When the thirteenth night descended upon the world, Vonlense was stirred by urgent reports from the sentries.
The iron-clads were forming ranks upon the plains.
Since the day those mechanical cohorts had plummeted from the heavens, all news of the xenos swarm had been severed from the fortress. The PDF units dispatched to follow them had outstripped their own supply lines within two days and were forced to abandon the pursuit. The vast expanse of the world now held only the wreckage of Imperial materiel, collapsed architecture, and the carpets of Tyranid carcasses that choked the earth.
Those silent killing machines had labored without rest, conducting an indiscriminate slaughter of every xenos entity within their sensors' reach. The toxic atmosphere and aberrant spore clouds had been incinerated by high-temperature plasma. In the wake of these steel reapers, there remained almost no environmental hazard or pollution beyond a marginal rise in radiation levels.
Even within the fortress, tidings of hope arrived. The Astropaths spoke of shifts within the Warp; though telepathic communication remained fitful, the suffocating Shadow in the Warp that had loomed over the planet was finally beginning to recede.
Vonlense began deploying the civilian populace and the Planetary Defense Force to clear the Tyranid remains that carpeted the surface. It was then that the metallic constructs reappeared near the bastion.
Ascending the firing tower once more, Vonlense could see the gargantuan Titan, now reduced to its lower chassis. Eight-Legs were systematically dismantling the three massive support struts of the Apocalypse-class Titan. The Sapient Machine Automatons had already completed the deconstruction of the temporary repair center; the colossal metal fortress had vanished.
Hull sections were resealed and integrated. Massive rectangular cargo bays appeared on the ground as undamaged Automated Sentry-Troopers marched into the crates and entered dormancy. Damaged units were categorized by the severity of their trauma and secured in separate containers. The ranks vanished from the plains with eerie, calculated precision.
As time passed, the Titans and Executor Heavy Tanks were fully disassembled and stowed. The Eight-Legs and Automatons gathered the remaining equipment.
"This is it? The battle is over?"
The sight of such an explicit withdrawal left Vonlense stunned. To verify his suspicions, he scrambled the fortress's last remaining Valkyries, ordering a low-altitude reconnaissance sweep of the planet.
As the gunships vanished into the horizon, a massive gravitational ray struck down from the void, anchoring a vertical gravity well from orbit to the surface. The immense cargo modules drifted upward, ascending toward the stars. This was the signature transmat technology of a heavy carrier.
In the current Imperium, graviton pulsars and various gravity-based weaponry were all pale derivatives of this Federation-era technology. Legend whispered that a certain red-robed priest had unearthed industrial gravity-manipulation equipment during an excavation; after exhaustive study, the Cult Mechanicus had collectively decreed that such technology was far better suited for destruction than logistics. Thus, the Imperium's lineage of graviton weaponry was born. Today, however, they witnessed the true, staggering scale of its original application.
Once all forces were recovered, the Pectaro and its carrier escorts, their cargo bays locked and secured, vanished once more into the Immaterium.
Axion needed to return to Vorchad III to refit his legions. Units beyond repair required total smelting; others needed newly forged components or extensive maintenance. Depleted munitions and metallic spare parts also demanded replenishment.
As the fleet transitioned, a combat report, written in the stark, clinical style of the Iron Men, was transmitted to the Imperial Front Command.
Lord Solar Leontus fell into a deep silence as he stared at the data slate handed to him by his adjutant.
…
Raknor Armed Relief Mission: [COMPLETE]
Status: All hostile biological entities on the planetary surface have been eradicated.
Planetary Integrity Damage: 11% (Includes topographical alterations and residual radiation from heavy ordnance).
Cumulative Tyranid Bio-forms Terminated: 533,411,549
- Titan-grade organisms: 13
- Mega-grade organisms: 44,215
- Large-scale organisms: 831,254
- Medium-scale organisms: 76,854,832
- Various Small-scale organisms: 455,681,235
Total Attrition:
- Mechanical Units: 135,212
Additional Losses: None.
…
Accompanying this report was a data packet of incomprehensible magnitude. Seeking the aid of several Tech-priests, Leontus finally glimpsed the contents. It was a panoramic battle-log, recording every mechanical unit's engagement, down to the exact number of rounds fired and individual kill counts.
The data stream was so torrential that several Tech-priests attempting the initial cogitation were rendered unconscious by the sheer data-shock. Axion, following the standards of the Iron Men, had not realized his meticulous recording would overwhelm the "frail" logic-engines of the priesthood; had he known, he might have provided a dedicated tactical-review interface.
However, the challenge to their data-dogma only ignited the competitive zeal of the "gearseeks." Eventually, with the assistance of several Magos, the Cogitator-arrays of two battleships, and multiple Mechanicus Thrones, the packet was parsed and translated. Only after purging a vast amount of granular detail was it finally usable.
Through the flickering, rudimentary hololithic displays of the Imperium, Leontus witnessed for the first time the terrifying potency of the reinforcements Guilliman had promised.
Simultaneously, Trajann Valoris received the same report. Staring at the staggering kill-to-loss ratio, even the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes was moved to silence.
1 to 3,945?
He wondered if they had counted every Ripper in the swarm to inflate the numbers. If one stood with a heavy flamer over a cluster of xenos larvae, such a ratio might not be so extraordinary. Yet, as the visual data manifested, the "Steward of Terra" found his composure slipping.
Perhaps Guilliman was right. If this horrific combat capability could be harnessed, the Imperium's current woes might be resolved. Yet, the Regent's original fears echoed in Valoris's mind: if this power were ever turned upon the Imperium, the consequences would be beyond imagining.
For now, it was a weapon that could be wielded.
After confirming Leontus had processed the data, Valoris led a fleet directly toward Raknor. The Pectaro had departed, and they had to fortify and garrison the system before the Tyranids could react.
Having lost control of two systems in succession, and more importantly, having lost a vast quantity of biomass that could not be recovered, the Great Devourer's ravenous hunger was beginning to turn into a cold, cosmic fury.