The drop pod landed with a brutal impact, gouging a shallow crater nearly a meter deep into the grimy street outside the factory's main gate.
Boom! Boom!
Moments later, the pod's doors burst outward, extending into a makeshift ramp. Six young Alphas clad in Titan Mark III power armor quickly emerged and surged forward.
Thud, thud!
The distinctive metallic thuds of magnetized boots echoed down the street, catching the attention of Tanya and her team, who were observing from the treeline.
The Alphas, averaging around 2.2 to 2.3 meters in height, moved with astonishing speed toward the factory gate.
Ri~tatatatatata—!!!
The factory's mounted defenses—Yuri Empire's signature Gatling Cannons—locked onto the advancing Alphas. Mounted around the factory gate and its perimeter, these high-caliber rotary cannons unleashed a hailstorm of bullets.
Witnessing the scene, Tanya and her team assumed the worst.
Yuri's Gatling Cannons, infamous for their lethality, were among the most cost-effective yet devastating defense installations. As they fired, their rate of fire escalated exponentially until reaching "frenzy" mode.
With six of these cannons now targeting the Alphas, Tanya couldn't help but feel pity for the six hulking warriors.
However, the unexpected happened.
The Alphas accelerated further, weaving through the torrent of bullets with unnatural agility. Their movements gave the illusion that they were dodging the projectiles entirely.
????
Tanya and her team were stunned.
The Alphas, clad in what appeared to be heavy and cumbersome armor, displayed speed and reflexes that defied logic.
"Are they even human?"
In Universe "Sixteen," bizarre phenomena weren't unheard of. Tanya's own Allied forces had encountered mummies and malevolent spirits while attempting to establish a hidden base inside the pyramids.
The thought crossed Tanya's mind—were these warriors yet another supernatural anomaly of this world?
Meanwhile, the Alphas, with their power armor's dynamic sensors, pulse scanners, and superhuman vision, were well aware of Tanya's group in the treeline.
But they had no time to engage with them.
---
The squad leader, identifiable by the black trim on his pauldrons and a small cape draped over his left shoulder, targeted the six Gatling Cannons using his helmet's interface.
He transmitted a "request orbital strike" command to the fleet.
Before the cannons could reach their "frenzy" state—
Whoosh—whoosh—!
Six plasma bolts rained from the sky, obliterating the Gatling Cannons in precise strikes.
All around Cairo, similar plasma strikes neutralized other defensive emplacements, indicating that multiple Alpha squads were encountering similar resistance.
Boom—BOOM—!!
As the cannons fell silent, the squad leader kicked down the factory gate with a single blow. He led his team inside, disappearing from Tanya's view.
---
"C-Captain?"
A soldier clutching an M60 turned to Tanya, his voice trembling as he glanced between the factory and her.
"What do we do? Should we help those big guys?"
Bang! Bang!
Ri~zap!
Gunfire and plasma discharges echoed from within the factory, accompanied by the grisly sounds of bodies being ripped apart by explosive and plasma rounds.
"Yuri's wrath! What are those things?!"
"Run! RUN!!"
"No! Please, don't—!"
The screams of terrified Yuri conscripts reverberated from the factory, sending chills down Tanya's spine.
She looked up toward the western skies over Cairo, where numerous transport drones were decloaking, revealing the vast extent of the invading force.
Tanya's face hardened with resolve.
After a moment's thought, she drew her dual pistols and addressed her soldiers:
"Listen up, everyone! I don't know who those big guys are, or what they're here for. But I do know they've destroyed the things that threaten us most—Psychic Dominators and Gatling Cannons.
"And now, they're going head-to-head with Yuri's scum!
"This is the kind of chaos we can't miss out on! If we sit this one out, we'll regret it for the rest of our lives!"
Without waiting for a response, Tanya sprinted toward the factory.
"Comms! Alert the main force! Tell them to mobilize and join the fight in Cairo!" she ordered.
"To hell with orders—everyone else, follow me! Let's turn Yuri's trash into ash!"
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"
Galvanized by Tanya's fearlessness, the resistance fighters roared their agreement and charged after her.
---
From a high-altitude perspective, Cairo had erupted into chaos.
With the destruction of the three massive Psychic Dominators, millions of enslaved residents were freed from Yuri's control.
Revolts broke out almost simultaneously across mining sites, factories, and construction facilities.
The liberated locals, armed with nothing more than pickaxes, shovels, or makeshift weapons, turned on their former oppressors.
Cries of "We're free!" and "Fight for freedom!" echoed through the city.
Yuri's conscripts, meanwhile, attempted to suppress the uprisings using their rudimentary "psychic fireballs," generated by their single-soldier psychic helmets.
Although these fireballs quickly incinerated any who stood in their way, the sheer volume of revolts began to overwhelm the defenders.
Accompanying the conscripts were the "Berserkers"—hulking, genetically modified monstrosities bred for slaughter.
Boom! Splat!
The Berserkers crushed and trampled anyone who got too close, turning the tide of local resistance efforts.
Desperate and malnourished, many of the freed residents abandoned the fight and fled for their lives, leaving their tools behind.
For the Berserkers, this only delayed their inevitable rampage.
Near the central factory district, a group of Berserkers was pursuing a crowd of panicked civilians when two of the creatures abruptly collapsed.
Bang! Bang!
Explosive rounds from a custom .75cal bolt pistol tore through the Berserkers, leaving their torsos in shreds.
The remaining Berserkers and fleeing civilians turned toward the source of the gunfire.
From the smoke and chaos, a towering figure emerged.
Clad in shimmering green-scaled armor and draped in a cloak, the giant calmly strode toward the Berserkers, holding a finely crafted spear in one hand and a massive bolt pistol in the other.
This was Omegon, one of the twin Primarch sons of the Emperor of Mankind.
Holstering his bolt pistol, Omegon beckoned the Berserkers with a casual flick of his fingers, as if to say, Come and try.
With feral roars, the Berserkers charged.
---
In a blur of motion, Omegon moved.
The Berserkers, moments away from striking, suddenly froze in place.
A heartbeat later, their heads toppled from their bodies, their massive forms collapsing into lifeless heaps.
---
The remaining Yuri conscripts stared in disbelief as Omegon approached them, unscathed and undeterred.
For a moment, silence reigned—then the conscripts, now face-to-face with a force beyond their comprehension, prepared for their last stand against the impossible.
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