Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 6: Necrons

Soshyan felt a powerful force tearing at his genetically augmented superhuman body. After experiencing the gentle weightless environment of space, this sensation was highly unpleasant.

While the Drop Pod screamed and roared like thunder, piercing through the fluttering laser beams and leaving a mess in its wake, the machine spirit also expressed its protest. The red warning lights began flashing at a high frequency.

It was experiencing intense collisions, continuous changes in direction, and violent deceleration.

The Drop Pod's inertial dampening struts and the hydraulic systems of their Power Armor were put to the ultimate test. Every single warrior possessed the body of a demigod. Their tough, thick muscles, and the extremely adaptable Black Carapace and skeleton absorbed the immense forces that would have been enough to tear an ordinary Mortal to shreds.

But this was still far from enough. If their angle of descent was incorrect, they would still be smashed into a puddle of mush.

"Activate descent thrusters."

Through the crack-covered screen, Soshyan issued the final command to the machine spirit.

He could still see the long string of sparks scraping around them after the Drop Pod had breached the hard blackstone exterior like a comet. The passenger cabin was now filled with the ear-piercing sounds of metal scraping and colliding.

Despite being extremely dissatisfied, the machine spirit still complied with Soshyan's will. The retro-rockets activated one after another, but only half were able to function normally, meaning their angle of impact would not be very good.

Bang!The immense force of impact caused Soshyan's helmet to smash fiercely against the bulkhead behind him. The restraining harnesses groaned as they were stretched to their limits, and inertia made everyone's chest feel as if a massive boulder had pressed down upon it.

Ultimately, after a good bout of intimate friction against the rocky surface, the Drop Pod came to a halt like a slowly spinning egg.

Afterwards, the still-functioning pict-captures showed Soshyan what he needed to know—images of the chaotic mess outside.

Just as planned, the desolate surface of the World Engine was littered everywhere with the wreckage and debris of Drop Pods bearing the emblem of the Astral Knights. The originally flat, black ground now truly resembled an asteroid, covered in impact craters.

However, not a single Space Marine was in sight, nor was a single enemy.

Soshyan could feel the sounds of exploding damaged landing craft transmitting through the deck beneath the cabin. Through a surviving pict-capture, he saw that the fluid leaking from a damaged promethium fuel container had caught fire. Black smoke enveloped the chaotic surroundings.

"Prepare to open the hatch."

Soshyan spoke to the others using the comms inside his helmet. At his urging, accompanied by a heavy thud, the pressure valves opened.

At the same time, the struts also unlocked, allowing the warriors to swiftly disembark.

For a Drop Pod, lying completely sideways on the ground was not a posture conducive for the people inside to quickly leave. As Soshyan knelt on one knee atop the shattered instrument panels, the other squad members climbed out from their seats using the framework, gathering around him.

The warriors knelt on one knee. Every single one of them was a veteran of a hundred battles, their well-maintained weapons gripped tightly in their hands.

"Is everyone here?"

"Hasdrubal, present."

Hasdrubal, the squad's heavy weapons specialist. He was responsible for operating a Heavy Bolter, serving as the core firepower pillar of the tactical squad, and was also a Recruit from a batch earlier than Soshyan.

"Rezeno, present."

"Caricinus, present."

Rezeno and Caricinus. The two of them were placed on either side of Soshyan, waiting for the order to spread out. They carried the standard weapons and equipment of squad members.

"Vilinus, present."

"Fiks, present."

Vilinus's voice came from behind Rezeno. This young legionary gripped his MK IVc pattern Bolter tightly, while the equally young Fiks rested on one knee behind him.

"Alkan, present."

Holding a flamer, he shuffled over to Soshyan's side. The Grenades and extra promethium canisters he carried on his body clattered noisily.

"Occam, present."

He was the oldest member of the squad, but also the person who supported Soshyan taking the position of squad leader the most. There had been rumors that he should have been the candidate for squad leader, but he declined the appointment.

"Axel, present."

"Ned, present."

Next were Soshyan's two best friends and steadfast buddies. The squad was extremely fortunate not to have suffered any casualties.

"For the Emperor."

Soshyan issued the signal with a steady voice.

"Positions."

With a nod from him, Axel pressed the "manual open" button on the hatch.

Instantly, the hatch doors composed of several pieces of Plasteel began to open, like a bloody maw full of fangs. The sight of the World Engine gradually revealed itself to the squad members.

The tactical display interface on Soshyan's helmet immediately began targeting all moving objects outside the Drop Pod. As flickers of light continuously flashed across the screen, the auspex began displaying the mapping from various sensors—infrared receivers, ultraviolet receivers, as well as motion sensors.

"The welcoming ceremony is about to begin."

Axel still maintained a mood to joke, but after a Gauss flayer beam grazed his helmet through the opened hatch, he could no longer smile.

"Why don't you go out there and give them a grand self-introduction?"

Ned couldn't help but tease the other party. Soshyan spoke up to interrupt this untimely behavior.

"Prepare for action. Center of gravity formation."

Finishing his words, Soshyan took the lead and bounded out the hatch. Accompanied by the roar of a Bolter, he fired his first shot of the day.

Under the effect of the propellant, the bolt flew across the black rocky deck, leaving a blazing trail in its wake.

Its impact force was devastating. A hesitant, advancing Xenos was struck dead on. Its metallic skeletal body, a blasphemy against the human form, instantly blew apart from the middle, and the Gauss Flayer in its hands dropped to the ground.

But it didn't die immediately. Within its silvery-white skull, that nauseating green color had not yet dissipated. Its lower half was ten meters away, while its upper half fumbled and crawled toward the weapon on the ground.

The Necrons—the cursed dead—were just such a pathetic existence.

They lacked souls. The vast majority of them didn't even possess consciousness. They were merely the reverberating echoes of a once-ancient empire, a few pathetic remnants that refused to retreat from the galactic stage.

Harboring hatred, Soshyan put another shot into its head, ending its movements.

"First blood goes to you again."

Axel issued an annoyed grumble over the comms channel. The squad members followed closely behind the others, lowered their heads, and leapt out the hatch.

The moment these Space Marines landed, they threw themselves into a battle to push back the enemy onslaught. The Bolters rapidly fired bullet after bullet. They flew across the deck, accurately striking their targets, dismantling the slowly advancing metallic skeletons into spare parts. This didn't take very long.

"Company Commander, Company Commander, do you read?"

As the squad members took care of the approaching Necron Warriors grunts, Soshyan tried his hardest to contact their company, but the communications seemed to have been jammed. Only the chaotic noise of electronic static played over the channel.

"Search... Main Control... Core..."

Amidst this static noise, Soshyan distinguished an intermittent voice. He didn't recognize whose it was, but it was definitely human.

"...11 o'clock... direction... gather..."

Soshyan glanced at the auspex. It did not show any allied forces existing in the surroundings, which meant they were a certain distance away from the main forces.

"Advance towards the 11 o'clock direction."

The soulless ones were endless in number, beginning to close in on them from all directions. The squad was fighting with their backs against the Drop Pod, but they definitely wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. Soshyan quickly found a gap on the battlefield.

"Follow me!"

That was a destroyed Gauss Cannon emplacement. As Soshyan ran, he fired. The flayer beams from the Gauss weapons closely followed his footsteps, but he was still a bit faster.

The squad members followed closely behind him. They wove through the hail of bullets, attempting to get close to that destroyed emplacement.

Clack!

A bizarre Necron with three legs leapt out. Yielding a massive, faintly glowing warscythe, it charged toward Soshyan at an inconceivable speed.

Bang, bang!

Soshyan fired two consecutive shots. One bolt was evaded, and the other struck the opponent's shoulder, yet it only tore away a few pieces of metal.

The two of them were already at close quarters. He decisively drew the Chainsword from his waist, his thumb brushing over the activation Rune.

Accompanied by the starving hum of jagged teeth, it viciously bit together with the pale-green warscythe. Harboring guilt toward the machine spirit, Soshyan used the grip of his Bolter to smash fiercely into the opponent's head.

A crack instantly smashed open on the pale metallic skull. Soshyan took advantage of the momentum to press forward. His left arm wrapped around, backhanding the opponent's neck in a chokehold, and then he twisted to the right.

Fzzt!

A Gauss beam happened to strike the Necron Warrior Soshyan had locked up from behind. While this type of weapon possessed extreme power against the vast majority of armor, it actually didn't have a very good effect upon hitting their own Living Metal.

A massive hole was etched into the chest of the Necron Warrior. It began to struggle violently, but Soshyan's strength was renowned throughout the entire Chapter, and he directly yanked upwards forcefully with his elbow.

Along with its metallic spine, Soshyan pulled that pale skull straight off.

"Conserve ammunition!"

He issued a command over the squad channel to the members providing him with cover fire, then tucked the skull with the attached spine beneath his waist.

"Advance!"

The squad successfully took cover behind the emplacement. Soshyan glanced at the auspex and noticed a few bright dots appearing at the edge of the screen.

"Found them! We need to rendezvous with the others."

(End of Chapter)