The Mobius Hybrid

The largest hybrid production plant in Arakan Citadel lay within the walls of a collapsed temple: a sprawling jungle of metal structures studded with black stone obelisks. Alien artifacts, Protoss relics, and idols mounted on Khaydarin Crystal bases were commonplace.

By the time Valerian arrived, the fighting outside the hybrid factory had largely ended.

Several Imperial Marine Corps companies, fielding large numbers of Marauders, had already assembled and were launching a fresh assault against Amon's human servants guarding the place.

Dropships continued to bring in shipload after shipload of armored Imperial soldiers, unloading tanks, armored vehicles, and crate upon crate of weapons and ammunition. They gathered in every open space, raising the Imperial flag before rushing off to the battlefield. Soldiers, mechs, and combat vehicles barreled everywhere amid shouts and thunderous roars.

Massive battlecruisers hung above the hybrid factory, their powerful searchlights piercing row after row through the dense Terrazine mist like blades of light cutting through a thick purple curtain. The air-to-ground Concord Cannons of raiding Liberators sealed off every route, while Siege Tanks far beyond the visible horizon pounded the factory outposts and heavy weapons platforms still attempting to return fire.

If he listened closely, Valerian could distinguish the thumping reports of small electromagnetic weapons from the shrieking rush of clustered rockets launching one after another. There was the sound of steel scraping across the ground, while fire and death bloomed like brilliant flowers.

There were also other sounds, far more unbearable: the screams of the dying, the wails of wounded soldiers, the sorrowful sobs of men who had lost their arms and could no longer endure the pain. Explosions were loud enough to drown them out, yet those sounds always found their way into his ears.

The broad road leading to the hybrid factory had once been