The impact of the Hive's biomass pods struck like the drumbeats of an apocalypse, dull and dense, pounding on every inch of the Hive City's battle-scarred steel skeleton.
Green-purple viscous slurry and shattered chitin shells scattered everywhere, accompanied by teeth-grinding sounds of flesh and metal forcibly fusing and then tearing apart.
The pod doors exploded open, and more, stronger, more ferocious Tyranid combat units, Tyranid Warriors, Executioners, and even Tyrant Guards with builds comparable to light tanks, surged forth like a floodgate of foul torrents, pouring into the already chaotic battlefield.
Their objective was clear: tear apart all non-Hive creations, devour organic matter, and drown out the cold gleam of machinery.
The Adeptus Mechanicus's lines melted away like butter thrown into boiling water.
The defensive line composed of Skitarii soldiers and Battle Servitors appeared so thin in the face of absolute numbers and the mad violence of evolution.
One strongpoint after another fell, squad after squad was devoured, and the communication channels were filled with desperate calls, brief screams, and harsh electrical noise.
Troop counts plummeted madly. Fifty thousand, forty thousand, thirty thousand...
When the number finally fell below ten thousand, flickering precariously at 9,987 as if it might completely collapse at any moment, all surviving Adeptus Mechanicus players, regardless of their location, heard through their helmet audio receivers an extremely faint sound, as if coming from the depths of distant void... the meshing of gears?
Immediately after, that grand, cold electronic synthesized voice representing the highest will of the Adeptus Mechanicus rang out again.
But this time, the near-absolute-zero calm that had remained unchanged for years in that voice was broken.
The noise of the data stream became more dense, more high-pitched, and even mixed with a frequency tremor that could be interpreted as "excitement" and "fervor"!
"Analysis complete... xeno biomass sample analysis confirmed... resilience... exceeds estimates... twisted flesh... can actually briefly resist the radiance of the Omnissiah..."
The voice paused briefly, as if performing some calculation beyond mundane logic.
"But!"
The volume suddenly rose, each syllable ringing out like a forging hammer striking a metal anvil, "Retreat... is not the way of the faithful!
Calculations show that the data contained in the target STC fragment... far exceeds the consumption of this campaign! This is a relic of the Machine God, not to be desecrated, not to be lost!"
The excitement in that voice became increasingly obvious, almost to the point of being piercing:
"We who are the limbs and eyes of the Omnissiah walking in the world, for this sacred mission—we shall prevail!"
"All remaining units, regroup! Abandon all secondary objectives! All redundant emotion modules, suppress! Logic cores, overclock!"
"In the name of the Omnissiah, by the turning of the Machine God's sacred gears, I swear—launch the final counteroffensive!!!"
[Final Offensive directive confirmed! Maximum authority override!]
The cold system notification sound followed closely, yet it was like raising the curtain on some sacred (or rather, terrifying) ritual:
[God's Machines responds to the call - Warhound-class reconnaissance Titan, designation 'Steel Creed', has been deployed to preset launch shaft, entering battlefield!]
Throughout the entire Hive City, in a relatively sturdy dome area in the lower levels, amid earth-shaking booms and ear-splitting metal grinding sounds, the structure collapsed inward with a thunderous crash!
An unimaginably massive shadow slowly descended through that breach!
Two incredibly thick mechanical legs covered in layers upon layers of heavy armor, like celestial pillars, crushed everything below and planted firmly on the Hive City's "ground."
Above the torso, the castle-like turret slowly rotated, the muzzles of the Inferno Cannon and Turbo-laser flickering with the dangerous light of charging energy.
Its every minute movement caused tremors in the surrounding earth and groans from metal structures, the Warhound-class Titan had arrived!
[Adeptus Mechanicus Expeditionary Fleet Supreme Commander - Archmagos 'Cortis Logos', has personally arrived at the frontline!]
Behind and to the side of the Warhound Titan, a relatively "small" figure appeared, yet it radiated astonishing computational logic fluctuations.
This was an existence almost completely replaced by machinery, with only an extremely small portion of tissue still retaining biological characteristics.
Countless precision mechanical tentacles and sensor arrays unfurled behind it like a sacred halo.
It did not directly participate in combat, but wherever it went, all Adeptus Mechanicus units' sensor precision, weapon firing rates, and even simple movement command response speeds showed visible improvements!
The Archmagos's personal arrival not only brought absolute morale bonuses but was also a living, walking battlefield data nexus and efficiency amplifier!
[Orbital fleet fire coordination protocol in effect—periodic orbital strikes ready!]
In the sky, brief but deadly blazing white trails began to flash at regular intervals!
These were precision shots from the macro-cannons or lance weapons of orbital warships, clearing out the most threatening Tyranid heavy units or biomass structures concentrated on the ground.
Although the strike frequency and precision were limited due to Hive Fleet interference and avoiding friendly fire, this support from beyond the stars was still a powerful stimulant.
[Special field detected... Machine spirits universally in state of extreme activation... temporary definition of benefit effect: 'Machine Spirit Rapture'!]
The most mystical and most surprising effect to players appeared.
The system notification indicated that all mechanical units had gained a buff called "Machine Spirit Rapture," with an effect description of just two words: "Unknown."
But soon, various inexplicable situations began to occur on the battlefield:
· A Kastelan Robot with one leg blown off somehow completed an incredibly precise shot with its remaining mechanical arm before falling, blowing apart the neural ganglion of a Tyranid Warrior lunging at Scorchwind.
· A Skitarii soldier's laser gun was severely overheated and jammed. He angrily slapped the gun body, and it actually "hummed," self-clearing the blockage, and the next shot inexplicably produced a rare "overload critical hit," melting through the thick carapace of a Tyrant Guard.
"Machine Spirit Rapture" seemed to inject a trace of absurd yet tragic, mysterious "will" belonging to the "machines" themselves into this cold and cruel mechanical war.
Amid the roar of the Warhound Titan, the data halo of the Archmagos, the periodically falling orbital lances, and various bizarre incidents of "machine spirit manifestations," the surviving force of less than ten thousand Adeptus Mechanicus troops, like war machines injected with a final dose of berserker energy, launched a final charge regardless of cost or means toward the deepest part of the Hive City where the swarm was most dense and the STC signal strongest!
For the Omnissiah! For the Machine God!