The Starfire's entire hull shuddered and groaned with supernatural terror as it tore itself from the glittering madness at the end of its uneventful warp voyage, leaping thunderingly out of the calm sea like a predator, and
Surrounded by the aura of the gone.
The auspicious matrix is still ringing when detecting the new surrounding environment. The blurry and incomplete sea-green three-dimensional image of the Ma'kande galaxy is slowly appearing on the holographic screen in front of the command throne on the bridge.
Soshyan stood in front of his throne, with Lothar and three other team captains beside him, as well as the chief priest.
"We are still 2 hours away from highest orbit."
Lothar said that he wanted to concentrate on the tactical report.
"Preliminary scans indicate that there is a spacecraft in our path. We are still identifying it. Considering the possibility of an encounter, we are reading macro gun data and the possibility of encountering debris in the gravity well range."
Soshyan listened carefully in front of the screen, Yazdan Shahinian in black armor nodded thoughtfully, and the captains of the independent team were also learning to do tactical analysis.
"According to the information transmitted back by the Astropath, the defensive orbital station on that planet seems to have been activated."
Lothar continued talking and clicked on the runes embedded in the holographic control panel that made the three-dimensional image of the orbital station highlight.
"We received a warning signal and some noise. The weapons on the orbital station were not activated. Considering the possibility of invasion, there may be survivors on it."
"Is someone here first?"
Armin muttered something.
"Have you determined that they were attacked?"
Soshyan is still more cautious, because he has not seen any traces of battle, and the auspicious device has not yet scanned the remains of the battlefield. It is difficult for an orbital defense station to fall silently.
This sounds incredible.
"There is no clear evidence yet, but the slow-moving ship may be able to give us the answer."
"Time is running out, we have to act quickly."
Yazdan said, tapping his skull helmet.
"It appears our initial plan does not need to change."
Soshyan quickly made up his mind.
"If the orbital station that sent the signal is still resisting, that will become our base of operations."
When he spoke, his eyes must be fixed on the three-dimensional image of the orbital station, as if he wanted to engrav it in his mind.
"If not, we will take it back. According to common practice, the materials that are about to be sent out will be stored in the temporary warehouse at the orbital station. We will go in there and take our goods, no matter what is in front of us."
The gathered Space Marines nodded silently.
"Before that, we have to board the ship to see what happened. Maybe this will help us understand what we will face later."
Soshyan turned his attention to Farzad and Ustad.
"Your team will board the ship with me."
"yes!"
"Sir..."
Armin spoke, but when he said the following words, Soshyan interrupted him.
"Your team serves as a reserve team, ready to respond to emergencies at any time."
He hesitated for a moment and finally accepted the order.
"Get ready quickly and gather at the torpedo launch bay in 10 minutes."
The Astral Knights quickly prepared for war. For many recruits, this was their first formal battle as Space Marines in power armor. Previously, most of them only participated in the battle as scouts.
While the armament slaves and craftsmen were busy assembling the warriors, the deck was filled with the friction of armor, the whistling of servers, and the sound of prayers bearing the brand of chastity.
Soshyan flexed his metal glove, observing the intricately carved tiny seals on the fingers and feeling the perfectly synchronized response.
The power armor he is wearing now is not the one he wore when he served, nor is it the one he repaired after the World Engine War. This armor is actually the armor of his former Chapter Master, which has always been
Stored in a secret room.
This is a set of MKVIII type precision power armor, which is much more powerful than his previous set in terms of protection and functionality.
Not only the neck guard is added, the torso and limbs also have thunder-like sculptures, and the main color of the Astral Knight is silver-gray, just like the thunder that has accumulated enough energy in the clouds, waiting to release huge destructive power at any time.
When he wore it for the first time, Soshyan realized how different the armor's mechanical spirit was from his old suit. It had an incredible power of movement, as if urging him to fight.
After the servitor affixed the Purity Brand to his right pauldron, Soshyan donned his helmet, allowing the automated senses to connect to his own.
Despite already having an iron halo, Soshyan tried his best to make himself the same as other warriors.
No matter who he was before, he is the current chapter leader.
Soldiers will follow his example.
"Farzad."
The sound generator of Soshyan's helmet sounded, and the squad commander turned from his formation and bowed his head in salute.
"Are your recruits ready for blood?"
Soshyan asked, turning his gaze to the assembled recruits.
Those silver-armored warriors lined up reminded Soshyan of the scene on the Storm again, but at that time they had more than 700 warriors, but now there are only twenty.
"They are ready, Chapter Master!"
As Farzad said, Echo looked at his team members with his eyes. It could be seen that some recruits were still shaking slightly because of the battle.
For a moment, Soshyan remembered the days when he had just undergone transformation and served as a recruit in the recruit company.
They should have been polishing themselves in the recruit company for a period of time, but the cruel reality forced them to mature quickly, and such maturity was likely to be paid with blood, but Soshyan had to do it.
The helmet concealed his lonely expression.
"Very good, attack captain, you will work with me and break into the bridge directly."
Farzad bowed his head again.
"As you command, Chapter Master."
"Ustad."
Another captain stood up and lowered his head.
"You and your men go sweep the engine room."
"As you command, Chapter Commander."
The prepared team immediately crossed the arsenal and set off towards the launch port.
Each soldier has been given detailed combat doctrine and tactical reports, environmental overview and enemy analysis. They all know why they are here and what they need to do.
At this time, Soshyan's communicator sounded again, and Lothar's voice came.
They are passing through the asteroid belt and it will take a while.
More importantly, the ship in the void suddenly stopped. Lothar felt that Soshyan should come and listen. They received some strange signals.
"Report to Port No. 1, soldiers."
Soshyan told them.
"I must return to the bridge and make a decision. I will join you when we arrive at our intended location."
After saying that, he left the assembly area, and as he walked towards the bridge and passed through the corridor, the Starfire also shook.
The weapon array of the strike cruiser has been ignited, and the continuous sound waves of macro cannon fire and light lance fire shook the surrounding space.
The fleet was moving through the system's asteroid belt, and it was necessary to clear the way and break up the barrages of icy rock before they could do any sustained damage. The strike cruiser's void shields effectively defended against the hundreds of shattered rocks that hit it.
Thousands of pieces of debris, although occasionally the lights inside the ship would dim slightly after a particularly tricky impact.