Chapter 558 When you didn’t notice Schrödinger’s cat...
-
"Forgetting is sometimes an excellent way to preserve."
——————————
He is observing with his sleepless eyes of keen vigilance.
Once upon a time, he and his companions carried out traditional hunting on the ancient human home planet.
He was both the hunted and the hunter.
Encountering danger, encountering powerful enemies, changing into various forms, or using any handy items as weapons are just part of the most basic courses he has received in terms of training and tempering.
Because of this, when everyone's attention is taken away by more important things and more dazzling figures in the scene.
He was also shocked by who he saw. His time-tested mind had just woken up from an order to force a fight. Within a second, he judged the outcome on the field, and then realized the chaotic scene. an opportunity implicit in it.
He should seize this opportunity to find out what is going on here, where is this place, what are those... mutants that are neither pure nor normal, full of madness and danger, and finally, the last time he remembers himself Wherever he went, what happened to himself - why was he here?
So, just before everyone remembered his existence and started to focus on him, he made a prompt decision and took off the incorrect color he was wearing (when did he change back to this color? He had no idea about it) memory), hastily hiding it along with the weapons he also held but did not like most (unfortunately, they should still be useful, but they cannot be retrieved with the destruction of Cadia).
Then, he quickly and quietly disguised himself with the power armor and remaining biological tissue of the fallen, and saved some of them for emergencies.
Then everything went as he imagined: when the order for the evacuation was finally given to everyone within earshot, there was almost no organized retreat plan on the ground.
Even though the Dark Angels or Imperial Knights have their own retreat sequence, this is not the case in most other places.
The Imperial Fists and ancient gunships bearing the emblem of the Silver Skull Chapter, which had some strange feeling that he could not describe, landed in an unusual number and frequency on the cracked surface of the planet that was about to be destroyed due to the resonance of impact and supernatural forces. At the same time, Firing their flares, they would allow refugees aboard who would never come into contact with an Adeptus Astartes craft as long as anyone who could catch the flight came close and did not trigger some kind of alarm mechanism.
As long as the fleeing people fill up a gunboat, the gunboat will take off immediately, without waiting for aviation command or arranging the route. People will leave as soon as they arrive.
The distance between the retreating route and the vehicles was horribly dense, but each vehicle, especially those with the Silver Skull, miraculously maintained collision-free and ultra-high-density flight throughout the entire process, as if they were not some heavy and huge vehicles that could Loaded with a squadron of Astartes or several Dreadnoughts, a deadly flying arsenal, they are nothing more than light, industrious, buzzing bees.
They desperately travel between deep space and the ground, but instead of transporting nectar, they transport people fleeing the world they are destroying.
It really fits the chaotic and crazy scene when the world is destroyed.
But this will be beneficial to his next plan of blending into them.
When people fled, they abandoned most of their belongings, and some things happened that would never happen on ordinary days.
He even saw soldiers randomly discarding the shells in the ammunition boxes and filling the boxes with Cadian soil.
He heard them say, "Yes, sir, I hope that when I die, I can sprinkle a handful of soil from my hometown on my grave."
Obviously, this place is full of wounded and dying people. Thick blood stains, thick and random bandages can be seen everywhere.
Therefore, he used blood and bandages to cover up the wounds on his face and passed the siren safely without arousing any suspicion.
The only thing that slightly worries him is that he doesn't know which ship he will be assigned to escape from here in the end. If it is a ship that is too small and there are too many people on it, it will not be easy to hide for a long time. By myself.
For him, the best destination is the Phalanx. On that semi-abandoned but still majestic fortress, he is very confident that he can hide for a month, or even three months, and the Phalanx will finally be berthed. A port is a place of total certainty.
So he pretended to have a head and neck injury that prevented him from speaking much or communicating, and limped aboard a gunship painted in the colors of the Imperial Fists.
To his surprise, they were eventually sent to the Enterprise, which was said to be from the Rogue Trader Dynasty, because it was said that the area that the Phalanx had opened could not accommodate such a large number of refugees.
——If Mountain Formation Fortress can't do it, then can just a Rogue Trader ship do it?
It's crazy.
He repeated in his mind and sneered at the minds of decision-makers who were always prone to making decisions at the drop of a hat.
He initially thought that this might mean that a newly transferred Dynasty cargo fleet was following behind, which was barely reasonable, but he found that there was only one ship in the void here waiting for them to land, the Enterprise.
Oh, is this hateful businessman going to squeeze them into the lower deck space like sardine cans or ancient slave ships? Maybe he should think of a way to escape when he lands...
——————————
So at this moment, he was forgotten and lurking alone somewhere on the Enterprise.
He thought about what he had seen: the battle in the underground caves of Cadia... He needed to find another opportunity to verify everyone's identity. If the identity of the original body was true, then he happened to witness a person who was more harmful to the empire. The rise of the hypocrites. Perhaps this is also a coincidence that he is here to witness.
The Enterprise may be part of a grand conspiracy, a base to subvert the Empire.
But the Phalanx seemed to be fighting in alliance with the Enterprise, and he mourned for a second the thought that the Imperial Fists might have fallen.
Then, if the Terran Guards are no longer so reliable, he can only contact more reliable candidates. Believing in his own brothers, he can collect more here before finding a way to leave here and contact them. intelligence. So he immediately changed his appearance and identity to a new one, and hid near the entrance of the hangar, ready to see if there would be a new opportunity to get some vehicles soon.
But hiding in the dark, he observed the evacuation and destruction of the fleet left behind by the Black Legion (he heard that the Vengeful Spirit had already left with the injured Abaddon before that, which is why the Black Legion fleet became unwilling to fight) ), and was surprised by the Enterprise's powerful and blind-angle firepower system. The system's merciless and devastating counterattack against any Chaos ship that dares to take advantage of the ship to take in refugees, its shield position that remains strong despite the opponent's long-distance main gun bombardment, and its various types of weapons that are completely immune to the chaos here. Communication scheduling system for radiation, wave and subspace energy effects.
While the ship was carrying out a saturation counterattack, there was no accumulation of refugees at the diversion area of the hangar below. As soon as everyone landed, they were taken away by the guide who had been waiting there, as if they were servitors here. It was as if the Astartes knew how to guide and distribute them.
Then came the last three Terras of Cadia, until they began to witness the cracks in Cadia's crust and the howling of ghosts evoked in the surface mass graves of the bones of those who had died here over thousands of years. Falling into the molten mantle all the way to the core, he began to feel like he should stay here.
Because during these three hours, he was horrified to discover that, based on everything he knew about imperial ships, or the most extreme colonial ships, this ship could theoretically only hold a maximum of 100,000 people, who were suspected to be more than merchants. The Ronin flagship-sized battleship, which reached the scale of the Primarch, has been quietly accepted. At least four million people - and what is even more shocking is that seeing the final death of the planet approaching, the imperial fleets have also evacuated here, and even the Phalanx began to fly away, leaving only this ship alone. The earth then opened its huge undersea valve towards the first and second continents of Cadia.
A beam of light.
Light falls from the sky.
Shine upon those who are ready to accept with equanimity the fate of their own planet and their own trenches as their own graves.
While the observer's brain was buzzing, being rubbed and beaten back and forth between the laws of physics and the common sense of the real universe, this beam of light had already sucked up the survivors like a giant whale sucking water, and then moved away, catching up and leaving. The other ships left behind only a broken Cadia Gate that could no longer withstand the raging crimson wave.
Is this reasonable?
Is this...that he has been away from this galaxy for too long due to unknown influences?
Could this be an engineering miracle left over from ancient times that was unearthed on Terra or Mars or somewhere else without him knowing? He had heard of similar things, but it would always require repairs, research, and years of purity verification and appeasement of the machine soul before it could be put into use. He did not remember hearing any relevant information before he left the position he guarded for the last time.
So, where was this giant starship that he had never heard of discovered? Or where was it secretly created? Who allowed these resources to be invested? How did this huge consumption of resources escape all relevant departments and vigilant managers? He had no clue. Could it be that the Mars and Jupiter shipyards were still hiding something from them even today?
In view of this, he believed that this ship, which was supposed to carry the glory of the Human Empire, could not rule out the possibility that it had become an evil lair full of heretics and spies, hiding a threat to the Emperor and the entire galaxy.
Not only should lurking continue here, but further observation and planning are required.
The decision is made.
Next comes execution.
The lurker's steps seemed ordinary, but they made no sound in the dark corridor. He controlled his bones and muscles precisely, and his movements were as silent as shadows in the night.
His every move is carefully calculated to avoid sensors or guards that might give away his location. His heart was filled with loyalty to the Emperor and determination to his mission. This belief was as strong as the armor he once wore, supporting him through this dark space.
The interior of the Enterprise was filled with an unsettling silence. For a behemoth that had swallowed at least tens of millions of people, the upper deck was eerily silent, broken only by the occasional sound of mechanical operation coming from afar. This silence.
Lurkers know that under this silence, there are often countless dangers hidden.
Based on what he has seen so far, there are not only heretics, mutants, and original bodies that seem to have mutated and whose loyalty and purity are in jeopardy. Perhaps there are more threats waiting in the shadows, so be prepared. Pounce on any unwary intruder.
But the lurker is not afraid, his eyes are shining with unyielding light, they are the agents of the master's will, and no corruption can shake his soul and determination.
As he gradually approached the possible target area, the air seemed to become thicker. With every step forward, the lurker could feel the inexplicable gaze coming from the depths of darkness getting stronger and stronger, but he tried several There was no way to identify the originator of that line of sight, nor was there any observation lens, scanning array, or anything similar.
His instincts told him that it might be more dangerous if he stayed still, so he decided to keep moving.
——————————
The figure of the lurker is almost integrated with the shadow in the ventilation duct above the corridor. His movements are silent, as fast and light as a Cantonese cicada. He cautiously approached the hall where he could hear voices and the special sounds of power armor coming from a distance. The hatch of the hall was unguarded and opened like a trap of temptation. Bright light came from inside. Projected out, blending in with the hallway lights.
Now that he was so close to the top of the door, he could already vaguely hear the low voices of conversation and the slight collision of power armor coming from inside.
The owners of these voices were wearing power armor of various colors and were scattered throughout the hall, faintly forming different groups, showing that they had not yet completely let go of their vigilance. Their body language also revealed an unusual feeling. Usual nervousness.
The hall was brightly lit, and there was no throne on the high platform in the center. On the contrary, an Astartes was standing on it now, seemingly conducting a question and answer session with other people in the hall.
He is clad in steel and silver armor, with a shiny new skull mask emblem on his shoulder plates, and is surrounded by an Iron Guard.
When he began to speak, the name he announced made the eavesdropper's pupils shrink in surprise.
"I know you are full of questions now, so I am here to answer some questions that I can answer. First of all, it's the name."
He paused, "Maybe some of you know me, maybe all of you don't, but it doesn't matter. I'm Barabas Dantioch, and I'm glad to see you here."
< br>
(End of chapter)