"The Aeldari confirm that the planetary protective force field is fully activated and stabilized. A distribution map of primary surface settlements, energy nodes, and potential underground structures has been shared to the tactical network," Tech-Sergeant Cassius imported the flowing data streams into the global view. "The force field allows units carrying specific identification profiles to pass through, but it exerts a significant weakening and deflecting effect on large-scale orbital bombardment energies. It is recommended that the operational core focus on precise ground suppression and containment actions, with orbital fire used only to disable high-threat fixed defensive nodes when necessary."
Osiris approved the operational deployment.
"Execute according to plan. The Space Marine company will serve as the core of assault and suppression, responsible for seizing primary settlements and dismantling their organizational core—suppress them rather than engaging in indiscriminate annihilation.
The Knight armors and heavy units will handle regional firepower control and the elimination of fortified obstacles, creating the necessary conditions for containment operations.
The Aeldari warriors, operating as highly mobile hunting and precision control units, will eliminate command nodes and assist in securing high-value individuals.
The ultimate objective of the campaign: systematically dismantle their military resistance capabilities to achieve effective control and internment of the population on a massive scale. Ensure the integrity of the planet's foundational ecology and critical infrastructure is protected."
"For the Emperor's crusade and dominion!" the Space Marine squad commander's heavy voice resonated through the channel.
"May this battle lay the foundation for the new order," the Aeldari warrior's response was concise and cold.
Massive assault pods and agile Aeldari transit craft stabbed into the atmosphere of the Yautja homeworld like falling stars, trailing streaks of blazing red and eerie blue behind them.
The response from the surface of the Yautja homeworld to this sky-borne adversary was rapid yet chaotic, filled with the fury and bewilderment of a martial race encountering an unknown, overwhelming enemy. This was a civilization that exalted individual hunting and clan honor; when confronted with a globally synchronized invasion backed by highly organized, overwhelming technology and tactical coordination, its defensive framework appeared fractured and passive.
When the Space Marine assault pods slammed down on the periphery of the first large complex—a clan hub functioning as both a pyramid and an arena—swarms of roaring Predators surged out like an enraged beast pack. Their shoulder cannons charged and wrist blades snapped out as they viewed this invasion as an unprecedented, grand hunt.
However, what they encountered was not a behemoth to be outmaneuvered, but a silent, precise, and cohesively advancing wall of iron.
The Space Marines deployed in standard tactical formations, the thundering of their boltuns weaving a suppressive net of fire, though their munitions were targeted primarily at non-lethal zones or equipment to incapacitate the enemy. Power fists and modified weapons were utilized to down and subdue rather than utterly crush. Plasma fire from the Predators flared against the power armor, and sparks cascaded from the collisions of wrist blades and power weapons, but individual valor was rapidly submerged, partitioned, and suppressed before the legion-style iron torrent.
This was not a fair combat, but a systematic pacification optimized for absolute efficiency. The Space Marines advanced steadily toward the core of the pyramid, and any resistance attempting to rally broke down rapidly under structured firepower and shock action. Their objective was to control the hub and paralyze the chain of command across the sector.
Concurrently, the Aeldari warriors demonstrated their multi-faceted capabilities. One detachment acted like lethal shadows maneuvering along the fringes of the battlefield; the shriek of shurikens and the arcs of power swords precisely eliminated those Predator warlords or elders attempting to organize counter-offensives, fracturing their command network further with every hunt. Another detachment utilized their extraordinary velocity and agility to cut rapidly through the chaos generated by the primary force, using psychic bindings and sophisticated non-lethal armaments to target and capture those high-value individuals bearing specialized markings or equipment, ensuring their survival.
The Knight armors and heavy support units advanced with an unstoppable posture. Their heavy armament was used primarily to demolish fixed heavy fortifications, vehicle staging areas, or to deliver devastating suppression against stubbornly resisting strongpoints, clearing paths and opening breaches for the primary forces and the Aeldari containment operations.
From orbit, rigorously calculated lance strikes occasionally descended, precisely leveling those stubborn fortresses built into natural terrain that refused to surrender, keeping the destruction strictly localized under the protection of the Aeldari force field.
This global pacification campaign unfolded simultaneously across multiple continents. The fierce bravery and combat proficiency of the Predators could only delay, but never prevent, a total rout when faced with absolute disparities in raw power and organization. Their decentralized clan-based social structure, caught under a global strike landing all at once, rapidly devolved into fighting isolated battles, leading to them being controlled or broken one after another.
Osiris monitored the planetary theater through the tactical network. The blue denoting his faction's controlled zones expanded steadily, while the red sectors representing organized resistance were rapidly partitioned, compressed, and extinguished. Yellow markers representing prisoner assembly camps continually illuminated across the various continents, their numbers climbing sharply.
"Organized resistance across primary settlements has decayed by over sixty percent. Live captures are rapidly approaching and surpassing the parameters set for the first phase," Cassius reported. "No effective orbital-tier counter-strikes have been isolated. Their remnant space assets have been isolated or disarmed in advance, aligning with earlier intelligence."
"Continue executing the suppression plan, ensuring all identified high-value sectors are fully controlled. Run the prisoner transit protocols at maximum priority, classifying captured individuals by grade and dispatching them via transport vessels to the dedicated internment and research zones at the Nexum base," Osiris commanded. "Notify Apothecary Gaius to prepare for large-scale live subject analysis, physiological monitoring, and sustainable biomass extraction protocols. We need to establish a long-term, stable source of 'Yautja Prime' rather than exhausting it in a single instance."
"Understood."
The systematic pacification and capture operations sustained for dozens of hours. When the final elder fortress resisting from within a complex subterranean network was breached under a joint assault by Space Marines and Knight armors, and the surviving defenders were largely subdued by non-lethal weaponry, structured resistance across the face of the Yautja homeworld was effectively brought to a close.
The planet and its most valuable "biological resources" were now integrated into a new management system.
The explosions and gunfire across the surface of the Yautja homeworld gradually thinned out, ultimately replaced by a cold, orderly "silence" composed of thrumming engines, clanging metal, and the shouted directives of prisoner escorts. Smoke drifted locally, while the shadows of transport vessels circled above more expansive regions.
The Space Marine squads began systematically consolidating control, clearing sporadic embers of resistance, and assisting the accompanying Tech-Priests in identifying and securing Predator technological apparatuses, documents, and ritual sites deemed of research value. The Aeldari warriors continued executing efficient sweeps across wider territories, tracking and securing those escaped individuals who had scattered into the wilderness during the initial chaos.
In orbit, the transport vessels formed a bustling supply chain, continuously routing cohorts of Predator prisoners—ranging from young unblooded to majestic elders—alongside neatly contained spoils toward the Death World base under varying tiers of sedation.
Within the base, the specifically expanded high-containment biological internment and research zones entered a state of maximum operation. Apothecary Gaius and his team were no longer confronted with mere anatomical analysis, but with building a massive system for live maintenance, categorization, and sustainable extraction. Every individual Predator was a valuable, renewable resource node; their physiological states, genetic expressions, and the secretory metabolic patterns of "Yautja Prime" required long-term monitoring and research.
Live culturing, stimulus-response testing, and the development and application of non-invasive or minimally invasive extraction techniques became the new focal points. This was a grand engineering project aimed at transforming an entire species into a sustainable biorefinery.