62 The Duel Part One

Tactical Dreadnought Armour, simply known as terminator Armor, is one of the technologies developed during the Dark Age of Technology before humanity fell from their prime and superpower dominance within the Milky Way Galaxy.

Many of the Admechs and Imperium scholars of history believed that the terminator armor was first used during the Emperor's Unification Wars of the 30th Millennium. From techno-barbarians who allied with the Emperor to his first Space Marine Legion, the terminator armor further improved and reforged into current day heavy duty armor used by Space Marines of the Imperium.

When the Great Crusade launched from Terra (Earth), many of the Legiones Astartes who were worthy wore the first generation terminator armor and went beyond the Solar System to reunite lost worlds. Acting as the Emperor's sledgehammer, the elite squads of terminators devastated many of the enemies of the Imperium from boarding the enemy spaceship to open the battlefield where nothing could stop them once fighting started.

The original purpose of the terminator armor is a mystery, but many theorized that the armor was used between the 15th Millennium to 25th Millennium as an environment suit for extreme hazardous on-foot planet survey. It was also believed that terminator armor was much easier to use for regular humans since there was no superhuman augmentation treatment, such as the creation of the Space Marine.

But, as humankind is very familiar and has a long history of war, the idea of using heavy power armor able to withstand extreme environments as a weapon of war is apparent. Of course, humans have true AI and advanced robots to make their war for them, but it doesn't mean it is not possible.

"For, mankind thrives on war and death as long as victor wields a bigger stick than vanquished." By me, the author.

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"Tell me everything about this Hercules pattern terminator armor, Mangos Callias." Lord Creed is the first person to break from shocking news and ask the head of the Admech regarding this mythical power armor. Like many of his predecessors before him, Lord Creed understood the war and the quality of the soldier doesn't guarantee victory, for there are countless factors included such as quality of weapons, strategy, etc.

"Since the enemy revealed the existence of this terminator pattern, there is no need to withhold the information." Magos Callias expresses no emotion while one of his metal limbs opens and projects a holographic image of ancient text. The ancient text wasn't written in high or low gothic but rather unusual letters. Even William wasn't familiar with the unknown language even though he is somewhat familiar with 21st-century languages from many exposures (This doesn't mean he knows the language but somewhat recognizes it). Callias continued while everyone's attention went towards the image.

"The Hercules pattern is only mentioned twice in this ancient text of Mars. According to the tech-priests of that period, the armor was designed to wage total war against other humans who would turn against the common cause of old expansion. Even though Mars has the armor, we, the select few Magos of the Metalica, don't fully understand it since it is above our rank. Only the Fabricator-General of Mars has full access and what the armor is capable of based on the ancient research." The revelation of this information didn't help much since William, and everyone knew Mars was very secretive with their knowledge and technology. One thing is sure, this new terminator armor is bad news, and no one was expecting to face one here in this New World. Commissar Cain asked a crucial question of 'How do we defeat the ancient war armor.'

"The second text mentioned how the ancient tech-priests of Mars defeated the Hercules pattern during the war. Even though many fell on the battlefield, the Will of the Machine God and Machine Spirit prevailed by using the most powerful weapon Mars could manage at that time. The ground-shaking power of the god-engines wiped the opposition, but for the exchange of the certain victory, the devastating power of the god-engines brought down Mars' atmosphere and survivors evacuated to underground as we know it." When Callias ended his sentence and turned off his projector, everyone remained silent while their jaws dropped. It took the god-engines of Mars, the Titans, to defeat the terminator armor.

Of course, it wouldn't have been just terminators since it was a large-scale war on Mars, but to hear that it took Titans to beat terminators is ridiculous. Either Mars lacked military manpower and firepower to face the enemy, or they decided to burn down the whole planet just to go back home for dinner in time.

"Ok, ok, ok. So what you are telling me is that I need a fracking Titan to fight that egomaniac? Why not just Exterminatus the whole planet?" William said while being irritated with unbelievable revelation. At this point, William is about to face a downsized Titan in a duel and is expected to win the fight and survive.

"That would exceed beyond reasonable firepower to defeat the armor, but it is logical in our current situation," Callias responded to William's question, which didn't help much. The tension of the meeting went higher while the time limit of 30 minutes would soon end.

"We could try the artillery until we hit the crust of the planet, but this is a duel between champions, and it would be against codex." Sergeant Dioricus gave his idea of using full military might, but his honor-bound codex prevented him from acting on it. Others, including Jurgen, gave different ideas and strategies to win the duel; unfortunately, the sound of the horn signals the end of 30-minute preparation with no solid plan to win the fight.

Before William left his base, he asked Callias if he could interrupt the mental connection between Makato's metal piece and others. After hearing this, Magos gave a simple shrug response and told William he and others will perform a Ritual of Prime Dominance based on his knowledge related to Necron mind-shackle scarabs.

Looking back at Rana and the rest, William walks towards the battlefield with heavy hearts to meet his opponent. William stopped 15 yards (45 feet) away from Makato, who was already on the field with his helmet open to meet William face to face.

"I was expecting you to run away or break the rule by using modern weaponry on me. I give you props for that one, second character." Makato said to William mockingly while he looked towards William's military force and then at Rana.

He continued after a glance of William's side, "After I'm done with you, I will show that bitch who is the master and slave all night long. Maybe I should put your severed head in her direction while I'm fucking her so I can break her much faster." The hero of the Legellan laughed as if this was a normal conversation and closed his helmet to start the fight.

"I have one question for you before we start this fight," William said with a neutral voice while putting on his helmet. At this point, William is beyond furious from Makato's inhumane expression and acts, but he isn't going to waste his rage on a mere talk, for he is saving it for the fight.

"What is it?" The simple response with iteration came out from the helmet mechanical vocal speaker.

"Do party members of yours know what you did to them, or are they just mindless dolls for you to play with?" The question from the Emperor's Champion surprised Makato and hit his ego. Makato realized William was just like him after seeing him and his military forces through his helmet. He didn't recognize the weapons, vehicles, or the armors the giant men were wearing, but he played enough video games to recognize the power armor similar to the Halo series and Fallout.

"So, you know of my little secret. So what if those bitches are fully aware of what I have done to them? They are nothing but tools and pleasure dolls in the bed. You should have seen their faces when I gave each of them an inferior mind receiver. Until they put it on, their faces were full of love and smile as if it was an engagement ring or something. As if I would settle down with a primitive woman like some light novel MC. So, did I answer your question, Mr. Nobody?" Makato said with no indication of any shame or compassion to William. This completely burns down William's hope to befriend him as fellow Earthing as William pulls out his heavy bolter from his inventory.

The fight began with a loud sound of heavy bolter as .99 calibre bolt rounds fired from William's weapon. The anti-infantry weapon, powerful enough to shred hundreds of Tyranid Warriors, hits the terminator armor with full fury, but the outcome was the complete opposite as the terminator walks towards William as if bolter rounds are nothing but raindrops.

Equipped with a halberd and a power hammer, the near-indestructible armor walks forward with no hesitation. The heavy bolter rounds simply ricochet before hitting the armor plating as if an invisible barrier protected it. Thankfully, William's helmet catches this and analyzes it within a second, the result of the information disheartens William, and he immediately stops firing his heavy bolter.

According to the helmet, the terminator armor has a conversion field similar to William's iron halo, generating an invisible force field. Unlike William's, the terminator's force field absorbs the kinetic energy of the rounds and converts it into energy to maintain the force field indefinitely.

Not willing to give additional energy, William put away the heavy bolter and pulled out a flamer, and attached a jetpack to escape incoming attack while counter-attacking at the same time. Immediately after William puts his jetpack, the enemy's power hammer strikes down from the right side with blue lighting sparking around it. With a quick superhuman reaction, William jets it away to his right (Makato's left) and turns around to fire his flamer.

As if anticipating the next move, the terminator strikes forward with a halberd right at William's chest to William's surprise. The long golden blade hit William right away before he could fire his flamer, but with a quick muscle reaction, William blocked the attack with his flamer weapon's metal barrels which cut it in half like melted butter. The flamer didn't do off after being damaged by the blade, and the blade itself didn't hit William's armor, but he suspected that it would have gone straight into his heart through power armor plating.

Keeping his jet on, William threw the flamer at Makato after rigging it to explode and took out his storm shield and Champion's signature black sword. When the rigged flamer went off, the whole terminator armor was engulfed by the chemically mixed promethium fuel. The raging fire burned the entire grass field around the armor, and two armies could feel the burning heat from their sides. Knowing this isn't the end, William stands where he landed and activates the storm shield and black sword to face his adversary.

"Hahaha. Is that all you got? I was expecting more, but it seems your machine gun and flamethrower are nothing but inferior versions of real firearms. I should know; I'm from Texas, where real men use real guns. Also, it looks like you have some sort of ability, just like me. I can master any tools to their full potential. You?" Makato said as he walked out from the blazing fire without any signs of damage or even a burn mark on armor plating.

"Oh, you are American? I thought you were from Japan based on your name. I have the inventory, by the way. It looks like both of us have some sort of cheat after all." William said with a little bit of surprise and slight regret of assuming Makato's nationality. William didn't mention his second ability since it wouldn't matter right now, but one of his old questions is finally answered after a quick exchange of words with Makato. As for his assumption on Makato, both William and Makato weren't sure if either of them were speaking the languages of Earth since they were given the ability to speak the native language of this world.

"Third-generation American with Japanese and Korean heritage. Who gives a shit about that anyway? So, I assume you are also American?" Makato said with curiosity as he put down his hammer to the ground and wiped his shoulder with his free hand.

"Yea, I'm from Richmond, Virginia. By the way, how did you end up here? Truck, bus, or car?" William replied to Makato's question and asked if he ended up here with a typical trope of car accidents known among Isekai novels.

"Neither. I was hit by the incoming train after my ex pushed me from the station. She found out I fucked her other sisters at the same time the night I got back the day early." Makato said with a wide smile as if it was nothing.

"How about you?"

"I went to bed and woke up here."

"What a pussy way to come to my world. Guess what? Maybe you will wake up after I stab you with my spear." Makato swings his halberd wildly and points the tip of the blade at William with curiosity. This also made William question the possibility but considering who he is fighting right now. He quickly decided to test that on Makato rather than himself.

"That's called halberd, dumbass. Know the difference if you are using it to kill me with it." William corrected Makato and anticipated the incoming attack mixed with hatred.

"Fuck you, vagina man. I can call it whatever I want as long as you are at the end of the stick." The terminator picks up the power hammer and then charges with full speed with both weapons high. Meanwhile, William raised a storm shield and pulled back his black sword above the shield with a formidable stance. Makato may have powerful armor and weapons, but William has a century-long muscle memory training with him.

The two power armors clash head-on while the sky darkens as black clouds slowly cover the blue sky. Unknown to everyone in the field, a being of unimaginable powers and responsible for giving Makato's war gears watches above as the Mother changes her mind and grand plan.