Deus in Machina (a Warhammer 40K-setting inspired LitRPG)

Angar felt the spark of defiance that had once shielded him from Azgoth's power. The slippery, oily part of his mind, his untrained psychic resistance, flickered like a candle in a storm. He couldn't control it, but it was still pushing back, resisting.

The Neuronaut's power was different from Azgoth's. It was far less insidious, far more brutal, a sledgehammer to Azgoth's scalpel. Where Azgoth had sought to seed his mind with lies, this creature aimed to crush his skull with relentless telekinetic force.

Angar gritted his teeth. Blood trickled from his nose under the intensifying telekinetic pressure. His gauntlets clenched, causing the maul's handle to creak in his grip.

He couldn't move, pinned by the Neuronaut's telekinetic grasp, but he could still think. He could still fight.

And both he and that spark of defiance in his mind fought. This time, he didn't need to pour his will into it, as he needed it to work independently from his own efforts.

The chittering spiked into a piercing shriek, drowning his thoughts in chaos, overwhelming his mind.

Instead of focusing inward, shutting out all around him, he focused on the chamber, the Neuronaut's glowing metal eyes, the suspended Enforcer's head still hovering mid-air, his frozen companions.

He focused on moving. He would move.

He pushed against what held him in place. He strained, feeding everything into it, his resolve, his faith, his rage, his hate. His pride.

His head throbbed as the vise clamping it tightened. The ember in his mind flared, growing stronger, now a small flame, its heat searing back against the crushing force.

And his will pushed back against what held him, his muscles bulging under his armor, veins throbbing in his neck as a low grunt escaped his gritted teeth.

He would triumph. Nothing could hold him. He was unstoppable.

The Neuronaut's serpentine head tilted, its quicksilver body rippling as if surprised. Its metal eyes narrowed, and the chittering shifted, becoming a louder growl that rumbled through Angar's bones. The telekinetic grip strengthened, the vise tightening.

A sensation stirred at the edge of his awareness. He could feel something there. Something potent, just at the cusp of understanding. Something calling out to be used, begging for it, yearning to be unleashed, just beyond his grasp.

He stared into the eyes of his enemy, boring deeply into them, letting it know he held no fear, willing his body to move, forcing it to move.

And it did. Just a fraction, but he moved. He won that small battle.

And he'd win more. All of them.

Slowly, his hand extended forward. He pointed directly at the Neuronaut. Another victory.

He reached for the power begging to be used. But it wouldn't come.

It was right there. He could feel it right there.

"Psychic power!" he roared, his voice breaking through the psychic stranglehold, the nonsensical statement spilling out of his mouth as an attempt to force the power he sensed to manifest with words.

The effort sent a jolt of pain through his skull. Even though the words failed to manifest his power, it marked another battle won, another small victory.

He felt Pin loosen, his limbs twitching as the telekinetic hold weakened.

And that was enough. Ground Current surged, his body dissolving into lightning and reforming on the platform, half a meter below the hovering Neuronaut.

A bolt of electricity tore down, scorching the quicksilver Reptiloid as Angar swung his maul.

But the blow halted. Angar was pinned again, the hammer a short centimeter from the creature's liquid-metal face, the warped gravity almost touching it.

The Neuronaut hissed out a sound like steam escaping a ruptured pipe, raising a clawed hand. The air around him shimmered with renewed malice, and Angar was raised into the air, weightless, by the creature's Lift power, the pressure on his skull amplifying.

Suspended helplessly, his maul dangled limp in his grip, close to the bizarre device of concentric rings and central rod.

But he had broken free once, and he'd do so again. That was a given. First, he wanted to try something.

As the vise clamping his skull increased, he closed his eyes, ignoring the Neuronaut's towering form, the pulsing conduits, the ominous hum of the chamber.

He dove deeper into his mind, chasing that defiant fire. It was still slippery, still elusive, but he didn't try to wrestle control of it.

Instead, he let it guide him, letting it flow through him, his mind, his body. The fire surged, becoming a font of something that burned away the chittering noise, silencing the warbling hum.

The pressure on his skull eased, though the elusive power still stayed just out of reach.

His eyes snapped open. He was still suspended, still pinned, but his mind was clear, the Neuronaut's incessant chattering shattered.

As he had done before, Angar focused his will to break free.

More and more pressure was applied to his skull, and Angar focused his will, pushing against Pin. He stared into his enemy's eyes as they widened.

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Lift was still in effect, but the telekinetic grip crumbling faster this time.

Seizing the moment, he channeled Energy into his hammer, the graviton hum igniting.

With a bellow of defiance, Angar twisted his body mid-air, shattering the remnants of Pin with Tempest's force.

Spinning, he pulverized the hanging device, unleashing sparks as rings and rod smashed free, slamming onto the platform in an ear-splitting crash.

The Neuronaut screamed out a deep, resonant, haunting noise, like a thousand-ship horns sounding at once, as it moved away from the debris crashing down, releasing swarms of nanites at its foe.

Lift faltered, and Angar dropped, landing heavily on the platform, spinning still, his body fully his own again.

As lightning erupted from the head of his hammer, Angar spun into his enemy, aiming his weapon high, imbuing it, graviton distortions rippling around its head.

Lightning crackled from his maul's head as he whirled into the Neuronaut, imbuing another Energy Point. But his lightning bit back, striking Angar too. He suspected the nanites had to be the reason for this.

Then the hammer slammed into the alien's face, the graviton distortion tearing in deep, flattening half its head, literally.

He won. It was dead. Victory bloomed in his chest, but on his next spin, the head had reformed, whole and unharmed.

This abomination was pure liquid metal, not cloaked in it, reforming seamlessly after each devastating strike.

Angar's training at Cloisteranage hadn't said a word about liquid-metal Reptiloids.

It seemed the Neuronaut had to focus on reforming, as it did nothing but stand there making itself whole after every hammer or lightning pulse.

Over and over, his maul bashed into it, Thunderstorm's lightning scorching both the creature and Angar, causing both to smoke. And each spin saw the Neuronaut reform undamaged.

Glancing mid-twirl, Angar saw Simo pointing his lancer, and the Hierarch aiming her auto-blaster, freed from their psychic hold. The swordsman was nowhere in sight, most likely invisible again.

He stepped aside, and Simo and Pumatay unleashed a particle blast and plasma barrage, joined by a golden beam, likely an Ability or Capstone, that burned a hole through the Neuronaut.

By Angar's next spin, the hole had closed.

How to inflict lasting harm? Damage that stuck? Glory Thunders might do the trick, but it'd take a long while to build up the needed charges.

The Hierarch sprayed something that peppered the monster's body, eating at the quicksilver, but as Tempest faded, the Ability stopped devouring the liquid-metal, and the Neuronaut was reformed, whole again.

As Tempest ended, he had only one idea to try out. Maybe if he hurt the platform, it'd hurt the Neuronaut.

As he infused another Energy Point into his weapon, a radiant shield enveloped the creature, followed by a blinding flash.

His visor's auto-dampeners struggled to compensate, but his suit froze, and his weapon sputtered with sparks.

The Infernus Oculus implant went dark, leaving only his natural eye peering through the now-dead visor.

The flash's aftermath of a crackling ionization effect painted the air with aurora-like hues.

An EMP attack.

His suit, weapon, and implants would reboot eventually, depending on the EMP's strength, but for now, the lifeless power armor trapped him.

All he could do was watch as its shield flickered out, and glowing claws rose for a fatal strike. Then a blade cleaved through its liquid-metal face.

Behind it, the swordsman materialized, his energy sword buried in the Reptiloid's head.

The swordsman's energy blade sizzled, turning the Neuronaut's liquid-metal face a molten red as the creature emitted a haunting, ship-horn-like wail.

Angar stood there, trapped in his dead armor, his fingers twitching futilely against the maul's handle as impatience gnawed at him.

A minute dragged on like an hour while the head dissolved into its chest, the swordsman slowly guiding his blade downward with grim precision, the quicksilver form bubbling and liquefying in agonizing slowness.

Then, finally, his suit reactivated with a low hum, servos whirring back to life as sensation flooded his neural connectors. He flexed his arms, relieved, as his HUD rebooted.

With the Neuronaut's defeat imminent, Simo and Hierarch Pumatay descended to the platform.

Since it seemed safe enough, Angar removed his helm, as the tight padding was preventing blood from draining, keeping blood pooled inside.

"Blessed Mother!" Simo exclaimed in a voice filled with horror. "Your face is a bloody mess, Sir. Blood's pouring from your eyes and everything else."

Angar fumbled in a belt pouch, retrieving a cloth used to oil his hammer, and wiped his bloodied face. "This thing tried to crush my skull," he said. "Once it's fully dead, my Vitalulum harness will mend most of these wounds."

"You're so young, Child," noted the Hierarch.

"Did you really shout 'psychic power,' Sir, or was the Neuronaut messing with my head?" Simo asked, amusement creeping into his tone.

Before Angar could respond, Pumatay and Frieden burst into laughter, Simo joining in as Angar's face flushed with embarrassment.

As Angar donned his helm, the Hierarch and Simo took theirs off, and he noted neither's face was bloodied.

"The Neuronaut didn't use Crush on either of you?" Angar asked.

"No," they replied in unison.

A few warnings appeared in Angar's HUD. Nanites had eaten through parts of his armor.

Pain flared on his hip, the tiny invaders gnawing deeper. There wasn't anything he could do besides wait it out, hoping his suit's defenses destroyed all the nanites sooner rather than later.

Simo turned to Frieden, eyeing the melting foe. "Kill Squads?"

Frieden nodded, his blade sizzling as another chunk of quicksilver dissolved. "Signum Sergeant Frieden, over thirty years in. Just put in my retirement papers. My captain got tapped as Ierne's Viscount Designate, wanted me along for the ride. I was barely unpacked when Saint Hidetada yanked us into this mess. Captain's on the leviathan. Or should be."

The Lay Commandos were a combat-arms faction, mostly independent from the Imperial Military, though certain sections like the Kill Squads, elite teams of special operators, were fully integrated into it.

Signum Sergeant, E-8, marked the highest enlisted rank a commando could hold while remaining an active operator.

As all Paragons in the Imperial Military were officers, Frieden wasn't one, but Angar suspected he was close to ascending to the second Realm.

"Simo Agiad," replied Simo. "In over forty. Served mostly with the Imperial Eagles, 86th Assault Division. Discharged as Praefectus Logis after losing an arm. Now I'm with Saint Hidetada's crew, slotted as ship servant."

As Frieden's energy sword continued melting the Neuronaut, preventing its reformation, he nodded respectfully. "God and Empire, Praefectus Logis Agiad. It's been an honor fighting beside you." With a nod toward each, he added, "And you, Hierarch Pumatay, Sir Angar."

His eyes lingered, and he added, "I strongly recommend, Sir, looking into gaining some EMP shielding or resistance."

After getting locked up for so long, Angar could only grunt in agreement. Since Hellspawn didn't employ EMPs, he hadn't thought it was necessary.

As the group traded words, Hierarch Pumatay barked sharp commands over comms, directing her scattered forces.

Frieden glanced at the molten creature, then spoke up. "Not to overstep, Hierarch, but I suggest you all prepare for what's next. Once this thing's done, the Ruler-castes in the propulsorium and machimotarium will attempt sabotage. Kill 'em fast if you all want to live. An elite Ruler-caste will command the bridge. I'd tell your troops to not engage, to wait for us."

A few minutes later, as Angar, the Hierarch, and Simo prepared to burst through doors into the engines and drive, the Neuronaut was half its original size.

The nanites kept eating into his armor and skin, and pain spiked as they dug into his hip and abdomen. He was about to ask Pumatay if she could do anything about it when the unholy Reptiloid collapsed into a molten puddle on the platform.

System-generated items clattered to the ground, Angar's harness pulsed healing warmth, and a message from Holy Theosis flashed in his vision, signaling their victory.