"Assassins" clad in Markaton-pattern Dominum armor sped towards the administrative complex. They activated built-in grapnel launchers.
Silk threads shot towards habitation towers. Grapnels firmly gripped ferrocrete exterior walls.
The "Assassins" leapt lightly, soaring through the air.
Gliding nearly a hundred meters, the "Assassins" detached from the silk threads like spiders descending, landing on spanning pedestrian walkways.
In leaps and bounds, aided by Markaton armor's silk, they moved several times faster than on foot.
Maria Kurnikova's team soon reached the administrative complex, launching their assault.
"Assassins" fired silk threads, swiftly gliding over guards' heads in the shadows. They released threads, descending like feathers behind guards.
"Assassins" moved with agile steps, appearing behind them. Explosive force concentrated in a single strike shredded the fine grey armor.
When the five hundred lower-caste elites arrived, guards were already routed. "Assassins" charged into the administrative complex.
A tall lower-caste woman, her brown hair grown past her scalp after discarding her past, shouted:
"Those who call themselves Lords of Gardinaal have enslaved us for countless generations. Now is the time for change."
"We are the New Gardinaal. Today is our destined moment."
Her fluid words and fervent passion infected the others.
The lower castes cast off the shackles of their origins. They charged into the administrative complex, wielding blades against the higher castes they had once dared not even look upon.
At the heart of the administrative complex, High Lord Mattis watched the surveillance screens, his face ashen, eyes blazing with fury.
"How dare those vile slaves! They shall die!"
The commander of the Guard-Caste, expression grave, had replaced the original Servant Caste in protecting the High Lord's safety since Mattis's awakening.
He personally led the force that crushed the Alphy caste, eliminating threats to the High Lord's safety.
"Great Lord of Gardinaal, your safety is paramount. We should depart immediately."
Mattis nodded. "Prepare for evacuation."
The Guard-Caste commander immediately issued orders over the comm-network, initiating evacuation procedures.
Elite guards holding riot shields formed a defensive ring around Mattis.
Mattis was only fifteen, but his inherited memories spanned over four thousand five hundred years.
The earliest memories dated to the administrative complex's construction five millennia ago.
The periods of slumber served as time to seek his successor.
Even a body enhanced by biotechnological evolution might prove incapable of bearing the imprint of consciousness.
The sheer volume of memories, coupled with the behavioural patterns and decision-making processes reshaped by life experiences, constituted a formidable test of will.
Throughout his prolonged existence, Mattis had faced numerous situations: rebellions instigated by castes with fewer evolutionary iterations, incursions by external foes.
Having weathered such trials, he swiftly regained his composure.
Glancing back at the administrative complex left behind, he stated calmly: "Gardinaal endures. The foe will perish."
The guard commander responded with a resounding shout, 'Long live the High Lord!'
The words had scarcely left his lips when a series of whistling sounds pierced the air.
Figures descended from the sky, simultaneously lashing out with whips.
The whips struck the ballistic shields, producing a series of thuds.
Guards looked up, seeing black-armored figures emerging from all sides.
The guard commander's expression remained unchanged. He hadn't anticipated that, besides the assassins who had infiltrated the administrative building, there were also ambushers here.
"Assassins" landed, again lashing out with Markaton venom-whips.
Besides the standard web-fang gun, Markaton's close-combat weapons allowed choice between claws or venom-whips.
Maria excelled in Otsberg-Vaya; most "Assassins" she taught chose claws.
Among Dementieva's "Assassins", more favoured the venom whip.
The Makarton venom-whips coiled like a python around the shields, lashing against the grey ceramite before instantly shattering its defenses.
Venom-whips striking guards immediately released stored bio-toxins.
Guards felt paralysis, collapsing one after another.
The guard commander and several elite guards reacted swiftly, sidestepping to evade the whips.
The guard commander suddenly sensed incoming wind. He rolled several times, barely dodging a descending transparent ice spear.
Frost spread rapidly. The guard commanders' movements slowed for an instant, becoming impeded.
"Witch" Dementieva landed like lightning. Black flames swirling around her rose like a vortex, engulfing several elite guards.
Amidst screams, the "Witch" didn't pause. Markaton venom-whips entwined with black flames lashed towards the guard commander.
The guard commander narrowly avoided whip strikes again and again. He swung his particle blade, slashing at Dementieva.
The 'Witch' sidestepped the blade. With a flick of her wrist, a barrage of frost spikes erupted from the ground, piercing the grey armour.
The guard commander's face twisted in horror. He strained to free his legs from the frosty spikes; the initial numbing chill had spared him pain.
The searing agony struck as two black-flamed whips severed his torso.
The guard commander's body broke into three segments, burning in black flames. Dementieva felt as if something shattered within her.
With two similar experiences, she thought inwardly:
'By spreading disaster on Gardinaal, I've mastered the power bestowed by the Black Emperor, becoming a true "Witch."'
Dementieva then shifted her gaze to her target: High Lord Mattis.
Mathis watched in horror as his guard was slain in an instant by the assassin who had materialised.
His mind raced. As the slender woman in black attire approached, he spoke:
"I surrender. But I wish to see your commander, the Primarch..."
Before Mattis finished, Dementieva raised her left arm. A Markaton venom-whip struck him.
The High Lord's body went numb, his entire frame convulsing.
Dementieva raised her right arm. The web-fang gun projected resilient filaments that rapidly hardened upon contact with the air.
A steel cage of filaments wrapped around Mattis. Rendering him utterly immobile, even if he could move.
Mattis watched the woman, skin pale and smooth as water, effortlessly lift and sling him over her shoulder.
As Dementieva captured the High Lord, Tierney also began operations.
The treasure-stealing team's target this time was a person, not a valuable item.
Unlike the countless industrial facilities scattered across Gardinaal's eleven worlds, Gardinaal Prime's capital had fewer factories, only meeting the capital's various needs.
Yet within the capital stood a massive industrial complex.
Even during the recent lower-caste uprising, they couldn't breach this steel fortress.
Over a hundred unseen shadows silently descended upon the steel fortress's rooftop.
Tierney led his "Marauders," feeling their way across the dome, searching for an entrance.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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