Chapter 1: Prologue 01 – Treachery on the Desert World

Desert World Rakku, a planet of desert on the surface, and mineral rich beneath. The Human Imperium had claimed the planet as their own a few decades ago, but development on the planet is infinitesimal. 

Despite being a planet being astronomically close to the border between the Human Imperium and the Arun Federacy’s territory, the planet's surface is unsuitable for human habitation. Lack of water, extreme temperature changes, and a long day-and-night cycle, the planet could not support mortal humans on its surface. Early scanners also indicate the existence of poisonous gas pockets located beneath the surface, escalating the danger level of the planet. 

The risks simply outweigh the potential benefits.

Nevertheless, that does not deny the existence of minerals deep within the planet’s belly. Perhaps, if the Imperium were to implement deep core mining, the planet’s designation would change into that of a mining world, but the cost to kickstart the project is astronomical. 

“Sigh…” A gray-haired man sighed while his sight explored the vast rocky desert. The man is covered by a pale gray trench coat that covers his dark gray digital camo military outfit. Taking his hand out of his trench coat, he interacted with the wrist watch-like equipment. 

As a Magos, he is equipped with a personal shield that blocked the harmful stellar radiation that this planet’s atmosphere could not filter. However, what he did wasn’t to flare up his personal shield so that it reduces the uncomfortable stellar radiation or scorching ultraviolet rays. Instead, he turned it off.

“Can’t wait to get out of this shithole.” He wanted to sighed once more, but held back the urge, “Well, complaining isn’t going to get me anywhere...” He mumbled.

After being exposed to the lethal sunlight of the system’s star, the man’s dull gray hair quickly darkens to jet black to maximize heat absorbent rate. The photons and waves are being collected and stored, the process is akin to photosynthesis, but far more efficient.

While glancing around the sea of boiling sand, the man’s silvery gray eyes zoomed in and out, similar to the lenses of a camera found in an observational satellite. The black sclera in the man’s eyes is proof enough that his pair of eyes aren’t the product of nature, but instead, a pair of man-made mechanical eyes.

As the man’s thoughts were being occupied by his observation, a person approached him from behind. 

“Commander Regulus, the sensors are picking something, you should see this.” She spoke, her voice containing respect for a soldier towards her superior. 

“Gladys, is it?” The black-haired man, the one who’s referred to as Regulus, inquired before turning back to face her. “Lead the way.”

What he saw was silver blonde hair which was reflecting the blazing sunlight. There were some glittering particles around her, indicating that her personal shield is actively blocking solar radiation, but her hair was still able to capture photons and photosynthesis despite the inefficiency. Her outfit is more or less the same compared to Regulus, but a female version of that.

The woman nodded and led him towards the command center in this expedition. Despite being the command center, the building was only a three storey high constructed from metallic prefabs: instant building packs acquired from the Machine Cult. In any case, the closest planet filled with human habitation is a few light years away, therefore this small building is probably the strongest man-made building in this solar system. 

Reaching the top floor of the ‘command center’, she dexterously manipulates the holographic computer station in front of her. Seconds later, it displays a sonar-like result from the latest scanner.

“Commander Regulus, the last usage of explosives in our ‘archeological’ operations had triggered a change. I fear that something other than us is already here and we’re unknowingly waking them up...” She reported, the readings indicate small tremors reverberated around the planet.

“You don’t have to be so formal when we’re alone.” Regulus chuckles while reading the data on the holographic screen.

On the other hand, Gladys blushed. “It’s embarrassing and I don’t want other people to know about our relationship, foster father.”

“Hahah, then do as you like.” Regulus patted her head before turning serious. “Orbital scans from the Strike Cruiser Machine Saint indicate that the poisonous gas is ever present under the surface. If there’s something other than Imperium personnel making these tremors, then they must be immune to the poison gas... or having the foresight to evade them.”

Gladys nodded. “The research team has yet to determine the nature of the poison, but it is definitely lethal to most organics.”

“Both of us are Converts with less than 50% organic matter in us, so we should have some level of resistance, but it’s better not to risk it until the research team finds more concrete results.” Regulus touched his chin. “Are the countermeasures to protect the archeology team from poison gas ready?”

“Yes, but our oxygen supply used to refine the new-type life support canisters is limited to a year. I fear that due to the nature of our work and our objective, the mission would take more than the available resources.” She replied.

“It’s okay, we can ask the Strike Cruiser above to refine more oxygen from water ice available in the asteroid belt of this system.” Regulus interacted with the holographic interface. “The archeology team has been here for almost a month now, have they found any trace of our target?”

Gladys shook her head. “None, not even the slightest proof of that ship wreckage’s existence. That is why they have been escalating the archaeology process, using depth charges and deep quake sonars, barely ignoring the safety measures imposed by the Machine Cult.”

“Hmm, I see.” Regulus thought that was normal. After digging around for some time but unable to find their target, the archeology team must’ve been bored to death. To accelerate gaining any tracks or proof of the mission target’s objective, they started to use high tech methods that barely followed the safety protocol and skirting around the nature of this covert operation. “The Aruns shouldn’t have any interest in this planet, they are more or less similar to humans, after all. Without water and a suitable environment, they won’t care too much about this planet.”

Just as he had finished his piece, there was red light from one of the holographic monitors.

“Fathe- Commander Regulus, Archeology Team 4 had sent an SOS. They are in contact with hostile forces!” 

Regulus raised his eyebrow. “Did I jinx this operation?” He shook his head. “They aren’t caught in an Arun ambush, I hope.”

“No, they say the fought a Zerg scout group.” Gladys turned towards Regulus, seeing him frown deeply after hearing her report.

After giving some thoughts, he finally made a decision. “Abort all operations across the planet, recall all teams on the field. Contact the Strike Cruiser to send an evac unit. This is not a drill, we are entering the highest state of combat readiness!” Regulus quickly barked an order. As the commander of this operation, he has full right to escalate the ‘archeological’ operation or pull back from the planet. 

Gladys’s pupil dilated in shock, realizing the scope of the threat looming over the planet. She immediately conveyed her foster father’s orders towards the personnel in the field, sending VTOL transports while calling an evac unit from high-orbit.

Minutes after the emergency recall order had been sent, the sensors in the command center detected a massive swarm of Zerg. Not long after that, the sound of an emergency siren could be heard around the field which was now filled with Imperium’s personnel who had been recalled. The crew that landed on this planet include 120 humans and copious amounts of androids, split into multiple teams. Now that they have been recalled into the command center, the building was jam-packed with people and robots, but it’s still enough to move around.

“Arm any able person and androids with weapons. They're slowly reaching our position.” Regulus sent forth another order. Obviously, the 20-man security team is not enough to handle the incoming Zerg threat, therefore it is better to use all the available manpower. 

“Yes sir!” Gladys followed the order. Since this operation is made out of elites who have undergone military training, it wasn’t a problem for them to wield weapons. The militia force quickly formed and divided into teams of five.

“The Enemy is Zerg.” Regulus announced. “It is unknown how they were able to hide from our sensors, but it seems like their ability to evade detections is not inferior to that of the Aruns. We must prepare a defense line centered around this building to deter all forms of aggression. Is there any question?”

Naturally, these trained men wouldn’t object to the orders from the higher ups. “Prepare the barricade and gas masks, consider as if the battlefield will be saturated with toxic gas!”

The men and women in this makeshift command center quickly followed his instructions. They moved rapidly like soldier ants following the orders from queen ants. Although most of them were already wearing exosuits, a type of apparel to protect mankind from the unfavorable environment of space, the poison in this world seemed to be able to bypass spacesuits. To counter this poison, the research team had made a new type of life support canisters that could somehow ‘filter’ the poison but it is still inefficient and can only filter the poison in low concentration.  

“Commander, have you fought the Zerg before?” After giving detailed instructions towards the captains of each team to build a makeshift barricade around the three storey command center, Gladys and Regulus got on top of the command center.

“Zergs are an abomination in the sea of stars. A gestalt race that lays larvae in thousands, reaches maturity in four standard solar days, and their presence is not limited in the 3rd dimension. The Imperium’s military, the Astrales Militär, typically uses tactics which includes orbital bombardment to deal with Zerg swarms. There’s even a rumor that said the Supreme Commander of the Astrales Miltiär can only delay a zerg invasion, not completely eradicate them.” Regulus answered, a hint of absolute terror laced within his tone. “The swarm in this planet must be detached to the main swarm who fought against the Supreme Commander, but we should not underestimate them."

Regulus paused as his gaze shifted from the men below towards the skies above Rakku. “The Strike Cruiser Machine Saint is insufficient to completely clean this planet of Zerg. Perhaps, the reason why this planet’s surface is barren without life is because the Zerg had devoured all biomatter, we might never know.”

While Gladys realized the gravity of the situation, Regulus readied his weapons. They were standard issue of the Imperium: an assault railgun, a magnum railgun as a side weapon, and several explosives. The only non-standard weapon is the custom-made bladestaff on his back.

“Tsk, it just happened that our power armors and the heavy armaments are being handled for routine maintenance in the Machine Saint.” Regulus squinted his eyes as he whispered to himself, suspecting the faint trace of a scheme behind this whole event.

While the evac ships are descending from orbit, they are not fast enough. “Commander, evac dropship ETA: fifteen minutes.” Gladys reported as an assembly of Zerg swarms reveal themselves a couple kilometers away from the base. Their numbers alone inspire despair, the giant zerg variants are but a cherry on top.

“Hostile forces in sight, should we engage?” Gladys inquired.

“Not yet, don’t waste bullets until they reach optimum range.” Regulus observed the swarms. “Zerg’s main forces are zerglings, they are  quadruped insects with a height of barely 60 centimeters tall. Not having ranged attack, these dog-sized insects have sharp mantis scythe-like bladed limbs on top of their back. As long as you pay attention to their limbs, you should be okay.”

“Un!” Gladys nodded as she aimed her sniper railgun’s scope towards the bigger variants, the infrared laser sight allowing her to tag the target she wanted. “What about those?”

“Zerg Hunters, a variant species designed to hunt officers in large scale battles. These hunters have photo-reflective plates on their body, allowing them to render their body invisible to the naked eye. Since you’re a rank 2, you should be able to see them as well as the rest of the officers, but our rank 1 soldiers are helpless.”

Before she was able to ask another question, the Zerg swarm began marching. “No time to explain. Spread my order: fire when you are confident in hitting your target, defend the command center at all cost!” Regulus used the assault railgun on his hand like a sniper rifle. As a standard issue weapon used by rank 1 soldiers, it has a limited range. Beyond that point, the damage done by the railgun projectile would reduce, unable to pierce the Zerg Hunter’s defensive scales, but Regulus is the commander of this team.

As a rank 3 Legendary Magos, it isn’t difficult for him to overcharge the railgun using the power generated by his core reactor. 

Swoosh! A trail of blue plasma fire traveled through the battlefield. Each time he shot, a Zerg Hunter had its head explode followed by a crackle of lightning explosion that engulfed the insects around it. He shot the weapon at its maximum rate of fire, maximizing the damage potential to the absolute limit possible. It took him around two minutes before the assault railgun exploded due to the abuse, but a pale blue shield flared to life, protecting him from the damage.

“I’ll leave the command to you…” Regulus threw the molten slag on his hand, taking out the 1.5 meter long bladestaff on his back. The bladestaff a copious amount of computational cores consist of ultra-rare elements that augments his methods greatly. He telepathically interact with the weapon, changing the configuration of the artifact.

Gladys nodded while shooting her weapon in a rather similar nature like him, but with slower rate of fire and lower firepower. “Understood, commander. Take care.” She wasn’t worried about him at all since Regulus is well known for his combat ability. In addition, he’s the only rank 3 existence on this planet, he should be able to survive the Zerg swarm if he really wanted to leave. Although reaching low-orbit is impossible without a spacecraft, he could go anywhere on this planet.

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As more officers and the soldiers started to shoot, the battlefield is now decorated with patches of blood where zerglings were before the railguns pierced their weak, fleshy bodies. Occasionally, a tactical nuclear warhead is fired at the incoming swarm, pushing them back and delaying the next wave. In the first place, the Imperium’s technology is advanced enough to push back the swarm on this planet, but nevertheless, their number is so overwhelming that the rate of killing could not completely secure a way out.

Regulus was about to jump towards the battlefield and entered a melee, but his movement was stopped by the presence of a gigantic beast whose head is rather similar to a Triceratop, boring through the ground not too far from the base. The hulking beast was almost 5 meters tall, with thick legs and black, glossy armored carapace. The railgun projectiles aimed at it ricocheted, unable to scratch the thick armor.

Naturally, the security team is equipped with a larger caliber railgun, a turret usually mounted on top of an armored vehicle, but even so, it could not kill the large beast before it was able to demolish the fortifications.

“Zerg Charger, a Zerg variant that took the role of a tank, highly specialized in defense. Designated danger level: rank 2. Even if we use the tactical nuclear warhead, the explosion will engulf the base. I’ll take care of it.” Regulus quickly took the form of a sprinter after putting his bladestaff onto his back. Before he took the first step, his body was enveloped by blue lightning sparks. “Rank 3 star-path technospell, [Stellar Acceleration]!”

Bzzt! Accompanied by a burst of blue star matter, Regulus’ body instantly broke the sound barrier. His acceleration was so quick that he was able to leap towards the incoming Zerg Charger with barely building up speed. The two hundred meters of distance between them were traveled in a blink of an eye.

While he was about to reach the Zerg Charger, Regulus unleashed his feet towards the beasts’ skull, kicking it in full force. BOOM! Using his own body as a projectile and by generating a force field to focus the impact area, he had successfully pushed back the gigantic beast for a few dozen meters. At the very least, it is no longer blindly charging towards the command center. 

At the location where his feet and the beast’s skull made contact, there was barely a small crack on it. Now that it is no longer moving towards the command center, it was time to kill the oversized beetle. Once more activating [Stellar Acceleration], he received an instant burst of speed for one brief second, allowing him to brandish the vibroblade on his back to slice the beast’ six limbs, not allowing it to stand on its feet. 

After the one second burst movement speed had been used up, he was unable to sever the beast's main legs which are covered by an unnaturally thick exoskeleton. Still, he didn’t give up, but using [Stellar Acceleration] once more would be useless. Instead, he activated another method assisted by the computational cores on his bladestaff still holstered on his back. 

“Rank 3 star-path technospell, [Coronal Mass Ejection]!”

From the palm of his right hand, he produced a copious amount of lightning fire, a stream of pale blue superheated plasma aimed at the gigantic beast. It was similar to a phenomena of the same name, a star’s Coronal Mass Ejection. The stream of plasma fire ignited the beast, melting down its heavy armor and igniting the flesh underneath. In that instant, the stench of burning flesh spread around the surrounding area as the searing heat also decimated waves of Zergs, but Regulus has more things to worry about than the smell.

Clink! An empty, molten slag the size of a shotgun shell is being ejected from his arm. With the limited amount of space on his hand to hold the technospell catalysts, he couldn’t use the same method too many times. 

Glancing at the next waves of insects, he frowned. “This Charger is not the only one…” Taking a pale blue canister from the military waist bag behind his waist and reloading it onto a slot located on his hand, he started to begin activation sequences of his next method. Lines of holographic codes began appearing in his surroundings. The lines of codes manifest in a certain pattern, to the point of creating hieroglyphs. To the untrained eyes, they were jumbled lines of characters, but to a Magos like himself, they were runic codes being arranged to produce technospell circles.

“Rank 3 star-path technospell, [Stellar Firewall]!”

Swoosh! It was as he used two [Coronal Mass Ejection]s on both hands, they produced streams of extreme heat, glassing the desert while erecting a wall out of burning plasma fire in half a kilometer circumference. After activating this method, Regulus ejected two slags from each of his hands, but the half-circular wall of death will protect the command center for some time. It was worth the cost.

As if it was the cue, two ships burning after an atmospheric entry had arrived near the skies of the command center, decelerating so that they were able to dock safely onto the command center. 

Just as Regulus was about to get back to the CC, he felt a heavy vibration from beneath his feet. His gray-on-black eyes shone in prismatic light, an evidence that he’s using an investigative method to pierce mineral rich desert . “Lifesign match with a Flier’s Nest…” His gaze moved to the command center where non-combat personnel were being evacuated onto the evac ship. “They haven’t realized it yet. With a Flier’s Nest present, it’ll be impossible to get out of orbit…”

Regulus was about to activate another technospell to dispatch the Flier’s Nest, but his eyes squinted as he received a stream of information from high orbit. ‘Strike Cruiser Machine Saint’s weapon systems have been compromised. A mutiny is currently happening onboard?’ His eyes quickly shifted to the skies above Rakku, where the Strike Cruiser should be. 

“Xuanyuan Dia Wu…” He muttered under his breath, sending forth a message on a secret channel while retracting his gaze back on the field. “Is everything okay up there?”

“Dear husband…” a female voice replied on the secret channel. “Please return to the Machine Saint as soon as possible, they have taken over the cruiser’s weapon system!”

He exhaled a deep breath, there was no time to ask more questions, “Dia Wu, wait for me. I’m returning back!” Line of runic codes began to manifest under his control. Due to his rushed action, his technospell activation speed is extremely rapid as it uses up most of his computational resources. 

A Flier’s Nest suddenly popped up from the ground, it looked like a giant worm the size of a train, covered by thick layers of scaly armor. Its arrowhead-like head opened up its mouth, revealing multiple layers of fangs and tentacles. However, the danger of a Flier’s Nest is not the tentacles that could spray acid like a hose, but the worm’s giant body being a transport for small, suicide-type flying insect.

Just as he had expected, the moment the Flier’s Nest opened up its mouth, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of eyeball-sized zerg insects carrying green bioluminescent acid swarmed towards the evac ships, they were being launched by a stream of bio-launchers from the Nest’s body.

“Rank 3 start-path technospell, [Cataclysmic Starburst]!”

A small portion of Regulus’ chest opened up, revealing a glimpse of his Fusion Core Reactor. When the internals of the core reactor are exposed to the outside world, it starts to eject coronal mass in large quantities, but the technospell circles produce magnetic fields to contain them. The coronal mass quickly accumulated before the technospell circles began altering it into a usable form.

SWOOSH! Unlike the [Coronal Mass Ejection] channeled through his hand, this one has the form of a pale blue laser beam, traveling at a fraction of the speed of light. The ‘star cannon’ projectile is barely at the width of a man’s arm in terms of diameter, but when it pierced the train-sized Flier’s Nest, the whole zerg evaporated into gray cosmic dust. It also glassed a large area, followed by a nuclear-like explosion on the edge of its range.

The flying insect, though, continues to head towards the evac ship. The men on the landing zone tried to use explosives, tesla arc guns, or even their own technospells, so eventually, the explosive bugs are dealt with.

PSSHHHHH!!!! A large amount of steam is being produced by his body as his internals are being flushed with supercooling agent.

“Commander, with the exception of you, everyone is on board!” Gladys reported.

“Understood.” The moment he was about to rush towards the evac ship, three more Flier’s Nest popped up from the ground, each rather far away from each other. “Damn it, just go, I’ll catch up!” He ordered Gladys.

“Roger that!” She ordered the two evac ships to lift off, while one of the ships will slowly retreat to wait and cover the other one’s escape. 

Naturally, Regulus could not use up the [Cataclysmic Starburst] too often. He has limited supply of coronal mass produced by his fusion core reactor, and he has to spare some to deal with the mutiny aboard the Machine Saint. 

Each of Flier’s Nest are designated as rank 3 threats. Meaning, their scaly carapace are strong and durable enough to shrug off low-caliber railguns, while ricocheting larger ones. To pierce their defense, at least a turret-class railgun mounted on spaceships are required, but none are present in the field. Therefore, he has to deal with the Flier’s Nest the traditional way: explosive.

“Rank 2 star-path technospell, [Gravity Well]!” While the personnel on the ship are dealing with the explosive bugs, Regulus uses his method to dart around. When the technospell is activated, an ethereal magnetic field similar to a phantom black hole manifests on top of his head, allowing him to manipulate the gravity potential of objects around himself, including his own body. By lowering the pull of gravity, his movement speed increased by manifold, allowing him to throw explosive into the mouth of the first Flier’s Nest.

Followed by an explosion of molten plasma, the Flier’s Nest’s head instantly turned into charcoal.

The pressure on the evac ship was reduced significantly by the death of a Flier’s Nest, but he still needed to kill them all. Approaching the second worm has become difficult with the train-sized beast’s appendages spraying bioluminescent green acid that could melt spaceships. Even if Regulus is protected by a personal shield, the energy expenditure to block the acid mist is heavy. Sooner or later, the shield’s energy battery would be depleted, exposing him to the hostile environment. 

Nevertheless, the combat experience of a rank 3 Legendary is extremely rich. A burst of acceleration, zigzag, and precise throwing reduced the number of Flier’s Nest down to the last one. 

“Commander, please return quickly, we’ll handle the remaining Zerg!” Gladys sent forth a telepathic message before a stream of golden lightning produced by a technospell hit the last Flier’s Nest. Despite being flashy and glassing the sand around the beast, the lightning pillar is insufficient to deal lethal damage. Still, it gives him the necessary window of opportunity to fly and catch up with the last evac ship.

100 meters, 250 meters, 1 kilometer… His ascent is rapid with the [Gravity Well] pulling his body towards the skies. However, when he was around 25 meters away from the evac ship, a 15-centimeter long cylindrical object fell towards his head.

BANG! A burst of light, sound, electromagnetic pulse, and stream of information exploded literally on his face. The light and sound scrambled his physical senses, the electromagnetic pulse was specifically designed to work on a rank 3 Convert's mechanical body, and the stream of junk information flooded his computation cores, dispelling his technospell and crashing his internal system.

With whatever computational power he had gathered up from his organic brain, he was able to see a smiling Gladys who closed the hatch of the evac ship.

Regulus’ realization was too late as he began freefalling towards the Zerg-infested desert. “GLADYS, YOU DARE!” he screamed in his mind as he activated his redundancy systems to restart his mechanical body parts, not allowing him to kiss the ground at lethal velocity. Even with a rank 3 body made out of metal, he still has some organics within. In the case of his organic parts being destroyed, it’s hard for him to recover, if he could survive in the first place.

He did not expect his foster daughter that he picked up long years ago and trained as close as his own biological daughter to be a traitor, but he’s about to be surrounded by zergs. He had more pressing matters to deal with.

Just as he was about to restart the activation sequence of [Gravity Well], his sensors started to pick up heat signatures from above. 

‘Fuck! I could not survive Machine Saint’s orbital bombardment. I should’ve known why the strike cruiser did not send an orbital support from the start.’ He canceled the activation of [Gravity Well] and switched to another technospell. This time, it wasn’t a defensive nor movement technospell, but a stealth one.

“Rank 3 star-path technospell, [Photo-refraction]!” There were no flashes of light nor energy explosions. In that instant, Regulus’ figure blended in with the light of this system’s star, rendering his body invisible. Nevertheless, the traitor above must’ve gathered intel regarding Regulus’ methods, therefore he started to think of a way out.

“My dearest Dia Wu…” He whispered, trying to reach his wife. “I think this is it for me…. I love you…”

“NO!” A cry resounded from the other side. “Dear husband, I’ve successfully escaped Machine Saint with your MEKA. I will soon enter hyperspace and ask for backup from the Machine Cult. Please be safe-Argh!!!” 

The moment her message ended, he could sense Dia Wu’s presence disappeared from reality. She had truly entered hyperspace, but it seemed like something happened during the dimensional shifting.

“DIA WU!” Regulus’ hybrid hearts skipped a beat. “Wait for me, I will save you!!!” Splat! He lightened his weight through a lesser version of [Gravity Well]. Landing on top of a mountain of zergs broke his fall, but he couldn’t stand still amongst the xenos. Less than a second after he landed, the Strike Cruiser’s orbital bombardment arrived, glassing, irradiating, and annihilating the circumference around Regulus’ landing zone. Then, a pale blue tachyon lance from Machine Saint hit Regulus landing zone, followed by an explosion that can only happen if a fusion reactor reaches critical mass, or has its containment field broken. 

 

When the dust settled seven standard solar days later, what remained was a thousand kilometer glass crater, spewing toxic clouds into the atmosphere as the planet's tectonic plate shifted due to the recent bombardment.

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