Timestamp: 7.247.996.M41

Location: Free trader vessel Maiden of Golgenna, outer reaches of K4 V 'OCG-001671A' system

Situation: Aboard the Maiden of Golgenna, Vern talking about orks as you ready for battle

Body: Following a more theoretical education, Vern trained as a medicae on his homeworld of Archaos, and as you know he spent some time in the Guard as a medicae officer. Part of that assignment was a deployment to Kulth, a world plagued by recurring ork invasions. So he has some firsthand experience; its not all book knowledge. He doesn't go into much detail, but you get the impression that he was captured by the orks (you didn't know they did that) and spent some time as their 'guest'.

"Orks are a curious breed, that is for sure. For one they are asexual; ork young are not born as humans are, they grow. When an ork dies, his genes may be passed on by the spreading of spores; these spores then grow below ground, much like a mushroom would, until such a time as the orkoid is ready to being the next phase of its life - as a mobile and sensate creature.

None of this is secret; the Guard and various PDF will to to great lengths to burn or otherwise sterilize tracts of land where orks have died in numbers. It is especially important in areas of fertile soil and ample heat and moisture; ork spores thrive best there. In urban and agricultural areas its not so much of a problem, since the spores will be hard pressed to grow into anything. Same goes for hostile environments; spores won't grow there, or at least they won't grow very well.

Their lack of sexuality makes them different from humans - and other geneder-based species - in that their primary motivation is not procreation. Or rather, not in the sense that we procreate or engage in little rituals and games connected to procreation. Orks procreate too - by being slain, preferably after a long life of combat and danger. Yes, that's right, the older and meaner the ork, the greater the chance of new orks growing up from his death. So that's why orks love to fight; its like sex and religion and the purpose of life all rolled into one. Its what they do, its why they are here. To fight. To die. To continue their species. That's all speculation on my part though, you won't find it in the Uplifting Primer...but I believe it is so."

Vern secures some more gear.

"I think Xerza covered the 'fighting orks' part pretty well. Not sure there is much more to add....except some of my own experiences. The big problem with orks is that they don't stop attacking. Imagine being in a good defensive position. A human platoon attacks you. After you kill a few they go into cover, then try to flank you, call in support, or whatever. Unless hounded by their commissar they won't simply charge to their deaths.

Orks will. They don't care if they die. They literally welcome it. Not unless you've reduced the mob to just a few will they break and run. And given how hard they are to kill that's not going to be easy. I saw it again and again. Orks taking horrible losses to break into the Guard lines; but break in they did, and then they would almost inevitably roll up the position.

So either you have to make sure your kill zone is absolute, or you must learn how to fight while on the move. That's what we learned on Kulth - eventually. To create truly impregnable strongpoints, but otherwise trust in mobility. Shoot and scoot so to speak. Never let them pin you down and get in close. If they do, you're fighting their kind of battle, and then you'll loose."

A longer pause.

"They are not all that stupid you know. They are like big and very mean children. Strong enough to break you and carrying guns. But they can speak and some of them are more clever than the others; the big ones, the leaders, they have been fighting the longest and are therefore larger and smarter. More often than not they speak Low Gothic, or a very bad dialect of it. Orks scavenge, so its only reasonable that they have scavenged the most ubiquitous language in the galaxy - our language."

He finishes his work.

"If we land on the planet and survive long enough to get bored I'll tell you more about their social structure. But I think that's enough for now."