Chapter 10: Effigy of a God

With a single shot, the Mega Gargant's primary weapon, mounted on its shoulder, had wrought havoc, destruction and death on both the Imperial front and the city of Epidamnus. Although the extreme forces of gravity it had unleashed were truly devastating, any strategist with some military acumen would have immediately understood that this wasn't the element that had inflicted the most damage to the Imperial defenders.

Its mere presence had caused a complete shift in the flow of the battle. The orks, who until that moment were beginning to feel frustrated by their losses and their hindered advance, were now galvanized to charge with even greater intensity. The feral greenskins were the most influenced, caught in a frenzy of violence that bordered on religious fervour and fanaticism: in their eyes, the god they had venerated for millennia had finally awoken and was walking to their side, literally, and no force in the universe could possibly stop it. Their off-worlder brethren, slightly more advanced and cultured, didn't go as far as believing Gork and/or Mork was physically there, but knew that this extremely powerful Gargant was a sign of their gods' favour and, more realistically, an immeasurably powerful engine of war.

In contrast to the invigorating effect the titan was having on the orks' morale, the reaction it elicited on the human troopers was equally potent, although on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum. The sight of the alien effigy, so imposing it could tower over even the tallest Imperator Titan, made their heart stop and their throat tighten. Their minds filled with images of indescribable slaughter, of what it could do to them, to this world and even to the rest of the Imperium. The horror and desperation were so overwhelming, that many would have done extreme actions like gouging out their own eyes, if it meant feeling the ecstasy of relief from this dreadful reality.

The Arbanians, despite the intense emotions they were feeling, remained focused on their task and didn't waver, as befitting of soldiers from the Astra Militarum. Meanwhile, in the ranks of the Kanrilian PDF, the sense of hopelessness and despair began crushing the spirit of the most weak-willed, particularly among the newest recruits. Episodes of panic and desertion sprouted all across the front, and on several occasions Commissar Merneith had to intervene personally to restore discipline and order, one way or another.

Because of this, the gargantuan machine didn't even fire its weapons after that first shot, because there was no need: the xenos assaulted the Imperial defences with renewed fury, completely unconcerned of mines, traps or any other defensive measures that previously had been able to contain them. Soon enough, Secundabegan to suffer numerous incursions across multiple sections of the trench line.

⁓

There is no need to worry, they are just some primitive greenskins…"

Those were the words Marshal Ubam kept telling himself and his subordinates since the beginning of the battle. At first, they were carried with intense conviction, a perfect example of human supremacy bolstered by a massive ego and lack of knowledge regarding the wider galaxy.

But as the conflict went on, the orks showed their true strength: from their mind-blowing numbers, to their surprisingly advanced armament - contrary to their look - and, last but not least, how their singular focus on battle and the very act of fighting seemed to invigorate them, pushing them to greater acts of violence, starting a positive feedback loop of carnage and strength.

And with that, his voice began to slowly tremble little by little, each time losing some of that bravado and confidence. Then the Mega Gargant came, and it utterly crushed the man's belief, as easy as it crumbled the city walls.

Ubam stayed still in his position on Secundafor many minutes, dumbstruck, his eyes fixed on the titanic war machine that was slowly approaching, numb to any other external stimuli, including his men urging him to tell them what to do, as the orks were beginning to assault the trench line with renewed intensity.

Faced with something that completely shatters your beliefs, there are two horrible ways to respond to it.

One is to let reality crush you, incapable of acting in any way as despair overwhelms your mind and spirit.

The other is to reject the truth, detaching yourself from reality in a futile attempt of escapism.

"Stop slacking off, you cowards! They are just a bunch of stupid brutes with axes and spear!" the marshal yelled like a madman, and slowly starting to look like one. His mind had completely reverted back from before the battle, completely ignoring the evidence presented to him regarding the orks' dangerousness. He took his bolt pistol from its holster and began shooting at the feral orks that were now running towards him, adding his fire to the shots of hundreds of lasguns and autoguns nearby. Ubam was entirely carefree while doing that, showing the same level of concern as someone performing simple pest control. Fortunately, his men seemed to have a better grasp of reality, realizing full well the great danger they were facing, and so they fought with far more focus.

"As long as you don't let them come close, killing them is easy!" he yelled, as bolt rounds from his gun detonated on the heads of some feral orks charging at the trenches. Then Ubam noticed, amidst the tide of green flesh, a peculiar specimen with several crude cybernetic replacements, wearing what looked like a filthy, ragged work apron, as well as a strange backpack with several green lights coming out of it.

The ork was moving towards him specifically, so the PDF leader pointed his weapon towards this new foe and fired, confident in his ability to eliminate it as easy as the others. His shots, however, never reached their target, as they were stopped by some kind of greenish force field surrounding the alien. The marshal furiously kept shooting, each bolt quickly stopped by that barrier, all while the mekboy kept walking, unconcerned of the attacks directed at him.

Soon enough, the magazine of his pistol ran empty, and the man frantically searched for a new one in his suit, unaware of the fact that the ork had just arrived right in front of him, while his brethren had begun pouring inside the trench, slaughtering the PDF soldiers in that area. Ubam had barely the time to glimpse at the xenos, before the latter kicked him square in the chest, the power behind it great enough to break several ribs and rupture lungs and other internal organs on impact. The marshal was thrown several metres away, crashing heavily on the ground.

As the greenskin approached the fallen commander, heartily enjoying the pain, both physical and emotional, that the man was experiencing, Ubam kept murmuring the same words, despite his own blood choking him to death.

"You...are…inferior…filth…you…cannot…possibly…"

The mekboy, having fully savoured the marshal's emotional breakdown, put an end to that miserable spectacle: his boot stomped the man's skull, turning a face soiled by blood, dirt and tears into a puddle of gore and brain matter.

⁓

Soon enough, despite the efforts of the defenders, Secundawas swarming with orks, with entire sections of the trench already overrun. It was evident that holding the line there had become an impossibility. General Kastriot was forced to enact the Auximum protocol once more, initiating the redeployment of the troops from Secundato Ultima, the last line of defence before the walls and subsequently the city, through the use of subterranean tunnels.

This time a good portion of the xenos, mostly those who weren't native, were smart enough to not take the bait and fall twice into the same trap, though many feral orks, too caught in the heat of battle to stop, still followed the retreating humans into the underground passages, and were thus buried alive when the tunnels collapsed.
The Imperials gained some time of respite with this move, though it would not be too long, as the greenskins already started to close the distance by crossing the last minefield, connecting Secunda with Ultima.

During all of these, the gargant never fired even one of its numerous cannons and weapons. It simply advanced towards Secundaand beyond, its pace slow but unrelenting.

At one point, Kastriot had ordered all artillery to fire at the titan simultaneously. The general knew it was a risky move: focusing all their long-ranged weaponry on a single target would have removed the most destructive part of the suppressive fire directed at the ork army, thus allowing them to accelerate their advance. Yet he deemed it necessary, for eliminating this threat had become the highest priority, an indispensable requirement if they wanted to protect and save Kanrilia and its people.

At his command, all the Imperial cannons of this world fired in unison, shaking the earth and the heavens with a rumble of booming thunder. The cannonade they rained on the gargantuan ork engine was incredibly intense: an Imperator-Class Titan would have had its void shields overloaded and would have been damaged beyond repair, had it suffered that level of firepower.

But it felt like simple rain to the Mega Gargant: imperial shells were easily repelled and disintegrated by a massive force field enveloping the titan. This dome crackled with wild energies as it blocked the explosions of the bombardment, but it didn't show even the slightest sign of collapse.
And so, the gargant continued its approach, as an ineluctable harbinger of death.

⁓

From his throne in the command centre, Gurzag watched, not without a certain degree of irritation, one of his mekboyz who, after witnessing one of the control panels shutting down and failing to reactivate it despite numerous attempts, was now bashing the head of a gretchin on it, in sheer frustration.

That was only the last of many examples that further proved to the warboss what he had already figured out for a while: this mega gargant may be the most powerful land-based war machine he had ever seen, but it was also the most complex one.

Even though it was obviously built by orks, its systems, structure and internal working were so intricate and sophisticated, not even his mekboyz working together were able to fully comprehend it. It had taken them months just to reawaken it from its inert state, and they had not gone too far beyond that.
The greenskin titan had a plethora of cannons and other weapons, whose sight would overwhelm in sheer delight every ork worth its salt. Yet almost all of them were currently non-operational, save from the biggest one on its shoulder, which he had just used against the humies.

In fact, with the addition of the locomotive system, only three features of the gargant were active in that moment: the aforementioned gravitic weapon; the extremely powerful energy field currently protecting the war engine in its advance; the cloaking system it had used to come to the battlefield, which hid it from the humies' sensors until it was too late.
Worst was the fact that the mekboyz weren't able to properly channel and distribute the enormous amount of energy in order to power more than one of these three systems at once: the gargant could either attack, defend or hide itself.

As he recalled all that, Gurzag drummed his fingers on the skull set on his throne's right arm, annoyance plenty visible from his look.
The humies didn't have anything powerful enough to penetrate its shield, so the gargant could simply walk towards the city, demolishing everything in its path only by virtue of its unmatched bulk. Yet winning this way, without unleashing the full destructive power of this machine, left a bad taste in the warboss' mouth, even if he knew it was the most efficient and effective strategy.

Going against the very nature of the ork race, Gurzag wished to quickly finish the battle and take over this world. He had big plans for the future.

First, he would leave this planet, and he would acquire as many mekboyz as he was able to, with any means necessary. With that many smart 'eads working in unison, he was certain the Mega Gargant would be restored to its full power.
And once that was done, replication would be possible.

The Hoarder grinned as he imagined himself leading a massive WAAAGH! with dozens, maybe hundreds of these gargants acting as backbone and lynchpins of his vast army. No force in the galaxy, be it humies, beakees, panzees, bugeyez or any other would be able to stop him.

Ghazghkull, the prophet of Gork and Mork?!
He would lay defeated in front of Gurzag, the true champion of the gods, just like any other ork who would dare to challenge him.

The chance to take part in the greatest battles imaginable would have been enough to thrill any greenskin, but for the Hoarder there was something else that fuelled his anticipation: the prospect of acquiring the best trophies from across the galaxy.
He could already picture himself getting unique treasures and spoils of war, like the corpse of One-Eye Yarrick or the great klaw used by the boss of the black spiky boyz.

Gurzag turned his attention back to the humie city and its defenders, soon to be smashed by his gargant.

A glorious future was within his reach. And no one would deny it to him.

⁓

In one of the bunkers of Ultima, assigned as a temporary command post, general Kastriot stood in front of the hololithic projection of the battlefield, waiting for those he had summoned to arrive. Eskender listened attentively to the reports and updates of Lieutenant Bajramaj, who as always never left his side, and Restion, who wasn't there in person – as he was still aboard the Arbanon's Vengeance – and thus took part in the meeting through his servo-skull Anaximander, while his eyes were fixed on the red marker on the map symbolizing the Mega Gargant, still far from Ultimabut getting closer with each second.

The door of the bunker opened wide, revealing the form of Commissar Merneith.

"Eskender, tell me you have a plan to stop that thing." she told him a bit short of breath, a sign that she had just come back from battle as soon as she could. She was closing the door when Kastriot stopped her.

"Leave the door open, Sharifa. The others are coming."

Before the commissar could open her mouth to ask him for some elucidation, a trail of intertwined red, beige and dark blue petals swiftly entered the room, reaching the side of the table opposite to Kastriot and, once there, quickly solidified into the forms of Ruby Rose, Zahra and Isa Boledini.

Zahra looked pretty unfazed from the event; Tempestor Isa, on the other hand, had a single second of bafflement and disturbance from having his body disassembled and reassembled in such a short time, before his mental conditioning kicked in and he regained his composure.

"Now you can close the door." Kastriot added with a straight face. Commissar Merneith, her mouth opened slightly, seemed like she wanted to say something, before she shook her head and moved towards the group, muttering a "Not the time" under her breath.

"Pardon my manners, general, but what is that?!"

Ruby, wasting no time, had directly asked this to the general, the tone of her voice hiding none of her concern, as she pointed at the red marker and the pict-image of the enemy titan attached to it.

"That is an Orkoid Xeno construct designated 84876/307, commonly known as Mega Gargant. And it is the largest one ever encountered, at least based on the records I have accessed to. It-"The hololithic projection of Restion began explaining, in a manner that resembled a lecture of an Imperial academy.

"That is the thing that will bring death to this world," the general answered the young girl, interrupting the eager enginseer, "as well as many others the moment it leaves this system, unless we find a way to stop it."

"That's the problem, though. How do we do that? We have seen it shrug off that bombardment as if it was nothing…" replied the seasoned commissar, expressing directly what was on everyone's mind.

"We need some answers in order to better understand this threat. Only this way, we might find some weakness to exploit." Kastriot continued, bringing the attention of the room back to him. He then looked at the incorporeal shape of the tech-priest. "First of all, how did such a massive machine get so close to our lines without being detected by our sensors?"

"I can only provide mere speculations, based on the limited data I was able to acquire in such a short time. Judging from the energy readings around the area the gargant was located just before it attacked, it appears as if this ork engine is capable of funnelling the background psychic energies of the orks, the ones that they regularly generate as a by-product, to create a sort of buffer zone around itself, which distorts heat, radiation and any other energy readings from our auspexes."

The general turned his attention to Zahra, in the hopes she could provide some insight with her expertise of the warp, only to find the woman slightly shacking, clearly shocked at Restion's theory.

"I could not sense it… A psychic manipulation of such magnitude should have left detectable signs in the Immaterium. Yet, all I could feel was the usual psychic field that is always present when orks are amassed in great number. To have such a precise mastery of this force, especially for a crude species like the greenskins…"

"I think it is pretty obvious, at this point, that this mechanical monstrosity surpasses every preconception we had about the orks until now. I mean, just look at what that weapon did! With a single shot, it devastated our defences and ripped the city walls as easy as we could tear a piece of vellum!" Tempestor Isa replied, increasing the tension that was forming in the room.

"It's not just our defences. The city and its harbour have been badly damaged, with entire districts and several ships destroyed. Panic has overtaken the population and the evacuation status is compromised, as evidenced by the multiple reports I'm getting from the arbitrators." Lieutenant Bajramaj reported, adding more weight to the stormtrooper's words.

"Yes, that gravitic weapon is truly terrifying. I'm still analysing the readings related to it, but the way it alters the gravitational waves is mind-blowing. The closest thing to it we have records of is their so-called Lifta-Droppa, but even there the similarities are only superficial: it would be like comparing a lasgun with a heavy lance from a holy Ark Mechanicus battleship."

"I wanted to ask you more about this weapon," the general then spoke, addressing the enginseer "and why they haven't fired it again, seeing how effective it proved to be. But after hearing you, I can hazard a guess and say that the reason is being so powerful it requires too much energy, even for them."

"Yes, that is the most likely explanation, my lord. I will even go further and say that all the systems showcased by this titan are very power consuming, and it can only use one of them at a time."

"That is a meagre consolation. Even if it just walks towards us and the city, as long as it has that shield raised, there is nothing we can do to stop it from crushing everything in its path. So how in the warp do we get past it?!" The fist of Sharifa banged on the table as the commissar delivered those words, clearly itching from acting against this threat.

"Ork energy fields are peculiar, each one seemingly unique in their working, and are still poorly understood. This particular one is no exception. From the little I could gather, it seems capable of breaking solid matter down to its atoms and molecules. That is why our artillery shells were so easily blocked. Our energy weapons are no better against it: without going into too many technicalities, I can simply say that even if they are not made of solid matter, the barrier still interferes with their state, disrupting the magnetic containment field in case of plasma bolts, or the coherence of the photons in the laser shots, and thus it can neutralize them."

"Is there no way to overcome them? What about the Solar Flame?" Isa asked.

"From the last communication I received from the captain, the ship is still far from Kanrilia's orbit." Bajramaj answered, as she checked on her data slate.

"And even if it was here, I'm almost positive its limited weaponry as a transport vessel would not be enough to overload such a powerful shield. The only way I could think so far to overcome it would be interdimensional travel, but…"

"We don't have a teleportarium, either on this planet or in the ship, and Zahra, while skilled in various arts, doesn't have the ability to teleport herself or others" Kastriot finished what the tech-priest was about to say, unfortunately crushing any hopes brought by that possible solution.

The group continued to argue, with each member trying to offer some alternatives. Ruby listened attentively to the debate, though she had not spoken so far, knowing that the men and women around her had a better understanding of the means and resources at their disposal. Despite that, her mind was still focused on finding a solution to this problem.

'Think Ruby, think! How do we stop that hideous machine from killing everyone? It's big enough to make a Leviathan and the Colossus look like toddlers, and we have no kind of weapon or mech available to face it directly. So, it's obvious that our best option is to disable it from the inside, but how do we get in? That barrier breaks down matter- '

Suddenly, her train of thought was interrupted, as some of Penny's words about her Semblance resurfaced in her mind, mixing with Restion's explanation of the gargant's barrier.

…Ruby is capable of traveling at an extreme velocity from one point to another by breaking herself down to her molecular components…

…it seems capable of breaking solid matter down to its atoms and molecules…

An answer to this conundrum presented itself, alongside possible plans to enact it. It was risky, possibly deadly for her: after all, as Restion had previously said, they still did not fully comprehend how this technology worked, and how it would react with her Semblance.

But it was also the only chance they got.

"I…"

Her voice, lower than the ones around her, wasn't heard by the others, too focused on discussing animatedly to notice. All except for the general, who upon seeing the look in her face, silenced everyone present with a gesture.

All eyes turned towards her, and the girl answered, grabbing their undivided attention with just a few words.

"I might have a way to get inside the mega gargant."

⁓

"This is crazy."

"I agree, Sharifa. But honestly, we don't seem to have any other options."

These words left the mouths of the general and the commissar, as the two moved towards their destination, accompanied by Ruby.

"We are all going to die if we don't do anything, same as in the case I fail, so there's no harm in trying." the young girl said to the two feebly, in a weak attempt to downplay the whole situation. It didn't work, judging by the deadpan look they gave her.

"I...I'm not very good at defusing tension with bleak humour, am I?" Ruby said while laughing nervously, her cheeks reddening.

"No, you are way too hopeful and positive for that," Kastriot replied, showing briefly an amused smirk, despite their grim condition.

"I'm not questioning the fact that she is going to infiltrate the gargant." Commissar Merneith remarked. "I'm calling crazy the method she intends to use to reach it. I mean, she wants to ride that?!
Sharifa said the last part as she pointed incredulously at their reached target: a Manticore Missile Tank.

"I want to have the maximum acceleration possible when I use my Semblance, and using one of those missiles will give me that," Ruby answered her.
As the trio reached the vehicle and Restion, who was finishing the final configurations with its machine spirit, she added: "And besides, it's not my first time riding a rocket, although it was a locker of my Academy."

The huntress found hilarious the way Commissar Merneith raised her hands at her words, completely baffled by what she had just heard. Even the general, who seemed always so composed, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Ruby jumped on one of the missiles of the Manticore. As she adjusted herself, the hatch opened, showing the figure of Restion, who turned and spoke to her.

"I just finished the final calibrations. The missile will hit the gargant's shield exactly at 6.83 seconds. You will need to get off it with your Semblance in the window of time between 5.75 and 6.00 seconds. That way, the acceleration of the rocket will add to yours to a satisfactory degree. Sooner than that, the distance you will have to traverse before reaching the barrier would greatly increase, and you risk tiring yourself too much. Later than that, the probability of you being inside the blast radius of the explosion, when the projectile meets the force field and detonates, becomes unacceptable."

"Got it. You don't seem too concerned with the soundness of all this." Ruby asked the tech-priest, a bit tickled by the cyborg's even explanation.

"Oh, I think we all know how anomalous this plan is. But after fighting for so long, I learned that sometimes the Omnissiah permits, and even encourages, the usage of unorthodox actions in pursuit of victory, when the situation is dire. And I can safely say that this is one of such occasions."

"Do you need to be briefed again on the mission's details?" Kastriot asked her, as he approached the flank of the Manticore.

"No need. Pretty standard sabotage mission: get inside, find the target, disrupt it and then get out."

"I regret not being able to provide you some support, letting you go alone."

"In this case, I believe it's for the best," Ruby answered him, showing no hesitation as she exposed her argument. "We don't know if I will be able to overcome that barrier with my Semblance, so it's unwise to endanger more people. Besides, Mr Boledini and his men are needed here, keeping the orks at bay the same way we did before. The same goes for Restion. As for Zahra, well, we know she is already helping me..."

As he heard her speaking, the general was pleased to find proof once more of Ruby's many qualities, confirming the impression he had formed on her: he saw a girl that, despite her young age, already had plenty of experience, which backed up her actions and words. In addition to that, she displayed the mentality of a leader, showing skills befitting of that role, like thinking in terms of how and where to best use the resources and manpower at her disposal, or being capable of coming up with flexible tactics. She had great potential, and he couldn't help but pray the Emperor that she would live long enough to fully express it.

"Truth be told," Restion suddenly interjected "she won't be alone."

A familiar servo-skull got out of the vehicle, flew past the enginseer and set down on the huntress' shoulder, clinging on her with its appendages.

"Anaximander will accompany her and will provide the necessary technical assistance when they reach the objective."

"H-hi." Ruby greeted it hesitantly, still not used to the Imperium's morbid obsession with skulls. "Hope we get along."

"COMPLIANCE" was its answer, delivered with a series of beeping sounds and mechanical clicks.

"We are ready when you are."

Mentally thanking the tech priest for putting an end to the awkwardness of that exchange, Ruby simply nodded.

As Restion began the countdown and the general stepped aside to a safe distance -nodding at her while doing so- she held tight to a handle installed on the rocket for the occasion, already focusing her Aura for what was about to happen.

When the timer reached zero, byproduct gas produced from the burning fuel was ejected from the missile with extreme force, giving it enough thrust to take off at great speed. The acceleration the rocket had would have been too much for any unaugmented human without the proper protection, but the huntress, already used at operating under this speed and beyond, protected by the power of her soul, was able to endure it without issue.

Traversing the battlefield at supersonic speed, Ruby mentally counted, waiting for the moment to use her Semblance. When the time was right, her prevision was confirmed by Anaximander, which produced a high-pitched alarm to signal the precise instant. Reacting accordingly, she leapt forward, activating her power while doing so.

Using the impressive speed of the missile as a starting boost, the slipstream of petals that was now Ruby moved faster than usual, reaching the gargant's force field almost instantly.
When her unbound state came into contact with the barrier, raw, unadulterated energies flooded her, pulsing tendrils of ancient power coursing through every particle of her being. The connection lasted for a split second, but in that brief time, her soul felt the full savagery and brutality that links all greenskins.
The Aura of their entire species, in a way.

Had she lingered there longer, her essence would have been overwhelmed by all that orkish power. Fortunately, she pushed the power of her Semblance to the highest speed she could, and so she swiftly overcame the shield, finding herself on the other side.

She quickly reformed her body and, just before she could crash against the solid metal of the titan, she fired a gravity Dust projectile opposite to her trajectory, countering her momentum. Then, while performing a mid-air flip, she unfolded Crescent Rose and sank its blade on the metal plating covering the belly of the gargant, stopping herself completely as she found herself hanging on her scythe.

Ruby remained still there for a moment, gritting her teeth in pain and fatigue. Few sparks of green lightning lingered on her body, residue from her passage across the force field. She didn't need her Scroll to realize that her Aura had taken a severe hit from that manoeuvre.

"Are you alright?" Ruby asked, looking at the servo-skull on her shoulder. Anaximander's answer was a series of sparks, while its eyes turned on and off repeatedly. After a few seconds, however, it appeared to regain control.

"AFFIRMATIVUM" the skull finally spoke, letting go of the the girl' shoulder and floating around her.

"Alright. We are here. Now we have to get inside."

She began looking around her, while Anaximander hovered above and below her, scanning with its sensors. Finally, the two discovered a small porthole fifty metres below her. It was large enough for Anaximander to barely fit inside.
Luckily, a quick use of her Semblance would allow Ruby to pass through even smaller crevices than this one.

Reforming herself on the other side of the porthole, Ruby and Anaximander found themselves in a dark, rusty corridor, inside the belly of the mechanical beast.

"Now, let's see if the next part of the plan works."

And as she said that, the young girl closed her eyes. At first, only darkness greeted her, but soon after, in her mind's eye, she perceived something akin to a green flame in the background. She knew where her objective was.

Having that knowledge, she began running in the direction where the flame would have been, Anaximander following close by.

"Thanks, Zahra" she said with a smile, while recalling a precise moment in the recent meeting…

⁓

Ruby had finished explaining how she intended to bypass the gargant's defences and get inside. There had been doubts and uncertainty from some of the present, but her words, supported by those of Restion and Zahra – whose expertise in certain fields allowed them to first grasp the soundness of Ruby's plan -, quickly made them realize that this was their only option available.

Soon after, a discussion began with the intent of preparing a viable plan of attack. Various points and aspects were raised and elaborated, though the most important one regarded where exactly Ruby should strike in order to maximize the damage to the enemy.

"The head should be our target. It's where all the controls and operative systems of the gargant are located. From there the shield can be dropped and if we do that, the engine will be vulnerable to an artillery strike." Commissar Merneith first voiced her view on the matter.

"It will be its most heavily defended area, though." Kastriot rebuked, his eyes focusing on a superficial schematic of the enemy titan projected by Restion. "Our ally is strong, but she is alone. Sending her straight where the enemy is more concentrated, without back-up, increases the possibility of failure to a degree we cannot overlook."

"That is why I and a couple of my best men should go with her, to hell with the risks involved!" Tempestor Isa interjected, his desire to strike right at the enemy's heart alongside the huntress pretty evident.

A heated back and forth affected most of the participants, each one caught between the wish to act and pragmatism.

"We need to destroy the heart of the beast, not its head. That is the source of its power."

The cryptic sentences came from the only member of the council who wasn't taking part in the current discussion. The others quickly turned their attention to Zahra, who was leaning heavily on her staff; her eyes were closed, but she was obviously gazing something far beyond, her mind in deep concentration.

"I can see it, now that I have focused my gaze on it: a great flame, inside the monster, fuelled by the energies of the greenskins, and in turn fuelling the powers of the machine."

A few instants of silence followed the psyker's words, each one of the presents trying to find sense to them. Restion then spoke, having first realized the meaning behind them.

"You are talking about the main reactor. I agree that hitting it would be the most optimal choice, but there is a problem: we don't know where it is."

The tech priest elaborated his point further: "Unlike the blessed technology of the Imperium, the blasphemous constructions of the orks are not uniform in their design, beyond external appearance: each gargant is completely different from another, and this one, knowing how abnormal it is, will be even more so. The possibility of Ruby wasting time wandering the unknown interiors of the mega gargant in search of the generator, increasing her chances of being stopped, is pretty high."

It was then that Zahra opened her eyes, her resolve pretty transparent in them.

"I can guide her there."

⁓

Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the bunker, Zahra was in a meditative state. She felt the arrival of Ruby inside the gargant, and now she was guiding her to its core. She was doing that by projecting her mental vision of the generator's location to the huntress' mind.

Normally, such trivial display of indirect telepathy would not require someone of her power to concentrate in such a way, but a mix of various factors, including telepathy not being her main speciality and, more importantly, the psychic interferences generated by the orks and the mega gargant, increased the amount of focus needed to perform this action.

Even with her eyes closed and her mind fully committed to her task, she still sensed the arrival of the general and the commissar, who had just come back.

"Ruby has safely infiltrated the enemy engine," she told them before they could even ask, "and she is moving towards her target as we speak."

Whatever answer or reaction her words had elicited, she didn't hear them, being too absorbed on guiding her newfound friend.

"Be safe…" she barely whispered, unable to stop worrying for her safety.

⁓

Trying to reach her objective, Ruby passed through several chambers and climbed sets of winding metallic stairs that spiralled up into the gargant's interiors. Anaximander followed close behind, the faint but constant buzz of its anti-gravity engine mixing with the sound of the girl's boots clanging on the metal with every step.

The first enemy she encountered was a mekboy, who was dashing around tightening bolts that seemed to be springing loose with each vibration caused by the machine's movement. The ork looked at her, its eyes growing wide with the surprise of seeing a human inside the Mega Gargant.
It grabbed for a large wrench that laid on the floor nearby, but Ruby acted first and killed the greenskin with a swing of Crescent Rose that sliced through its chest.

They continued, reaching the locomotion system located in the most inner parts of the mechanical beast. There, a dozen gretchins worked to patch open electric panels, leaking with oil, and attach live, sparking wires under the abusive direction of two orkz.
Ruby held her fist up and then gestured with her palm down, silently signalling the skull to stop and sneak past. There was no need to waste time fighting everyone they found, unless it was inevitable.

They moved carefully and the greenskins didn't seem to notice them, until a shriek drew their attention. A small squig, passing nearby, shouted upon seeing the intruders.

The grots and orks working nearby turned and saw Ruby and Anaximander attempting to sneak past them on a secondary exit. After a resigned sigh, the huntress shot them a quick teasing smile, before raising the barrel of her rifle and shooting a Fire Dust round right on one of the oil-soaked panels.

She didn't need to tell the skull to take advantage of the distraction and follow her as she dashed away. She moved quickly, staying always alert, aware that the parting gift she just left to those greenskins was likely about to make the entire Mega Gargant aware of her presence.

The explosion generated by the flames of her bullet igniting the oil and the electric controls, burning the whole room and everyone inside, was followed by a succession of other noises – like rending metal and grinding gears -. Ruby kept moving, hoping she had managed to break something important.

She was getting close to her goal, passing on other sections of the gargant on the way.
On one of them, the girl me three ork boyz alerted by the sound of the explosion. Only one had a pistol-sized slugga; the other two were armed with choppas. The slugga fired with a loud report and a burst of black sooty smoke as Ruby and her flying companion came into view. She could have easily parried the shot, but there was no need, as the bullet pinged off the wall well wide the two.

Ruby ran straight at them, while dodging another shot of the ork's gun, and performed a diagonal cut that severed the head of the shooter. Then, using the momentum of her swing, sidestepped the ork nearby and, with a spin, impaled him right on the chest.

The third ork ran at Ruby with a howling cry, its choppa raised overhead. The girl quickly pulled out her scythe from the corpse of the greenskin she had slain, and raised it to intercept and parry the swing of the ork's weapon. The overpowering strength of the greenskin would have crushed a regular human to the ground, breaking most of his bones. But Ruby, empowered by her Aura, not only did she withstand the impact with ease, but was able to deflect the ork's blow and counter it with a slash, putting the alien down for good.

The girl didn't linger and continued her advance, deep in the workings of the gargant. She stopped at the entrance of an empty space, only a couple of chambers away from the reactor, where dozens of orks were gathering from nearby. Hiding on the corner, she considered her options, realizing that sneaking past them would be arduous.
Just as she was preparing to fight them, however, another ork came from an adjacent room, shouting at his brethren to follow him. The gang complied, and they started climbing some stairs located in the vicinity, intent on going in the upper levels of the gargant.

'They are moving up. That's where the head and the control room are. They are obviously thinking that I want to go there, so they are massing their forces to intercept me.' the huntress thought, while entering the now clear area.

'Good thing that I'm not going there.' A small smirk formed on her face, as she looked in the direction of her real target.

"Let's keep moving," she said to the flying skull "and hope we don't run into anything else."

⁓

"Y'uz all a bunch of incompetent gits!"

Gurzag looked at the Nob in charge of the gargant's security – and whose name he could not bother to remember -, as he shouted outraged at the other boyz in the control room. Blood was dripping from his boot, belonging to the unlucky gretchin tasked with informing him of Ruby's infiltration. Unsurprisingly, it had been brutally stomped to death upon delivering the message.

"Howz di a 'umie get inside? Ya said 'dat noth'n would get past da force field. 'Dat's why yer neva trust 'n oddboy!" the Nob continued, accusing the leading mekboy and his underlings.

Ignoring the indignant rebuttal of the meks, the leader began barking orders to his boyz.

"Get as many boyz as ya kan ere. 'Da humie wants ta stop 'da gargant, so it will kome 'ere. An' when it duz, we will krump it!"

In the meantime, sitting on his throne, Gurzag only barely paid attention to what his underlings were doing. There wasn't anything different he could have added, anyway: it was true that whatever the humie was planning for the gargant, she had to come here. And she would have to face not just his boyz, but him as well.

He still didn't know how did she get inside, but in the end, it wasn't important. What truly mattered was that whoever she was, she must be a formidable warrior. And the warboss already had a suspicion of her identity.

Red Rippa

Ever since the report of Urzog, and especially after hearing the various accounts and tales from the battlefield, he yearned for the chance to face this mysterious humie and add her spoils to his collection. And now, it appeared she was coming right to him, as if the gods themselves have gifted her to him.

Gurzag did nothing to hide the rapacious grin he had while thinking that. It was only a matter of time until she came here.

Unless…

The warboss' eyes opened wide, as the thought of another possible location where Red Rippa could be headed suddenly flashed into his mind.

⁓

At last, Ruby seemed to have finally reached her objective. She found herself in what looked like a dome of some kind, devoid of any crude contraptions, scaffoldings or other structures, except for the massive power generator. It had the form of a vast cylinder, located near the wall opposite to the entrance, which connected the floor with the ceiling, seemingly stretching beyond the boundaries of the chamber.

"Ok, so far so good. Now it's your turn." Ruby said to Anaximander, the tone of her voice indicating that she was still not entirely used to the idea of speaking to a flying human skull, but was slowly adapting after some time spent with it.

"COMPLIANCE."

Anaximander flew towards the generator, circling it for a bit, before stopping on a spot that the girl noticed being quite concealed to whoever entered the room and didn't approach the reactor. It grabbed a device, with the shape of a small box, which it had carried on its base, and attached it to the power source. Then, it connected one of its arms to the device, working to activate it.

Ruby had no idea what would that machine precisely do, and Restion did not waste time explaining it. He only told her that once activated, she will have five minutes before its detonation.

While the servo-skull worked, she waited at the centre of the chamber. She was alert, her defences and guard up, ready to fight immediately the moment she caught sight of an enemy coming.
She glanced back at the reactor now and then, in order to see if Anaximander had finished; when doing that, she couldn't overlook the greenish light emanating from the enormous energies running inside the reactor. Flashes of what she had experienced back with the force field echoed in her mind whenever she saw it.
The less time she would spend close to that, the better.

Finally, a beeping sound from her flying friend signalled the activation of the device. Sighing in relief, she turned towards the skull, urging it to come so that they could leave.

'Well, despite the rough start, everything else went relatively smoothly, all things considered.' Ruby thought to herself. 'Now we just need to quickly get out without anyone notic-'

"I was roight!"

'… when will you learn, Ruby?'

The young girl quickly turned to face the entrance, where the voice had come from.
Meanwhile, Anaximander hid in a corner behind the generator as soon as it picked the sound of the ork's voice.

A few moments later, a massive figure crossed the threshold of the chamber.

Warboss Gurzag the Hoarder faced the huntress Ruby Rose, his predatory look matched by her defiance.

"I knew ya would be 'ere, Red Rippa."

Hi everyone.

Just wanted to make a quick note that this was the last chapter that was among those "almost completed". From now on, I can't guarantee to be able to post as fast as I did until now.

Thank you for your understanding and especially your kind words about this story.

See you next time