Chapter 86: Greenskins!
The fleet had already stayed in this star system for a considerable time. Unfortunately, after exploration, no other valuable resources were discovered within this system.
However, the harvest of the Mushroom-men had already made this trip worthwhile. Sufficient food was necessary to support the larger population Lucan was raising.
And with the existence of this Swarm, Lucan could also leave with peace of mind.
Lucan sent the news of this harvest back to Agathos via the warship's quantum communicator.
He told Pavian that after the additional warships were produced, he should come over to transport the finished Mushroom-men cans back.
And he himself would proceed to the next target.
As the warship once again confirmed its coordinates, the fleet began its jump. However, this time, upon entering the new system, they did not discover a planet with civilization as they had the first time. Instead, it was an unpolluted planet with a complete ecosystem. Lucan marked it down for future development.
And some star systems had clearly undergone heavy exploitation. Lucan guessed they had been mined by the fleet that originally charted this route.
The efficiency of people from the Golden Age was truly high; they had even completely hollowed out some planets.
It was likely to collect the necessary resources for further exploration.
Only a few systems along the way revealed planets with some mineral deposits. Lucan had Kerrigan deploy a few Zerg larvae on them, letting them develop on their own and use Drones to collect ore while awaiting the arrival of subsequent transport fleets.
This saved the fleet's already scarce manpower.
This exploration into the unknown was not as smooth as imagined. The fleet that had drawn the star chart had already harvested the resources of a large number of systems along the way.
And the star chart showed that in just two more jumps, they would reach the star system where the exploration fleet had lost its signal.
However, when the fleet jumped into the adjacent system, the scene before them left everyone on the warship's bridge standing frozen on the spot.
What entered their view was a star system scarred by devastation.
Planets had been shattered by unknown weapons, their remnants floating in this system along with a now completely dead star.
Without the existence of a star, the entire system appeared exceptionally dark.
After an unknown number of ages, the energy detection instruments on the Gorgon-class Battlecruiser were still blaring with warnings. A large amount of radioactive residue remained on the surface of these planetary fragments.
Clearly, this star system had experienced a battle of massive scale, a battle that had even involved the use of planet-killer weapons.
There had even been an attack sufficient to extinguish a star.
"What on earth did this fleet go through?"
Lucan suddenly felt a trace of anxiety about the upcoming exploration.
From the traces of battle here, he didn't know if that fleet had suffered an internal war or if they had encountered some enemy.
But if any enemy force was still alive, it was definitely not something Lucan could currently confront. The technological level difference between them would be more than just a little.
And the only advantage he had was his jump drive technology.
"My Lord! Should we really continue?" Damon asked from the side. He believed safety was the most important thing.
"Continue! Since we've already come this far, how could we go back empty-handed! Have one Gorgon prepare to enter the target system first to check the situation!"
Following Lucan's orders, one of the three warships first locked onto the coordinates and began its jump.
Whether it encountered danger or safety, this warship would send back a communication. If no signal was received for a long time, Lucan would also directly abandon this exploration.
After all, nothing was more important than their lives.
As one Gorgon vanished into a streak of light within the system, Lucan also sat on the bridge, waiting anxiously.
However, the result was good.
"My Lord! We have successfully jumped into the system and have not detected any danger! The augur array has not detected any enemy ships! However, this place also looks like a battlefield! Besides the star, we have only discovered one remaining planet!"
Hearing the report from the advance warship, Lucan also breathed a sigh of relief.
Subsequently, Lucan ordered the remaining warships to jump into the system.
The detection power of all three warships went to full as they headed towards that sole remaining planet.
However, upon successfully reaching orbit, Lucan saw the one scene he wanted to see least.
This planet had a master.
"Greenskins?"
Looking at the display on the holographic projection, the entire planet was actually teeming with Orks.
From the orbital reconnaissance, these Greenskins were divided into different clans, distributed in different parts of the planet, engaged in a massive free-for-all brawl.
Although it wasn't strange for Greenskins to appear anywhere – a single Ork, or even a single Ork spore, could propagate an entire Ork clan – seeing this group in such a remote place still surprised Lucan.
"Could it be that the exploration fleet accidentally carried spores? Or perhaps the warship originally contained one or two Orks as experimental samples?"
However, what surprised Lucan was that Orks of this scale had not yet "finked" their way into the technology to leave the planet.
"Magos, can you find any warships that might have crashed here?"
Following Lucan's command, the fleet flew close to the orbit, circling the entire planet once.
Soon, the Tech-Priest delivered his report.
There was indeed a warship that had crashed on this planet. One could even see the exposed hull of the ship.
The impact wave from the crash had directly formed a massive basin on the planet's surface.
However, a huge Ork clan had occupied the wreckage and this basin, and had established a fortress using the wreckage as a base!
Various metal scraps and paints had been slathered onto the wreckage. If not for its style being so vastly different from the Orks' own, it would have been truly difficult to spot.
Seeing the wreckage of this completely crashed and disfigured warship, Lucan also understood why these Orks were still stuck on the planet's surface.
Although Orks could, through the absurd power of their "WAAAGH! Field," turn a random pile of metal garbage into a gun, a vehicle, or even a giant battle fortress like an Attack Moon, there was one prerequisite: they had to have a concept of a certain thing.
Here, the crashed warship couldn't fly. Having never seen a flying warship, they couldn't "fink" up flying technology.
"Since these Orks have no warships, the advantage is mine! Order the fleet to enter the atmosphere and use the ship's cannons to eliminate these Orks and seize the wreckage!"
Following Lucan's command, all three warships immediately began battle preparations.
Without the need to please the machine spirit for every single cannon shell, the warships quickly entered a state of full combat readiness.
And at this moment, on the surface, Ork Boyz, riding Squigs, were still happily fighting with other Boyz in their klan over who would be the new boss, or perhaps over the ownership of some Grot.
A single tooth or a bowl of fungus brew was reason enough for them to fight.
A piece of rusty iron with a simple handle attached became a really useful choppa.
A multi-barreled firearm, cobbled together from scrap, even with parts and screws falling off, could still function normally.
The entire gun was designed to shoot the most bullets in the shortest amount of time; accuracy wasn't even a consideration.
As long as you shot fast enough and enough, you were bound to hit something eventually!
As the fight continued, more and more Orks began to join the brawl.
"WAAAAAGH! Boyz! Let's get 'em! Shoot 'em!"
Ork Boyz, spread across the hills and plains, fought joyfully as if it were their daily morning exercise.
This Ork society was probably the purest society; they were either fighting or on their way to a fight.
Combat and death were inherently part of the Ork reproductive process. During the process of fighting and dying, they would continuously spray spores outwards.
And these spores would eventually become happy Ork Boyz once again.
And this group of Orks' fighting had no tactics to speak of, not even any strategic intent.
The act of fighting itself was the most important thing to them.
And as this group of Orks was fighting heartily, Lucan's fleet crashed the party.
The laser cannon arrays and missile batteries on the warships' flanks rained down like a storm.
The sudden attack killed a large number of clustered Orks in the first instance.
However, faced with the deaths of their comrades, the remaining Orks were filled with excitement.
The Orks here had been fighting a civil war for who knows how many years. Now they had something new to fight!
(End of Chapter)
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