On the surface of Gilders Prime, two servo-skulls tracked ten rising golden mechanical constructs.
Anacharis Scoria had considerable contact with the Techmarines of the Shadows of Order. He knew these eagle-shaped constructs were Golden Garudas, an advanced reconnaissance system.
The Tech-Priest manning the primary console spoke.
"Communication relays deployed. Comms system online. Coverage area: Southern Hemisphere."
"Auspex matrix scan results shared. Tactical data updated..."
Anacharis immediately accessed the comms system and instructed the Tech-Priest on the other side.
"Consolidate scan results. Locate the Osseivoress."
"Coordinates 185, Osseivores vital signs detected..."
Four new dangerous rune markers appeared on the tactical network, standing out among the densely packed other xenos markers.
Anacharis's data engines and logic engines spun rapidly, adjusting battle plans and running new simulations.
Suddenly, he noticed two additional Osseivores markers on the tactical network.
He traced their source immediately, shared from allied forces.
Anacharis highlighted the two markers. "Auspex to maximum power. Rescan."
The Tech-Priest at the console immediately delegated the task to two acolytes.
The entire macro-branch's auspex systems powered up, scanning the two designated areas.
"Coordinates 162 and 205: magnetic anomalies detected. Preliminary analysis indicates abundant magnetic ore deposits in those areas, interfering with scanning signals."
Anacharis marked Coordinate 162 as a target. He wanted to verify the Golden Garuda's detection results.
He led a fully assembled cohort of Legio Cybernetica and twenty-nine tripod walkers towards Coordinate 162.
The mechanical feet of the Abeyant throne stepped onto the highway built by the colonists, advancing steadily.
The mechanical platform, as lenient as the adjacent tripod walkers, was far more maneuverable.
The walkers' three legs stepped on the roadsides flanking the highway, crushing discarded ore underfoot into rubble.
Inside the morgue-like cockpits, the castes numbly performed their duties amidst the jolting.
Their bodies, long imprisoned, were pale, but their eyes held a flicker of fervent light.
Gadianaal, having escaped the era of High Lords, had undergone a transformation unseen in five millennia. The enslaved castes had been liberated, and they had witnessed it all.
The Monarch had brought change to Gadianaal, and they would defend the hard-won achievements, so no one else would suffer their fate in the future.
At 3.6 kilometers from the coordinates, Anacharis's auspex, overcoming interference, detected the Osseivores in a mountain hollow, resembling an ancient, colossal tree.
'The Golden Garuda of Shadows of Order possesses scanning and detection capabilities superior to any auspex I can find or build.'
Anacharis surveyed the terrain. The highway they had traveled on led straight into the valley.
Before entering the mountainous area, there were two slopes, 270 and 190 meters high respectively, flanking the entrance. The defending Rangdan forces were light.
He immediately issued orders. The Legio Cybernetica would assault the 270-meter slope.
The slower tripod walkers, under the Shadows of Order command, would attack the lower slope.
Then, from both elevated positions, they would rain fire down upon the Osseivores.
The Abeyant was the first to step forward and turn. Two servo-skulls sprang up, projecting green light that enveloped the entire slope.
The Tech-Priest on the left and his two acolytes' arms flew across the keyboards.
Black cables swayed. The rotary gatling roared first.
Belts of ammunition clattered. A dense hail of fire instantly mowed down over a dozen four-legged spiral-shelled creatures. Gelatinous blood splattered everywhere.
An Overlord began to raise its segmented arms, clutching its weapons.
Two bright conversion beams crackled and slammed into it.
The precisely tuned energy frequency shattered its personal energy shield.
The Maxim bolt guns thundered, immediately suppressing the Overlord's fire.
Weapon system after weapon system on the Abeyant activated, unleashing a firestorm more powerful than an entire cohort, obliterating xenos defensive lines one after another.
Anacharis simultaneously tracked the progress of the Shadows of Order Techmarines on the other flank.
The tripod walkers deployed in a line. Extremely bright beams pierced through the rock. Scorching plasma beams carved xenos into fragments.
Energy overheating turned the cold, metal morgues into furnaces.
Techmarines recorded sensor data, a basis for future improvements.
Gunners, drenched in sweat, pulled levers. The walkers' energy weapons elevated.
Dazzling beams slammed into personal energy shields.
Anacharis's optical cybernetic eye flickered, capturing the walkers' combat data.
'Shadows of Order has standardized the operational procedures for the tripod walkers: coordinated strike, simultaneously identifying Overlords, energy weapons to breach personal shields, followed by kinetic weapons like cannons to finish them off.'
'Though compared to my Abeyant, their coordination is less flexible, and there's some waste of energy weapons.'
As Anacharis evaluated, the twenty-nine tripod walkers crested the slope. Fleeing xenos were crushed underfoot, ground into pools of blood.
In unison, they aimed all weapons at the Osseivores.
Countless beams pierced the dust hanging over the mining zone, slamming into the Osseivores.
The Osseivores, standing in the mining base it had razed, turned and raised its arms.
Blinding light tore through the mining district's eternally dark sky. Anacharis scanned the energy reading skyrocket.
Visual signals on his auspex flickered for seconds before returning to normal.
Anacharis noted that not a single tripod walker had been destroyed.
His cybernetic eye scanned. Among the crushed rock on the slope, residual energy signatures lingered.
'The Osseivores' weapon attack was deflected. Squat void-shield technology.'
Energy reading climbed. Anacharis allocated power, boosting his cybernetic eye to maximum output.
Having witnessed Lord Nareth's terrifying power, he had recognized the inadequacy of his previous eye. With resource support, he had installed a quadruple electro-optical system.
This time, he didn't lose the visual signal. He captured the entire exchange between the walkers and the Osseivores.
[Osseivores: energy shield overloaded.]
[Two walkers: void-shield systems breached.]
A warning rune suddenly flashed on Anacharis's comms system.
He felt a momentary lag across all systems: loss of visual signal, loss of mechadendrite control...
Anacharis immediately traced the error reports.
[System under attack.]
[Attack Type I: Neurotoxin.]
[Attack Type II: Psychic.]
With one cybernetic eye still monitoring the Osseivores engagement, his other eye focused on the threat runes.
A white figure, its bulbous head traversed by a red line, he instantly recognized it as a Cerabvores.
As the eight mechadendrites behind Anacharis raised, the growth atop the Osseivores' head swayed.
A blinding beam lanced out. A tripod walker with a breached void-shield was engulfed in the searing light, annihilated, both machine and pilot erased without a trace.
The energy beams from the remaining twenty-eight walkers, green plasma beams, laser weapons, overwhelmed the Osseivores' green form.
As the colossal green form toppled, Anacharis opened fire.
Photon piercing cannon, phase plasma weapons...
Bright beams flared, standing out even within the destructive energy storm.
The Cerabvores sensed the lethal threat. It immediately raised its curved arms, erecting a psychic shield before itself.
A series of piercing cracks was drowned out by the thunderous crash of the collapsing Osseivores, which crushed mine tunnels.
The xenos surrounding the Cerabvores, stunned by the rapid destruction of the Osseivores, didn't even notice their leader under attack.
After gathering the necessary data, Anacharis immediately increased the output of his weapon systems.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
A series of sharp reports jolted the stunned xenos back to their senses.
They barely raised their weapons, aiming at the mountain hollow, when another loud crack sounded.
Confirming the personal energy shield shattered, the gravity cannon thundered.
The Cerabvores's body uncontrollably floated, its head ringing.
Anacharis raised his lightning staff. A bolt of electricity, thick as an arm, struck the Cerabvores's brain directly.
The devastating current pierced its mind. Physiological fluid gushed from the red line.
Having slain the Cerabvores, a surge of elation rose from Anacharis's remaining brain tissue.
'I've grown stronger!'
'The old me could never have defeated a Cerabvores alone.'
'This is all Lord Nareth's gift!'
He issued orders on the military-grade comms system.
"Kill the xenos. Bring the Cerabvores back."
Anacharis had avoided using meltas specifically to preserve the Cerabvores's body.
He knew from the Techmarines that Lord Nareth appreciated various peculiar creatures and objects.
The Cerabvores was one such prize.
'As long as Lord Nareth continues to support me, I can become even stronger.'
In Anacharis's mind, an image formed: himself with twelve mechadendrites behind him, then eighteen...
.....
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