Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 81: Castellax-class Battle-Automata

There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal;

There is no strength in flesh, only weakness;

There is no constancy in flesh, only decay;

There is no certainty in flesh, only death—

This was once part of the battle litanies of the Legio Cybernetica. Often, people compared them to the Iron Men who unleashed catastrophic disasters and nearly drove humanity to extinction. However, the Magos of the Legion claimed that they were fundamentally different from those cursed artificial intelligences.

The most significant difference lay in the logic circuits governing the machines' actions, which the Adeptus Mechanicus termed the Cybernetica Cortex. Outsiders who didn't know the inner workings were more inclined to call it "biological wetware."

This miraculous piece of equipment was a marvel of the Adeptus Mechanicus' craftsmanship. It contained the logic control center and the active machine spirit of the Battle Automata.

It was composed of a certain type of artificial "brain"—an armored box containing a mass of complex bio-plastic matter, along with some nerve-like grey tendrils.

These tendrils extended from the box into the mechanical body, animating its bizarre artificial life.

The capabilities of this device far exceeded those of structurally simple cogitators. It was neither a true living creature, nor did it possess the terrifying and inhuman intelligence of the dreaded "Silica Animus" from the past.Instead, it was closer to a series of primal, bellicose instincts.

What drove these was not self-awareness and reason, but a programmatic structure composed of codified behaviors, possessing the ability to execute strict, simple commands.

The result of this was a self-driven, powerful weapon—a mechanical predator that would proactively and instinctively hunt down and annihilate the enemy. It possessed a certain degree of tactical judgment and self-preservation instincts far beyond what Servitors could achieve, yet without the risk of rebellion or developing traitorous intelligence.

At least, that was what the Legio Cybernetica claimed.

However, the Legio Cybernetica was merely an umbrella term. In reality, the composition of Battle Automata varied from one Cohort to another.

For instance, the one appearing before Soshyan and his men was a Cohort primarily composed of Castellax-class Battle-Automata.

The Castellax-class was the most common type of the widely deployed Castellan-pattern Battle-Automata. To this day, it could still be mass-produced on Mars. It was a standard combat unit developed during the Great Crusade, modeled after its ancient ancestors.

Compared to other models, the Castellax-class, a massive bipedal machine towering fully three times the height of a human, was primarily utilized for siege operations and frontal assaults.

The machine spirits they possessed were infamous for their aggressiveness, yet it was because of this that they enjoyed an enviable reputation on the battlefield.

The armored endoskeleton of the Castellax-class was safe and effective against small-arms fire, and it proved incredibly resilient even when subjected to a certain degree of damage. All of this stemmed from its durability-focused design, as well as being equipped with the atomantic shielding technology used by the Contemptor-class Dreadnoughts of the Astartes Legions.

But similarly, it also sacrificed a certain degree of speed and agility. Thus, they needed to be deployed en masse onto the battlefield to form an advancing line in order to fully shine.

The Legio Cybernetica currently stationed on Mars still possessed large numbers of Castellax-class troops. These standard models were equipped with a mix of Bolters and Heavy Bolters, capable of unleashing a terrifying barrage of firepower as they advanced.

However, the ones Soshyan encountered had their Heavy Bolters replaced with high-energy Lascannons.

This allowed them to more effectively weave a web of death when facing fast-moving targets, enveloping their prey within it.

So, the current situation was that after driving off those human-skin spiders, these Battle Automata remained where they were. The red dots fired by their various scanning devices continuously swept back and forth near the cover where Soshyan and the others were hiding.

The few of them seemed to be surrounded by these deadly killing machines.

"Why would the Legio Cybernetica be here? It looks like at least a full macro-clade."

Each macro-clade of the Legio Cybernetica was divided into 100 Maniples, and a Maniple consisted of 4 to 5 automata.

If Sol was correct, then there were at least 400 Castellax-class Battle-Automata nearby.

No matter how you looked at it, this didn't sound like good news.

"Could it be—"

Looking at these automata, a thought struck Soshyan, and he took out the locator Brother Zayd had given him.

As expected, the blinking dot on it had completely overlapped with their position, and the locator was emitting a peculiar hum.

Instantly, all the Battle Automata turned in Soshyan's direction, and the dangerous red glowing spots on their heads shifted to green.

Generally speaking, although Battle Automata possessed a certain degree of autonomy, they still required Data-Artisans to finalize commands on the battlefield. However, if a Data-Artisan issued no new commands or unfortunately perished in combat, the Battle Automata would act according to their own logic, following their last received orders until they were completely unable to move.

The change in the behavioral pattern of these Battle Automata undoubtedly confirmed a fact to everyone.

The gift Brother Zayd was referring to was them.

"Chapter Master—"

Seeing Soshyan step out from behind cover, Armin called out in concern. But seeing that the automata made no aggressive moves, he also stepped out.

The Battle Automata stood silently in place, like respectful servants. Soshyan approached one of them and saw a string of numbers on its chest.

[YT-0114]

"The letters in front represent the Cohort it belongs to."

Sol also walked up to the Battle Automata. He first glanced at its head, then walked around to look at its back.

"This model is slightly different from what the Legion used before. The power system seems to have been modified."

"The power system has undergone energy storage treatment."

A cold voice suddenly rang out. The Space Marines drew their weapons one after another, pointing them at the patch of darkness from which the voice came.

Amidst the grinding noise of mechanical transmission, a metallic construct roughly the same size as a Space Marine appeared.

Its entire body was composed of gleaming silver metal. Its waist was remarkably slated compared to its upper and lower torso, and its arms, consisting of copious pistons and gears, reached all the way down to its knees.

Its legs did not possess normal human structure; rather, their recurved joints were closer to those of a bird. On its chest lay the cog and skull insignia of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Thick metal plating protected its critical areas, including its neck.

The head of this machine seemed to be mounted directly onto its torso. But what was most unique was that the front of its oval head was as smooth and clean as a mirror. Soshyan could even see his own reflection on the other's face.

It gave him an eerie feeling.

On its back, thrusters could vaguely be seen.

It didn't appear to carry any weapons; it just arrived before everyone "empty-handed."

"Thallax-class half-man combat breacher!?"

Ultimately, it was the knowledgeable Sol who recognized the model of this machine.