Chapter 363: Machines are Good; Machines Must Obey Me
Damon's assault did not stop. The armor on the Annihilation Engine's chest was continuously regenerating, but when it tried to get up and continue the attack, Damon grabbed its head and slammed it back into the ground.
Then, his fists fell like rain. The repair speed of the nano-living metal could no longer keep up with the rate of damage.
"ORA ORA ORA~"
Under the heavy blows, dust was constantly kicked up, obscuring the specific situation. It wasn't that Damon didn't want to use a weapon, but that conventional weapons could no longer withstand the strain of his physical strength. It was better to just fight with his fists and raw power.
The description in the "Very Strong" trait of subverting the laws of physics with physical strength was not just for show.
The alarms of the Annihilation Engine's combat system were blaring continuously, but even its powerful computational ability could not find a solution in this situation. Under the constant heavy blows, its internal systems began to short-circuit. The combat and servo systems could no longer function properly.
After Damon had rained several hundred blows on the damaged area in the space of two or three seconds, in his eyes, the entire body of the Annihilation Engine began to glow red. The Glory Kill mechanic of his Praetor Suit had been activated.
With a triumphant roar, the dust scattered.
And then, under the watchful eyes of all present, Damon held the Annihilation Engine high and, as if tearing paper, ripped the massive war machine to pieces. Looking at the pile of parts that had once been an Annihilation Engine, Damon couldn't help but marvel at the current strength of his body. The difference between a real battle and a test in the lab was still huge.
The other Night Sentinels had also completely suppressed the Annihilation Engines that were attacking Lucan. It seemed that victory was only a matter of time.
After confirming his current strength, Damon looked at Fletcher, who had been so sure of his victory just moments ago, as if to say, "Brother, you're finished."
Seeing Damon's gaze, which seemed to want to eat him alive, Fletcher no longer dared to hold back.
"Olivia! Teleport the rest of the Annihilation Engines here!"
He had originally wanted to keep ten as a defensive force for Komus, but after seeing the combat strength of the Night Sentinels, how could he dare to hold anything back? If he couldn't win directly through strength, then he would make up for it with numbers. Flesh was still flesh. A hit from a neuro-shredder, a phosphor weapon, or a pulse cannon would still kill them.
Soon, another ten Annihilation Engines joined the battle after a flash of teleportation light. Having witnessed the melee prowess of the Night Sentinels, the Annihilation Engines began to change their combat strategy. They used their numerical advantage to form a complete field of fire, blocking all of Damon and the others' advance and negating their speed advantage.
The Annihilation Engines' internal power sources were more than enough to support their high-intensity concentrated fire for a long time. The light from the pulse and phosphor weapons destroyed everything in sight. The entire palace began to collapse, and even other areas of the spire were affected.
Guilliman was forced to retreat to avoid the brunt of the attack. Even one of the "Very Strong" Night Sentinels was hit on one side of his body by a phosphor weapon. The healing trait prevented him from dying instantly, and his wounds were slowly recovering, but at this moment, he had lost his ability to fight.
Seeing the Annihilation Engines once again beginning to gain the upper hand, Fletcher's anxious heart began to settle down a little.
But the next second, the few machines at the front, which had been suppressed by the Night Sentinels, suddenly lost all mobility. They should have disengaged and returned to Fletcher's side, but instead, they stood frozen in place, unable to move a single inch.
In Fletcher's psychic vision, a massive psionic energy had appeared around those Annihilation Engines. The magnitude of this energy had already surpassed the limits of any individual in the material universe; even he could not compare.
Tentacles formed of a psionic energy that Fletcher had never seen before were wrapping around the Annihilation Engines. Although their armor had a certain anti-psychic effect and was constantly resisting the invasion of these tentacles, the strange appendages were still continuously seeping into their interiors.
These tentacles were the Daemon-steel nerve clusters formed by Lucan's Mechanicus Authority.
It had to be said, this ability of Vashtorr's was really quite useful. Faced with these machines that had no Machine Spirit, only an artificial intelligence, Lucan could not control them by controlling their spirit. But the Daemon-steel nerve clusters could.
The Annihilation Engine was, in the end, a machine. It was not a true Man of Iron with a complete artificial intelligence. And as long as it was a machine, it was subject to the restraint of Lucan's Mechanicus Authority.
Times change. The Golden Age had its advantages, but in the ignorant 41st Millennium, metaphysics was, in the end, the mainstream. These powers that were above the normal laws of the material universe were something that even these powerful Annihilation Engines could not escape. The most important ability of Lucan's Mechanicus Authority, besides its ability to purify Chaos corruption, was to control the machines of the material universe.
At this moment, Lucan was pushing his Authority to its fullest. A large number of Daemon-steel nerve clusters wrapped around the surrounding Annihilation Engines, restricting their movements. The weapons on the machines' arms continuously destroyed the tentacles that were trying to invade them, but more would always crawl up to take their place.
The Daemon-steel nerve clusters, relying on the suppression of Lucan's total psionic power, began to break through the external armor of the Annihilation Engines and invade their cores. The machines' own antivirus systems were blaring with alarms.
Lucan's Authority was rewriting their commands! Just as Chaos scrap-code invaded the various mechanical constructs of the Imperium, Lucan was doing the same thing. Even with their antivirus software running at full power, in a flash, countless lines of Lucan's code had already broken through.
Without this last line of defense, the Daemon-steel nerve clusters began to control their bodies. Even if their central systems had not yet been completely taken over, the nerve clusters that now covered almost their entire mechanical bodies had begun to control their actions.
The five Annihilation Engines slowly began to lose the struggle with Lucan for control of their bodies. They struggled to turn their bodies and face Fletcher and the other Annihilation Engines, and slowly raised the weapons in their hands. One after another, pulse-bubbles shot in Fletcher's direction. Although their aim was terrible due to the struggle for control, Lucan now had a long-range weapon that could threaten these machines.
This once again broke the stalemate on the battlefield. The two sides of the Annihilation Engines began to fire on each other. Damon and the others seized the opportunity and charged out from their cover. And outside, a large number of troops, having learned of the attack on Lucan and Guilliman, had already arrived. Two Gorgons had even jumped to a position above the palace. If not for the fact that Lucan and Guilliman were still inside, they would have already started their bombardment.
Fletcher's operation had only just begun, but the rollercoaster of emotions had left him at a bit of a loss. He had thought this would be a massacre, but it turned out he was the one being massacred. He had already used all the ground forces he could at this stage, and he still could not complete the assassination of Lucan and Guilliman.
If the devouring power of the Xel'naga that Lucan had shown earlier had led Fletcher to believe it was just a special genetic trait like a Blank, then what was this display of the Mechanicus Authority? He did not understand the essence of the Xel'naga's power. He only felt that two powers that should not coexist were present in the same individual. And the divine Authority of the Machine that Lucan had just displayed... was that not the highest goal that they, the Men of Gold, had been pursuing? To, through the mastery and understanding of psionics, finally step onto the path of godhood and transcend the mortal fleshly body.
The realm that the Men of Gold of the Golden Age had spent countless efforts to achieve, and had failed, was now appearing in Lucan. Seeing this, Fletcher was furious.
And more Daemon-steel nerve clusters were bypassing the five controlled Annihilation Engines and heading for the rest. Lucan could see that Fletcher had no more tricks up his sleeve. He wanted to capture him and find out what was going on.
The Annihilation Engines began to retreat, protecting Fletcher behind them and trying to avoid being controlled by the nerve clusters. Fletcher was now gritting his teeth. Lucan had already achieved their highest pursuit... and now he was his enemy. He did not think Lucan would tell him how he had done it.
There was no point in staying here any longer. In fact, he would just be handing over all the Annihilation Engines to the other party. With Komus's current manufacturing capabilities, every single one of these machines was an important weapon of war. They no longer had the Men of Stone to assist them, nor did they have an endless army of the Men of Iron. The only thing they could use now was these Annihilation Engines. Without them, given the current internal state of Komus, they might not be able to deal with an enemy invasion.
"Olivia! Teleport me and the Annihilation Engines back! Now!"
Receiving the message, Olivia immediately activated the teleportation device. However, just before the teleportation was successful, a thought suddenly appeared in Fletcher's head... a thought that was driving him to take the hiding Pacini with him.
Fletcher was also confused by this sudden thought... but the current situation did not allow him to think too much. Taking Pacini was indeed in their best interest now. He used his psychic power to grab the hiding Pacini.
Taking Pacini with him, Fletcher and all the Annihilation Engines teleported back to Komus. Since he could not directly kill the usurpers... then the coming battle would probably be a long one. And he did not have enough manpower now... these Navigators, who on the surface were his followers, were one of the few forces he could immediately use.
After a flash of light, apart from the five controlled Annihilation Engines, all the rest returned to Komus with Fletcher. The palace, which had been turned into a ruin, once again fell silent.
"He ran?"
Lucan cursed under his breath. The other party's teleportation technology was clearly not solely reliant on psionics; he could not stop it.
Up until now, neither Lucan nor Guilliman had figured out the other party's identity. He was not at all like a follower of the Chaos Gods. And now, the only ones who might know the truth were the Navigators.
The two of them simultaneously looked at the Navigators hiding in the ruins. The moment the battle had started, they had hidden themselves. The aftershock of the battle had killed several of them... but Fletcher killing the Artificial Blanks had also freed their psychic powers. Using their powers, they had managed to survive.
After checking the numbers, they found that apart from Pacini, who had been taken away, the only ones who had died were the patriarchs of a few small families. This did not have a great impact on Lucan's plan. The patriarchs of the other two great houses were still alive.
Pacini, who had been taken away, was clearly the most crucial one. Now, Lucan could only get some related intelligence from the others.
Watching Lucan and Guilliman walking toward them, they were both helpless and afraid. The sympathy on Guilliman's face was gone. His Honour Guard had suffered heavy casualties. These were his most loyal sons. And the actions of these Navigators, who had led the wolf to their door, had already sealed their death sentence.
Ovid's face was a mask of despair. He had never imagined things would develop to this point. As he was brought before Lucan and Guilliman, he no longer even had the thought to explain himself. He knew very well what he was about to face.
Damon, with the remaining Raiders and Night Sentinels, roughly dragged them out of the ruins. If Guilliman hadn't stopped them, the surviving Honour Guard would have already rushed up and torn them to pieces.
Lucan's devouring power was activated once more, stripping them of their final ability to resist. Fortunately, one of the transport cases containing the Infestors on the gunship had not been destroyed.
Seeing the Infestor appear before them again, the faces of the Navigator patriarchs were ashen. Pinned to the ground, they could only watch as the Infestor released its parasites, which crawled up their necks.
"Lord Guilliman! You are the Regent! How can you do these things! This is blasphemy! Heresy! The great Emperor will not allow you to do this!" Ovid struggled and screamed, making a last-ditch effort to appeal to his desire to live.
Faced with Ovid's words, Guilliman said nothing.
Time was short. Both Lucan and Guilliman had given up on interrogation. Using the Infestor was clearly much more efficient. Lucan gave the order without hesitation.
After a sharp pain, the parasites broke through the flesh on the back of their necks and, following their spines, attached themselves to their central nervous systems. The eyes of the Navigator patriarchs went vacant.
But the vacancy was only temporary. A few seconds later, their wills and souls were connected to the Zerg's Hive Mind. The Navigators, who had just been cursing Lucan and Guilliman, now knelt before Lucan. At this moment, they could be considered members of the Zerg, and would unconditionally obey his commands.
"These bugs are truly amazing..."
And from the mouth of the now-infested Ovid, Lucan and Guilliman learned the surface-level story of what had happened.
"Komus... the Tyrant Star... is controlled by House Ortelius and the traitorous House D'Kaeth?"
Lucan did not believe it at all. With just their strength, they could control such a powerful construct? The Chaos Gods were clearly the culprits. But he still hadn't gotten the identity of the other party.
Just as Lucan and Guilliman were still pondering the identity of these people, the long-unheard voice of the Emperor sounded simultaneously in both their minds.
"Lucan... Guilliman... those men are from the Golden Age of Humanity."