Wilshire found it perplexing that his target, Circi, had concealed himself within the Biosphere Recycling Centre for nearly five centuries.
As a High Lord commanding bio-engineering, he possessed far more suitable locations to choose from, bio-labs, caste cultivation centers...
Yet Circi had forsaken these obviously more significant sites, opting instead for the recycling centre.
An asset deemed 'expired' ought to merit little special attention from a Highlord.
Wilshire checked the vid-screens in his Vostroyan Rhino command vehicle. His Second Chapter had already breached outer defenses.
But over a hundred walkers emerged from the vast biosphere recycling centre.
'Too strange!'
'The entire recycling centre remains enclosed beneath its dome, utterly unnecessary and highly anomalous!'
Wilshire didn't attempt to risk traversing through tripodal walkers. He immediately called the Legio Fureans to handle them.
In orbit, the fleet from Forge World Incaladian.
Legio Fureans commander, Princeps Senioris Anger of the Shira-Gar, floated within a coffin-like, milky-white amniotic tank.
The communication receiver implanted in his inner ear cartilage emitted a series of beeps.
Upon receiving Wilshire's request for support, he immediately ordered combat preparations.
The hangar bustled with final preparations, devoid of Incaladion's past customary mystical rituals. It differed little from other Titan Legions' preparations.
Rumbling heavy cranes descended from above, delivering heaped-to-the-brim giant shells and slender missiles to the Titan weapon racks' loading bays.
Enormous rotary cannons, long-range howitzers, and plasma annihilators as vast skyscrapers.
Ammunition carts laden with Vulcan mega-bolter rounds sped past ground crews and deck laborers, carefully avoiding engine fuel and lubricants.
The yellow war machines made the two-kilometre-long hangar feel uncomfortably cramped.
The Legio Fureans completed landing preparations in one-tenth of their previous time.
They once believed every part of the God-Machine, from cockpit cables to chains buried within auto-loaders, represented a Machine-God aspect.
Legio Fureans crew members scrubbed away those faith-imbued symbols from the God-Machines.
Those beastly glyphs were utterly erased from both the feral world of Humara and the God-Machines themselves.
They still revered the God-Machine as manifestations of the Omnissiah, yet abandoned the barbaric, arcane shamanistic rituals.
As the Shira-Gar stepped onto the surface, Anger immediately issued attack orders.
Over two centuries of confinement had tormented them. Now, these caged tigers, having returned to the folds galaxy, could finally unleash their pent-up fury.
The Shira-Gar's dual volcano cannons and laser blasters roared like enraged tigers, launching a fierce assault against two tripodal walkers.
The Warlord Titan's furious barrages made the air tremble. Grey tripodal walkers were instantly suppressed by savage firepower.
Brilliant particle beams struck void shields, emitting piercing shrieks, but the Shira-Gar didn't halt.
Unlike most Titan Legions favoring sustained bombardment, Legio Fureans Titans scorned stationary tactics. They preferred high-speed maneuver, face-to-face firefights.
Anger moved with exhilarating fluidity; the Shira-Gar moved as swiftly as his thoughts.
Like a tiger stalking its prey, he selected targets through the auger.
The Shira-Gar's barrels swiveled, locking onto two prey.
The Warlord Titan launched a series of bombardments while striding towards them.
Two tripodal walkers raised arms, returning fire at the approaching metallic construct.
The crackling was cut short by two thunderous explosions, almost simultaneous.
From his command vehicle, Wilshire gazed at the vid-screens. The Legio Fureans lived up to their name: fierce and swift as tigers.
The Legio Astarum deployed swiftly upon entering the battlefield, yet their pace on the field lacked the Legio Fureans' relentless momentum.
Legio Fureans titans swiftly breached the tripodal walker lines, creating gaps in the orderly formation.
As the tripodal walkers scrambled to reorganize, the yellow Titans pressed relentlessly forward, crashing into one grey walker after another and tearing them apart with brutal efficiency.
Though tripodal walkers held a numerical advantage, their firepower and defense were inferior to Warlord Titans.
The battle concluded far sooner than Wilshire had anticipated. The path leading to the biosphere recycling centre was now unimpeded.
Wilshire personally mustered his Honor Guard clad in Cataphractii Terminator Armor, launching an assault on the recycling centre.
Dozens of Vostroyan Rhino armored vehicles revved engines, crashing towards the recycling centre.
Grey defensive turrets unleashed dense beams upon the black-armoured combat vehicles.
Unlike the Third Chapter near Cypra Mundi, which completed weave-shield retrofits earlier, the Second Chapter hadn't finished technical upgrades.
Over a dozen beams struck a Vostroyan Rhino. Energy beams instantly tore through black armor, vaporizing the Shadows of Order within.
The Legio Fureans did not withdraw immediately after combat to perform their battle rites, as they had done before.
Even before Wilshire's request, they had already launched an attack on the perimeter wall turrets.
Apocalypse missile launchers locked onto the defensive turrets, and missiles trailing luminous trails screeched into the adamantium alloy.
The concrete-poured road shook violently as blinding spheres of light shot skyward, piercing the rust-red sky.
The defensive turrets were instantly torn to shreds, and the Ferrocrete outer wall collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Within the Vostroyan Rhino, Wilshire's intuition suddenly stirred.
Instantly, a chill gripped him, as though he'd fallen into an icy cavern.
The Rhino command vehicle passed beneath the Titan's legs, under hanging banners.
The Cataphractii Terminator helmet filtered the most intense light. Wilshire squinted, opening his psychic sight, gazing towards the nearby recycling centre.
The structure before him transformed rapidly. The blazing inferno receded, and it abruptly resembled an ice chamber, emanating a chilling aura.
Shadowy figures moved within, some pacing restlessly, others murmuring softly.
The Vostroyan Rhino didn't stop, crashing through wreckage into the recycling centre
Wilshire deactivated his psychic vision, his eyes darkening momentarily.
In his Warp Insight, he saw gleaming lights.
Wilshire's earlier puzzlement instantly found answers.
'The Black Emperor mentioned during the war council that Gardinaal could create psykers.
Circi must have commandedpsykers, establishing psychic arrays here.'
'Expired individuals, though numb, still erupt with fear and resentment towards death in their final moments. This is harnessed as material for creating...'
Just as Wilshire reached this conclusion, a piercing wail erupted, causing the entire recycling centre to tremble.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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