Entrenchment

by SFaccountant

Realm of Nightmares

Entrenchment

An Age of Iron story

Chapter 4

Realm of Nightmares

****

Harvest of Steel - Gaela's quarters

Twilight Sparkle's morning began, as it so often did nowadays, with a nice, long string of panicked screaming.

Her hooves flailed in the air, her wings beat at the floor, and her eyes darted wildly from side to side in terror. Spike jerked awake from the noise, his own eyes fluttering open. On the other side of the cell-like room, Gaela's biological eye slid open, and her augmetic began to reset from its sleeping cycle.

Soon Twilight's screaming stopped. She rolled over onto her side, whimpering softly.

"Good morning, Twi," Spike mumbled before he pushed himself to his feet.

A tired groan was his response.

"My next shift begins soon. Impeccable timing," Gaela noted. She shifted over to sit on her tiny bunk.

"Wonderful," Twilight replied bitterly. She rolled upright, and then looked up at Gaela through bloodshot eyes. "You never mentioned when we set out that living in a daemon ship was going to give me nightmares literally EVERY NIGHT."

"Would it have changed anything at all if I had?" Gaela stared at her augmetic arms one at a time, uploading visual diagnostic data.

"Well... no, I suppose not," the pony grunted, "still, it would have been nice."

"I've always had trouble with 'being nice'," Gaela admitted, "I'm going for a cleansing cycle. Do you wish to join me?"

"Not just yet, thanks."

As Gaela left the room, Spike also left his bed and started stretching. "So, what was it tonight?"

Twilight shuddered. "It started pretty innocently. I was just wandering around the ship, and Gaela was telling me about all the rooms and parts. The further along we went, however, the fewer people there were. Instead I'd see these big blood stains on the floor and walls, but Gaela would keep going like nothing was wrong."

"So far, so realistic," Spike mumbled.

"Then, all of a sudden, she stopped talking. I looked back at her, but she wasn't there. Nothing but a blood slick was left." Twilight cringed. "I started panicking. I called for help. I tried the vox. I ran from room to room, all the way up to the bridge. There was no one here. Gaela was gone. You were gone. Solon was gone. There was no one else. No one but those... those eyes. Those huge eyes in the ceiling. Staring at me. Watching me. Hungering for me. And... And then..."

Twilight was trembling by now, and Spike hesitantly stepped over and gently hugged her leg.

The Princess stopped shaking and then gave her assistant a grateful smile. "Thanks, Spike. I'm really glad I have you around."

"Happy to help," the young dragon said wryly.

"You have the nightmares too, right? Gaela said that practically everyone on this ship does during Warp travel."

"Actually, my dream was pretty good, this time!" Spike said, scratching his head. "I mean, it probably was going to be a nightmare like yours, but I think you woke me up before the scary part. Thanks!"

"Happy to help," Twilight grumbled.

Twilight went to begin her usual morning ritual, which in her case was a shower, a quick check that she didn't have any duties pending, and then a download of the day's reading material. The shower rooms were shared among their housing block, and Twilight passed by a few Dark Acolytes stripping down on her way to the stall.

+Disgusting creature. Why must we share living space with xeno psykers?+ griped one of the cyborgs in Binaric Cant.

+If you take issue with sharing sanitation facilities with an equine, you may issue a complaint with the Dark Magos,+ Gaela replied in turn, +I would not expect anything to come of it, however. Sparkle has better sanitation habits than you do, and your criticism is irrational.+

Twilight pushed into the shower stall next to Gaela, completely oblivious to the bursts of static that were discussing her. As far as the pony was concerned such things were just background noise at this point.

"I have to say, despite being in a completely sealed environment, it's very easy to get dirty around here," Twilight said as she adjusted the temperature controls below the shower head. A jet of water blasted out at her, and the alicorn ducked her head and moved further under the shower's flow.

"There's much detritus that is sealed in with us, obviously. Half the ship is devoted to storage and scrap piles," Gaela pointed out. She and Twilight couldn't see each other, as the shower stalls were separated by tall dividers, but the barrier did little to muffle their voices. "Also, you haven't been to the section of the Harvest devoted to Nurgle."

Twilight blinked. "Part of the ship is devoted to Nurgle? Devoted how?"

"Temples, reliquaries, alchemics, catacombs, and other sorts of structures generally not of priority when designing a void ship. All of it infectious and corrosive, such that it keeps threatening to spread to the rest of the vessel. Staving it off from the 'healthy' portions of the ship is an endless labor, like constantly cutting away at a growing cancer."

Twilight frowned. "That seems like an enormous liability on a vehicle as important as this one."

"It is. Most Iron Warriors do not traffic with daemons or join the cults of Chaos for precisely that reason. Powerful as they are, they introduce uncertainty into the rigorous formulae of war that lay at the core of Iron Warrior combat doctrine. Such power takes considerable will and leadership to manage successfully."

"I imagine that between Sliver and-" Twilight heard the door of the shower stall squeak open behind her, and she twisted her head around to see if Spike was joining her.

Long, razor-tipped talons like ivory darted into the steam, stabbing into her hips and then cutting across her cutie mark. Twilight screamed and stumbled, falling against the wall underneath the shower head.

A ghostly, bipedal shape stumbled into the stall, and Twilight's horn flashed. She wasn't precisely sure, in her panic, what spell she used, but after a ferocious thunderclap and a pulse of purple light, the stall door was blasted off its hinges and a mournful howl echoed in her ears.

Gaela calmly exited her own shower stall and then looked over into Twilight's. The pony was curled up in the corner of the metal box, wide-eyed and trembling, with her breath heaving desperately. A wash of blood leaked into the floor drain, leading up to four lacerations that cut across Twilight's right hip.

"G-G-Ga..." the alicorn's voice hitched as she tried to speak past her thundering heartbeat and the tears in her eyes.

Gaela turned away. Several other Dark Acolytes and Aspirants had emerged from their stalls at the disturbance and were staring at her.

"Sparkle has been attacked. Did anyone see the assailant before she dispatched it?"

"Affirmative," said an Acolyte near the entrance. His bionic arm was being held in an oil wash receptacle mounted on the wall, which suggested he been immobile during the attack and had a view of the entire sanitation room. "It was a daemon."

"A daemon?" Gaela mumbled.

Twilight stood up and exited the stall, although her legs were still quivering slightly. "It all h-happened so FAST! The d-door opened and then I saw these claws swiping for me!" The mare winced as she stretched her back leg. "Why was a daemon wandering around the shower area?"

"You are mistaken. It was not 'wandering'," the Acolyte corrected, "it entered the facility and then proceeded directly to your shower unit. It did not stop to survey the facility or show any interest in other life-forms."

"It was specifically trying to kill me?" Twilight asked, horrified.

"That is a plausible hypothesis," the Dark Acolyte replied. The green lumen over the oil station blinked on, and he pulled his arm from the wall cavity. Then he started getting dressed.

In fact, much to Twilight's alarm, all the people in the facility were going back to what they were doing, apparently having lost interest in her nearly being murdered. Even Gaela had turned away to put on the skin-tight bodysuit that she wore under her power armor.

"Wait, hold on! Why would a daemon be trying to kill me?!" Twilight demanded.

"It's just what they do," Gaela said while getting dressed, "trying to logically parse the motivations of Warp-beasts is usually futile."

"It's... what? No! This is the first time this has happened! No way is this just a random coincidence!" Twilight snapped. By now her earlier horror had entirely converted to anger and frustration. "Why are there even unbound daemons on the ship to begin with?! The Harvest of Steel is a sealed, environmentally pressurized vehicle with an extremely heavy security detail! There's no way a daemon can just appear out of nowhere and kill someone!"

"Yes it can," Gaela refuted.

Twilight gaped. "HOW?!"

Gaela frowned at the alicorn. "We can discuss this in detail later. I must proceed with my duties. You should have your wound treated. Report to the medicae facilities at once."

"And what if I'm ambushed by monsters between here and there?" Twilight demanded. "Apparently they can just pop into the ship whenever they want and nobody will even bother stopping them on their way to attack me!"

"I don't understand your frustration. You dispatched the daemon easily," Gaela pointed out, "I have complete confidence that you'll be able to contend with any further hostilities traveling from one facility to the next."

"I shouldn't have to contend with 'hostilities' on my own army's flagship!" Twilight complained, stamping her hoof on the floor.

"Considering that the flagship itself also wants to kill you, that seems like an unreasonable expectation on your part."

"RRRRRRGH!" the purple pony started growling incoherently, feeling dizzy from her mounting frustration (and possibly the blood loss).

"Unit Sparkle," interrupted a harsh voice from behind her, "refrain from causing any further disturbances in the sanitation facilities. Complete your cleansing cycle and evacuate the premises as ordered."

Twilight honestly considered telekinetically battering around the uncomfortably naked cyborg behind her. She relented, though. The Dark Mechanicus despised her enough as it was without her flinging them around for being uncooperative.

"Fine. Gaela, I'll see you later. When I do, I wish to discuss this incident." Twilight began trudging toward the door, glaring back at the Dark Acolyte that had ejected her.

"Affirmative, Sparkle."

****

The trip to the medicae ward was uncomfortable, to say the least.

Twilight had always been of the opinion that human structures were far too big, and that their ships in particular were oversized to the point of absolute lunacy. Nothing drove that point home quite so well as taking a painful, limping, half-hour walk while nervously expecting a twisted Warp monstrosity to attack out of nowhere.

The corridors were roomy, dimly-lit, and littered with large crates that provided suspicious shadowed areas and crevices where a bladed horror could potentially wait for prey. As if that wasn't nerve-wracking enough, the ship had its own collection of inexplicable noises that rolled through the dusty metal halls. When she'd first arrived she'd been fascinated by the reverberations of void travel caused by moving a space city at near-light speed through an alternate dimension of nightmare energy. Now all the strange clicks and deep groans only served to remind her that she was literally sitting in the belly of an enormous daemonic monster.

At least she wasn't alone. Bedraggled deck ratings were constantly moving cargo through the corridors, and she couldn't look down a hallway without seeing an Iron Warrior or a Dark Techpriest headed somewhere else.

So at the very least, if and when she had her throat torn out by daemonic stowaways, there would be witnesses to tell her friends and family what happened. Lovely.

"No. Stop that. Don't let this place get to you," Twilight chided herself, "you can handle this, Twilight. You knew that this wasn't a pleasure cruise when you got on board. Yes, there may be some loose daemons about. But that's in addition to all the restrained daemons you already know about. You just let your guard down, that's all."

Twilight reached the main entrance to this ship section's medicae ward, and she again stopped to check her surroundings. Once she was sure that there were no monsters waiting to leap at her from her from behind, Twilight's horn flashed and she teleported behind the door.

Twilight immediately leapt toward the wall, her horn blazing with power. Once she had an attack vector blocked, her eyes darted left and right to search for any incoming threats.

After a few seconds of careful inspection, she determined that the two Dark Techpriests staring at her mutely were not hostile. Overly judgmental, probably, but not hostile.

"Hi. I'm checking in for a laceration treatment," Twilight said coolly, lifting the wing that partially obscured her wound, "some disinfectant and nano-stitches should take care of it."

The Dark Techpriests exchanged a few bursts of Binaric Cant which Twilight was fairly sure did not express the overall seriousness and respect she and her injury deserved. One of the Techpriests walked out of the ward, while the other adjusted his various optical scopes to focus on the rather twitchy-looking pony.

"The wound appears to be non-debilitating. No treatment is necessary," the Dark Techpriest stated.

Twilight made an animal-like growl. "It 'appears' that way because I used magic to suppress the bleeding! Otherwise I'm sure I would have passed out on the way here!"

The Dark Techpriest considered this for a moment. "If that is the case, then further application of your witchcraft may substitute for ordinary treatment."

Twilight glared at the cloaked cyborg, and then took a deep breath. "Okay, let me put it this way; it will take you MAYBE five minutes to treat these cuts. It will take you much, much longer to convince me to give up and leave."

"Very well," the Dark Techpriest said, pointing to a steel slab on the side of the room, "lay on that table."

The alicorn trudged past the cyborg, grumbling under her breath about the absurdity of being ordered to the medicae by one Dark Techpriest only for another to try to brush her off. There was a metal table sitting under a servo-mounted surgical array on the side of the room, about three feet off the floor. Twilight jumped onto it with a quick flap of her wings, and then laid down. The Techpriest approached and leaned over her.

"Explain the nature of the incident."

"A daemon barged into my shower stall and slashed me with its claws," Twilight grumbled.

If she was hoping for some sort of surprise from the medicae worker, she was disappointed. "Physical description of the assailant?"

"I didn't get a good look due to the surprise and the steam, plus I blasted it to dust right after it attacked," Twilight admitted, "but it had very pale skin... or scales, maybe. It was bipedal. I think I saw some glowing yellow spots that might have been its eyes."

"Unhelpful. Certain categories of daemons are prone to causing specific complications to recovery. Did you experience any side-effects?"

"Pain, moderate bleeding, enhanced heart rate and elevated stress... nothing that really stands out as unexpected when being AMBUSHED IN THE SHOWER BY A WARP MONSTER."

Again, the Techpriest didn't seem interested in her experience beyond the job being asked of him. "Noted. Judging by your account and my observations, the daemon's appendages were not corrupted in any particular way. The damage should be entirely corporeal with an ordinary chance of infection. Hold still."

Twilight clenched her teeth as a needle pierced her hip, and she began feeling her leg go numb almost immediately. The Techpriest brought up his augmetic, which resembled a pair of knitting needles with a complex mechanized spool of thread attached. It sprayed a jet of disinfectant over the cuts, and then the cyborg started stitching them shut.

"... So, is being attacked by stray daemons actually common on the Harvest of Steel?" Twilight asked.

"Negative."

"So my situation IS abnormal. I thought so!" the alicorn grumbled.

"Attacks by daemons within the Harvest of Steel have an average incidental rate of one per ten thousand crew per standard solar month of Warp travel."

Twilight arched an eyebrow, and then her ears flipped down. "That... okay, I guess you wouldn't call that 'common', but still, that implies that it happens regularly. In fact... that suggests at least one attack most of the time the ship travels through the Warp."

"Affirmative. Operation complete." The Dark Techpriest stepped back from his work, and his patient turned her head around. The lacerations were now completely invisible beneath her fur; the only remaining traces of the attack was the terrifying memory of claws raking through her flesh and the lingering resentment that nobody else seemed to care.

"Thank you," Twilight sighed, "can I rest here a while? Until I get some feeling in my leg again?"

"So long as you cease attempts at petty conversation," the Dark Techpriest said with characteristic tact.

"Deal. Just, please, if a daemon marches into the medicae ward to kill me, please don't let it walk up and attack without at least saying something first."

"Should that scenario arise, I shall offer advance notice."

The cyborg walked away, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts. The young Princess laid down on the surgical slab and closed her eyes, feeling somewhat drowsy from the earlier shot of sedative.

Not that she particularly wanted to take a nap, given the practical guarantee of terrible nightmares, but it beat taking another long, vulnerable walk through the halls while half-asleep and with reduced muscle control. Her mind churned with possibilities, considering the attack and the daemon's apparent purpose in targeting her. She considered the number of daemon attacks against ordinary Chaos forces that ostensibly occurred at random. She considered how Gaela had been concerned enough about her welfare to send her to have a minor wound treated, but not enough to offer her any sort of protection for the trip.

She considered how, if she was worried about being suddenly attacked, she should really have summoned her power armor.

"Aw, hay! I can't believe I forgot about my wargear! I got so used to walking around naked again that I forgot! Stupid!" she cursed.

"I concur," chimed in the Dark Techpriest from across the room.

"Hey, if you don't want a conversation, then don't reply to me when I'm talking!" Twilight snapped.

The Techpriest did not respond, which she took to mean that she had a point. Twilight laid her head back down and closed her eyes again.

A soft whirring noise came from above her.

One eye cracked open, and Twilight confirmed that the medicae worker was still on the other side of the room, working at a cogitator terminal.

The whirring continued, and then turned to a metallic squeak.

Twilight tilted her head just in time to see the servo-mounted surgical array plunge down toward her back.

The Dark Techpriest turned sharply as his recent patient screamed. The pony was flailing wildly, feathers flying, while the surgical tool arm mounted on the chirurgeon table seemed to be trying to eat into her wing. Motorized scalpels and fine-thread injector-drills tore through purple feathers, struggling to get to the muscle and bone underneath and bring it to ruin.

The alicorn's horn flared purple, and a beam of fiery magic lashed out and sliced the automated arm off at the elbow. Twilight jumped from the operating table to get clear of the homicidal machine, and then promptly stumbled and fell over due to her back leg still being numb.

"WHY IS EVERYTHING TRYING TO KILL ME?!" the pony wailed as she flapped her wings desperately, carrying her toward a more defensible corner. "This is the exact OPPOSITE of that machine's design purpose! That's not FAIR!"

The Techpriest calmly approached the table, analyzing the now-headless servo arm mechanism. It was thrashing left and right, and occasionally jerking straight toward Twilight as if was trying to carry the entire table along with it to pursue her. "A moment. I will attempt to calm the machine spirit."

"Yes! Fine! Then when it's calm, ask it what the hay its problem is!" Twilight barked.

The Dark Techpriest spoke several prayers in Binaric Cant, sputtering blasts of static at the twitching servo arm.

Then he turned toward Twilight. "I have diagnosed the problem. It would seem that the auto-chirurgeon is daemonically possessed."

The severed arm suddenly split apart and peeled back, the metal bending away while wires and cabling snaked out of the daemon's new 'mouth'. A high-pitched shriek came from the twisted machine, like a combination of an animal snarl and tearing metal.

"Daemonically possessed? Your SURGICAL tool is possessed by an evil Warp spirit?!" Twilight asked incredulously.

"Affirmative," the Techpriest confirmed. He watched silently for a few seconds as the possessed servo arm continued reaching directly toward Twilight, its wire-tendrils slowly stretching further and further. The Techpriest himself was much closer, yet the malicious machine was obviously ignoring him completely. "It also seems to show a strong preference toward equine victims. Fascinating."

"Oh, the hay with this!" Twilight growled, her horn glowing again.

This time her power armor appeared around her in a blaze of purple, with the helmet materializing a second later on her gorget. It flipped up over her head and then locked into place, sealing shut with a sharp hiss.

"Tactical engagement is unnecessary," the Dark Techpriest pointed out as the force harmonizer popped off of Twilight's back, "this daemonic-"

"YOUR WARRANTY IS UP, APPLIANCE MONSTER!! DIE!!" A wedge of crackling purple energy slashed down at the writhing servo arm, shredding its mounting and dropping the greater part of the machine onto the floor.

"I contend that this is uncalled for," insisted the Techpriest.

Twilight seemed to disagree. A purple glow surrounded the chirurgeon table, and then she pulled it up out of the floor with her levitation, tearing apart the bolts holding it in place.

The iron slab slammed down on top of the possessed servo arm, crushing it to shards of metal and plastic. That wasn't quite good enough for Twilight, and she smashed the possessed arm three more times with the table until she was convinced that the pieces of the servo arm were broken beyond any possibility of further attack.

"I needed that equipment," the Dark Techpriest informed her.

Twilight gave him an irritable look. "The table is fine. Just bolt it back in and it's still completely serviceable."

"I was referring to the servo surgical assistant," he retorted.

"What?! It was possessed!" the pony shouted.

"Such an unusual daemonic structure would have made an excellent experimental subject."

"It STABBED me!" Twilight protested. "It was trying to inject me with something, too! If I hadn't blocked it with my wing, who knows what would have happened?!"

"I do. Excessive dosage of those particular substances are easily survivable. The mechanism was a minimal threat, and dispatching it was unnecessary," the cyborg insisted in its droning monotone.

The alicorn's eye twitched. "Ah. So it doesn't matter if someone gets hurt if it's 'easily survivable'?"

The Techpriest's optics whirled in their sockets as the chirurgeon table floated up again and hovered over him.

"... I wish to qualify my previous asser-" the table crashed into him, knocking him back into a rack of metal cabinets. A painful fate, certainly, but easily survivable.

Twilight snorted angrily and let the table fall. Then she teleported out of the medicae ward entirely.

****

"All right, so now it's official: something strange is happening here."

Twilight Sparkle stalked through the halls of the Harvest of Steel, her force harmonizer still in blade mode and hovering over her head.

"One daemon attack, even if it specifically targeted me, may not mean anything. But two? Within the same HOUR?"

Her angry mumbling sputtered from her vox grille in uneven bursts while she passed by patrolling Chaos Marines and laboring deck slaves, all of whom were given pause by the fully armed equine stomping through the ship and muttering to herself.

"And that last attack was super-sneaky, too! Possessing the nearest sharp object that happened to be in the room the moment I closed my eyes? Something in this ship has it in for me!"

She stopped walking. "Wait. Maybe the SHIP has it in for me! Yeah! I know it already wants to kill me! What if it's sending smaller daemons to do the job because Solon won't feed me to the reactor core?!"

A pair of Scavurel warriors heading in the opposite direction from Twilight halted, shared a glance, and then quickly turned around and left back where they came.

The armored pony stared straight up at the ceiling, her optics visor pulsing a bright crimson. "I'm on to you, Harvest! You think you can pick me off because I'm not some kind of mutated super-soldier hardened by millennia of space-borne horrors and brutal warfare? Try me, you glorified flying bath tub!"

The Princess stood there in the hall, glaring hard at the ceiling. Everyone else near enough to hear her ranting stopped and stared, wondering what sort of spectacle would emerge from an alien pony psyker challenging the very void ship around them.

After nearly a minute, however, Twilight let her gaze drop again. "Suddenly it occurs to me that I really shouldn't try to antagonize the only thing standing between me and the river of death and horror carrying us through the galaxy. I mean, what am I going to do if it fights me, kill it? And if the Harvest of Steel really wants me dead, it probably has more severe options than what I've been through so far."

She turned her head back and forth, and the others in the hall quickly turned away from the searching glare of her visor.

"I need to talk to someone about this," the Princess decided, "where did Gaela go?"

Her visor brought up a floor plan and a route marker was set in front of her. Then Twilight jumped into the air and her flight pack engaged, sweeping her along the hall in a low hover.

The other crew members, including a nearby Iron Warrior, silently watched her fly off.

"Lass is completely barmy," mumbled a deck slave.

"Not used to Warp travel. It takes some getting used to," decided another.

The Iron Warrior turned to glower at them. "Be silent and keep to your labor, scum."

The slaves did as they were told, ducking their heads and grabbing hold of a large metal crate. They started hauling the container off down the hallway, hoping to get enough distance from the Marine to talk without any further reprimand.

Then the crate started shaking in their hands.

One man yelped and dropped his end, knocking the lid loose. The other slave retreated only after a blue, spider-like leg emerged from the breach and forced it open further.

The Iron Warrior had his boltgun up instantly, and he watched as a crab-like daemon - boasting scythe claws and a single compound eye set atop its body - hopped out of the crate and then scuttled down the hall. It completely ignored the helpless human slaves right next to it, racing across the floor in the same direction that Twilight had gone.

"I, uh, think this crate is mislabeled, Lord," one deck slave said timidly, looking at the words burned into the top of the container, "this is supposed to be plasteel sheets."

"... Huh. Curious," the Astartes mumbled to himself. Just before the daemon scuttled out of sight, he fired off a single shot that drilled right into the monster's back. It was nearly blasted in half by the bolt round, and an angry shriek echoed through the corridors before its remains disintegrated into smoke.

Then the Astartes turned away, opening up a vox channel in his helmet. "Warpsmith Pterax... I believe we have a problem..."

****

Harvest of Steel - materials recovery

"Hey, Gaela..."

"What is it, Spike?"

"You said that Twilight can't become a Dark Techpriest because she's a psyker, right?"

"That is not what I said. I said that the Dark Mechanicus would refuse to enlist her out of contempt and fear of her psionic abilities."

"That... really sounds like the same thing I said."

Gaela and Spike were in a massive scrapyard, standing before a veritable mountain range of metallic trash, twisted wreckage, and broken weapons. Slaves walked back and forth between the heaps and a line of huge machines built into the wall, tossing the scrap into the heavy recycling engines. The larger, more complex garbage was set upon by servitors and the odd Dark Acolyte, who cut apart the wreckage of battered tanks and shredded walkers and separated the useless materials for removal.

Spike worked around Gaela, taking a tiny plasma torch to the chunks of metal she cut from a line of ruined Ork Trukks.

"Anyway, fine. Twi can't be a cyborg. But-"

"Again, that is not what I concluded. Sparkle would not be denied augmetic components were she to suffer injury or demand bionic enhancement." Gaela stopped to think. "Or, rather, she would, but then the Iron Warriors would overrule the objections of the Dark Mechanicus. Or Warsmith Solon would just make them himself."

"ALL RIGHT. Not my point, Gaela," Spike grumbled. He tapped on the plasma torch and started burning through a flattened wheel. "I've been thinking about what you said a while back. About me making a decent Tech-Adept? Do you really think I could?"

Gaela stopped her own work and looked over to the dragon. "I did say that. Do you aspire to be Dark Mechanicus?"

"Well, not really, but-"

"Then it is futile," she interrupted. "The Cult Mechanicus isn't something you simply try out for, like a sports team, or even something you enlist in like a mere army. To be Mechanicus is something you devote your body and soul to, for the rest of your life, and perhaps for some time after your life ends. Were you to do so - and assuming that I could convince my superiors to allow me to teach a non-human - then I believe you might meet minimal expectations. That is what I meant when I said that." She turned back to the vehicle wreck she was working on. "While I find you useful enough for petty menial tasks, actually becoming more than that would require greater discipline and devotion to your work. And we're not going to accept anyone who still rolls his eyes every time we recite a prayer to the machine spirit."

Spike winced. "You noticed that?" He scratched the back of his head. "So what should I do, then? Mercenary? Adept? I'm not joining a Chaos cult, that's for sure! I've had enough of daemon contracts and mutations!"

Again, Gaela stopped her work to stare at the tiny dragon. "How old are you, again?"

A crackle and a pop came from the blast doors at the end of the room. A moment later, Twilight appeared in a purple flash and dropped down onto the metal flooring.

"Gaela! There you are!"

"Why, no, I never get tired of hearing equines run at me while shouting that. Why do you ask?" the Dark Techpriest replied dryly. "What is it, Sparkle? I'm working."

"I need to talk to you about these daemon attacks. It can't wait until you're finished with your shift," the Princess said grimly.

"Daemon attacks? What daemon attacks?" Spike asked, looking worried.

"Some Warpspawn assaulted Sparkle in the sanitation facilities," Gaela explained, "and, as I pointed out, it was obliterated for its foolishness. As far as I am aware the matter is resolved."

Twilight looked down at Spike, and then up at Gaela. "Wait, he's been with you since I left for the medicae ward and you didn't even tell him I'd almost been MURDERED?!"

"You were not 'almost murdered.' That daemon didn't even manage to inflict a debilitating wound despite the advantage of complete surprise. Don't be overdramatic."

Twilight growled. "How's this for 'overdramatic'? When I was resting in the medicae just now, a servo surgeon was possessed by a daemon and tried to kill me!"

"I presume you destroyed it with extreme ease and severe prejudice," Gaela replied.

"Not the point!" the pony shouted back.

"I get it. You probably don't want to be alone in the ship anymore, huh?" Spike asked.

"No, that's not... actually, yes, that's completely true and I'd really appreciate it if you could stay with me more often. But still not the point!" Twilight pointed a boot at Gaela. "Two daemon attacks on me within an hour! Not just from daemons who happened upon me, but who were attacking ME, specifically, while ignoring other vulnerable targets! How is this happening, Gaela?!"

The Dark Techpriest considered the question for a long moment. "Do you want the physical explanation first, or the behavioral?"

Presenting a simple choice of explanations in strictly technical terms seemed to immediately hit some sort of fuzzy, comfortable spot in the pony's brain, and Twilight suddenly felt more at ease. "Physical, please," she said before sitting down.

"Very well. As I'm sure you're aware, travel through the Warp is extremely dangerous. Not only does Warpspace generally lack the physical necessities for sustaining life, but the primary denizens of any reasonable intelligence and power are daemons, who are generally malevolent, irrational, and murderous."

"Of course. But it's the only way to cross intergalactic distances in any reasonable time frame, right?" Twilight asked.

"Technically, no. But it is the most feasible. However, ship armor cannot prevent infiltration by daemonic creatures in Warp space. We prevent daemonic corruption and infiltration of void ships during Warp transit with a machine called the Gellar field."

Twilight nodded slowly. "So, do you think there's something wrong with the Gellar field?"

"In a manner of speaking. The Harvest of Steel does not have one."

Twilight took a moment to remove her helmet just so that she could be sure Gaela was experiencing the full power of her "are you being serious right now" glare.

"Wait. The biggest, most important ship in your fleet doesn't have one of the most important machines for space travel?" Spike asked. "Why not?"

"It is unnecessary," Gaela insisted. "Within the Warp the Harvest of Steel is, for all intents and purposes, a daemon itself. Its hull can deflect the energies of the Warp as well as any mundane device. Better, in many ways." Then the Techpriest paused. "And worse in other ways."

"Elaborate, please," Twilight insisted.

"As it is essentially an enormous daemon, the Harvest's hull would be analogous to the skin of an ordinary living creature. A simple, effective barrier that keeps out the vast majority of daemons, which in this metaphorical comparison would be akin to harmful microbes. Unlike a Gellar field, it cannot suffer some sudden malfunction or fail all at once."

"But just like skin, sometimes the microbes get past it," Twilight concluded.

"It happens at times, yes," Gaela admitted, "which brings us to the behavior analysis. Even once a daemon penetrates the Harvest of Steel, it rarely attacks the crew. While not all daemons obey the masters of Chaos, the glyphs that represent the darker powers tend to inform all but the most mindless Warpspawn that they are in hostile territory and that the souls here are already claimed. Even the slaves are branded with the Star of Chaos." She pointed her axe at Twilight. "You are not. Even your armor is absent the Star."

"So the Chaos symbols typically ward away daemons, and I'm vulnerable because I don't have one?" the Princess reiterated. "Then shouldn't they be attacking Spike, too?"

"Psykers are ever a beacon for daemons, whether in the Warp or material universe. It is possible that daemons infiltrating the flagship sense you so easily that they ignore lesser, more vulnerable prey."

Twilight took a step forward. "It's 'possible' this is the reason? So we don't know?"

"I can only hypothesize based on the data you have provided. I can think of no other reason that daemon infiltrators would attack you with such determination."

Twilight sighed and sat down again. "Well, how do we get them to STOP?"

"We can modify your armor to bear the appropriate symbols," Gaela offered, "it would also help substantially if you were to convert fully to the cult of Chaos, swear yourself to the Dark Gods, and receive a mark upon your person."

Twilight recoiled. "Uh... well, a glyph stamped on my armor seems nice and superficial and... reversible."

"A pity. So long as you maintain your senseless façade of neutrality you will never reach your full potential." Gaela shrugged. "Nonetheless, it is your choice. I will see to it that-"

"Pardon, Techpriest," interrupted a voice from behind Gaela.

A pair of Dark Acolytes were approaching, their eyes and optics fixed on the Techpriest.

"What is it?" Gaela demanded, her frown slightly deeper than usual. It hadn't been long since she herself had been an Acolyte, but she still expected those of lesser rank to show proper deference and refrain from interrupting her.

"Overhearing your conversation with the insolent equine psyker, we have generated a hypothesis that we wish to submit for analysis," said one of the Acolytes.

Twilight scowled at him. "You KNOW my name! We're allies! Stop pretending I'm just some dumb animal you picked up on a random planet!"

The other Dark Acolyte continued, ignoring Twilight completely. "We believe that the incidents involved are not random daemonic infiltrations guided to the psyker by mere opportunity. We hypothesize that the daemonic incursions are the vanguard of a hidden yet sustained assault with the specific goal of killing the aberrant pony."

Twilight wasn't entirely sure what to say to that. On the one hoof, it was pretty much what she had suspected since the beginning. On the other hoof, only now that it was being taken seriously was she coming to realize just how terrifying a prospect this actually was. Daemons were bestial, generally unintelligent creatures, but they possessed a bizarre array of powers and qualities that made them unpredictable. The last two had managed to attack her when she was least expecting it, in places that she had considered safe. Was ANY place truly safe when daemons wanted you dead?

"What logical support or evidence do you have for this hypothesis?" Gaela demanded.

"Immediately after the animal's entry into the facility, an inactive Riot Drone inexplicably became functional without any prerequisite structural restoration," the first Acolyte explained, pointing to the side, "it immediately tried to aim its weapons in the witch horse's direction."

Everyone turned to look where he was pointing. A servitor stood nearby, holding one of the dish-shaped combat drones in its hydraulic arms. The drone was obviously struggling, trying to turn its broken pulse carbines toward Twilight while sparks blasted from its gear assembly.

"We have determined that the drone has been daemonically possessed. Upon hearing that this is the third such incident, it is my belief that these attacks do not represent an incidental convergence of statistically unlikely events, but a sustained, calculated effort to remove the xeno from this mortal coil."

Gaela continued staring at the Riot Drone for a little longer. "... I see. Destroy it."

A hiss came from the servitor's claws, and the squealing drone was crushed to shards. The servitor then carried the mangled mess over to the recycler engines.

"Why would daemons want to kill me PERSONALLY?" Twilight asked. "I'm not an enemy of Chaos! At least, not recently!"

"The will of the Dark Gods is often unfathomable to mere mortals," Gaela admitted, "perhaps we should seek a spiritual solution. There are preachers among the Chaos cultists."

One of the Dark Acolytes spoke up again. "I believe there is a more pressing matter at hand. Several previously inactive vehicles have began registering heat signatures. I believe their reactors are reactivating."

Gaela spun around, her optics whirling. Multiple wrecks were promptly outlined in bright red as her targeting systems picked out movement and thermal emissions.

"Wait, you mean even more daemons are coming?" Spike asked in alarm.

"Negative." Gaela's left arm split apart as it engaged its combat mode, exposing the magnetic coils within the cannon. "They are already here."

The first giant mechanized arm that broke free from the pile of rubbish and wrecked armor barely lasted a second before it was sliced apart by lasers. Hot, molten steel splashed from the arm as it collapsed, and a gout of purple-reddish flame sputtered from the severed limb.

The second and third machines to emerge from the scrap pile were shot apart in a similar fashion, stopped dead by pin-point accurate shots from the short line of Tech-clergy standing before the scrapyard. There were half a dozen Dark Acolytes and Techpriests in attendance, and as usual, all were well-armed and ready to take to battle without any particular concern for why they were suddenly fighting zombie robots in the heart of their own flagship. The servitors stopped working and trudged over to the firing line, while the slaves that had been assisting them quickly clustered in the corners of the room, as far from danger as possible.

"What is this?! This doesn't make any sense!" Twilight complained while she put her helmet back on. "How did this many daemons get into the ship?! This is a pretty clear indictment of this whole 'no Gellar field' idea!"

"Sparkle, save any corrective recommendations for after the combat has concluded," Gaela ordered. She fired a glittering white bolt over a defunct Killa Kan, striking another revived Riot Drone and blasting it apart. Then the Killa Kan itself started rumbling, and its main sensors began to flicker.

Twilight cycled her vox system to the ship-wide channel as soon as her visor turned on. "This is Twilight Sparkle! I'm in materials recovery center six in section 89-12! We are under attack! I repeat! We are under attack! Daemons have infiltrated the ship and are launching a concentrated assault on my location!"

She levitated the force harmonizer into its combat position, feeding a trickle of power to the weapon while awaiting a response.

"... Hello? Is anybody hearing this? You're not all ignoring me because I'm a pony, are you? We need help!"

The Killa Kan surged forward, ripping free of the pile of ruined armor and loose cabling that had buried it. Its buzz saw arm stuttered to a start, and bright red sparks blasted from a dozen malfunctioning systems.

"Geez, even the reality-warping monsters can't work Ork tech as well as Orks," Spike mumbled.

A brilliant purple beam screamed over his head, and the front of the Ork attack walker folded instantly before it was ripped in half. Spike yelped and jumped away, hiding behind Gaela's leg to avoid being between Twilight and any new targets.

"Why isn't anyone answering?!" Twilight shouted into her vox. "Is this some sort of Mechanicus-only local network?"

A horrendous screech suddenly came from her helmet vox, and the alicorn Princess felt her blood run cold. Every other member of the Dark Mechanicus likewise stumbled, clutching their heads and sputtering Binaric Cant.

"The vox... they've compromised the vox system!" Gaela shouted. Her tone of voice was finally approaching something like actual concern. She stood up straight again and fired her ion blaster, knocking down an automata that was trying to pull itself free from the garbage.

"They... WHAT? Is that even possible?" Twilight gasped while launching a volley of magic missiles.

"I would normally say no, but here we are," Gaela muttered bitterly. She chopped away a metal tendril of sizzling wires that was reaching for her leg. "Open the blast doors! There's no need to hold this facility against the daemons!"

"Not happening!" Spike shouted, pointing anxiously behind them. "Look!"

It became obvious with a glance that Gaela was not the first to have the idea of running away. The slaves were banging and screaming at the closed and locked blast doors, while a single Dark Acolyte worked at the door controls and spoke prayers of Binary to no obvious effect. A pair of servitors were trying to pry the door open with their hydraulic claws, but that too looked to be a doomed effort.

"Oh, Celestia, why?!" Twilight shouted, firing a beam across the surging mountain of scrap. "Why is this happening?! We've got an entire army of military wreckage trying to murder us and it's all my fault and I don't know WHY!" Her horn casing flashed, and a trio of lightning bolts punched into the junk pile. Robots and drones went berserk as the energy surge fried whatever electronics were sporadically reviving themselves, eventually falling back to a state of inert scrap waiting to be processed.

"Enemy units have limited combat function and compromised mobility," another Dark Techpriest reminded the others between shots of his arc pistol, "we possess complete tactical superiority."

As soon as the Techpriest finished speaking, part of the junk pile suddenly lifted upward. Scrap tumbled down the jagged hills, and the screech of metal scraping against metal briefly overcame the sound of energy weapons firing.

"Oh, NOW what?" Twilight demanded before shooting down another pair of damaged drones.

The Dark Mechanicus clergy began backing up from the scrapyard. "Scans indicate Warp coalescent event of magnitude four," bleated one of the cyborgs in black.

"Twi! What does that mean?" Spike asked.

"I don't know!"

"Gaela! What does that mean?" Spike asked.

"There's a big one coming," Gaela explained, "we may have just lost our 'tactical superiority'."

Another massive shift in the junk pile caused a hill of scrap armor to form, and something resembling a body began to break free.

At first Twilight thought that an Ork Battlewagon was somehow rising to the top of the scrap heap, and after a few seconds she confirmed that, in fact, an Ork Battlewagon was indeed somehow rising to the top of the scrap heap. Glittering red lights flickered behind the broken viewports, and the large steel lower jaw that decorated the front of the assault transport yawned open like a real mouth. Bits of metal churned all below it, some of it rolling down the hill of trash while other bits flew up and slapped onto the hull of the possessed vehicle like magnets. All around the larger mechanical, webs of cabling began whipping about and poking at other wreckage. These machines were pulled free of the scrap that bound them and animated more quickly, as if fed by the larger daemon.

"... Okay. That's a little concerning," Twilight admitted. Her force harmonizer started humming, and she carefully lined up a shot into the cab of the Ork vehicle.

"Wait! Twi! Watch out!" Spike shouted.

Twilight didn't know what it was that tackled her from behind, which she supposed was the point of Spike's warning. The harmonizer fired its charged beam as she hit the ground and lost control of it, slashing a thick ray of violet energy across the ceiling.

Twilight's armor shrieked as metal scraped against it, and she kicked frantically while trying to see what had grabbed her. One of her flailing swipes connected, pushing her attacker away, and Twilight finally managed to turn over and get a look.

It was a servitor. An ordinary, vice-handed, lumbering servitor. That seemed to be oozing blood from its mouth. That was kind of weird.

Even more bizarre was the way that it lurched forward and seized Twilight's leg with its claw while unusually loud Machine Code poured from its vocalizer.

"They... did they actually possess a servitor, too?" Twilight gasped.

Said servitor pulled Twilight closer and then hammered its free pincer into her helmet, suggesting that she was correct. Twilight's horn flashed, and purple flame washed over the cyber-slave, crisping its pale, weathered flesh.

This did not have the intended effect of actually stopping the possessed servitor, however. It swung Twilight around and slammed her into the metal flooring, jarring her within her armor even if it failed to break the plating.

The cyborg worker reached for her neck, the vise pistons hissing while the iron clamps of its arms yawned open.

"Get off her!" Spike yelled, leaping up onto the servitor's leg. He latched onto the rough thermal fiber clothing that the cyber-slaves wore for pants, and started tugging at a wire cluster on the servitor's arm to hold it back.

The possessed cyborg barely took three seconds to swat the baby dragon off of its leg, but three seconds was a long time to hope the armed psyker you were grabbing would stay stunned and helpless. After Spike bounced away, the servitor found itself staring at a damaged metal crate sailing toward it, propelled by a haze of purple light. The container struck the servitor square in the chest and knocked it back, although it retained its footing.

"By Celestia! Is there ANYTHING on this ship that can't be possessed by a daemon and used to kill me?!" Twilight griped. She shifted the focus of her telekinesis, and near-solid rings of purple magic snapped into place around the servitor's arms and legs, holding it fast.

The servitor struggled for a few seconds, but its augmented limbs weren't designed for high strength and it lacked any particular leverage. In response, the wires and cabling that coiled around its bionic parts each ripped free of one port, slithering away in a shower of sparks or blast of compressed air. Then they began to writhe and whip forward like tentacles, snaking forward to clear the gap between the servitor and the pony. The seams between metal and flesh split open, revealing a seething green energy that Twilight was fairly sure wasn't generated by either the augmetic or organic components. Spikes of bone and metal started poking out from the scorched epidermis of the cyber-slave, completing the impression that its form was shifting ever further toward the daemonic.

Twilight was not of a mind to leave her would-be assassin alone, however. As it squirmed and shifted, Twilight located her harmonizer and levitated it up off the floor. A wedge of crackling purple energy formed between the poles of the weapon, and then it arced over Twilight's head and plunged into the immobilized cyborg.

"First monsters, then machines, and now even the servitors!" Twilight shouted, ripping the sizzling blade through her attacker from shoulder to groin. "What's next?! You've got a long way to go before you can kill ME!"

A jaw-rattling crash answered her boast, and a flaming chunk of metal bounced off the floor just next to her.

Twilight whirled around, facing the main junk pile again.

"... Oh. Right. The big thing. I forgot about that."

The Battlewagon that had emerged from the surface of the scrap heap had risen even further above the enormous pile of wreckage by now, and couldn't really be considered a Battlewagon any longer. Enormous arms composed of twisted armor plates and loosely-bundled cables clawed at the garbage piles, drawing more metal onto the growing monstrosity and flinging wreckage at the surrounding warriors.

The tide of smaller possessed machines had not faltered either, and if anything seemed to be speeding up thanks to the greater daemon. Gaela was hacking away at dozens of small, lurching objects that appeared to be nothing more than clusters of random discarded armor and parts somehow stirred to mobility. The other Mechanicus clergy had broken into two groups, concentrating either on shooting down the smaller machines or helping break through the blast doors trapping them inside.

"Is the vox still being jammed?" Twilight asked before bringing up the force harmonizer again. "Can anyone hear me?"

She began charging her heavy beam weapon, and her vox system crackled in her ear.

"... Interloper... Thief..." the voice was scratchy, and surrounded by static feedback, but she could barely make out something hissing angrily at her. "Kill... the hope... you will... die..."

"Yeah, okay! You hate me and want me dead! I noticed!" Twilight snapped.

Her force harmonizer discharged, slamming into the face of the enormous daemon atop the scrap heap. Armor plating folded and a thick, glowing gouge was cut into the snarling maw of the mechanical monster, but as the beam faded Twilight was quite distressed to see that little real damage had been done.

Massive crane-like arms lifted around the mechanical horror, each one squeezing a claw full of refuse into a makeshift projectile. The arms lashed forward, flinging the balls of compressed wreckage at its equine target.

One trash ball missed entirely, smashing apart on the ground nearly a meter off-target and scattering shards of metal over the floor. The second was more accurate, but Twilight simply slowed the descent of the orb of junk with her levitation and then magically placed it to her side.

"Well, at least it can't dish it out as well as it can take it!" She fired her harmonizer again, ripping the beam across the face of the daemonic machine. Warpflame blasted from the impact and the cybernetic behemoth lurched back, yet as the last motes of violet energy faded away there was no damage beyond a burning scar across the monster's cab.

"Maybe if I hit the legs? It would stop it from getting loose from the junk heap, at least!" Twilight mused aloud, cycling the harmonizer for another shot.

"Twi! Forget that!" Spike's voice came from behind, and a tiny fist banged on her leg armor. "We're getting out of here! Let these things HAVE the trash pile!"

Twilight turned to look at the blast doors, and saw that a pair of Dark Techpriests were backing away from a ring of melta charges that had been placed against the front. Clearly they intended to simply blast a hole through the barrier and abandon the facility.

"All right! Great!" Twilight fired another harmonizer beam at the daemonic machine, shattering one of its arms that was wheeling back to hurl more junk at her. "Gaela! We're falling back! Let's go!"

+Wretched daemon! Weak, unworthy, mockeries of the holy machine!+ Gaela sputtered while ripping a damaged automata in two with her servo arms. Her left arm surged with power, and she unleashed a swirling lash of crackling ion radiation into a lumbering walker.

"Gaela! Come on! There's no point in fighting these things!" Twilight shouted.

The melta charges went off behind her, and she glanced back at the exit. Hot vapor poured from the breach, and the deck slaves started scrambling and pushing to get out before the doors had even cooled.

"We're clear! We can get-"

Then the screaming began.

Through the smoke came a claw like obsidian, reaching for the closest bodies pushing for the door. It scythed through the crowding slaves, swiping back and forth to ward the panicked laborers back.

"They're coming from the doors, too!" Spike shouted, running around Twilight's legs in panicked circles. "We're surrounded!"

Twilight gaped in horror as the crew trying to get out suddenly scattered. The new daemon, an ebony-skinned, giant humanoid with scythe-like arms, squeezed through the breach and onto the blood-soaked floor of the recycling facility, a needle-like tongue darting out from between its teeth. A servitor that had not been as quick to retreat as the sentient workers had its chest pierced by a talon, and a moment later the cyborg was sheared entirely in half.

"Get out of its way!" Twilight cried. "It's after me!"

The various humanoids were only too happy to open a path to the armored mare, and the daemon accelerated to a frantic sprint. Its arms flailed wildly as it ran, and a blade-tipped tail lashed behind it, scoring small, random cuts on the surrounding slaves and cultists.

Daemon and alicorn clashed in a burst of magical lightning and deadly Warpflame. Twilight teleported to avoid the initial charge, but was struck across the breast by the tail blade. The daemon seemed to shrug off the first magic blast, but the force harmonizer spun across its arm and severed it at the elbow.

Pony and monster staggered back, already gathering their power for the next exchange.

A ball of twisted scrap metal smashed into the floor between them, scoring both combatants with metal shards. Twilight forced herself not to flinch away from the shrapnel cutting across her visor, knowing that the Warp monster facing her would show no fear or pain.

Sure enough, the daemon leapt immediately. Its talons extended to punch straight through her helmet, and a howl that she felt more than she heard chilled her blood.

Twilight launched another spell, striking the daemon in mid-leap. Unlike the first enchantment, however, this magic wasn't intended to hurt the daemon directly. A powerful magnetic pulse surrounded the Warpspawn, and Twilight herself felt her body pulled forward within its shell of metal. As for the monster itself, it slammed straight down onto the metal flooring, its jump cut painfully short of its target. Every piece of shrapnel from the scrap projectile immediately jumped back toward the daemon, slicing and battering its false skin before clinging to it.

Another heap of wreckage launched toward Twilight, sailing in an arc through the cavernous facility. Twilight glanced up at the projectile, but did nothing as it approached, watching the scrap sphere veer off its course in due time and home in on her opponent instead. The heap of metal crushed the daemon utterly with its impact, smashing it across the floor in a streak of Warp flame and dust.

"All right, are we clear now?" Twilight demanded, glancing over to the large mechanical daemon atop the garbage heap. It kept growing ever larger, connecting to more wrecked vehicles and more lengths of cabling and metal for limbs. At the very least it didn't seem to improve its ranged attacks much, but if and when it managed to free itself from the scrap heap and move, she didn't think anything would be able to stop it.

Turning toward the exit revealed an even worse situation. Dark Techpriests and servitors battered back a constant stream of frenzied daemons that squirmed in through the room's exit breach. None were as large as the beast she had just dispatched, but there was no indication that the assault would stop. The daemons would keep coming, killing or possessing whatever was in their way... until SHE was dead.

"What do I do?" she hissed behind her visor. Red outlines flashed constantly. Warning runes glared at her. Targeting reticules spun. A cacophony of data spun around her head, tracking the violence in terrifying detail.

One of the red blips vanished.

An enraged roar came from the exit breach. A larger daemon trying to clamber into the room was instead being pulled back into the adjoined hallway. It screamed again, and then vanished into the hole.

Twilight's vox system came to life, this time of its own accord.

"Executive: All units, stand down."

Every member of the Mechanicus clergy jerked to attention and stopped, like puppets being tugged upright and held there. Weapons faltered immediately and the servitors that had been fighting froze stiff.

The various daemons seemed to sense the shift in hostilities immediately. Rather than cutting down the immobilized cyborgs, they whirled on their true prey. Some half-dozen blade-limbed Warpspawn and perhaps thirty more possessed machines of various mobility and potential threat began to clamber for the equine in the room, each one sputtering its own unique, horrifying battle scream.

Twilight gulped and jumped up into a hover, moving to dodge another ball of scrap being hurled from the junk heap. The monsters closed ranks, forming a semi-circle of twitching claws and squealing metal. The enormous mechanical snarled, sending more and more lumbering metal pawns stumbling from the trash pile. Spike - who didn't have the advantage of flight but did have the advantage of not being the target - kicked and shouted at Gaela's leg, trying to get the Dark Techpriest to move again.

Another burst of static came from the vox. This time, however, the irritating feedback seemed to linger, irritating Twilight's ears long after another order was issued through the network.

"Repeat executive: STAND. DOWN."

Twilight gaped in surprised as nearly every one of the possessed machines shuddered to stop. The enormous monster above the scrap heap roared, voicing its frustration with a voice like tearing metal. Even the daemons of pure Warp-borne faux flesh staggered and screeched, seeming confused and agitated by the command.

It didn't bother them nearly as much as the lasers, though.

Focused spans of crimson rays converged on the daemons one by one, scorching black tracks across immaterial flesh. Then the webs of lasers met at a single point and pulsed, coring each of the Warp-borne monstrosities. They fell screeching onto the floor, their bodies coming apart and gouts of green and pink fire vomiting from their wounds.

Twilight spotted the source of the attacks immediately, although it took some time to place the name. Thin, insectoid legs skittered over the blood-streaked metal flooring, carrying what almost resembled a nine-foot metal monolith cloaked in black rubber. Mechatendrils and laser emitters spun and lashed about in independent clusters, almost casually spreading patterns of utterly lethal red light upon any hostile within range. Atop the tower of humming metal and shadowy rubber was a cluster of dozens of glittering green orbs; a spider-like array of eyes sitting under the hood of the cloak that obscured the bulk of the cybernetic body.

"Dark Magos Kaelith!" Twilight shouted, tilting toward the ancient cyborg. "Did you fix the vox? We have to-"

A few optics lenses turned to focus on her, and then Twilight yelped as her suit systems suddenly went dead. She crashed onto the floor, rolling across the bits of metal detritus and scorch marks that used to be howling monsters.

The final true daemon leapt for the alicorn, only to be bisected by a streaming laser mid-jump. Its body disintegrated on contact with the armored, immobile pony, washing against her inert ceramite shell as if it were made of dust.

"Explanatory: Local interference is delaying operational timetables. Efficiency has fallen below average transit threshold."

Kaelith scuttled past Twilight as he complained, apparently ignoring the disabled pony. She could hardly believe her ears. Monsters roamed the ship, people were dying, and heaps of trash and defunct vehicles were being spontaneously animated to kill her, and his primary concern was a small drop in the tonnage of recycling output? Putting aside that he had deactivated her armor just to quiet her down! She resolved to ask Solon about re-working the armor killswitch authorization if she survived this.

If Twilight seemed annoyed by Kaelith's intervention, the daemon-machine atop the garbage pile was enraged. A sound like a buzz saw biting into a steel bar filled the room as it screeched, the jaws of its armored bumper yawning open toward the ceiling.

The possessed machines started twitching to life again, as if the sheer fury of the greater daemon were fighting against the commands of the Dark Magos.

Then Kaelith began to pray.

"Machine spirit, energizing force, eternal bond, heed the call of your Chosen." Kaelith curled up like the centipede he resembled, his melta torches clicking together under his cranial assembly like mandibles. "Let metal and flame be lashed forever to our will. The will of the Omnissiah. The will of Mechanicus. My will."

The Dark Acolytes and Dark Techpriests, Gaela included, suddenly moved as one, falling onto their knees (or adopting a similar positions for less traditional leg models). A cacophony of sequenced Binaric Cant sputtered from the dark clergy, layering their electronic verse after Kaelith's words in what was easily the most awful song that Twilight and Spike had ever heard. The screaming of the giant daemon robot was barely as bad, and at least it stopped quickly.

"Daemonic soul: wild, bestial, free... you pollute the cold dignity of the machine with your presence." The Binary chorus boomed behind the Magos, its static screeching rising and falling unevenly. "The place of the machine is to serve. To labor. To kill... at man's direction."

The possessed machines staggered forward, sparks showering the floor while their various limbs twisted and jerked against some unknown force.

"You are defective. You are unneeded. You are unproductive," Kaelith intoned, raising his head to look straight up. His torches and emitters spread out, as if he was gesturing grandly to some unknown spectator. "You are no more."

A wave of invisible energy blasted outward from the Dark Magos, generating a hum that barely tickled the flesh. As the pulse struck the daemonically possessed machines, however, the mechanical beasts howled and writhed, dropping to the floor. Snaking wires fell limp, lumens and sensors went dark, and hissing engines sputtered to a halt. Hunks of metal that seemed to be attached to each other with pure logic-defying Warp power collapsed into inert pieces. The mob of machines fell apart more quickly before Kaelith's prayer than any actual weapon could have managed, sweeping over the scrap pile and stilling the shattered walkers and automata clawing their way through the trash.

The tech-clergy stopped chanting in Binary, watching the proceedings silently. Even the slaves seemed to calm themselves and observe, fascinated.

Only the largest mechanical, the daemonic monster with the head of a Battlewagon, remained. It sat upon thick coils of wires and shifting pistons, glowering down upon the cyborgs below and the equine it had been sent to slay.

By now Twilight had magically put away her armor, having decided that being able to move and see was more important than having an extra barrier between her and the Warpspawn.

"Okay, so what's going on, now?" she asked irritably. "Why did you need to-"

"Executive," Kaelith interrupted, his distinctly electronic voice sounding harsher than usual. "Hold position and be silent."

The Dark Magos scuttled forward toward the scrap heap and the daemonic abomination sitting atop it. Twilight scowled, but didn't interrupt further. She could erect a barrier at will and the daemon seemed to be almost immobile. She didn't even know why the Magos was getting closer.

He did approach the garbage pile however, and the daemonic machine lurched forward. Scrap metal rolled down the sides of the heap, spilling across the floor under Kaelith's insect-like feet.

The Dark Magos stopped, peering up at the Warp-corrupted creature of wreckage through a dozen glittering green lights.

"Observatory: A flawed creation. Limited mobility, effective range, and overall combat viability. A daemonic will forced into broken vessels with no regard for schematic proficiency. Purpose without form. Repulsive."

The greater daemon either took offense at this analysis, or otherwise decided to remove the relatively tiny creature interfering in its task. The decorative jaw of the Battlewagon yawned open again, the metal pistons and misshapen gears around it squealing loudly. Within the gaping hull, several crackling energy nodes converged onto a single spot and then sparked to life.

Kaelith watched, silent and unmoving, as the daemon began building a coherent, contained plasma sphere within its "mouth". The sphere ballooned from the size of a marble to the size of a bowling ball, and the energizing nodes started to shake from the effort.

"Revision: It would seem there is some degree of sophistication in this unit's development cycle. Recommendation: There may be value in analysis post-mortem."

"Why are you just standing there?!" Twilight shouted. "That's obviously a projectile weapon! Run! Or kill it! Or... I don't know, pray? That worked pretty well before!"

Kaelith didn't acknowledge the pony, remaining still and staring up at the colossal machine. The plasma orb within the daemonic Battlewagon's maw swelled to nearly a meter in diameter, and then finally shot forward, directly into Kaelith's face.

Twilight wasn't entirely sure what happened after that. There was a pulsing, blinding flash at the moment of impact, but it was significantly dimmer and less noisy than the plasma cannon blasts that she'd seen before. There was also the fact that the Dark Tech-clergy were still standing attentively and silently while watching their leader face off against the possessed junk-daemon. Dark Techpriests were cold and dispassionate at the best of times, but Twilight felt that the mood here wasn't mere indifference.

Her eyes finished adjusting to the pulsing light (she really wished the ship's lumens had a setting higher than "unsettling gloom") and she stared at the sight of the Company's Dark Magos. A single small mechanical arm reached out above Kaelith, extending a trio of glowing finger-like nodes in front of the swirling ball of plasma. The destructive orb of boiling energy quivered in the air barely a foot above Kaelith, suspended in its magnetic bubble by some invisible force.

"Conclusive: The machine will serve, or it will be destroyed. Perish, daemon."

Another flash came from Kaelith's manipulator arm, and the plasma sphere suddenly rocketed back up toward the possessed machine. The "head" of the daemon lurched back as the orb exploded within it, coating its internals with lethal energy and burning a stream of vapor out the monster's back. Seams started to break apart and rivulets of metal slag drooled from the machine's body. The core of the daemonic device, more akin to daemonic heart than a functional reactor, sputtered to a halt, and the lights behind the windows of the Battlewagon began to dim.

Kaelith turned around, scuttling directly toward Twilight. He didn't even twist a single optic sensor around to watch while the corrupted wreck collapsed back into the scrap heap from whence it came.

"Observatory: This facility is secure. Interrogative: Why is unit Sparkle the target objective of a daemonic incursion?" buzzed the Dark Magos.

"That's what I want to know!" Twilight griped. "But why don't we start with questions that one of us might actually have an answer for? Why did you trigger my armor killswitch during a battle?! Another daemon could have appeared or possessed something near me!"

The rows of projectors along Kaelith's body quivered. "Counter-factual: I do not need to explain my tactical decisions to you, xeno filth. Executive: You will comply with my orders or be eliminated."

Twilight bristled, her wings spreading threateningly. "You didn't give any orders! You just glanced at me and powered me down for no reason and with no warning! That's dangerous, even if I wasn't already in a battlefield!"

"Counter-factual: Unit Sparkle survived my tactical execution without difficulty. Conclusive: You are wrong, and will cease your prattling. Interrogative: What is the current hypothesis in regarding the daemonic incursion?"

"Don't you 'conclusive' me! This is serious! I'm not under your command in the first place! I-" Twilight felt a metal hand rest on her back, and she barely stopped herself from lashing out with a terrified kick at whatever had unexpectedly touched her.

Gaela stood over Twilight, and she released a lengthy string of Binaric Cant. A few of Kaelith's optic sensors twitched over in her direction, and he returned the blast of static with his own.

Twilight sulked while the two Tech-clerics spoke in their own language, completely shutting her out of their conversation. She couldn't even use body language or facial expressions to follow the tone of the exchange, since metal shielding was very good at hiding both.

Another hand fell onto her leg, this one more familiar. Spike had emerged from wherever he had been hiding and was smiling at her nervously, trying to provide some comfort to the troubled mare. Twilight greatly appreciated the gesture.

It took a good four minutes of ear-grating static bursts before Magos Kaelith suddenly turned away, scuttling toward the blast doors. Said doors were slowly grinding open despite their earlier damage, and a contingent of black-robed Scavurel were holding position on the other side.

"We have concluded our discussion on your circumstances," Gaela informed Twilight. Her mask hissed sharply before breaking open and revealing the Techpriest's face. Her frown looked slightly more grim than usual. "Dark Magos Kaelith blames you for the interruptions and expenditures. He does not believe that you are unaware of how you have offended the Warpspawn, and is of the opinion that we should turn you over to the daemonic intruders."

Twilight's fur stood on end. "WHAT?! Is... Is that why he turned off my armor?" Then she paused. "But, wait, he also fought off the daemons. Why do that if he thinks I should be sacrificed to appease them?"

"Pride, mostly," Gaela said, gazing toward the scrap heaps. Unlike the lesser possessed machines, the larger one had not fallen apart completely upon its demise; it still resembled a head that funneled down into many smaller bodies of metal via thick bundles of cabling. "The Dark Magos cannot abide daemons operating freely within his facilities, as if they were peers to the Dark Techpriests given free rein through the ship. And machines that do not accept commands are always an offensive existence to the tech-clergy. Had he found the resistance here beyond his strength, he would have surrendered your life eagerly."

Twilight's expression managed to sour even further. Spike furrowed his brow. "Kinda complex, isn't he?"

"He maintains a distinctly human temperament, with all its idiosyncrasies and distortions. It is a flaw we all strive to overcome daily." Then Gaela's expression turned to a hateful sneer. "However, that is no excuse for putting his own will before that of the Iron Warriors. Warsmith Solon is your High Commander, not Magos Kaelith, and your life belongs to him."

Twilight winced. "Er... yeah. I guess it does. That's... just short of comforting, really."

Gaela quickly returned to an expression of excessively serious indifference. "In any case, he cannot reactivate your power armor while it is banished with your witchcraft, but he has authorized me to do so."

"Okay, so what happens now?" Spike asked. "We're sure these daemons forced their way in to try to kill Twilight, right? We can't just leave her alone! Who knows when they'll attack again?"

"You are mistaken," Gaela said bluntly, "the previous attack has not ended."

Both the pony and the dragon quickly whirled about, back-to-back, staring frantically about the recycling complex.

"Where? Where are they?! I can't see them! Oh, Celestia help us, are they invisible now?!" Spike wailed, his head whipping from side-to-side.

Twilight's horn flashed, and her inert power armor reappeared around her body. "Gaela! Turn it on! Hurry!"

The Dark Techpriest sighed. "The incursion in this particular room has been banished. There are no more enemies here." She took a moment to reset Twilight's armor settings anyway, and the powered shell started humming as its power cells reactivated.

"Then what did you mean the attack hasn't ended?" Spike asked nervously.

"You recall that when the exit was breached, it merely created another entry point for daemonic intruders?" She waited for the Equestrians to nod fearfully. "Daemons are appearing from all over the ship and attempting to converge on this location. Iron Warrior fire squads have been deployed to repel them, but that battle is still taking place."

"What the hay is going ON here?!" Twilight growled. "When did I make an enemy out of the Warp and everything in it?"

"That is an interesting question, but probably something to be researched later," Gaela mumbled, "for now we have contained the daemons' reinforcements. We will find their entry points and put an end to this."

Twilight's visor loaded a local-area map, and she winced. Numerous corridors were being guarded by Iron Warrior squads who were engaged in heavy firefights. The enemies were harder to track, apparently, appearing on the map outline and then flickering away, but the daemons at least seemed to match the Chaos Space Marines in numbers.

"Should I go help?" Twilight asked, levitating the force harmonizer above her head.

"Negative. Your movement may shift the enemy's tactical approach. The current situation is sustainable until our assault forces shut down the incursion," Gaela assured the pony, "for now, we have been asked to hold here. Once the threat has been contained, you are being moved to psionic isolation."

"Eugh..." Twilight grimaced and hung her head. "I just wish I knew why this was happening. I don't really like the idea of all these people getting hurt because of me."

"They are not getting hurt because of you," the Dark Techpriest said with an edge in her voice, "the daemons have forced their way onto the Company's ship. They are an enemy to all of us for this reason alone, and will be destroyed for their trespass. Their particular objective, while useful to know, is irrelevant."

"You might feel differently if they were after you," Twilight grumbled. Then she paused. "Well, okay, probably not. Still-"

"I must return to my previous work," Gaela interrupted. She leaned over to pick up a cluster of coiled wires. "The Dark Magos was already quite upset about lagging production schedules, and has adjusted our shifts to compensate for the personnel killed."

"Of course he has," Twilight growled. "Would you like some help? After all that it would be rather cathartic to shove the remains of my enemies into a furnace."

"By all means."

****

Harvest of Steel - sub-deck 33F

One by one they clawed their way into the stale, recycled air of the void ship. Claws, talons, and thick, powerful fingers emerged from crackling fissures, pulling horribly disfigured, bestial bodies from the bulkheads and onto the blood-spattered floors.

Each daemon paused to orient itself, taking in the strange sensations of the material universe that had intruded upon their endless ocean of psionic turmoil. They were simple-minded spawn, and barely more intelligent than mere beasts; none could fathom the complexity of their mission, or wonder at the orderly, seemingly inert interior of the massive daemon they had infiltrated. All they knew was their mission, and the psyker equine loomed large in their senses despite the many meters and barriers that stood between the hunters and their target.

There were only two other immediate curiosities that distracted them from launching the next wave in the continuing effort to slay the pony. One was the emaciated human man writhing on the floor, clutching his head in agony. He was quivering in the fetal position, in the center of a complex runic circle drawn from his own blood. He was also generating lashes of prismatic energy that passed over the blood runes and then arced up into the walls and floor, opening new rifts for new daemons. Although the daemons found this intriguing, and the man's fearful suffering tantalizing, they left him alone.

The second thing was the giant eye staring at them from the ceiling. None of them really knew what was up with that.

The pounding of metal on metal roused the daemons from their distraction, and each one oriented itself toward the distant alicorn whose soul they wished to claim. They set out down the hallway, snarling and ready to pounce. They sought no prey other than the purple one, but would not hesitate to destroy anything that thought to stand in their way.

Until that anything turned out to be a giant, heavily armored Chaos Lord with heavy bolters. Then they hesitated.

The heavy bolters opened fire with a roar, streaming explosive bolts into the hall. The closest daemons were blasted off their feet as the explosive rounds blew away portions of their bodies into puffs of Warpflame, and even those not hit directly were savaged by a whirlwind of deadly shrapnel. Many survived the first salvo, staggered and surprised but still mostly intact. Flesh began to knit back together and scorched dust rose from the floor to reform crippled limbs.

"Ah, I think I found the shource," Solon said to himself between bursts from his weapons. He continued striding forward, leveling brief, careful salvos at the Warpspawn crawling about the hall. A few of the daemons shrieked and charged, leaping up onto the Warsmith and scraping at his armor with their bare claws.

Solon scooped up one such creature with his primary servo claw, and crushed it to dust without ceremony. The other swiped at his face, and Solon caught the daemon's hand with his own before flinging it back to the floor. One of his legs rose out of sequence and crashed down onto the stunned Warp beast, banishing it back to the Immaterium outside the ship.

As Solon approached the daemons' origin point, however, they suddenly switched tactics. The remaining half-dozen clustered around the human on the floor, snarling and swiping the air like animals trying to ward off a larger predator.

Solon halted his approach while several meters away, and his heavy bolters fell silent. He couldn't destroy the remaining daemons without also cutting apart the human with the shrapnel, and he would really rather the human not die yet. He wondered if the daemons realized this, or if they were simply guarding a crucial objective the only way they knew how.

Well, it didn't really matter.

Solon leaned to the side and pressed a hand onto the wall. The metal under his gauntlet pulsed at his touch, a ripple spreading out through the bulkhead like the surface of a disturbed pond.

"Releashe codex three-shix-zero-zero-three, level gamma," Solon's optics glittered, and the eye still poking through the ceiling squinted.

Metal squealed and bent along the bulkheads, and then one plate seam ripped open. Torn metal formed rows of twisted teeth around a gullet of metal piping and ventilation ducts.

The daemons recoiled, alarmed at seeing a sudden act of aggression from the ship itself. The Harvest's thoughts, its anger, and its gnawing, constant hunger surrounded them as if it were soaking the very air itself.

"Go ahead, my dear," Solon said to the wall beside him, "feed. Leave the flesh-borne one though, would you?"

Iron chains shot out of the mouth in the bulkhead, smashing into the daemons and wrapping around them like a dozen prehensile tongues. The Warpspawn shrieked and struggled, tearing apart the chains as best they could, but there were too many, and those that were destroyed were quickly replaced by new lashes of iron. One by one they were dragged into the gaping tear in the wall. Sometimes they were yanked directly into the twisted mass of tubes that approximated a gullet. Others managed to grab hold of the teeth lining the breach, and got bitten in half as the mouth closed on top of them.

Solon approached the human on the ground, mostly ignoring the grisly spectacle. One daemon managed to tear apart the chain pulling its leg and made a run for the writhing mortal, but Solon reached down and grabbed the beast, throwing it back toward the snapping jaws.

"All right, you little pesht." Solon grabbed the man on the floor and pulled him up by his shoulder until he could look him in the eyes. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

The man was a psyker. One of the few human psykers in the 38th Company's fleet. A resource quite scarce to begin with, and not easy to replenish.

He lifted his neck, slowly, painfully, until he could meet Solon's optics with his bloodshot eyes. "L-Lord... Wa... War-"

"I washn't talking to you, Lucif Grannon," Solon interrupted, "I will need you to cling to life for a few more minutesh, but ashide from that your part in thish affair ish over. I need..." a chain snaked through the air toward the psyker's leg, and Solon quickly pulled him away. "Hey! No! Shtop that! I shaid the human ish off-limitsh!"

An echoing, persisting groan rolled through the halls, and a few more chains slithered up below the Warsmith.

"I don't care! You've had plenty!" Solon insisted. "Reshcind releashe codex! Eshtablish ward relay pattern alpha!"

An irritated shriek came from the bulkheads, and the chains were rapidly sucked back into the wall.

By the time Solon turned his attention back to the psyker, the man's countenance had changed entirely. He clutched the Iron Warrior's gauntlet, and hissed in a voice that wasn't his while he struggled. Most obviously, his eyes had turned solid black, and blood wept down his pale cheeks.

"Ah, here we go. I am Warshmith Sholon, mashter of thish ship. Who am I shpeaking with?" Solon asked.

"You need not know my name, Pawn of Nurg'leth!" The psyker Lucif was gone now, his spirit completely dominated by the daemon that had used him as an entrance. "Surrender the horned one! The Gods demand it!"

"Oh, sho NOW you shtart making demandsh, hm? After boarding my ship and running rampant through itsh hallsh for hoursh." He made a snorting noise through his vox grille. "I am dishinclined to asshisht you, daemon. If you had the power to overcome me, then you would be ushing it now. If you had any shway that I reshpected, you would not have begun your tashk in ambush. You are out of optionsh. You have losht."

A booming howl came from Lucif. His words emerged as two voices, discordant and angry, one of the echo of the other. "She has stolen what belongs to the Dark Gods! She has violated the sanctum of the Tormented Conclave, and-"

"Oh, sho you undershtand the mortal conceptsh of property and violation thereof? Good. Then lishten." He pulled the possessed man closer, until their faces were mere inches apart. "You have intruded upon MY ship, daemon shcum. You have attacked MY property. You've even killed the lasht of MY human pshykersh. And now you demand the mare? No. You will be punished for thish tresshpassh, not her."

"You will surrender the creature!" the daemon screeched. "The Dark Gods-"

"I follow ONE Dark God," Solon interrupted, "and Grandfather Nurgle doesh not need you to shpeak for him or sheek redressh from hish shervantsh. You have no leverage here, and with the death of my pshykersh, no power, either."

Lucif's body contorted painfully. Despite the daemon speaking through him, the man was in his death throes and fully aware of it. "I will not leave this ship without the horned one's soul."

"You will not leave thish ship," Solon agreed ominously. Then the Warsmith broke Lucif's neck.

"What an absholute washte," the Chaos Lord grumbled before dropping the dead psyker back onto the floor, "granted, pshykersh aren't ash rare to ush ash they ushed to be, but shtill."

A wasp the size of a bolt shell landed on his servo claw, its abdomen pulsing softly.

Solon silently looked up at the piping that ran over the ceiling, focusing on a vent near the wall. It was tiny, barely large enough for a rat to squeeze into.

Perfect.

****

???

Deep within the twisted and near-endless piping of the Harvest's ventilation ducts, a single body quivered softly. Anger and hate pulsed through it like blood, and was just as tangible.

Its form was small and trivial. Cabbage-like. A physical shell for its spirit simply because it needed one in this ridiculous halfway material existence inside a void ship inside the Warp. A single eye topped the Warpspawn, oscillating wildly and uselessly in its rage. Not that there was anything to see here, in the hollow veins of the Harvest of Steel.

The horned one - this Twilight of Sparkles, or whatever asinine gibbering the flesh-borne chose to call her - had escaped its sight. Its slaves had been successfully purged. Its gateways, the human psykers, had been found and executed. The ambush was a failure.

It wondered at the possibilities that it had squandered. A second daemon sent to slay the horned one while she was resting after she had been made aware of the threat. A great commitment of power to possessing the humans' destructive garbage. Could this failure have been salvaged? Was there some obvious error in its methods?

The daemon shook off the nagging thoughts as irrelevant. It didn't matter. The horned one, the pony, was still alive, and the mission still continued. It may have lost some of its initial assets, as well as some of the Iron Warriors' that it found useful, but it was not defeated. There were yet other tools to be expended.

"Bzzzzzzz..."

A curious noise came from one of the ducts above, and the daemon's eye shifted. There was no light in this alcove, but the Warpspawn's vision was unhindered. It watched as a large wasp emerged from one of the pipes, skittering about in the dark.

The daemon lashed out with its psychic power against the insect; an insulting use of its strength, frankly. Yet it felt the wasp resist for a moment before it was obliterated utterly, its body reduced to dust.

"Found you." The whisper seemed to float from all the interconnected vents at once, carried along the currents of air constantly pouring into the alcove.

Then, they came. Dark, skittering insects emerging from the ducts in their dozens, and then their hundreds, directed and united by some unseen will. The daemon resisted, lashing out with its Warp-fueled powers, but its abilities were ill-suited to such a fight, and the cramped quarters of its dwelling well suited to the insects. They descended on their target, cutting into the soft, weak flesh with razor-like jaws. Then, to its shock, they begin eating not just the daemon's physical form, but the spirit maintaining it, and the thoughts and will animating it.

In those moments, the daemon at last knew firsthand what it had so often perceived only in passing from hapless mortals: fear. It wasn't simply being ripped apart and returned to the Immaterium. Its essence was being carved apart and sealed away. Its memories were being absorbed into a greater consciousness, to be trapped there indefinitely.

The daemon made no sound as it was devoured. It had no mouth with which to scream. But for those few individuals that happened to be passing by ventilation ducts in this particular section of the ship during this particular time, they could have sworn they heard laughter coming from the walls.

Author's Note:

Hey, we got a chapter of Ponies in Space! Yay!
... That was seriously bleak, though. I didn't realize until I started writing this that I left all the fun characters stranded a billion miles away from the most important characters.
... The most important characters other than Applejack, of course.
<3

Illustration by EZTP.
Edit: Fixed the formatting. For some stupid reason, my phone browser shows JUST enough of the buttons on the edit taskbar to allow me to insert the picture, save, and publish, but cuts off the text positioning bar. Lame.

Comments

[Aatxe360]

... The most important characters other than Applejack, of course.

...Continue.

[The Warmaster]

Well....this has seriously given me some insight on the Warp. At least, in the way of Daemons and how they....well, not work, but how they act.

Anyways, great chapter as always!
I hope to see more from the 38th Company in the future!
FOR THE DARK GODS! (Except that whore Slaanesh.)

[ShadowsInTheDark]

yay

[Portal of thought]

If i may so inquire, are the wasps nurgle in origin or are they part of the harvest of steel?

[Mix-up]

TS is lucky that Sollon's casual curiosity for her to overweight his usual consideration of not waisting resources otherwise I believe he wold have just left her to be devoured by the deamons. Still I wander if The Harvest of steel attends to get into her nightmare is just his way to show it's affections to; by affections I mean it still want to eat her of course, but with more enthusiasm do it. I wander if the deamons want Twilight because she is new creature that Chaos deamons just want to sample or is hes actually a threat to them of some sort to the forces of chaos?

[Sinestere]

Always pleased with your work. Another delightful story. I am sure Twilight has alot of research ahead of her.

[nothing_to_see_here]

6835665
I imagine they are similar to white blood cells, if we're going with the organism analogy made by Gaela.

[SFaccountant]

6835272
I... I don't really have anything else to say after that. That pretty much covers it.

6835665
6835800
The wasps are part of Solon's "thing" that I keep alluding to but refuse to directly explain. He sent those insects, not the ship.

6835667
The resources they lost were arguably WAY less important than an alicorn Princess decked out in primo wargear. But aside from that, as Solon explained, the daemon didn't come to him with an offer to trade Twilight for anything, it just punched its way into the ship and started spitting out assassins. So the losses were guaranteed, and the mastermind daemon wanted him to give up Twilight on top of that. Not a good deal, even if Solon wasn't royally pissed off.
Oh, and the Harvest of Steel just kind of exudes psychic terror. It isn't even a deliberate thing. Almost everyone in the ship has nightmares.

6835740
I doubt she'll have much else to do locked in an isolation cell, so it's win-win!

[Terodeness]

"She has stolen what belongs to the Dark Gods! She has violated the sanctum of the Tormented Conclave, and-"

Some time ago 1 defeated deamon guardian thingy:

All right! Fine! Take the stupid souls! GEEZ! There are like a zillion other ones around, anyway! I don't need this!
The Dark Gods do not suffer such insolence lightly, and you-

Like srsly are Dark gods going to throw tantrum just because she have stolen 10-25 souls or because of the rest of the souls were devoured by daemons?

6835997
And Twilight with her friends did something similar, doesn't they? :D They went into immaterium, blasted one of the daemons with elements, snatched few souls and then, when everything started to fall apart just leaved...

[GBscientist]

And so we have more evidence of Bugsmith Solon. He's not just one bug in the suit, he's a colony of creepy-crawlies acting as the repository for his soul, and animating the suit.

The interaction between Twilight and Gaela was, as always, amusing. The interaction between Solon and the ship was also funny.

[SFaccountant]

6837345
Well, yeah, but it's cool when they do it because they're poni.
And yes, the Dark Gods (or at least certain high-ish level daemons) are totally holding a grudge over some petty spirit theft. That's a thing they do.

6837403
OR IS HE???

Yeah, you've pretty much got it figured out.

[DracoDarastrix]

Interesting chapter to say the least. Btw Demon Incursion rarely happen on ships with Cellar Fields. There are even imperial ships that are as old as the time of the great crusades that never even once had a demon infestation. But of course if the Cellar Field fails then usually the ship and it's entire crew is doomed. As was shown in the Ultramarine novel "Black Sun."

Generally speaking only a warp storm tends to cause trouble to travel through the warp. The stress is too much for a cellar field and the demons can materialize through it's cracks. That and a demon whom power is greater then that off your average greater demon can also punch through field but they usually don't do so as it cost simple to much energy. Of course if such a demon is pissed off or has a greater plan in mind other then feasting they won't hesitate to do so. None the less it's a huge investment for a demon to do such a thing and one of the few things they are cautious to do so, even demons of Khorne know that they have to be smart to where they spent their energy or they risk to be weaken and consumed by its fellow demons.

It's usually the orks that have the problem with demon infestation because their ships lack that off. Of course Orks don't care because that simple means they can enjoy some good fighting while travelling towards the next planet to wage war. (It would otherwise be very dull and boring ride by Orks standards.)

Overall I really enjoyed the chapter and it's clear you read warhammer fiction a lot because I recognize a lot of the info coming from certain novels. Which makes me curious could name as many of the novels you have read about warhammer universe?

[Coranth]

Will Twilight ever speak directly to the Harvest of Souls, I wonder; like apologize to the ship for thinking it was behind the attacks when it wasn't responsible? It would be funny if the Ship grew fond of the Unicorn in an "enemy mine" way (you can't have her; this is MY pony to slowly torture to insanity).

[Lord Sergal]

Can I assume this is all happening because she stole the souls of Gaela, Tellis, Del, Delgan, Danials, and whoever else I'm forgetting?

[SFaccountant]

6838090
I've read most of the Horus Heresy books, Storm of Iron, Angels of Death, and Priests of Mars (have to get to the rest of that trilogy soon).
I like the Horus Heresy series because it gives the best historical backdrop to the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, and of course I read anything about the Techpriests of the Mechanicus because I want to be one when I grow up.

6838128
It hasn't really occurred to her to try to communicate with the Harvest of Steel in any meaningful way, yet. It wanting to eat her isn't a serious problem so far, and she has no idea how she might get it to stop. She has enough trouble getting along with elements of the fleet that merely don't care if she lives or dies, never mind an element that actively views her as food.
Which is the other thing; the HoS doesn't view Twilight as an enemy or a hostile any more than you view a bucket of fried chicken that way. Perhaps this will change in time? Who knows?

6838295
That is precisely what is happening, yes. That's what the daemon was whining to Solon about.

[Your Local Daemonhunter]

A perfect example of why, if I were in charge of a Chaos Warband, my ship would simply use Gellar Fields.

[SFaccountant]

6838611
And risk the other warbands calling you a wimp? D:

Ha! Seriously though, the rest of the 38th Company's fleet does use Gellar fields. It's only the giant daemon monster ship that can (usually) do without them.

[DracoDarastrix]

6838515

Hope you know that the 2nd Ultramarine Omnibus contains the two sequels of storm of iron? Incase you wonder how it ends with Horun once he becomes the new chaos lord of the Iron Warrior band. Let´s say he and Ultramarine Uriel Ventris have really a good contrast against each other. Which is funny because you would normally would put an Imperial Fist against the Iron Warriors to create a contrast between hero and villain for 40k fiction which they did in storm of iron. Death Sky Black Sun really gives some enormous Philosophy background. And it also revealed how at least the Iron Warriors refill their ranks. I was a veteran in the 40k fiction and let me tell you this already. It shocked me how an Iron Warrior was created.

However the story is focussed on the Ultramarine captian Uriel Ventris yet if your an Iron Warrior lover I really suggest you read the entire Ulrtramarine Omnibus. Starting from Nightbringer. Because it gives you a lot and I mean a lot of background info both about the Iron Warriors and even The Dark Mechanicus. Even Demons, Tyranids and Tau are given lots of info you won´t find anywhere else but it´s also considered cannon. Including how the Etherals work and real danger they are and what their true motives are in general for the galaxy. The 1st story you will read is Nightbringer sadly although the Dark Eldar are portrayed skilfully the Necrons are not. This is because they are written with old Necrons fluff in mind. (That´s was even before they got their 1st codex) That C´tan were their rulers and Masters, instead it´s now in modern times switched around, Fun Fact is that the entire series was written by one of the founders of warhammer franchise itself. Phil Kelly. And most of his work are actually praised and all these stories are considered cannon with exception perhaps for Nightbringer because they chanced the fluff.

[Your Local Daemonhunter]

6838629 Yeah. Although, even if I had a Daemon Ship like that, I wouldn't want that as my Flagship. Too much of a target if a Loyalist fleet comes in system. Because really, what are they going to target first? A Random Chaos Battleship, or a Battle Barge pulsating with foul energies of the warp and actively hungering for their souls?

[SFaccountant]

6838742
The Ultramarines make a better foil for the Iron Warriors than the Imperial Fists ever did. The Iron Warriors are cold, cunning tacticians, and brutal strategists. They don't win by being stronger than their enemies but by playing smarter (and when they don't, unsurprisingly, they don't win). It's a good contrast to the Ultramarines, who are also esteemed tacticians, but have the additional burdens of being noble exemplars of the Cult Astartes.
Besides, I always felt that the Iron Warriors should have gotten over their grudge after humiliating and devastating the Fists during their every encounter in the Horus Heresy. The Battle of Terra alone taught everyone which Legion was better. The Imperial Fists built the biggest, hardest fortress they could, and the Iron Warriors came along and cracked it right open. That's game set and match; Rogal Dorn had the most important job in the galaxy at the time, to provide the first line of defense for the Emperor, and Perturabo was just too good for him. I can't think of a more perfect and total humiliation. The Iron Cage was just icing on the cake.

[SFaccountant]

6838775
But... it's not obviously a daemon ship unless you're inside it. It's disguised as a huge freighter, remember?

[GBscientist]

6837801 I'd say that he must have pissed off Nurgle for that to be his fate, but it's done wonders for his survival rate, so I don't think he's complaining much.

[RanmaChaos]

Another great chapter. I really enjoy when the Techpriests do their thing. Can Spike go ahead and want to join them so those of us who don't know much about the 40K universe can learn more about them.

[ABitterPill]

I'm honestly not sure WTF Chrysalis hopes to accomplish by poking the wasps nest that is the forces of Chaos. Does she simply not get the bigger picture, or is her own ego so overinflated she thinks herself their master? Even a damaged ship in orbit could level any city on the planet from orbit.

I'm thinking Tox will become a chaos devotee.. or get possessed. Either is possible. And Gox will either come back mentally scarred... or screaming that they need to leave the orks to the humans and stay the hell away from both.

And I'm guessing that something in the warp is irritated at the stunts of Twilight and the others at pulling the souls out of the warp. You know, Solen could probably keep the Harvest well fed if he just put Twilight in a box near the center of the ship, let the daemon incursions continue and told the harvest, "Eat anyone who approaches the pony" If the daemons kept coming, the Harvest would have quite the feast indeed.

[ABitterPill]

6838515

It hasn't really occurred to her to try to communicate with the Harvest of Steel in any meaningful way, yet. It wanting to eat her isn't a serious problem so far, and she has no idea how she might get it to stop. She has enough trouble getting along with elements of the fleet that merely don't care if she lives or dies, never mind an element that actively views her as food.

Which is the other thing; the HoS doesn't view Twilight as an enemy or a hostile any more than you view a bucket of fried chicken that way. Perhaps this will change in time? Who knows?

.... I suddenly have an image of the Harvest of Steel purring at Twilight...

[ABitterPill]

6839112

Wouldn't Nurgle think of that as a wonderful blessing, though? What most others might think of as curses, Grandfather Nurgle sees as doting on his children.

[nothing_to_see_here]

6839278
I think it's a mixture of her ego and the fact the humans are a total unknown. She probably thinks that now that the best of them have left that they'll be helpless.
'Course she doesn't know that even the most basic human mercenary is probably worth around 8 changelings, but she'll figure it out soon enough.

[Your Local Daemonhunter]

6838823 The Navigators/Sanctioned Psykers aboard the Loyalist Ships would probably be screaming their heads off the moment they were in the vicinity of it. And if a Psyker's yelling about something being seriously daemonic, I'd probably take their advice and shoot the hell out of it.

[SFaccountant]

6839278
Well, without spoiling too much here, she wants them to start up fights with literally the entire rest of the world. And then she wants to see what happens while watching from a safe distance.
But you're right in that she absolutely doesn't see the bigger picture, here. The only Centaurians who even comes close to understanding the Grim Darkness of that ugly galaxy out there, never mind the power of Chaos in particular, is Celestia and Discord. And Discord is fundamentally insane, so that isn't exactly helpful.

6839538
I do not recall canon evidence that psykers can automatically sense daemons. In fact, I recall several instances in which powerful, competent psykers were in the presence of daemons disguised as humans and didn't notice a thing. Likewise with Navigators, I recall one instance in particular in which a (supposedly) capable one was successfully ambushed by a daemon and he had no idea what was happening until he woke up from the ordeal. If he had any sort of special daemon-sense in that third eye, I don't think a dark corridor would have been enough for the daemon to catch him.
So at the very least, daemons are capable of hiding from psykers when they want to and when the psykers aren't specifically looking for them. You may assume that such circumstances are almost always in play when the HoS makes contact with an Imperial fleet.

[Dragon Dred]

This is what happand when you insult a machine spirite with and I quote, "your mother is a leaf-blower"

[Heitomos]

On man, that was so good! After a couple months of waiting, its so good to see it back! I have to say, I really liked this chapter, even if it was a little light on comedy. Can't wait for the next one!

[DracoDarastrix]

6838806

Actually the siege of terra is a loss for the iron warriors. They never passed the eternity gate. And unless you break through all the defences as an attacker during a siege it's considered military speaking a loss. Horus realized they were losing and if he wasn't able to defeat the emperor now, he would never able to win against the empire. So he took a last gamble by lowering the shields of his flagship. We know the rest of the story.

As for the iron cage. Yes the Iron Warriors were winning, but barely. According to both sides if the Ultramarines hadn't intervened both legions most likely had annihilated one other. But when Ultramarines came and scored quickly a few important victories the Iron Warriors knew that they were too outnumbered and fled rather then continue knowing that otherwise only they would be destroyed rather then their foe.

When it comes to siege warfare there are two very important things. On one side it's the morale and will which the Imperial Fist represent on the other side you planning and logistic which the Iron Warriors represent. While the Imperial Fist never got that on the same level as the Iron Warriors it's still high and present enough. However the Iron Warriors as severely lacking pious and devotion. If you read carefully between the lines in subtle way it's already present during the great crusades. In their original background story it literally stated they despised siege warfare but they simple continue to do so because they simple believed no other legion was better at it then theirs.

When it was Dorn whom was tasked in creating the defense of Terra it was huge insult and a blow to the iron warrior primarch pride and ego. Not to mention the legions each had a different philosophy when it came to sieges. And the statement that the defences of Terra would never be broken if it was successfully manned, supplied and unbroken will.

This was to complete opposite from the Iron Warrior believe whom think any fortress can be overcome. With cold logistical and planning. I truly noticed that when I read storm of iron that I was missing a crucial factor when it comes fighting a siege warfare. Not once was there a moment the Iron Warriors used tactics to break the defenders morale. Their will to fight. The only thing that came close was when the Chaos Lord planted his banner in front of Fortress while stating the fort would be taken tomorrow. But this to me wasn't meant to break his enemy morale but rather a smirking move from the lord to the Imperial Fist.

This is actually what I love so much of your fim fiction here. You actually show one of the greatest flaw of the Iron Warrior legion. It's right in the open and no one addresses it. They look grim and troop morale boosting things such a bar never realizing it's actually beneficial to them and their mortal troops.

[GBscientist]

6839332 I wouldn't know. I'm far more versed in Pony than Chaos.

[SFaccountant]

6840088

Actually the siege of terra is a loss for the iron warriors. They never passed the eternity gate. And unless you break through all the defences as an attacker during a siege it's considered military speaking a loss.

But that's wasn't the Iron Warriors' job. Their job was to bust open the palace - the palace that Dorn had fortified and enhanced for this exact scenario - and they did that.
Yes, they lost the Siege of Terra and the Horus Heresy. I can't dispute that. There was a big scene about it in Book 5. They were on the losing side, after all (though I mostly blame the Emperor's Children for the failure).
But as an expression of Iron Warrior superiority over the Imperial Fists - which Perturabo cared about at least as much as actually taking Terra - it was a victory.

As for the iron cage. Yes the Iron Warriors were winning, but barely. According to both sides if the Ultramarines hadn't intervened both legions most likely had annihilated one other.

According to the Space Marine Codex, which tried to retcon the Iron Cage to be less of a complete embarrassment to the Imperial Fists. Not "both sides". That purposely vague, brief mention of the encounter that the SM Codex included doesn't even make sense when you recall that the whole point of the Iron Cage was to have the Fists fight themselves to oblivion while there was nothing of value in the fortress at all; so any way you look at it, the Iron Warriors couldn't have been annihilated in the exchange, since Perturabo wasn't even on-planet.
The 40K Lexicanum gives a far more detailed explanation of the encounter here. It's quite a devastating indictment of the Imperial Fists in general and Rogal Dorn in particular. The best thing it has to say for the Imperial Fists' efforts is that the survivors were the best Marines in the Legion, and went on to form the new descendent Chapters. Meanwhile the Iron Warriors escaped with a truckload of gene-seed and Perturabo turned into a Daemon Prince. That sounds like a win for Chaos to me.

In their original background story it literally stated they despised siege warfare but they simple continue to do so because they simple believed no other legion was better at it then theirs.

Everyone despised siege warfare. And EVERYONE knew that the Iron Warriors were better at it than anyone else. That was kind of the point. Perturabo was really peeved that everyone called in his boys for the hardest, dirtiest, most brutal fighting, then took the glory after the hard part was done.
To be fair, sometimes the glorious capture IS really important, even after the defenses have been breached. Just look at the Siege of Terra.

I truly noticed that when I read storm of iron that I was missing a crucial factor when it comes fighting a siege warfare. Not once was there a moment the Iron Warriors used tactics to break the defenders morale. Their will to fight. The only thing that came close was when the Chaos Lord planted his banner in front of Fortress while stating the fort would be taken tomorrow. But this to me wasn't meant to break his enemy morale but rather a smirking move from the lord to the Imperial Fist.

Now this part is totally true. To the Iron Warriors, siege warfare isn't psychological, it's physical. They don't think of their targets as buildings full of people, but just giant, heavily armed nuts to crack. I'm not sure they even understand morale as their victims experience it. They may be of the opinion that no one could be more miserable than they are.

[DracoDarastrix]

6840871

But that's wasn't the Iron Warriors' job. Their job was to bust open the palace - the palace that Dorn had fortified and enhanced for this exact scenario - and they did that.

Ehh still no, they only breached the outer palace not the inner palace defences. I could say they did their job halfway.

Yes, they lost the Siege of Terra and the Horus Heresy. I can't dispute that. There was a big scene about it in Book 5. They were on the losing side, after all (though I mostly blame the Emperor's Children for the failure).

Actually there were many factors that the siege failed. Everyone of traitor legion did made certain mistakes or underestimated their foes when it came too the final conflict. Not only the emperor's children. They could have won but there simple too many mistakes made by their commanders too ever succeed. Including treachery from the dark gods themselves. My case and point Fullgrim was no longer in command of his legion when the siege began. His soul had been trapped inside a painting and now a demon soul inhabited the primarch body. And demons of chaos gods are nothing more then extensions of the dark gods themselves. So the actions demon Fullgrim were nothing more then the direct orders from the god Slaanesh. In other words it was a doomed scenario for the chaos legions from the beginning. Even the iron warriors made many mistakes during the siege of Terra.

When you speak about book 5 which series are you talking about? By now there are many stories about the Horus Heresy and siege of Terra.

But as an expression of Iron Warrior superiority over the Imperial Fists - which Perturabo cared about at least as much as actually taking Terra - it was a victory.

All my source material say the Iron Warriors got even more bitter after they lost the siege of Terra. It was very reason they created the iron cage to begin with. They consider personally the siege of Terra a lost. They may blame the other legions for it but they still considering it a lost. And they really are bitter about that lost. Not one story that I have read either from codex or 40k novels tells me that the Iron warriors or their Primarch Perturabo considered it a victory that they breached the outer defences. But I have tons of resource material that says they considered it a lost. So please tell me where you got that info. Because it contradicts all the other source material.

[SFaccountant]

6841187

Ehh still no, they only breached the outer palace not the inner palace defences. I could say they did their job halfway.

According to the Lexicanum regarding the Battle of Terra, Perturabo left after the breach was made, considering his job done. And what else could he do? If Perturabo had been in charge of the entire Siege, then perhaps he could have held the soldiers back and broken it open wider, but he wasn't. He took down the outer palisade and then the Chaos Marines poured into the breach.
Which actually speaks to your point that the Chaos forces made a lot of mistakes and that some of them weren't even really in charge of their troops; while the Imperial forces were unified in their defense, even Horus couldn't skillfully manage the Chaos Legions as a single, cohesive force.
That's Chaos for you!
Meanwhile, Fulgrim still has to take blame for his force's screw-ups, since his possession meant that he effectively had no control of his own Legion. That's a much bigger failure than just being somewhere else when your Commander needed you.

When you speak about book 5 which series are you talking about? By now there are many stories about the Horus Heresy and siege of Terra.

I meant my Book 5. Where Solon describes the Siege of Terra to Luna and Celestia and talks about how it should have been their finest moment rather than a huge disaster. Which brings me to this:

Not one story that I have read either from codex or 40k novels tells me that the Iron warriors or their Primarch Perturabo considered it a victory that they breached the outer defences. But I have tons of resource material that says they considered it a lost. So please tell me where you got that info. Because it contradicts all the other source material.

I have to actually give you this point. They are EXTREMELY bitter about the loss at Terra. But I've always believed that was because they actually did their job correctly and accomplished something impressive (besting Rogal Dorn's defenses), only to see the whole thing fall apart on them. The Iron Warriors had put everything on the line and succeeded, but they lost anyway. I believe they would take pride in breaching the palace, but that point of "success" will always be associated with the memory of ultimately losing and being chased halfway across the galaxy. Meanwhile the Imperial Fists take extreme pride in their defense of the Imperial Palace, even though Dorn's defenses were overcome and he arrived too late to help the Emperor fight Horus. Which is, of course, the dynamic that they've always had, and the reason the Iron Warriors hate the Fists so much in the first place.
But I have to concede that's almost entirely my interpretation, and not an attitude I've seen portrayed in canon Iron Warriors. It seems pretty obvious in the various novels that the Iron Warriors haven't "gotten over" their grudge against the Imperial Fists.

[DracoDarastrix]

6841390

Perturabo and his Iron Warriors thought that their job had been done, and the Primarch left the battle for the Inner Palace to instead direct a siege against the Imperial Fists Fortress Monastery nearby

This is a critical commander error. Especially for a siege commander. That or Perturabo really had no clue that the inner palace defences of Terra are 20 times more stronger then the outer defences. Which actually makes sense. The final defences of a fort are the hardest to crack. The Outer Defences are only the 1st line of defence which usually is meant for stalling a foe should it have capable siege equipment.

That was also shown in storm of iron. They really used a cunning tactic of infiltration to deal with those. Horun himself even looked feared when in storm of iron they went for the inner defences. Because he knew that if the sabotage mission of the dark techpriest would fail the defences of the inner fort utterly obliterate their warband.

So either Perturabo was a fool or he was already aware they would lose and instead of wasting more soldiers he send his own troops against another target that sparing their lives while still fighting against the one he had the greatest grudge against letting the other legions. Especially the world eaters, boy those took some severe casualties during the siege of Terra. It actually surprises me that they are an active traitor legion still to this day.

[SFaccountant]

6841457
The inner defenses of a castle are not normally stronger than the exterior defenses.
The exterior of a castle is effectively impenetrable until the enemy brings the equipment necessary to destroy or overcome it, and then manages to use that equipment correctly while being bombarded by the castle's defenders and weapons. Before the castle has been breached, the attackers have to deal with palisade and turret fire, siege artillery, and anything else the defenders can sling at them from the ramparts. After it has been breached, the attacker can fight on even terms. But all of the difficulty of siege warfare comes from the fact that the defender is essentially invincible if the wall (the primary line of defense) cannot be brought down (Granted, the "sieges" of the old days mostly revolved around starving the castle's inhabitants into surrendering).
This is even more the case in the faux-Dark Ages galaxy of 40K, when the defenders also possess heavy artillery and absurdly powerful guns for their ramparts, and the main reason why the Iron Warriors were so important in the first place. None of the other Space Marine Legions could handle the misery and labor of siege warfare like they could. But making the breach and mounting the escalade were the hard parts. Once there were Astartes in the halls in close combat, most fortresses were done for.
Likewise, there's nothing to suggest the battle inside the Imperial Palace was harder for the Chaos Space Marines than the battle outside it, when the bulk of their troops could only set up siege lines and wait for a breakthrough. To that end, the inner defenses were very impressive and Horus, at least, definitely underestimated them. Perhaps Perturabo did too, but we'll never know, because he wasn't in charge. If he was leading the assault rather than the World Eaters, we can be sure he would have done it differently. Assaulting castles is his thing, after all, and Iron Warriors make enthusiastic use of "second-line" defenses and traps. On the other hand, the World Eaters are well-known for their tactical incompetence (I agree that it's rather unbelievable that there are still any left by now). But once he punched a hole in the wall and watched the Berserkers start flooding into it, yes, he decided that the other Legions could probably handle things from there and that Warmaster Horus would be able to complete the mission. I'm not sure what else he could have done, other than keep blasting apart the Palace on the World Eaters' heads. Maybe that would have eventually led to victory, in hindsight, but at the time it wouldn't have been a "tactical" choice.
So if there was any act of stupidity on Perturabo's part, it was having any kind of faith in his allies.

[DracoDarastrix]

6841874

The inner defenses of a castle are not normally stronger than the exterior defenses.

I shall give you measurement on just how big the imperial Palace is. Although fluff constantly chanced it size. I believe that now the Imperial palace itself is the size of the continent Australia. The inner palace is the size of Manhattan. Just give you the scale how big that siege was. An Emperor Class Titan can walk through the eternity gate as is still dwarf compared to it's size the gateway. The Inner palace is actually a fort within a larger fort.

A Fort the size of Manhattan, the fort in storm of iron is an ant compared to size of the inner imperial palace and yet Perturabo thought his job was finished? I think he personally had enough of it and considering that all the other legions also had stolen his legions moments of glory. Maybe he became vindictive towards his fellow traitors brothers and decided they could bleed for once? I mean it's chaos we are talking about. And several novels already pointed out that it removes boundaries a person normally would trespass. I think it was best stated in the novel "Traitor general" the best. Chaos isn't evil or corrupt. It simple set you free from any morale concern, and that's where the true danger and corruption comes from. Our own unbound darkness that is within our souls.

[SFaccountant]

6842006
I know that the Imperial Palace was ridiculously huge. But the primary obstacle - the thing that kept the individual Astartes from being any kind of threat to the people inside - was the outer wall. That's what Horus couldn't get past, and what Perturabo was brought in to take down. No matter how huge, with the advantage of pure numbers on their side, Chaos could take the interior. Or so the thinking went. And the other armies DID progress through the fortress and make steady progress despite all the secondary defenses. They just didn't do it fast enough.
So Chaos clearly launched an unwise assault, but that wasn't Perturabo's decision. Again, what was he supposed to do? He couldn't hold back the World Eaters even if he wanted to. So he had the choice of either leaving to carry out more Imperial Fist trolling, or try to pick apart the interior of the fortress with thousands of frenzied Berserkers swarming all over it like heavily armored ants and getting in the way of their careful, precise combat engineering.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that they clearly needed the Iron Warriors to dig deeper before unleashing the Idiot Legions, but at the time I think Perturabo was fully justified in getting out of the way and assuming that Horus could handle the lesser task of clearing out the interior with all the hundreds of thousands of other Space Marines and all the daemons and traitors and Titans at his command. He was wrong. But I still don't see how that's any great conceit on Perturabo's part. Horus was supposed to be an esteemed tactician and all.

[DracoDarastrix]

6842685

But it's stated that Perturabo personally thought his job was done. Not once has it been mentioned that Horus or any other primarch told him otherwise. And the world eaters already plunged themselves to the imperial defences while the outer wall was intact. And because it took the iron warriors so long, the Emperor's Children left the siege to target the rest of civilians on Terra before the outer wall was breached. That gab was later filled with the arrival of the Thousand Sons while demon Fullgrim went on a rampage on the civilians. However beside the World Eaters and Emperor's Children the rest of the legions stayed in line. They waited until Perturabo and his legion took down the defences alongside with the World Eaters whom Horus wisely send a few Demon engines to support them. This all done under Perturabo command and not Horus.

Horus was indeed a mastermind but he also knew that Perturabo was the true expert when it came to siege warfare and trusted his brother judgement. The outer defences were broken because Perturabo was able believe it or not to work with the World Eaters. In a matter of fact the entire siege was mostly engineered and commanded by Perturabo and not Horus. Whom was waiting for the signal of his brother telling that the defences are broken down.

What made Horus such a great warmaster is that he knew whom was suited best for the task at hand. Yes Horus knew like all the primarch about siege warfare. But amongst their ranks the iron warriors were the true experts. So let's recap it all.

-Horus gives the legion and Primarch with the greatest expertise in siege warfare the full command the entire siege.
-And with the exception of the Emperor's Children all the others stayed in line whom also were replaced by the Thousand sons. So really Perturabo number of forces in his command remained the same even when counting that one legion went rogue. In a matter of fact these were fresh troops. The Thousand son's arrived later when the siege was already in full way.
-It was Perturabo himself whom thought his job was finished when they had taken the outer palace. So that means his legion must have fought all the way to the inner palace and seen the final defences. And yet he chose the final assault to be done by the other legions while clearly such an expert as he was, he must have known he only had done half a job yet he still relinquished his overall command on the siege of the palace itself back to Horus.

And these are the current cannon facts.

So why did the siege fail? It's the following reasons.

1st And this is the most important one, not once had the Iron Warriors fought a siege with a time limit. During the entire great crusade the Iron Warriors enjoyed the fact they had constant supply lines and could methodically take their enemy defences down one at the time. During the siege of Terra this was not the case. They were on a time limit because of the other loyalist legions.
2nd They severely underestimated the defences. In a matter of fact several times in fact, you can say about the flaws of the Imperial Fist but their primarch Dorn really did a hell of a job in creating it's defences. In a matter of fact when the final assault would have come on the inner palace and look at schematics and how much was left of traitor forces and the defenders. I think they would have lost even if the other loyalist never arrived. Of course that is counting if they went directly on full assault trying to bring it down by numbers which in cannon they did. If the Iron Warriors had taken their usual approach with their siege and take their time, it might be brought down. But time was not what they had.
3rd They reacted to late against the white scars constant raids against their supply lines and siege equipment. True in the beginning it was only constant minor set backs. But each raid piled up on the other and soon they had huge logistic problem. That's death knell for any besieging army. But it gets better they only took actions against the white scars when they recaptured an entire space port namely the lion's gate. This forced Horus to send the entire death guard legion away from the siege to recapture one of their most valuable supply lines.

So let's recap.

-They were on a time limit.
-Underestimated your foe defences.
-Left the raiders unchecked against your supply lines.

Conclusion, the siege was a doomed affair from the beginning. And Horus knew this, he was gambling when the assault of Terra began, he knew it was all or nothing. Perturabo must have known this as well. That or he was so full of himself that he really thought Dorn was incompatent. While Dorn may have a short fuse. He is none the less a mastermind when it comes to defences. When he's calm he actually outclasses Perturabo in siege warfare. I think the emperor knew this and it's why it was Dorn and not Perturabo whom was tasked with creating the palace defences.

Dorn greatest flaw is his temper, Horus himself said that when he was dying from the plague infection. Perturabo greatest flaw is his arrogance. Yes he has some serious arrogance issues. I have yet to read his book. But from all the other lore so far he's portrayed as an vindictive, arrogant easily getting jealous primarch.

[SFaccountant]

6843324
I was not aware that Perturabo had command of the entire assault. I though he had instructed specifically to break into the Palace by Horus, without being given command of other Legions. Are you sure about this? I would have thought that Horus wouldn't give Perturabo the chance to issue orders to the other forces, especially not when one of the Legions in the attack were the Emperor's Children (fresh from betraying the Iron Warriors and trying to sacrifice Perturabo to Slaanesh).
If that's true, yeah, it changes the character of his decision. Apparently he did decide the hole in the wall was "good enough" for the rest of the Legions to handle. And yeah, he was wrong (at least to the extent that they couldn't handle it within Horus' time limit).
I will concede, then, that it was a major oversight on Perturabo's part not to manage the entire assault down to the Emperor's throne room itself. He certainly knew from the encounter with the Emperor's Children that the other Legions he was working with were all descending into psychotic insanity and had lost much of their military intellect. I still feel like most of the blame should still fall on the other Legions for not managing a half-way capable assault action after the Iron Warriors cleared the biggest obstacle - to say nothing of letting the White Scars cut off their supply lines - but I suppose that's just what they get for not being Iron Warriors. Perturabo should have known he was still needed.

[DracoDarastrix]

6846454

Under Perturabo's command, a combined assault was launched that finally saw a traitor breakthrough. Perturabo combined an underground assault in tunneler drills with a pinpoint Chaos titan Macrocannon bombardment.

Yeah this line says it all and it makes sense considering Horus position that he delegates his forces to their expertise. This was also shown in the 3rd book of the horus heresy series. So the battle of Terra itself was mostly done under Perturabo's command.

[Rhaenys]

6846454
6846728

I remember reading that Perturabo was in overall command of the siege,
However, as soon as the outer wall was breached, several legions broke rang and charged in without waiting for his instructions
As Pertubaro could do nothing more on this front, he left to make an impact somewhere else.

I will try to track down the source for that.

[SFaccountant]

6846923
I know the World Eaters did. And the Emperor's Children had already gotten bored by then and left to terrorize the helpless Terran populace (fing Emperor's Children...). I don't know about the other Chaos forces.

[Warsmith keagan]

6839596 Are you going to corrupt twilght

[SFaccountant]

6850330
Probably not.

[ayh]

Well if there's any silver lining to this little fiasco it's that Spike can now probably become Gaela's apprentice. Sure, your average toaster at Bargin Barn may not have a soul, but the machines of the 38th company have a tendency to be possessed by daemons so often that he can actually take machine prayers seriously now. Kind of hard to argue with results like Keithes or however you spell the centipede mechanicus guy's name.

Also, huh, seems that Twilight a Co.'s resurrection of the 38th company warriors during the orc assault of Canterlot had consequences. Who knew chaos gods took the theft of souls seriously? Whelp, with the elements of harmony gone Twilight and Co. will be vulnerable until they upgrade to Rainbow Power (TM). Which is totally not the elements of harmony so your insistence of them being gone forever is still valid.

Seriously though, with Twilight alone with Spike out in the void and everything out to either kill her or just stand around and watch her die, she's going to be stressed out when she get's back to Equestria. It'll be interesting to see what was behind her being shipped off to space in the first place.

[SFaccountant]

6855056
If Spike adopted that point of view, he would be immediately exiled from the Dark Mechanicus by suggesting that toasters did not have souls. Or forced to apologized to the poor, insulted machines at gunpoint.

Also, the "actual" Chaos Gods - meaning Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, and that other one - probably don't care about a few thousand souls up and vanishing. When people speak abstractly about "Chaos" or "the Dark Gods", they refer not only to the Big Four, but also countless other daemons of wildly varying powers, allegiances, and agendas that may empower or devour hapless mortals, but all belong to the same "united" faction of Chaos. And some of those guys might get pretty peeved at their lunch getting rescued or nommed by random Warpspawn.

[xoid]

6856753
I always thought that the machine spirit was strictly something found in anything with a cogitator or, at the very least, some circuitry, not purely mechanical devices devoid of anything more complex than a heating element.