Warhammer: Rebuilding the Golden Age Starting with Farming

Chapter 60 Iron Ostrich, Everyone Stand Up

"Bang!"

The heavy blast-proof door to the command center was violently smashed open from the outside.

A figure covered in mud, with half of its hood charred, stumbled in.

Gamma-9 is here.

This usually respectable technical priest now looked extremely disheveled.

His robes were covered in black grease, his mechanical arm was still sparking, and his face was a patchwork of black and white.

"Bauer! Bauer!!"

Gamma-9 rushed over, grabbed Bauer by the collar, its single eye filled with terror and a sense of relief at surviving a close call.

"It's raining outside!"

"What kind of rain is this?" Bauer was a little dizzy from being shaken. "Isn't acid rain a daily occurrence?"

"It's not acid rain! It's fireball rain, debris rain from airplanes!"

Gamma-9 roared, spitting all over Bauer's face.

"I just drove the Sage's vehicle out of the shelter gate, ready to bring people here to support you."

"But when we were halfway there, things started falling from the sky!"

"That Valkyrie was huge! It was so big!"

Gamma-9 made an exaggerated gesture.

"The propeller was still spinning! It crashed directly into the acid lake in front of me!"

"That wave was twenty meters high, and it crashed directly onto my car!"

"You have to understand, that's strong acid! My car tires melted instantly, and the leaf springs were burned through!"

"I rode all the way here on my apprentice's little motorcycle, and my butt is still numb!"

Gamma-9 trembled as he spoke.

The scene was terrifying. If the plane had veered even slightly off course, he would be a flattened disc by now.

Although Andy's Happy Car was fitted with shape memory alloy armor, it was only good for protecting against bullets.

Moreover, tires are made of rubber after all, and even special rubber would be ruined if soaked in that concentration of acid.

After Gamma-9 finished yelling, it was only then that it realized something was off about Bauer's expression.

Bauer showed no sign of alarm, but simply pointed at the screen with a constipated expression.

"Stop shouting."

Bauer's voice was weak, and he seemed somewhat dazed.

"I know it was a rain of planes... because I'm the one who shot them down."

"What did you say?"

Gamma-9 froze, releasing its grip on Bauer's collar.

"You shot it down? What did you use to shoot it down? Did the Sage provide you with anti-aircraft missiles?"

"There are no anti-aircraft missiles, but we have those."

Bauer pulled up the replay of the battle that had just taken place.

On screen, fifteen small black dots moved like ghosts among the Valkyrie formation, each flash accompanied by the explosion of a fireball, carrying out a pure and efficient massacre.

The Gamma-9's mouth slowly opened wide enough to fit a light bulb.

As a priest of the Mechanic Church, he could certainly understand the significance of these images.

What maneuverability, what precision!

That's the "complete liberation of the machine soul" state, which is only mentioned in the most sacred mechanical fragments!

"Bravo... Bravo to Ohm Messiah..."

Gamma-9's legs buckled, and he sat down on the ground.

He now finally understood why the Sage Andy never took Helios seriously.

With such a magical device in hand, one truly doesn't need to look people in the eye.

"Beep—! Beep—!"

The red warning light flashed again, interrupting their reminiscing.

"It's not over yet."

Bauer turned around and looked back at the radar.

Although the aerial threat has been eliminated, the troubles on the ground remain.

At the edge of the image, a large red patch is rapidly approaching.

The Helios Group's ground armored forces are numerous and show no signs of slowing down.

……

Dozens of kilometers away, inside the Helios front-line command vehicle.

Zeman stared intently ahead.

He saw the fireballs falling from the sky and lost contact with the air wing.

But he did not order a retreat, not because he did not want to retreat, but because he dared not retreat.

Thor's death order was hanging over his head. Helios hadn't pursued the defeat in the Ninth District last time, but if he failed to take the bottom nest again this time, his whole family would be sent to be machine servants.

Moreover, Zeman made a tactical decision that he considered very reasonable.

"It looks like an anti-aircraft missile site, or some kind of anti-aircraft gun."

Zeman encouraged his men over the communications channel.

"It's just that the thugs got lucky and found some kind of powerful weapon."

"But this thing definitely can't hit the ground. Let's press on, taking advantage of their exposed anti-aircraft fire, and launch a full-speed armored assault!"

"Motorcycle formation, prepare for a breakout!"

"Once they get within seven kilometers, even Leman Russ's secondary guns could annihilate them!"

……

Inside the underground command center.

Looking at the red dots that were still charging forward recklessly, Bauer thought that since the planes had all been shot down, the remaining infantry force should not be kept for the New Year.

"I was originally planning to save it for them as a surprise, but since they're in such a hurry, I'll just give it to them now."

Bauer's fingers tapped on the keyboard:

"Iron Ostrich, everyone stand up!"

Outside the acid swamp, behind the newly built tall wall, a large area of ​​camouflage netting was laid out.

As Bauer gave the order, the camouflage net automatically slid down, revealing the twenty strangely shaped steel structures beneath.

They have no tracks or wheels, but instead have two thick, hydraulically driven, anti-joint mechanical legs.

This design makes them look very high in center of gravity, very unstable, and even a bit comical, like giant ostriches without feathers.

However, with the incredible performance of hydraulic drive, bipedal walking mechanisms completely outperform tracks.

They can cross trenches, climb steep slopes, and even run wildly through muddy ground.

And on the backs of these "ostriches," no armor plates are installed; all the load-bearing capacity is given to one thing.

A high-caliber howitzer, six meters long and with a caliber of 155 mm!

Inside the Iron Ostrich is a fire control chip, personally programmed by Andy, capable of long-range strikes.

Although it was only a simplified model, it was the standard of the golden age.

With this, what need is there for defense?

The best defense is that I can blast you to smithereens from where you can't see me!

"Sizzle—"

Twenty Iron Ostrich machines started up simultaneously.

Their mechanical legs bent and dug deep into the soil, while the hydraulic spade at the tail lowered and firmly gripped the ground, forming a stable firing platform.

The cannon barrels were raised, pointing straight at the sky.

Fire control data is transmitted directly from the command center to the ballistic computer of each artillery piece via a data link.

No manual loading is required; the automatic ammunition feeder crams heavy high-explosive shells into the gun barrel.

"Click."

atresia.

Bauer looked at the large green "calibration complete" message on the screen and pressed the launch button.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The earthquake trembled.

Twenty heavy cannons roared simultaneously.

The shockwave generated by the cannon instantly blew away the surrounding dust, and even the surface of the acid lake was rippled.

Twenty shells pierced the sky, their shrill cries echoing as they flew toward the armored formation dozens of kilometers away.

……

Zeman was sitting in the command vehicle, still hesitating whether or not to send his wife a final message.

Sudden.

The radar detector inside the car emitted a piercing scream.

"drop--!!!"

"High-energy ballistic reaction detected!"

"Twenty in number! And the landing point... is right above us!!"

Zeman looked up sharply, peering through the bulletproof glass at the sky, where twenty black dots were rapidly enlarging.

"Impossible..." Zeman yelled into the comms, "Everyone, spread out immediately! Spread out immediately!"

Damn, where did the heavy artillery come from in the bottom nest?

Where did the fire control radar come from?

How did they manage to lock onto me across the ruins and electromagnetic interference, even though we were dozens of kilometers away?!

No one could answer him.

next second.

The explosion's flames engulfed the view.