Chapter 714: Crushing the Predators
"The Eldar have confirmed that the planetary protection force field is fully activated and stable. The distribution map of major surface settlements, energy nodes, and potential underground facilities has been shared to the tactical network." Techmarine Cassius directed the flowing data streams into the global view. "The force field allows units carrying specific identification to pass through, but it has a significant weakening and deflecting effect on the energy of large-scale orbital bombardments. It is recommended that the core of the operation focuses on precise ground suppression and capture, with orbital firepower used only to paralyze high-threat fixed defense nodes when absolutely necessary."
Ryo approved the combat plan.
"Execute according to plan. The Astartes company will serve as the core of the assault and suppression, responsible for seizing major settlements and dismantling their organizational core—suppress, do not indiscriminately annihilate. The Knight mechs and heavy units will be responsible for regional fire control and clearing fortified obstacles, creating conditions for the capture operations. The Eldar warriors, acting as highly mobile hunting and precise control units, will be responsible for eliminating command nodes and assisting in the capture of high-value individuals. The ultimate goal of the operation: systematically dismantle their military resistance capabilities and achieve effective control and detainment of a large-scale population. Take care to protect the integrity of the planet's foundational ecology and critical infrastructure."
"For the Emperor's crusade and dominion!" The deep voice of the Astartes squad commander echoed through the channel.
"May this battle lay the foundation for the new order," the Eldar warriors responded, their tone concise and ice-cold.
Massive assault pods and agile Eldar shuttles, trailing blazing red and eerie blue wakes respectively, pierced into the Predator homeworld's atmosphere like falling stars.
The surface of the Predator homeworld reacted swiftly yet chaotically to these enemies descending from the heavens, filled with the fury and confusion of a martial race encountering an unknown, powerful foe. This was a civilization that revered individual hunting and clan honor; faced with a highly organized global invasion possessing overwhelming technological and tactical coordination, their defense system appeared fragmented and passive.
When the Astartes assault pods crashed down on the perimeter of the first large-scale complex—a clan core area serving as both a pyramid and an arena—swarms of roaring Predator warriors surged out like an enraged pack of beasts. They charged their shoulder casters and extended their wristblades, treating this invasion as an unprecedentedly grand hunt.
However, what they encountered were not giant beasts they could maneuver around, but a silent, precise, and cohesively advancing wall of steel.
The Astartes warriors deployed in standard tactical formations. The roar of their bolters formed a suppressive net of fire, but the ammunition was primarily aimed at non-lethal areas or equipment to paralyze the enemy. Power fists and calibrated weapons were used to knock down and subdue, rather than completely pulverize.
The Predators' plasma shots burst into flares against the power armor, and the clashes between wristblades and power weapons sent sparks flying. Yet, individual martial prowess was rapidly drowned, divided, and suppressed in the face of a legion-style torrent of steel.
This was not a fair fight; it was a systematic suppression where efficiency reigned supreme.
The Astartes advanced steadily toward the core of the pyramid. Any resistance that attempted to rally rapidly collapsed under the organized firepower and impact. Their objective was to control the nexus and paralyze the chain of command in the area.
Simultaneously, the Eldar warriors displayed their multifaceted capabilities. One group acted like lethal phantoms, wandering the edges of the battlefield. The shriek of shuriken catapults and the sweeping arcs of power swords precisely eliminated the Predator war leaders or elders attempting to organize counterattacks, every successful hunt further dismantling their command network. The other group utilized their transcendent speed and agility to rapidly weave through the chaos created by the main force. Using psychic bindings and precise non-lethal weaponry, they specifically captured high-value individuals possessing unique ornaments or gear, ensuring their survival.
The Knight mechs and heavy support units pushed forward with unstoppable momentum. Their heavy firepower was primarily used to destroy fixed heavy fortifications, vehicle assembly points, or to lay down devastating suppression on stubbornly resisting strongholds, clearing the path and opening breaches for the main force and the Eldar's capture operations.
In orbit, strictly calculated lance strikes occasionally rained down, precisely flattening those stubborn fortresses built into natural terrain that refused to surrender. Under the protection of the Eldar force field, the destruction was strictly contained to localized areas.
This global suppression operation unfolded simultaneously across multiple continents.
Faced with an absolute disparity in power and organization, the Predators' fierce bravery and combat skills could only delay, not prevent, their total collapse. Under the simultaneous global strikes, their decentralized clan social structure rapidly devolved into isolated battles, leading to them being controlled or routed one after another.
Ryo gazed at the planetary battle situation through the tactical network.
The blue representing his controlled zones expanded steadily, while the red areas representing organized resistance were rapidly divided, compressed, and extinguished. The yellow markers representing captive concentration camps continuously lit up across the continents, their numbers skyrocketing.
"Organized resistance in major settlements has decayed by over sixty percent. The number of live captures is rapidly approaching and exceeding the preset goal for the first phase," Cassius reported. "No effective orbital-level counterattacks have been detected. Their remaining space forces were preemptively isolated or disarmed, aligning with previous intelligence."
"Continue executing the suppression plan. Ensure all identified high-value areas are completely controlled. The captive transfer protocol is to run at the highest priority. Classify captured individuals by rank and transport them via ships to the dedicated containment and research zones at the Death World base," Ryo ordered. "Notify Apothecary Gaius to prepare to initiate large-scale live sample analysis, physiological monitoring, and sustainable biomass extraction protocols. We need to establish a long-term, stable source of Yautja Prime, not a one-time depletion."
"Understood."
The systematic suppression and capture operations continued for dozens of hours.
When the final elder fortress, relying on a complex underground network for its stubborn defense, was breached under the joint assault of Astartes and Knight mechs, and the remaining guards were subdued en masse by non-lethal weapons, the organized resistance on the surface of the Predator homeworld was fundamentally declared over.
This planet and the most valuable "biological resources" upon it had now been incorporated into a new management system.
The explosions and gunfire on the surface of the Predator homeworld gradually became sparse, ultimately replaced by a cold, orderly "silence" composed of the roar of engines, the clashing of metal, and the shouted commands of captive escorts.
The smoke of gunpowder drifted away in localized areas, while the shadows of transport ships hovered over even more regions.
The Astartes squads began systematically consolidating control, clearing out sporadic pockets of resistance, and assisting the embedded Tech-Priests in identifying and sealing Predator technological equipment, texts, and ritual sites possessing research value.
The Eldar warriors continued highly efficient sweeps across broader areas, tracking and capturing escaped individuals who had scattered into the wilderness during the initial chaos.
In orbit, the transport ships formed a busy supply chain, continuously ferrying batches of Predator captives in varying states of sedation—from young New Bloods to majestic Elders—along with perfectly sealed trophies to the Death World base.
The specially expanded, high-security biological containment and research zone at the base entered a state of overloaded operation.
What Apothecary Gaius and his team faced was no longer anatomical analysis, but the establishment of a massive living monitoring, classification, and sustainable extraction system.
Every Predator individual was a precious, renewable resource node. Their physiological states, genetic expressions, and the secretion and metabolic laws of Yautja Prime all required long-term monitoring and study.
In-vivo cultivation, stimulus-response testing, and the development and application of non-invasive or minimally invasive extraction technologies became the new priorities.
This was a grand engineering project aimed at transforming the entire Predator race into a sustainable bio-refinery.