Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor-Chapter 244 - 245: Reclaiming the Webway—Heading to Macragge?

On the Dreamwaver's bridge...

Eden looked through the dome at the Blackstone Gate.

At that moment, the golden barrier at the gate's center was violently trembling, sending out pulse after pulse of light waves.

A raging tide of daemons was crashing against the gate.

He could feel that the Blackstone Throne's rate of energy siphoning had increased further, soon to reach its limit.

But it hardly mattered anymore.

His forces would soon drive out the daemons and resolve this Webway crisis.

In this Webway War...

Eden has deployed five large warships. Counting the Ork horde, the Storm Group Armies, and the Chapter's warriors, the total manpower is around 17 million.

Leading the charge is the Ork horde, which has recovered and grown for nearly two years, numbering about two million.

Almost all of them carry excellent weapons.

Resources provided by the Department of the Army to the Ork horde could have formed multiple entire group armies.

At last, the time had come to test them.

Eden cast a glance at the commander: "Let's go. Time to drive those daemons out of our domain!"

"Yes, sir!"

The commander issued several orders, and the fleet advanced toward the Blackstone Gate.

Meanwhile, Eden walked over to a nearby monitoring platform.

Dozens of mechanical screens were connected, broadcasting images of the Steelfang from various angles.

These monitoring devices had been installed at the request of the Department of the Army, which insisted on constantly tracking the Ork xenos.

Even with the Savior's assurances, they remain vigilant toward the Orks.

Yet monitoring them in the Webway is no simple task.

Due to the Webway's complex energy interference, these monitoring devices have very limited signal range.

But the Department of the Army has a plan:

Once they secure control over the Webway, they will set up signal relay stations and additional monitoring devices all over.

They want to keep the Orks under surveillance as much as possible.

Building those relay stations and monitors is expensive, but Eden did not object.

It's basic infrastructure, after all.

It can also help keep an eye on the Webway.

Bang, bang, bang.

Eden felt the deck vibrating.

That was the turbulence of passing through the Blackstone Gate's transit channel.

The monitor images flickered briefly before stabilizing.

Then, on the feed from the prow of the Steelfang, he saw a surging black mass of daemons.

Rumble!!!

Deafening artillery fire exploded as the Orks, leading the fleet, engaged the daemons!

Within the Webway...

The entire space was filled with roaring bombardments—macro-cannons, torpedoes, lance beams—

Relentlessly slaughtering the oncoming horde of daemons.

Almost everywhere you looked, the scene was teeming with daemons, shrieking and howling, spreading fear as they advanced.

These terrifying Warp creatures would be daunting to normal human warriors.

But they had encountered a far more ferocious foe.

"Waaagh!"

Inside the Steelfang...

Gretchin manned various gun batteries, firing madly into the daemon horde.

With the boost of their field, the artillery was like a machine gun spitting out shell after shell.

Dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka!

In the skies...

Orks piloted their Dakkajets, Blitza-Bommers, Burna-Bommers, and so on, bombing wildly.

On the ground...

Orkish super-heavy Venomblade Grot tanks, Rogo Kongo walker mechs, heavy flak trucks, bone-crusher vehicles, and ground-crawling heavy artillery...

All charged in like unstoppable dump trucks.

Fire and blood soared everywhere.

Thud. Thud. Thud—

Heavy footsteps approached, revealing an enormous Ork figure. Knotted muscles, in the dim light, looked like metal-cast bronze.

It was the Ork leader, Bonegnasher Steelfang!

Steelfang stepped onto the Steelfang's deck, facing a swarm of daemons alone.

His eyes shone with cold cruelty tinged with scarlet.

This is the war he has longed for.

He will lead his minions to butcher these pathetic daemons.

That will be the perfect tribute to Eden!

Roar—

High above, the daemons circled around Steelfang. Suddenly, several of them dove down, accelerating toward the deck.

Seeing the incoming daemons, the giant Ork leader bared his massive teeth, wearing a cruel grin.

Boom!

Steelfang slashed with his chain-axe, cutting a front-facing daemon clean in half.

Then he clamped his alloy pincer backward, seizing another daemon. Amid its anguished cries, he crushed its head.

Daemon blood splattered across his armor, making him look even more fearsome.

"Foul, inferior beasts!"

A roar erupted, leathery wings stirring a strong wind.

A higher daemon, eyes alight with sulfuric fire, slammed down with a crash, swinging a great sword.

Clang!

Steelfang blocked the strike and launched a more ferocious counter. Within moments, he had the daemon knocked to the ground.

Crunch!!!

His vicious boot slammed onto the daemon's chest, shaking the deck.

What had been a body as hard as steel was now cracking under the crushing weight of that boot.

The sickening sound of bones being pulverized rang out.

The high-tier daemon unleashed a shrill wail, like sails torn in a violent gale, full of despair and pain.

But Steelfang was not about to spare this foolish daemon that dared challenge him.

He wore a grim look as he grabbed its massive wings, tearing them off by brute force.

Thick, murky blood gushed. The high-tier daemon's body went rigid, its voice extinguished.

Steelfang didn't even care; he shoved the daemon's wings straight into his mouth, chewing up flesh, blood, and bone—

Then swallowed it in one gulp.

Devouring the daemon's flesh and blood elevated his aura a notch.

Waaaagh!!!

Soaked in daemon blood, Steelfang let loose a rage-fueled roar toward the sky.

The bellow, like thunder, rippled across the heavens, causing daemons in the vicinity to recoil in unease.

That is a declaration of war against the daemons.

He, the Ork boss—the invincible Bonegnasher—has arrived!

With Steelfang's battle cry, the Orks became even more frenzied, unleashing a more brutal assault upon the daemons.

"For Eden!"

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Steelfang roared the war cry, brandishing his chain-axe as he leaped off the deck!

"What the— Is that guy high or something?" Eden nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight.

That's the Steelfang's deck, at least ten kilometers above ground!

Such a big brute jumping off from that height, with gravitational potential energy piled on top, would end up as ground meat...Even a Primarch wouldn't dare this, would they?

Eden's heart sank. He'd invested a lot in Steelfang.

If that guy dies, the Ork army will lose a major portion of its strength. It would take a long time to groom another leader.

He bit his nails anxiously and switched the feed to another camera, locking on the plummeting Ork figure.

Now he could only pray that the "I figure" field would work its magic.

Waaaagh—

The whistling wind howled.

Steelfang grabbed hold of a large flying daemon in midair, yanking it along as they plummeted.

Boom!

A dark figure slammed into the ground, flesh and blood splattering in all directions.

The daemon used as a cushion died instantly. Steelfang crawled out of the gore, shook his head, then charged into the daemon horde.

Phew!

Tough as Orks get.

Eden watched Steelfang's savage rampage and felt that this investment was indeed worthwhile.

However, his relief was short-lived.

Aaaaaagh!

The Orks began falling like dumplings from the sky.

Taking cues from their boss, they jumped off the deck in a chorus of "Waaagh!"

Most of them got lucky, managed to grab a daemon mid-fall, and landed safely.

A small fraction, though, crashed headfirst in all sorts of poses, leaving only a bloody mess behind.

Still, it did not affect Ork morale. In fact, it made them even more excited.

Sure enough, that's how they roll...

Eden nearly had a stroke, but he soon let it go.

So be it. That's just how Orks fight—freefall assaults and kamikaze raids are standard for them.

You can't measure them by human logic.

Anyway, Orks breed quickly, so losing a bunch doesn't matter much.

In fact, it might even be a good thing.

It shows that this Ork army is wild enough, fierce enough—top-quality Orks.

Indeed, led by Steelfang, the Ork horde repelled the daemons that far outnumbered them!

Then, working with the Storm Group Armies, the Chapter, and the fleet, they drove the daemons out of this region.

Gradually, they pushed the front deeper into the Webway.

...

Two weeks later.

Within the Webway...

On a hovering mechanical platform...

Eden paced back and forth, filled with worry.

The initial Webway War went smoothly, thoroughly repelling the Chaos forces swarming the Blackstone Gate.

Now the Ork horde was hunting down the remaining daemons everywhere.

But he soon ran into a new issue: repairing the Webway's cracks.

There are far too many minor fissures here, providing entry points for daemons.

If they don't seal them, they will endure demon incursions indefinitely, making it impossible to fully utilize those areas.

Granted, sealing every single crack in the entire Webway would take centuries, maybe millennia.

But at least the cracks near the Blackstone Gate must be fixed.

Only then can they establish fortifications and outposts to truly secure this portion of the Webway.

Eden frowned, gazing at one of the fissures along the Webway walls above.

At least it's not large.

If it were like the incident with "Little Ma" that shattered the Webway, leaving gaping holes, it would be unthinkable.

Even so, sealing a small fissure is not trivial.

They must fix both the physical gap and the outer psychic barrier simultaneously.

Eden and Kaul came here specifically to seal that Webway crack.

Over the years, Kaul has studied repair techniques based on knowledge granted by the Emperor.

But at the critical moment, he fell short.

Zzzt—

Sparks flickered from the complex mechanical device as Kaul tinkered, looking a bit like an electrician at work.

Eden flicked off some unidentified debris from his shoulder, sighing: "Are you sure you can do this, oh great genius?"

Kaul halted, feeling indignant:

"Savior, please do not underestimate my intellect. I, the genius Kaul, am no ordinary being."

He took a swig of some oily beverage as though savoring it. "Do you feel that? That sacred resonance—the Omnissiah's radiance bathed over me. It pierces cold metal and circuitry, reaching the depths of the soul. An eruption of inspiration and knowledge—"

"Alright, alright. Since you're so inspired, try it again!"

Kaul downed his drink, tossed the empty can aside with a clang:

"You'll regret doubting me this time. I swear it'll work!"

He fiddled with the mechanical contraption a bit more, then directed some servo-skulls to carry it toward the fissure.

Click, click.

Gears turned. The device ejected its claws into the crack, pulling itself snugly inside.

Soon, it began to operate. Faint psychic energy spread, covering the fissure.

Did it work?

Eden's face lit up.

But the next second, swirling pinkish Chaos energy engulfed the device.

Fizzle—

The contraption burned, detached, and clattered onto the floating platform.

Kaul let out a dry chuckle.

He scratched his head with a shameless grin: "Well, at least it didn't explode. And I just got some fresh ideas. Give me three more days—"

"Sure, but I'd like to let our new technicians give it a shot too."

Kaul popped open another can of oily beverage, sipping leisurely: "With all due respect, if the genius Kaul can't solve a problem, I doubt those rough brutes can handle it."

"They're here already, so let them try."

Eden beckoned, and a few Ork Meks—each around two meters tall and covered in mechanical tools—stomped over.

Their weight made the floating platform creak.

They were the so-called "technical experts."

A week ago, Eden sent these two Ork Meks for intensive training in Webway technology.

He was making a bold gamble, hoping the Ork's field energy would work wonders.

At Eden's command, the Ork Meks gathered around the broken device, studying it briefly before leaping into action.

They yammered and banged away at it.

Hammers, saws, drills, melta tools, all in chaotic motion, sparks flying everywhere.

Then they began to cobble it back together with random junk, stuffing in everything from weird spare parts and biological tissue to an empty can they found on the floor.

Watching this spectacle, Eden's eye twitched. His confidence suddenly wavered.

This is absolutely insane.

Yet on the side, Kaul's expression grew serious: "Praise the Omnissiah! Their technique is impressive!"

Huh??? How can you tell?

Eden was dumbfounded.

He'd just watched one Ork Mek drop its hammer into the device, then fumble around cluelessly looking for it.

How could this possibly succeed?

"I apologize for my earlier doubts. Their approach seems crude, but indeed they possess an extraordinary knack. Their modifications are logically sound..."

Kaul now wore a repentant face, speaking with conviction: "I'm certain these technicians can fix the fissure!"

At that moment, the Ork Meks activated a manual hoist, lugged the rebuilt contraption up to the crack—

And basically shoved it in, hammering it a few times for good measure.

Clang, clang—various parts rained down.

Buzzzz—

To everyone's surprise, their cobbled contraption started running smoothly. The psychic energy it released completely sealed the fissure.

Eden stared anxiously at the contraption, which looked on the verge of falling apart at any time—

Fearing it would burn again.

But it stayed stable, no sign of malfunction.

It really worked!

He was overjoyed. Indeed, the Orks power is unstoppable.

After all, the Old Ones who created the Webway also had a hand in creating the Ork genome.

It sort of makes sense that Ork Meks can repair the Webway.

"Gahgahgah~ You see, dis right 'ere's the real stuff..."

Eden heard Kaul chatting away.

He turned and saw that somehow Kaul and the Ork Meks had gathered together, guzzling those oily drinks and talking a bunch of incomprehensible tech jargon.

Eden suddenly realized:

Kaul's mechanicus style had, early on, also been something of a wild, explosion-laden approach.

Sure, his finished products lean toward safety and reliability...

But it's not surprising they'd have a lot to talk about.

One problem though: they were each speaking a different language, plus some binaric.

"I don't get it—I really don't..."

Eden shook his head and walked away.

At least the headache of fixing the Webway has been resolved.

He plans to train more Ork Meks who will help repair the Webway as they fight.

In the distance, several transport vessels glided in, bringing in engineering teams and large amounts of building materials.

They will begin constructing fortifications in the Webway.

After that, more and more survey ships from the Webway Maintenance Department will arrive.

Some fifty thousand investigators will participate in the Webway exploration initially, and that number will keep growing.

Their mission is to locate and map out all the portal routes.

Eden has already told the Webway Maintenance Department:

Find the route to Macragge as quickly as possible...

So when Guilliman's resurrection war breaks out, Eden's true body can reach Macragge as soon as possible!

(End of Chapter)

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