Chapter 586: Tenacious as Weeds
The first Gargant was instantly destroyed by red Unit-01 with the force of a thunderbolt. The exploding fireball and shockwave indeed suppressed the Orks' fanatical offensive for a short time.
That endless "WAAAGH!!!" roar experienced a noticeable pause, like a beast grabbed by the throat, and the green charging tide consequently experienced a moment of stagnation and chaos.
The Titans and Knights of the Steel Hound Legion keenly seized this precious window of opportunity.
Princeps Olaf's "Iron Fang" took the lead in stepping forward with heavy strides, its volkite destructors letting out a roar once more.
The other two Warhound-class Titans followed closely behind, advancing with even fiercer firepower alongside the Knights of the Collegia Titanica. They expanded the breach and systematically mopped up the Ork Boyz who appeared somewhat bewildered after losing the support of their heavy unit.
"Beautifully done, Pilot Asuka!" Princeps Olaf's deep voice, carrying obvious praise, came through the public communication channel, which was a rare occurrence in the strict Imperial military communications.
Feeling the pressure suddenly decrease, Shinji Ikari also subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, manipulating purple Unit-02 to slightly adjust its posture.
It seemed that the large units of these green xenos were not invincible, which allowed his taut nerves to relax just a bit.
However, Ryo's calm yet slightly solemn voice cut into the encrypted channel, which only the EVA squad could receive, almost at the same time: "Do not let your guard down, and do not be optimistic too early. The true threat of the Orks never lies merely in the strength or weakness of their individual units, or the destruction of a certain war machine."
Just as his voice fell, without even giving the three of them more time to think, the situation on the battlefield began to undergo a subtle yet continuous change.
At first, it was the Ork Meks and their shorter Gretchin slaves, who were originally restless at the rear of the battlefield but lacked a clear target. It was as if they had suddenly received some sort of invisible command, or rather, were attracted by the "possibility" emanating from the wreckage of the destroyed Gargant.
They began to let out sharp, bizarre cries, braving the Imperial forces' unceasing long-range artillery and stray bullets to rush almost madly toward that pile of still-burning, crackling giant wreckage, as well as the fragments of other destroyed Ork vehicles and even Imperial armored units scattered across the battlefield.
Over the next few hours, the battlefield fell into a peculiar state where stalemate and chaos coexisted.
The Steel Hound Legion's pace of advance slowed significantly, because the Ork infantry's resistance, after losing unified heavy unit command, actually became more dispersed and tenacious. They utilized craters, wreckage, and terrain to launch waves of small-scale but annoying counterattacks, delaying the Imperial forces' steps in consolidating their gains.
Meanwhile, deep within the Ork-controlled area, an astonishing "industrial" activity was in full swing.
A massive number of Meks and Gretchins, using lifting devices that looked like they would fall apart at any moment, cutting tools belching black smoke, and welding equipment emitting deafening noise, were frantically dismantling, transporting, hammering, and welding with an efficiency that completely defied the common sense of physics and engineering logic.
They seemed to need no blueprints at all, nor did they have any safety regulations. Relying entirely on some primal instinct and their shared "WAAAGH!" intent, they gathered all usable metal wreckage on the battlefield, regardless of friend or foe.
The EVA squad's sensors could clearly capture the abnormally soaring energy readings in that area, as well as the rapid shaping of a giant metallic construct's silhouette.
That wasn't just repairing; it was more like a kind of re-creation and savage growth based on ruins.
"What... what are they doing? It's been several hours!" Shinji looked at the continuous heat signatures and vibration data transmitted from the sensors, his confusion tinged with a hint of unease.
This counter-intuitive sight was more eerie than a direct charge.
"This isn't repairing anymore, it's simply like they're cobbling together a new one on the spot using garbage..." Asuka's voice also carried disbelief. She had originally thought the battle would head towards an end with the destruction of the Gargant, but reality was developing in a more troublesome direction.
Finally, about three standard hours after the first Gargant was destroyed, in that area behind the Ork lines which had already become a giant open-air factory—accompanied by a roar of steam far exceeding before, like hundreds of boilers overloading simultaneously, and blinding arcs of light erupting simultaneously from thousands of welding points, enough to temporarily illuminate that airspace—a more massive, more ferocious shadow slowly stood up from the mountainous pile of scrap metal, carrying the teeth-aching sound of grinding metal.
It was a new Gargant.
Its silhouette was much thicker than the previous one, its height significantly increased, approaching seventy meters. Its torso and limbs were covered in even thicker, though still incredibly crude, composite armor plating. Its weapon platforms bristled with more and thicker gun barrels and rocket launcher pods, and a giant power claw with sharp ramming spikes replaced the relatively simple melee weapon from before.
Standing there, it was like a moving steel mountain piled up with pure violence and chaos, exuding a wilder and more dangerous aura than its predecessor.
And this one was obviously larger in size than the one destroyed previously. Although still not matching the EVA-Titans, the oppressive feeling it gave off was entirely on a different level.
Its armor looked much thicker, and it had more weapons. It even had a giant, continuously spinning spiked roller added to its shoulder, clearly a melee-enhanced model.
"How is that possible?! So fast?!" Asuka exclaimed, her tone filled with incredulity.
"Second Gargant has appeared! Energy readings are higher!" The Steel Hound Legion's alarm sounded once more, carrying a trace of helplessness.
"This is what Orks are," Ryo's voice calmly explained, as if stating a basic law of nature. "They are an almost idealistic species."
"The WAAAGH! energy field not only strengthens their power and courage, but also grants them extremely absurd engineering capabilities and evolutionary speed."
"As long as the battle continues, and as long as their numbers don't drop below a certain critical point, they can rapidly rebuild from the ruins, and they will instinctively improve upon their previous failures."
He paused, letting the three digest this information: "If we cannot completely crush them in a decisive battle, destroy their command core, and wipe out their effective forces, they will return again and again like the most tenacious weeds in the universe, becoming even harder to deal with after each resurrection."
"Dragging this out will only become increasingly disadvantageous for us."
Looking at that newly appeared, larger and stronger Gargant, and the seemingly endless green frenzy around them, the three of them intuitively felt the meaning behind Ryo's words for the first time.
These greenskins weren't just fighting; they seemed to be continuously evolving through the act of fighting itself.
"So you're saying, we have to... completely annihilate them?" Shinji's voice carried a hint of difficulty.
"Yes," Ryo answered affirmatively. "Merely repelling them is not enough. We must find their command center, where their largest Ork Warlord is located, and thoroughly destroy it in order to disintegrate this WAAAGH! and turn this horde of greenskins back into scattered sand."