The clamor of battle filled the upper hive of Merseyside Hive Five.
Workers had been gathered to reinforce buildings and construct defenses at the corners of the mag-rail station.
A thousand newly forged anti-aircraft batteries were hastily mounted on the high walls, their mixed barrels aimed skyward.
Laser defense weapons hummed and sizzled from countless spires and factory rooftops.
Temporary roadblocks had been converted into barricades and forward posts, surrounded by newly dug trenches.
The defense forces crouched behind bulletproof shutters and doors, their weapons aimed through firing ports at the hive's mag-rail entrances.
Massive black figures, their steps heavy, came into view.
The Saturnine-pattern Terminator prototypes strode directly into the trenches. The thermal dispersion fields enveloping their armor melted the embedded spikes in short bursts.
The conversion beam projectors on the shoulders of the front-line Terminators, controlled by their psychic shock units, swiveled.
Bright beams lanced out, sweeping across the rooftops.
The defense force soldiers operating the laser arrays were instantly incinerated, their bodies exploding in clouds of black smoke.
The defenders watched the terrifying sight, their faces pale, staring at the black iron fortresses, unable to pull their triggers.
In the strange silence, the sector broadcast channel crackled, then a loud voice boomed.
"My faithful! I am Ezequiel! I am the Unsighted King!"
"The blasphemous heretics have set foot in my divine kingdom. They will destroy everything you believe in, your homes."
"I am watching you. I bless you..."
As the Unsighted King's words spread through the sector, a yellow-green light of faith kindled in the officers' eyes.
"My Lord is watching us..."
"In His name, attack!"
"Kill!" The defenders' trembling hands steadied. They squeezed their triggers.
From the defense spires, beams of light lanced from layer after layer of firing ports, raining down on the advancing Saturnine-pattern Terminators.
Sizzle...
Smoke rose from the Terminators' armor. They raised their right arms. Their plasma cannons grew brighter as energy built.
With a burst of blinding light, superheated plasma struck the spires, blasting holes in their steel shells.
Sparks flew. The cracks widened. The buildings became stifling cages of superheated steam.
With a burst of high-intensity microwaves, one spire exploded in a thunderous roar.
Defenders were vaporized in bloody mist. Fireballs slammed into the oncoming armored vehicles.
The hulls of the Malcador heavy tanks bore the insignia of the "Solar Auxilia." They had been commandeered at the last moment before being sent to the Expedition Fleets, and now served the rebels.
The heavy armored hulls shuddered. Hunter-killer missiles, their tails trailing bright flame, shot from their turrets into the First Chapter's 3rd Company lines.
Boom, boom, boom...
A series of detonations. A wave of heat erupted around two Saturnine-pattern Terminators, hurling debris.
Beep, beep...
Yellow warning runes flashed across the Shadows of Order's visors: 'Thermal dispersion field overloaded!'
Red runes flickered. Heavy bolter rounds hammered against the black forms.
Within the black spire, Ezequiel watched, his diamond eyes gleaming.
'Indeed, my presence on the battlefield inspires my faithful.'
'In a full-scale invasion, hiding in a palace is useless. I must inspire everyone.'
Ezequiel's diamond eyes swiveled, each looking at a different angle.
Two Shadows of Order raised their arms, their power fists' disintegration fields crackling to life.
The "Judges'" spirituality locked onto the tank crews. They intoned in Dunnic: "Death!"
Their bodies merged with a strange power. Their black forms, trailing afterimages, charged the two Malcador tanks.
Heavy bolter fire from a dozen Malcador tanks streaked past the afterimages, blasting debris.
Boom! Boom!
Blue light tore through the steel hulls. The power fists struck the drivers' heads.
As the bloody mist cleared, the power fists swept through the gunners and their weapons.
Screech...
The other Malcador drivers swung their controls, pulling back from the two black-armored giants.
Under the violent motion, the gunners trained their sights on the giants.
Heavy bolters roared, a curtain of fire hammering the Saturnine-pattern Terminators.
Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed in the defenders' ears.
"Object of sanction: the Unsighted King and the rebels!"
The dawn-light blazed.
Captain Michal of the First Chapter's 3rd Company charged forward, a quarter taller than any other Shadow of Order in his company.
The "Disciplinary Paladin's" charging form was immense in the rebels' eyes.
They averted their gaze, unable to meet the supernatural authority.
The drivers, staring at the giant, felt their arms locked by invisible shackles, growing rigid.
One Malcador swerved, crashing into a factory building.
Its hull sent machines flying before smashing into a cold furnace.
Inside the spires flanking the avenue, the defenders instinctively pressed themselves to the floor, releasing their triggers, not daring to attract the black-armored giant's attention.
Others, as the dawn-light flooded the buildings, threw down their weapons and fled in panic.
Within the spire, Ezequiel's diamond eyes spun wildly. His yellow-green veined body trembled.
He felt the supernatural authority emanating from the black-armored giant spread, destroying the courage he had instilled in his faithful.
'My faith is being destroyed by him!'
Ezequiel raised his golden scepter, aiming at the black-armored giant.
"Kill him! Kill the one who is shouting!"
His voice echoed over the sector channel, but the surrounding spires were silent.
Michal's gaze swept the area. With his "Sheriff's" perspective, he sought the subtle discordance.
His eyes narrowed, focusing on one spire.
It was the only building where the defenders continued to resist.
A hundred molten streams hissed towards him.
Michal charged the spire, his power fist crackling.
The blue light of the disintegration field was eclipsed by the dawn-light enveloping him.
Clang, clang, clang...
He felt the surging power. Each step cracked the ground.
He took four steps, then launched himself.
The streams of fire converged into a single column, striking him.
Whoosh!
The heat exploded skyward. The "Disciplinary Paladin," undeterred, crashed into the spire's top like a boulder.
Boom!
Michal smashed through, his arm sweeping. Defenders and melta guns erupted together.
He raised his arm, aiming at the man in the crown, holding the golden scepter.
"This place is forbidden to 'Parasitism'!"
Bang! Bang!
The diamond eyes shattered.
The "Disciplinary Paladin" sensed two wispy, malevolent things fly out.
Following the trace his "Sheriff" abilities had caught, he raised his arm.
"Imprisonment!"
The viscous fluid coiled around the transparent worms, then fell into Michal's open hand.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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