Stormbirds disgorged their cargo: Gabriel Pattern Predators.
Five Gabriel Predators on each wing deployed into formation, their twin assault cannons in the main turrets roared with fury.
The Gabriel Predator crashed into the surging tide of warrior caste.
Their treads squealed, shredding Gardinaal warriors' bodies.
As they constantly turned sideways, leaving crimson paste in their wake, side-mounted heavy bolters on their flanks scattered death's hail further afield.
The Gabriel-pattern Predators ground down the surging warrior-caste beneath it heel like millstones.
Oleksandr shifted his gaze to the tank engagement. This was the first time Rhinos fought enemy tanks based on the same STC.
Thirty black Vostroyan-pattern Rhinos attacked enemies outnumbering them several times over. But the First Captain had faith in his warriors. His company's Rhinos utilized Squat weave-shield technology.
By weaving energy used jointly by refractors and conversion fields, interspersed with special energies like magnetic pulses, a multi-band shield was created, which could be drawn into an energy cloak.
Weave shields could be installed not only on personal armor but also on war engines, even large domes.
Rhinos flanked the Gardinaal armored forces from both sides. Storm bolters simultaneously fired upon unsuspecting enemies.
Over a dozen grey Rhinos erupted in flames. Only then did the Gardinaal realize, to their horror, their scanning arrays showed nothing, allowing the enemy to flank their vulnerable sides.
The Military Sub-Consul hastily shouted, "Turn! Face outwards! Find those damned black tanks!"
The Grey Rhinos spun in confusion, swerving towards the flanks.
Then, to their horror, they realised neither direct sight nor sensors detected anything.
'Ghosts!'
A driver screamed in terror over the communications network.
'Ghosts? Nothing but enemy tricks," the Military Sub-Consul roared in anger.
"Open fire!"
The grey Rhinos fired blindly and frantically in all directions, unleashing a hail of shells. The Shadow of Order, having spotted them before the enemy could, had already maneuvred to their rear flanks and launched another barrage of fire.
The grey Rhinos spun disorientedly in circles before finally locking onto the enemy's exposed signals during their firing.
Gardinaal Rhinos scored their first hits on Shadow of Order Rhinos. By then, their numbers now stood at merely double those of their opponents.
The second wave of armoured firepower deployed obliterated the Gardinaal's armoured forces entirely.
The Military Sub-Consul watched in horror as signals from his armored formation vanished rapidly from his screen. Infantry was also being routed by enemy tanks and the Shadow of Order coordination. He shouted at his driver.
"Retreat!"
"Fall back to the walker formation!"
He who had enjoyed overwhelming superiority moments before could never have imagined how swiftly the tables had turned.
The driver yanked the control stick, and the grey Rhino command vehicle spun rapidly in reverse, retreating towards the accelerating walker formation.
Oleksandr didn't pursue, ordering accelerated clearing. Simultaneously, he checked reports from the Legio Astorum: arrival in five minutes.
Two minutes later, the first tripodal walker fired energy beams at the Shadow of Order.
A silver beam struck a roaring defense turret, scattering incandescent sparks. The particle beam pierced adamantium, exploding within the ferrocrete tower.
Amidst silver light, several Shadow of Order burned within the flames.
Oleksandr immediately shouted, "Abandon the remaining two defense turrets!"
He ran towards a Vostroyan Rhino marked in his divination box. "Open a door!"
Entering the Rhino, the weave shield caused the black hull to swiftly vanish under the energy cloak's concealment.
The Rhino lurked, accelerating towards the walker, closing in.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Continuous explosions. The walker's particle weapons destroyed two more defense turrets.
The Vostroyan Rhino raced forward, approaching the walker like a black shadow.
"Nightmare" Oleksandr's eyes grew profound. He closed them.
The grey walker, as tall as a Warhound Titan but bulkier, turned with the shriek of hydraulics and rubberized belts. Its three legs crushed ferrocrete paths into rubble.
It searched for black armored vehicles, but Shadow of Order vehicles remained concealed by weave shields.
The battlefield fell into eerie silence, broken only by the hiss of pistons grinding against inadequately lubricated metal sleeves.
Suddenly, the walker halted.
The crew's minds wavered. They seemed to see serene moonlight, a tranquil, gently rippling lake.
Their eyelids grew heavy, as if they could fall asleep standing.
Within the Vostroyan command vehicle, the "Nightmare" drew the lieutenant into a dream.
Within the dream, the "Midnight Poet" saw his captain approach. "Concentrate fire! Engage the walker!"
'Upon destruction, immediately maneuvre into concealment!'
The dream shattered. The lieutenant returned to reality, immediately issuing orders over the company channel.
"Open fire!"
Eighty Vostroyan Rhinos and thirty Gabriel Predators simultaneously fired upon the grey tripodal walker.
A dense curtain of fire struck the shields. Energy shields crackled.
With a piercing shriek, the tripodal walker's shields failed. The crew died in their sleep.
As the "Nightmare" returned to reality, he heard the lieutenant shout.
"Maneuver! Conceal!"
Over a dozen tripodal walkers directed fire towards the Shadow of Order.
At the same moment, cacophonous sounds filled Oleksandr's vox-channel.
"Captain, seems I arrived just in time."
The Legio Astorum titan charged into the fray with his characteristic ferocity.
The Warlord Titan raised both arms. Bellicosa-pattern volcano cannons fired concentrated shells, engulfing two tripodal walkers.
At the same moment the Third Chapter's First Company secured its foothold on Gardinaal Prime, within the capital, Maria Kurnikova and the "Assassins" began their operations.
Maria's assigned target was the High Lord from the Administrative Caste, Mattis.
She and another "Witch," Dementieva, each led a team, operating separately.
Maria's team comprised her "Assassins" and five hundred Gardinaal.
Though the rebellion she and the "Instigators" had sparked was quelled by the warrior-caste deployed into the capital by the High Lords, she had handpicked elite members from among the lower castes who had risen up.
These individuals possessed either greater physical strength or sharper wits, unlike the numb masses.
After training by "Assassins" and baptism in previous actions, they were vastly different from before.
"Assassins" cleared patrolling warrior-caste. They moved swiftly through the shadow
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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