I have a dream

The battle reached fever pitch from the very start. The relentless Ork war cries drove every Ork into a fighting frenzy, and they tore apart the enemies before them with Choppas, fists, hands, and teeth.

The Gitz soon began to buckle. To buy time, more Gitz entered the bridge through secret passages and joined the fierce fighting.

The Orks suffered losses too. Even an Ork Mega Boss had his limits, and the Tyranid Swarm was always so efficient, so precise. Once surrounded and attacked for too long, even a Mega Boss built like a humanoid Gundam would be torn to pieces.

But there were plenty of Ork Boyz as well. Whenever one fell, another Boy joined the melee against the Tyranids.

The bloody, piecemeal battle dragged on for a long time. Since there was no concept of time in the Warp, nobody knew how long it lasted. All they knew was that every Tyranid was dead by the end, and a layer of Ork corpses covered the bridge.

Coming out of his berserk state, Cheng Mingrui felt as though his entire body had been filled with lead. He could not move another muscle. The exhaustion came from deep within his soul.

He sat down against a wall, hoping to catch his breath. Just then, Clever Git, who had vanished to who knew where earlier, appeared again.

"Boss Slick's amazing! Boss Slick's bigger, stronger, and more Waaagh!!" The crafty fellow was back to sucking up.

A huge foot sent Clever Git flying with a smack, cutting off the rest of his flattery before he could get it out. It belonged to Cleverhead, who was drenched in blood from head to toe.

After kicking Clever Git away, he plopped down beside Cheng Mingrui. The two leaned against each other like brothers who had known each other for years.

Why hadn't Cleverhead gone to modify the warship? Hadn't he always wanted a warship of his own?

The atmosphere felt a little strange... Cheng Mingrui shifted uneasily on his backside.

"Slick... you're a good Ork." A trace of melancholy appeared on Cleverhead's savage Ork face. "I really like you."

Cheng Mingrui stared in utter shock, his pupils trembling violently. What the hell?! We're Orks! We don't have sexes! We're spore creatures! We're Mushroom People!

"Y'know? I was weak when I was little. Really weak. Sometimes even the Gretchin would gang up and bully me." Cleverhead ignored Cheng Mingrui and kept talking.

"'Cause I wasn't like the other Ork Boyz. Back then, I didn't much like choppin' and killin'. I liked sounds-no, music! I was a Rock Boy, but 'cause my music didn't sound good, the Gretchin laughed at me and called me a Noise Boy."

At this point, Cleverhead grew a little angry. He slapped a passing Gretchin scavenger to death.

"Later, I beat up all those Gretchin. One Gretchin boss wouldn't stand for it. He couldn't figure out how the punching bag he'd always bullied dared fight back. He rounded up a bunch of Gretchin with clubs and Choppas to corner me."

"I was angry too. I just liked different things from them. Why'd they have to bully me? So I got a Big Choppa ready... now that was a good Choppa."

Cleverhead fell silent for a while, seemingly lost in his memories.

"Me and the Gretchin chopped at each other. It hurt when they chopped me, and it hurt when I chopped them too. Can't remember how long I kept choppin'. All I know is my Choppa went into the Gretchin boss's mouth, and his eyeballs popped right out. They were this big."

Cleverhead gestured with his hands. They really did look big.

"After that, no Gretchin dared call me a Noise Boy anymore. I didn't like playin' with them either, so I went to find the Boyz. I figured there had to be some Boyz like me, who could appreciate my music and my songs."

"But those Boyz were all idiots. They never did anything normal except eat and fight. They couldn't understand my music either. They laughed at me and bullied me, just like the Gretchin."

"I couldn't take it anymore, so I fought 'em!" Cleverhead slammed a fist into the deck, then unclenched it. "I lost. They pinned me to the ground and beat the hell outta me."

"I wouldn't accept it! I had a temper too! Once I healed up, I went back to fight 'em. Fought 'em, kept on fightin' 'em. Eventually, none of the Boyz around there could beat me anymore. I beat 'em into submission, and I became their boss."

Becoming a boss was the first step in an Ork's rise to success, but from Cleverhead's tone, he did not seem to have been excited at the time.

"I made the Boyz sit together and listen to my music, listen to me sing. They hated it, but they didn't dare fight back 'cause of my fists. Seein' their miserable faces made me miserable too. Did I really have no talent?"

"Just when I was really startin' to doubt myself, one Boy gave me a reminder." A glimmer of light appeared in Cleverhead's eyes. "I needed good instruments. I needed electric guitars, drums, and big speakers!"

"After that, I lived with scrap and the Junkyard. I cobbled together loads of stuff. Really powerful Shootas, really Waaagh! Big Booms, but never any good instruments. I... I was really disappointed." Cleverhead wilted like a plant.

"Dunno how much time passed, but I built a Gorkanaut for a guy covered in bombs. That weird fellow was really pleased. He told me I didn't have enough artistic spirit yet. I had to find my own path. Like him-he reckoned art was explosions. Really big explosions."

"That's when I understood. So I sold my Junkyard, became a Mekboy, and joined the Pirate Fleet. I had a goal. I was gonna become a Big Mek and have a big ship of my own. I was gonna fill its bridge with instruments and cover the outside with speakers."

Cleverhead turned to look at Cheng Mingrui, his eyes shining brightly. "I'd sing and play music at the same time. Inspired by my art, the Boyz would fight harder and harder, get stronger and stronger, and more and more Waaagh!!"

Cheng Mingrui was stunned. He had never expected an Ork to have such nuanced thoughts and feelings, such aspirations... But why did this sound a little like a certain art student who failed to get into art school, then took another path and made it big?

"You've got your own ship now, so why not go modify it? If the Tyranids are bothering you, I'll take the Boyz through the ship again later and clear them all out," Cheng Mingrui asked. He genuinely wanted to see what sort of music, what sort of art, Cleverhead could put together.

"...Forget it. I reckon maybe I really don't have any talent. I'm good at makin' Shootas, engines, and Power Klaws. I just can't put together good instruments. Basses, guitars-I can never get 'em right, and they keep goin' out of tune," Cleverhead said dejectedly. "Maybe never makin' any art at all is how my story ends."

"After all... I'm gonna die."