As they descended the surface of the Killik controlled world, the Ascendants came under fire from a coordinated storm of bio-launched projectiles, spores that burst into acidic clouds on impact, and the shrieking war-calls of Killik soldier-castes charging in waves that seemed to have no end.
The jungle canopy erupted with movement, thousands of Killiks pouring from tunnels and hive-mounds that had been camouflaged.
"Shields at ninety percent," one of the Ascendant squad leaders reported as his unit advanced behind a mobile barrier of deployed energy shields. "The acid spores are corrosive but not penetrating armor plating yet. Recommend we continue our advance."
Progenitor Kaevor descended alongside the third wave, his personal guard forming a spearhead that cut through the jungle with brutal efficiency. He fought differently than most Ascendants, weaving Force techniques into every strike so that his blade seemed to move faster than physics should allow, striking down three to four Killik soldiers at a time.
"Their numbers are staggering," Kaevor transmitted back to the fleet, "but their coordination lacks the sophistication I expected from a hive-mind" He expected more from them, considering they were an ancient species.
Daimon, watching the ground battle through a live feed relayed from Ascendant helmet cameras, noted the same thing. The Killik assault waves came in predictable patterns, wave after wave of soldier-caste drones throwing themselves at the Imperial line with no regard for their own losses, but without the layered tactics he would have expected from a species capable of genuine strategic thought.
"Kaelduun," Daimon said, "is this normal for your people's understanding of Killik behavior, or is this something else?"
"Something else," Kaelduun replied, his massive form drifting just outside the planet's atmosphere where he could observe without being drawn into direct combat. "The Killiks I fought were smarter and had employed various tactics alongside having their large numbers. What you are seeing now is probably a ploy by Aruun to distract from something else."
Daimon considered this. If it was true, then he needed to move fast and end the battle before Aruun made his move. He was already too committed to pull his forces out.
"Push toward the central spire," Daimon ordered. "I want eyes on that structure right now."
The Ascendants and Immortals surged forward, cutting a bloody path through the jungle. Killik bodies piled in heaps behind their advance, chitin and ichor mixing with churned mud and the ash of burning canopy. Ascendant casualties remained minimal, a testament to both their armor and their training, but the sheer volume of Killik soldiers meant the advance was slow, methodical, exhausting.
Progenitor Kaevor pushed through the front lines, tearing through another wave of soldier-drones. Something about their eyes bothered him, the way they didn't focus on him even as they died on his blade. There was no fear in them, no recognition of their own mortality, only the singular purpose of throwing themselves forward until something stopped them.
Eventually, the Ascendants had pushed through to the spire and surrounded it. From there they started to set up defensive positions as the Killiks grew more aggressive in their attacks.
Progenitor Kaevor stood before the towering black structure, close enough now to feel the strangeness of the structure pressing up against his senses. Up close, the material of the spire wasn't stone, metal or anything they had encountered before.
"Report," Daimon's voice came through his comm.
"We've secured a perimeter, my Lord. The structure has no visible entrance. No seams, no doors, nothing our sensors can identify as an access point."
"Kaelduun mentioned this wasn't grown the way the Killik hives were built. Have the engineers begin scanning for weak points. I'm coming down."
"My Lord, the Killik assault hasn't slowed. If anything, it's intensified since we reached the spire."
"Then hold the line until I arrive."
Kaevor relayed the order, watching as his Ascendants formed a tighter perimeter, shields interlocking into a solid wall against the endless waves of Killiks still throwing themselves against Imperial positions.
Above the planet, Daimon had already boarded a descent shuttle, Kaelduun's massive form trailing at a respectful distance as the dragon accompanied him toward the surface, unwilling to remain idle in orbit while his people's fate hung in the balance below.
The shuttle broke through the atmosphere, and Daimon watched through the viewport as the jungle canopy below got closer, torn apart in patches where Imperial bombardment had scorched clearings.
Smoke rose from a dozen or so collapsed hive-mounds, mingling with green haze of acid spores still drifting through the air.
He could feel it now, the strangeness Kaevor had described, radiating from the spire even at this distance. It wasn't hostile exactly. It was simply resting.
The shuttle touched down within the Ascendant perimeter, and Daimon stepped out into chaos accompanied by his Empyrean Guards and Imperial Guards.
The Imperial Guards unlike the Empyrean Guards were the Balance Keepers and Force Scions who were chosen as Daimon's personal guards. What made them distinct from the Empyrean Guards was the fact that they were powerful Force Sensitives.
The tree line beyond the defensive shield wall was filled with movement as Killik soldiers amassed in great numbers for another assault. Ascendants held the line with disciplined precision, blasters cutting down wave after wave, but Daimon could see the strain beginning to show in how often the shield generators flickered under sustained impact.
"My Lord." Progenitor Kaevor met him at the base of the spire. "The structure remains sealed. We've tried every conventional method of breach. Nothing."
Daimon approached the black surface and pressed his palm flat against it. The material was cool beneath his hand, almost glasslike, yet it seemed to absorb the Force rather than reflect it, drawing in every tendril of energy he sent probing into it and giving nothing back.
Daimon closed his eyes, extending his awareness into the structure itself, searching for any seam, any weakness, any deliberate point of entry that Aruun might have left, whether out of arrogance or simple oversight. There was nothing at first, just the endless smooth resistance of whatever this material was, until he pushed deeper, past the surface and into whatever lay beneath it.
Then he felt it. A strange, powerful presence, buried deep within the structure. It was something that had been sleeping, and his presence, his intrusion into the Force around it, had awoken it.
"There's something inside," Daimon said, opening his eyes. "Something with a strong presence is down there."
"Is it a person?" Kaevor asked. He was aware of Aruun's ways of corrupting beings and wondered if this was some sort of conversion structure.
"I don't know, but it felt my presence when I found it."
Behind them, the sound of blaster fire intensified as another wave of Killiks crashed against the shield wall, this one larger than the last three combined.
Daimon turned to see the tree line practically boiling with movement, hundreds of thousands of Killiks pouring from the tunnels that seemed to open up out of the jungle floor itself.
"They're not defending the spire," Kaevor said, watching the same scene unfold. "They're trying to overwhelm us before we can breach it."
"Or they're being sacrificed to buy time for something else," Daimon replied, his eyes narrowing as he reached further into the Force, searching the planet for anything.
That's when he sensed something behind him and his eyes grew wide. "Everyone step back from the spire!" he shouted.
The Ascendants listened and had all got closer to the front lines, leaving several dozen feet between them and the spire.
In the next seconds various tentacle like arms broke through the spire and started attacking them.
Daimon's lightsaber ignited instantly, slicing through the nearest tentacle before it could reach the Ascendants. The severed limb squirmed on the ground before dissolving into black ichor that hissed against the jungle floor.
"Contact! Multiple appendages, shield integrity compromised!" one of the Ascendant officers shouted over the comm, opening fire on another tentacle that whipped toward the shield wall.
More arms burst from the black surface of the spire, dozens now, each one thicker than a Gen'Dai's body.
"Cortana," Daimon called.
"Already on it. I will have bombers clear a path away from the structure, and reinforcements are inbound as we speak." replied Cortana.
Daimon didn't have a chance to reply as he stopped one of the tentacles from crushing an Ascendant who was knocked over.
Kaevor did the same, using the Force to protect themselves against whatever it was they were facing.
Daimon tried to freeze the tentacles in place with the Force, but nothing he did worked. The tentacles would stop for about a second before they broke the hold and continued their rampage.
He could tell that whatever this thing was it had a strong resistance to the Force, meaning he would need to cut its limbs to beat it.
However, as this was happening, another event was taking place. Above Kashyyyk, a massive fleet unseen before had just appeared within the system and was heading straight for the planet. The fleet emitted some strange signal that had completely blocked communications from being sent or received outside of the system.