Chapter 202: Wheel of Fire: Boarding the Battle Moon

Ninglu knew that the Battle Moon's gravity whip required charging between each attack.

During the charging interval, the Battle Moon's force field would also fail.

The ship's lance and other weapons could not destroy the Battle Moon during the charging interval.

To deal with the Battle Moon, the only viable tactic was to seize the window of its shield and weapon charging interval to launch a close-range boarding assault.

There were two tactical choices after boarding.

One was to destroy its reactor and detonate the entire Battle Moon, leaving no future trouble.

The other was to paralyze its internal portals, cut off support channels, isolate it, and then clear out the Orks on it.

Ninglu decided to adopt the second method; such an advanced Xenos creation as a Battle Moon could find buyers willing to pay a huge price.

He would handle it the same way he dealt with the Fulao battlecruiser previously: find a partner and develop it together with them.

Adopting a collaborative development approach would allow for sharing the results without needing to station troops on the Battle Moon.

Although the ship commanders of the Eleventh Legion were puzzled, they still executed the Primarch's order and launched an assault on the Battle Moon.

The Ork fleet that had returned with the Battle Moon immediately sailed toward the black warships.

On the flagship of the Sixth Legion, Leman Russ clenched his fists; he stared through the viewing window at the ships being torn apart.

The Moon had turned his progeny into void dust.

The Wolf King withdrew his gaze and strode back to the Bridge; he saw the Eleventh Legion's warships launching an assault on the Battle Moon at full speed.

Uncontrollable sorrow appeared in the eyes of Enoch Lashwin; those were the brothers who had fought side-by-side with him.

He forced himself to enter the role of Commander and looked at the holographic projection.

"The Order Shadows are launching an attack on that evil moon; the courage they show once they make up their minds is admirable."

"They were performing tactical evasions before, but now they are crashing directly into the center of the Ork fleet."

The Wolf Lord saw that as the "Order Shadow" fleet sailed toward the Battle Moon, black warships were being destroyed one after another.

According to Lashier's estimation, if the Eleventh Legion's tactical intent was to close in on the evil moon, they would pay a heavy price, with losses exceeding the total number of warships destroyed by the Orks over the past few weeks.

"Ninglu must have discovered something; perhaps it is his sorcerous tricks again."

In order to win the hunt, Leman Russ had collected intelligence related to Ninglu.

He knew that Ninglu's progeny had not had large-scale engagements with the Orks before, so his knowledge of the evil moon must have been obtained through psychic precognition.

"How shall we respond?"

Lashwin looked at his Wolf King and asked.

"Ninglu warned us before; although he walks on an erroneous path, he is still..."

Leman Russ had wanted to say "brother," but thinking of Ninglu's attitude toward him, he said instead.

"A Primarch."

"Order the Legion fleet to launch an attack on the Ork warships."

The Wolf King's voice was low, and he emphasized his tone.

"All ships, launch a wolf-pack style assault and tear at the flanks of the Ork fleet."

"Attacking the dense central area is prohibited."

【I am not clear on the status of the evil moon and cannot predict Ninglu's subsequent actions; the wolf-pack fleet entering the central area might affect the tactical maneuvering of the Order Shadows.】

The gray warships, following the Primarch's orders, unleashed their fury upon the Ork warships to avenge the devoured friendly ships.

On the Shadow of Sovereignty, Ninglu stared at the friendly markers disappearing on the holographic projection.

A flash of sorrow crossed his eyes, which he then banished.

Ninglu knew that the way to pay the smallest price was to quickly resolve the Battle Moon; he had to paralyze the portals in the first wave of the attack.

The Primarch issued an order: "Cease fire with side-battery weapons, activate the Auger Matrix at maximum power, scan the moon, and confirm the locations of all portals."

"Prepare the Drop Pods and Stormbirds!"

After the Primarch Attendant relayed the order, he reported.

"My lord, the Master of Choirs reports that his Astropathic Choir has eliminated the interference and restored astropathic communications."

"The Eleventh Chapter has completed Warp travel according to orders and is about to jump to the anchor point in the real world."

"The Fifth Chapter is expected to arrive in thirty-four ship-hours."

After the Primarch's brain rapidly deduced the subsequent situation, he issued an order.

"After the Eleventh Chapter fleet arrives, join the warships within the system to pursue the Ork fleet."

"After the Fifth Chapter fleet arrives, form a line around the moon and forbid the 'Space Wolves' from approaching."

The performance of the "Space Wolves" in campaigns such as the Fangzhou Bianji Xing Tuan surfaced in Ninglu's memory.

The wolves were always committed to destroying everything and turning everything into ruins.

Having paid a huge price, he did not want his spoils of war to be destroyed.

Arsena Dunn immediately relayed the Primarch's order; after listening to the report from the Auger Matrix Master.

"My lord, the fleet scanned the entire moon and discovered a total of forty-one portals on the moon's surface."

As he spoke, he operated the Control Staff; the Flame Wheel System map displayed on the holographic projection shrank and moved to a corner, occupying only one-eighth of the area.

The center of the holographic projection changed to the Battle Moon scan map.

At the same time, the surrounding video screens also switched to scan data.

The Primarch scanned all the video screens, and a torrent of data flooded into his brain.

Ten-odd seconds later, the Primarch extended his finger and circled the portals with the highest energy readings.

"This portal," the Primarch then quickly pointed to four surrounding portals, "and these, are the targets for me and the Honor Guard."

"The Second and Seventh Chapters are responsible for the other portals."

The Primarch Attendant immediately relayed the Primarch's order to the two Lords.

Ninglu glanced at the holographic projection, where the Gloriana-class Battleship savagely rammed aside the Ork warships blocking its path.

The Void Shield feedback report showed warning runes flickering constantly between green and yellow.

The Primarch then stood up and said to the female captain.

"Diana, I leave the space battle to you."

"As you command, my lord."

Ninglu strode to the boarding deck, where black Drop Pods were neatly arranged on the launch racks, and the Honor Guard had already assembled.

The lost members of the Order Shadow were replaced by personnel from the Second and Seventh Legion.

Excluding the Weiershier Xiaodui from Arenis, there were now five hundred and eighty-three men.

The Honor Guard members who had experienced the battle of Arenis all wore medals forged by the Techmarine on their chests.

The pattern on the medal was a black arrow piercing a yellow heart.

The Primarch walked into the Drop Pod custom-made for him, and the members of the Honor Guard and the assault squads of the Second and Seventh Legion entered their vehicles at the same moment.

After the Order Shadow members were in their positions and the iron-petal-like hatch covers slowly closed, the Drop Pods looked like ripe seed pods.

The alarm sounded, and the power coils of the launch racks began to charge.

Stepping onto the Stormbird deck, Arsena Dunn heard a harsh, shrill whistling sound and smelled the scent of ozone permeating the air.

The power coils were fully charged, and a sudden, violent change in air pressure signaled the dissipation of the deck's localized force field.

The Machine Spirit of the Drop Pods hungered to join the battle, and the energy poised for release emitted a sharp howl.

The Drop Pods shot out like bullets, the spreading shockwaves causing the boarding deck to tremble incessantly.

Wrapped in teardrop-shaped azure flames, the Drop Pods smashed into the Moon one after another.

The Orks on the surface of the Battle Moon saw the blinding light in the sky falling rapidly and let out excited roars.

An Orc, taller, larger, and stronger than the other Orcs, shouted loudly.

"Lads, things are falling from the sky again."

"Follow me quick, let's grab 'em all."

Hundreds of Lootas and Gretchin followed behind the boss, running toward the direction where the lights fell, preparing to scramble for parts.

Boom!

The Drop Pods slammed into the Battle Moon, the shockwave sending the greedy Orks flying.

The hatches opened, and black-armored Warriors stepped out.

Ninglu walked out of the Drop Pod, raised his left arm, and fired bolter rounds at the Orcs.

At the same time, he scanned his surroundings to confirm the area with the highest energy density fluctuations.

The Primarch said to the Honor Guard member beside him: "Five o'clock direction, two point seven kilometers away."

"The stuff on you is nice, the sword in your hand is nice, I've taken a liking to it."

The boss, wearing yellow and green stripes, looked greedily at Ninglu's armor, which was even more magnificent than the boss's own armor, and charged straight at him.

Ninglu met the boss, the Sword of Vaul swung out, and the steel club was sliced through like tofu.

The Orc boss's head was sent flying and landed on the ground.

(End of chapter)