The Value of Abominable Intelligence Keeps Rising

Sentinel Mechs were common equipment that could be assigned to mortal armies, among the most inconspicuous items in the Imperium's arsenal.

In the Dark Age of Technology, they had been farming tools. Now, they were infantry-grade Sentinel Mechs, resembling tractors with legs and gun barrels attached. They were cheap, had decent firepower, and any sector with a Forge World could churn them out like dumplings. Even losing every last one would not hurt.

The Adeptus Mechanicus never worried about spare parts for Sentinels. They were simply too basic—so basic that any planet with even a modest industrial foundation could hand-build a few.

The Aeldari excelled at decapitation strikes. Nine hundred of the thousand battles they won came from killing the enemy commander.

But unmanned Sentinel Mechs had no heads for them to cut off.

What did machines need heads for? Even after falling over, they could keep firing without pause.

Even the Machine Spirits had stopped making sense. Their control consoles could be blown apart, yet they would keep firing as if nothing had happened.

Goose beauty, thief English.

The Aeldari could only stop these Sentinel Mechs by completely destroying them. No matter how they fought, it was a ruinous loss.

Two hundred Sentinel Mechs formed a skirmish line and marched in perfect unison past the front of the Ultramarines infantry formation, pushing to the very forefront.

Four hundred twin-linked heavy bolter barrels completed their belt loading as they advanced. Then, without any pilots inside, the two hundred Sentinel Mechs automatically broadcast a deep, resounding mechanical war cry through their external speakers:

"Heretics! The Imperium—demands your deaths!!!"

The hydraulic actuators whined as they moved, merging into a frigid clamor of steel. Two hundred six-meter-tall steel frames advanced head-on through the torrent of fire pouring from the Aeldari positions.

Dense volleys