Chapter 493 The Curtain Opened
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The Unnamed Triple Galaxy
Mandeville Point
Now-
The huge Indomitable Star Fortress lifted up the curtain of subspace like a queen and began to proudly rule this nameless and remote galaxy.
And her crown is the complex spire and golden statue of the Central Cathedral rising to the sky, her scepter is the navigator's ship in front of her, and the lace of her skirt is the number of more than six hundred people around her. The tugboats and the thick iron chains behind them dragged her forward, and her long gorgeous tail was the vortex and remaining subspace ion bubbles that were simultaneously ejected backward by the many frigates and supply fleets surrounding her.
The queen in a blue and white gold dress finally impatiently waved her mysterious and ancient plasma-like stance towards the disturbing curtain that blocked her, and the waves of subspace and reality were like this. The bizarre bubbles shattered in front of her, and the entire Indomitable fleet completely jumped out of the Mandeville Point and began to move towards the orbit of the largest gas planet in this unmanned three-star system.
The three stars here are completely uninhabitable. Due to their distance from other worlds, they do not have high mining value, so they are simply named according to the inner, middle, and outer es. Cali came to sort it, and the orbit they are going to enter now is around the giant planet Eskali.
The coordinates of this jump were determined by Artorion, the fearless brother from the fifth company of the Ultramarines, the current commander of the Indomitable Star Fortress, not only because this place is still right next to the planet Ultramar On the edge of the area, it is also because of the gas giant here that continuously emits powerful ionizing radiation and ejects high-energy steam fountains hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from the surface of its hydrogen ocean, and is attracted by its gravity. The asteroid ring is a pretty good hideout that can accommodate an entire fleet.
After staying here for a full nine standard solar days to rest, they can set off again, mark a random location, and jump into the ocean of warp again for the next never-ending journey.
Now, the command center that has just jumped out of the subspace is busy. Sergeant Olanto of the fifth company of the Ultramarines is standing here. Next to him is the commander Brother Artolion. Tai Wuwei used his bionic instruments and electronic pipelines to connect the entire star fort, and operated the entire fortress through sensory observation similar to that of a mechanical priest.
On the other side of Artolion is an Astartes wearing rust-red power armor. His chest and right shoulder are inlaid with the clear black and white gear symbol of the Mechanicus, but his The edge of the shoulder armor is also the black of the fifth company, and the color of the left shoulder armor is the standard Ultramarines blue, with a white "U" symbol on it, identifying him as a technical sergeant of the Ultramarines.
Due to the special characteristics of Artorion's body, a technical sergeant is usually placed on duty in the places where he often goes. Today, Brother Hestian is here. He is standing next to Fearless. Responsible for issuing and coordinating the work of the Dreadnought commander, the technical sergeant's helmet also flashes with light spots, sharing a large amount of navigation data with the Dreadnought simultaneously.
“We have confirmed the direction of our jump with the navigator’s Omen Vision back and forth.” He said, “According to the data sent back by the other party, our jump has almost no error, and the accuracy has reached 100%. Ninety-seven or more, it will take up to thirty-three seconds to complete the angle change and be in position on the track.”
"Thank you, Lucian, you are still so efficient and reliable. Just confirm the safety of the surrounding environment for us one last time, and we can start the circumnavigation."
"Received. Confirming. I am not Lucian, Commander." The technical sergeant replied habitually and dryly, "I am Hestian, and Lucian is the technical sergeant brother who served you more than two centuries ago."
"Ah." There was a sound of a gearbox in the depths of Dauntless, and the synthesized voice sounded like an apology and a sigh, "I'm sorry, of course, Brother Hestian."
"It's nothing, Commander." Ao Lanto saw Hestian continuing to check various data indicators after the Indomitable jumped out. This technical sergeant is one of the best mechanical masters in the fifth company. He has served here longer than Olanto. Much more. As a member of the 5th Company's rotation, Olanto was in his ninth year here from his own tactical team, and he still had a few months to successfully return to his original position. The other half of the fifth company came to take their place.
It would be absolutely disingenuous to say that he did not live long in the hope of returning to his Chapter and his brothers, but Oranto has served the Chapter as an Ultramarine for four full centuries, and he is full of scars His face and flaxen hair that were beginning to turn gray showed his tenacity and sense of responsibility as a veteran, so he would still do his duty and not let anyone discover his urgency until the day he handed over his shift.
Over there, technical sergeants, Fearless, and other technicians in the command center were still inspecting and restarting the Indomitable in an intense and orderly manner.
"How long will it take for the void shield to be raised again?" Artorion checked the combat readiness status and was not very satisfied with what he saw. "We should raise the defense as soon as possible after leaving the subspace. Regardless of whether the surroundings are quiet, Hestian."
"There is no problem with the void shield engine and is on standby, waiting for four hundred and ten seconds after the subspace void and ether pollution belt are completely neutralized from the Indomitable surface. Just raise the void shield," the technical sergeant replied briefly, while pointing out something to Fearless, "Brother Artolion, I noticed that you haven't brought all the weapon systems online yet."
"How could that be. ? Approval for the weapons system to go online is always the first step after jumping out - Oh," Wuwei muttered as if reacting, the gears rattling internally, "Indeed, some of the weapon systems in the fourth quadrant in the south are in the process of being released. Offline...How long will it take for the second quadrant to be ready?"
Hestian announced a number, and Artorion began to whisper Lucian's name again, and Hestian used his name. The dull mechanical voice reminded the commander again.
Olanto watched the two reliable and loyal brothers talking to each other and assisting each other under the patina-colored reflected light of the planet outside the window, and unconsciously showed a faint smile.
Artolion is far older than Olanto. The number of years he has been buried in the Dreadnought alone exceeds 253 years. In the hands of this respectable ancient hero The powered battering ram came from Lord Calgar as a gift after the Battle of Macragge, and the Fearless Elder does sometimes get a little confused because he is old and hasn't slept, but it's not a big problem, Hestia Ann is the best technical sergeant in the 5th Company, and he can assist Artolion in completing all tasks on the Indomitable.
"The shield will be raised after sixty-six seconds, and the weapon system will be ready to go online... The color of this planet is still so primitive."
The body standing next to the sergeant The armor-clad woman frowned slightly at this time. She seemed to have some questions about the condition of the Artolion brothers. Oranto knew what she wanted to ask. This was also her duty, although the sergeant himself did not He didn't like her and the department she represented, but since he was the monk responsible for dealing with this newcomer, he had to prepare a decent answer to such questioning.
But a sudden sharp warning sound interrupted the woman's movement of raising her head to Olanto to ask.
All the alarm lights in the command center lit up dazzlingly, and the operators were panic-stricken but still maintained order and efficiency while transmitting new alarm data.
"Alert! Enemy sign! Sixty...no...seventy targets!"
"Intensify scanning! Report more specific situations!"
"Just Like it suddenly appeared from the sky! "My lord!" the mortal officer stammered, "There was nothing here just now!" "A very patient ambush," Hestian's voice remained the same. Insipid, "The timing was chosen very well. - The void shield still cannot be raised immediately."
"Where is their target location?!" A harsh metallic friction sound came from Artolion's loudspeaker, "Where is their target location?!" The mortals began a series of hurried calculations, and Olanto pushed aside the people around him. The man hurried to the nearest auspicious equipment table, and he saw dozens of light points representing the attackers heading towards the fourth quadrant dock of the Indomitable, "the southern dock." He said.
"This is too accurate." Hestian said, "Whether it is the location where we jumped out, the timing of their ambush, or the target."
< br>“We don’t have time to talk about this, brother.” Olanto took off his helmet from the magnetic lock on his waist and strode out of the command center. “I have to rush. You and the elders must immediately summon all the soldiers and auxiliary troops. Entering the highest combat readiness, I'm afraid this matter will not go well today."
"Why?" asked the woman who chose to follow him after weighing it. At the same time, Olanto was very pleased to hear that she was doing it. channel to summon the mortal troops she brought to the southern docks. "It doesn't look like much of a threat."
"The speed is not fast enough, and the reflective quality is too small." Olanto buckled on his veteran helmet, and the air-tight lock locked it with a click. His voice came dullly from behind the visor, "This is not like the usual The torpedo is probably a gang torpedo. If they are lucky, they are not all Chaos scum, but just pirates and aliens. Then half of the fifth company and 6,000 well-trained Ultramar auxiliary troops will be enough to deal with them."
"What if something unfortunate happens?" she asked, as she began to mobilize her troops. Oranto knew that she was allowed to take an entire regiment of "Datian Lizards" aboard the Indomitable to perform her duties, but she It had been too short, and they still had doubts about each other.
"With misfortune, six hundred to seven hundred of our fallen cousins will jump onto our docks without shields and defensive weapons systems."
The Inquisitor immediately understood Orlan The meaning of trust.
"Your Chapter has only fifty guards here."
"That's true, but the Indomitable's design from ancient times will help us. Come on, take these traitors as an example and let me show you its subtleties."
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The Nameless Triple System
The Outer Planet Eskali
600 seconds before the attack begins
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“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Adalic Vanus reviewed the plans of a certain potion master whose side job was a war blacksmith, “I know you have never really I liked the berserkers that Uruwente left for you, but..."
"But no matter how high their individual combat power is, they are useless to me, Vanas."
Honso is sitting on his command throne. The bridge deck of his flagship Battleship is now scrubbed clean by the order of the returning war blacksmith. Forty slaves go hand in hand, not only polishing the floor but also the equipment. The panels now reveal their true appearance of brass and walnut patterns, and the eight-pointed stars or similar symbolic decorations have been removed, followed by walls and other walls that had previously been daubed with some questionable phrases and slogans praising the dark gods. The location has also been repainted.
"There are not many positions left for warriors who cannot obey orders in my strategy, and it just so happens that here, in this carefully constructed battlefield, the positions I leave for them can make them most useful."
"But they are still a very valuable fighting force. We finally won the skull harvest. They were once our brothers."
"Adalic, Adalic." Hong Suo shook his head. He seemed to be in disbelief at the Shadow Master's persistence in leaving every soldier alive. "You still value the old friendship and past glory too seriously. In today's universe, you have to win Victory requires abandoning something that has been stuck for thousands or tens of thousands of years...The battlefield will not remain unchanged, and the same is true for people and gods. Victory is more important to me, because that is my gift."
The Shadow Master's eyes looked at the hybrid man inquiringly, but the Potion Master's face now looked calmer. The wrinkles that were almost carved into the facial skin that always came from worry, struggle, anger and pain now only have a faint trace. With his elegant lines, he possesses both the ancient and noble appearance of the Iron Warriors and the graceful and upright posture of the Imperial Fist. No one in the entire fleet could peek into his thoughts from behind his increasingly peaceful yet dangerous expression.
This has been the case since he returned from the world where he was looking for the female prophet. It seemed that there was something there that strengthened his confidence and allowed him to begin to transform some of his rebellious thoughts into seductive thoughts. The serpent whispers, using it to poison the minds of those around him.
At least he convinced Katya Salomba and her frantic pirate fleet to immediately join up with Tucker and Etasia's fleet after completing the mission and retreat back to the Maelstrom first. This alone is surprising enough. , not to mention his next bold plan.
Dare to attack the core world of Ultramar is an incredible feat for a Chaos Lord, but the potion master who is deeply appreciated by his genetic father undoubtedly wants more.
Finally the former Raven Guard sighed.
"If everything goes well, how do you plan to deal with the Black-Hearted King in the end? Aren't you afraid that Huron will think that you are superior to the master?"
"It depends on me." Hong Suo smiled. "If I were facing a purely selfish man like Ezekiel Abaddon, I would never plan such a bold action, and would find a way to run far away so that he could not find me, but Luft ·Huron is different. Since he really has some rules, he will not be more difficult to deal with than any other Primarch.”
"...Considering that the purpose of our attack on the Indomitable is to find a demon prince like M'ka the Three-Born...you don't really want to destroy a few planets in the Macragge system to make a name for yourself in the Maelstrom and achieve great achievements. Right? Or Kaos? Thalasa?"
The smile on Honso's face became more and more unpredictable.
“Step by step.” He said, “The time has come, let’s launch the Blood Skeleton warband’s jump torpedoes as planned.”
(End of this chapter)