Chapter 69: Not a Single One is Human |
The entire Upper Hive region descended into a brief state of chaos.
Almost instantaneously, the infected and the Genestealers fell into hysterical madness.
"No, what is this? What have I become?"
"My child, where is my child? No, meat... ugh, that meat—"
The mildly infected completely lost their minds once the hallucinations shattered. The highly mutated variants, after a brief moment of disorientation, began scattering in all directions to flee for their lives.
The Sharks began their purge of these chaotic remnants.
Arthur flicked the gory tissue from his hands and completely powered down his Backpack, arriving at the untouched cardinal Sanctum.
[740.M41-P 11:42 AM - Location: Piedmont Prime - Upper Hive Administratum Hall]
[Objective: Hunt down the psychic node organism. (Completed)]
Rameses could not help but marvel. He stood within the Mechanicus Sanctum amidst a pile of cooked Genestealers, having kept a close eye on Arthur and Karna.
Their psychic resistance was so absurdly high that anyone who did not know better would think they were Untouchables.
"I told you there was nothing to worry about. If you throw those two into a pile of enemies, you should be worried for the other side. My psychic Rune has not even been triggered yet,"
he said to Romulus beside him, casually dispelling the faint, eerie green glow from his hands.
The psychic spell of The Pureblood was quite handy, especially when used to immolate the Genestealers themselves. It could propagate through their psychic network. A single blast was enough to treat all the Non-Node Genestealers within several kilometers to an instant Mind Incineration.
He then tested it within his personal Enclave in the Warp, using the Daemons who were still transcribing various arcane texts for him.
"Aaaargh—"
Ripples formed within the Warp as it was gradually swallowed by shadows.
Several Tzeentch Pink Horrors were baptized by this searing power. After screaming in agony, they began transcribing even more vigorously, making sure to add the footnote: 'The other Daemons are wrong.'
'Damn it, all nine Daemons wrote completely different things.'
Rameses narrowed his eyes, immediately planning to have the better-performing Nurgle Daemons deal with these liars properly.
"Excellent confidence. Keep it up,"
Romulus replied, not wanting to spoil the mood. It was just like playing video games in the past as a backseat commander—when a teammate made a great play, all you had to do was shout your praises.
Analyzing the battle right after securing a victory would only ruin the atmosphere.
"All units, report your status,"
he broadcasted over the comms.
They would have to wait for the plasma clouds around Arthur to disperse before they could establish a proper connection with him.
The fact that the four of them could communicate without any medium was also a closely guarded secret.
"Sector purge completed,"
Orlando was the first to reply. He then looked at the silent Veterans beside him with a heart full of awe.
Their marksmanship was terrifyingly precise, their reflexes impossibly swift. Aside from years of grueling training and the accumulation of battlefield experience, Orlando could not fathom how they had honed such devastating fire support capabilities.
Following Orlando's update, reports from all sides began pouring in.
Having lost the Psychic Link of The Pureblood, the Xenos suffered an exaggerated drop in Combat Power. Many of the creatures even displayed conflicting movements, as if their consciousnesses were only just now adjusting to their physical forms.
Thinking of the desperate expressions on the faces of those tragic souls who still believed they were human when the hallucinations shattered, Romulus let out a soft sigh and marked the Genestealer threat level in red within the archives.
Once subjected to Gene-Corruption, they were beyond saving. Even if the immediate effects were briefly dispelled, the subsequent mutations would completely rewire the minds of the infected.
Once a Pureblood Genestealer emerged, these infected individuals would become the most lethal threat to the normal humans around them.
What made it even more deadly was that this species could seamlessly interbreed with normal humans, fundamentally altering the demographic of an entire region within just a few generations.
"What is our next move, gentlemen?"
Romulus took the initiative to share his thoughts.
"I am inclined to prioritize establishing a secure Spire Environment and rallying the Imperial Resistance. After that, we investigate the Chaos Contamination Source and neutralize the Word Bearer threat. This way, whether we intend to reclaim this planet or evacuate after completing our mission, we can proceed with confidence."
"I will dispatch agents to investigate the Chaos contamination. I will require your assistance during this process, my lords,"
Aglaia stated swiftly and concisely.
Her objective was straightforward: to eliminate the old fool who dared to deal with Daemons.
"I need to access the information within the Sanctum. It determines whether I can obtain what I seek on this planet,"
Cawl quickly added. "I will deploy automata and the Guard Militant to defend the Sanctum. You may establish a fortified stronghold around the Mechanicus Sanctum."
"We follow your command, my lords!"
Orlando shouted in response, completely forgetting that they had only come here because of a deal with the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The Priest's hand twitched, intensely regretting that he had not covered the man's mouth fast enough.
'Marshal, there is a reason you were kicked out of the Sword Brotherhood twice.'
"Very well. We will prioritize sweeping the Mechanicus Sanctum and establishing a stronghold centered around it. The Inquisition will be responsible for dispatching reconnaissance squads toward the Forge World sector,"
Romulus agreed.
Everyone reached a consensus.
Before they could Understand Thoroughly the specific conditions within the Underhive and the Forge World, they would not blindly venture inside.
If they were to Charge Headlong, even ten more Chapters would not be enough to fill the meat grinder.
"Romulus."
Arthur's voice echoed over the newly restored comms.
"I think you need to see this."
Inside the solemn marble hall of the Departmento Administratum, metal fingers smelling faintly of machine oil slotted the Signal Plug-in provided by Cawl into the Cogitator's interface.
Accompanied by the hum of data streams, images intercepted from the Imperium's veins transformed into a Holographic Projection, reflecting against the retinas of the allied commanders.
This was the Surveillance Matrix buried deep beneath the Departmento Administratum.
Those Genestealers actually had some skill. When the core of the Departmento Munitorum was reduced to scorched earth by the fires of war sparked by the Word Bearers, the Xenos had somehow managed to reconstruct a similar Surveillance Network over the ruins of the Administratum Hall.
Many sectors had been obliterated by explosive shockwaves, but the surviving nodes, clinging to life through physical hardlines, faithfully fed the failing pulse of the dying planet into the Cogitator.
The images flickering across the screens of light were enough to render even the most experienced warriors speechless.
Within the surveillance feed, aside from a few scattered, desolate areas, the scenes mostly consisted of battlefield silhouettes tearing across the horizon.
Plasma Flames licked the Gothic spires. The wreckage of Autocannon Turrets was tossed about in storms of explosive fire, and corpses clad in various patterns of armor lay scattered like broken dolls at the feet of a once-sacred Imperial Statue.
On one side were Beastmen and Mutants, with a scattering of Daemon Sorcerers mixed within their ranks.
They were entirely forces of Chaos.
On the other side were pink-skinned humanoids with an abnormal number of limbs, the least mutated among them sporting bald, gleaming heads.
They were entirely Genestealers.
They fought relentlessly in the Upper Hive, clashing just as fiercely in the Underhive, and warring brutally across the Hive Outskirts.
Artillery thundered, and blood splattered across the war zone.
Not a single one was human.