Up in the sky onboard a Leviathan, a reserve of thirty thousand V.I. Drones, the common infantry combat android of the Valkyrian military, were uploaded their commands to reinforce the Sky Razers. The Drones were uniform in design as humanoid standing at 78 inches tall, save for the few varieties that specialized in different types of warfare and identified by their paint scheme, such as scout (grey), sniper (urban camo), heavy-weapons (blue), demolitions (grey and red), and squad leader (purple). The 150 A.I. B.I.A. android commanders stood at more fearsome ten feet frames, skeletal frames covered in armored carapaces to protect the numerous moving organs of their bodies. Each one would be leading a company sized force of two hundred drones each.
Their virtual brains lit up in recognition, understanding, and acknowledging their updated orders. They turned to their respective companies and took control of the unit, binding all of their data streams together so the A.I. would be able to comprehend events through each of the drones' multitude of sensors. With this, if one unit was ambushed or came across a new threat, the B.I.A. would be able to go over the data and formulate initial strategies until more data could be obtained.
The B.I.A.s each activated a generator and had their companies march into its field of effect, disassembling each drone atom by atom, turning them into virtual data, and storing it in the generator. When finished, the company primals grabbed their respective generator and loaded themselves on the nearby SAF Type-2 shuttles, fifteen to each.
At fifty feet in length and twenty in body width with a seventy foot wing span, the SAF Type-2 was an old model shuttle craft but was built so well that it has stayed in service for over four thousand years due to preference. It valued maneuverability and armor over firepower since it was the only logistics craft built to have a living pilot and carry living passengers. This is due to the Valkyrians treasuring each of their limited numbers greatly.
With wings like a Challenger Deep sea fish that seemed more fluid than mechanical, the shuttle looked like a majestic beast of burden instead of a tool of war. It had two layers of energy shielding along with its ECM defenses and a duo of anti-aircraft turrets armed with railguns and homing magnetic gravity missiles. Any tailing bogeys who would think of the shuttle as a juicy target for its size would find themselves regretting it.
The ten SAFs levitated as smoothly as a butterfly, their membranous wings rolling outwards like waves in the ocean. Their exit out of the hangar bays of the Leviathan "Ecclesiastic" was just as smooth and left with hardly a sound. Their great, aquatic bulks cast large shadows over the land under them as they descended towards the gleaming fortress of ice five miles away. The air superiority was ultimately the Valkyrians' now and with the Warboss dead, the Orks were fighting themselves almost more than they were the actual enemies. A few shots leaped up at the transports but they weren't even worth writing about.
In a minute, the SAFs circled the fortress where Esdeath's beacon was, as well as easily spotting the nearby Sky Razers circling the fort 500 meters from it in all directions. They were sticking to their groups though. Heading towards predesignated drop points, the SAF shuttles split up. Their sightings were always a blessing for any kind of allied eyes.
One of the shuttles landed softly, only disturbing the dirt its mass landed on. The bay door flashed a white light before dispersing and the fifteen drones jogged out while carrying their generators. A pair of gynoids came hustling out to meet the roughed over Valkyrian and a pair of B.I.A. who had some internal damages from thermal explosions. The gynoid woman in a red-themed suit specialized in mechanical care while the blue and white one, like KOS-MOS, specialized in biological medical practices. They brought their patients into the shuttle and the door phased back into place. The shuttle had plenty of room to work on the two while it made its way back to the Ecclesiastic.
Over the course of several minutes of sprinting, the B.I.A. commanders made it to their sectors and activated their Generators. Thirty thousand Drones marched out and were in position around the frozen fort within minutes, a logistical accomplishment that would have any respectable general salivating to get a hold of the secret to.
The divisions of combat drones would line themselves up into multiple firing lines, angling their formations to create a massive thirty-point star around the center. This was to give them an overlapping field of fire no matter where one was. They couldn't do something simpler like a five pointed star since the inner angles would be too far in and the arms would be in danger of friendly fire from each other.
The next move was something similar, only multiple ships participating to drop off an entire Core of troops on the edges of the Ork main congregation. A single Core would be about 144,000 troops. All manner of troops were being deployed, from the large Wheelers which would charge enemy formations to the swarms of thousands of Sky Lances that would cover the air and rain fire down below. Drones were over a hundred thousand strong and would be the main backbone of the push.
Similar procedures were happening all over the planet to large settlements of Orks. Within an hour, there were over twenty million Drones alone, with hundreds of thousands of Sky Lances. At the start of the next hour, the assault began. Lines of Drones armed with laser and anti-armor rifles and railguns marched on the Orks, disturbing their communal fights and opened fire with impunity. The cold red eyes of all the Drones remained unflinching as they systematically mowed down the Orks with weapons that had superior range and power.
They marched unafraid into the hundreds of thousands of riotous Orks, their steps vibrating the ground, the uniformity of the clanking noises of their metallic bodies filling the air like the cadenced march of a military drill team. Rows upon rows upon rows marched with their rifles raised, the muzzles aimed and the stocks pressed firmly against their dominant shoulders. As one, they fired with accuracy beyond that of trained guardsmen due to their plasmatronic brains performing the calculations necessary when taking into account environmental elements that might decrease their accuracy, the near recoil-less nature of their energy weapons, and the gyro-stabilizers built into their bodies to keep their upper bodies leveled for accurate marksmanship even while the legs could be walking or jogging on uneven terrain.
The Wheelers, large, armored, automated wheels armed with rotary repeating plasma cannons on the sides, rolled forward at blistering speeds around 120 mph, warding off any small arms fire as their spiked tank treads carried them over hills, trenches, Orks and walls. The Sky Lances, advanced rocket launchers or railguns attached to anti-gravity wings, flocked over the crowds of running or resisting Orks like ravens. They were much less armored than most other available units so it was no surprise when a common sight was to see them get shot apart by the dozens or hundreds but their numbers and persistent harassment played havoc on Orks' tempers.
Then there were the 10ft tall experimental Whiplash A.I. combat armors making its big debut.
(Whiplash Mk.I Unit #28, A.I. TSVT-AI-002-182-13829, chosen name: NINBLL)
Looking through the "V" shaped visor of his head unit, NINBLL took in the tumultuous battle happening in front of him. His fellows were directing the drones into marching firing lines staggered to prevent explosions from taking out groups of drones. The Wheelers had already rolled forward, many plowing through the Ork front lines. Any that survived enough would regroup with the Sky Razers' circle formations as coming through the lines would put them in danger of friendly fire.
Bottle sized rockets called "bolters" and "slugs" flew around the field like it was Normandy, France on D-Day. Dozens of drones were getting blasted apart every minute in his area alone simply due to the number of hits they take rather then the explosive property of the crude Ork ammo. It took five hits to a Drone's chest armor to do enough damage to its internal components and cause a shut-down, two hits to disable an arm and head unit while the legs took three.
NINBLL ran hundreds of comparisons with his own chassis in just a second. His body could afford twenty to the head, thirty to the arms, thirty-five to the legs, and 120 hits to the chest and torso areas before armor integrity failed. His unit, like all other Whiplash were sent out without standard EMF generators and energy shields. Frigga wanted to test them and she couldn't get the results she wanted if their shields stopped any harm from coming to her creations.
NINBLL was one of a hundred A.I.s who was selected out of billions of volunteers for becoming the mind and soul of a Whiplash combat suit. He was honored to perform its first field test and he'd leave nothing unnecessary to chance, such was the reason for comparing his durability to a drones' against the standard enemy infantry munitions.
Mind back in the battle, his visor showed zero percentages for shields and EM field. No news there. His energy core powering his suit and weapon systems were simply the stronger for the freed space though so he wouldn't complain. His onboard weapon systems were all already checked and green-lighted before he even stepped onto the field and one cursory glance to their readings revealed nothing had changed.
A bolter round exploded off of his chest armor. The blast didn't even knocked him back and nor did it even do anything to the armor besides leaving a black soot mark.
"Commencing hostilities."
His large feet moved one after the other as he lifted his left hand level with his shoulder. Three barrels poked out of the thick forearm and fired as soon as he had his HUD-displayed targeting reticule on his first target. The sounds echoed as loudly as a Browning M2 .50 cal machine gun as twelve rapid fire bolts of electromagnetically accelerated 1-inch slugs moving at Mach 14 slammed into the metal-coated chest of an Ork firing his Combi-weapon—an amalgamation of a "slug throwa" and a "burna". The impacts shattered his armor more than puncturing though still causing his chest to explode in a cloud of gore.
NINBLL didn't waste time switching to the next target standing right beside the falling Ork. There were so many Orks that targeting wouldn't take but a moment for the A.I.. Slugs began firing at a fast rate in bursts of three every second. Each burst tore apart an Ork.
KABLOW!KABLOW!KABLOW!
KABLOW!KABLOW!KABLOW!
KABLOW!KABLOW!KABLOW!
As the Orks started falling with their chests looking like a krak grenade went off inside them, NINBLL was finally noticed by numerous others. Seeing a 10 ft tall metal man running at them with a loud sounding gun had the image of a Space Marine superimposing over his image in the Orks' eyes. Recognizing a seemingly familiar and fun enemy, they gave a battle cry before leveling their own weapons at the charging Whiplash.
An uneven staccato of heavy fire poured towards the A.I. who raised his right arm to shield his head unit after memorizing the position of the stationary Orks. Using that memory, he was still able to accurately return fire as slugs were deflected off of his armor or simply flattened against it. Six Orks fell to the heavy firepower before the metal giant made it to their lines. From his right hand, a glowing red portal appeared briefly before popping out a large gun.
It was four feet long and had two side-by-side 2-inch wide muzzles and a forehand grip which the left grabbed. Pulling back the handle and pushing forward gave a universally familiar "CHIUK-CHUK" sound as it loaded two heavy shotgun shells into the chambers. The gun was lifted in a quick and controlled manner before the trigger was pressed and the human equivalent of a 4-gauge punt gun exploded from the barrel with a massive recoil that the cyborg easily handled.
BOOOOM!
The spread at this range was about one foot wide and all of the ball bearings slammed into one Ork that shattered his chest armor, ripped apart his chest cavity and the thick muscles and organs of his body before his back—covered by armor as well—exploded outwards. The Ork himself was sent flying backwards for about ten feet but his airborne body was knocked aside by another Ork.
NINBLL pulled the trigger again, firing the powerful shot into another Ork, blowing his head into strips of flesh and bones before ejecting the spent casings with another echoing "CHIUK-CHUK" heralding the gun's glee for use. The A.I. nor the Orks cared that the casings dissipated into red motes of light before even hitting the ground.
BOOOOM!BOOOOM!
Another two shots brought a Nob to his back, chest ripped apart and pumping heart exposed behind a thin strips of stubborn flesh that didn't stand up to the large boot that smashed both into paste beneath the 2.2 T cyborg. Another reload before the barrel was even pointing at another target made sure the A.I. was prepared to meet a lunging Ork's face with his metals balls of death.
Turning to another target as three bolter rounds impacted against his back and shoulder, the cyborg blew away the chest of that attacker as well. A lunging Ork caught an elbow to the teeth but he didn't have time to swallow them before that elbow crushed the lower half of his head, giving him a nasty decapitation. Going with the movement, the shotgun wielding arm pointed its weapon as three Gretchlings, two new shells already chambered. Two quick trigger pulls turned the tiny Orks into meat sauce on a ground already soaked in Ork blood and drone body parts.
NINBLL suddenly found himself being hefted up from behind, the thick muscular Ork arms around his waist holding with a vice grip. Despite his weight, he was throw away and his body was getting peppered by Ork sluggas. Rolling with his momentum, the heavy combat frame stopped on a knee with his left arm's own slug throwers returning fire with visceral effects. When they were cleared away, he quickly reloaded another pair of twins as more Orks were all around him. Several were fighting each other but most were now fighting his people.
The Valkyrians were graceful, powerful and surgical with their attacks and evasions while the Drones and few BIA cyborgs were taking fire due to them being able to either afford to or knew their bodies were expendable. Taking off in a heavy run that quake the earth under him, he went into a flying knee that crushed an unprepared Ork's head, sending the lower jaw out through the top of his skull. Still in midair and falling quickly, he fired twice at two Orks facing away from him. Both shots blew away a leg from each Ork.
When he landed, he grabbed a head in each hand and crushed them together. Heavy stomping alerted him to a large enemy approaching a trio of Valkyrian-Minors. A massive 18 meter tall mech of obvious Ork design was running at the busy women. The monstrous chimera of a power suit and a mech walker was armed with a pair of chainsword pincers-wielding arms and three more limbs that carried a large gun. The mocking grin of a poorly drawn Ork face decorated the front as the beast gave a war cry.
Two portals opened in NINBLL's hands to drop off a large cylinder each, about 12 inches long and five inches wide. He gripped them in a way that they started blinking red lights before shoving them down the exposed windpipes of the Orks he just crushed. Lifting their bodies, his cybernetic muscles expanded before contracting as he threw the two 1,300 lb Ork corpses about fifty meters right into the face drawing of the DeffDread.
The mech stopped and some curses could be heard for another second before the corpses lit up in a blue flash, the anti-armor plasma grenades enveloping them and the DeffDread with 4,000 degree Celsius fireballs. Screams from nearby Orks let him know that those two close had felt the heat as well, some even combusting into flames. When the flash cleared, he was surprised that the mech was still mostly intact until he noticed it not moving. Enhanced vision showed the front of the mech had indeed been melted and the Ork inside was dead as well.
Not totally destroyed like he expected but the walker was out of commission for good.
Picking the nearest Ork and firing away, he clears out the group around him. Mid-reload, an Ork rushes at him but catches a large, clawed foot in the face. With advanced cybernetics granted strength, that foot forces the Ork on its back before crushing its face like a grape. Another Ork rushes from behind and a spinning back fist pulps its head, forearm guns firing away at several more behind their nob boss.
A dozen charged from all around and NINBLL activates the thrusters on its ankles, thighs, and back. With a quick flash of blue fire, he shoots upwards to just avoid the mobbing. Unnoticed by the Orks, a plasma grenade was sitting at their feet blinking rapidly. As it explodes and engulfs the group in blue hell fire, the cyborg crashes back down onto a Mechboy's shoulders. Unloading two rounds right into its less armored neck decapitates the large cybernetic Ork Nob. As it falls to the ground, NINBLL blasts off again, flying across 30 meters rapidly to shoulder ram a Nob pinning a Valkyrian's leg with its club.
Knocked down, the Ork is mercilessly ran through the eye by that same woman's scythe. NINBLL aims his shotgun behind the woman who ducks beneath the spread shot so it pulverizes an armored Ork. She swings her scythe, the blade reaching across the field as the staff separates into dozens of pieces connected by a cord. The large cyborg jumps and twists sideways in the air as the energy scythe cleaves through three Orks several meters behind him. Landing in a spin and stopping on a knee, he sidearms a grenade to ten meters away where it explodes in midair to vaporize the glowing green form of a Weird Boy who was ripping apart a group of Drones with his psyker powers.
A large DeffDread stomps its way towards him and the A.I. communicates with the Valkyrian by him who goes with his plan. Dismissing his guns, he flicks his right arm out as a 25 ft cable shoots out along the ground. With the command immediately received, the whip cord lights up with an electric current that would put a lightning bolt to shame. He has to dodge as missiles and grenades rain upon his position. Taking a couple of hits that rattles a couple of systems in his legs for a moment, he finally ges clear of the area.
With a flick of his arm again, the whip lashes out and catches the Valkyrian's scythe by the blade 35 ft away. NINBLL shoots forward with his thrusters, mimicked by the Valkyrians running forward as the Ork mech runs between them, getting clotheslined on the whip. The voltage shocks the Ork within as the crackling sounds of metal and ammunition cooking off accompanies the pilot's roars of pain.
The tag team weren't idle as the woman's scythe pins itself to the mech's side. NINBLL's attention turns to five more Orks preparing to shoot at him from the sides. With a flick of his left arm, another whip cable shoots out, crackling with energy though this one is only let out to twelve feet. Several tiny motors whir briefly in the left arm followed by it extending from the elbow. The arm begins rotating, picking up speed and turning the whip into a spinning saw of lights.
Unknown to the Orks, the polarity of the whip's energy is reversed, turning it into a magnetic. When they fired, the shells were caught by the energy whip that was spinning at 12,000 revolutions per minute. Quickly extending the whip to its full length, NINBLL catches them all with a great swing that cleaves the Orks in half with much of their captured ammunition going off, further shredding their corpses. Seeing the DeffDread recovering, NINBLL does an overhead swing with the spinning whip, sawing through the entire mech within a second.
With it dead, NINBLL powers down the whip holding onto the scythe to let the woman retrieve it though while he was busy, she'd been forced to take care of herself with her Life Armament gun, a large handheld cannon that wouldn't be out of place on top of a tank's turret or the bottom of a fighter jet. It looked like a triple-barreled gatling gun with a massive ammo drum on its side, the gun steadied on the ground with the help of a deployed bi-pod. Thousands of rounds per minute were ripping through the legs of the Orks around her. She had to take care not to aim too high less she injure her own allies nearby.
Hearing his command over their communications net, she dismisses the cannon back into the Life Armament dimension and quickly recovers her weapon. With a nod to him, she rejoins the battle in vicious melee combat. He acknowledges it before sprinting his large frame into the next firefight. A few hundred Orks were banded together and putting up a strong pocket of resistance against the outer assault. Boosting with his thrusters, he jumps just behind the front lines. Taking a knee among the startled Orks, several baseball-sized holes open around his body's thickest areas.
FFWWOOOOOOOMM!
Like a dragon, fire spews from his new openings as explosive ball bearings shoot out in a 360 degree firing angle. A dozen Orks within twenty meters are riddle with holes for a split moment before becoming exploding bags of green flesh. Venting the little smoke out of his system, NINBLL is caught by a trio of krak missiles to the chest and arm that sends him rolling back.
Sensors told him that his armor was still intact though several internal systems were malfunctioning due to their more fragile, complicated natures. With a strain to his servos, his body tries to lift itself back up but an Ork attempts to punt his head off. Catching it with one hand at the knee, he pulls the leg under him. Grabbing the ankle with his other hand, he breaks the leg at the knee, twisting it 180 degrees and smashing the Ork's foot through his own face. Another Ork was approaching and not having time to draw a weapon, he grabs the dead Ork's slugga and comes up with an upper cut swing that the Ork Nob blocks with his own weapon.
With the gun leveled at the cyborg, the Ork opens up with a flamma at point blank range. Laughing in battle lust, the greenskin is surprised when the cyborg charges through the flames and gets behind him with an arm around his waist. Leg servos going to work, NINBLL performs a German suplex yet goes with the backwards momentum to roll on top again. Summoning another plasma grenade and punching a hole in the Ork's throat with it, he hefts the Ork with one arm and football tosses it several meters into another Ork where the grenade goes off and kills the two and several nearby Orks instantly.
Summoning his shotgun again, he levels it at two Orks and blows them away in time for the front line of the outer assault finally catching up to him. Though he doesn't join the Valkyrians in their war cry, he charges ahead of them at the next line of Orks with his large body taking hit after hit to shield the less armored soldiers behind him, firing rapidly all the way.