Watching those behemoths continuously burst forth from beneath the ice, Alex felt his brain buzzing and his temples throbbing.
He gripped the edge of the command console tightly, his knuckles white from the strain.
How was this planet sealed back then? The ice layer below was a damn Ork armory!
Alex glared, gritting his teeth, at the Ork war machines constantly emerging on the holographic projection—from Mork Gorkonauts to Stompas, these monsters, which should only exist in Apocalyptic-level battle reports, were now appearing one after another before his eyes.
What enraged him even more was the dereliction of duty by those Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus; such massive energy signatures and metal structures, yet their previous scans had completely overlooked them?
This was no longer something that could be explained by negligence; it was an outright betrayal of the Emperor! A heavy hand must be dealt!
Alex's breathing grew heavy, and his eyes had turned a lightning-filled blue-white from the overflowing psychic energy.
If he had known there were so many deadly "mushrooms" buried under the ice, he would have rather built the medical dome on a Necrons' throne world than choose this accursed frozen world.
But regret was useless now; he forcibly suppressed the boiling rage back into his heart—the most urgent task was to control the situation.
Kroak was simply too dangerous; Alex absolutely would not allow him to fall into the hands of these Orks, or truly awaken.
"My command!" Alex's voice was as chilling as ice, "Sisters of Silence squads, maintain the Void Field at full power! Kroak's psychic emissions must be completely isolated! The Adeptus Mechanicus must present a complete relic excavation plan within twelve standard hours!"
His gaze swept over the trembling Tech-Priests, his tone brimming with killing intent: "Whether by anti-gravity engines or Warp teleportation, even if you have to cut the entire ice sheet into pieces—I only want results!"
On the holographic sandbox, the crimson dot representing Kroak was pulsating violently.
Alex knew that this ancient monster must not be awakened by the greenskins, nor fall into the hands of the Orks.
He had to race against time, before the situation spiraled completely out of control, to transfer this ticking time bomb to a safe location—even if it meant throwing it into a stellar furnace for complete destruction, that would be better than letting it become the spark for a greenskin rampage across the galaxy.
But right now, besides having the Sisters of Silence continue to shroud Kroak with the Void Field, Alex had to find a way to block the Orks' overwhelming mechanical army!
He stood on the command bridge, staring intently at the holographic projection of the Stompa that was awakening.
This steel behemoth, cobbled together from scrap metal and insane "Ork Finkin'," stood over thirty meters tall, its rusty outer armor covered in crude weld marks and Ork graffiti.
The "Supakannon" mounted on its right arm was charging, its muzzle flickering with an ominous green light, each charge ionizing the surrounding air with a pungent ozone smell.
Although Alex had brought three Knight Family war machines, and a battle group of the Adeptus Militarum of the Adeptus Mechanicus was arrayed and waiting, these forces could at most only deal with the Killa Kans and Deff Dreads.
Even when facing a giant war machine like a Gorkanaut, the knight titans could still contend, even if it meant risking their lives.
But to directly confront a Stompa? That was simply a pipe dream!
Alex clearly remembered that during the Beast Arises, the Primarch Vulkan faced a Mega-Gargant that was the size of a city, and the Imperium had to deploy thousands of Space Marines to accompany the Primarch in a boarding action to destroy it.
(The largest Stompa, the Mega-Gargant class)
Alex was now sincerely grateful that he wasn't facing something so absurd, although the Stompa he was currently facing, while not as exaggerated in size, was still comparable to a moving small mountain, and the sheer power of its steps shattering the ice sheet was enough to send shivers down one's spine.
Or, to be precise, the one he was facing now could also be called a "Gargant," a true Gargant.
This steel behemoth, cobbled together from scrap metal and insane "Ork Finkin'," stood dozens of meters tall, its crude outer armor covered in Ork graffiti and rusty rivets, and its two massive mechanical legs left enormous footprints on the frozen ground with every step.
Its head was shaped into the ferocious visages of Gork and Mork, its blood-red single eye flickering with an ominous light, and its large mouth, welded from old spaceship armor plates, spewed black smoke and sparks.
Stompas are the Orks' largest ground combat units; these towering war machines are comparable in both size and power to Imperial Titans.
Its junk-piled body was laden with various deadly weapons: its right arm was a "Supakannon" as thick as a Leman Russ Tank's barrel, emitting an ear-splitting hum every time it charged; its left arm was fitted with a massive power klaw, its sharp metal teeth still bearing the remnants of some unfortunate soul; and its back was bristling with several rocket launcher pods and auto-turrets, ready to unleash death in all directions.
This thing had no fixed design—expecting a bunch of greenskins to build two identical things was itself a luxury.
Their construction method, which was essentially piling up junk and then "Ork Finkin'" it could move, made every Stompa unique: some had huge horns on their heads, some carried flaming boilers on their backs, and some even had green-smoke-spewing exhaust pipes hanging from their rear. Even the Orks themselves couldn't precisely explain the differences between these super-sized behemoths, only knowing that they were all very "WAAAGH!"
But one thing was beyond doubt: their main weapon, once fired, was enough to wipe out an entire unit. Alex personally saw the green energy beam fired by the "Supakannon" sweep across the battlefield, instantly vaporizing half a company of Astra Militarum soldiers, along with three Chimera armored vehicles, turning them into charred wreckage.
Only Imperial Titans, their direct counterparts, could confront them head-on and destroy them.
And now, Alex's only Titan Legion was still far away in Kharkov; he had to use the flesh and blood of mortals to block the advance of this steel behemoth.
(1990s Gargant)
However, just as Alex thought he would have to use lives and sacrifices to stop this thing, a certain possibility suddenly occurred to him, a flash of inspiration.
"The Emperor protect! If it can be done…" Alex thought of a certain possibility; if it could be done, he would be able to use a Titan to stop this Stompa, without needing to use lives to stop its continued advance.
With his mind made up, Alex quickly withdrew his consciousness from the 40K world.
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