The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Guard

The moment the beast fell into the energy core, in the dark chamber behind the temple, the ambassador took a deep drag on his pipe.

"He failed," the ambassador's voice echoed in the small, dark room, and he shook his head slightly. "It seems not now."

The ambassador witnessed the entire battle between the Primarch and the beast through the holographic projection, but the technology he used was clearly not the crude technology of the Orcs.

The projection source was a hexagonal, jet-black stone slab in the ambassador's hand, with green energy patterns flowing across its surface.

"I grant your request," he said, lightly tapping the stone slab with his finger, and the projection disappeared into the air.

As soon as he finished speaking, the space behind the ambassador began to twist strangely, gradually forming a polygonal portal that perfectly matched the ambassador's height and profile.

The portal, composed of multiple geometric surfaces superimposed in a special pattern, emitted a verdant light that shone on the ambassador's back.

"Don't forget our deal, the iron frame." With that, the ambassador turned and walked into the portal, his voice echoing in the dark room.

At the other end of the portal, the outline of a tall mechanical body could be vaguely seen, its eye sockets glowing with the same emerald light, and it seemed to be emitting a joyful laugh.

Then, the portal disappeared, plunging the dark room back into darkness, before being destroyed by the Waaagh energy field.

-

On Ulano's orbit, all the Thunder Eagles have returned to their respective warships.

The Mechanicus's mechanical ark is dismantling the orbital defense platform and recovering any useful materials, while all warships are preparing to evacuate at any time.

"How is the Primarch?" Kurland asked his second-in-command, Thane, inside the Abomination.

"The information transmitted via the Unified Ship," Sain replied, "Although Lord Vulcan is seriously injured, he is slowly recovering, a process that may take weeks or even months."

Kurland nodded silently, his gaze returning to the holographic star map. Red dots representing orc ground units were surging towards the palace area from all directions; these were orc troops being reinforced from other parts of Ulanor.

Millions of orcs from Ulanor were just a step away from successfully besieging the Empire's ground forces, but they never had the chance, nor the chance to support their leader.

"Order all warships to prepare for orbital bombardment," Kurland raised his arm, pointing to the dense array of red dots on the projection. "For the Emperor, purify this filthy land!"

Half an hour later, the fleet's orbital bombardment tore through the atmosphere of Ulanno, and the Imperial Navy unleashed its pent-up fury on the orc palace and the vast area around it.

The orc palace, now free from the protection of the Waaagh field, was extremely vulnerable. Continuous explosions leveled it to the ground, and the orcs that came to its aid also suffered devastating blows, with only a few lucky orcs escaping unscathed.

As the last shell slammed into the surface of Ulanor, the Imperial fleet began to turn, engines at full power, heading toward the Mandeville jump point at the edge of the star system.

Small groups of orc warships continued to attempt to intercept them along the way, but these scattered attacks were quickly torn apart by the dense artillery fire of the Imperial fleet.

The voyage lasted five days. Most of the fleet's ships were damaged and could not reach their optimal speed. However, the orcs' attacks in space became chaotic after they lost unified command.

Finally, the Imperial fleet arrived near the jump point, and the radar array emitted a piercing alarm: "Large-scale jump signal detected!"

On the hologram, hundreds of orc warships of varying sizes appeared, and most importantly, a new battle moon appeared.

They clearly came from other star systems, an orc fleet that came to support the beast in response to its call before its death.

"They're too late," Sain said softly, standing beside Kurland.

"But they still came." Kurland stared at the countdown to the Imperial fleet entering the warp. "However, we're leaving, leaving them with ruins."

The orc fleet had already deployed its attack formation, attempting to intercept the fleeing human fleet, but it was too late. The space at the jump point began to warp, opening a passage to the warp for the fleet.

"All ships, activate the Geller Force Field." Kurland took one last look at the Ulanno system; the steel shield outside the observation window had already fallen. "Objective: Return to Terra."

Space was torn apart, and the curtain of the real universe was drawn back. The Imperial fleet sailed into the surging waves of the warp, heading back towards Holy Terra, leaving only the enraged Orc fleet firing aimlessly in space.

The voyage was long, and against the backdrop of the bizarre and fantastical subspace, the passage of time was unpredictable, and the fleet maintained the highest level of vigilance at all times.

The Imperial fleet weathered several minor warp storms, and on a few occasions, some warships were nearly destroyed, but thanks to the navigators' perseverance and the Emperor's protection, they made their way safely toward the Star Torch.

Inside the Unified, Vulcan's body gradually regenerated during the voyage. The application of the Panacea did not increase the Primarch's recovery speed, at least not while the Primarch was still in skeletal form.

The medical bay report indicated that the original skeleton had fully recovered, the surface cracks had healed, some of the abnormal crystallization had disappeared, and his skeleton had become as white as jade.

Furthermore, new tissues began to regrow on the surface of the prototype's bones, with blood vessels and neural networks covering them, and even muscle fibers were generated in the prototype's thoracic cavity.

By the third week, the Primarch's strong muscles had fully recovered, and the slight rise and fall of his chest could be seen.

Another week passed, and the beating of his heart was now clearly audible; anyone standing next to the Primarch could hear it.

"Has he not woken up yet?" Elpis looked at the Primarch and asked the medical staff in the medical bay.

"Lord Vulcan is still in a coma," the medical staff said. "His vital signs have all returned to normal, and he may wake up at any time."

And so, the Imperial fleet sailed through the warp for some time before finally reaching its destination. It jumped out of the warp from the Mandeville point in the solar system, forming a triumphant procession, and headed toward the Throne World.

"We're home." Sain exclaimed as he saw the familiar world of the throne again.

"Yes," Kurland stepped out from behind Sain, his voice tinged with barely perceptible weariness, "but the war is far from over."

Kurland brought up the information panel, where a glaring crimson alert covered the coordinates of thousands of worlds, all of which were distress signals from the orc invasion.

The return of the Primarch greatly boosted morale, but the Empire's wounds continued to bleed.

Although the beasts had been eliminated, the threat of the green-skinned orcs had not been eradicated. The appearance of the orc fleet when they left Ulanor further demonstrated that the war was far more brutal than they had imagined.

"What do we do next?" Sain asked.

"Resolve these support requests first." Kurland paused for a moment, then turned and left. "Then, wait for the Primarch to awaken."