A bolt of black lightning crashed down on several Shadows of Order, darkening their black armor even further as their bodies froze stiff.
But the "Hunter" reacted just before the Ogryn psyker attacked. His left arm shot up, and he fired a bolter round at the target.
With a sharp explosion, the Ogryn's oversized head burst like a watermelon, scattering chunks of flesh.
The lieutenant pulled off his helmet irritably, revealing his short black hair. He strode over to the corpse and muttered as if seeing a ghost:
"Damn it… A psyker among those stupid Ogryns?"
The Hunter continued scanning the surroundings as he walked. He noticed the unique {XI} and {XXXIII} growth patterns, the high magnetism of the black metal crystal, and even felt it subtly pulling at his chainsword.
Sanchez spoke thoughtfully:
"It's probably this mountain range. The unique environment must be affecting the Ogryns."
He opened the command channel and listened. The only response was a chaotic mess of static, buzzing, and crackling.
"Still no comms, just noise…"
As Sanchez spoke, his gaze swept over the Ogryn psyker. He looked similar to the others: clad in black armor and holding a long, slender black-metal staff, more like a staff than a club.
Then, his pupils contracted sharply. No, this one wasn't like the others.
"His ears are much larger than the average Ogryn's… and his feet too."
The lieutenant bent down to confirm.
"You're right," he muttered with a frown. "Maybe it's because of this world's gravity. The Ogryns are adapting, bigger ears, thicker feet."
Sanchez shook his head slightly. He pressed a rune on his sword's hilt, and it roared to life.
He sliced open the Ogryn's black armor, revealing a physique just as muscular as an Astartes.
After a quick glance, he confirmed his thoughts.
"No. He's just a bit more muscular than the others we've seen. But his ears and feet are unusually large. I believe this mountain range has some unique property that triggered a mutation… even granted psychic ability to a normally mindless Ogryn."
The lieutenant looked again and nodded.
"His ears and feet are noticeably bigger," he muttered. "Too bad… his oversized feet didn't leave any tracks on the metal ground."
"Only option left is to eat his brain and extract the memory, find out where the others are hiding."
He sighed. Though Reapers were bloodthirsty, they weren't like the ghouls of the Ninth Legion; they didn't enjoy cannibalism.
"No need," Sanchez replied, smiling as he removed his helmet.
Despite the interference disabling the visor's scan system, he was still the Hunter.
He focused. His black pupils deepened, and he could hear his own heartbeat pounding steadily in his ears.
His senses amplified, and the world shifted.
What had been invisible now became clear, faint, shallow footprints on the ground suddenly came into view.
He could also faintly detect the lingering body odor of the Ogryns, a thin scent trail like a ribbon, winding forward.
"Follow me,"
The Seventh Company marched forward, the Hunter on the trail of his prey's lair.
Meanwhile, Nareth aboard the Void Hunter. Alongside Arsena Dunn, he brought a tech-sergeant from First Company.
Outside his private armory stood a squad of unmodified Vostroyan warriors.
"My liege," The leader bowed. At Nareth's signal, he raised a silver control rod and aimed it at the red disc embedded in the black door.
Runes glowed, and the ancient doors opened, revealing his personal armory.
The chamber was the size of an entire deck, with over half of its space filled with tens of thousands of strange items: porous sea corals, multi-limbed alien corpses, and more.
Only a small portion had been gathered by Nareth himself. About a third were creations of the Jokaero, but most came as gifts from Vostroyan regiments and the Eleventh Legion.
He had hidden some rare and dangerous relics among alchemical supplies and moved them into the Kingdom of Disorder, leaving the rest stored here.
He walked over to a massive section marked by a black-striped label inscribed in golden letters:
[Creations of the Jokaeros]
Nareth bent down and picked up a metal box, handing it to the tech-sergeant.
"Start by dismantling the spy fly. Learn its internal structure."
He then turned to the wide-eyed silver-haired psyker, who was still admiring the armory's inventory.
"Here are weapons and shields made by the Jokaero. Pick what you need."
"If your psychic powers fail, or your mind is drained, rely on these."
"Thank you for your generosity."
Arsena said respectfully, moving to an iron rack where rows of precious ring-weapons were separated by metal dividers.
He selected ten rings, enough to fill both hands, then moved to a second rack.
There, protected shield-spheres of various sizes were stored. He selected four.
When Arsena was finished, Nareth gave his next order:
"You two, study the spy fly. Disable its projection function."
The spy fly not only provided surveillance, but could also project a 3D starlight image woven from light.
Nareth suspected the device was actually designed for two-way communication.
He ordered his servitors to load 200 units of spy flies onto the landing craft.
Of these, each of the 59 psykers across ten Companys would receive one set. The rest would be distributed as reserves.
As the landing craft descended, Sanchez had already followed the scent trail left by the Ogryn psyker through a winding mountain path to a pitch-black cave.
The lieutenant's eyes widened. Without the Sanchez's guidance, it would've taken a full grid search to discover such a hidden entrance.
'How did the Captain find this? I didn't sense anything strange along the way.'
The Hunter examined the cave walls, torn rock, and gouged layers and confirmed it was a crude, manually carved tunnel made by Ogryns.
Sanchez looked forward. The three-man-wide entrance would force squads to squeeze and hinder one another.
"Recon squad, move in two-man cells," he ordered.
Unlike the post-Second Founding Recon Marines, who were often new recruits, the recon troops in this era were fully trained battle-brothers, veteran Astartes specialists.
Two of them entered the cave, glancing at their visors, still just static.
They activated stealth modules, raised their long-range rifles, and advanced under crossfire cover.
As they moved deeper, the tunnel grew wider, soon wide enough for four scouts to walk side-by-side.
Suddenly, a tremendous force swept them up, slamming them against the black metal walls of the cave.
...
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