Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 493 Cluster Warfare
On the surface of Planet Broken Tooth III, in the heart of the Ironjaw Canyon.

Each scalding breath felt like swallowing hot sand, tearing at Mikhail's throat.

The air was a mixture of purgatory—dust, gunpowder smoke, the nauseating stench of orcs, and an overwhelming, thick stench of blood, so dense it was almost dripping wet.

Mikhail felt the ground beneath his magnetic boots was the wreckage of the clash between the Emperor's Wrath and the Orcs' savagery: craters like scars on the earth, intertwined with rubble, twisted metal fragments, and viscous, fluorescent green blood.

The tattered uniforms of the Astral Army and fragments of crude Orc armor dotted this land of death.

The towering, crimson rock walls on both sides of the canyon cast huge, distorted shadows in the light of the explosion, resembling the ribs of an ancient behemoth.

The deafening noise was the only tyrant here: the orcs' frenzied "WAAAGH!" roars were like tangible giant hammers, repeatedly pounding his eardrums and helmet; the sharp hiss of the bomb guns, the deep, bloodthirsty hum of the chainsaw swords, and the hissing sound of the laser weapons evaporating energy wove together a symphony of death.

In the distance, the dull roar of heavy artillery is the painful heartbeat of the earth; higher up, thick clouds of smoke and dust are repeatedly torn apart by blinding beams of energy—those are the macro cannons or light spears of orbital warships, relentlessly suppressing this hellish region.

The thunderous roar of engines overhead was a familiar sound of redemption—the Ash Knights' Thunderhawk gunships circled high in the sky, weaving a blanket of deathly fire, and Mikhail could feel the reassuring shadow they cast.

"Team A! Reorganize into wedge formation! Target: Delta-7 core bunker complex! Prepare for volley fire! Advance!" Sergeant Vasily's orders were as clear as cold steel needles, piercing through the chaos.

The tactical interface on Mikhail's helmet visor refreshed instantly, and the blue dots quickly converged.

Led by Vasily, he and his nine brothers crushed the debris on the ground with their heavy magnetic boots. Ten MK10 power armor shoulder plates pressed together, forming an indestructible steel wedge pointing into the depths of the canyon.

Mikhail could feel the vibrations of his brothers' armor beside him, and sense their determination to advance in unison.

"Fire!" Vasily's low growl was the command to detonate.

Ten bomb guns, like the fangs of a living behemoth, simultaneously spewed out destructive tongues of fire!

The dense barrage of explosives tore through the air, converging into a steel storm that slammed into the orc horde that was stubbornly resisting in the front, relying on piles of scrap metal, rocks, and natural caves!

The flames from the explosion instantly merged into a raging, roaring wall of fire!

The orcs' makeshift shelters were shattered and blown away like paper under the Astartes's barrage of fire!
The hiding green-skinned creature was torn apart and thrown into the air by the violent shockwave and high-speed fragments, its internal organs and bone fragments flying everywhere!
This precise volley of fire tore a bloody path through the orcish defenses, burning with death and metal debris!

"Forward! For the Emperor! Ashes burn forever!" Vasily raised his activated power sword, the azure disintegration field emitting a high-frequency, heart-palpitating death hum, and was the first to step into the passage opened up by the sea of ​​fire.

Mikhail closely marked the wedge-shaped right wing forward, his chainsaw sword humming as he prepared to strike, like a ravenous beast.

On the tactical goggles, the blue markings representing friendly forces surged like a burst dam, continuously flooding the breach in their defenses. On the towering "Eagle's Nest" high ground on the left flank, the heavy explosives teams and missile launchers of the 4th Company roared incessantly, their dense explosions landing precisely on the green tide of troops attempting to flank them from the side tunnels, each explosion creating a wave of green spray.

A Stormclaw assault boat, whistling shrilly, skimmed low past their helmets, its twin-barreled explosive cannons and rocket pods unleashing a devastating barrage of bullets at the orc reserve assembly area below, instantly creating a burning vacuum.

Mikhail could clearly feel the crossfire of the Thunderhawk gunboat overhead shifting synchronously. The blazing ammunition belts, like a flaming whip wielded by a god, precisely swept across the outer edge of the Stormclaw's strike zone, sealing off the orcs' path to collapse.

At the canyon entrance, several Shocker armored personnel carriers advanced steadily like mobile steel fortresses. Their heavy armor withstood sporadic fire, and their onboard heavy explosive arrays provided solid and continuous mobile fire support for the following Astragalus infantry. Blue laser beams and explosives intertwined to form a protective net around the Shockers.

Further out on the open flanks, the Storm Riders, belonging to the Ash Knights support company, sped through the battlefield like angry metal wasps. Their multi-barreled thermobaric cannons and heavy explosive shells opened fire, instantly vaporizing or tearing apart any orc vehicles or small groups of enemies attempting to flank them. Their highly efficient mobile firepower swept the edges of the battlefield.

"B Team reporting! Flanking position secured! Green Tide effectively suppressed!" Sergeant Ivanov's voice came through the communication channel, with the muffled yet reassuring roar of heavy explosive shells in the background.

"Roger that! Team A! Maintain wedge formation! Full speed ahead! Crush them!" Vasily's response was decisive.

The grenades continued to emit a deadly screech, and the heavy footsteps did not falter.

They were like a hammer made of adamantite, heated red-hot by the Emperor's will, driven deep into the heart of the orcish defenses.

Their language was volley fire, each strike precisely hitting the weakest points in the orcish defenses.

As the bunkers crumbled, the exposed gun emplacements or rocket-wielding "rocket boys" were quickly reduced to parts and mincemeat under the precise bursts of the wedge-shaped array.

The few orc leaders who charged forward by brute force were instantly strangled by the chainsaw swords and powered weapons that lurked like venomous snakes in the wedge formation.

Mikhail wielded his chainsaw sword with precise and efficient movements, taking advantage of the perfect gaps in his brothers' firepower to eliminate close-range enemies. The high-speed rotating saw teeth easily tore through the orc's rough armor and tough muscles, leaving trails of green blood mist. His peripheral vision scanned the flanks like radar, and his explosive gun fired intermittently to provide timely support to his brothers whose positions were slightly exposed.

He could clearly sense from the shared information flow of the tactical chain that the storm assault boats on the flanks had also turned their guns around and joined in the fire blockade of the remaining tunnel exits, and the air-ground coordinated noose was tightening.

However, just as they approached the deepest part of the canyon, the scarlet cursor on the Delta-7 core area of ​​the tactical eyepiece suddenly started flashing wildly!
The piercing alarm blared almost simultaneously inside the helmet!
The interface was instantly flooded with denser and more glaring red threat icons!
Countless new signal sources, like magma erupting from the earth, surged wildly from the crisscrossing network of underground tunnels and the depths of ruins!

The orcs' last and most ferocious power was fully unleashed!
WAAAGH! The intensity of the energy field instantly soared to its peak, and the primal roar of war almost materialized. The air trembled violently in the sound waves, and the sensors of Mikhail's power armor emitted a series of sharp overload buzzing alarms. Even the eyepiece's field of vision showed brief interference ripples.

A violent shockwave, carrying a savage stench, rushed towards us.

(End of this chapter)