THE FORTRESS

"I still see their faces in my dreams. Not the veteran Cybernetics who came later - those were clean kills, warrior to warrior. But those poor initiates... They died believing they were ascending beyond mere flesh. Instead, they fertilized our fields with their blood and broken dreams."

• Sister Magdalene of the Scarlet Watch,
  excerpt from "Testimonies from the Siege of Three Sisters"

There are several Geneticist convents scattered around the Mud, formerly known as Europe, and the isles of Albion. Despite being heavily fortified and guarded not only by the sisters of the convent but also heavy gun emplacements, they represent a tempting prize for some of the most ambitious warlords of the Mud. To this day, few convents have ever fallen, and it takes a mighty host to even attempt to do so.

The Geneticists inhabiting each convent will defend it until their last drop of blood.

Each fortress is surrounded by gun emplacements, spelling certain death for anyone foolish enough to attack the convent out in the open.

On day 28 of the Madness, 114AP, a Matron of the Cybernetics clan assembles her mighty army to storm the Geneticist convent of "Three Sisters". She knows that she will need hundreds of warriors to get past the gun emplacements, before even getting close to the fortress.

For this purpose, she first sends her initiates. These brave warriors are waiting for an opportunity to prove themselves, so they may be found worthy to receive cybernetic enhancements and become full members of the clan.

With little combat training and barely any equipment, the initiates form the first wave of attack. They don't realise it, but their lives are worth nothing to the Warlord and their only role in this battle is to run dry the convent's gun emplacements...

As the Initiates get closer to the fortress, fear grips their hearts...

Moments later, the gun emplacements unleash death!

The warlord sends more and more of her Initiates to their deaths, until the guns fall silent at last. A callous, but effective strategy...

With the gun emplacements having expended their ammunition, the second wave surges forward. These are heavily armoured mercenaries, too valuable to be wasted in the initial attack. This second wave's mission is to reach the walls of the convent and open the way for the third wave...

Once the mercenaries have decimated the defenders and secured a foothold at the bottom of the wall, they give the signal for the third wave to begin their attack.

The third and final wave is comprised of Cybernetics warriors of the Warlord's own clan.

Using the added strength of their cybernetic limbs, the Cybernetic warriors quickly begin to scale the formidable walls of the Geneticist fortress.

On the top of the wall, the Cybernetics run into desperate resistance, as the Geneticists defend every inch of their home to the last breath!

At last, the Cybernetics have breached the interior of the convent fortress!

Any unarmed sisters they encounter are put to the sword, to save on valuable ammunition...

In the upper levels the Cybernetics find and ransack the convent's greenhouses.

The cybernetics push ever further, down into the inner sanctum of the fortress, to find the technological treasures their warlord seeks to obtain.

Instead, they find the Scarlet Watch, sworn to protect the Inner Sanctum of their fortress at any cost.

Against these elite warriors, the Cybernetics stand no chance. One by one, they are ambushed in the maze of tunnels underneath the fortress.

This is where the attack on the convent comes to a blood-soaked end.

When the fighting has stopped, those that still can comfort the dying and mourn the dead. Most importantly though, the convent's children are safe and the future of this fortress is secure for now.

Later that night, in the monastery's dungeon, captured Cybernetics are tortured for every ounce of information...

The fortress catacombs echos with the screams of the dying, as the Cybernetics have their implants ripped out one by one - whether they talk or not, none of them are left alive.

Outside the fortress walls, the muddy swamp is covered in hundreds of dead bodies.

The Matron despairs, her entire force has been wiped out, for no gain whatsoever... But she will return with even more warriors before long!