The "Shadow Ascetic" moved among the human slaves, where a battle for their minds raged between the neural collars and the power of the Mind-Controllers.
A small portion obeyed the Librarians' commands, orderly turning and marching out of the throng to gather together. The majority stood frozen, eyes vacant and lost. A tiny few, still enslaved by their neural collars, continued their mindless advance forward.
One xenos, its body covered in writhing tentacles, waved its arms at the slaves around it, roaring in fury.
Seeing no reaction, its six arms each snatched up a slave, hoisting them high. With a sickening crunch of breaking bones, it hurled the crushed bodies aside.
Ramsey quickened his pace, each step landing squarely in the shadow of a human slave.
Moments later, he materialized two meters behind the xenos.
The "Shadow Ascetic's" psychic sense stretched out, touching the alien's shadow.
The darkness obeyed his will, rapidly coalescing into the form of a panther.
The "Summoned Shadow" leopard lunged, razor-sharp claws aiming for the xenos's thick neck.
THWUMP! The panther smashed against what seemed an invisible wall and was sent flying back.
The xeno's spun, eyes flashing with confusion at the sight of the black beast.
"Where had this dark creature come from?"
'An Overlord' the "Shadow Ascetic" noted silently as he "lurked in the shadows", circling behind the xeno.
He extended more of his psychic energy, touching the Overlord's shadow.
The xenos lashed out with its tentacles, coiling them around the panther, and instantly felt a soul-numbing cold.
In the moment it was frozen stiff by the chill, a blade hissed through the air, slashing across its back.
Crackling energy spat and sparked. The xeno tried to turn, to find its attacker.
But the waves of cold seeping from its tentacles made its body shudder uncontrollably.
Bracing against the chill, it ordered two more tentacles to seize the panther, squeezing with all their might until it shattered.
Black ichor sprayed, coating all six tentacles in viscous fluid.
The xenos felt its body grow colder still, as if plunged into a cryo-chamber.
Shivering violently, its turning motion became agonizingly slow.
The "Shadow Ascetic's" psychic energy sheathed his blade as he hacked and slashed, relentlessly battering the personal energy shield.
The xenos had barely rotated sixty degrees when, with a piercing shriek, the Overlord's energy shield collapsed.
Its tentacles whipped back, desperately trying to halt the unseen attacker.
In the next instant, its blood seemed to boil, surging as if injected with stimulants.
'I MUST see what is attacking me!'
The xenos spun like a top, completing over a dozen revolutions in the span of a heartbeat.
The Librarians watched from the shadows, observing the xenos he had afflicted with bio-lightning.
After the twenty-fifth spin, its speed finally slowed. It panted heavily, feeling utterly drained.
'I… must… see…'
With a final, bitter thought, it lost consciousness and crumpled to the ground.
The "Shadow Ascetic" felt a something dissolving within him.
He flashed through the shadows, crossing the slave army's lines far faster than the circuitous route of the armored vehicles.
Ramsey saw many xenos, but his gaze did not linger on them for a moment.
His eyes were drawn instead by missiles trailing fire, following their path until they struck their target with a deafening blast.
Through the haze of smoke, the Librarians sight pierced. He saw the xenos that had been hit, utterly unharmed.
He focused on the xenos, tracing the outline of its colossal form.
It stood as tall as a Warlord-class Titan. But more than any animal, it resembled a plant.
Its head was a high, domed mass, as if countless growths were fused together.
Its body tapered downwards, like the wrapping of a bouquet.
Its arms were composed of densely packed branches, encasing a bizarre weapon that spat searing energy beams against the Titan's void shields.
It had three tree-like legs, one forward, two back. The end of each leg split into dozens of root-like branches, gripping the ground fiercely.
Seeing the behemoth, Ramsey immediately recognized it from the Black Emperor's briefing: Osseivores.
The Rangdan were a vast xenos alliance, with the Osseivoress and Cerabvores as the two dominant species.
The Cerabvores wielded formidable psychic power, often serving as commanders, and could unleash neurotoxins that not even an Astartes could resist.
The Osseivoress possessed overwhelming combat strength, sometimes exceeding that of a Titan.
Ramsey had never doubted the Black Emperor's words, but he had struggled to imagine a creature rivaling a Titan in battle. He had thought only a Primarch could possess such might.
Now, seeing a Osseivores, he witnessed it firsthand: a living thing as immense as a god-machine.
Ramsey stared at the sole piece of machinery on the Osseivores, the bizarre weapon whose energy beam even suppressed the Titan's firepower. It had a mechanical eye, larger than a man, covered in densely packed xenos runes.
The two gun barrels were actually covered in sharp, bony protrusions, making him wonder if it was a hybrid of machine and organism.
Ramsey ascended into the first layer of Thelema mindstate, steadying his shock, clearing his thoughts, and analyzing the battle.
He filtered out the overwhelming assaults of the Titan and the Osseivores. Missiles struck energy shields; energy beams met void shields. He couldn't judge advantage from the attacks alone.
He needed other factors.
Filtering the interference, Ramsey found the key.
He noticed the Osseivores was steadily advancing.
The Titan constantly shifted position, using the surrounding forges for cover, trying to put distance between them.
The conclusion was immediate.
'Just as my Lord said. Most Titans are outmatched by a Osseivores.'
He keyed his vox and sent a message to Falk.
"Lord, I've spotted a Rangdan Osseivores. The Xana Titan will be destroyed soon."
"What?" Falk's voice crackled with shock. "Confirmed?"
"Confirmed. Sending coordinates now."
Ramsey' rune-caster captured the position and transmitted it to the tactical network.
The moment the vox-link cut, Ramsey saw the growths atop the Osseivores's head sway, as if stirred by a wind.
A blindingly bright light seared the Shadow of Order's eyes; he squinted involuntarily.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground convulsed violently in the deafening explosion. Hyper-thermal fragments of machinery and armor plating tore through furnace after furnace.
When his eyes adjusted, Ramsey snapped his gaze to the Titan.
It was immobile; the power plant was clearly destroyed.
But the Titan hadn't ceased fire. Missiles streaked through the air, and searing beams lanced towards the Osseivores.
BOOM!
Ramsey saw a missile, trailing light, slam into the Osseivores's crown.
The colossal form shuddered. Dozens of black, branch-like appendages fell like spears, crashing down among the Rangdan xenos.
POP POP POP…
A cascade of personal energy shields failed as over a dozen Overlords were impaled by the falling branches.
'The Titan broke its personal shields!' Ramsey thought with a surge of hope.
The thought barely formed when a earth-shattering roar erupted.
Ramsey looked up, and his world filled with searing light. He was blinded.
A thunderous explosion followed, and his ears rang with a piercing whine.
Seconds passed before the Shadow of Order recovered. He looked towards the battlefield. The immense Titan lay shattered, blown apart. He could barely make out its legs.
Ramsey sighed inwardly 'The Osseivores destroyed the Titan!'
His ear twitched. He heard the roar of engines.
.....
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