The first Gargant was destroyed in a thunderous instant by Red Unit-01, and the resulting explosion and shockwave successfully suppressed the Orks' frenzied assault for a short time.
The ceaseless roar of "WAAAGH!!!" hit a noticeable snag, sounding like a beast being choked by the neck, and the green charging tide fell into a moment of stagnation and chaos. The Titans and Knights of the Iron Hounds keenly seized this precious window. Princeps Olaf's Iron Fang took heavy strides forward, its volkite calivers roaring once more.
Two other Warhound Titans followed closely behind, advancing with even more intense firepower alongside the House Guard to expand the breach and systematically clear the Ork Boyz who seemed dazed by the loss of their heavy unit.
"Excellent work, Pilot Asuka!" Princeps Olaf's deep voice, filled with clear approval, came through the public comms—a rarity in the stern communications of the Imperial military.
Feeling the pressure decrease, Shinji Ikari subconsciously sighed in relief, maneuvering the Violet Unit-02 to adjust its posture slightly. It seemed these large xenos units were not invincible, which allowed his strained nerves to relax just a fraction.
However, Osiris's voice, calm with a hint of solemnity, cut into the encrypted channel accessible only to the EVA squad at that exact moment. "Do not lower your guard, and do not be optimistic too early. The true threat of the Orks has never been solely the strength of their individual units or the destructiveness of a single war machine."
As soon as he spoke, before the three could even process his words, the battlefield situation began to undergo a subtle yet persistent change.
It started with the Ork Meks and their smaller Grot slaves, who had been restless in the rear without clear objectives. Suddenly, they seemed to receive an invisible command, or perhaps they were drawn by the "possibility" radiating from the wreckage of the destroyed Gargant.
They began to let out shrill, strange cries, braving the Imperial long-range fire and stray bullets as they rushed frantically toward the burning, crackling heap of giant wreckage, as well as the scraps of other destroyed Ork vehicles and even Imperial armor fragments scattered across the field.
For the next several hours, the battlefield fell into a peculiar state of simultaneous stalemate and chaos. The Iron Hounds' advance slowed significantly because the Ork infantry resistance, after losing the unified command of the heavy unit, became more scattered and stubborn.
They utilized craters, wreckage, and terrain to launch waves of small-scale but annoying counter-attacks, dragging out the Imperial Army's efforts to consolidate their gains.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the Ork-controlled zone, a staggering display of "industrial" activity was underway. Swarms of Meks and Grots used lifting gear that looked ready to fall apart, cutting tools belching black smoke, and welding equipment that emitted deafening noise.
With an efficiency that defied physical common sense and engineering logic, they frantically dismantled, hauled, hammered, and welded. They seemed to have no need for blueprints or safety regulations, relying entirely on primal instinct and a collective "WAAAGH!" intent to fuse all available metal wreckage on the battlefield, regardless of its origin, together.
The EVA squad's sensors could clearly capture the abnormal surge in energy readings in that area, as well as the rapid formation of a massive metallic silhouette. It wasn't just a repair; it was a re-creation based on ruins—a form of savage growth.
"What... what exactly are they doing? It's been several hours!" Shinji looked at the continuous thermal signals and vibration data on his sensors, his confusion tinged with unease. This sight, which defied all reason, was more eerie than a direct charge.
"This isn't even repairing anymore; it's like they're cobbling together something new from trash right on the spot—" Asuka's voice also carried disbelief. She had thought the battle would move toward an end with the destruction of the Gargant, but reality was heading in a much more troublesome direction.
Finally, approximately three standard hours after the first Gargant had been destroyed, a steam roar far exceeding the previous one—sounding like hundreds of boilers overloading simultaneously—erupted from the giant open-air factory behind the Ork lines. Accompanied by the blinding arc light of thousands of welding points flashing at once, which briefly illuminated the entire airspace, a larger and more sinister shadow rose slowly from the mountain of scrap metal with a bone-jarring metallic screech.
It was a new Gargant.
Its silhouette was bulkier than the previous one, and its height had noticeably increased to nearly seventy meters. Its torso and limbs were covered in thicker (though still crude) composite armor plates.
The weapon platforms were bristling with more and thicker cannon barrels and rocket pods, and a massive power claw with sharp rams replaced the previous, relatively simple melee weapon. Standing there, it looked like a moving mountain of iron built from pure violence and chaos, radiating an aura far more wild and dangerous than its predecessor.
"How is that possible?! So fast?!" Asuka exclaimed, her tone full of incredulity.
"Second Gargant signature detected! Energy readings are even higher!" The Iron Hounds' alarm rang out again, tinged with a hint of helplessness.
"This is the nature of the Orks," Osiris's voice explained calmly, as if stating a fundamental law of nature. "They are a near-gestalt species driven by belief. The 'WAAAGH!' energy field not only enhances their strength and courage but also grants them absurd engineering capabilities and evolutionary speed.
As long as the battle continues, and as long as their numbers don't drop below a critical threshold, they can quickly rebuild from ruins and will instinctively 'improve' based on previous failures."
He paused to let the three digest this information. "If we cannot completely crush them in a decisive battle, destroy their command core, and eliminate their manpower, they will act like the most tenacious weeds in the universe—returning time and again, becoming more troublesome after every revival. Delaying will only work against us."
Looking at the newly appeared, larger, and stronger Gargant, and the seemingly endless green tide surrounding it, the three pilots finally felt the direct weight of Osiris's words. These greenskins weren't just fighting; they seemed to be evolving through the combat itself.
"So that means we have to... completely eliminate them?" Shinji's voice carried a trace of hardship.
"Yes," Osiris answered firmly. "Merely repelling them is not enough. We must find their command center, where the largest Ork Warlord is located, and destroy it entirely. Only then can we collapse this WAAAGH! and turn this green swarm back into a disorganized mess."