"Waaagh!!!"
In the Warp, the collective roars of countless orks converged, forming a powerful, unique psychic energy known as Waaagh Energy. On Avarax, all the psychics felt this suffocatingly terrifying green tide. "Quickly, make an urgent report!" The head of the Starseer Relay Station, realizing the seriousness of the situation, immediately went in person to the Hive City Spire to meet Marcus. This person was one of the oldest crew members of the Ishimura, neither from the Warhammer world nor the Resident Evil world.
"Our psychics have detected strong Waaagh Energy approaching the Recidious Star System; the orks are almost here."
"Finally, they're here." After half a month of waiting, everything on Avarax was ready. Marcus stood up. "Prepare for a pre-war broadcast; I need to inform the entire army." Nothing could mobilize millions of PDF Soldiers better than a pre-war speech.
"Understood." Alexia pushed the door open and left to prepare.
"Have the Starseers remain silent for now; I don't want their brains to be burned out," Marcus instructed the head of the Starseer Relay Station.
"Yes!" The person in charge also left.
"War is about to begin—" Looking at the dark sky outside the window, Marcus murmured to himself.
"War is about to begin! The filthy Greenskin aliens are attempting to invade our home! Under the gaze of the Great God-Emperor! This war will bring new merits and glory! Soldiers! The Imperium of Man calls you! For the Emperor! For the Imperium of Man!" Marcus's voice, carried by loudspeakers distributed in every corner of the various Hive Cities, reached the ears of nearly ten billion people on Avarax, especially the millions of PDF Soldiers.
"For Avarax! For the Governor!" All the PDF Soldiers shouted in unison. After the pre-war speech ended, the entire Avarax began to act according to the plan. Hive City civilians without combat capability were properly settled. The young and strong among them were conscripted into the reserves, ready to replenish the PDF Soldiers' losses at any time. All ground-based anti-aircraft fire platforms were ready, pointing their cannons at the sky.
In the cold space, on the Ishimura, all the crew members looked solemn, busy with their respective tasks. According to the plan, the Ishimura would strike the ork fleet as it warped out of the Warp. By its own strength alone. This would be a huge test for the Ishimura and all its crew, as it would be the first interstellar battle for this Planet Cracker and its team.
"Spatial fluctuations detected, location around the Tomb World Demerium! No ork ships detected yet!" The Tomb World Demerium, ever since the plot of the Thousand Sons Sorcerer Lord Imurah was foiled, had only been visited by Guilliman leading his fleet to repel the tyranids, investigating Marcus's whereabouts. Due to the large-scale Warp invasion phenomena that had occurred there, the real universe space around Demerium had always been unstable. It was normal for orks to Warp out from here.
"Activate the pulse engine, accelerate to maximum speed and get there!" Marcus immediately ordered; they had to rush to the optimal attack position during the interval before the ork fleet fully warped out.
"Pulse engine activated, accelerating," Chief Engineer Jacob reported.
"All weapon systems are ready."
"Very good," Marcus nodded. "Let's deliver a head-on blow to those orks."
Soon, the Ishimura, operating its pulse engine at full power, arrived near Demerium and found the area continuously emitting spatial fluctuations. "We really came at the right time." At this moment, a huge ork 'Kroozer' had already torn open the veil between the Warp and the real world, extending its bow.
"Attack!" As Marcus gave the order, more than a dozen quad-mounted giant laser cannon arrays located throughout the Ishimura all turned their muzzles, aiming at the ork Kroozer. Then, they fired ferociously. Thick, scorching laser beams spewed forth, then slammed into the void shield around the Kroozer. All the laser beams, originally containing terrifying energy, were transferred into the Warp by the void shield. This volley from the Ishimura did not harm the orks inside the Kroozer at all.
"Continue laser cannon array attack, full missile array fire, ADS cannons begin salvo." Although the first round of laser cannon array attacks had no effect, Marcus was not anxious but calmly gave orders. Unlike the Human Imperium of Man's clumsy macro cannons, which still required manual control and ammunition loading, most of the weapon systems on the Ishimura, under the coordinated control of the artificial intelligence system, could turn, aim, and attack at extremely high speeds. The missile launch arrays arranged on the top armor of the Ishimura all opened their covers, and hundreds of missiles, drawing white trails, attacked the distant ork Kroozer.
"Nuclear warheads ready, permission to fire?" Jacob turned and looked at Marcus.
"Permission granted." After receiving permission, three special missiles equipped with tactical nuclear warheads were also launched, following behind the preceding missile swarm, flying towards the Kroozer.
"Void shields, I need to figure out how to get a set for the Ishimura," Marcus muttered softly, looking at the Kroozer, which was enduring the Ishimura's relentless bombardment with its void shield, still without any damage.
"Attention everyone! The enemy is about to fully emerge from the Warp!" At this time, more than half of the ork Kroozer was already in the real universe. Ork warships never had a specific construction template; from size to the various weapons mounted, everything depended entirely on the ork Mekboyz and Big Meks who built them. However, the Kroozer that the Ishimura was currently facing could generally be classified as a regular Greenskin cruiser. Its length was over four kilometers, and its longitudinal width was one kilometer. Its size far exceeded that of the Ishimura, which was only 1.6 kilometers long. Neither the thickness of the armor nor the number of weapons mounted was on the same level as the Ishimura. Therefore, directly confronting such a Kroozer was definitely not a wise move.
"Release the boarding party." Since he decided not to confront it head-on, Marcus ordered the release of small assault ships carrying the Tyrant Legion for boarding.
"Attention! Target cannons turning! Begin emergency evasion!" The bridge began flashing with piercing red alarms. The pulse engine began operating at full power, and the entire Ishimura began turning to evade.
"WAAAGH! Krump dem runty gitz ta bitz!" On the ork Kroozer, which had been passively taking hits, the ork controlling the cannons roared. Immediately, the cannon arrays on the side of the Kroozer began firing violently, bombarding the Ishimura.