The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Ninth Company Captain Sourena was the first to jump from the Stormraven, followed by his command squad, who formed a circle to cover the landing zone.

“No communication signals, Captain,”

Sergeant Karl, the techmarine, said regretfully, waving the auspex in his hand.

“And the auspex is still being jammed. It seems this entire area has been shrouded by an unknown magnetic field since seventeen hours ago.”

“This place is eerily silent, especially for a well-equipped outpost.”

Veteran Senkara glanced around and slightly raised his right hand, his power axe drawing a semicircle in the air.

Ninth Company had only been in the Slag Mountains for a short time when they encountered a strange incident. The Overseer informed Sourena that a secondary command post had lost contact some time ago. The main command post of the Slag Mountains warzone was located on the highest peak, while the secondary command posts were on slightly lower peaks, making them strategically advantageous and heavily fortified. The sudden loss of contact was highly unusual.

The Overseer initially intended to order nearby Protector Guard to investigate, but it was discovered that the Protector Guard under the command post had also lost contact, and the nearby automata were unresponsive.

Sourena immediately realized that something was amiss and decided to investigate personally, suspecting that Genestealers were planning a large-scale counterattack.

If this secondary command post was captured, it would create a breach in the Mechanicum's network, potentially allowing the enemy to relocate or escape.

If that were the case, Ninth Company would immediately retake it!

At this moment, Stormravens landed one after another, and Ninth Company soldiers quickly rushed out. Among those arriving were not only regular soldiers but also a squad of Terminators. Simultaneously, two Land Raiders and two Javelin attack speeders descended from the sky, while three Stormtalons began circling above the outpost, reporting what they saw—a common sight among the White Templars, where almost every company had double-digit numbers of flying or anti-gravity vehicles.

“Captain, the outpost is empty. We haven't seen anything, no active targets.”

“Reno squad, establish a perimeter and guard the landing zone.”

“The rest of the squads, enter from the three entrances.”

After hearing the aerial squad's report, Sourena began issuing orders. The squads immediately dispersed, approaching the perimeter walls from three directions.

The gates of the outpost were open. The warriors gripped their bolters, drew their chainswords, and cautiously entered the walls, but Sourena saw more. He noticed that the weapons on the walls were intact, suggesting it wasn't an external attack. Yet, there should have been numerous armed servitors, none of whom were present.

“No signs of external attack… Did the enemy break through from the inside?”

Upon entering the outpost, a wave of foul air rolled over them, immediately coating the warriors' armor with dust. Huge power generators hummed, and various ventilation ducts extended from closed rooms. The outpost was filled with neatly arranged metal shacks, a common material used by the Mechanicum for establishing temporary outposts. These included repair bays, cleaning stations, and disassembly rooms. Protector Guard who had been through battles would undergo maintenance and repairs in these facilities. To the west of the outpost was a massive oval structure made of quick-drying cement and metal, serving as the outpost's storage point and armory. To the east were several more intact steel structures, five or six stories high, with numerous antennas and detectors on the top floor, serving as the command and monitoring center for the Tech-Priests. Within the walls, there were also a dozen simple towers, each equipped with automated turrets, all of which were dormant.

“Bloodstains…”

While the warriors inspected the facilities, Sourena noticed traces on the ground, the inside of the walls, and parts of the outer walls—numerous radial bloodstains.

He also noticed some scars.

“So there was a battle.”

He stood outside a steel shack, running his hand over a huge scratch on it, which appeared to have been made by some kind of beast with three claws, nearly a meter long.

“What could cause such scars? A purestrain Genestealer?”

Senkara offered his opinion. Sergeant Karl, who had been squatting on the ground for a while, finally stood up.

“Strange… I haven't detected any xenos biomass. Did they not bleed at all during the process?”

He then went to the vicinity of the claw marks, swiping at them with a brush-like detector, and shook his head under the curious gazes of the others.

“Weird… Even a purestrain Genestealer wouldn't leave behind a single chitin trace when its claws scratched against the alloy. It doesn't seem to be caused by a living being at all. The cut is too smooth, even from a microscopic perspective. It's difficult for a biological claw to be so regular. It's more like it was cut by some kind of high-hardness metal.”

At this moment, other squads also sent messages.

“The metal hab-units are intact, but we've found some servitor remains.”

“The energy system is also intact. The last adjustment record was 20 hours ago.”

“There's nothing on the walls, but the automated turrets are all offline.”

“Captain, we've found several Protector Guard remains in the hangar. They may have been fighting something before they died, covering someone's retreat, but the Archaeopters here are all intact.”

The more obvious the anomalies, the more vigilant Sourena became. However, this outpost could not be abandoned, so he ordered:

“Will, take your squad and occupy those sentry towers. Reno squad, come to the outpost and secure the gates.”

After making these deployments, Sourena led the Terminator squad towards the core of the outpost, guessing that he might find answers there.

“Has a message been sent to the Overseer?”

“It's been sent. They said they are mobilizing troops to take over, but they still hope we can help figure out the cause.”

“The cause… I'm afraid it won't be easy to figure out.”

The squad approached the command center while talking. The doors here were engraved with the cogwheel image of the Mechanicum. Sourena saw that the doors and the surrounding stone were strangely deformed, and the metal turrets on both sides of the door were also destroyed, the solid metal shattered by something.

A Terminator ran to the door and slammed into it shoulder-first.

With a bang, the door opened. Sourena's power sword crackled with energy, and the Terminator squad followed closely behind him, their bolters ready to destroy any enemies.

“Not even a single body.”

The interior of the command center was pitch black, all the lights were off, and only a few strands of pale light shone through the gaps in the blinds.

Everyone cautiously scanned their surroundings, but nothing else appeared in the darkness. The auspex beeped silently, first reporting a wave of error signals, and then fell silent.

This place should have been filled with Mechanicum priests and servitors, each performing their duties.

But there was nothing here.