Chapter 95: AI Domination
The Night Lords were exceptionally suited for special operations behind enemy lines. Now they deployed their most formidable asset: Terminators clad in Tactical Dreadnought Armour, the Legion's most heavily armed and armored infantry.
Dozens of Terminators, their ancient war-plate adorned with flayed skin and lightning motifs, supported by the relentless barrage of orbital fire from the sky, advanced like an unstoppable avalanche of ceramite and rage, charged directly toward the city walls across the scorched killing ground.
In the wilderness far from the battlefield, a drop pod screamed down through the atmosphere like a meteor, its retro-thrusters roaring as it hammered into the earth.
Omega emerged from the landing pod, watched the fierce offensive and defensive battle raging ahead, observed the tactical situation for a while, and nodded with satisfaction.
Within minutes, the combined assault intensified.
Sustained bombardment and the thunderous impact of siege rams breached the fortress defenses. Both Legions, the VIII and the XX, surged through the gap in a coordinated wave of trans-human fury.
The Night Lords' Terminators pushed forward like armored giants, laying down overwhelming firepower and spearheading the assault. At the same time, the Alpha Legion squads continuously provided precision covering fire to support the advance, their bolters barking in disciplined volleys.
Those who didn't know the truth would have thought that the two Legions cooperated seamlessly, but in reality, they were competing fiercely to determine a winner.
The flames of battle illuminated the sky, thick with dark clouds. Due to the immense size of the arcology-fortress in front of them, natural airflow was obstructed, and there was no rain.
Omega looked up, seeing the gloomy weather lit crimson and gold by the flames of war, and thought it fitting for such a moment.
The breach gradually widened, crumbling under sustained fire, and key strategic facilities inside were subjected to concentrated bombardment and systematically destroyed with methodical precision.
The Alpha Legion's assault troops swiftly penetrated deeper into the city, moving through the shattered defenses like wraiths.
Time passed, and eventually Omega and the company led by Company Commander Belok finally reached the city core.
On the main thoroughfare between towering buildings, countless robots with glowing optical sensors fired laser guns, but the Astartes charged forward, cutting them down like wheat before the scythe, their bolters and blades making short work of the inferior constructs.
Omega wielded two Power Swords simultaneously in a blur of motion, the energized blades crackling with disruptive energy fields, carving a path forward and leaving a trail of shattered, sparking robots.
Across the Hazariit System's primary world, designated Hazariit II Planet, the other arcology-fortresses fell to successive waves of the Astra Militarum and Space Marines who landed in subsequent waves.
Unless the AI Overlord could somehow escape this planet, it had nowhere to run.
Omega, while fighting, continually collected battlefield information through his helm display's tactical feed and then, taking advantage of the chaos, slipped away from his squad and made his way to the AI Overlord's massive fortress at the city's heart.
A black fortress as large as a ten-kilometer floating island, hovering impossibly above the surface, protected by an iridescent, shimmering, powerful energy shield, stood impregnable, the ultimate sanctuary of the AI Overlord's existence.
The interior of the fortress had no discernible rooms or recognizable mechanical structures.
The black buildings were entirely covered with complex circuits that glowed a pale white jade-hued light like veins of luminescent circuits.
Omega immediately understood that the black fortress before him was actually a colossal computational core, a thinking machine of unprecedented scale.
Konrad Curze, who had arrived earlier, and Alpharius, clad in Terminator armour, were both stymied by the fortress's comprehensive defensive systems.
Numerous Astartes Warriors from both Legions continuously opened fire, but the electromagnetic cannons and plasma weaponry had no discernible effect on the shielding. Seeing this, both Legions united their efforts in a sustained assault, relentlessly bombarding the black fortress's energy shield with everything in their arsenal.
But they still couldn't break through. Captain Skorr and others ordered the aerial and missile forces to concentrate fire on these coordinates.
Konrad Curze watched as a large number of Stormbird bombers and Thunderhawk Gunships flew in, continuously firing missiles at the fortress below.
There were also countless long-range missiles streaking through the sky on trails of fire. Everyone moved aside and watched as the entire black fortress was engulfed in explosions that bloomed like lethal flowers.
After bombing for a day and a night, everyone was somewhat stunned to see the energy shield remained intact, undimmed, and unbroken.
Konrad Curze realized this had become a true joint effort by both Legions to break through the black fortress.
Thinking of their earlier meeting on the grand space battleship in high orbit, he asked, "Alpharius, did you know this would be the outcome?"
Although Alpharius knew some of Konrad Curze and Omega's conversations, he couldn't know every detail.
He calmly looked at the black fortress in front of him and said serenely, "We can destroy it with orbital bombardment. That's our purpose for coming here, the annihilation of this abominable intelligence!"
Konrad Curze didn't expect him to be so straightforward and reminded him, "The prize is right in front of us, but you want to destroy it. Our goal is to capture the AI Overlord and determine who wins and who loses. That's the true purpose!"
"The result is the same!"
"No, it's not, unless you concede defeat!"
Alpharius fell silent and stopped talking to Konrad Curze. He would never concede to anyone, least of all his brother.
Konrad Curze looked at his brother standing before him, and for some reason, he felt this brother suddenly seemed very cold and distant, unnaturally distant, giving him a different feeling than in their previous encounters.
Initially, Konrad Curze had thought Omega was similar to him, both pursuing justice in the dark, and he was deeply curious about the difference between his brother's heart and his own.
However, after their previous exchange, he had found Omega's heart to be unexpectedly sincere and pure, remarkably so for a Primarch. There were few beings who could make him, Konrad Curze, genuinely laugh during a conversation.
He couldn't be mistaken about that warmth of humanity he had sensed.
It wasn't like the intense, burning, sun-like feeling he got from Horus, but Konrad Curze preferred this fainter, more subtle warmth of humanity.
Konrad Curze felt the difference between before and after and observed his brother without reservation.
Alpharius, who was already skilled in observation and counter-surveillance, felt a surge of annoyance at being watched so intently.
He turned his head slightly, glanced at him, his expression unreadable behind his helm, and then ignored him again.
The sky and ground forces continuously bombarded the AI Overlord's energy shield. Explosions flashed repeatedly, shaking the very air, but the energy shield showed no signs of breaking. After three days of continuous bombardment, which would have leveled a continent, the barrage proved utterly useless.
Konrad Curze directly ordered the use of nuclear weapons from the fleet in orbit.
...
Ten days later, the AI Overlord's energy shield was finally breached after successive nuclear bombardments, each detonation releasing the fury of miniature stars and exposing the black building beneath.
Countless exquisite light circuits were etched into the structure, now visible as glowing traceries across the dark surface. Konrad Curze and Alpharius stepped inside, followed by their respective Legions.
Due to continuous bombardment, many of the fortress's structures were already scorched and cracked. After the Space Marines entered, they fired continuously at their surroundings, bolters echoing in the cavernous interior.
Omega, blending into the crowd of Alpha Legion warriors, was somewhat surprised that the AI Overlord's computational core was so enormous beyond anything he had anticipated. It could be said that the entire black fortress was the AI Overlord, because it existed within the data of this massive computer, a sentient structure on an unimaginable scale.
Alpharius scanned the area through his helm displays and said coldly, "This entire black structure is the host of Abominable Intelligence. We have found it. Now, it's time to destroy it and purge this abomination from existence completely!"
Konrad Curze stomped his foot on the solid black ground, glancing at the carved light circuits. "It's the first time I've seen a host this large. No wonder it calls itself the Overlord. This competition ended without a clear victor. I'm not interested in this thing. Best to destroy it and be done with this farce!"
As soon as their words fell, the entire building suddenly roared, emitting a violent electromagnetic shockwave.
Everyone's communication devices lost function in that instant, vox-links dissolving into static. This shockwave gradually covered an area of 100 kilometers, washing over the battlefield like an invisible tide.
Whether it was tanks or cannons, or power armor systems, countless data streams impacted everyone present. Many Space Marines forcibly shut down their communications to prevent corruption of their armor's machine spirits.
Omega, in the crowd, was startled that the Overlord's final attack was a data stream. Such an attack would likely corrupt many electronic devices and compromise their systems.
Just as he was about to shut down communications, Omega saw that his power armour's program code was rapidly displaying data-stream modifications, cascading across his visor display.
Blinking, he was certain there was a problem with these program codes. Could it be that the Overlord had found him specifically?
A large data stream surged in and then suddenly stopped.
Seeing that Omega had not closed the communication interface, the data then flooded into the power armour like a torrent, overwhelming his systems.
In that moment, the entire black building began its self-destruct sequence. Seeing this, everyone immediately rushed to evacuate before the structure collapsed upon them.
Konrad Curze, undeterred by the data stream assault, withdrew while saying with dark amusement, "Indeed, the Overlord has extremely high intelligence. It can actually hear what we say and wants to die taking us with it, a fitting end for such a creature!"
"It's merely courting its own destruction!" Alpharius replied coldly as he scanned the gradually exploding and collapsing black building around him.
"For such Intelligence, there is only one destiny: complete destruction. They are things abominations that should not exist."
...
After the Astartes of both Legions withdrew to a safe distance, Alpharius directly called in an orbital bombardment strike from the fleet above.
On the open wilderness outside the vast city, a massive spherical explosion of light completely engulfed the entire arcology-fortress. Countless buildings and robot remains, along with the black building where the AI Overlord resided, were all reduced to ashes in a cascade of nuclear fire.
The war to eradicate the AI Overlord of the Hazariit System ended in total victory.
There was not a single intact planet remaining in the entire system.
Robots, unlike humans, did not require specific planetary environments. With their fully mechanical bodies, they can develop and survive on any planet in a system, building arcology fortresses and intelligent robots across lifeless worlds.
Omega oversaw the entire situation from a war base on the planet's surface, leaving the remaining mechanical army there for his subordinates to continue clearing in systematic sweeps.
Omega scanned the bustling base. The Mechanicum's Skitarii, Titan Legion, and Kataphron Battle Servitors, as well as allied Imperial Freeblade Knight Houses and Tech-Priests performing ordinary mechanical maintenance work, were visible everywhere in the base.
The Freeblade Knight Houses were formations formed through close cooperation between local planetary noble families and the Mechanicum. Their personnel were mainly semi-mechanized nobility piloting ancient war machines. Most members of the Imperial Freeblade Knight Houses are not official Mechanicus members and belong to the Astra Militarum's reserves.
The Skitarii are mainly composed of Tech-Preists of the Mechanicum, possessing various esoteric technologies, arcane equipment, and powerful strength enhanced by sacred augmetics.
For the vast Mechanicum organization, the number of Magos is considerably over a thousand on Forge Worlds.
Titans are god-machines, operated by Tech-Priests Princeps and Moderati within them. The Titan Legion is the most cutting-edge and crucial part of the Mechanicus's military might, embodying the Omnissiah's power in physical form.
Below that tier came the Kataphron Battle Servitors. Each Kataphron is a heavily augmented cyborg weapon system. Battle Servitors are, in a sense, heavily modified robots.
Their power ceiling is very high. High-ranking Battle Servitors might even match ordinary Astartes in combat prowess. Their control chips in their heads are biological chips that interface directly with what remains of their organic brains.
Omega stood at the entrance to the commander's building, watching from afar a massive, heavy assault infantry vehicle hundreds of meters tall, rumbling out of the base and transporting one hundred tall Kataphron Battle Servitors.
Upon entering the commander's building, numerous Astra Militarum officers and generals were visible, as were Company Commanders of Space Marines in power armour, coordinating the ongoing compliance operations.
Arriving at a quiet office on a high floor of the base, Omega drank a cup of hot tea.
Seeing no one else present, he called up the power armour's program code and typed a query, his fingers moving across the hololithic interface.
He asked, "Is anyone there?"
There was no response from the program code input. The silence made Omega pause.
He quickly checked the power armour's program code and indeed found a large amount of unknown data code. He could understand the data structure; it was...elegant, frighteningly so.
The Abominable Intelligence, or AI, was what Magos like Julius spoke of mysteriously, but in reality, it was just self-aware intelligence formed by a large amount of data and program code, emerging from a complex set of hardware used in creation, but also an impossible level of microscopic technology applied in their creation.
Omega thought for a moment and continued to type, asking, "Is there an AI present within my systems?"
This time, after a moment of silence, the power armour's data stream suddenly displayed a line of text automatically in response to Omega's question.
"Yes, I exist!"
Startled, Omega's expression became strange. It was as if his power armour had gained a soul and suddenly manifested to tell him, "I do exist."
A self-aware AI was truly several levels above a machine spirit, a true digital consciousness rather than a simple reactive system.
Omega thought for a moment and typed in the program code, asking, "Without the massive black building's computational core, you shouldn't have the vast computational power you had before to control the entire system. Right?
My power armour's computational core is very weak, and it can't hold your massive knowledge data backup. Am I correct?"
[End of Chapter]
Check out the new FanFic:-
Warhammer 40k: A Green Commissar Doesn't Dream of Death Corps
Warhammer 30K/40K: Godfather of the Night Lords
Both are good with their own sweet & bitter moments.
-----
Want to read more than 50+ chapters right now!
patreon.com/cw/Mr_UmU
https://www.patreon.com/Mr_UmU
____
Want bonus chapters? You got it.
Goal: 300 – Achieved: 266 = 2 Bonus Chapters
📌 1 Power Stone on the Book Page = 100 on Chapter Pages!
!! VISIT the BOOK PAGE to donate.