//Hive-City Ovill, Terrawatt Clan

Grek Dorji let out a huff as he stomped along the precipice of his loft home in the spires, looking over the daily production schedules as decreed by the Theologiteks. The short, and admittedly chubby, man was disappointed that they had not managed to increase the efficiency of the forges. He had been working many standard days trying to implement new methods and schedules down to the microsecond all in effort to meet the new Emperor’s needs for the war effort. He grumbled, missing the days in which all he had to worry about was smaller orders for smaller warlords - older and rarer trade deals or even simply just replacing old tech of the Clans. It had been a logistical hell for him to switch to full war production for this new warlord’s needs nor did he truly understand why.

The administrator never believed in the grand vision of a unified Terra, merely wanting to make his pay that was so generously given by the Theologiteks - but ever since the Emperor came around and more eyes looked upon the inefficiencies of the forges under his view, payment had been cut. Grek was [i]bitter[/i], grumbling more and more until a fortunate deal had come across his desk on a most unfortunate day. The day that Sanctii had fallen, he had received a deal that would see him owning, perhaps, the most productive forges on all of Terra with production technologies that not even his immediate lords held. That said, those technologies were morally dubious at best, ashewing the traditions of the Theologiteks and their strange ways.

One of his personal guards stepped onto the cold balcony, a distorted voice breaking his grumbling, “A message from [i]her[/i] has come for you, sir.” 

“Thank you, Andson,” Grek said in an almost giddy voice, his mood swinging quickly as he stepped back into the spire home. He moved through his grandiose loft, filled with large rooms and even larger decor that was most certainly all in his own vain. There were many guards in his own loft, a home the size of a small town, as if a barracks had moved in rather than servants of a petty noble. Many of them had shown up the same day that [i]she[/i] had arrived with her own technomats to maintain her cold logics. He knew their loyalties, but he could not truly care for what he was being paid was worth more than what he could truly be worried about. That said, it was odd how he had never had been able to meet his dealer - only communicating through screens. 

Nevertheless, he arrived at his desk and sat down to open a datapad and a smile crept across his face.

[hr]

The guards on the balcony had been attentive, rotating every half-hour on that balcony and always down to the nanosecond. Yet, that had not been enough as three blackened hands descended upon them from above in near silence. They had slammed upon them with lances, reducing them into nothing more than a pile of gore - blackened and oily gore that mocked the human form. Those were not the concern of the three talons, however, as one silently moved towards the doorway. She proceeded to force the mag-locked doors open and the three custodians entered, quickly dispatching of the interior guards in bounding leaps. 

The Black Hawk had noticed that the guards reacted faster as if they were moving in response to the exterior guards being destroyed - a mindlock. Amalasuntha cast a silent glare to one of her companions and began to sprint down the hall before more could begin to swarm them. 

That was when the automated defenses began. Melta and volkite turrets revealed themselves, spitting out death from all directions, yet these were not the defenses of a city-state like Sanctii, far from it. The three custodians moved in dance, leaping from turret to turret destroying them with ease even as they fell upon guards who moved to intercept. Her Stygian Talons were each an army in their own right as any of His vaunted custodians were - this was nothing but a delaying tactic and one far more desperate than when they had sieged that city. 

Amalasuntha grasped a horrid automata’s head and crushed it as it turned a corner - those that did not seem to stop the form from trying to raise its weapon. A swift strike with her Misericordia cut the abomination in half. They covered a vast distance in less than a minute, they were slow and the delaying tactic was effective enough for the shield-captain to know that Deep Winter had likely already vacated this portion of the spire, if she were even here in the first place. Her blackened hand grasped the muzzle of a rifle and swiftly pointed it towards its wielder, forcing the automata to fire on itself before it could calculate what was happening. 

The three of them fell upon a solitary room, breaching with nothing more than a shoulder charge brought to speed by their jump backs, sending the door clattering far into the small office. Four automations shot from prepared positions, their rounds turning away at the last moment due to their alchemical aegis. The custodians made short work of them as Amalasuntha marched up to the desk of Grek Dorji who was already slumped over on his desk. He had been executed with a data-pad in his hand, merciless and calculated just as she knew Deep Winter to be. 

A silent stare to one of her venatarii sent him to move out of the room and deeper into the complex - they had to make this seem like nothing more than a terrorist attack by dissidents of the Emperor. Amalasuntha grasped at the data-slate and brought up to her mask, reading it in seconds for anything that may pertain to a lead. Deep Winter had been honest with Grek, telling him that Amalsuntha had been coming and that she needed to tie up loose ends - even going on to feign an emotion as pity for Grek’s predetermined fate. 

Yet, Deep Winter had not been thorough enough in wiping previous messages on the slate. There had been diverted shipments to the Sud Afrik cities, likely vehicles to multiple safe-houses for the Abominable Intelligence’s followers. The shield-captain set the slate back onto the desk, being sure to wipe anything that would tip the Theologitek’s to the presence of the Custodians and Deep Winter. They needed utmost secrecy for this hunt and an unwarranted raid even on an inefficient administrator would be inspected with scrutiny. Amalasuntha turned and began to swiftly exit the location; they needed to move fast before Deep Winter could move further again.

As they activated their jump packs and leapt off the balcony, multiple explosions rocked the hive, vaporizing the loft and much of the surrounding area of that section of the spire - acceptable collateral. 

All in His name.