Chapter 176 Planning
Today, Lothar was in a good mood, but he did not show it.
His silver, enhanced optical eye rolled like a storm cloud, reflecting the flashes and echoes displayed on the Starfire's huge eye-shaped screen.
On the screen, the gray-brown mass of the asteroid was fragmented in space.
The fragments still have a basic spherical shape, but are slowly dissipating.
Mountain-like chunks of crust are colliding with each other and falling apart, and more giant fragments are already feeling the tug of the stars of the galaxies they orbit.
The fortresses and strongholds once established above are now being dispersed as tiny, temporary gas cloud components.
That's exactly what Lothar expected.
He watched with leisurely contentment as it dissipated, as the gravity of the world would gradually break apart over the next few hours.
The tactical panel continues to flicker, and a large number of fighter jets are chasing the enemy aircraft that have not yet been eliminated, but in the context of this destructive action, every insignificant explosion is insignificant.
A humble act, nothing more.
While the asteroid was being destroyed, strange radiation effects flickered on and off in the nebula.
The flickering vortex of plasma and the surrounding pulse of lightning all add a layer of dazzling color to this scene of destruction.
Out of a morbid interest, Lothar ordered the ship's communications to be opened to all access frequencies, and the screams and wails of the planet's last breath resounded through the bridge's PA system like steel claws. That eye-shaped screen is just like that.
On the forward battle deck below him, the bridge crew worked in various battle positions in gritted silence.
"These greenskins,"
he recounted, with a faint whisper.
“It’s a well-deserved death.”
As he said, what they destroyed was an green-skinned asteroid fortress, an outpost near the edge of the galaxy, and the last green-skinned one in the Ferron system. stronghold.
This is the prelude to an important battle.
Ten hours ago, the landing operation jointly launched by the three war groups had completely occupied the asteroid, but the goal of the war groups was not to eliminate the aliens above.
The Astartes are dedicated to seizing the green skin's communication equipment and deploying it on another asteroid world.
The two asteroids are not far apart, but their uses are very different.
The former is a line of defense.
The latter is a trap.
An entire chain of greenskin outposts several light years away have been occupied by humans, and they pretend to be unoccupied.
Only one vacancy is left here.
As for the purpose of doing this, except for the three chapter leaders, few people know.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Lothar raised a trembling finger and pointed at a rotating ice-like fragment. The fragment still had the shape of a more easily identifiable large block. .
It is evident that it was the only important location in that savage world.
According to each of his gestures, the viewfinder placed a floating green frame exactly where Lothar pointed, separated the huge fragment and dragged it to a sub-screen.
The viewing system magnified the object, and Lothar could almost see the buildings that still dotted the broken landscape—the last remnants of the green-skinned asteroid stronghold.
“Artillery.”
“Yes, Captain.”
"Everything within one million cubic meters should be turned into rubble."
After speaking, he quoted the last instruction.
"The fragment must be ten times the size."
"Confirm, Captain, the aim is on target." "Coordinate with colleagues in the Expeditionary Fleet."
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"Yes, Captain."
A few minutes later, Lothar, with a feeling that was beyond professional satisfaction, watched the cross-tracer fired by the macro cannon slowly destroy the remains of the stubborn fortress. fragmented.
If it were complete, its volume would be almost a thousand times the tonnage of Starfire, but now it is just a fragile eggshell, and its structure has withstood far distances due to the energy released in the mantle and core. A pressure beyond all natural endurance.
Soon, the boulder was shattered into pieces, and the sub-display was filled with blizzard-like fragments of siliceous crust and navigational hazard markings.
“Ha!”
Lothar put his hands together and made a dull metal clap, causing the sailors in the crew station under the command platform to raise their heads and look at him on the railing in surprise.
Unexpected bursts of joy were hardly what he was known for.
As the fleet master of the Astral Knights, Lothar has always been calm in everyone's impression - stability is almost his only personal label.
But he was in a really good mood.
Having been in charge of the fleet for a long time, he is very eager to fight side by side with his brothers, but he also understands the heavy responsibility of his own.
Being able to destroy humanity's enemy so easily made him feel gratified about his abilities for the first time.
The future of the Chapter will ultimately require pursuing further goals in the endless void.
With a magnetic rattle, the opposing clamps of the bridge door released behind him.
Lothar turned around, the huge explosion-proof door was still sliding into the connecting block. At the same time, Soshyan and Thor stepped through the door and staggered on the uphill plating line.
The warriors who followed the Chapter Master carried a variety of pistols and swords.
Soshyan and Thor walked past the crew members without wasting any attention, as if they were all part of the bridge equipment. They only nodded slightly when passing Lothar.
A The others rattled as they followed the leader.
"It's just a small patrol fleet, it may not be able to trip the other party. If the greenskins can't catch the trap, we may need to make a record."
Soshiyang stopped on the command platform, Looking at the shattered asteroid.
His position is the command room on the middle level of the bridge on the right side. Its reinforced hatch is not as strong as the main bridge door, but it is still as thick as the slope armor of a Predator tank, enough to withstand the impact of The multi-melta hits and continues to function afterward.
The bridge crew did not raise their heads to look at the Astartes as they passed along the corridor.
Besides respect, there is another reason.
Superman fears.
This is a kind of awe that the unstrengthened human mind feels when faced with an existence that has been changed beyond description. Pharmacists spent a lot of effort to understand it a long time ago. And it took equally extreme efforts to root it out from among the senior officers.
Only Technical Priest Loken looked up at Soshyan.
The Chapter Master is huge, encased in his exquisitely crafted armor, and would make most mortals look like small children just standing.
At this moment, his face was pale and his eyes were wandering, as if he was considering some difficult problem.
Thor stood beside him, wearing only simple power armor and a white smock. According to the tradition of the Astral Knights, only veterans would wear the smock, and it would also be woven with the ability to defeat powerful enemies. pattern.
The hem of Thor's blouse has been embroidered with red embroidery of eleven Orc skulls.
“Their mission is just to attract the enemy’s attention, they don’t need to ask for much.”
Thor put his hands on the railing and spoke his mind.
“This is just a fruit in a net bag, waiting for the eager prey to put his hand in, hold the fruit tightly, and then cannot break free.”
“The enemy’s fleet is huge. "
"But we are not dealing with an entire fleet."
(End of this chapter)