Warhammer 40k: Rise of the Great Horned Rat

Chapter 191 191: The Great Conflict

Once the Greenskins let slip the dogs of war, they fought with utter abandon. Those Orks who could find no foes within the stubborn Kin fortifications simply turned back with feral bellows to hack at the Skaven.

Clan Mors, the most martially robust of all Skaven clans, was not to be outdone. Those Skaven Warlords met by the Orks' initial, bone-crushing impact immediately commanded their thralls to retaliate. In an instant, tens of thousands of Clanrats, resembling some verminous parody of the Death Korps of Krieg, cladded in flak-armor and clutching bayoneted rifles, formed wide, chaotic battle lines.

The rat-kin huddled together, each trying to shrink their frame behind a comrade while thrusting their muzzles forward, squinting through crude iron sights to open fire upon the roaring Greenskins.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Coruscating green muzzle-flashes erupted from blackened barrels. Due to the sheer weight of Skaven numbers, the fusillade of warp-bullets formed an impenetrable leaden curtain. The acrid smog rising from the warp-fire was inhaled deep into the vermin's lungs, inducing a state of hyper-active euphoria; soon, the high-pitched squeals of the rats were drowned out by the frenzied roars of Skaven bloodlust.

"WAAAGH!!!"

As was their custom, the Ork Choppa Boyz led the vanguard. These Boyz relied on their sheer physical bulk, charging headlong into the densest clusters of the enemy. However, before the egalitarian lethality of warpstone ammunition, even their prodigious constitution and dense muscle failed them. Unlike the lasbolts of the Astra Militarum or the shuriken of the Aeldari, which an Ork might weather for a time, a warp-bullet punched a gaping hole through flesh, followed instantly by the chaotic energies of the Empyrean which rotted their bodies from within.

Orks struck by these rounds would collapse mid-stride, tumbling into the dirt. Yet, this did little to dampen the momentum of the green tide. Those Orks favored by Gork and Mork miraculously bypassed the hailstorm unscathed, leaping through the curtain of fire to crash directly into the ranks of the Clanrats.

"WAAAGH!"

A massive choppa descended upon a Skaven-shaped helm, cleaving a rat-head clean off. Instantly, three or four glowing green warp-bayonets lunged forward, stabbing into the Greenskin from all sides.

But as the first made contact, a thousand more followed. The Greenskin charge was a tsunami sweeping across the battlefield. The Skaven soon found their lines buckled, forced into a desperate melee. The warriors of Clan Mors fought with bayonets against the Ork Boyz in a frantic struggle; but while Clan Mors possessed the finest individual combatants of the Skaven race, they could not overcome their innate physical inferiority.

The weapon teams purchased from Clan Skryre were too few to suppress the green tide entirely. Even the most lethal Poisoned Wind Globadiers could only hold back the Orks in isolated sectors. Furthermore, from the distance, Ork Snipers, armed with rifles boasting a rate of fire comparable to heavy bolters, watched with malicious glee, picking off high-value Skaven targets and inflicting heavy casualties upon the weapon teams.

As the Boyz became entangled with the Skaven, Grot Mega-Tanks and Killa Kans waddled forward with their bizarre, swaying gaits to join the slaughter. Power klaws, drills, big shootas, and skorchas were bolted haphazardly onto these ramshackle walkers. The grots inside shrieked with delight as they carved a path of carnage through the rat-swarm.

In response, the Skaven Warlord immediately committed his Rat Ogres to the fray.

Plated in slabs of ceramite, these multi-ton monstrosities functioned as living Dreadnoughts. Clad in warp-claws and warp-flayers, they lunged at the Kans like cornered beasts. A spinning warp-flayer, backed by the beast's charging inertia, smashed into the crude orkish face painted on a Killa Kan, sending sparks and rivets flying.

Though the Kan's chassis was crumpled, it remained operational, retaliating with a power klaw that clamped onto the Rat Ogre's arm, a limb as rugged as ironwood. Though the Rat Ogre lacked a sense of pain, it possessed a surgically-induced rage. As the ceramite on its arm shattered, the beast's fury only intensified. With agility far surpassing the Orkish walkers, the Rat Ogre leapt upon the Kan like a monstrous ape, raining down blows with its flayers and warp-claws. Such a beast would only cease its assault when its brain or heart was utterly pulverized.

Doom-Wheels and Doom-Flayers tore across the landscape like runaway metallic juggernauts. Due to their speed and lethal armaments, even the Orks found them nearly impossible to intercept. Countless Greenskins were ground into a bloody slurry beneath the serrated teeth of the great rollers.

"Dey wanna race us?! Come on, lads, don't let 'em shame da Speed Freeks!!"

The Speed Freaks, riding custom Orkish warbikes and buggies, screamed with exhilaration. Seeing the speeding rat-wheels, they felt no hatred or anger, only the pure, unadulterated joy of racing a worthy foe. To the roar of countless engines, the two factions began a lawless high-speed chase amidst the carnage. Many skirmishes were interrupted as the combatants were sent flying by a screeching roar, leaving behind a temporary "racetrack" that was instantly filled by the shifting tides of war.

Meanwhile, more Skaven drop-pods fell from the sky. These pods, equipped with burrowing drills at their base, slammed into the territories of the Orks and Kin before plunging deep into the earth with a thunderous roar.

Atop the Kin fortress, which was shielded by heavy energy aegis, the ceiling buckled under the assault of warp-drills. Hundreds of specialized, oversized drop-pods, some even fitted with individual shield generators, crashed through.

The doors were kicked open from within. Queek and his Red Guard poured out, followed by a thousand Ironclaw Warriors!

"Green-things must die! Stunties, die-die too!" Queek roared, his hateful gaze sweeping over the startled Kin who were scrambling for their weapons. With a massive leap, his tall frame landed lightly upon a Kin, his Darkstar glaive swinging down to execute the foe in one fluid motion before he lunged once more into the thick of the throng!

Queek hacked and hewed through the Kin as if walking through a phantom realm, leaving a trail of a dozen mangled corpses in his wake.

"It's the Red Demon!!" the Kin cried out in terror.

Following the Urani-Surtr Regulate, Queek's infamy had spread far and wide. They hailed this powerful Skaven as the "Red Demon," and his retinue as the "Red Killers."

Immediately, dozens of Einhyr Hearthguard closed in, attempting to coordinate with their kin to corner and slay Queek.

But the Red Guard would not stand idly by. Ska Bloodtail raised his Warp-lightning Halberd, leading the other Ironclaw Warriors in a charge, firing crackling arcs of green electricity into the Kin ranks.

These three-meter-tall Ironclaw Warriors were incomparable to mere Clanrats or even Stormvermin. They moved with preternatural speed and possessed terrifying strength; their combat prowess was peerless among the rat-kin. In moments, the Ironclads reached the front, one halberd impaling a Kin while another warrior spun to decapitate an Einhyr. It could be said that, setting aside tactical refinement, the raw physical "hardware" of the Ironclaw Warriors, augmented by Skaven ingenuity, was fully capable of rivaling the Adeptus Astartes.

Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...

Ominous hums echoed throughout the Kin fortress. Reports flooded in from all sectors: Skaven hordes, using drills to bypass the defense grids from below, were swarming the interior.

As panic began to take root among the Kin, Queek saw his opening and lunged for the enemy commander. The bald, elderly Kin patriarch raised a plasma-axe in fury to meet him.

Queek raised his power sword to parry the plasma-axe, then dropped into a low slide. His right hand swept forward, and the Darkstar glaive smashed solidly into the commander's thigh.

In a heartbeat, the life of the Kin Patriarch was extinguished by a weapon forged by his own kin.

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