Gerhard turned his gaze toward the Warboss in Mega Armour, who was now frantically shouting at his useless Ork subordinates, realising that the true, Dakka Masta had just dismantled his "Dakka" superiority.
"NEXT!" Gerhard bellowed, his voice growing louder and more powerful as the fight went on.
And he wasn't even wrong. He was indeed growing more powerful. The Waaagh-field was a peculiar aspect of Orks, allowing them to turn imagination and beliefs into reality. Now that this effect, through a real blessing and interest of Gork and Mork, had touched Gerhard, the Gamer System had to do something with this energy.
The Mana Storm Bolter was now fired with wild abandon; however, the high fire rate was damaging it, and it would soon break, rendering it useless. Thousands of Mana Bolts filled the air, tracking and seeking targets with the [Firearms Matery] skill.
Thousands upon thousands of Orks, Slugga Boyz, Shoota Boyz, and those unfortunate Burna Boyz who were already on fire, were mowed down and detonated in a continuous carpet of bluish light that slowly turned cyan. The ground was no longer visible; it was a sea of green limbs, blood, filth and burning scrap.
From the rear of the horde, the Warboss in Mega Armour finally appeared. He stood atop a pile of wreckage, his Tellyport Blasta integrated into his massive suit, glowed with electricity and green Waaagh energy. He hadn't been charging ahead as the previous Ork Warboss would have. He was a Bad Moon at heart; he was staying back to coordinate the fire and shoot from a distance to demonstrate his superior wealth.
Flanking him were two more Mega Dreads and an Orkanaut, which towered above him at the back.
Gorkanaut – Lv.78
|HP: 44,070/90,000
|MP: 0
|Built as an effigy to the Ork god Gork, the Gorkanaut possesses all the unsubtle brutality of its namesake. Gorkanauts are all about raw killing power, acting as linebreakers and spearheading Ork infantry assaults.
STR: 240
VIT: 290
| Klaw of Gork
| Deffstorm Mega-Shoota
| 2 twin-linked Big Shootas
| 2 Rokkit Launchas
| Skorcha
--
The Gorkanaut had been targeted by Hans and Gustav already; that much was clear when looking at the health bar, but the Warboss had taken emergency precautions after the Morkanaut was felled at the very start of the battle.
Several Big Meks who wore Kustom Force Field generators surrounded the Gorkanaut and shielded it from the powerful attacks of the Mana Baneblade Cannon. That didn't stop chip damage from arriving, though, as the Demolisher Cannon and the Baneblade Cannon were taking out those Big Meks.
The two massive Mega Dreads fired their Kill Kannons, sending shells the size of barrels slamming in Gustav's direction. And the attacks coming from multiple sides were not without their problems for the Super Heavy Tank. Gustav was probably the most powerful of the tanks in the imperium, but that didn't mean he was invincible, especially when he had to keep watch over the entire battlefield and not reveal his full intelligence to Sera Vahl.
Gerhard raised his left arm. The Plasma Incinerator, the "Solar Cataclysm Pattern", shone brightly as he had charged it. He fired a miniature sun beam, or at least that's what it looked like. The plasma lanced through a Mega Dread's Rippa Klaw, melting the hyper-dense metal in a fraction of a second and exploding, melting the metal of the body in seconds.
BOOOOOOMMMM---!!
"Hans, use the Mana Baneblade Cannon and prime the storage of the powerful shells. Target the Warboss," Gerhard commanded.
H: > Priming Mana-forged Diamantine-Adamantium shells.
G: > Loading.
The ten-meter barrel of Gustav's main gun moved into position again, while the specially designed, and at this point more theoretical, shells were loaded into the correct position. It was time for some real damage.
Da Meklord Dakkabad, the Warboss of this Waaagh, kept back, while shouting orders to his Meks, Big Meks and Meganobs. He saw the way the battle had transformed, but didn't bother pulling back now. Gerhard's actions and his own 'mek' had pulled him in and made him simply enjoy the battle for what it was.
The ground cracked.
Pushing through the remains of a factory wall, the Gorkanaut arrived, having pushed the two Mega Dreads aside forcefully. It was originally a 90,000 HP mountain of unstable Mek tech. Its Deffstorm Mega-Shoota, an enormous multi-barreled Shoota, fired away with everything it was capable of. The sound of this weapon firing was deafening, and the sheer firepower was impressive, so much so that Gerhard cast the [Psionic Mana Shield] twice, just to keep a clear view of his surroundings, not because the power armour wouldn't be able to tank it. The blasts of explosives sizzled against Gerhard's shields and detonated.
The Gorkanaut unleashed everything he had, firing the two Rokkit Launchas at Gustav and Gerhard, not being able to decide who to kill first.
The two Mega Dreads started to move around the Gorkanaut, not interested in being caught in the crossfire, as that would stop them from reaching Gerhard and kromp him, which was their biggest wish at this point.
But Gerhard didn't give them the satisfaction.
Seeing the descending Klaw of Gork, he charged his right arm - the Adrathic Destructor. The "Oblivion Pattern" beam lanced out, a silent, terrifying line of disintegration.
It hit the Big Mek's Kustom Force Fields, and for a moment, the two energies fought. The energy-tech of the Orks rattled under the strain against the Disintegration Beam of the Arch-Archeotech.
"Gerhard, the Warboss is charging his weapon!" Sera warned.
H: > Affirmative, Master. The Tellyport Blasta has used this time to power up and is ready to use it.
Based on Tellyporta technology, the Tellyport Blasta folds its target in a Warpspace bubble and displaces it at random. Victims will only travel a short distance before they reappear again, so the Ork Meks use the weapon to rematerialise them high in the air, or inside a solid object. Thus, a Tellyport Blasta tends to be unpredictable, but, like many other Ork weapons, still effective.
"Gustav," Gerhard said, his voice heard over the vox-channel. "Show them why I attached a big cannon on top of you. Sera, full power to the Void-Hardened Plating! Hans, fire on my mark!"
The Warboss pulled the trigger. A jagged sphere of blue-green Warp energy erupted from his suit, appearing around Gerhard. It didn't strike Gerhard's shields; instead, it ignored them, folding Warpspace around him.
There was no time to dodge. Warpspace folded with the sound of a universe tearing, followed by a loud 'pop'. Gerhard was ripped from his current space-time on the battlefield and rematerialised, not high in the sky, or near the Mega Dread, but directly inside its central chassis.
The laws of physics screamed and were confused.
Gerhard's 12-foot Hulk Buster suit was suddenly occupying the same space as the Mega Dread's primary engine block and pilot seat, seemingly melting their respective realities into one another. The sound of metal fusing with metal was deafening... and painful.
[CRITICAL DAMAGE ALERT!]
[STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 12%
[HP: 2,800 / 65,000]
The impact was catastrophic.
The Ork pilot was instantly dead, but Gerhard was pinned, his armour crushed and fused with the jagged, oily scrap of the walker.
He felt his health drop so drastically that he was about to die. But a special circumstance, added to the Orks' belief itself, refused this outcome. How could the Dakka Masta die from this?
White-hot steam and mana-leakage filled the small, airless space. From the perspective of Lencillus and the Sisters of Silence watching from the ridge, the green and blue light of the "Dakka Master" had simply vanished out of their sight and into the belly of the beast, replaced by a gout of black smoke and purple sparks.
Inside the tomb of iron, Ork flesh and oil, Gerhard's vision blurred.
The [Auto-Repair] of the suit was desperately attempting to repair the Hulk Buster at 600/min, but it wasn't enough, since there wasn't really anything to repair in the traditional sense.
Under the sheer strain of the compression, Gerhard, who kept a calm head, despite everything, roared in defiance, his Mana exploding outward against his imprisonment.
[Psychokinesis]
He forced a bubble of Mana energy outward. It didn't protect him from an enemy; it acted as a hydraulic push, forcing the fused plates of the Mega Dread and the Hulk Buster to be pressed outwards just slightly enough to allow Gerhard the smallest space to breathe.
[Psychokinesis]
He cast the skill again and again and again.
With a groan of tormented and compressed metal that could be heard across the plaza, Gerhard's power gauntlet, which was the only thing that wasn't fused with anything and looked out of the Mega Dread's belly, punched through the Mega Dread's chest.
He tore himself out like a hatchling from a metal egg, his Hulk Buster suit popped open, but mostly fused with the walker's scrap, dripping coolant. Half its plates were missing, and its black-grey surface scorched by Warp-energy.
[Ork Mega Dread defeated]
[+750,000 EXP]
His health had dropped dangerously low.
HP: 28/3726
But he was healing and fast, too. [Iron Will] had activated, making him regenerate his health at over 1200 HP per minute.
His clothes were wrecked, the Hulk Buster unusable, apart from his left Power Gauntlet, which now had no power, and there were still hundreds of Orks and the Warboss.
But he didn't care.
He smashed his fist together and charged in.
[Blessing of Gork and Mork has levelled up]
Seeing their master nearly killed and teleported across the battlefield, the young Artificial Spirit of Gustav went into a cold, calculated rage. Surprisingly enough, both Hans and he are capable of this, since their loyalty towards Gerhard was absolute.
The two Prismatic Mana Reactors hit 150% output, as Gustav stopped 'playing around'.
H: > Sera, Divert all Mana to the primary breach.
Hans commanded Sera, who acted without thinking. Gustav redirected the main power to the Mana Baneblade Cannon and infused the specially designed shell further. This was dangerous, beyond compare, as the shell was already mana-forged, and doing this carried a heavy risk of reaching critical mass and killing everyone.
But Gustav knew himself better than anyone, except maybe Gerhard, who had created him.
The Overclocked Mana-forged Diamantine-Adamantium shells shot out of the barrel in a blur of blue light. The first shot struck the Big Meks' Kustom Force Fields; the sheer mana pressure popped the generators and vaporised the Meks instantly. The second shell, which had already been prepared, followed a few seconds later, punching through the massive Gorkanaut's head and detonating in its core.
BBRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM-----!!!
[Gorkanaut defeated]
[+4,800,000 EXP]
[Level up]
But Hans, Gustav and Sera weren't done yet. At that point, Lencillus and the Sisters of Silence had jumped into action as well, ignoring Gerhard's wishes of doing this on his own.
After a minute, the final Mega Dread was destroyed by a precise strike.
[Ork Mega Dread defeated]
[+750,000 EXP]
[Level up]
Gerhard, meanwhile, didn't realise that Lencillus and the Anathema psykana were now also fighting, rushing to reach him, for he was in the zone, so to speak.
As a Nob lunged at him, Gerhard didn't use a gun. He caught the Ork's wrist with his left Power Gauntlet, which had no power left and took out his Bonesword. He pushed his Mana into the Power Gauntlet and slashed the Bonesword through the air, killing the Ork with one swing.
Dozens of [Mana Bullets] materialised around him and shot forward, attacking and killing the Orks he couldn't deal with right away.
He ducked beneath another strike of a choppa and punched out with his left fist, the broken power gauntlet broken. The Ork, much to everyone's surprise, staggered and exhaled air from the punch. With a flick of his wrist, the Bonesword decapitated the Ork, and Gerhard moved on.
[Blessing of Gork and Mork has levelled up]
The Waaagh-energy pushed his human muscles beyond their limits, and the result was visible as he dodged a roaring Shoota Boy, but he was rewarded with a massive fist to his stomach. He brought his Bonesword up just in time to block the Choppa from another Ork Boy and angrily pushed against them.
[A new skill has been created after your VIT and STR have reached 100]
Intermediate Strength (Passive)
| Extreme boost to muscle power.
| It increases your physical attack power.
Effect:
| +15% STR
--
Intermediate Vitality (Passive)
| You have unbelievable vitality and recovery.
Effect:
| +15% VIT
| +20% HP recovery
--
Gerhard took another hit and cut into an Ork's neck, not quite killing him in one go. He jumped up and reached into the gurgling mess, pulling out anything he could while stabbing the Xenos over and over.
[Blessing of Gork and Mork has levelled up]
Gerhard felt his rising power and finally activated the skill: [Mana Reinforcement].
A massive wave of power flushed through Gerhard at that moment, catapulting him beyond his previous limits. Gerhard's strength rose dramatically, and with a guttural roar, he swung the dead Nob into three others, his bare fist hitting like a sledgehammer.
And for good reason.
Now that his STR and VIT had finally reached 100, he gained powerful passive skills that permanently increased his STR and VIT by 15%. Together with his [Mana Reinforcement] at level 6, which increased by another 18%, and then finally, the blessings of Gork and Mork were in effect.
In total, this pushed Gerhard's STR to a whopping 192 and his VIT to 195!