BOOM--BOOM--
[Orc defeated]
Several months had passed since Gerhard cleared the Underhive of the Genestealer Cult.
PEW--PEW--
[Poison Arachnid defeated]
No Hive Fleet had arrived in the skies of the planet, at least Gerhard thought so, as he hadn't heard anything akin to a planet-wide war.
BOOM--
[Kobold defeated]
[Kobold defeated]
[Kobold defeated]
So the increase in luck had proven to be a good idea after all. And now, after all this 'free' time, what had Gerhard accomplished?
PEW--
[Orc defeated]
...
Gerhard's figure flashed across the battlefield, with top speeds that were impressive considering that he hadn't been training his physical stats that much to warrant this.
The air in the deep sub-levels of the labyrinth dungeon was a mix of different odours. For months, Gerhard's reality had revolved around research and training in different areas. He had been working a relentless grind through engineering, programming, and the creation of better, more powerful armour and suits.
Naturally, that wasn't all he did.
A tide of Slimes and Zombies approached from the western corridor, their wet footsteps reverberating against the cold stone. Gerhard didn't flinch in the slightest. He moved at a predatory pace that wasn't entirely new but now seemed backed by experience and power. He looked like the apex predator in this dungeon.
And he was.
Gone was the clunky, improvised and rather impractical plating of the past. Gerhard now wore the MK III-S "Apex Predator" Kinetic Suit. The suit was iconic in his past life, and everyone probably knew it at a glance. This was unironically the famous MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armour from Halo. Recreated through research and the use of 'local' resources.
The dark, matte-finish Ceramite-Armaplas composites absorbed the dim light, making him look even more menacing. As he pivoted, the Polymorphic Alloy joints moved with precision, synced perfectly to his nervous system via the Neural-Link—an invention of his own creation.
A Giant Arachnid lunged from the ceiling, with its mandibles clicking and poison dripping from them. Gerhard seemed to have eyes in the back of his head because he pointed the rifle up and pulled the trigger.
PEW—
A silent, red beam of light cut off the creature's head before it could even register the danger.
[Giant Arachnid defeated]
Gerhard held what he called 'the Spartan' in his hands, and it was beautiful. Gerhard was incredibly proud of it and how he came to create it. It took a long time, but he managed after months of research and work.
This beautiful creation was what you got if you combined a Bolter with a Lasgun. That's right, Gerhard found a way not only to combine the two weapons but also to make them incredibly efficient and work together seamlessly.
["Spartan" Bolter-Las Hybrid Rifle – Rank: Special]
|A masterwork weapon created by Gerhard the Gamer after months of research, engineering, and battlefield testing.
|The Spartan seamlessly combines las-technology and bolt weaponry into a single unit, allowing the wielder to switch between precision high penetration and explosive devastation.
---
Stats:
- Durability: 6920/6920
- Damage (Las Mode): 440
- Damage (Bolt Mode): 580
- Critical Chance: 22%
- Fire Rate: Medium
- Charge Capacity: 380
- Magazine Capacity: 100
---
Special Effects:
Dual-Mode Weapon System
| Instantly switch between:
| Las Mode (precision / stealth)
| Bolt Mode (explosive / anti-armour)
---
[Las Mode]
| +80% accuracy
| +120% headshot damage
Silent Execution
| No visible muzzle flash
| Greatly reduced sound
Penetrating Beam
| Shots pass through multiple targets
Target Analysis Integration
| +25% critical chance at range
---
[Bolt Mode]
Mass-Reactive Rounds
| +70% internal explosion damage
| Ignores 40% armour
| Moderate AoE damage
| No accuracy penalty
Adaptive Combat Logic
| +20% damage when switching modes
| +25% accuracy after mode swap
Integrated HUD Sync
| Perfect targeting assistance
| Reduced aiming time to near zero
Energy-Ammo Efficiency System
| -20% energy consumption (Las Mode)
| -15% ammo consumption (Bolt Mode)
-
The Bolter-Las Hybrid was held in his steady grip. In Las Mode, the weapon was a literal laser scalpel. Seriously precise, silent, invisible and powerful. Thanks to his ever-growing level in Firearms Mastery and the integrated HUD in his helmet, he didn't even need to use the sights to fire accurately.
Three Kobolds attempted to flank Gerhard. He turned his head and looked at the approaching horde of lizards behind the Kobolds. He flicked the selector switch on his grip with his finger.
CLICK.
The rifle switched to Bolt Mode, and unlike what one might think of such a weapon, it was ready to fire right away.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—
The hybrid weapon barked with the impressive power of a heavy bolter. Mass-Reactive Rounds buried themselves in the Kobolds' chests, detonating internally and painting the walls and ground in a bloody red mist. The Recoil Stabilisation and his suit kept his arm locked like a vice; the weapon didn't move an inch.
"Hans, status," Gerhard muttered, his voice filtered through the helmet's vox-grille.
> Multiple low-threat signatures detected. There are Ogres and armoured Lizards approaching. Tactical Logic, engaged in tagging targets...
> I suggest switching to the blades now. No need to waste time on such weaklings when you have all the advantage. I believe the testing was a success.
"I suppose you're right."
A massive Ogre smashed through a wooden barricade, flanked by a squad of Lizards clad in silver iron plates. Gerhard didn't bother using the Spartan anymore. Hans was right; it was too powerful to use here in this level of the labyrinth. He placed the weapon into the inventory and reached behind his shoulders.
With a soft click of psychic static, the 'Synaptic Execution Blades' were drawn.
These beauties were Tyranid Boneswords, even if they didn't look like it now. When he held them in his hands, they hummed. These living blades were vibrating at a frequency that made the very air tremble and split atoms apart.
-
[Twin Boneswords – "Synaptic Execution Blades" – Rank: Special]
| A pair of enhanced Tyranid Boneswords created from the claws of a Genestealer Patriarch, modified and stabilised by Gerhard the Gamer.
| Linked through psychic resonance, these blades amplify each other's power, creating a feedback loop of destructive force.
| The blades retain their living nature, growing during combat and feeding on the life-force of their victims.
Stats:
- Durability: 10,800/10,800 (Regenerative)
- Damage: 1020 (per blade)
- Critical Chance: 26%
- Attack Speed: High
---
Special Effects:
Dual Psychic Disruption Field
| Ignores 100% physical armour
Resonance Chain System:
| +35% attack speed when dual-wielding
| +40% damage when both blades are active
| Extended range via chain attacks
Enhanced Life Drain
| Restores 40% of damage dealt as HP
Monomolecular Tyranid Edge
| +70% damage to flesh targets
| +50% damage to armour
Synaptic Overload
| +5% damage per consecutive hit (max +40%)
Neural Synchronisation (Enhanced)
| Scales with INT / WIS
| +35% effectiveness of mana/psychic skills
| Increased reaction speed
Execution Surge
| +120% critical damage
| Chance to destabilise target
Living Weapon Core
| Regenerates durability over time
| Cannot be permanently degraded
Instinctive Aggression
| +20% attack speed during sustained combat
Limitations:
| Requires high STR and DEX
| High mental load due to dual psychic feedback
-
Holding them, Gerhard pushed himself off and became a blur.
The power in his suit exploded as he dodged the Ogre's club, converting the near-miss into a +5% Speed and power boost. The black colour was, in truth, chitin, and the golden parts were the evolved bone.
Gerhard sheared through a Lizard's shield as if it were air. The Dual Psychic Disruption Field ignored 100% of any creature's armour.
[Armoured Lizard defeated]
[Energy Drain]
He spun around. The Resonance Chain System extended the reach of his blades, allowing him to hold one and use it like a retractable projectile. He twirled one blade at high speed and threw it out, controlling its path with the other.
The second Lizard was decapitated before it could even hiss about the death of the first one.
[Armoured Lizard defeated]
[Energy Drain]
Gerhard leapt into the air. The suit's +65 DEX increase allowed him to move like the wind. He buried both Boneswords into the Ogre's skull.
[Energy Drain]
The Enhanced Life Drain kicked in all the time after the blades touched a living being. Whether they were created by a dungeon or in real life, it didn't matter, and if he was already full health, it transformed into Mana, and after reaching a certain threshold, it condensed and increased his total Mana pool permanently by a few points.
A surge of warmth flooded Gerhard as the blades absorbed the Ogre's vitality, funnelling it back into his own body. The Ogre collapsed, its flesh turned into smoke.
[Ogre defeated]
Gerhard stood amidst the thousands of dropped items and resources. The Mana-Conductive Reactor in his chest was pulsing with a steady, blue light.
He felt no fatigue, no "Mana Burn", only the coolness, calculating efficiency of the new-year's version of himself. He was certain that the last year of the 41st millennium had arrived. And with it, a new set of problems.
He looked at his HUD inside his helmet, checked his vital signs, and added the information from the modified Auspex. Everything was perfect, the suit was in peak condition, and so were his weapons.
His Mana was regenerating at a staggering 784 per minute, and that was if [Iron Will] wasn't active.
"Months of preparation for the final year of the millennium," Gerhard said. "I think we're finally ready for the next stage. What do you think, Hans?"
> Indeed, Master. I believe you are more than ready to do that. However, I don't have enough information to say this with confidence. And we haven't tested the 'Iron Monger' yet, have we?
Gerhard returned his living blades to his back. They were so sharp that he had to create a set of psychokinetic sockets that held them as water would, because they would break the suit otherwise.
"Well, we are going to test the MK III-H, aren't we. That's what the Orks are for."
> Ah, yes. It seems months of training and research haven't actually made you smarter. I wonder whether the INT stat affects your intelligence, as it says.
"I wonder the same. I feel like I can focus better, think faster and have close to an eidetic memory, but not that I'm that much more intelligent."
> No, you definitely became more intelligent. It's just not possible to quantify that like the system does. You aren't two times as intelligent as you were when your INT stat was 60.
"Eh, it doesn't matter. The totally not-MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armour, which I cleverly called 'Apex Predator', works beautifully."
> Indeed. A masterful use of Low Gothic, Master. What was that about intelligence?
"Touchy, are we? What's the problem?"
> Oh, nothing. I was just wondering when you were going to address my 'mobility' as you said you would... months ago. Observing you mow down these weak monsters is not as interesting as you think, Master.
"Ah, right. The Kastelan project. I'll tell you what. We're going to give the MK III-H a spin, introduce ourselves to the Orks and then I'll use the scrap I salvaged and the one I can generate in limitless supply now to start the Kastelan body for you. How does that sound?"
> Like you will lose yourself in research again. But still good.
"That's the spirit. Pun intended."
> Hilarious, Master.
.
When Gerhard said going back, he meant hopping from one dungeon to the research and work room that the system had generated for him after using the skill for that purpose for months.
The MK III-S hissed as the seals opened. Gerhard took each piece and placed it in the inventory, where all his weapons, items, resources, and gear were. It was far too convenient to have something like that.
[Observe]
[MK III-S "Apex Predator" Powered Assault Armour – Rank: Special]
| A high-mobility combat rig modelled after the legendary "MJOLNIR" power armour. It is bulkier than the original.
| It prioritises Ceramite-Armaplas composites for the main plating to keep the weight low, utilising Polymorphic Alloy only in the joints and the "Neural-Link" to allow Gerhard to move extremely fast.
Stats:
| MP: 700/min
| Durability: 2,800/2,800 (Standard Repair)
| Energy Core: Hans (Synaptic Sync)
| Armour Class: Medium Kinetic Suit
Defensive Effects:
| +70% Mid-Class Physical Resistance
| +60% High-Class Energy Resistance: (Optimised Ceramite thermal shedding)
| +40% Psychic/Warp Resistance: (Silver-etched Armaplas lining)
| +30 STR
| +25 VIT
| +55 DEX (Enhanced reflexes and micro-thruster assistance)
Specialised Layers:
| Kinetic Capacitor: 10% of the energy from "dodged" attacks is converted into a temporary +5% Speed boost for 10 seconds.
| Neural Link Refinement: Reduces the casting time and MP cost of Psychokinesis and Telekinesis by 25%.
| Refractive Coating: Makes the user harder to track with Auspex scanners or thermal vision.
-
[Power & Core System - Common to both MK III Suits]:
Artificial Spirit Core (Hans - Upgraded)
| Now integrates Men of Iron Tactical Logic, providing a +20% bonus to hit-chance against tagged enemies.
Mana-Conductive Reactor (V2)
| Features a Polymorphic Core that stabilises high-energy output, preventing "Mana Burn" during prolonged combat.
Dual Power Feed (V2)
| Emergency Siphon: If Gerhard's MP reaches 0, the suit can drain 10% of its stored energy inside its materials to instantly restore 500 MP.
-
Gerhard was quite proud of the totally not-MJOLNIR. He had managed to increase most of his stats while wearing it. It was truly a powerful tool for him, as it allowed him to fight enemies that were considerably stronger than he was right now.
If Gerhard had this armour while fighting the Genestealer Patriarch, he would have had a much easier time doing so. And combined with the extra training and the much more powerful weapons, it wouldn't have been even remotely as interesting as it had been.
"Well, it's time. We are going to fuck up some Orks and see what krumpin' is really like. I mean, I already got a taste of dakka, and I have to agree with the greenskins. It's fucking great."
> I think that's a bit of an understatement. If you were even slightly green, you would be seen as a Xenos and killed. And you still might, considering I exist and you have no interest in stopping the creation of new technology any time soon.
"Hey, if you're not called a heretic, you're doing something wrong or part of the disgusting corpse that the Imperium has become."
> So you'll face the Ecchlesiarchy, the Sisters of Battle, the Adeptus Astartes, all of the Mechanicus, the--
"Yeah, yeah, I understand. But I know how it will work out just fine."
> Don't say it.
"MORE POWER!!"