Mid-hive, Sector 9 Forbidden Zone, Zone D.
The moment that voice—part sickly sweet, part mocking—rang out in the communication channel, Andy acted. Without a hint of hesitation, he reached back and pulled a memory alloy solid bolt from the quiver of a nearby Heavy Guard.
His hydraulic legs surged with power, propelling him out of cover in less than a tenth of a second.
Nearby, a line maintenance worker in a Helios Group uniform was crouched before a distribution box, inspecting circuits. The poor devil didn't even have time to react to the sudden movement before a cold, metallic hand clamped firmly over his mouth and nose.
Squelch.
No wasted motion. The alloy bolt in Andy's right hand pierced through the foramen magnum at the base of the worker's skull, instantly destroying the brainstem. The worker's body stiffened for a fraction of a second before going limp in Andy's arms like his bones had been removed. Before he could even let out a muffled groan, his pupils had already dilated.
Andy didn't drop the body. Instead, he quickly snatched the personal communication terminal hanging from the worker's waist. A data probe on his finger jabbed directly into the interface.
He was listening. He needed to confirm if that voice had been a wide-spectrum broadcast or a targeted projection meant only for them. This was critical. If it was a broadcast, it meant everyone in Helios had heard "Look who's here?", effectively blowing Andy's stealth mission and forcing a choice between a full-on assault or a retreat.
But if it was a targeted projection...
The terminal emitted the hiss of static and the routine chatter of security teams complaining about late shift changes. Aside from that, there was nothing abnormal. No alarms, no shouts, and certainly no voice of a madwoman.
"It wasn't a broadcast," Andy whispered, releasing his grip and gently laying the dead man in the shadows. "It seems our host AI wants to share secrets with us."
Behind the cover, the Stormtroopers and Heavy Guard members let out a collective sigh of relief. A moment ago, their fingers had been tightening on their triggers. One word from Andy, or the sound of an alarm, and this place would have turned into a meat grinder.
Andy's electronic eyes narrowed. Even though they hadn't been exposed, the situation felt inexplicably eerie. The main AI could precisely locate their communication channel and isolate the audio to them alone. This meant her electronic warfare capabilities far exceeded Andy's estimates—she might even be watching their every move.
But since they had been discovered and she hadn't raised the alarm, instead issuing an invitation of sorts...
"Everyone, maintain radio silence." Andy marked a winding green dotted line on the holographic map. He utilized every visual blind spot left by the Helios retreat, perfectly bypassing the few remaining fixed sentry posts. "Since the lady of the house has spoken, let's go in and take a look. Move fast, before the enemy realizes what's happening."
The team moved again, slipping into the massive entrance of Zone D like a pack of black ghosts.
...
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Andy, the large-scale Helios retreat wasn't because they had "wised up." The root cause traced back to the ill-fated "Wasp" squad.
Though those six electronic warfare experts had died miserably with their brains literally boiled, they had been dutiful until the very end. In the final second before their deaths—the moment they tried to hack Andy's system—they had successfully transmitted the holographic images and coordinates of Andy's military base in the Acid Swamp back to Helios HQ.
At that time, Saul and Jessia were in the boardroom, arguing heatedly over whether to focus on Zone D or the Underhive. Archmagos Cawl's broadcast had been a shot of adrenaline, but they needed an "offering" significant enough to trade for a ticket off this doomed planet. To Saul, the Rogue Trader ship in Zone D was undoubtedly the grand prize.
Jessia disagreed. She believed Cawl would prefer the Black Box. The problem was that the starship was a bone too hard to crack—it had already broken several of Helios's teeth. Furthermore, the awakened Machine Spirit of that ship was too fierce; continuing the siege would bleed the group dry in terms of time and resources.
The intelligence from Wasp squad became the turning point. At the thought of this heavily fortified military base in the Underhive, Jessia's perspective shifted. She had a powerful premonition: the Black Box was there! The ancient molecular reconstructor stolen by a mysterious force was inside that base!
If they couldn't take the ship, why not hit the Underhive? Compared to a starship with energy shields and a psychotic Machine Spirit, the Underhive base might look tough, but at best it was just a slightly harder nut to crack. If they diverted the heavy weaponry meant for the ship, a total steamroll would be easy. And once they had the Black Box, they could still trade it to Cawl for the ticket!
Though Saul was an old conservative, his mind moved faster than anyone's when it came to self-preservation. He made the call on the spot, approving the daring plan. Thus, the retreat from Zone D began.
...
Northern Underhive, Giant Cargo Elevator Shaft Area.
This area was originally the territory of the "Revelry," the Underhive's largest gang alliance. These people were hedonists who spent their days in a stupor of deafening electronic music and hallucinogens. Right now, a massive open-air party was in full swing. Thousands of men and women painted in fluorescent oils and draped in accessories were twisting their bodies among the ruins.
Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed from the sky. A minor leader of the Revelry looked up irritably, wanting to see who dared disturb his pleasure. Then, he saw a sight he would never forget.
The massive elevator shaft gates ground open, and countless black dots fell like locusts. Valkyrie assault carriers! Gunships equipped with heavy grenades and multi-lasers! And beneath these aircraft were steel behemoths being lowered by steel cables: Chimera armored personnel carriers, Basilisk self-propelled artillery... even Leman Russ main battle tanks bearing the "Iron Skull" mercenary emblem!
This was a mechanized army capable of fighting a formal planetary surface campaign!
"Shit! What the hell is that?!" The gang leader raised his crude autopistol and fired aimlessly at the sky. "This is Revelry territory! Get the hell—"
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
The heavy grenade launcher under the nose of a diving Valkyrie roared. There were no warnings, no negotiations. The gang leader, along with dozens of his dancing companions, was instantly shredded by large-caliber shells.
The tanks landed. Their tracks crushed audio equipment and still-twitching corpses. Turrets rotated, and dark cannon muzzles leveled at the Revelry settlement.
BOOM!!!
The first shell detonated, signaling the start of a massacre. The Helios military didn't care whose territory this was or what these people were doing. In their eyes, these were just stray dogs in the way. Since they needed to pass through, they would flatten the path.
It was a total curb-stomp. The gang's scrap guns couldn't even leave a dent on the regular army's armor. In just ten minutes, the once-rowdy area was transformed into a sea of fire and ruins. The army didn't even stop, grinding over burning corpses as they rolled southward.
...
Shelter, third basement level, Command Center.
Bam!
The door was kicked open. The patrol captain responsible for the outer perimeter scrambled in, drenched in cold sweat and forgetting to breathe.
"Master! Master!!"
"The sky is falling! Something terrible has happened outside!"
Gamma-9 was sitting before the screens, staring at several monitors that had suddenly gone black. His face was as pale as paper, and the light in his mechanical eye flickered. He didn't need the captain to report; he had already seen it.
Although most Black Spirit spiders were in the pipes, Andy had deployed a few at high-altitude ventilation shafts and atop ruins to monitor the big picture. Right now, one of the high-altitude probes to the north was transmitting a picture of pure despair.
Amidst clouds of rising dust, a massive armored column was advancing across the Underhive wastes. The tank barrels glinted coldly in the dim light. Gamma-9 recognized the model: Leman Russ, true main battle tanks.
Andy might have built rocket launchers and high-explosive crossbows, but against a regular armored cluster of this magnitude... it was truly uncertain how long the shelter's meager assets could hold.
More importantly... Andy wasn't there! The shelter's strongest combat force was entirely absent! They had gone to raid Helios's base. Now, the Helios army was raiding their home in return!
"Quick! Try to contact the Magos!" Gamma-9's voice turned shrill as his fingers hammered frantically at the console. "Get them back! Get them back now!"
"If it's too late, everything is over!!"
However, the communication channel only returned a deathly hiss of static. Andy and his team had entered the depths of Zone D, an area of such intense electromagnetic shielding that conventional signals could not penetrate.
Gamma-9 slumped into his chair, watching the steel tide drawing closer on the screen. For the first time, he felt true despair.