The battlefield was a cacophony of screeching Genestealers and the heavy thrum of the MK I.2 suit and the different weapons. Gerhard was a force of capitalistic violence, moving with a seemingly unstoppable momentum that saw hundreds of Xenos splash against it.
BOM-BOM-BOM-
The Bolt Pistol fired three times. The first bolt took a Purestrain in the head, the internal explosion decapitating it before its body could even hit the deck. The second and third bolts caught two Acolytes mid-lunge, their ribcages expanding and shattering like water balloons under the pressure of too much water.
In the same heartbeat, Gerhard's right arm snapped through the air. The Bonesword hummed and bisected two Metamorphs in a fluid horizontal slash. The creatures didn't even have time to shriek; the Monomolecular Edge parted their flesh so cleanly that their upper torsos slid off their lower halves before they realised they were dead.
[Energy Drain Active]
[Health at Maximum]
[Converting +950 HP to +475 MP]
Gerhard spun on his heel, his suit's servos whining in protest as he performed a 180-degree pivot, faster than he should have.
BOM-BOM-BOM-
Three more bolts hammered into the face of an encroaching Aberrant, the specialised ammo ignoring 35% of its toughened hide. The mutant's head vanished in a spray of grey brain matter and purple blood.
CLANG!
A heavy industrial pickaxe swung by a hidden hybrid slammed into Gerhard's left forearm.
He didn't flinch.
The Mid-Class Physical Resistance of the suit turned the lethal blow into a vibration. Gerhard's counter was instantaneous, consisting of a brutal forward kick that caved in the hybrid's chest cavity, sending it flying back into the horde.
Without pausing, he slashed the Bonesword through a Purestrain attempting to flank him from the right, the blade drinking deep of its alien vitality, while his left hand snapped the Bolt Pistol toward a Neophyte on his left.
BOM-
The hybrid's head exploded.
[Danger Sense]
[Psionic Mana Shield]
The shimmering blue barrier was cast to life as a volley of heavy stubber fire from a distant gantry converged on his position. The bullets splashed harmlessly against the Psionic-Mana construct.
Using the moment inside the shield's safety, Gerhard's actions were a series of practised moves. He ejected the spent magazine of the Bolt Pistol with a flick of his wrist, while grabbing a fresh one from his inventory at the same time, and punched it into the mag-well with a satisfying metallic clack.
He didn't even fire the pistol after that. He dropped it into his inventory and, in the same motion, pulled out the Assault Cannon.
The transition was impressively seamless, considering the heavy armour he was wearing. The shield flickered and was turned off as he clasped the special ammo connector from the suit's storage to the weapon's housing.
"Hans, spin 'em up."
> AFFIRMATIVE. OVERCLOCKING ROTARY SERVOS.
WHIRRRRRRRRR—
The six barrels became a blur, faster than they were in their base state. Gerhard had to create some breathing room.
BRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTT—!
The muzzle flash looked like a continuous firing of small explosions. Gerhard swept the cannon in a wide arc. A line of thirty hybrids was simply erased from existence, their bodies splashing in a spray of red mist and bone fragments.
An Atalan Jackal tried to jump its dirtcycle over a pile of crates to reach him. Gerhard tracked it with the cannon, never stopping his attack. The stream of shells caught the bike mid-air, detonating the fuel tank and turning the rider into a charred husk before it even hit the ground.
Gerhard stood his ground. The grey look of his armour was now entirely covered by gore, but as he mowed down the next wave, his focus couldn't have been higher.
> MASTER. THE MP REGEN IS SPIKING. THE CONTINUOUS USE OF LIFE DRAIN IS OVERFLOWING AND FUELING OUR MANA RESERVES. WE ARE AT 100% CAPACITY, RIGHT NOW. YOUR TACTIC IS WORKING.
"Good," Gerhard grinned.
The air grew cold after the shower of flames from the exploded Ataln Jackal receded somewhat. A silence fell over the remaining cultists. It was a silence born of absolute, terrified subservience and reverence.
Above everyone, at the far end of the battlefield, the leader and commander stepped forward.
The Genestealer Patriarch had finally emerged.
It was twice the height of a Space Marine, a disgusting monster of purple chitin armour and diamond-hard talons. It moved with the cold, calculating intelligence of the predator king that it was.
[Observe]
Genestealer Patriarch – Lv.85
|HP: 22,000/22,000
|MP: 4500
|The apex of the cult. The Patriarch is always the oldest Purestrain of the cult. As the first Genestealer of the group, all other members are psychically linked through it; this leads it to attain a level of intelligence much higher than that of other Genestealers.
| Over time, it can become a very powerful psyker; it grows in size and strength, developing a bloated, immobile appearance.
| A Patriarch whose cult is on the verge of taking over a world becomes a psychic beacon, attracting Tyranids to the planet; as the Tyranids approach, it will fall under the power of the Tyranid Hive Mind, and begin leading the cult in attacks on vulnerable positions to facilitate the inevitable invasion.
STR: 155
VIT: 150
DEX: 160
INT: 125
WIS: 80
LUK: 20
---
"..."
> MASTER?
"WHAT. THE. FUCK. IS. THAT?!!!"
> THE GENESTEALER PATRIARCH, MASTER. OR WERE YOU SURPRISED BY ITS STATS?
"How is this only level 85? That's cheating! He's using hacks! Anyone? THAT FAT INSECT IS CHEATING!!"
> THIS SHOULD BE THE BROODCOVEN. THERE'S A MAGUS AND ANOTHER PRIMUS AT HIS SIDE.
[Danger Sense]
[Danger Sense]
[Danger Sense]
A powerful feeling of danger alerted Gerhard, and their talk was interrupted by a monstrously powerful shriek. The Shriek came from the Patriarch.
[Psionic Mana Shield]
*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
It was a Psychic Shriek so powerful that the nearby weaker members of the cult collapsed, bleeding from their orifices. But that wasn't all. Gerhard's [Psionic Mana Shield] was broken and shut off. His suit's Artificial Spirit Core, AKA Hans, fought to stabilise the systems, but wasn't unaffected by this either.
> WARNING: PSYCHIC INTERFERENCE DETECTED. DIVERTING MP TO NEURAL DAMPENERS. REDIRECTING POWER...
The psychic shriek, though weakened by the barrier, assaulted Gerhard's mind.
[Mental attack detected]
[Resisted through Gamer's Mind]
[Mental Mirror]
Gerhard's skill, Mental Mirror, activated and reflected a portion of the attack to the Patriarch, surprising it and making it stop its shriek right away. But there was more.
> IT APPEARS THAT THE PATRIARCH WAS AFFECTED BY A MENTAL ATTACK JUST NOW. IT LOOKS SHAKEN.
"That was me," Gerhard said, recasting his shield as he felt danger.
[Mental Mirror has levelled up]
[Mental Mirror has levelled up]
Gerhard's skill was rather convenient as it not only harmed the Patriarch with a part of its own most potent psychic attack, but it also weakened the entire broodmind to a degree that the weakest members started stumbling and bleeding.
The Patriarch shook its big head and snarled angrily. Then its figure blurred.
[Danger Sense]
[Danger Sense]
[Danger Sense]
It was faster than anything Gerhard had faced. Much, much faster. And it was far more intelligent as well. Its claws struck the Psionic Mana Shield and ripped it to shreds as though it were made of paper, continuing on their path and slicing into the Mk. 1.2 armour. It carved deeply into the Polymorphic Alloy, unlike the Purestrain Genesteler previously, and it harmed Gerhard significantly.
HP: -697
"Ufff!" Gerhard was thrown back, his health dropping by 700 in a single strike.
[Psionic Mana Shield]
[Psionic Mana Shield]
Gerhard cast the skill twice, digging deep into his Mana reserves, but being forced to by the danger he faced. The Patriarch observed Gerhard and controlled the broodmind to have its posse attack him.
The Primus and the Magus got active, organising the remaining troops and striking while it was hot.
Gerhard clenched his jaw and scrambled up. He wasn't bleeding, thanks to Gamer's Body, but it still hurt. The Polymorphic Alloy Structure shifted and hardened slightly in response.
> +5% PHYSICAL RESISTANCE ACHIEVED AFTER REPEATED HITS.
> 13% MORE MANA REQUIRED TO ENHANCE IT FURTHER, MASTER.
"Don't. We're going to be in rather short supply on Mana any moment now."
He and the Patriarch stared at each other. Both recognised the threat that the other one posed. The Xenos' intelligence wasn't for show.
"You want a piece of me, you big purple bastard?" Gerhard roared.
He discarded the sword for a moment and lunged forward, not away. Gerhard's heavy metal boots skidded across the blood-slicked ferrocrete, the servos in his legs whining as he stabilised.
The Patriarch was already mid-lunge again, using speeds that defied its massive bulk.
[Danger Sense]
Gerhard took out the assault cannon and fired, causing the Patriarch to deviate from his direct path and giving Gerhard a split second.
"Hans, calculate the vector! Now!"
> ANALYSING... STRIKE INCOMING FROM 2 O'CLOCK. PROBABILITY OF SHIELD BYPASS: 98%.
Gerhard didn't wait for the hit, especially because Hans' information aligned with his danger sense. Just as the Patriarch's claws whistled through the air, Gerhard used a skill.
[Psychokinesis]
He didn't target the monster directly; instead, he targeted the support pillar behind it. It would have been impossible for Gerhard to move, considering his current level, but it was already broken and about to fall. With a mental roar of great effort, he pushed the three-ton chunk of rusted plasteel from the structure and targeted it into the Patriarch's path.
> PATH DEVIATION OF 32° TO THE RIGHT.
CRASH.
The Patriarch didn't stop, but the sudden obstacle forced it to deviate from its strike again. Its claws sliced through the plasteel like a hot wire through wax, but the momentum was lost nonetheless. It jumped over the large obstacle with surreal ease and speed.
But what awaited it on the other side was Gerhard.
Having seized the blind spot beforehand, he slid behind the pillar and was under the creature when it jumped over it. He had his weapon ready and pressed the Bolt Pistol against its stomach.
BOM-BOM-BOM-BOM-BOM-BOM-
[Critical Hit]
HP: 19,100
The monster shrieked in pain, its massive tail whipping around with enough force to level a building, striking Gerhard's shield and breaking the outer one easily. Gerhard barely flicked his wrist.
[Psionic Mana Shield]
[MP: 972/1208]
Gerhard cast the skill again right away, not bothering with the insane cost. He felt the Mental Clarity buff kick in as the shields flickered.
> WARNING: MAGUS INITIATING PSYCHIC LANCE. HE'S CLOSING DISTANCE.
Gerhard saw the Magus raise its staff, its eyes glowing with warp energy. He couldn't dodge both the Patriarch and a wannabe psychic sniper.
He used [Psychokinesis] again, this time seizing a pile of discarded industrial saws near the Primus, who was ordering his troops to attack from a distance. Gerhard spun them into a vortex of jagged metal between him and the Magus, creating distance. The psychic lance was about to strike the spinning scrap, detonating in a shower of sparks, but Gerhard moved them to the side, hurling them at the Patriarch instead, choosing to tank the hit.
[MP: 880/1208]
MP: +50
[MP: 930/1208]
Parts of the Warp energy used in the attack were converted into Mana by the shield skill, paying off Gerhard's gamble.
The Patriarch recovered, its eyes fixed on Gerhard with a burning hatred. It didn't lunge this time; it used its own psychic might to try to lock Gerhard's joints. Gerhard felt his armour lock up, the servos fighting an invisible force. The low-class energy resistance wasn't helping much.
"Hans! Overload the joints! Burn the Mana!"
> DIVERSION SUCCESSFUL. INITIATING KINETIC BURST.
Gerhard broke the hold, but the Patriarch was already in front of him. A flurry of four claws from two arms struck against his shields.
SMASH. SHATTER. SMASH.
[Psionic Mana Shield]
[Psionic Mana Shield]
[MP: 640/1208]
"Shit!"
Gerhard was running low on Mana and health. The Patriarch was a relentless engine of destruction, and the surrounding hybrids were closing in to trap him and cut off his escape. The Primus lunged with its blade, clashing against Gerhard's suit shoulder.
Gerhard was being suffocated. Quite literally, and it wasn't helping that the darned Patriarch could cut through his most powerful defensive skill like wet paper.
The Patriarch's STR was 145, nearly four times his own. Every block felt like his arms were being driven into his chest and cut off, doing major damage. It wasn't looking great.
Gerhard was about to use his saved status points when he had another idea. Interestingly enough, the immense danger only made him more focused, with the corresponding skill activating.
"I need a reset. Hans, give me a path to the left! The Hybrid pack!" Gerhard said, casting the shield one final time and then almost losing all of his Mana.
> PATH CALCULATED. 12 METERS. TARGET DENSITY: HIGH. I RECOMMEND TAKING OFF... NOW!
Gerhard pushed himself sideways. Without realising it, he used the Warp-derived skill [Telekinesis] to propel himself away from the Patriarch, holding his suit together and tumbling into a group of nearly fifty Neophyte Hybrids and Acolytes that had been waiting for their turn to strike.
The Bonesword appeared in his hand as he stowed the pistol, needing his other hand as a way to 'guide' his telekinesis.
"Batteries!"
Gerhard became a blender, forgetting all grace he may have had, hacking like a lunatic from left to right. He ignored the Patriarch's roar behind him and dove into the weaker cultists.
Slash. Cleave. Thrust.
The Bonesword drank energy as it reaped through the unprepared Hybrids.
[Energy Drain Active: +300 HP]
[Acolyte Hybrid defeated]
[+60,000 EXP]
[Energy Drain Active: +500 HP]
[Neophyte Hybrid defeated]
[+25,000 EXP]
[Energy Drain Active: +300 HP]
He didn't stop. He moved with a peak, gamer move; he enhanced his body with Warp energy, kicked a hybrid's head off, slashed through three torsos in one sweep, and fired a salvo of bolter rounds into the centre of the pack.
[Purestrain Genestealer defeated]
[+120,000 EXP]
[Energy Drain Active]
[Health at Maximum]
[Converting +950 HP to +475 MP]
Gerhard was at max health, but his Mana was still a problem. He wasn't able to use a skill this way. Or so he thought. He didn't realise that he had been using the Warp-dependent skill Telekinesis and not the Mana-dependent one: Psychokinesis.
He had messed up in that regard, since he swore not to touch the Warp any time soon.
The Patriarch was above Gerhard. Its shadow had jumped over the pile of corpses Gerhard was creating. It leapt, its claws poised to end the "Gamer" once and for all and struck through Gerhard's suit, hurling him through the air.
HP: -1000
That one hit almost killed Gerhard outright. The suit was broken, held together only by sheer force of will.
"Just... one... more..." Gerhard muttered as he killed the first Xenos he crashed against mid-flight. Flailing around like a helpless puppy.
[Neophyte defeated]
[+25,000 EXP]
[LEVEL UP!]
[All HP/MP Restored]
The Patriarch's claws were again inches from Gerhard's faceplate, which was the only piece that hadn't been fully broken, when the level-up arrived.
[Psionic Mana Shield]
[Psionic Mana Shield]
[Psychokinesis]
"MY TURN, MAGGOT!"