Ramsey raised his hand, and his archaeotech pistol fired a beam.
Zzzz...
The brilliant beam struck the Overseer's multicolored chest, melting a hole the size of a man's head.
The crimson light instantly focused, locking onto Ramsey's position.
Boom!
The mottled tiles shattered under the searing light, dissolving into dust.
The crimson beam swept rapidly, tracking the black-armored figure.
A silent mechanical sound emanated from its chest, somewhat similar to High Gothic.
"Eradicate intruders."
Bolters roared. Flames rose.
The combined fire of the Tenth and Seventh Chapters' Shadows of Order converged on the Warhound-sized form, creating an opening for Ramsey.
Boom!
A massive mechanical foot crashed onto the tiles. The enormous machine emerged from the rising flames.
The full-fledged "Shadow Ascetic," Ramsey, "hid within shadows," slipping through the smoke to evade the Overseer's keen crimson gaze.
He moved silently past the Shadows of Order and the Catachan wolves, circling behind the Overseer.
The bright yellow sunlight fell upon the Overseer's brighter, more colorful form than the other machines, casting a rainbow-hued shadow.
A flicker passed through the "Shepherd's" eyes. The iridescent shadow suddenly rose.
Since becoming a "Shepherd," the "Shadow Ascetic's" "Manipulating Shadows" had been elevated to "Controlling Shadows."
The viscous shadow, like a cloak, enveloped the Overseer's mechanical body.
Amidst a series of grinding sounds, the once-colorful machine appeared rusted and corroded, as if by ages of erosion.
The crimson light seemed trapped by an invisible wall. Its mechanical arms bent and struck its own body with dull thuds.
The massive form was compressed, a piercing grinding sound echoing.
Sasebo Tezuka lowered his gun, staring at the mass of shadow enveloping the Overseer.
The shadow shuddered. Under the yellow sun, from the writhing shadow cast upon the mottled tiles, Ramsey "emerged."
He marked the tactical network and gave the command: "Take the Overseer and the intelligent machine remains back with us."
"My Lord is interested in them."
'I'll see Father again.' Sasebo Tezuka's eyes lit up. The last time he had seen their gene-father was three years prior, when he had been granted power and elevated to "Spirit Medium."
Suddenly, he felt something and turned towards the city's edge.
Meteor-like lights descended from the sky, igniting as they entered the atmosphere.
Among the thousands of drop pods, one larger silhouette hung closer to the ground, clearly launched ahead of the others.
Sasebo Tezuka's visor filtered the glare, identifying and magnifying the speck. Lines of information scrolled: [Steel Hammer Bunker! Primarch Perturabo, having experienced the Squat War and the Rangdan War, recognized the need for modular fortress-bunkers.]
[A new generation based on the Drop Keep design, deployable from orbit like its predecessor.]
Recognizing this new type of bunker, Sasebo Tezuka knew that after creating it, Lord Perturabo had gifted it to his two closest brothers, Father and Lord Magnus.
More information scrolled; he ignored the variable size and weapon loadouts, focusing on other key details.
[The difference lies in its wider applicability. The Drop Keep, once deployed, served as beachheads to stall enemy advances, protect landing zones, provide area defense, or be dropped behind enemy lines for disruption and harassment.]
[The Steel Hammer Bunker can be assembled modularly as needed, meeting various requirements: a combined command center, a dual-purpose civilian-military facility...]
The dark shape grew larger, arcing down towards the surface.
A line of red information replaced the green.
[Target: Ruined City Number Four.]
The shadow of the black fortress loomed over the mottled buildings of the ruined city.
Rumble!
Five streets, dozens of colorful buildings shattered.
Debris scattered, cold mist rose, and the black fortress slammed down with a dull roar.
Lights played across the black fortress. The defense protocols embedded by its creator activated.
Thousands of intelligent machines marched forward, raising their arms, targeting the structures that had been destroyed.
Inside the bunker, the connective servitors, synthetic constructs of biology and machine, mechanically raised their arms.
As their arms turned, runes flickered, "Defense array activated. Super-fragmentation missiles ready."
The Techmarines, based on data gathered from the Tenth Chapter's engagement with the intelligent machines, assessed that conventional weapons like heavy bolters would be ineffective.
The weapons array configured for this mission consisted of super-fragmentation missiles and super-Krak missiles.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
From the grounded sections of the Steel Hammer Bunker, two huge missiles, twenty-five times the size of standard ones, erupted simultaneously from each section.
Eight missiles screamed into the mass of intelligent machines, detonating.
Tens of thousands of fragments sprayed, piercing machine after machine.
Vast swaths of the machine army were cleared, leaving eight empty zones.
Boom, boom, boom...
Drop pods slammed into the tiles, the shockwaves sending mottled mechanical bodies flying.
Bang, bang, bang...
The drop pods opened. Captain Yassin of the 2nd Company of the Shadows of Order's First Chapter led his company out in precise formation.
The "Judges" turned in unison, raising their left arms and pushing forward.
They shouted in Dunnic: "Imprisonment!"
A viscous, almost solid liquid shot out, enveloping intelligent machines one by one.
Translucent walls pressed down on several machines, flattening them to the ground.
Amber-like masses encased the flying machines, tumbling to the ground.
Yassin led the "Judges" in capturing the intelligent machines, a tribute for the Black Emperor.
Suddenly, he sensed something. Following the crimson glow, he found the Warhound-sized machine.
A deafening detonation echoed. His Lyman's Ear filters suppressed the roar.
The ground shuddered as a massive mushroom cloud rose from the center of the bunker.
A huge warhead, four times the size of a standard Krak missile, screamed towards the Overseer.
Rumble!
The anti-armor warhead struck the Overseer's chest, blasting an Astartes-sized hole, exposing sparking cables.
The Overseer's arms rotated, spewing two green plasma streams.
One sun-bright plasma stream slammed into the bunker, the other into the 2nd Company's formation.
Yassin's vision was briefly lost, the searing light consuming everything.
The "Disciplinary Paladin" swayed, then steadied himself amidst the rumbling.
His vision returned. The runes of fourteen Shadows of Order had vanished.
The central missile launcher of the bunker was destroyed.
A golden light flickered in Yassin's eyes. He stared at the Overseer, raised his arm, and pushed forward.
The "Disciplinary Paladin" intoned with authority: "This place is forbidden to intelligent programs!"
The Overseer's crimson eyes flickered red and green. Its intelligence fought against the invisible interference, its movements becoming sluggish.
It groaned, as if pulled by thousands of threads.
"Eradicate... intruders..."
"Those who defy shall be sanctioned!" the "Disciplinary Paladin" commanded.
"Object of sanction: Overseer."
A dawn-like light flickered across the "Disciplinary Paladin's" body, even his fists gleaming with a pure luster.
The "Disciplinary Paladin" strode forward, faster than even a normal warrior in Mark II power armor.
He leaped, his golden fist like a cannonball, slamming into the Overseer's head.
Boom!
The brilliant golden light overwhelmed the crimson. The Overseer's massive form slowly toppled like a mountain.
Amidst the rumbling, it crashed into the colorful tower it had been guarding.
Debris scattered. The Overseer rolled into the ruins, faded diamonds raining down upon it.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu