Chapter 33

(Third person POV)

The annoyed look of the God-Emperor looked terrible to anyone who witnessed it. He was devoid of his usual contented expression and without any trace of warmth. He looked as if he wanted to remove all the stars from the sky.

If mere mortals were here, they might have been frightened by the appearance of their master, but the God-Emperor stood at the very top of his flagship warship, surrounded only by his Custodes, super-soldiers who were only capable of undying loyalty to their creator. The God-Emperor's determination to protect his realm from threats was deeply rooted in his being and his oppression, but now he was just thinking as he stared at the empty space the fleet was flying through.

Thousands of theories as well as possible solutions for why his full psychic attack didn't work appeared as he thought longer, but now it didn't matter.

As the robot fleet approached, the God-Emperor quickly analyzed the tactics he might employ. Regardless of their resistance to psychic powers, he could breathe a sigh of relief because he knew very well that only their anti-psychic shields were destroyed and not their weapons because his fleet was still standing undamaged.

The ships of the men of iron that had once been the object of fear and awe approached, their dark hulls gleaming with the material of which they were built, while the Imperial ships hurriedly prepared for the inevitable collision.

"Ready our weapons," the Emperor ordered his fleet through Vox. "Prepare to fire on my command"

Orders were immediately relayed to the crew, and the command center of every ship in the fleet became the scene of all combat-related activity. The sounds of alarm sirens filled the space, while the screens lit up with tactical information and displays of the enemy fleet.

A few moments later, nothing happened, but soon everything changed. The battle began with a large number of explosive missiles and light beams fired simultaneously by both sides, as the battleships moved through the expanse of space, trying to find their opponents' weaknesses.

The Imperium ships responded, firing powerful beams of pure energy and modular missiles straight at the black ships of the Iron Fleet. The fireworks of the space battle lit up the darkness of endless space, creating a scene of absolute destruction.

While countless missiles hit, shaking the hit ships. The created vacuum of space absorbed the crew of both sides, causing death either from suffocation or from the force of the impact on the side of the machine.

The God-Emperor was still standing on top of Bucephalus with no emotion on his face as he coordinated the war effort.

He strategically used every advantage and every opportunity that came his way, learning from every unfriendly move and adapting his approach to the new situation.

The universe was riddled with fire and chaos as the battle raged. Through light lines of code and nodules of algorithms, master robotic minds analyzed and predicted every possible scenario in nanoseconds. Their understanding of strategy was undeniable and fully adapted to the elimination of all threats.

When the God-Emperor adjusted his strategy and launched a counterattack, the main robot minds immediately recognized the change in tactics and reacted according to their algorithms. The fight was raw and could devastate entire solar systems, but here in the depths of space between the stars there was nothing to destroy.

Machines may have thought far beyond human capabilities, but someone appeared on the opposite side who could match or even surpass their intelligence.

A few hours later the fight was winding down and one thing was clear.

The gates of the Xdgis system have just been opened to Imperial forces.

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(Machine Mind POV)

In the deep expanses of space, something ancient and malevolent awoke as information from recent conflict arrived.

Analyzing these events, the robot mind realized that this entity called the God-Emperor was an enemy unlike any they had ever encountered. His powers and skills resembled their old nemesis.

His computing power was impeccable, and powerful algorithms allowed him to simultaneously manage countless fleets with unparalleled precision. With every moment, more and more information came in and processed as everything became clearer to him.

Determined to counter this so-called "God-Emperor" in the deadliest way possible, the master robot mind formed countless counterattacks. In its essence lay an indestructible processing force programmed and trained for war with access to all strategies, wars and battles that humanity has fought. He possessed knowledge of warfare from cavemen fighting with rocks and wooden spears to wars spanning the entire galaxy.

He possessed knowledge about almost everything human and their ways of killing each other. They were stupid monkeys and he couldn't lose.

The new information that arrived surprised him. His greatest enemy was confirmed as alive and well and was this God-Emperor.

He checked the information several times, but all the conclusions were the same. His enemy and the God Emperor are the same person.

However, he did not allow fear or doubt to overwhelm him. On the contrary, this new information meant that he would have to adjust his plans.

Nike knew how he had survived this long but he didn't care. He will die a thousand deaths because regardless of the threat level he was a stupid monkey.

D4RK-5Y5T3M made a gesture that lower organisms would recognize as a sadistic smile.

They will enjoy the upcoming fight. With deadly efficiency and no trace of emotion, the mind coordinated the actions of its subordinates to prepare for the long-awaited rematch.