Chapter 38: Against the Greenskins (3)
They were Nobz, which Arcturus had managed to recognize.
A Nob, or Nobz, were a unique variation of the Ork Boy, the standard member of the Greenskin species. Nobz was a large Ork Boy, yet still smaller than and subservient to an Ork Boss or Warboss.
Yet, they still possess some authority amongst other Greenskins of his Tribe or Klan because of his greater-than-average size and strength. The term "Nob" is believed to be an Orkish bastardization of the word "Nobless" from the old dialect of the Cosmos Common.
To rise through the ranks of the Orks requires cunning brutality, brutal cunning, and smashing the head of any challenger to Nob's throne. Ork Nobz often come to blows with rival mob leaders and go out of their way to prove their competency to their Warboss. Nobz are thus both feared and revered.
They can thrive as leaders, provided they can survive a few knives in the back and dole out appropriate punishments.
They are universally arrogant and headstrong, but through surviving numerous battles and fights and undergoing countless trials of life and death, they are cunning enough to outlive most of their enemies and represent the best of the Greenskins.
Serving as a crude Greenskin ruling class, the Nobz are never above reminding the Boyz who's in charge by making a few bloody examples. Even right now, as they stood among the lasgun firing here and there, they were still bossing around the ordinary Boyz.
The Nobz were the sole thing that the Greenskins had to the leadership; perhaps aside from them, only a few of the other types or castes of the Greenskins had a certain degree of leadership capabilities.
Even then, the Nobz were still not the smartest ones around and were not a match for the capabilities of the Red Queen Alice, who had already outmaneuvered them when she coordinated with Arcturus, who activated his newly awakened Super-High Risk Primal Psyker Ability Dimension Empyrean.
Whether clustered in a menacing mob around their Warboss, or lording it over the Boyz, Nobz are a force to be reckoned with. Their armor is usually festooned with kill trophies, their flesh crisscrossed with impressive scars earned in pit fights or while killing their way through strings of brutal wars.
The Empyrean Power cracked around the blade of the Aetherius in full power as he appeared in front of one of the Nobz, who were cowering from the barrage of the lasguns that were firing at them.
He aimed at the weaker spot on the armor of the Nob; this was rather easy to find because, due to the structure of their armor, practically one-fourth of their bodies were bit protected by anything.
While the physique of the Ork Nobz was superior to that of the ordinary Boyz, upon contact with the Empyrean Power of the Dimension Empyrean, the Nob was killed in one go when his head was several from his body and obliterated by the Empyrean Power.
The moment of surprise was indeed successful.
Though, this was just the element of surprise, as the other two Nobz immediately realized that one of their compatriots was killed in the ambush while they were defending against the dammed scraps of metal.
'Can you take one of them down or at least injure them severely? I am not even Epsilon-Grade Psyker; my Psionic Energy Reserves are abysmal even with the Dimension Empyrean.'
He could barely hold the manifestation of the Empyrean Power within the realspace for a few minutes, so he needed the Red Queen to take care of the two Nobz as soon as possible because the ordinary Boyz were already being killed by one.
With superior firepower, coordination, and precision, no matter how hard the Orks tried, it was futile, and in the end, they fell to the barrage of the battle droids controlled by the Red Queen.
<They are far more experienced than the ordinary Ork Boyz, not to mention they know how to evade the lasgun shot, which makes targeting them harder, though with the current number of the Boyz present, I can redirect part of the droids to fire at the Nobz.>
As soon as Red Queen finished the transmission, several of the ABD-Spectre MK Battle Droids aimed their lasguns at the two remaining Ork Nobz and started firing at them; this caused them to immediately cover because this time, all of them aimed at their heads.
Arcturus used the opportunity, while the Nobz were busy, to cut the distance between them while killing of the Nobz that attempted to attack him with a huge waraxe, but the unfortunate Ork Boy was swiftly dispatched by one slash of the Aetherius.
He knew that if he wasn't using the Dimension Emyprean, then it would be much harder to kill the Orks in one go. Their regeneration wasn't just for the joke; it was frightening; even if their heart was pierced with the Aetherius, it would be just some inconvenience for them.
He would need to properly chop them up, which wasn't really possible, considering their speed and strength, which were clearly superior to his own, only due to the destructive prowess of the Dimension Empyrean, he was able to kill the Nobz rather easily.
Even though he was armed with the Power Sword, he knew that it wouldn't be enough to kill the Ork Nob in hit, though it would be enough to cripple them if he hit them in their vitals and had some luck.
While the disintegration properties of the Power Weapons were extremely powerful, against the unique and irrational physique of the Greenskins, the Dimension Empyrean was far more effective.
Appearing behind second Ork Nob, he managed to stab him in the stomach with the Power Sword; he immediately unleashed the full power of the Empyrean Power and disintegration properties of the Power Sword, which helped the Empyrean Power to spread even further in the body of the victim.
While he killed the second Ork Nob, the last one was soon enough overwhelmed by the firepower of the battle droids, especially the Spider Bastion Battle Droids, which this time attacked the Ork Nob in full power and shredded the creature into a bloody mess.