The mind-meld between the moderatii, the principe and the titan excluded Sigma-Tau-46, his connection to the god engine was different. Where the other crew were plugged into the machine's mind, or soul, he was connected more to its heart, it's bloodstream, it's muscles.
He had watched through the eyes of the Warlord titan as the knights of House Thrower had charged into the enemy line. Each knight armour lost made him wince as the machines were blasted apart by the Tiger Eye or Death's Head titans, the shortening and filling in the gaps as they formed. The line had stretched almost 2 kilometers across the plane when they had started their charge, it hit the traitors with a mere 50 knights, but it was enough to punch through them where they had concentrated into a wedge.
Sigma-Tau-46 saw a Reaver titan bowled over by the impact at the vertex of the collision.
Warhounds had just disappeared. But no where near enough of them and the knights couldn't bring the kind of firepower to bear on the structures in the city that needed to be destroyed if Odemion was going to be liberated. Titans would need to do that.
The enemy line was formed to prevent any of the loyalists from getting through.
He felt the discharge before he saw the first missiles pass over the carapace of the titan and come into the visible sight of the god engine. The twin Warhounds and the Reaver were ranging far ahead of Sigma-Tau-46's machine.
The missiles landed among the enemy machines, still far too numerous for any hope the loyalists had of a breakthrough.
But then he saw them, the knights had returned. The bronze and dirty cream colours of House Thrower had doubled back from the charge and were emerging from buildings behind the enemy lines.
House Malinax knights moved to intercept them but there were too many for the few traitor knights to contend with.
The rear of a Furreans reaver glowed with explosions and the air was filled with flashes of light that turned the predawn grey into noon, before ceasing entirely.
Even as the god machine moved forward Sigma-Tau-46 could see streams of molten metal flowing from the back of the machine where the Thrower Acastus knight's weapons were hitting the now unshielded titan. It blew apart in an explosion that made the collapse of the void field seemed like a lighted match next to a house fire.
Missile fire streaked towards the Warhounds making their way towards the city. Most of them caused damage to the crane the Warhounds were moving around.
Explosions lit up the left side of his view as their Reaver clashed with two enemy Warhounds but then Sigma-Tau-46's attention was drawn away from the battle. The Principe was calling for both volcano cannons to support the advance of their maniple on the city.
The readings on the reactor were streaking higher as the crew called on more and more of the titan's power. The chamber grew hotter and hotter.
He spat binaric and interfaced with the crew through the noosphere, his connection to the titan and the crew's mind meld.
"Engine overheating, Princepes. Reduce volcano cannon firing," he instructed.
But the draw on the engine was increased again and he felt his own hand starting to become soft in the room, the housing of the engine was glowing now and the walls of the room were starting to buckle as the heat made them softer and softer.
He was focused on trying to get servitors functioning. They fused to the walls of the machine, their skin crackling, the vitreous boiling in the eyes of those still unfortunate enough to have that organ not replaced. His focus was so intense that he was startled when he heard the void shields collapse.
Then the first hits started coming in. He was desperately trying to vent the plasma reactor. Pain shot through his system as mechandrites that were monitoring the controls glowed red, then white before melting away as they were near the reactor.
Explosions rocked the entire titan and damage reports flooded his consciousness of systems that were going down on the titan. With no more room to push the engine the volcano cannons fell silent before one was ripped apart by enemy fire.
The princepes ordered the titan to withdraw from the battle. With his robes aflame Sigma-Tau-46 approached the plasma reactor, his limbs became soft with the nearness to such intense heat. He reached past the reactor and activated the servitor-slaved controls manually.
With a hissing that filled the chamber the reactor finally vented and the crippled titan walked backwards. The enemy let them go as they were busy hunting down the last of the House Thrower knights.
As the principe reached out her mind for Sigma-Tau-46 she found nothing. The Engineseer had realized the goal of many in the mechanicum, he had become one with the machine, only it was the remains of his body that achieved that goal, fused to the cooling wall of the machine as the wall and priest had melted together.
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April 28, 2024, 04:42:31 PM
