The Blood Axe Big Boss was somewhat bewildered. He had initially thought the Hokage Clan came to finish them off. After all, his clan had struck first, attacking the Hokage supply points.
But in his wildest dreams, he never expected Raynor would not only refrain from kicking them while they were down but would actually offer help. Moreover, the terms offered were incredibly generous. Retaking territory, restoring strength, revenge, and dividends from the Waaagh! GP—these were things they didn't even dare to dream of now.
They were already at a dead end, either to be slowly consumed by other clans or to risk it all by tethering themselves to the war chariot of Siss and the Hokage Clan. Furthermore, the Blood Axes were mercenaries by nature; as long as the profit was sufficient, they wouldn't hesitate to backstab the entire planet, let alone submit to Siss.
But... could there really be such a good deal?
As if sensing their hesitation, Raynor spoke flatly.
"You don't need to worry about this being a trap. We, the Hokage, come with true sincerity. Even if you don't trust us, you should trust Boss Siss's resolve."
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck beside Raynor. The surrounding Blood Axe Boyz instinctively raised their guns and aimed. As the dust cleared, a Weirdboy appeared out of thin air.
"Itachi is right. Boss Siss needs you!"
Seeing it was Siss's only confidant unit, the old Blood Axe Big Boss didn't hesitate for a second. He threw his sniper rifle onto the ground, knelt on one knee, and lowered his head toward Raynor.
"The Blood Axe Clan submits to Boss Siss! From now on, wherever Boss Siss points, we strike!"
In this way, in less than two days, Raynor had thoroughly tethered the craftiest clan on Karl-2—the Blood Axes—to Siss's cause. When Siss received the news and saw the token of allegiance sent by Tooth-Rich, his recognition of the Grot's capability grew even stronger. He had thought he would spend his life fighting alone with only his hundred or so Weirdboyz. But now, he had the Hokage Clan's ninja corps and the Blood Axe Clan's intelligence units.
He felt he was gradually gaining the capital to contend with Chandler.
While the power structure of Karl-2 was quietly shifting, new waves rose on the outskirts of the spaceport.
Carter, the Chief Administrator of the Brevis System, learned that Raynor was engaged in a war of attrition on Karl-2. Seeing that the spaceport hadn't been taken for a long time, he believed the Governor needed more support. He actively mobilized resources and cobbled together a reinforcement fleet of twenty frigates to rush to the outskirts of Karl-2 to support Raynor's operations.
Upon receiving the reinforcements, Raynor launched an attack without hesitation. Almost at the same time, an unwilling Luna also led her own fleet in a sudden raid. She still couldn't swallow the insult of being ambushed by Chandler earlier and wanted to use Raynor's operation as an opportunity to form a pincer attack and take Karl-2 in one fell swoop.
Two fleets, one from the left and one from the right, closed in on Karl-2's defensive line like a pair of pliers. When the news reached the Core District of Karl-2, the Big Bosses of the various clans immediately fell into chaos. They shouted and argued, still lacking any reliable tactics, each fighting their own way.
This was exactly to Raynor's taste. He had been worried about using his own Imperial fleet as a stepping stone; now that Luna had delivered herself to the door, it saved him a lot of trouble. Through the Tyranids and Genestealers planted in Luna's fleet, every one of her moves was under his control.
He was in no hurry to resolve the crisis. Instead, he had Tooth-Rich stay by Siss's side as an "Assistant Strategist" to offer counsel. Meanwhile, Raynor himself continuously updated Tooth-Rich with fleet information through his underlings, acting as a triple agent.
In the meeting hall, facing the bickering Big Bosses, Tooth-Rich stood up at Siss's signal. He clearly laid out the tactics Raynor had drafted.
"The tactic is simple," Tooth-Rich whispered into Siss's ear, shielding his mouth with his hand.
"First, Boss Siss's psychic units will be responsible for global reconnaissance and command, locking onto all enemy fleet movements to find their weak points. Then, let the main forces of the various clans pin down the enemy's advance on the front line and tie up their main strength."
"Of course, you can just let them fight however they want for that part; they'd do it anyway."
"Finally, let the Hokage Clan's boarding pods and the Blood Axe fleet circle to the enemy's rear to precisely ambush their supply lines and communications command ships."
This tactic—the flanking ambush—was the same one used to repel the Imperial fleet before. It was a tried-and-true method that had been battle-tested. Siss looked at Tooth-Rich, then at the arguing Big Bosses, and sighed. He then restated Tooth-Rich's tactics in his own tone.
However, the Big Bosses had never heard Siss command before. They continued their incessant arguing, clearly not taking his words seriously.
"We follow this tactic. All clans are under my command. Anyone who dares to disobey will be killed on the spot!"
Siss slammed his staff down hard, and the pressure of an Alpha-level psyker instantly filled the room. All the noisy Big Bosses shut their mouths immediately, not daring to utter another word of nonsense.
The battle officially began an hour later. Siss's psychic power, like an invisible net, covered the entire outskirts of Karl-2. The general movements of the Imperial fleet were clearly reflected in his psychic vision.
This obviously wasn't enough on its own, but fortunately, Raynor sent people to the meeting room every so often to provide position reports and tactical ideas to Tooth-Rich. How could the enemy play when their own Boss was the enemy's spy?
Siss transmitted all of Tooth-Rich's ideas simultaneously to all the units on the front line. On the main battlefield, the Greenskin fleets of the various clans charged straight in. The fire from macro-cannons lit up the battlefield in a continuous sheet. Bolter rounds and laser beams interlaced, turning the black space into a kaleidoscope of colors.
The Imperial fleet at the front was bogged down by the Greenskins' suicidal charges. While the main forces of both sides were locked in combat, three hundred Hokage boarding pods tried to use the cover of fire to circle to the rear of the Imperial fleet.
However, having learned from the previous lesson, both Raynor's and Luna's fleets were on guard against this stealthy boarding fleet. Several frigates blocked the path of the Hokage boarding pods.
But those three hundred pods seemed to have anticipated this. they directly engaged the frigates guarding the rear. Meanwhile, another two hundred Hokage pods joined the Blood Axe fleet and took an even longer route. They launched a surprise attack from the other side, where the defenses were weaker.
The Blood Axe fleet was centered around a light cruiser, composed of over a hundred silent strike pods. This cruiser, modified from an Imperial Dauntless-class frigate, was one of the few relatively stable modified ships among the Greenskins. Compared to other "iron lumps," the Blood Axe cruiser was lighter and more stable, making it suitable for stealth decapitation missions. Its macro-cannons had a "backfire" rate of only 25%, ranking its stability among the highest in all Greenskin fleets.
The Blood Axe cruiser exchanged fire with the escort boats to draw attention. However, the true main force consisted of over a hundred silent strike pods and the remaining two hundred Hokage boarding pods.
The silent strike pods of the Blood Axe Clan were uniformly painted in camouflage and equipped with signal jammers, making their positioning essentially identical to that of the Hokage pods. They could glide through the battlefield without a sound, though their firepower and performance were slightly inferior to the Hokage models.
More than three hundred assault pods suddenly appeared right in the face of the Imperial supply fleet and opened fire. Various beams of light slammed into the defenseless supply convoy like a torrential rain.
The power of the Zzap Guns was unbelievable, and the noise from the Rowdy Engines interfered with the enemy's communication and fire control systems. Boarding torpedoes ignored the void shields, slamming directly into the ship hulls.
The agent Boyz of the Blood Axe Clan appeared within the corridors like ghosts. Their sniper rifles precisely picked off the naval personnel in the hallways, while demolition charges were planted everywhere.
In just a few hours, the supply convoy and several ships responsible for command and communication suffered heavy damage. Naturally, it was primarily Luna's ships that bore the brunt of the devastation.
The attacking forces at the front lost their logistical support and command coordination, throwing their offensive rhythm into total disarray. Raynor's fleet was forced to retreat helplessly, and Luna could only grit her teeth, leading her damaged fleet out of the battlefield.
This crisis of a two-pronged pincer attack was resolved with ease.
Through this battle, the Greenskins of Karl-2 realized for the first time that Siss was not just a psychic monster hiding behind Ragna, but a reliable Warboss capable of leading them to victory. Siss's personal prestige and his direct faction experienced their first massive surge.
Riding the momentum of this defensive victory, Raynor immediately launched the second step of his expansion plan: win over the Evil Sunz Clan, who specialized in high-speed raids, to further strengthen Siss's camp.
Raynor knew well that the Evil Sunz were a group of fanatics who worshiped speed to their very marrow. They only recognized speed and fists; money and interests alone would never make them yield. Therefore, subduing them would not be as simple as bribing the Blood Axes. He had to first crush the pride they held dear, then use absolute strength to beat them into submission.
The first thing to do was to provoke them.
Raynor had Tooth-Rich drop a provocative statement in front of all the Greenskins during the Waaagh! GP point race broadcast.
"The 'extreme speed' the Evil Sunz are so proud of? Nothing but a joke."
"In all of Karl-2, only the Hokage Clan understands what true speed is."
"With us here, you Evil Sunz will never see a championship!"
"If you've got the stones, come to the specific sub-station and settle this!"
Though these words were simple and mindless—little different from "don't leave after school"—the short-tempered Evil Sunz were instantly triggered. These fanatics, who believed that "Red Ones Go Faster," exploded on the spot. They howled, smashed their drinking cups, and cursed at the broadcast screens, vowing to show the Hokage Boyz who the true king of speed on Karl-2 was.
The next day, the Evil Sunz Clan issued a challenge to the Hokage Clan for an exclusive Waaagh! GP race involving only the two clans, to settle the matter with speed.
This was exactly what Raynor wanted.
The race was set on a replica track of Elf-Gork, 51.2 kilometers long, nearly identical to the original championship track. The Evil Sunz sent out all their recognized fastest Boyz and Big Bosses, and even the legendary speed ace of the clan, "Red Madman" Gak, took the field personally. They rode the top-tier Red Exploding Squigs, swearing to grind the Hokage Boyz under their feet.
Representing the Hokage Clan was the champion of Elf-Gork himself, Sasuke.
The moment the starting cannon fired, dozens of Squigs charged out simultaneously. The Evil Sunz Boyz, riding their Red Exploding Squigs, took the lead as always, letting out frenzied screams.
To their surprise, Sasuke rode the Chidori, trailing unhurriedly in the middle of the pack, maintaining a steady rhythm. It wasn't until they entered the first high-gravity overload section that Sasuke finally exerted his power. Relying on his extreme understanding of the track and his gene-specialized Squig, Sasuke's speed barely dropped in the 5G gravity section. He bypassed all the Evil Sunz racers in an instant, taking the lead.
The rest of the race turned into Sasuke's personal show. In the mushroom minefield, he threaded precisely through the gaps of the exploding fungi. In the meteor drifting belt, he used flamboyant maneuvers to dodge every falling rock. In the Storm-Bolt Canyon, he even used the interval between lightning strikes to complete a limit-break overtake.
The Evil Sunz Boyz used every dirty trick in the book—throwing bombs, malicious ramming, and even using human bombs to stop him—but Sasuke resolved them all with ease. They watched helplessly as Sasuke's silhouette grew further away until they couldn't even catch his exhaust.
Ultimately, when Sasuke crossed the finish line, Gak in second place was trailing by a full three minutes. In a Waaagh! GP race, three minutes was an astronomical difference.
The entire arena fell silent. The Evil Sunz Boyz turned green with rage; their pride in speed, etched into their bones, had been ruthlessly crushed by Sasuke on the track.
Raynor knew that defeating them in speed wouldn't be enough to make them submit. When dealing with Greenskins, the key factor was always whose fist was harder.
Raynor was well-prepared for this. He had Tooth-Rich borrow 50 elite Weirdboyz from Siss to join forces with the Hokage ninja army and the Blood Axe agent squads. That very night, they launched a surprise raid on the core camp of the Evil Sunz Clan.
Siss's Weirdboyz first used psychic power to shield the camp's alarm system, while the Jonin took the opportunity to assassinate the Boyz on sentry duty. Immediately after, the purple boarding pod fleet of the Hokage Clan flashed into the camp's spaceport.
The small assault craft and space bikes that the Evil Sunz were so proud of were pathetic before the top-spec Hokage assault craft. In terms of speed, the Hokage's luxury Waaagh! Engines were high-end parts that even the Evil Sunz Mekboyz couldn't build. The Zzap Guns of the Hokage pods could blow three Evil Sunz space bikes to pieces with a single shot. The high-speed warfare the Evil Sunz prided themselves on was utterly crushed by absolute strength and tactical suppression.
Meanwhile, the Blood Axe Big Boss and his agent Boyz had already infiltrated the core area of the camp. They precisely located the quarters of the most powerful Big Bosses of the Evil Sunz and cut off their heads while they slept.
When the sun rose the next day, the Evil Sunz Clan was leaderless, and the camp was fully under control. The remaining Boyz, looking at the wreckage covering the ground and the green-glowing muzzles of the Hokage Clan, finally recognized reality and lowered their proud heads.
Raynor announced on the spot that the Evil Sunz Clan would henceforth submit to Siss, becoming the third core force of Siss's camp.
In just one month, Siss's faction possessed the Hokage, Blood Axe, and Evil Sunz clans. With the top mobile units, assassination forces, and his own psychic squad on Karl-2, he now had the strength to stand as an equal to the Deathskulls Clan.
Faced with such aggressive expansion from the Hokage Clan, the other clans of Karl-2 were furious but dared not speak out. First, Chandler remained in seclusion, and no one knew the location of his laboratory. Without a leader, no one dared to stand against the rising Siss faction. Second, Siss was the overseer personally sent by Boss Ragna; on the surface, his status was no lower than that of the Warboss Chandler.
Consolidating clans and integrating forces was done with justifiable cause, and no one could find fault. Most importantly, the surge in prestige from the Hokage Clan's two major victories made their Waaagh! field increasingly stronger, causing their power to skyrocket. Coupled with the omnipresent assassination threat of the Blood Axe Clan, the Big Bosses of every clan feared that one day they would fall asleep drunk and never wake up again.
Thus, they could only grit their teeth and tacitly accept the expansion of Siss's camp.