I own nothing that is not original...
Thanks for all the reviews!
I give you one more chapter because I didn't feel like writing anything else but this... but I will get right back on my other stories... (SG:GI and two Korean stories... but you are not interested in Korean stories... lol)
Damn it... the Doc Manager is really crap...
Chapter 8
I would have chuckled if I had a mouth. It appeared that the Orks had been taken totally by surprise and they were being slaughtered so easily. I was sure that my Zerglings would tear apart the poorly armed and armored Orks despite the size difference between the Orks and my Zerglings. Of course, I had compared the Gretchins to those killed by Tobya few months ago. That was a mistake and I soon realized it.
Once the Zerglings appeared from the ground and the Orks finally had opponents to fight, their panicked manner changed and they were suddenly more warlike. I could see the battle from the Overseer and I began to see the Orks pounding on my Zerglings despite the terribly primitive weapons they were using. I had expected my Zerglings' carapace to easily protect their small bodies against the crude iron or stone weapons. The Ork Huntas and their spears should not cause any greater damage than the steel knife held by a Gretchin.
Perhaps this was the negative aspect of the humanity that I decided to embrace. My arrogance reared its ugly head and let me just watch the battle progress rather than intervene and micromanage my Zerglings. My arrogance had assumed that the Zerglings would tie down the Orks long enough for the Hydralisks and Roaches to finish them off. This was a critical mistake.
A Zergling jumped at an Ork with its attack claws. The two long arms with sharp claws came down on the Ork. The Ork did not look afraid. Perhaps it was incapable to being afraid of the Zergling in such one on one situation. After all, the Zergling was small and the Ork Boy was big. The Ork turned to evade the attack a little late and the left claw cut a deep gash on the Ork's left shoulder. The greenskin roared and jammed its crude iron knife, only about 30cm in length, into the side of the Zergling.
The carapace held and the knife broke. However, the kinetic force of the Ork's attack was so powerful that the Zergling was thrown to the ground. Its side carapace had cracks where the Ork had hit with the knife. The Zergling groaned in pain and growled as it attempted to stand again. However, the impact had shaken the Zergling's organs and the muscles continued to spasm, and the Ork did not give it a chance to get back on feet. With its own growl, the Ork jumped on the Zergling.
With one knee pressing the Zergling's cracked side and the other at the Zergling's right front foot, the Ork began to pound on the Zergling with its fists. It didn't really care if it was hitting the Zergling's head, so the fist kept hitting the Zergling's left front shoulder, and the spiked carapace had made a bloody mess of the Ork's fists. Yet, the punches were strong and they were strong enough to cause cracks in the carapace and within a couple of its, the Zergling screamed in pain as the shards of its biological armor were punched into its shoulder.
As the Ork shouted in triumph, the Zergling fought back. It twisted its body and lashed out with its attack claws on its back. The Ork had stumbled when the Zergling forcefully twisted its body and allowed the attack claws to gouge a large chunk of flesh from its chest. Two fountains of blood shot out but the Ork was resilient. As the attack claw retracted to get the coil for the next attack, the Ork had grabbed one of the claws by the roots and pulled. With a loud crack, the attack claw half came out, its thick ligaments barely holding at the sudden jerking motion.
The Zergling thrashed about in order to get the Ork off of it, but it failed and the Ork slammed down at the Zergling's head with its elbow, and put his entire upper bodyweight on that. With a sickening crunch, the Zergling's head burst apart under the sheer impact and weight of an Ork Boy. Standing up from the bloody mess, the Ork Boy roared in pleasure of battle, only to face its own demise moments later.
Half dozen spines tore through the Ork's back, and though only one got stuck deep, the others cut through the muscles and ligaments while releasing paralyzing toxins. Before the Ork could grasp what was happening, another Zergling came at it. The Ork tried to block the Zergling, but its arms would not move as well as before. In that moment's hesitation, the primary claws dug deep into the shoulder blades and completely severed the deeply-rooted muscle for arms.
The Ork fell, and was soon trampled on the head by another Ork that had been chasing another Zergling.
Okay, that was impressive, but the Ork died. That was all that mattered. I did have almost unlimited number of Zerglings, though it would take time to make them. I was sure that five hundred Zerglings would be quite enough, and I was certain that the Hydralisks and Roaches would finish the job. I had forgotten two major things.
Firstly, the Warboss.
The Warboss was a moron, like all the Orks, but he was a genius in battle. He shouted 'Waaagh!', and he shouted something at this Orks. Though I was certain that most of the Orks could not hear him, their movements changed. The Orks began to head toward the Roaches and the Hydralisks and rather ignored the Zerglings. Another shout rang across the battlefield, and my second mistake came into play.
The Gretchins.
The FIVE HUNDRED Gretchins.
Certainly, they were no match against my Zerglings in one on one battle. The problem was that my Zerglings were busy killing Orks, and the Gretchins in greater number than Zerglings proved to be a massive distraction. For each Zergling, at least three to four Gretchin attacked, and attempted to jam their little knives or shoot revolver-like weapons at the Zerglings. Swarmed by the Gretchins, a significant number of Zerglings fell away from the main Ork forces and began to engage the Gretchins.
I had realized my mistakes a little late, but it was not too late to intervene. I immediately took back control over my minions and decided to deal with the problem that I could actually deal with.
The Warboss was now my target.
The Warboss had a chainaxe and a large shoota that was powerful and impressive enough to shoot down a Zergling after about a dozen point-blank shots. The chainaxe did cause more damage though, and with each swing, a Zergling died. Also, around him were the Slugga Boyz, the few Orks in his clan with any guns. I had to deal with him and his posse.
With a single thought, I brought out my weapon against the Warboss.
The uber Ultralisk charged with psionic energy exploded out of the ground and roared so loud that the Orks nearby stopped to block their ears.
Before the Warboss or other Orks could realize what was happening, the Ultralisk got to work. Its Kaiser Blades were much more nimble and was able to move in a greater range of angles and arcs. With a single outward sweep, the two primary Kaiser Blades cut through five Orks, three to the right and two to the left. They fell, or more accurately, their torsos fell and their legs crumbled down.
The Warboss immediately realized that it was a challenge to him and for him. He could no longer hide behind his Nobz to weaken the enemy and to run away would force him to defend his throne as the Warboss. He had no choice but to fight the enormous monstrosity. The Warboss was one of the Feral Orks, and he was only slightly taller than 3.5m but the Ultralisk was usually 5m in height and nearly 20m in length including the Kaiser Blades. That would be a normal Ultralisk. The uber Ultralisk had been with me since I have arrived here, and it had grown bigger and stronger.
Standing nearly 6m in height, its Kaiser Blades lightly glowing in blue aura and covered in thick carapace, the uber Ultralisk was well on its way to become an Omegalisk without my help. It stomped the ground, and the impact shuddered the land. Then when the eyes of the Warboss had met the eyes of the Ultralisk, they roared in unison and charged at each other.
Like two titans, the Warboss and the Ultralisk clash against each other.
The Warboss ducked as the pair of Kaiser Blades cut through the air like scissors and would have chopped off the head of the Warboss if he did not duck. The Warboss rolled forward, unintentionally evading the secondary blades under the primary blades. The Warboss got back up and fired his shoota at the Ultralisk's head, hoping to fire at what appeared to be unprotected underside.
That would have worked if it was a normal Ultralisk. At that exact moment, like a turtle hiding in its shell, the Ultralisk pulled its head in just enough to evade the attack, and then moved sideways and attempted to stomp on the Warboss. The Warboss quickly ran forward, keeping himself right under the Ultralisk's belly. Immediately changing his tactics, the Warboss reached up and slashed the Ultralisk's underside with his chainaxe.
The bio-carapace screamed as powerful teeth of the chainaxe scraped at it. Even with the extra thick carapace, the belly of the Ultralisk was soon exposed. If it had been a normal Ultralisk, that chainaxe, mixed with the strength of the Warboss, would have caused a serious damage to the Zerg creature. This Ultralisk, however, quickly charged forward, knocking the Warboss and removing itself from the Warboss's arc of attack. Then after cutting through several Orks, it turned and charged at the Warboss again.
The Warboss fired his shoota, and attempted to bravely stand his ground. Then from behind, a large air unit descended. With many tentacles, the Corruptor had appeared. Of the three, only this one was seen, and it sprayed dark green acid from its mouth at the Warboss' back. The strange acid instantly covered the Ork Warboss, and the Warboss was taken by surprise. It was a bad time to panic or even to flinch. When the Warboss turned his head, he only saw the two very sharp ends of the Kaiser Blades.
The Ultralisk skewered the Warboss. Then as the Warboss coughed blood and attempted to fire his shoota at the Ultralisk, the creature raised the Warboss into the air and then with all its might, it pulled the Kaiser Blades outward. The great Warboss was torn in two, and his blood showered the head of the Ultralisk.
The Ork Warboss, who showed much promise as a possible regular character, had died so absurdly and so easily. However, this had made me think of how fragile a life is. Of course, I wasn't thinking of it along the line of 'Zergling's life is also precious' but it did show me that a critical mistake can end a life so quick, even one as tough as that of an Ork Warboss. Certainly, this Warboss was a fail, but I was sure that future Ork Warboss that I may encounter might be a little stronger than him, and my Ultralisk could easily lose.
Ignoring that little revelation aside, the battle was not going too well. The Hydralisks were now fighting with their claws rather than their spines and half the Roaches were now locked in melee against the Orks as well. The only upside at that point was that the Warboss was dead, but because he did not die in some glorious combat but was killed in such absurd way, there was no great impact of his death. The Warboss was obviously not a charismatic leader and this Waaagh! must have been created through provoking the war-lust of the Ork rather than the forceful command of the Warboss.
Though the Orks flinched a little and drew back when their Warboss died, they were enjoying themselves too much. I could not have that. My uber units came out from the ground and supported the uber Ultralisk as it waded through the ranks of Orks and Zerglings. The mighty Kaiser Blades cut through a dozen Orks and a few Zerglings as collateral damage. The trampling of the Ultralisk did catch the eyes of the Orks, and instead of attacking the Ultralisk like stupid little Orks, the Orks scattered away from the Ultralisk and doubled their attacks on the Hydralisks and Roaches instead. This was clever for the Orks as they effectively moved out from the attacks of the Ultralisk.
Among these Orks was one particular Ork that I should have been careful to kill. I didn't know of his importance then but if I did, I would have made sure I killed him. This particular Ork would be the single most annoying thorn at my side for many years to come.
The Ork Boy was almost a Nob. He was the leader of his small band because he was larger, faster and smarter than the rest of his band. He was larger than an average Boy but smaller than a Nob. This Ork was cunning, however. He was more intelligent, perhaps due to his slightly larger head and the bigger brain inside. A mutation that would usually work for a BigMek or Weirdboy afflicted this Ork, but didn't quite make it so that he turned out as one of those special Ork type. He wasn't religious but he thought that Gork and Mork were looking after him. This Waaagh! was a good thing for this Ork, who didn't really have a name yet.
This Waaagh! was going to provide much needed relief of the tension building up inside the clan. With this Ork, he needed a war to be violent and needed situations where he can show off his prowess to the rest of his band, so that he would get enough respect to grow larger. Now, he found himself in the middle of the Waaagh! away from the very front. This was not a happy situation for this Ork, but he dared not to say anything to the massive Warboss who can instantly turn the Ork into two pieces of bloodied mush in green leather.
When the Roaches, Hydralisks and Zerglings appeared all over the battlefield, the Ork was over the moon with joy at the chance to fight. He smashed at Zergling's head with his axe and cleaved the head into two. Then stepping on the dead body, he leapt on to another Zergling, which got squashed by the Ork's weight. Finishing the Zergling with a deft stroke at its neck, the Ork was now near the position of the Hydralisks. The 50 Hydralisks and 20 Roaches were now numbering around 45 Hydralisks and 10 Roaches, their number reduced by the deadly power of the Ork melee attacks.
This Ork was also pining to fight one of the larger creatures, and now was his chance. He grabbed nearby Ork by the back of the neck and pressed him forward. Shouting Waaagh! and pointing at the Hydralisks, the Ork drove his witless comrades against the large creatures on the dirt mounds. Two Roaches and two Hydralisks noticed them and fired their deadly projectiles. One of the Orks melded in the green acid of the Roach while another fell down after taking a full volley of a Hydralisk's attack right in the face.
The Ork had used its comrade as a shield, and that poor fellow was hit in the chest by the Hydralisk spines then was had its torso cleaved by the scythed claws of the Hydralisk. This gave a chance for the Ork. He threw aside his dead comrade and charged at the Hydralisk that immediately roared at him. Evading the claw by a hair's width, the Ork slammed his axe at the Hydralisk's right chest, right under the right elbow. Though the axe was mere steel, the sheer strength of an Ork had allow it to crush through the carapace and allowed half the axe to be struck through the chest of the Zerg.
Without a moment's hesitation, the Ork lunged forward and grabbed the tail of the Hydralisk. With all his strength, the Ork pulled the tail, forcing the Hydralisk to fall flat on its face. The Ork immediately turned around and saw the Hydralisk using its left claw to push itself around. The Ork saw the gap in that movement and immediately stomped on the joint of the left arm, disabling the Hydralisk's last remaining melee weapon. Then with a gleeful smile and brute strength, the Ork swung his arms at the creature. The Hydralisk would normally have fired its spines, but its position and wounds was so that it could not move the major muscles that allow the firing of the spines.
Left without a method to defend itself, the Hydralisk could only roar in frustration as the first Ork punch slammed across its head. The hard carapace, thick exoskeleton covered in a thin stretched layer of leather and with a little flesh underneath protecting its skull, screamed as the Ork's powerful punch began to pound on it. The first punch shook the Hydralisk's brain so that it temporarily lost consciousness. The second punch jolted it back awake. The third punch made a large crack on the exoskeleton like a stone thrown at a thick window.
The forth punch let the shards of carapace to pierce through the thin layer of leathery muscle tissues and exposed the skull. The fifth punch caused a crack on the skull. The sixth punch made the web of cracks even larger. The seventh, and last, punch shoved the sharp shards of the Hydralisk's skull into its tiny brain. Though the Hydralisk's brain was elongated, the front part was the important part in its physiology as well. With that punch, the Hydralisk let out a final screech before it died.
The Ork smiled cheerfully even though his left fist was all mangled up. He looked up, and he saw the Ultralisk wading through the ranks of Orks. Somehow, an understanding dawned on him. The Warboss was dead. Almost all of the Nobz were dead and the rest were dying. There was no one left back in the clan as big as him, and he was almost certain that most of the large Orks in this battle would not survive. They were too focused on the battle, challenging the large creatures to fight, and only to torn to pieces by the little ones or melted by shots of acid.
He looked down at the corpse of the Hydralisk, and instead of taking out his half crunched up steel axe, he grabbed the Hydralisk's right claw by the roots and pulled. In two powerful tugs, the claw came out with all the nerves and muscles still stringing along. He straightened the elbow and the scythed claws folded outward. The moment of fascination passed as the understanding that his new weapon was in his hands began flood him along with the returning thirst for fighting.
He looked around for his next target and found a Roach slicing an Ork Boy with its pair of broad attack claws. The Ork was upon the Roach before it could react or even notice. With a powerful kick, the Ork stunned the Roach, and surprised, it turned to face the Ork rather than simply swing at him with its claw. It was a fatal mistake as the deadly claw of a Hydralisk came down upon its head before it could retract it. The scythed claw pierced right on top of the primary brain stem and the Roach screeched pathetically before collapsing on its legs. Swinging the Hydralisk claws again, the Ork pierced the roots of the Roach's claws.
One by one, the Ork pulled out the two claws from the dead Roach body, evading the two separate spine attacks by the nearby Hydralisks, which were quickly re-engaged in a fight with other Orks. Once this strange Ork got what he wanted, the Ork looked at the battlefield once more with a little longing, then he ran down the mound, away from the battle.
This Ork disappeared into the wilderness and would return as a Warboss. It would take the name Warboss Bugklaw, and would be famous for scavenging the claws of the dead Zerg and arming himself and his Orks with them, but that would still be years from this point, and the new Overmind would rue the day he failed to kill this particular Ork Boy.