Loading complete, Liora found herself standing in a dimly lit upper-level hive corridor, filled with the smell of corroded metal and eerie echoes.
Her character, "Forge Priest," wore somewhat heavy Mechanicus robes and wielded a peculiar-looking radium carbine that served both combat and engineering functions.
What fascinated her most was the ten identical "Construction Servitors" surrounding her.
They looked even bulkier than combat servitors, their torsos laden with various tools and spare parts, their arm terminals equipped with welding torches, pliers, and simple laser cutters.
Only a few had basic self-defense laser weapons. Additionally, a relatively well-equipped Skitarii soldier stood silently in the rear.
"So... why do these AI soldiers look so dumb?" Rather than advancing immediately, Liora curiously observed her "troops."
The servitors stood quietly in place, only their joints occasionally emitting faint servo motor sounds.
Their sensors glowed a dim red, no extraneous movements whatsoever. They really did seem... not very bright.
The chat immediately started urging her and offering "explanations":
"Liora, stop staring! Move already! I want to see combat!"
"They're robots, of course they're dumb.
This universe's tech tree is probably skewed. They can do interstellar travel but AI is super weak. These servitors probably only have basic behavioral logic."
"Boring, I want to see blood flow like rivers! Charge!"
"According to the trailer and lore, the Mechanicus doesn't trust strong AI. These servitors are probably just pre-programmed tools."
Urged on by the chat, Liora stopped overthinking.
She took a deep breath and, mimicking commanders from war movies she'd seen, pointed toward a corner in the corridor ahead and issued her first command through the command interface:
"Advance! Scout that corner!"
The command transmitted through the data link.
The ten construction servitors immediately responded, marching toward the corner with synchronized but sluggish steps, emitting metallic "clank, clank" sounds.
The Skitarii soldier automatically repositioned to the squad's flank, maintaining a vigilant posture.
Liora herself held her weapon, carefully following behind the servitor formation, her heart pounding nervously.
This feeling of leading a squad of "minions" was both novel and somewhat unsettling.
The squad slowly but steadily approached the corner. Just as the two frontmost servitors peeked around the edge...
Sudden chaos erupted!
"Skreee—!"
Several sharp, inhuman shrieks exploded from behind the corner! Four or five pale, hunched figures wielding four clawed limbs burst out like phantoms!
Genestealer Hybrids! Their speed was terrifying, instantly pouncing on the frontmost servitors!
"Contact! Fire! Fire!" Liora screamed in fright, fumbling to retreat while shouting into the comm channel.
Her command wasn't exactly clear, but the keywords "contact" and "fire" triggered the servitors' defensive protocols.
However, construction servitors reacted far slower than their combat variants.
The three frontmost servitors didn't even have time to raise their welding torches or laser weapons before the Genestealers' sharp claws and teeth viciously tore into them, knocking them to the ground! Metal shells were ripped open, sparks flying, internal cables yanked out, crackling with short circuits.
But simultaneously, the other servitors in the rear ranks and the Skitarii soldier faithfully executed the "fire" command.
The Skitarii soldier reacted fastest. His laser rifle spat out a steady beam, precisely striking a Genestealer that was mauling a servitor, staggering it.
The other servitors raised their pitiful self-defense laser weapons, or simply aimed their welding torches and cutters at the incoming monsters.
For a moment, the narrow corridor filled with wild laser fire and flickering arc light from welding torches.
The battle was brief and brutal.
The Genestealers' frenzied melee gained initial advantage, instantly destroying three construction servitors.
But then, the Skitarii soldier's precise shots and the remaining servitors' concentrated fire, though some lasers hit their fallen comrades, quickly riddled the remaining four Genestealers.
The last Genestealer, in its death throes, drove its claws deep into a servitor's chest unit before convulsing and collapsing.
The corridor instantly fell silent, leaving only the crackling sounds of short-circuiting servitor wreckage and the dripping of unknown fluids seeping from Genestealer corpses.
Liora stared at the scene before her, still in shock: three of her "minions" had been reduced to smoking scrap metal, and several others bore various degrees of damage.
On the ground lay four Genestealer corpses and the valiant but now claw-marked Skitarii soldier.
"My... my troops..." She looked at the casualty report, wincing in pain.
Though they were only AI units, having just established that sense of "command," losing nearly a third of her force instantly left her feeling defeated.
But the chat came alive again:
"Hahaha! Liora's command debut: 30% casualty rate!"
"Servitors: We may not be human, but you're really something, sending us to trip the mines."
"Skitarii guy: Can't carry this, seriously can't carry."
"But honestly, this combat feels so realistic. AI won't save teammates, they just execute orders."
"Liora, with your command skills, you should go back to farming flowers..."
Liora bit her lip, looking at the seven damaged servitors and that silent Skitarii soldier.
For the first time, she gained a direct and heavy understanding of this game's "command system."
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