The icon of the Ork Deathskulls klan
Gorgrok Killfist was an Ork Warlord of the Deathskulls klan and the leader of WAAAGH! Killfist which ravaged the Knight World of Adrastapol in the Majestis System. During what became known as the Second Ork War, Killfist was killed in personal combat by Adrastapol's High King Danial Tan Draconis and his WAAAGH! routed by the combined might of House Draconis, House Minotos and House Pegasson.
History[]
The first to note the destructive potential of the gathering WAAAGH! Killfist was Inquisitor Tane Massata of the Ordo Malleus, who had come to Adrastapol to investigate the purity of the Knight Houses of Adrastapol following the betrayal of the Imperium by House Chimaeros and House Wyvorn during the Donatos War. Massata's initial clandestine efforts to recover a Chaos artefact from Adrastapol were thwarted by the Chaos Cultists still present on the world. The Inquisitor ordered his flagship, the Oberon-class Battleship Light of Truth and its small attending fleet to reroute WAAAGH! Killfist to Adrastapol to use the Ork invasion as cover for his own attempt to claim the artefact.
The number of warships and Roks in Killfist's WAAAGH! was such that even though Adrastapol boasted a sizeable defence fleet, there was no naval battle to slow down the enemy advance on the world. While Adrastapol's orbital defences took a heavy toll on the first wave of Ork landing craft, the WAAAGH!'s numbers were such that the Orks easily established a bridgehead on Adrastapol. Their primary landing area was in the less well-defended lands of House Minotos.
During the first engagements of Adrastapol's Second Ork War, it quickly became apparent that while most of Gorgrok's Boyz were Deathskulls like himself, other klans had also joined his WAAAGH!. These included a powerful mob led by Warboss Drogg of the Goff klan, who was was also Killfist's primary rival for control of the WAAAGH!.
What distinguished WAAAGH! Killfist from many others of its kind was its heavy degree of mechanisation due to its large complement of Mekboyz and Big Mekz. These Orks focussed primarily on the construction of Greenskin combat walkers, especially the medium-sized Morkanauts and Gorkanauts as well as the heavier Stompaz. These walkers were a common sight within WAAAGH! Killfist as even the lesser Warbosses fielded them in support of their mobs.
The WAAAGH! also fielded entire squadrons of looted and repurposed Imperial vehicles such as Looted Leman Russes and Looted Basilisks. It also benefited from the support of Deff Dreadz and Deffkoptaz. WAAAGH! Killfist's primary super-heavy assets were the two Gargantz commanded by Killfist himself and Warboss Drogg.
While the WAAAGH!'s rerouting was not planned by the Orks, Killfist's numerous Stompaz and his own Gargant fielded highly unorthodox weapons designed to incapacitate Imperial Knights rather than destroy them outright. As such, many Ork walkers sported javelin or spear-launchers or fired electrically-loaded nets in attempts to capture Knights for the WAAAGH!'s Meks to repurpose. While the Lootas and Meks showed considerable interest in these powerful war machines and were able to capture several more or less intact, no looted Imperial Knight was encountered during the Second Ork War.
Ultimate Fate[]
Warlord Killfist personally directed the siege of the Draconspire, the ancestral fortress of House Draconis, an impregnable keep more akin to a man-made mountain than a citadel.
For solar days, Killfist sent his mobs to assail the outer defence walls, mapping its weak points and gauging the defenders' reaction. Every time his Boyz would nearly seize the walls, humans with burning swords would lead a determined counterattack to reclaim the portion of the parapet that was being threatened. Recognising the Knights as the most challenging foes, Killfist used his secret weapon to take the fight to them.
His personal Gargant's right arm was a long, strange-looking cannon that was prone to overheating and that needed to be cooled manually. Hundreds of Orks and Gretchins formed bucket-chains to cool the weapon after it fired. However, the Gargant's main weapon did not fire crude bombs or shells or even rays of directed energy. It emitted a pulse of electromagnetic energy capable of shutting down the defences of even the mighty Draconspire.
Even though the EMP pulse caused several of his own flyers to fall from the sky, its effects on the Draconspire were far more devastating: Imperial Knights and automated defence turrets suddenly malfunctioned and its Macrocannons fell silent as their ammunition trains stopped dead in their tracks. The man-portable Lascannons of Heavy Weapons Squads and even the average Planetary Defence Force trooper's Lasgun refused to fire. All across the Draconspire, Vox communications and even the lumen globes providing light failed. The Orks stormed forward, their far more primitive weapons and war machines immune to the weapon's electronic-dampening effects.
Using his Gargant as a mobile siege tower, Killfist joined the assault on the second defence ring and led his own bodyguard into the fight. By luck or by fate, High King Danial Tan Draconis was also personally commanding this wall's defenders and he sought out the Ork Warlord to kill him and bring the siege to an end. Before the two commanders met, the entire wall collapsed, plunging the High King to what many believed was his death.
Lucky to have survived the fall, though he remained conscious only through the action of multiple stimms and painkillers, the High King was soon able to fight again. He led a valiant last stand in the Draconspire's throne room, one of just a few pockets of Imperial resistance that remained to the Ork assault.
While the first wave was defeated, the second was led by the Warlord himself, his heavily-armoured bulk easily smashing through the hastily erected barricades of the defenders. The Ork Warlord and Adrastapol's High King were soon locked in a gruesome duel to the death.
Killfist's strength was formidable, but the High King's greater agility allowed him to avoid the Ork's wild blows. Seeing a blind spot in his opponent's defence, the High King darted forward, his flaming draconblade cutting through armour and green flesh. Killfist barely seemed to notice. He slammed into his opponent and sent him sprawling to the floor. The Greenskin tried to trample the High King to death, but the High King rolled away from every heavy step. Frustrated, the Ork Warlord seized Danial Tan Draconis by one arm, shattering it in the process before flinging him into the a line of barricades.
Winded by the impact, the High King was powerless to intercept one of Killfist's retinue of Nobz, but before the Ork warrior could land the fatal blow, Killfist ripped him to shreds with his twin Power Klaws. The meaning was unmistakable: the death of the human leader was his kill and his kill alone.
The High King used the respite to rush forward at his massive opponent again, as he had spotted a weakness in Killfist's Mega Armour -- the exposed housing of its power generator. Avoiding the Warlord's wild strikes, the High King landed two successive blows which destroyed the Warlord's generator and caused his combat exoskeleton to power down.
Killfist's rage-filled strength was so great that he was still able to move, but he began to quickly tire. With one blow Killfist broke the High King's shoulder, but the Danial was ultimately able to kill the Ork commander. The High King lifted the Greenskin's severed head high over the melee. While Killfist's retinue of Nobz continued to fight, the small delay provided by the Warlord's death proved long enough for Imperial reinforcements led by the Freeblade known as the Knight of Ashes to break the siege and save the High King.
Wargear[]
Killfist usually led his forces from the bridge of his personal Gargant, but his wealth and reputation were such that he also led his own retinue of Meganobz into the fray. Wearing Mega Armour himself, Killfist's favorite weapons were his two incorporated Power Klaws, each taller than a full-grown human adult. One was fitted with an under-slung Gatling Cannon similar to the Avenger Gatling Cannon used by Imperial Knights.
Sources[]
- Knightsblade (Novel) by Andy Clark