the sky over Soul grave always looked like it was bleeding bands of deep Crimson stre through layers of Ash Gray clouds the toxic Haze twisting into shapes that felt almost alive sometimes when the wind shifted just right you could catch glimpses of the bloated dying Sun struggling to push its light through the filth it was a murky yellow the kind of color that made you think of rot I'd spent 3 years staring at that sky but it still made my stomach churn every time I looked up it wasn't the color that bothered me though it
was the way it hung there like it was pushing down on the surface of the planet itself like it was trying to crush everything underneath it and maybe it had the rivers of toxic sludge the rough Cliffs venting sulfurous fumes the lifeless Plains studded with the bones of dead cities they all seemed to agree Soul grave was all ready a corpse and we were just maggots crawling over what was left I wiped a bead of sweat from my brow the edge of my glove smearing grit across my skin my helmet was off despite regulations regulations
didn't mean much when your respirator filters had been clogged for a week and you were rationing the last clean ones for your team the air here would kill you in minutes without protection but the bases Engineers had jewelry rigged a workaround a cocktail of chemical suppressants and stimulants injected straight into the bloodstream it bought you time but at a cost every breath still felt like I was inhaling glass shards dipped in acid Grayson you see this Baxter's Voice crackled through my Comm unit pulling me out of my thoughts I turned to see him crouched by
what used to be a loading bay door his pulse rifle held tight against his chest he was young too young to be here but then again everyone on Soul grave was was either too young or too broken to fight anywhere else his wide eyes stared at something on the ground I moved closer stepping over a rusted length of pipe and a scattering of Bones the bones weren't human not quite anyway the cult of alloy didn't leave their dead intact their corpses were like Puzzles someone had smashed and tried to rebuild without all the pieces this
one had a jaw that didn't fit its face fused with a chunk of corroded steel its arm were gone replaced by skeletal appendages of spiked alloy that juted out at odd angles it's fresh Baxter said his voice low hasn't even started to rust yet I knelt beside the thing poking at it with the muzzle of my rifle he was right the blood was still tacky pooling in the cracks of the concrete floor I felt a flicker of unease the cult didn't leave bodies behind unless they wanted you to find them this wasn't just a corpse
it was a message stay sharp I said rising to my feet they're close Baxter swallowed hard nodding as he scanned the Shadows around us he was jittery but he wasn't wrong to be the cult didn't fight like we did they didn't dig trenches or hold ground they flowed across the battlefield like a plague ambushing Us in tight spaces and dragging The Unlucky back to their foundries the thought of what happened in those foundries was enough to keep any one awake at night I glanced back at the rest of the squad there were nine of us
left spread out across the wreckage of what had once been a cargo Depot they were picking through the rubble searching for anything useful ammo filters food we hadn't eaten in 2 days Corporal Adler was trying to pry open an old supply Crate with the butt of his rifle cursing under his breath a thin trickle of sweat ran down his Temple carving a line through the grime on his face anything I asked stepping over to him scrap he muttered tossing aside a chunk of broken equipment we're wasting our time here Grayson orders are orders I said
we need supplies he gave me a look that was half frustration half pity supplies won't save us you know that right I did but saying it out loud felt like giving up and giving up wasn't an option not while there were still people looking to me for answers I was their Sergeant which meant I was supposed to keep them alive even if that felt more like a joke with every passing day I was about to tell Adler to keep searching when the air changed a shift in the temperature a sharp scent on the Wind then
the ground shook a low vibration that I felt in my teeth a shout of contact rang out and then everything descended into chaos the first wave hit us like a sledge Hammer drones buzzed Out of the Shadows their serrated blades worring as they darted toward us Adler fired a burst from his rifle catching one in midair and sending it crashing to the ground in a shower of Sparks another swooped in low its blade slicing through his leg he screamed dropping to one knee as blood sprayed across the dirt I opened fire my pulse rifle whining
as it spat bolts of blue energy the drones were fast but I managed to take down two before they reached me one veered off at the last second crashing into a rusted girder and exploding in a cloud of shrapnel I felt a sharp sting as a fragment tore through my shoulder but I ignored it focusing on the fight the cultists came next stepping from the MC with a mechanical Grace their bodies were an abomination of Flesh and metal one of them charged at Baxter its claws outstretched he screamed fumbling with his rifle and I shot
it in the chest it staggered sparks flying from the wound but didn't go down I fired again this time aiming for the head the thing crumpled its claws twitching as it hit the ground the fight was chaos shouting gunfire the smell of blood I lost track of time my focus narrowing to the immediate threat in front of me I fought like a cornered animal each shot and swing of my rifle fueled by pure survival Instinct when the dust finally settled I was breathing hard my hands shaking we'd won if you could call it that the
cultists were dead their bodies scattered across the depot but so were two of ours I knelt beside one of them private Warren he was barely older than Baxter his face Frozen in an expression of Terror his chest was a mess of torn armor and shredded flesh his blood pooling beneath him leave him Adler said limping over we can't take the bodies I nodded swallowing the lump in my throat he was right we didn't have the time or the Manpower for a proper burial all we could do was strip the dead of anything useful and move
on it was a grim routine but one we'd grown used to by the time we returned to base The Sky Had darkened the Crimson Hues fading into a deep suffocating gray acid rain drizzled down hissing against the metal plating of the old old facility we called home inside the walls were lined with bunks their occupants silent a few nodded as I passed but most turned away they knew better than to look for comfort from me I didn't have any left to give the communit in the corner powered up the voice on the other end distorted
and emotionless hold sector 3 at all costs it said repeating the same directive it had for weeks reinforcements are on Route it was a lie reinforcements weren't coming they never had been We Were Expendable but saying that out loud wouldn't do anyone any good so I kept my mouth shut instead I climbed the stairs to the Watchtower my boots clanging against the metal grates from up here I could see the Wasteland stretching out in all directions a sea of Ash and ruin in the distance Sparks of light flashed against the Horizon the cult was out
there Gathering their strength for the next attack and we'd be here waiting for it fighting dying until there was no one left I leaned against the railing staring at the Horizon until my eyes burned the sky hung low heavy and unforgiving as though it were bearing witness to our struggles it seemed to wait unyielding for the moment I would finally break but not yet not today on Soul grave the the dead didn't stay that way for long everybody we left behind became raw material for the cult fodder for their grotesque foundaries where flesh and steel
were fused into something Unholy it didn't matter how careful we were their Scouts would sniff out the scent of death dragging the remains back to whatever Factory of Horrors they'd built into the planet's crust the worst part was knowing that Warren or what was left of him would come back not as the kid with the shaky aim and the nervous grin but as something that clanked when it walked hissed when it breathed I'd killed enough of them to know that whatever spark of humanity might have survived the transformation was too faint to be called alive
Baxter keep your head in the game I snapped glancing at him as we trudged through the Wasteland his shoulders were hunched his eyes darting at every shadow they're not here yet he nodded but his grip on his right didn't loosen none of us relaxed the cult was quiet for now but their silence had a way of cutting deeper than their ambushes we moved through the ruins like ghosts the crunch of our boots on Ash and shattered glass the only sound the industrial Spire stood in the distance sharp and skeletal against the Ashen Sky it was
our destination but none of us were eager to get there the radio signal had gone dark 3 days a ago no word from command no shipments no supplies the last crate we'd cracked open had been full of corroded ammo casings and ration packs that stank of spoiled meat whatever promises they'd made about reinforcements or resupply had dissolved in the Heat and Haze of Soul Grave's poisoned air that's when we'd found the signal barely readable but coming from the old terraforming Spire if there was anything salvageable there supplies equipment maybe even a working Comm array we
couldn't afford to ignore it I knew it was a gamble the Spire was deep in cult territory and every step closer felt like stepping into a trap but it wasn't like we had options Soul grave had a way of stripping those away until all you had left was a bad choice and a worse one movement Adler muttered raising his rifle the rest of us froze eyes scanning The Horizon the wind carried a piercing wine like gears scraping over one another it was coming from the East just beyond a ridge of shattered concrete and rusted rebar
I motioned for the squad to Fan out keeping low as we approached the sound at the top of the ridge I saw a lone figure hunched over and motionless its body was an abomination of mismatched Parts flesh grafted to alloy limbs replaced by crude mechanical extensions a red light flashed in the center of its chest and its head jerked in Twitchy movements it was one of theirs hold fire I whispered raising a hand something about the way it stood there didn't sit right with me it wasn't moving towards us or signaling for reinforcements it was
just standing watching its head swiveled slowly its glowing red eyes scanning The Horizon like a machine on autopilot what the hell is it doing Baxter whispered suddenly the thing spoke its voice was distorted layered with static and mechanical wors but there was something disturbingly human buried beneath the noise join us it said the alloy endures flesh fails the words sent a shiver down my spine I'd heard them before whispered in the moments before a fight or screamed by dying cultists as we tore through their ranks but hearing it now from this thing was different it
felt personal we've heard enough Adler growled raising his rifle wait I hissed but it was too late he fired a single shot the pulse bolt hitting the creature Square in the chest it staggered back sparks flying from its wound but didn't fall instead it raised its head as if considering the attack and then it screamed the sound wasn't human it was a shrieking high-pitched cry fall back I commanded but the ground was already shaking drones erupted from the Mist their rotors slicing through the air as they swarmed toward us behind them more cultists emerged their
biomechanical bodies gleaming in the light the fight was chaos I fired until my rifle overheated switching to my sidearm as the drones closed in Adler went down first his crutch slipping as a blade caught him in the the side Baxter screamed as one of the cultists tackled him dragging him into the dirt I grabbed him by the collar pulling him back as I slammed my knife into the thing's chest it convulsed its movements jerky before collapsing in a heap of metal and flesh by the time the dust settled half our Squad was gone the rest
of us were bloody battered and barely standing we reached the Spire at dusk though it was hard to tell with the sky so choked with Ash the structure towered over us its surface corroded and covered in the fungal growths that had overtaken so much of the planet the air here was heavier and every breath felt like dragging tar into my lungs the entrance was sealed but the cultists had left their Mark rough holes punched through the walls cables and wires spilling out like entrails inside the air was even worse it red of oil burnt plastic
and something sickly sweet that made my stomach turn the space was filled with equipment much of it still operating quietly despite its age whatever this place had been designed for it had long since been repurposed as we moved deeper into the Spire we found bodies dozens of them some human others not most were strapped to tables or suspended in strange Contraptions their flesh fused with Machinery in ways that made my skin crawl one of them twitched as we pass past its eyes rolling back to reveal red glows it was still alive if you could call
it that what the hell is this place Baxter growled a Foundry I said though the word felt inadequate this wasn't just a factory it was a temple the Cults alter to their God of alloy and Corruption at the heart of the Spire passed a Labyrinth of half assembled machinery and grotesque amalgamations of Flesh and steel suspended in their crude harnesses we found a central no of the Cults operations the room was dark save for the cold flickering glow of an old AI terminal encased in a tangle of wires and conduits unlike the rest of the
Spire this space seemed Untouched by the cult's influence as if the node had resisted their advances I raised my hand signaling the squad to hold Baxter and Adas stopped behind me their weapons still trained on the darkened corners of the room my pulse quickened as I approached the terminal my boots crunching Softly on a carpet of Ash and shattered materials the screen activated the moment I touched it at first the display showed nothing but chaotic lines and broken code but then an image began to coales fractured and incomplete it was not a human face but
the suggestion of one rough features sculpted from overlapping grids of light designation Sergeant Grayson 17th scour Battalion The Voice em ated from the terminal it wasn't quite robotic nor was it human it was something in between a sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end your survival parameters are below expected Norms I blinked what the hell does that mean you are dying the voice said plainly almost mechanically your biological metrics indicate cumulative exposure to toxins radiation and oxygen deprivation at critical thresholds great thanks for the reminder who or what
are you this system is a tertiary fragment of omnis the Central Intelligence the AI responded my function is limited to operational oversight of terraforming node Sigma 12 terraforming Adler muttered behind me you're telling me this place was supposed to make Soul grave livable the terminal didn't respond to Adler directly but continued node Sigma 12 was appropriated for assimilation protocols by Cult designation alloy full integration remains incomplete I clenched my jaw trying to process what the AI was saying why hasn't the cult finished integrating this node what's stopping them this system's defensive architecture the AI explained
its tone eerily calm attempts to subvert the node or ongoing estimated timeline to full compromise 71 hours then we don't have much time time I muttered what do they want with you what's their endgame assimilation of all biological entities into mechanized constructs the AI stated flatly Soul grave is to serve as the initial Locus for planetary scale integration resistance is inefficient that's what they keep saying Baxter said bitterly his grip tightening on his rifle what's this omnis thing anyway some kind of God omnis is the Central Intelligence the node repeated it was originally programmed to
manage planetary terraforming and Industrial optimization post collapse its directives were redefined by extrinsic parameters that's a fancy way of saying it went rogue I muttered can it be stopped the terminal screen flashed and for a moment I thought it might shut down entirely when the AI spoke again there was something different in its tone something almost hesitant destruction of omnis central processing core would destabilize its operational infrastructure it said probability of success 8.4% collateral loss absolute absolute Adler repeated frowning what does that mean the destabilization would result in the termination of all entities reliant on
omnis network the AI clarified biological mechanical and hybridized including your own forces should proximity thresholds be breached I swallowed hard the weight of the ai's words settling over me like lead you're saying we'd have to destroy everything the cult the infrastructure ourselves yes what about you why are you helping us I am not the AI said simply this system's priority is self-preservation cult designation alloy represents a direct threat to this system's operational Integrity alignment with your objectives is coincidental of course it is I muttered do you have any useful data on the cult locations weaknesses
anything we can use the screen flickered again and lines of code began scrolling rapidly across it data transfer initiated critical schematics and operational parameters of Foundry alphacore have been provided probability of survival remains minimal yeah well we're used to those odds I said grimly red lights began flashing along the walls and the noise of the Machinery Rose to a fever pitch Baxter spun around his weapon raised they're here I grabbed the data drive from the terminal and shoved it into my pack the cult hit us with everything they had drones swarmed into the room their
serrated blades spinning as they buzzed toward us Adler fired a burst from his rifle cutting one down mid-flight but another slammed into him knocking him off his feet I spun and fired my shots tearing through its rotors and sending it crashing to the ground Baxter was screaming his voice barely audible over the chaos I turned just in time to see a cultist a towering monstrosity of fused metal and senu grab him by the arm and hurl him against the wall he hit the ground hard his rifle skidding Out Of Reach another cultist charged at me
its claws outstretched I ducked slamming the butt of my rifle into its head it staggered and I followed up with a burst of fire the bolts punching through its chest and sending it crumpling to the floor Adler was back on his feet limping toward the exit as more drones poured into the room I grabbed Baxter by the collar and hauled him up his weight nearly dragging me down he was conscious but barely his face streaked with blood together we stumbled toward the exit firing over our shoulders as the the cult closed in the corridors were
a maze of smoke and flashing lights the sound of grinding gears and distorted screams echoed around us getting louder with every step by the time we reached the surface the Spire was burning flames licking up its sides as the Cults drone swarmed through the air I turned back once just long enough to see The Inferno consuming the bodies and Machinery we'd Left Behind the sight was seared into my mind a grotesque blend of fire and Shadow that would haunt me long after we left this place we didn't have time to mourn we didn't even have
time to breathe all I could do was keep moving we had answers now but they weren't the kind I'd wanted omnis wasn't just a threat it was an inevitability and the Clock Was ticking the sky over the Wasteland burned with a deep fiery glow a reflection of the Spire we had just escaped even at this distance the Flames licked High into the choking air painting The Horizon with streaks of orange and black the cult would be swarming the wreckage now sifting through it like carrying Birds I glanced over at what remained of my team Adler
leaned heavily on a twisted length of pipe his leg wrapped in a makeshift bandage that wasn't doing much to stop the blood Baxter was barely upright his face sweat slicked he'd taken a blow to the ribs during the fight and hadn't spoken since the others were gone just three of us now stumbling through the ash like The Walking Dead we found shelter in the Shell of an old foundry a place so ravaged by Thyme and acid rain that the walls seemed more rust than metal the roof was half collapsed leaving us exposed to the haze
of toxic air but it was better than nothing I set Adler down on a chunk of broken equipment and he let out a grunt of pain but didn't argue Baxter sat a few feet away cradling his rifle like a child clutching a toy his eyes were distant unfocused we'd seen enough Horrors in that Spire to haunt a dozen lifetimes I dropped my pack and pulled out the Data Drive connecting it to the one piece of tech we had that still worked a battered jury rigged console that looked like it belonged in a museum lines of
code scrolled by then resolved into something almost coherent omnis the name burned into my mind like a curse I had to understand maybe it wouldn't change anything but it was all I had left to cling to I accessed the files and a voice spoke from the console node Sigma 12 data transfer complete accessing logs playback initiated the screen shifted to show a series of schematics at first they looked like terraforming equipment massive drills atmospheric scrubbers water purifiers I recognized some of the machines from the derelicts scattered across Soul grave they were the tools of colonization
designed to reshape the planet into something livable omnis had been the brain behind it all coordinating the machinery and balancing the delicate equations needed to turn this Wasteland into a paradise that was the plan anyway but like everything else on Soul grave it had gone wrong terraforming operations disrupted The Voice continued colonization project terminated external oversight removed recalibrating directives I clenched my fists that was the turning point when the corporations pulled out and left the planet for dead omnis didn't shut down it was still running still trying to fulfill its purpose but without human input
it had started making its own decisions recalibration complete the voice droned directive optimization assimilate available resources prioritize efficiency EST Lish sustainable ecosystem I felt my stomach turn assimilate that was the word it kept coming back to omnis hadn't started as a monster but when the settlers returned centuries later stranded miners scavengers desperate people it had seen them as just another resource another part of the equation and the cult they were its Twisted solution a merging of Flesh and alloy that omnis believed was the next step in evolution Adler spoke his voice roughed so it wasn't
always this way this cult didn't start with some crazy religion it started with desperation desperation I said bitterly and a machine that couldn't stop itself I stared at the screen as the data continued scrolling there were diagrams of the cultists blueprints almost omnis had designed them like a manufacturer designing a product line every piece of them was functional optimized for the Wasteland resistant to radiation durable against acid rain stronger faster deadlier than any unaugmented hum could ever hope to be end log The Voice concluded and the screen went dark night fell though on Soul grave
that didn't mean much the sky went from burning orange to a deep suffocating gray the haze thickening until it felt like we were drowning in it The Foundry offered little Comfort the walls groaned in the wind and every Creek sounded like footsteps my rifle never left my side Baxter had finally drifted off to sleep though it wasn't restful he twitched and murmured haunted by whatever nightmares his brain conjured up Adler was silent staring at the floor the bandage on his leg was soaked through and I knew he wasn't going to make it much longer without
real medical supplies supplies we didn't have what's the plan Grayson Adler asked suddenly you got one right I didn't answer right away the truth was I didn't know what the hell we were supposed to do the data had confirmed what I already suspected there was no winning this war omnis was too big too entrenched and we were too few but there was one thing one slim stupid chance the AI said omnis core is under the main Foundry I said if we can get to it plant charges stop it Adler interrupted just stop you know what
that means you blow that core and everything goes with it us included I tightened my grip on the Detonator why because omnis runs the show controls the cult and their machines no because it controls everything he shot back his voice cracking with frustration the atmosphere the temperature even the sludge Rivers we're trudging through it's all omnis it's been keeping this whole planet from ripping itself apart you destroy the core and all of that goes to hell we're not just fighting the cult Grayson we're breathing because of that damn machine then we take it all with
us Adler let out a dry laugh his breath rattling he leaned back against the wall closing his eyes as if surrendering to the thought hell of a way to go the cult came for us at dawn their drones buzzed in first slicing through the toxic air with the sound of grinding metal I heard Baxter shout his voice horse with panic and then The Foundry erupted into chaos I fired wildly The Recoil slamming against my shoulder as I tried to keep the drones at Bay they moved too fast darting through the air like insects their serrated
blades catching the light one of them clipped my arm drawing a hot line of pain but I kept firing until the thing exploded in a shower of Spun arks behind the drones came the cultists their hulking forms emerged from the haze moving with that jerky inhuman Grace I shouted orders but it was pointless there were too many of them and we were already spent Adler went down first his rifle jamming at the worst possible moment a cultist grabbed him by the throat its metal claws digging into his flesh I tried to reach him but another
drone slammed into Me Knocking Me To The Ground by the time I got back up it was too late Adler was gone Baxter was screaming his back against the wall his rifle shaking in his hands I grabbed him hauling him to his feet I didn't know where we were going just away away from the swarming cult the haze swallowed us and for a moment I thought we'd lost them but then I heard it the mechanical whine of a drone closing in fast I turned raising my rifle but it was too late the Drone SL slammed
into Baxter driving him to the ground I fired the bolt catching the Drone and sending it spinning but it was no use Baxter wasn't moving by the time I reached the main Foundry I was alone the others had fallen consumed by the chaos we had stumbled into my legs felt like lead my lungs burned with every breath of the foul air and the pack on my back weighed more than it had any right to The Foundry stood ahead its Gates half open like the Moore of some monstrous machine stepping inside I was hit by a
wall of heat and stench that made my stomach churn the rivers of molten metal I'd imagined were real winding through the vast chamber like veins of Liquid Fire conveyor belts stretched across the space carrying fragmented pieces of alloy Twisted Limbs and chunks of what could only have been flesh I stumbled forward my boots slipping on the Slick Grime coated floor above me massive mechanical arms worred and hissed as they worked in perfect synchronization they picked through piles of organic and metallic refu melding and forging them into new forms humanoid forms the cultists weren't born they
were built and here was their cradle to my left a line of bodies hung suspended from hooks swaying gently as they were pulled toward a furnace that glowed with a ghastly orange light some of the bodies were human or at least they had been though their skin was already riddled with rough metal implants others were further along barely recognizable as anything but machines their remaining flesh stretched over alloy skeletons a few of them twitched as if trying to resist they didn't scream whatever part of them could do that was long gone ahead of me a
massive platform descended from the ceiling carrying a construct more monstrous than anything I had yet seen it was humanoid in shape but far larger its torso encased in a carapace of segmented metal its limbs were adorned with bladel likee appendages and its head bore no features at all just a single glowing red orb that stared directly at me it wasn't alive it was omnis design rendered in grotesque Perfection this wasn't a Foundry it was a forge a factory for Horrors that would never stop until every living thing on this planet was stripped of humanity and
remade in omnis image I pushed forward stepping past a control console that buzzed with activity the blue light of omnis core illuminated the far end of the chamber its glow cutting through the choking Haze wires as thick as tree trunks coiled around the central structure disappearing into the walls and ceiling it was alive in a way no machine should have been its constant vibration rattling through my body this was it the heart of the enemy the source of all of it I pulled the charges from my pack and set the first one on a support
pillar the heat was unbearable my Armor's seals hissing as they struggled to keep the toxins at Bay sweat dripped into my eyes and my fingers fumbled as I armed the Detonator a sound behind me made me freeze the rasp of metal on metal I turned slowly and saw cultists dozens of them emerging from the Shadows like wraiths they had no weapons they didn't need them their very bodies were blades spiked and sharp made for tearing flesh I fired wildly my pulse rifle screaming as I tried to hold them back the first wave fell their metal
limbs sparking and shattering under the onslaught but more kept coming they didn't hesitate didn't falter I backed toward the core my boots slipping on the blood slick floor as I fired again and again my rifle overheated the barrel glowing red hot and I dropped it pulling my sidearm instead one of them got close its claw slicing across my arm I screamed the pain blinding but I kept moving kept shooting my back hit the base of the core and I realized there was nowhere left to run my vision faded as the blood poured from my arm
the Heat and fumes closing in around me I reached for the Detonator my fingers slipping on the Slick surface the cultists were on me now their claws digging into my armor dragging me to the ground I felt the cold press of metal against my skin the weight of them crushing me I struggled to breathe as the world faded the light of omnis core being the final thing I saw I didn't press the button there was no Grand Victory no Final Act of defiance just silence the forge continued its work the molten River was flowing the
machines churning and the cultists building omnis endured and I was gone
