"Marauders" and Their Yeld-type Hunt-Master Suits
After Malena Skala saw the Catachan Warriors launch missiles as planned, blasting a rift in the bio-lab, she turned to look at the rats she was controlling.
The "Biologist" pointed to the laboratory building, and the mice scurried towards it.
The experimental building was 130 meters high and 15 meters wide, protected by four defensive towers inside and out, covered with firing ports, and gleaming gun mounts poured ammunition at the Catachan Warrior.
The missile blasted a gap the size of a fist into the Ferrocrete structure protected by Adamantium armor. No ordinary person could squeeze through it no matter how hard they tried, but it was enough for a controlled rat.
They burrowed into the laboratory, climbed into the ventilation ducts, dropped the seeds they were holding, and then ran off to other places.
The Vine Seeds from Catachan stubbornly began to grow, and although they did not spread as quickly as they had on their Homeworld, their growth was still visible to the naked eye.
With the help of the turrets, the guards repelled the Catachan Warriors, while the "Biologist" released a second batch of pets: various venomous snakes from Catachan.
The Swamp Mamba leaped into the air and was the first to land in the experimental building.
They landed on the guards, their sharp teeth piercing through the bulletproof armor, injecting venom into their bodies.
The guards trembled violently, and dark green blood trickled from the corners of their mouths.
After twenty-nine heartbeats, the guards stopped convulsing.
In Malena's brown eyes, she saw the outer guards dying one by one; it was time to launch the attack.
She was to launch a lightning offensive and seize the entire laboratory before the guards realized they couldn't hold out and activated their self-destruct program.
Maria turned on the Communicator and gave orders to the Catachan Banshees.
"Attack!"
The Catachan Banshees have expanded from two experimental regiments to five, with Malena bringing four of them this time.
Banshees, wearing Banshee Masks and with their hair dyed red, attacked from four directions.
They all tilted their heads back and let out sharp shrieks, which, magnified by their masks, echoed in spiraling, invisible shrieks within the turret.
The Catachan Banshees seized the opportunity to swiftly break through the defensive line of fire, and the lead Demolitionist pulled out Tarawa-pattern Melta Bomb, which was set to explode three seconds later.
They sped out of the ranks and slammed the Melta Bombs against the exterior wall of the Adamantium building.
Boom!
An explosion roared, and the outer wall collapsed.
Malena rushed into the laboratory first. Wherever she went, plants spread rapidly through the corridor, covering the entire floor in an instant.
The plants grew rapidly, and the entire laboratory looked as if it had been abandoned and then invaded.
At the same moment Malena stormed the Papu caste's biochemical laboratory, Tierney, along with several "Marauder," also launched an operation against an ancient building over five thousand years old.
When choosing outfits, Tierney and Maria Kournikova faced the same choice, but unlike the "Assassin's" choice, he based the "Marauder" on the Yeld-type Hunt-Master Suit.
Mechanic Expert Rosicky Czech designed the Yeld-type specifically based on Tierney's requirements.
The original Yeld-type could only exhibit its ability to change color and conceal its presence when the wearer was stationary.
The "Mechanic Expert" incorporated Aeldari Cameleoline Cloak material into the Hunt-Master Suit's originally Feather Fall yet durable metal composite material.
He connected the entire suit of armor by embedding the Warp Circuits of the Squats Grimnyr Magos at key nodes.
Tierney and the "Marauder" pressed the crystals on their waists, and as the runes lit up one by one, the Warp Circuit activated the color-shifting array, allowing them to remain invisible even while walking slowly.
Tierney led the "Marauder" stealthily toward the Mechanical Guards, their electronic eyes scanning the surroundings as they had for the past five thousand years.
Tierney and his colleagues slowed their pace to avoid generating any signals that could be detected by the Sensor Array.
They were not afraid of the attacks launched by the Mechanical Sentry; the Conductive Filaments connected to their neurocortex could be activated in sync with their consciousness, deflecting the enemy's attacks.
Tierney first slipped between the two Mechanical Sentries, and the metal structure did not react at all.
The "Marauder" then followed, arriving at the base of the metal tower.
The metal tower is tens of meters high, with a circular base and a diameter of several meters.
The "Cipher Scholar" walked silently around the tower, his eyes scrutinizing the runes that were so different from those of Vostonia and the Imperium of Man.
The "Cipher Scholar," combining the Gardinal runes sent by Arsena Dunn, quickly Analysis the runes in front of him.
After circling around once, he came to a rune.
The "Cipher Scholar" observed during the recent detour that the runes at the bottom of the tower contain elements from one to eleven.
One day... four claws... eleven stars.
The "Cipher Scholar" realized that when this building was constructed, the Gardinal did not control eleven planets; they Oldest One colonized the third planet, Head of Gardinal.
He then walked to the position corresponding to the three, which was a rune composed of two patterns, with three legs, one above and two below, nested in an intricate ring.
Tierney raised his hand and pressed it, and with a rumbling vibration, the gray door slowly opened.
The "Marauder" filed in, with Tierney being the last to enter. He casually pressed a rune inside and closed the door.
"Scatter and search." Tierney glanced at the massive gray statue at the bottom and gave the order through the sealed Communicator.
The "Marauder," concealed within their Yeld-type Hunt-Master Suits, bypassed the towering mechanical guards resembling Dreadnought and began their search.
A "Marauder" climbed to the fourth floor, removed his gauntlets, and ran his "Agile Hand" across the wall, only to suddenly retract his fingers.
He tapped his finger lightly, and the hidden door opened.
The "Marauder" entered the dark room, his gaze sweeping over the numerous hundreds of art sculptures.
"Superior Observation" allowed him to identify the most precious statue in the dark room: a lifelike sculpture of a man in gray armor holding a long sword.
When the timer inside Tierney's black armor completed two revolutions, all the "Marauder" reported their discoveries: they found artworks from different periods, but no trace of the High Lord.
The "Cipher Scholar" spent an hour verifying the unusual details reported by the "Marauder".
He found two new secret chambers, but still found no information related to the High Lord.
The "Cipher Scholar" frowned, thinking to himself.
Could this tower simply be an artwork storing historical records of the development of the Gardinal people?
Does a place like this really need so many mechanical guards?
Why aren't these mechanical guards being used now that the capital is in chaos and other fortresses and Fortress haven't been able to reach it in time?
The "Cipher Scholar" glanced around, his gaze landing on his feet, when a sudden inspiration struck him.
[If not inside the tower, what about underground?]
Tierney crept down to the bottom level, bypassed a mechanical guard wielding a large axe, and climbed onto the massive granite statue.
Behind the statue, "Cipher Scholars " discovered an eleven-pointed star pattern arranged horizontally.
He raised his hand and pressed it on the third planet. A beeping sound rang out above his head, accompanied by the whirring of machinery and the deep, dark muzzle of a gun.
With a thought, the "Cipher Scholar" rotated hundreds of independent metal plates connected to the hinged frame via Micro-fiber Bundles.
The flying wing carried Tierney backward through the air, its dazzling particle beams striking the ground and creating countless craters.
Tierney's expression remained unchanged. As a "Marauder" who had infiltrated countless defense facilities, he had already realized that if the particle weapon from earlier had hit him, even if his suit could deflect most of the beam, the remaining beam would still be enough to kill him.
Even the Black Emperor's Shadow of Order can be penetrated by its Power Armor.
Tierney heard the heavy footsteps and quickly snapped out of her shock.
He knew he had alerted the mechanical guards, and more would arrive soon.
"Hold him back!"
The "Marauder" spread their wings and flew from all directions toward the mechanical guards wielding axes.
The Multi-barrel Laser Emitter unleashed a dense barrage of laser beams, bombarding the gray metal body.
The laser struck the Adamantium armor, turning the gray armor black, but the mechanical guard continued its actions, its electronic eyes flashing Red Light as it raised its large axe.
The locked-on "Marauder" flapped its wings and took flight, attracting the mechanical guard's attention.
Another "Marauder" seized the opportunity to fly from behind to the mechanical guard's neck, and the sharp wings of the Yeld-type Hunter quickly closed.
The metal wings not only allow them to fly, but also to launch attacks.
A flash of black light, and dozens of metal plates from the tips of the wings pierced the mechanical guard's head, eyes, cheeks, and shoulders.
With its wings spread, the mechanical guard's head was ripped apart.
At the same time, the "Cipher Scholars " were rapidly tapping on the third and eleventh planets.
[Three marks the beginning; the Gardinal people began from this point.]
The eleventh planet is the final stage; their goal is to conquer all eleven planets.
The Rune Array covering the granite statue lit up, revealing a passage amidst the tremors.
Tierney leaped down first, while the "Marauder" spun and flew, dodging the barrage of bullets fired by the mechanical guards, and flew downwards.
The "Cipher Scholar" flew for more than ten kilometers along the narrow passage, when suddenly the view opened up, revealing a platform that seemed to have no end.
Above the platform, there was a metal wreck, the part of which he could see was as large as a frigate.
The "classified scholar" controlled the flying wing to slow down, while thinking to himself.
Is it the wreckage of a ship? The ship that the early colonists of Gardinal arrived on?
That's why the art museum was built on top of it.
The High Lords used Consciousness Matrix technology to prolong their lives from the very beginning; it's possible they brought it to Gardinal, or perhaps it's inside the colony ship.