Chapter 12: The Black Pyramid

All along the way, Soshyang's squad had traversed several dim passages and small tombs and halls, but they had not encountered any enemies.

Occasionally, they could hear the distant sound of gunfire and explosions, but due to the unique environment of the World Engine, they were unable to judge the direction or source of the sounds. They could only ignore the faint disturbances and continue moving forward.

The Auspex remained as quiet as ever. Axe kept complaining that the device in his hands was failing to serve its purpose. Soshyang desperately wanted to tell him to shut up, but he knew that if he silenced him, the fellow would likely find an opportunity to stomp the Auspex into pieces.

Thus, he preferred to endure the complaining.

"Wait!"

After another minute of walking, just as Soshyang was beginning to wonder if they had taken the wrong direction, Axe pressed a hand against his shoulder.

"This piece of junk is finally doing something!"

"Axe, I must warn you, never let the Forge Master hear you say that. He'll give you a proper lesson with an axe."

"I'm serious! Look."

Soshyang took a glance, and it was true.

The flickering light points on the Auspex indicated that several comrades were present less than five hundred meters away.

But the question was, who would they be at this location?

"Over here!"

Zahnas struggled through the main control hall. The black stone floor shifted beneath his feet, and a small squad of xenos already lay dead under bolter fire.

The noise that would make an ordinary person yield grated against his eardrums, but the Captain of the Eighth Company suppressed the discomfort and closed in on the enemy.

He cut down an advancing Necron, severing its sternum before decapitating it with a backswing.

The roar of the bolter fire carried a metallic resonance, echoing inside his helmet.

These creatures were everywhere in swarms, and they soon surrounded him.

The intermittent flashes of muzzle flare from his weapon illuminated the terrible destruction he wrought; the scream of his chainsword led a high-pitched chorus composed of the clamor of tearing metal.

He fought his way through the contemptible rabble, pressing toward its source, which in turn was pressing toward him. He felt the pressure exerted upon his mind increasing.

He hurriedly called out to one of his comrades.

"Garlin! Do you hear me?"

Garlin had just shaken off an xenos clinging to his arm and crushed it with his weapon; the power sword sliced through the fragile metal bones as if cutting through air.

"I hear you, Captain!"

As he spoke, he raised his bolt pistol, aimed at another, and pulled the trigger, blasting the creature into a shower of metal fragments and silver liquid.

Immediately after, the warrior lunged, slamming into a third.

Its smooth skull collided with his combat helmet, instantly denting his faceplate. Some metal fragments obstructed his vision, so Garlin wiped the helmet clean with the armored back of his hand.

Because its head had been destroyed, the xenos construct seemed to lose control over its body and collapsed, slumping to the ground.

They were nothing more than simple piles of metal. Garlin had fought much stronger enemies, but this massive swarm was draining his energy; even his gene-enhanced muscles burned in this relentless combat.

For every three Astartes killed, another six would rush forward, like an ant colony pouring out from the ground.

Realizing his anxiety, Garlin cut down another, but he was being steadily pushed back.

In the midst of the melee, he caught a glimpse of Carlo. The company's lieutenant was also being suppressed, enveloped by the flying metal shards from his own raging chainsword.

He could not see the other brothers of the company; Garlin could only assume they had been swallowed by this metallic nightmare.

"Garlin! Move toward me! Everyone, move toward me!"

"Yes, sir!"

Just as Garlin prepared to support Carlo, a soul-wrenching, earth-shaking sound of tearing and misalignment erupted. Garlin felt the deck beneath his feet tilt, as if it were twisting its own body.

In the blink of an eye, a massive section of the floor was torn away as if bitten by an invisible jaw, shattering and sending fragments tumbling into the void.

A towering, black xenos pyramid appeared, along with a vehicle shaped like a giant scorpion carrying an entire squad of undead. They looked far more formidable than these cannon fodder.

"Garlin!"

Zahnas fought his way through a large group of Necrons toward the entrance of the main control hall, where the surviving company members had gathered.

His armor had been scarred and dented by their claws, and his body trembled with fatigue. At this moment, physical strength alone could no longer save them; only the discipline of the mind remained.

"What happened!"

"Captain, a xenos... black pyramid. It is blocking our path to the energy node," he said calmly through his helmet comms.

According to the original plan, the Captain was to lead a portion of the warriors to draw the Necrons' attention, while Garlin and another lieutenant would lead a combat squad to sabotage the energy node.

Everything had gone smoothly at first, but as the number of undead increased, they realized they had underestimated the enemy's reaction. The split Eighth Company had fallen into a bitter struggle. After more than an hour of intense fighting, they had only managed to damage a few non-essential sub-nodes, while the most critical main node had become an unreachable target.

At this point, only twenty-one warriors of the Eighth Company remained.

"Find a way to deal with it!"

In response to this command, beams began to gather at the apex of the xenos pyramid, subsequently firing toward a single point. All the energy was channeled into the company's lieutenant.

In an instant, the infused energy seeped from every joint and crevice of his power armor. The lieutenant did not even have the chance to let out a cry of pain before he was erased, leaving not even a trace behind.

Rage seized Zahnas, and the only thing he could do was kill more, continuing the fight until he became the next target.

"Fifth Squad, advance!"

As if descending from the heavens, a squad suddenly burst out from the right side of the pyramid. The lead warrior held a bolter level in one hand and swung a chainsword in the other, charging toward the Necron vehicle that was deploying soldiers.

Sensing approaching enemies, the hovering vehicle began to turn, but just as a Necron was preparing to jump down, it was disturbed by the vehicle's sudden lurch. Half of its body slid to the side, creating an angle between the machine, the ground, and the vehicle, causing the mechanism to wobble violently and fail to turn smoothly.

"Grenades!"

Warriors of the Emperor's justice would not let such a golden opportunity pass. Several grenades arced through the air, landing around the Necron vehicle.

*Boom!*

A firestorm surged toward the sky, instantly clearing away all the Necrons. Then, Soshyang raised his hand and unleashed another round of fire toward the top of the pyramid.

The explosion tore through the windows at the top of the structure. The node sparked violently before undergoing a sympathetic detonation, and after a flicker of circuitry on the front side of the pyramid, it fell silent.

But it was not dead; energy was still accumulating.

"Eighth Company! Advance!"

Seeing the opening, Zahnas threw himself forward with his warriors to launch a raid. They charged toward the pyramid, knocking aside all Necrons in their path like stones.

"Destroy it!"

Realizing the pyramid had gathered energy to a dangerous level, Soshyang signaled the squad's heavy weapons specialist. The man immediately raised a heavy bolter and aimed at the target.

With a roar, the top of the pyramid endured a storm of bombardment. As the circuitry on all sides continued to go dark, the pyramid finally fell into complete silence.

"Captain Zahnas, I am from the Seventh Company—"

"Sergeant Soshyang, I know you."

While the other warriors were still fending off the counterattack of the mechanical Necrons, Zahnas arrived before Soshyang, still clutching a melta bomb.

"We owe you one this time."

The Captain removed his helmet, a faint smile squeezing onto his face.

"The Chapter Master is in that direction. You can find him if you go through there. But I must warn you, that is the core area of the xenos fortress. Be extremely careful."

"But here..."

Soshyang hesitated. He saw that very few warriors of the Eighth Company remained. The corpses covering the ground were proof enough of how fierce the earlier battle had been. How could he bear to leave?

"This is our mission, soldier. You should complete yours."

Patting Soshyang on the shoulder, Zahnas limped toward the flickering energy node.

"Let's go."

After a final glance at the man's retreating back, Soshyang turned and led his squad members in the direction Zahnas had pointed. At that moment, he realized that this so-called World Engine seemed to be trembling...

(End of Chapter)