken control of the void of the Wheel of Flame. Orc leaders, the strategic importance of the Starport has diminished. Using it as bait will not be very effective.”

"But the ring road connecting the five orc fortresses is important to them all."

"Whoever controls the ring highway holds the lifeline of this world. He will possess unprecedented and unstoppable mobility and the ability to transport a massive army of greenskins."

Ninglu nodded in satisfaction. He hadn't been mistaken; Wilshire hadn't disappointed him after all.

"good."

Although the Primarch only uttered one word, the "audience" could tell from his tone and his appreciative gaze that he was satisfied with Wilshire's answer.

Once Diana realized this, she immediately felt a slight melting sensation within her body.

Wilshire was overjoyed that his idea had been endorsed by the father of genetics.

Ninglu shifted his gaze from Wilshire to Per Koscielny beside him.

"Per, what are your thoughts?"

“Father, Wilshire’s suggestion is good, but there are some areas for improvement.”

The "audience" could tell from the smile on Per's face that he was confident. "I studied the information my father gave me; the Greenskins like infighting."

"The orcs of Planet Two are the most greedy of the orc clans, the Dead Skull Clan."

As he spoke, Per walked out of his seat and went to the video screen, tapping on a dozen or so screens one by one.

The orcs all wore the same patterned markings: blue skulls with horns.

Per looked at the Primarch and said confidently.

"The Deadskull Clan will stop at nothing to plunder everything within their reach, and given the chance, they won't even hesitate to steal from other careless greenskins."

"That starport building, the items inside, are a treasure trove for the Deadskull Clan orcs, an irresistible temptation for them."

"Seize the starport, smash it onto the surface, smash it between the central fortress and the other four."

"The scavenging boys of the Dead Skull Clan will definitely fight over the remains, which are materials and wealth to them, something they will fight for at all costs. They will start fighting among themselves."

After listening to Per's words, Nimrod felt that his understanding of the Greenskins' way of thinking and their primitive order surpassed that of the two lords and Wilshire.

The Primarch found in his memories the training experiences of Pell, especially his final confrontation with the recruits of the First Warband in the Arbitration Chamber.

He would be very well-suited to be a "lawyer".

This is very suitable for the "Black Emperor" route.
The "audience" could read different expressions of admiration for Per and Wilshire in the Primarch's shining eyes.

[Something seemed to have changed in the Primarch's gaze.]
Unable to glean any further information, she could only glean answers from their words, actions, and expressions, analyzing the differences between them.

The biggest difference between Per and Wilshire is that he doesn't consider the value of the ring road, but rather how to exploit the orcs' habit of fighting amongst themselves to launch targeted attacks.

The Primarch admired their different ways of thinking; was Pell's idea more similar to his own?
With her conclusion in mind, the "audience" looked back at the original gene and saw a deeper sense of identification within it—a kind of identification with a group of like-minded people.

When the "audience" read this, they felt the stars within them shatter completely.

After listening to everyone's thoughts, Ninglu gave the order.

“Per, as you wish, you will lead five hundred members of the Honor Guard to capture Starport.”

"Afterwards, the wreckage of the starport was smashed onto the surface of Planet Two."

"While the orcs were locked in fierce infighting, we launched a surprise attack on four battlefields."

Ning Lu looked around at everyone and continued.

"James and Jimenez will lead the Second and Eleventh War Groups respectively."

"I will lead five hundred members of the Honor Guard to attack the largest orc battlefield."

"Wilshire, your guards will attack the smallest Greenskin battlefield. Per will go to provide support after the orbital warfare is over."

After the war council concluded, Per quickly selected five hundred men from the Honor Guard and launched an attack on the starport occupied by the orcs.

The Stormbirds roared toward the starport, missiles trailing dazzling flames as they crashed into it.

With a deafening roar, the explosion tore apart a section of steel tunnel.

Stormbirds circled the rift, and Per led his assault team, taking a long run-up before activating their jetpacks and leaping into the starport tunnel.

The honor guards advanced in rows of five, providing overlapping cover.

The greenskins charged toward the black-armored warriors in groups of three or five, while the honor guard raised their slug guns and fired at the scattered orcs.

The diamond bullet tore through the green flesh, and the explosion destroyed the orc's body.

The honor guard proceeded until they had cleared a quarter-circular area.

Suddenly, the Shadows of Order heard heavy footsteps, and a massive figure charged toward them.

His body was completely covered by steel, making it look like a jumble of metal pieces glued together to form a body.

The pieced-together armor was painted blue.

The Honor Guard members knew that the orcs of the Deadskull Clan believed blue to be a lucky color, so they often painted themselves blue in the hope of avoiding harm.

Having recognized that the orc belonged to the Deadskull clan, they were not at all surprised that the orc before them had wrapped himself in steel.

Members of the honor guard raised their guns and fired at the green-skinned soldiers.

Boom boom boom!
A dense hail of bullets bombarded the strange blue steel body, the passageway shook from the explosions, and steel fragments scattered like raindrops.

Through the flying debris, Perl keenly saw the massive body; it hadn't been killed and was hurtling towards him at high speed.

Per knew something was wrong and immediately rushed forward.

The orc, clad in blue armor, suddenly swung his great axe, delivering a ferocious horizontal slash.

The axe blade cleaved one of the Shadows of Order in two, and with the force still lingering, it swung towards another Honor Guard member.

Per roared angrily and put on the "war mask".

He drew strength from his rage, and a violent power surged within his body.

Pere displayed a furious state of mind, but his mind remained calm.

He observes his body from a perspective beyond the physical, harnessing the power unleashed by rage.

Per swung his power sword and launched an attack on the greenskin using the seventh slashing technique of the "Osberh-Waya" style, which he had practiced for over a decade.

Everything around seemed to freeze, and in the blink of an eye, the blow struck the orc.

The charged blade cleaved through the red armor, splitting the green-skinned creature in two.

(End of this chapter)