Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 80: Legio Cybernetica

"Armin, can you confirm their positions?"

One moment Soshyan would fire at where the Aeldari might be, and the next he would turn to shoot the human-skin spiders that charged too close.

On another front, a pack of human-skin spiders was pouncing on another hunting subterranean lizard, paying a heavy price—six spiders were torn to pieces by its claws and fangs before their overwhelming numbers finally made a difference.

These once-domesticated beasts didn't seem to be very obedient.

"I will, sir."

After giving his assurance, Armin paused and peeked out from behind his shield, only to pull his head back in instantly.

A monomolecular disc flew right through the space his head had just occupied.

"Sir, they're constantly moving, it's very hard to pinpoint their exact locations!"

"We can't stay pinned down here forever, their numbers will only continue to grow!"

At that moment, Soshyan abruptly felt a brief tremor from the ground beneath his heels, accompanied by a faint rumbling sound, as if something had collapsed or opened up.Sol also lowered his head slightly; he too had noticed the anomaly.

"Something is coming."

He spoke softly without activating his communicator. Only Soshyan, who was closest, could hear him.

"What?"

"These Aeldari are just scouts. From my brief exchange with them earlier, I gathered they had once encountered a very powerful enemy that drove them from this world. So this time, having recuperated, they are preparing to reclaim their home."

"Then we can't just sit here waiting for death without acting. We must return to the surface and notify the Astra Militarum in the neighboring sector."

"But... does the powerful enemy that drove them away still exist?"

Soshyan froze for a moment. Sensing something, he turned his head and saw that the man whose head had been blown off was still lying on the ground. The first human-skin spider to arrive had already begun feasting on the delicious human meat.

But the very next second, that human-skin spider was blasted to pieces by a laser beam.

Accompanied by the distinct clanking of heavy metal stepping on masonry, a fist-sized red dot first emerged from the darkness. Following it was a mottled crimson metallic shell, iron-grey exposed joints, and a domed head half-buried within its torso.

This metallic construct, standing fully two men tall, still radiated residual heat from the heavy Lascannon on its left shoulder, while the automated Bolters on both its arms were raised.

Rat-tat-tat-tat—

A torrential metal storm swept across those human-skin spiders, shredding them into one cloud of blood mist after another.

The sudden attacker disturbed the subterranean monsters. Howling, they turned toward the new enemy, attempting to overwhelm it with sheer numbers.

Then, streaks of light flashed through the darkness, like dazzling meteors, yet searing scorched paths right through the swarms of monsters. In mere seconds, hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters were annihilated.

One after another, these metallic constructs continued to stride out from the darkness, forming a tight line of firepower that obliterated the monsters from an extreme distance.

After paying a truly horrific price, those subterranean monsters finally realized they had hit a tough bone, an enemy that could not be solved with just numbers.

Thus, following a series of long howls, they turned and fled back into the darkness they had come from, without the slightest hesitation.

The entire plaza instantly fell quiet. The gunfire and shrieks were gone, leaving only the low hum of servos.

"These belong to the Adeptus Mechanicus..."

Soshyan carefully observed those metallic constructs from behind cover. Although he had never seen such robots before, he recognized the Adeptus Mechanicus standards upon them.

Yet Sol beside him was, for the first time, even more surprised than Soshyan.

"The Legio Cybernetica?"

When Soshyan first heard the name, it sounded somewhat unfamiliar, but after a brief prompt from Sol, he immediately recalled the information he had seen in the Chapter's archives.

As early as the end of the Age of Strife, they were already the most terrifying and powerful of all the military forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. In accordance with the sacred duties bestowed upon them by the Crimson Accords of Mars, they bore the heavy burden and dreadful mission of deploying Battle Automata in war.

Furthermore, they were also required to develop, mass-produce, and maintain those terrifying Battle Automata.

These Accords were a milestone of the doctrinal laws established by the Adeptus Mechanicus during the Age of Strife. They permanently outlawed the creation of the evil, soulless intelligence known as "Silica Animus" and decreed that any remnants of such intelligence, as well as any Magos or mortal who served or attempted to create such intelligence, were condemned to death.

However, these Accords also permitted the survival and creation of "lesser and righteous" artificial lifeforms deemed sacred. Thus, these mechanical beasts and their kin, intelligent machines designed for war and slaughter—the Battle Automata—were entrusted to the commands of the newly formed Legio Cybernetica.

The Adeptus Mechanicus understood the power these supreme killing machines possessed if gathered together—they had overthrown empires one after another during the Dark Age of Technology.

Therefore, from the very beginning, the Adeptus Mechanicus decreed that the Legio Cybernetica should be broken down into numerous self-sufficient, small, independent units known as "Cohorts."

This arrangement effectively restricted the scale of military power any single Archmagos within the Legion could command.

Generally speaking, the destructive power of a Cohort stemmed from 30 to 100 Maniples of Battle Automata, with each Maniple overseeing 3 to 5 sacred engines of war.

Each Cohort was managed by a high-ranking cleric of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who also held the secretive lore of Cybertheurgy.

Beneath them were a number of veteran Magos who would personally lead the engines of war on the battlefield, the sworn guardians who served these Magos, and the Cohort's own Data-Artisans, thralls, and Servitors to tend to the Cohort's various needs both on and off the battlefield.

The Cohorts also controlled their own supply networks, mobile forge-works, transports, battlefield vehicles, orbital landing crafts, and in some cases, even their own void-faring starships.

On the other hand, however, the Legio Cybernetica was strictly forbidden from constructing their own forges or temples. Thus, they had to rely on the Grand Masters of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Forge Worlds to provide the allegiance, supplies, and funding networks necessary to survive and prosper.

When the Emperor arrived on Mars, the Legio Cybernetica serving the Imperium on the battlefield naturally became a part of the Treaty of Olympus forming the alliance between the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Emperor.

As a result, the duties of many Cohorts shifted from being defenders of Forge Worlds and servants of grand Mechanicus factions to acting as mendicant warbands in the Great Crusade. They fought on many battlefields unimaginable to mankind and pledged their loyalty to many different masters.

Due to their formidable adaptability and outstanding combat prowess, the Cohorts of the Legio Cybernetica were highly valued during the Great Crusade. They fought alongside many Astartes Legions (especially the Thousand Sons and Iron Hands), Rogue Traders, Knight Houses, and the Imperial Army.

However, many others viewed them as ancient horrors from the long night of Old Earth. Thus, they harbored animosity, fear, and even avoided them.

Although the Legio Cybernetica's Battle Automata were extremely difficult to both produce and maintain most of the time, the esoteric knowledge possessed by the Legion's Magos and the Legion's stellar combat record ensured there were several thousand active Cohorts across the Imperium's many fronts prior to the outbreak of the Horus Heresy.

When the Horus Heresy began, the independence of the Legio Cybernetica's many Cohorts meant that, by and large, the Legion didn't entirely side with either the Loyalists or the Traitors. Instead, they tended to follow the masters they had served for so long.

Some other Cohorts, remembering their oaths of loyalty to the Emperor, or fearing the galaxy's descent into disorder, viewed the rebels as vile Renegades who needed to be destroyed. Others harbored ambitions of breaking free from the Crimson Accords, viewing the war initiated by the Warmaster as an excellent opportunity to pursue long-forbidden technologies.

Following the end of the Great Rebellion, the Legio Cybernetica that had not sided with the rebels renewed their oaths of loyalty to the Imperium, but were bound by oaths even stricter than those governing the Astartes Chapters.

Outside of Mars, their tracks were almost impossible to find.

Soshyan never thought he would actually encounter them here.

(End of Chapter)