After the battlefield thunder finally fell silent, Nareth walked up to the front of the Shira-Gar.
"My name is Nareth, Gene-Primarch of the Shadows of Order."
Rosicky translated his words into the language of the Mechanicum and attached the relevant identifiers before transmitting the message to the Titan before them.
Through a web of wires and cables, the data flowed into Anger's mind.
He understood what "Shadows of Order" and "Gene-Primarch" meant, and that Nareth had come to rescue the legions of Incaladion.
Though this was not the long-awaited relief force from Holy Mars that Anger had hoped for, he knew Incaladion had no choice left.
Refusing the aid of the Shadows of Order would only doom Incaladion to endless civil war and eventual destruction.
Realizing this, Anger activated his vox-casters.
"Lord Nareth, I am Anger, commander of the Legio Fureans and Princeps of the Shira-Gar. We are grateful for your intervention."
"I will bring new life to the shattered Incaladion," Nareth replied, his gaze fixed on the Titan before him. "But before that, I must enter the Forge Temple and speak with the Magi."
"As you wish," Anger answered. He relayed the message through Incaladion's communications network and used his command authority to unseal the gates of the Forge Temple.
When Nareth entered the temple, twelve red-robed Tech-Priests approached him, surrounded by their attendants.
Their faces, half flesh, half metal, were expressionless, the flickering of optic lights replacing the blink of human eyes.
Text scrolled rapidly across the glass panels embedded in their chests.
"My lord," Rosicky said after translating their binary chatter. "Before you stand the Twelve Magi of Incaladion, the highest representatives of the Omnissiah within the First Forge Temple."
"They express their gratitude for your intervention and hope you will end the rebellion, purge the xenos, and cleanse the heretics."
"Tell them that is precisely why I am here," Nareth said. "Also, request a complete planetary map of Incaladion and all strategic data they possess."
Rosicky translated the command and, upon receiving their response, reported back.
"My lord, they invite you inside."
Nareth followed the Magi into a vast hall.
One of them approached a metal table ringed with holo-screens, his mechadendrites twitching.
A projection shimmered above the table, Incaladion's globe. Most of its surface glowed green, with only eight isolated red patches, each a surviving forge temple, lonely as islands in a sea of corruption.
"My lord," Rosicky interpreted, "Incaladion once had twelve forge temples, but only eight remain under loyalist control: the First, Third, Fourth…"
"The Legio Fureans has only fifty-seven Titans left operational."
Rosicky then reported on the enemy's overwhelming strength.
"The greatest rebel force is led by Magos Barnes, who holds the Second Forge Temple."
"The Tarellian war-beasts have overrun the Seventh Temple and its surrounding manufactorums; they now wander freely."
"The carnivorous plasmorphs that erupted from the Abyssal Reef have seized the Eighth Temple, devouring every trace of flesh they can find."
Nareth nodded slightly. "Upload all data to the Legion's tactical network."
He scanned the gathered Magi and the lesser Tech-Priests behind them.
"I require assistance," he declared. "You will assign personnel to serve as my attendants."
Nareth's intent was clear: he would establish control over Incaladion through influence and by selecting the right candidates to serve as future Forge Overseers.
"The Magi agree to your request," Rosicky translated, "but say they cannot leave their temples. The death of the Forge Overseer has activated the Incaladion Emergency Protocol, Article 1, Section 12: {In the event of the Overseer's death, all Magi must remain stationed at their respective temples until the crisis has been resolved.}"
"Their logic protocols, sanctified by the Omnissiah, prevent them from disobeying."
'Perfect,' Nareth thought. The Magi's minds had long become rigid along with their bodies of steel.
The younger Tech-Priests, however, were still malleable, still capable of faith, ambition, and fear.
"Then the Tech-Priests shall accompany us," Nareth said.
As the Magi chose which priests to send, Nareth began deploying his Legion.
"I will lead the Honor Guard to assault the Second Forge Temple."
"The First Chapter will reclaim the Fifth Temple."
"The Seventh will hunt down the Tarellian war-beasts.
"The Eleventh will purge the plasmorphs."
The Shadows of Order launched a full-scale planetary campaign across Incaladion.
Following Nareth's decree, Howard Fender, charged with restoring order in the Osiris Cluster, dispatched Captain Yassin of the Second Company to lead the First Chapter on Incaladion.
"Father has commanded us to bring judgment upon the rebels of the Fifth Temple," Yassin said as he faced the enemy.
He clenched his power fist, the weapon's field flaring in brilliant arcs of energy.
The radiant glow shone beneath Incaladion's ashen skies. The First Chapter was filled with Arbiters"
To take advantage of the excellent fighting abilities bestowed upon them by their Gene-Father, they prefer to use power fist.
Yassin charged headlong toward the enemy lines, every servo in his Mark II Crusade Armor howling as it pushed his enhanced muscles to their limits.
Heavy gunfire slammed into him, only to glance harmlessly off his armor.
He endured the storm and pressed on.
The "Arbiters" swung their arms, smashing their fists into the armored hulls of tanks.
The advantage of the power fist lay in its brutal amplification of strength; the crackling energy field around their gauntlets ripped metal apart in an instant.
The "Arbiters" moved with terrifying speed, faster than any other Shadows of Order warrior.
They swept their arms wide, sending waves of enemy combat-servitors flying, their bodies torn to pieces before hitting the ground.
Yassin, newly elevated to "Sheriff", leaped ahead of the ranks, his eyes locking onto a red-robed foe.
His Supernatural Intuition ability pinpointed the target, a deranged Magos, his mask flickering with unholy light, lower body replaced by spider-like limbs.
Yassin dashed forward.
His movements were fluid and disciplined, his mastery over the cumbersome power fist as graceful as a swordmaster's stroke.
He was unstoppable. Tank after tank crumpled before him.
The Magos swung his Omnissian Axe, the weapon's energized edge crackling violently.
When their strikes collided, the impact thundered like an explosion.
The Magos staggered. Yassin seized the moment, leapt high, and drove his power fist into the Magos's face.
With a resonant boom, the body was torn apart.
The Magos' death shattered the rebel command structure, throwing the Fifth Temple into chaos.
As a "Sheriff", Yassin immediately began the purgation of his Area of Jurisdiction.
At the same time, the Seventh Chapter began their own hunt.
The Tarellian war-beasts were grotesque, a menagerie of monstrous forms.
Elephant-bodied giants with human faces thundered across the plains.
Wolf-headed bipeds howled and leapt among them.
…...
Sanchez had shaped his company into warriors swift as the wind. Even his tank divisions prized mobility above all.
Their forces rode into battle aboard Gabriel-pattern Predators, faster and deadlier than standard models.
The Gabriel Predators roared through the wasteland, plunging into the beast herds.
Flamestorm Cannons unleashed torrents of burning promethium, consuming the elephantine monsters.
Rising pillars of fire split the horde apart.
Predators armed with twin Assault Cannons followed, cutting through the gaps with relentless barrages, mowing down beasts in droves.
The Catachan-born warriors of the Shadows of Order, mounted on their Catachan wolves, entered the inferno to begin their hunt.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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