Another one, cause I am having too much fun right now. And I'll have to continue working next week.
____________
The clink-hiss sounds of the workbench and forge were the only sounds in the stronghold's lower workshop. Liora and Kaelen already had their new armour and were currently sparring with it, looking for flaws and areas for improvement, as Gerhard asked them to.
Gerhard sat hunched over a workbench, focused on the third piece of armour more than he had been with the other two. He wanted this one to be especially good. Across from him, Sister Hestia stood with crossed arms, like an ancient statue. She watched him not with curiosity, as she masked it with the cold, guarded suspicion of someone who wasn't sure whether to trust this 'Saint' yet or if he was the biggest threat to the Emperor to date.
What had happened didn't matter. The Warp was unpredictable and endless in its schemes to trick men and women.
Gerhard set down his monomolecular Mana-welder and stood up, his concentrated expression shifting to a more pleasant, but still professional one.
"It is done," he said and stepped back a bit to allow her to have a look at the armour.
-
[Vratine Armour – "Oath Pattern" – Rank: Special]
| A masterfully perfected evolution of the Adept Ranked Vratine Armour, refined by Gerhard the Gamer while fully preserving its sacred form and purpose.
| This version eliminates structural weaknesses, enhances survivability, and elevates the wearer to an elite battlefield operative without sacrificing agility.
- Durability: 2,400/2,400
- Armour Class: Advanced Light Power Armour
Defensive Effects:
| +100% Low-Class Physical Resistance
| +40% Mid-Class Physical Resistance
| +100% Low-Class Energy Resistance
| +15% Mid-Class Energy Resistance
| +100% Low-Class Shockwave Resistance
| +6% Mid-Class Shockwave Resistance
| +25 STR
| +25 VIT
| +45 DEX
Special Effects:
Reinforced Ceramite Composite
| Virtually immune to standard las-fire
| Strong resistance to plasma weaponry
Silicate Nanofiber Void-Mail
| Flexible armour with carapace-level durability
| Negates weak points in joints and underlayers
Reactive Servo Assist System
| Amplifies natural movement
| +60% strength output during motion
| No loss of agility
Thermal Dissipation Matrix
| Rapid heat dispersion
| Strong resistance to energy and flame weapons
Kinetic Stress Redistribution
| Reduces damage from heavy impacts
| Eliminates structural weak points
Enhanced Mobility Framework
| +40% reaction speed
| +25% dodge effectiveness
| No movement penalties
Environmental Seal
| Medium toxin immunity
| Short-term vacuum survival
| Resistance to radiation and contaminants
Combat Flow Integration
| Improves weapon handling and melee transitions
| +20% overall combat efficiency
-
Hestia looked at the armour like a diamond dealer would a precious stone. She didn't seem convinced that Gerhard was truly capable of replicating the sacred and ancient armour of the Sisters of Silence, but here she was, having to admit that he was skilled.
Somewhat, at least.
She turned around and saw that Gerhard had moved away, giving her more than enough space and privacy to change. Something entirely foreign in this universe. What the fuck did she care about shame when she fought against the darkest and vilest creatures the galaxy could produce?
And yet, there was something about the gesture...
She didn't think about it and went ahead and changed the armour. The mechandrites, which Hans had added to the automatic assembly used for any of Gerhard's engineering, helped her, and in a short time she stood there with new armour that looked the same as her old one but was by far better.
And it wasn't even close.
She looked at Gerhard again, seeing him still occupied with the equipment that was most likely meant for Lencillus. The Eye of the Emperor had, after relentless begging from Gerhard, agreed to share information on the Terminator Power Armour of the Imperium.
Oh, throne, Hestia thought.
She had seen the Power Armour he had created from nothing, without any knowledge of the Iperium's armoury and the gross improvements on the Kastelan Robot. What was such a man going to do now that he gained more and more information on the Terminator Power Armour?
Hestia didn't dare think about it and only kept an even closer eye on him.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by Gerhard's approach.
"Say, Hestia, would you mind if I had a look at your Executioner Greatblade? And eventually the Adrathic Destructor?"
The air in the room seemed to drop five degrees. Hestia didn't move, but her presence, that Warp-void, seemed to intensify. The Adrathic weapons were relics of the Dark Age, bound to the Order. That she even had one was already beyond lucky. To ask for one was to ask for a piece of her body.
'Why?' she signed.
"Because," Gerhard said, walking over to a rack where he had laid out the refined Ceramite plates for future armour. "I've spent months working on Sera's gear. I've merged the power armour I came up with with Carapace armour patterns. I have also researched and created my own Power Swords, and I theorise that I can make your blade vibrate at a frequency that not only cuts molecular bonds but also severs the Warp connection of whatever it touches. A variation of a Force Weapon, if you will."
Hestia stepped forward, her hand resting on the hilt of her massive executioner sword. She looked at the "Iron Monger" suit standing in the corner, since Gerhard was working on it, then back at Gerhard. She saw the sincerity in his eyes, a lack of greed that was rare in the Imperium.
Whatever could have made her decline, all the arguments she could have had were now void, since she wore the new Vratine armour. It was just that good, in her opinion. And if she knew that this wasn't even the final form he could make, she wouldn't believe it.
Slowly, she unsheathed the blade and laid it on the table. It was a heavy, sombre thing, chipped from centuries of purging heretics and Warp denizens.
"Thank you," Gerhard smiled.
Gerhard took the Executioner Greatblade from the table using [Psychokinesis], his [Observe] skill pinging, revealing the weapon's legendary history. These were wonders of a forgotten age, two-handed power swords weighted with such precision that they felt perfect, almost weightless in a Sister's grip.
He ran a finger along the edge, feeling the microscopic serrations of the diamond-hard silica glass that allowed the blade to shear through ceramite by a very skilled wielder.
"You've used this to execute a thousand sorcerers," Gerhard murmured, his eyes scanning the molecular lattice. "But the silica-glass edge has micro-fractures, and the power-field generator is tuned to the standard Imperial frequency. I found that those are inefficient."
He didn't just 'fix' it. Over the next six hours, he worked with a devotion that silenced even Hans's binary chatter. The 'Tech Priest' approached his Master as he worked, commenting to Sister Hestia to understand what was happening, as she observed the process like a hawk.
Gerhard refused Hans' help. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate Hans' help or that he didn't believe he could help. It was just that he wanted to do this on his own.
First, he used [Material Analysis] and [Observe] to map Hestia's specific centre of gravity, based on her posture, the armour he had created, and her original one. He realised that her fighting style was a lethal dance of death. To match this, he used his [Create] skill to create a new polymorphic alloy, then used the forge to melt down this rare alloy. It was a substance he had synthesised to be highly conductive to both electricity and the special 'Null-field' that defined the Blanks.
It was ridiculous even to attempt such a thing, and, as he suspected, it didn't work the first 50 times he tried. Hestia grew increasingly annoyed, but stopped when she saw Gerhard's concentration and heard Hans' explanation of what Gerhard was truly attempting to do.
He meticulously replaced the standard disruptor-field-generator filaments with this new alloy. By weaving it directly into the silica-glass edge, he allowed the disruptive power field to wrap around the blade in a tighter, more efficient "skin."
But that wasn't all. Since the Executioner Greatblade was so large, Gerhard went further, choosing to keep the blade as a power weapon still. So he added the power sword aspect and, over several days, found a way to combine the revolutionary 'Null-Blade' with the disruptor field.
[Engineering has levelled up]
[Weapon Creation has levelled up]
[Weapon Smithing has levelled up]
[INT has increased by 1]
"Here," Gerhard said to Hestia in the silent room. "Please try it."
Gerhard was giddy, like a child. He had gone above and beyond his initial intention of simply improving the Executioner Greatblade. What he had created was... truly a ridiculous thing and something no one was safe from.
[Executioner Greatblade – "Null Severance Pattern" – Rank: Legendary]
- Durability: 1,200/1,200
- Damage: 2,400 (base), increases against Warp enemies
- Critical Chance: 44%
- Attack Speed: Mid
| +50 STR
| +25 VIT
| +25 DEX
| +100% damage to psychic / warp enemies while wielded
Special Effects:
Null-Disruption Edge
| Ignores 100% armour
| Mostly bypasses all energy shielding
| Cuts through psychic barriers on contact
Warp Severance
| Strikes disrupt Warp connection directly
| +200% damage vs psykers, daemons, warp entities, and corrupted beings
| On critical hit: temporarily sever psychic abilities
Refined Power Field
| Extremely stable high-density disruption field
| Greatly increased damage vs metal, machinery, and reinforced materials
Silica-Adamantium Execution Edge
| Monomolecular cutting profile
| +120% damage against flesh targets
| +90% damage against armour
Null-Conductive Alloy Weave
| Converts the wielder's null-field into a weapon effect
| Nullifies regeneration from psychic or daemonic effects
| Weakens the Warp when used
| Causes True Death to Warp-based existences
Executioner's Balance
| Perfectly weighted to wielder's stance and posture
| +35% melee precision
| +30% attack speed during chained strikes
Soul-Silencing Strike
| Critical hits reduce enemy reaction speed and casting speed
| Chance to inflict "Psychic Silence" on warp-active targets
Ceramite Ruin
| Consecutive hits reduce target armour by 20% per strike
| Stacks up to 60%
-
Hestia activated the blade. Instead of the usual violent blue crackle and sound of a power weapon, this new Executioner Greatblade emitted only a faint, crystalline hum, a sound so high-frequency it was almost silent.
"I've synchronised the power field with your void-presence, so to speak, inside the Warp," he explained. "The special alloy I created acts as a resonator for your Blank presence. When you strike, the blade doesn't just cut the body physically, it projects your 'negative psyker state' that cuts the victim's connection to the Warp. If my calculations are correct... this will change your combat effectiveness."
"If what you say is correct, you have just become the Archenemy's literal Archenemy. You have turned Sister Hestia into the most effective and dangerous slayer of Chaos in the current galaxy, save the most powerful of the Ordo Malleus and Him. I believe you may approach Jenetia Krole, at this rate," Lencillus said.
Jenetia Krole, also known as the Soulless Queen of the Imperium, was the Knight-Commander of the Silent Sisterhood and Chief Investigatus-Militant of the Divisio Astra Telepathica during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. She led the Silent Sisterhood during the Battle of Prospero and the War Within the Webway. She was one of the Emperor's three main advisors and a lynchpin of his war council during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, alongside Constantin Valdor and Malcador the Sigilite.
And to compare her with Hestia was an honour unlike any other for the Sister of Silence. Naturally, she wasn't yet at her level. It was true, and Gerhard had noticed that Hestia's Pariah Gene seemed to be more powerful than that of the others, as her negative psionic field was more powerful. But Jenetia Krole's negative psionic field was so powerful that she was almost invisible to some.
Hestia took the sword. She swung it, a single, blindingly fast arc that ended a hair's breadth from Gerhard's throat.
HP: - 1000
Gerhard's eyes widened at that. He received damage from that, without her even touching him. And it would be even more if he didn't have so many resistances.
'The balance is perfect. It feels like an extension of my arm.'
She offered a single, sharp nod. The coldness hadn't melted, but the frost had thinned considerably.
Gerhard hadn't said anything, and neither had Hans, or Lencillus, but what he had created with this weapon was a revolution without equal. This would start a series of events that could and will change the course of history. And if Chaos were to discover this and find out who made it... they would ignore the Emperor for the time being and not rest until Gerhard was dead or one of their slaves.
Hans connected with Gerhard through the special Vox channel in Gerhard's ear.
> Master, I am not entirely convinced you realise what you have created.
'I am more than aware, Hans. This is the start...'
> Is it time then?
'Almost.'
Indeed. It was almost time to finally start with what would paint a ginormous target on Gerhard's back.
Project: Doom