The entrance to Olympus Mons extends deep into the red surface of Mars.
It was an area of Labyrinth intertwined with industrial bases and giant building structures. From the entrance to Forge Temple, the ground for several kilometers was covered with pipes, towers, furnaces and silently operating mechanical creations.
The air was filled with copper-colored mist in the dim light of Mars, and the smell of sulfur and engine oil hovered in every vent.
Under the seemingly indestructible Shell, some almost imperceptible shadows are already moving, like a drop of ink falling into a glass of water and spreading slowly.
The first batch of Officio Assassinorum members have arrived.
Under the command of Malcador, a joint team composed of assassins from the Callidus Temple, Vindicare Temple, Eversor Assassin Temple, and Vennam Temple quietly sneaked into the edge of Olympus Mons.
They were like a torrent that was broken up into countless iron filings, seeping into this huge industry Fortress from different gaps.
Callidus Temple's assassins are the fastest to infiltrate.
Their skills are based on a technique that goes far deeper than regular training.
Callidus Assassin can use a drug called Polymorphine to change the shape of the body.
It was a biochemical agent that could reshape bones, compress organs, and reconstruct faces. After taking it, an assassin could completely transform into another person for a period of time.
They have now blended into the team of Olympus Mons's servants, walking hurriedly between the boilers and pipelines, with no features on their faces that could identify them as assassins.
Their posture, stride length, and even breathing rate have all been rehearsed in advance, like a few fish hooks lowered into the flowing water, quietly floating along the stream towards the target.
Vindicare Assassin, on the other hand, was holding a sniper rifle and black tight-fitting liquid clothing, and quickly passed through the ventilation duct of Olympus Mons.
Those ventilation ducts are like the blood vessel network of this industrial Behemoth, intertwining with each other deep in the walls and ceilings. Some are as wide as several meters, and some are so narrow that they can only accommodate one person huddled up.
Vindicare Assassin wears the kind of black tights woven by Liquid Fibre, wrapping their bodies from head to toe in a nearly weightless film, allowing them to make almost no sound when sliding on the metal pipe wall.
Their movements are as precise as clockwork, climbing, moving sideways, crawling, and crossing seams. Every time they change postures, they pause briefly to re-confirm the safety of the next section of the path with their eyes and ears.
The Exitus Rifle in their hands has been assembled. The lens of the sniper scope is wrapped with anti-reflective cloth, and only a very thin barrel protrudes from the ventilation grille of the pipe.
The muzzle of the gun was aimed at the heart of the industrial Labyrinth.
Eversor Assassin and Vanus Assassin serve as reserve teams and are stationed in the shadows outside the first-level sneak passage.
They don't need to hide their existence, because they are weapons specifically designed to create chaos, the kind of power that cannot be taken back once released.
Once the first two assassin teams are lost, they immediately rush to the battlefield, kill all traces and witnesses of their actions, and destroy the entire chain of command of Utio in the most terrifying and bloody way.
Among the huge Temple, silence and mechanical roar are the only overtures here.
The Hall used as Fabricator-General Command Center is separated from the surface of Mars by dozens of layers of armor and foundations, just like the nest of a Behemoth lurking deep in the mountain.
The surrounding walls are composed of large, slowly operating machinery and cooling systems. The sound of steam and hydraulic oil flowing in the pipes interweaves into a constant low-frequency hum in the air, as if the heart of the entire mountain is beating here.
Hundreds of pipes and cables hang from the ceiling, like the nerve bundles of some giant creature, extending all the way to the terminal interface of Central Control Cluster.
Four Attendant and one Adeptus Mechanicus Archmagos, under the protection of several Skitarii, came to meet with Fabricator-General.
Skitarii is wearing the deep red heavy armor of Adeptus Mechanicus, carrying an unrecognizable long-range weapon on his shoulders. Every step is heavy and mechanical. Archmagos is wearing a thick Adeptus Mechanicus robe. The Insignia on the chest is covered by a black gear emblem, and his face is hidden behind layers of hoods and metal masks.
They passed through sealed gates one after another, went through layers of identity authentication and Psychic Energy scanning, and finally arrived at this hall.
Of course, in addition to Archmagos and Skitarii, the other Attendant are all disguised by Callidus Assassin.
In the ventilation duct, the Vindicare assassin had aimed his killing rifle at Ultio's head from different angles.
Their position distribution has been accurately calculated.
What came here was a standard three-man Vindicare team, including a ventilation grille on the dome of the main hall, a pipe exit on the high platform on the right, and a hidden shaft on the left column.
The shooting circle formed by the three barrels is like an invisible net, covering every inch of space where Utio may move.
In the sniper scope, the figure of Utio is moving slowly, and the tip of the machine Tentacles is beating lightly on Control Console.
The assassination is about to begin.
At this moment, Utio still has no idea.
He stood in front of Control Console, thinking that he had sealed those orders and plans under the surface of Mars, thinking that he was perfectly disguised, but he didn't know that Lorgar had already passed the news of Mars's rebellion to Emperor.
He thought he was still a chess player, pushing the chess pieces onto the board one by one, thinking that Terra was still kept in the dark.
He didn't know that another player had already stretched out his fingers from his blind spot, and now those fingers were resting on the edge of his chessboard.
"Somado Archmagos, how are you preparing your things?" Utio spoke.
His voice came out from inside the Adeptus Mechanicus robe, with a synthesized metallic texture, like syllables extruded from an ancient translator.
The body of Utio on Mars is far less deadly than that on Gungnir.
That huge Machine God bright body has been left in Gungnir's Command Room, turning into a silent empty shell.
The body he was using to move at this moment was only five meters long, like a compressed command tower.
The whole body was shrouded in a red Adeptus Mechanicus robe. The robe was sewn with multiple layers of industrial fibers, and the surface was covered with gears, pipelines and brass sealing wax. It looked mysterious and a little dangerous.
The tips of several mechanical Tentacles were exposed under the hem of the robe, trembling gently in the air, like snakes testing the surrounding airflow.
His head was covered by a silver frame, with an optical Sensors embedded in the center, which was emitting dark red light from the darkness.
"Sir, everything is ready." Somado nodded.
At this moment, four Attendant stepped forward and walked to Utio.