Anacharis Scoria: I Need to Become Stronger

Shana II, the eleventh Forge Temple.

Anakaris Scoria's optical implants gleamed with an intense orange light as he coldly observed the other Sage and Tech-Priest, whose actions suggested they were gripped by fear.

Compared to his age and other Tech-Priest, Anakaris was more sanctified, an outward manifestation of his abilities and ambitions.

With the running data engine, he had a complete overview of the current situation.

The number of dead, the destroyed foundries...

His world-building is inadequate; he could do better, but he is merely a Tech-Priest.

Enraged Anakaris received a data packet from the Great Sage Eddie, to whom he served.

"The Xana Guardian has been attacked by Xenos. Depart immediately to rescue the God-Machine."

Anakaris instantly Analysis the data packet, cautiously expressed his views, and instantly exchanged ideas and data with the Great Sage Eddie.

His counter-offensive plan was immediately rejected, making him feel that Eddie had not done any logical analysis.

Anakaris then switched to a dedicated, high-intensity Military-Grade Communication System, marked the coordinates of his assigned mission, and issued orders to his unit.

His unit, Macro-Clade, assembled within twelve seconds and began a mechanical march.

Like other Forge World, the Sage of Xana also organized their Mechanicum Custodians according to the sacred numbers of the God of All Machines.

Each Macro-Clade has four brigades, and each brigade consists of three detachments.

Anakaris calmed the agitation of the binary code and decided to proceed with his plan.

Joining the Mechanicum Custodians was a carefully calculated choice; his goal was to acquire all of Eddie the Great Sage's assets.

Although the Omnissian Custodians was originally intended to fight at the behest of God, unlike the Guardians who were loyal to the Fabricator-General, they were formed based on feudal obligations.

The Mechanicum Custodians, the Protectorate, and the Collegia Titanica form a great triune structure.

The Knight Houses, the Reductionist Order, the Explorator Fleets, and the Legio Cybernetica are all powerful enough in their respective fields, but they still pale in comparison to the three major organizations.

The Skitarii would be influenced by Mars and be too secular, while the Collegia Titanica be influenced by various forces. Only the Mechanicum Custodians was his best choice.

Each Sage has their own resources and military power, and the sage he selected through data screening, Eddie, Great Sage with a strong desire for control. He personally serves as the Magos Prime of Macro-Clade, yet he will not abandon his Foundry.

Eddie's understanding of war was too superficial, which gave him his chance.

More importantly, Eddie's lifespan is 250 years, but his theoretical lifespan is less than 120 years.

This is his chance. If he can control the entire armed forces of Macro-Clade, he can seize Eddie's legacy, the knowledge and Foundry possessed by the Great Sage —everything will be his.

Although he currently only controls one squad, his specially designed predictive array has calculated every possible future node.

The fluctuating electronic signals caught Anakaris's attention.

The tactical overview, with its displayed 3D holographic projection and data code, momentarily stunned the Logic Engine he had tailored for himself.

The God-Machine was battered and bruised by the dense beams of light, and the system's alarming runes were alarming.

Void Shield Defense System 19.34%, Transmission System 30.57%...

Anakaris's replacement of his oracle scanning system allowed him to obtain more comprehensive information than the data packets in his Thought Space.

All the information pieced together a creature he had never seen before, a being beyond his comprehension.

Scans showed that the components that made up his body had a 43.61% overlap with plants of the Lycopodiaceae family and a 38.41% overlap with plants of the Moraceae family...

He was like a hybrid of various plants, but the energy beams he roared out caused massive damage to the God-Machine, and the numbers on the Void Shield system kept dropping.

[He is a complete individual; he is even more powerful than the God-Machine.]

An electronic signal popped up in Anakaris's Logic Engine: [I know what they're hiding.]

I know what Eddie is afraid of: they're hiding the existence of this Xenos to avoid questioning the symbolism of the God-Machine.

Foolish! This cannot be hidden; it should be made public as soon as possible so that a solution can be found.

Anakaris's Logic Engine generated a complete war plan in twelve seconds.

He paused while distributing data packets to his subordinates.

He had no authority; he could only follow Eddie's mechanical and useless pre-defined plan.

Anakaris angrily abandoned the plan and began to examine the Eddie -014 fire strike plan.

The Logic Engine operates at high speed, finding the parts within it that can be flexibly changed.

Even with limited freedom, he will still take the initiative to achieve greater results and obtain the data feedback he desires.

"Soldier A-1, move to coordinates 157, 358, attack point B-687."

"..."

"Mechanical B-1, move to coordinates 146, 329, attack point B-689."

"..."

Anakaris, within his authority, fine-tuned Andy's firepower strategy to allow their firepower to be used more effectively.

He assigned similar strike points to soldiers and mechs, intending to gather data on the Xenos through feedback; this data would become his asset.

The entire squadron of the Mechanicum Custodians started operating like parts of a machine.

Anakaris's squad moved in an orderly fashion through the furnaces, completing its deployment at least 36 seconds earlier than all other squads.

This was the result of his calculations, and it brought Anakaris pleasure for the first time that day.

Soldiers unleashed Plasma Beam and mechs fired their Melta Cannon simultaneously, the dense beams hitting their targets with pinpoint accuracy.

Anakaris eagerly checked the feedback results, and a second later, he restrained himself from cursing Eddie in the squad's communication system.

[Energy Shield, he actually concealed this important information.]

My firepower strike plan did not take this factor into account.

Anakaris quickly regained his composure and recorded the feedback data from the energy shield.

He quickly adjusted the attack plan, and just as he issued it, he suddenly heard a loud bang, accompanied by a series of mournful binary codes echoing in his Thought Space.

The Xana Guardian has collapsed, and the God Engine has been destroyed.

The Guardian Xana collapsed, crushing dozens of furnaces. Debris rained down, and the clanging sounds echoed all around.

Anakaris was the first to emerge from his grief, only to find the Xenos charging toward his group.

He immediately requested authorization to activate the self-defense procedure within his Thought Space. While exchanging viewpoints, he sensed a large amount of redundant code in Eddie's data.

[It was born from witnessing the destruction of the God-Machine; his sanity was destroyed by fear.]

Anakaris received the authorization he wanted, and even more.

The Tech-Priest commanded his battalion lost his logical connection, and he took over command of three detachments.

Anakaris believed he was consumed by fear, which was a good thing for him.

He immediately got into character, abandoned Eddie's attack plan, rebuilt a new battle plan, and announced it on the brigade's communication system.

The panicked soldiers calmed down and followed Anakaris's orders to move and fire.

The result of repeating the training thousands of times allowed them to quickly regain their confidence.

When they discovered that every attack hit the Xenos, they forgot about the enormous green figure and focused solely on carrying out Anakaris's orders.

The mechs' Machine Spirit were enraged by the fall of the God-Machine, and Anakaris took full advantage of this.

He distributed the identified energy shield signals to them, launching an attack on the Xenos alien soldiers.

In Anakaris' Tactical Network, the numbers jumped rapidly: 33, 107, 259...

With each round of firepower, the results achieved were increasing.

Anakaris adjusted his firepower while launching the attack.

He raised the Power Staff with his right arm, and the charged current blasted towards the Xenos with more than a dozen Scorpion Tail.

After several tens of seconds, sparks flew from the Power Staff.

Just as he had calculated, Xenos's energy shield was overloaded.

He raised his left arm, Plasma Pistol ended the Xenos's life.

His Auspex scanning system lit up with bright red runes, and three-dimensional images shone in the data engine.

The Xenos's blade tore soldier A-5 apart, splattering blood onto the furnace.

He brandished his blade and charged at Anakaris.

Anakaris's energy weapon was still charging, but he still had an arm and Mechadendrite on his back.

The Chainfist screech as they slammed into the Xenos's crimson eyes, tearing Xenos brain apart.

[Not enough, not enough yet. I can control even more weapons at the same time. This isn't my limit yet.]

I need to become stronger!

Because Anakaris had invested resources in predictive arrays and avian scanning systems, his investment in weapon systems was only just beginning.

Apart from the Mechadendrite were surgically attached to his spine, he has not yet been fitted with any other arms.

When Anakaris expressed dissatisfaction with his weapon system, countless red runes suddenly appeared in his data engine.

The data feedback told him that the Xenos that destroyed the Titan had aimed their energy weapons in that direction.